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“Momma isn’t going to come home this time, is she?” Daniel shook his head. “I didn’t think so. She’s worn out, isn’t she? I don’t want her to suffer anymore, but I don’t want her to leave me either.”
“She’ll never leave you, Luke. Your mom will be with you for the rest of your life. She’ll be watching over you. And every time you think of doing something you have to think hard on, you just ask yourself, what would my mom think if I did it this way. Or what would she do if she were in this place in my life? Every day, without her being right there beside you, you’ll think about her, and she’ll be right there guiding you.” Luke hugged him, and he held him tightly while he thanked him for that. “You’re so very welcome. I do the same with my mom every day, too. It’s like she’s my little angel right there on my shoulder, guiding me to do the right thing.”
Luke held onto him for about twenty minutes before he realized that he’d fallen asleep. After he got him adjusted around so that he could lay him on the other bed, Alex helped him by covering up her brother.
“That’s the nicest thing you could have done for him. He’s been worried about that for weeks now, knowing that Mom was coming to an end. But you helped him. I can’t thank you enough.” He said that it had been his pleasure. “Doctor Watson, if you’d like to stay with us tonight here at the hospital, that would be great. Not as a doctor but as a friend. I think of you already as that.”
“Yes, I’ll stay.”
~*~
Sebastian put the books away that he’d been looking at. It was nice having a good library at home. When he couldn’t sleep, like tonight, he knew that he could go downstairs and pull out a book and be happy. He and Toby hadn’t gotten a television yet, and he didn’t know now if he wanted one. Until baseball season started, he supposed, but that was still a few months away.
“What’s going on?” He turned and looked at Tucker and smiled. “You don’t sleep much, do you? I usually see you a couple of times a night when I get up and empty myself out. Must have been hard on you as a youngster to not sleep well.”
“Actually, I did sleep well as a kid. Not much, only about four hours a night, and I learned to hide myself away when my mom would come looking for me. She never put up much of an effort to find me, so it worked out well for me. I got to read a lot, and I think it helped me in my life to be able to sneak around quietly.”
Tucker sat down on the couch and looked at him. He could tell there was something on his mind. It had been for the last couple of days. About the time that Daniel had shown up. Sitting down across from him on the other couch, he asked him what was going on.
“I’ve been thinking about that little boy and his sisters. Do you know who the father is?” He told him his name was Burt Branch. “Yeah, I thought that it might be him. Nasty sort of fella, he is. His daddy was worse, if you can believe it. Those little girls of his, you think that they’re safe there at the hospital all alone?”
“Daniel is there with them. He called here earlier, telling Caleb that when he was here. Did you hear that Daniel can’t use a cell phone? Strangest thing I’ve ever heard of.” Tucker nodded, still distracted. “What are you thinking? If you want to go there and stay, I’ll take you if you think it will make you feel better.”
“I don’t know what would make me feel better about them kids. I know two or three of them are adults, but that won’t stop their father from hurting them if he wants to, does it?” Sebastian said that, sadly, it didn’t. “Yeah, didn’t think so either. How about me and you going there. Just to have a little look around. Maybe, if you don’t mind none, we bring a few of them back here to rest up and shower. You been to their home? Ain’t fit for a rat if you ask me. She tries, Olivia does. But there is only so much cleaning you can do to a house that will make it look brand new.”
They were halfway there when he heard from Caleb. “Mrs. Branch died about half an hour ago. Daniel just called me. He’s going to make arrangements for them to stay in a hotel.” Sebastian said he was on his way there and he’d bring them to his home to stay. “That’s a better solution anyway. Thank you for that. The little boy, I think you know him, he’s taking it pretty hard. Also, if you’d not mind telling them, Burt is in jail. Drunk and disorderly. He’ll be out in a couple of days. But for now, they can have a little bit of peace.”
Sebastian helped Tucker and Daniel gather up some things from the house to be able to wear over a few days. There wasn’t much. Caleb had been right. While the house was clean and smelled that way, too. It was just too old to get everything to be perfect. Sen, the oldest daughter, had some clothing in her car for her mother to use when the funeral home was ready for them.
The other women came to their home and, with the help of Toby, were getting the family settled in. Daniel took care that Luke was all right and, in the end, gave him just a little of something to help him rest. Luke was both terrified of his father coming around and being alone with him. Daniel had brought Orange, the dog, with them and asked if he could sleep with Luke.
“Yes, of course. That’s a good idea. Someone he can cuddle with.” Daniel laid the dog by the little boy, and he wrapped his thin body next to Luke. “I think that they’ll be good together, the two of them.”
“Thank you for allowing him to come in. Most people wouldn’t have allowed it.” Sebastian said he wasn’t like most people. “I don’t think that anyone in this family is like anyone else in the world.”
They both laughed, but when Daniel yawned for the third time, the two of them parted ways. He was going to stay here too and didn’t mind at all that they were filling out the house with family. Picking up Kelly when he was fussing, he sat down in the rocker and told him everything that was going on while he took his bottle.
