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The next few days passed quickly as we prepared to travel to Manhattan for the trial. I spent as much time as possible with my dad and Elaine. I'd grown used to seeing them at least once a week and now we'd be away for a whole month. I worried about my father. He was frail and weaker than I liked to see, although he was in good spirits. I had to remind myself that Elaine was a nurse and took good care of him. She was aware of any sign that he might be sick. But still, I felt anxious that something would happen to him while I was away and there would be nothing I could do about it.
I got quite weepy when I finished packing my bag and it was time to go to their place and say goodbye before we left for the airport. Drake was there of course, to comfort me.
"Hey, hey," he said, his voice soft. "Come here." He pulled me into his arms and let me snivel against his shoulder. "Your father's fine. He's got Elaine there all the time. She knows what to do if anything happens. He's in good hands."
"I know," I said and wiped my eyes. "It's just I'm afraid that he'll die and I won't get the chance to say goodbye."
"I know," Drake said. "I know how that feels. Not good. I don't see that there's anything immediate to worry about. He's not ill and at his age with his condition and on his meds, I'm more worried about him getting the seasonal flu than anything else happening to him. Okay? I'm the doctor in this family, remember..."
"Okay."
I squeezed Drake because, of course, that's what happened to him with his father. Liam died in a remote part of Ethiopia when his small plane went down during a volunteer mission. I wish I'd met Drake before his father died, because I would have loved Liam. My father loved him. I know I would have, too.
Finally, I wiped my eyes and let go of Drake, taking in a deep breath and putting on a brave face.
Drake took my hand. "If anything happens, you'll be on the first flight to San Francisco. How does that sound?"
I nodded. "That sounds good."
We drove to my father's place for a quick visit.
I practically ran inside because we were running late, to find Elaine and my dad on the patio, sitting in the shade under the umbrella.
I went right over to him and gave him a kiss and then kissed Elaine as well. Drake handed Sophie to Elaine, who gave her a big hug and kiss and then held her for my dad
to kiss as well.
"Goodbye, chipmunk," my dad said to Sophie, who had her two front bottom teeth and seemed to like to show them off to us like they were a prize. Her top ones were due out next and she was teething, drooling over everything like crazy so we had to keep a bib on her at all times. She gave her grandpa sloppy kisses as a result but he didn’t seem to mind.
"See you when you get back, sweetheart. Drake, take care of my girls."
"I will, Dad," Drake said and leaned down to kiss my dad on his forehead, clasping my dad's good hand in his briefly.
We hugged Elaine and said goodbye then we were off. It was a considerable detour, but I couldn't imagine not seeing them before we left.
Our flight departed mid-morning and we wouldn’t arrive until late in the afternoon. My hope was that Sophie would fall asleep on the flight and would be easier to manage than if we left earlier in the morning when she was always wide awake. Luckily, Sophie seemed to be a good flying baby for she didn't make a fuss and seemed to enjoy sitting in our laps, reading books and playing with toys on the long flight from San Francisco to JFK. She fell asleep briefly after lunch and slept until about an hour from our arrival time.
We touched down and I watched through the window, pointing it out to Sophie, who was beside me next to the window. I was happy that we could travel first class and could afford to buy a seat for her. I always hated the thought of not having her in a car seat in case of turbulence so she was in her familiar car seat for a lot of the trip.
I sighed and turned to Drake, who sat across from me on the other side of the aisle.
"Well, we're back. I feel like saying home, but I don't know if it is home anymore."
Drake took my hand across the aisle. "It feels strange. Like home is wherever Ethan is."
"I know," I said and nodded. "It does feel like San Francisco is our home now. But still, I was here all my life."
"I was here most of my adult life."
We were silent the rest of the way, while the plane was taxiing to the terminal.
After we got our bags, we found our Uber waiting outside and piled in, suitcases in the back. After getting Sophie seated, we drove off toward the city. I was glad to see the Manhattan skyline again after months in San Francisco, and realized that I did miss it. Living in San Francisco felt more like an extended vacation but I didn't think I'd want to live there if my dad and Elaine weren't there. Heath was here with his family and there were the O'Riley's...
Still, home was where family was and my dad and Elaine were the closest thing Drake had as family. Of course, now we had Drake's new family. I hoped we could all become closer and spend time together, especially on the holidays.
That would make Drake very happy.
By the time we were a few blocks away from our place on 8th Avenue, I noticed we were nearing the spot where Lisa attacked me.
