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Chase and Teagan tried to hide that they noticed, though I caught Chase sending Teagan a wink before the waiter showed up, dressed in a tropical shirt and khaki shorts, to take the drink order.
I couldn’t help grinning as I bent to whisper in Remi’s ear. “I think your parents are going to be okay with usboning.” I couldn’t help poking fun with our inside joke.
She giggled, then coughed. “Yes, but let’s try to keep it PG in front of them, please,” she muttered under her breath.
I almost laughed out loud. “Of course! But let’s make it a very early night.”
It was Thursday and I had soccer practice the next day, but my game wasn’t until Saturday, so I could have a couple of drinks.
Chase looked at me. “What are you drinking, Dylan?”
“Whatever you’re having is fine.” He was drinking a draft beer, and it didn’t matter to me what brand.
I didn’t drink the night before a game because alcohol was dehydrating and that could affect my performance on the field, but I only had a two hour practice the following morning and then I could spend the rest of the day and evening with Remi. There was the game on Saturday, then one more precious night before we flew out, separately. I’d managed to get the flights aligned so that we could at least go to the airport together.
I subconsciously bent to kiss the side of Remi’s face without even considering that it might be too much PDA for her folks. I was glad I did it, and my arms tightened around her when she sighed my name. I couldn’t believe that I’d ever lived one minute without her.
Chase gave the waiter the drink order and asked if we could get some menus to order dinner on the beach. It sounded like a wonderful idea because I was starving and it would be the perfect segue into a romantic walk which, was likewise, the perfect way to separate our evening from Remi’s folks. I loved them both, but I was dying to get my girl alone.
The heat made the air heavy, but the sea breeze and cold drinks helped. Maybe it was just being near Remi and my anxiousness to get her alone that made it difficult to fill my lungs. I couldn’t stop looking at her. I held her hand casually, but my thumb rubbed over the top of her hand. Our eyes met and she mouthed “I love you” which filled me with joy.
Chase ordered a meal to be served to us on the beach of jerk chicken and Fish Escovitch and an appetizer of fried conch. We spent the next two hours with Teagan and Chase and as we ate, I remained mostly quiet and allowed them to catch up with their daughter.
Until the conversation turned to Rory. I could hear the pain in Remi’s voice as she explained her worry over the little girl’s prognosis and her hesitation about making the trip.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” I asked, concerned.
“I didn’t want to disappoint you, and I wanted to see you,” she explained.
The sun had set before Chase and I arrived, but the beach was lit with tiki torches that were placed every few feet and the glow reflected off the unshed tears in her green eyes, making them appear more golden.
“I know, babe, but I know how much she means to you.”
“The most difficult part is that because we aren’t related, I’m not supposed to know much about her care. If I didn’t volunteer at the hospital, I wouldn’t be allowed to know anything. Even my friend, who is a nurse, isn’t supposed to tell me much, but I’m there when she gets treatment, meds, and most times, when the social worker shows up. They’re taking pity on me when they have conversations about her situation when I’m around. Mr. Atkins knows how much I want to foster her, and he appreciates my experience with the disease, so he probably tells me more than he should with the HIPAA laws. After I told him that a marrow transplant was what saved me, he decided to be more active in finding her family. God, I feel like I’m rambling. I don’t want to be a downer on this amazing night. I’m sorry.”
Chase’s brow knitted. “We’ll try to help as much as we can, Remi.”
“I told her that I could go to Tennessee to help her. Maybe then they would let her foster the little girl,” Teagan interjected.
Two big tears rolled down Remi’s cheek. “We have to get her better, first, Mom.”
“I had no idea that she was so sick,” I murmured. “I mean, I knew she was sick, but she seemed so happy when I met her.” I reached out to rub Remi’s back.
“She’s gotten so much worse in the last month. She should have been in remission by now. My friend, Marcia, is a nurse and speaks to me when we are outside the hospital, but she’s not supposed to talk about her to anyone who isn’t the doctors or social worker.”
“But she knows you want to take care of this little girl,” Chase observed. “I’m stunned that one of her parents, at least, isn’t there.”
“Yes.” Remi nodded. “She has no one and she’s so little. It breaks my heart.”
“Do you think that the social worker will give you any names if he finds anyone? We can hire someone to find them. We talked about it before, Remi, but now it seems more urgent,” I added.
“He might if I tell them we want to help. Or… he can keep the information private but accept the financial help to hire the investigator himself. I’m not sure what his resources are, but there must be thousands of kids with special needs in the system so I’m sure what he can do is limited.”
“We’ll help pay for it, Dylan,” Chase said. “And we’ll worry about the fostering situation after that. The most important thing is getting her better.”
“Well, you’re here now, and there is nothing you can do over the weekend. So, try to enjoy your time with Dylan,” Teagan said, hugging her daughter. “Chase, let’s leave these two alone for now.”
“Okay.” Chase stood and walked to Remi. She rose to go directly into his arms. He held her tight for a few seconds and kissed the top of her head like I’d seen him do a thousand times while we were kids. “It will be okay, sweet pea. I’m so sorry you’re going through this.” He kissed her cheek. “Goodnight, Dylan.”