“We have a houseful of family. Well, it’s not technically family, but it’s close enough. They’re going to eat you up tomorrow.” He wondered if that was scary to his son and figured he’d have to get used to the way people talked around here. “Luke is going to love seeing another little boy, I think. He is a little overwhelmed by having so many little mommas, as he called them. He’s a wonderful kid. You’ll like him.”
Even after giving him his bottle and burping him, he held his son and talked to him. It was a good way, he thought, to let his mind clear out. Not that he’d do that often; he didn’t want his son to think that he was nutty, but for now, it soothed them both.
“Mr. Sebastian?” Turning from the baby bed after lying Kelly down, he smiled at the little boy. “I have Orange with me. Is that all right if we come in and see the baby? I promise you that we won’t hurt him.”
“Of course, it’s all right. Come on, and I’ll lift him up so you two can see him.” Picking Kelly up from the bed, he opened one eye to look at the new strangers in his room. When he looked at Luke, both eyes wide with curiosity, the dog licked both their faces. “It looks like he’s been given a big kiss.”
He was surprised that Kelly didn’t cry. Lying him on the floor so that both the dog and Luke could see him had Kelly smiling so brightly. When he took Luke’s finger into his tiny hand, he thought for sure that Luke was going to have a heart attack. He seemed so delighted by the small move that Sebastian knew he was going to hug the little guy more when he saw him.
After it was apparent that Kelly had had enough, he put him back in his crib. Luke and Orange seemed disappointed, but Sebastian told them they could hang out with him tomorrow. Just as he suspected, the real reason that Luke had come to him was that he was missing his mom.
“Come on, little man. It’s bedtime.” Sen came out of the bedroom closest to where Luke was staying and smiled at him. “Why don’t you go in there and get into my bed, and I’ll read you some stories. I found an old chemistry book down in the library that we can go over and find all the mistakes they made back then. All right?”
“Sure. Thanks, Sen.” When he disappeared into the room, she turned to him. Just as Luke popped his head back out, she looked like she was going to be upset. “Thanks for letting me see your baby, Mr. Sebastian. He’s a cute guy.” Then he closed the door behind him. Sen looked at him again.
“I need a job. All of us do, really. And we took a vote. None of us are going back to the house. It should have been torn down a long time ago, but it was Mom’s house before Burt came along, and that’s where they stayed.” He said he’d not realized that the house wasn’t a rental. “No. Mom owned it when I was born. Burt isn’t my dad. He’s the other’s father, just not me. I think that’s why he disliked me so much. Anyway, I lost my job by coming here and trying to help my mom. So if you know of anyone hiring, will you let me know?”
“Of course. I think that you’d have better luck finding something if you were to talk to Caleb. Or Tabby. They seem to have the pulse of the town right at their fingertips.” Toby came down the hall then, and he explained to her what was going on. “You know of any job openings, honey?”
“Yes, I do. I have four jobs that I have to fill that have to do with sorting clothing. I went by the donation house today and was blown away by the mess. I guess the lady who used to run it had too many rules about getting things and turned a lot of people off from trying to get something. If you could help me get them sized and separated, that would help a great deal. I don’t know what her deal was about only letting people take ten things from the place a week. Christ, it’s not like she had to pay for it.” Sen told her that they’d gone there once, and she tried to tell them that since they were a family, they could only take ten things. Not each, just ten things. “For five girls and one boy? She thought that it was going to help you? No wonder there is so much in there that it’s difficult to get around in the place. Once we get them all sorted, I’m going to get some machines put in so that they can be washed and dried right away. A lot of people around here don’t have machines but have to carry things to the laundry mat daily. I’m glad someone called me and let me know what was going on. If I had known sooner, I would have taken over then. But you and your sisters, you’ll help out?”
“Of course. Mom’s funeral needs to be paid for, too. There just wasn’t enough money for anything extra when she was so ill.” He hurt for the family. And was ready to say that he’d pay for it when she spoke again. “I’m not asking for money here. I know that you and your family are wealthy enough to pay for it and make sure that we have nice clothing to wear. And someday, I might ask for help. But for now, I’m working on trying to keep my family together and learning to take care of themselves. All but Luke, anyway. He’s too young to have much of a job, but we’ll all take care of him.”
“I’ve no doubt that any and all of you will do a good job in taking care of each other from now on. As I said to you earlier, your father, or I guess Burt, is in jail, so we’ll make plans after tomorrow to keep you all safe. That’s going to be something that we can all help you with.” Nodding, she turned back to the bedroom when Toby spoke again. “Sen, if you need something, anything, let us know. I don’t want any of you to do without when we have been so fortunate in having a little more. All right?”
“Yes. I understand. I want you to know that I might well need your help with things. But right now, I’m just wanting to be there for my family and get through this together.”
When they made their way to their room, he held Toby while she spoke about the donation building. He knew that she was thinking of the Branch family, and he loved that she wanted to step in and take over. But she wouldn’t. Not until asked. He thought that it was the bravest thing he’d ever seen his new wife do. Stepping back until asked. He supposed they’d see what tomorrow would bring and all the tomorrows after it. But he had a feeling, a small one yet, that everything was going to work out just fine. Just fine indeed.
