“Mom, why aren’t you sleeping? I’ll be there soon. We’ll have coffee and muffins in the morning. Blueberry for you, cranberry orange for me.” Rick was going to keep it together even if he had to bite his tongue off. He was not going to yell at his parents for keeping this from him. He wasn’t going to throw a fit to end all fits that his mother was dying. Okay, maybe that was a lie. He was probably—okay, with certainty he was going to be yelling and screaming and crying. But in front of his parents, he was going to pull out his best officer training and stoic face. They needed, no, his mother needed, to know that he was a responsible functioning adult before she—
“Richard, did you hear me?” Shit. What had she said?
“Sorry, Mom. I was paying attention to the cars on the road and wasn’t fully listening. I’m just outside of Knoxville so I’ll be there about zero-one-hundred. Tell Dad that I’ll grab a room near the hospital and come up in the morning.”
“You will do no such thing. You will drive to the house and sleep in your room. Yes, you haven’t lived with us since you left for college but it is still your home. The key is where we’ve always hidden it.” He could tell his mother wasn’t budging on this.
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll try and not wake Dad,” Rick gave in. “Even though you know that I can afford a hotel room, right? I have learned budgeting and how to curtail my impulse spending.”
“I know you’re not spending all your money on gummy worms and Sour Patch Kids these days. You do have things like rent and groceries. We don’t want you—” His mother went into a coughing fit. She gasped for a minute, then quietly said, “This isn’t how we wanted you to find out.”
The tears started to roll down his cheeks. He reached up and angrily wiped them away. “I know, Mom. I know.”
“Drive safe, baby boy. I’ll be here in the morning, waiting,” she finished.
He choked back a sob and responded, “Love you, Mama.”
Rick stumbled down the stairs of his childhood home, sweatpants barely staying on his hips. Coffee, he needed coffee. Even though he’d gotten in at oh-dark-thirty, his mind wouldn’t let him sleep. As he got to the end of the hall, someone started banging on the front door. Shit. Rick turned and practically ran to the door. It was only 0630. He’d heard his father snoring when he’d walked by his parents’ room. If he knew anything about his father, he hadn’t been sleeping with everything going on with Mom.
Rick yanked the door open, ready to give whoever was on the other side a piece of his mind. He had a split second to bracehimself before a woman was throwing her arms around his neck. The minute she started talking, he knew that Drew was taking care of him from a distance. Julia had arrived.
“Rick! I got here as soon as Drew called. Well, okay, I had to make a few arrangements for coverage but I’m owed so many hours since we just finished this year’s tax season. Even with an assistant, it was hard. Why I thought being an accountant was a good idea, I’m not sure. Mom and Dad were going to move things around to be here, but Dad’s got graduation coming up, and Mom’s got a few patients who aren’t doing well. Why she changed to palliative care, no one knows. I told them I had it. That it was time for the kids to pick up the mantle from the heptad. That we’d learned from the womb to take care of our family. And you’re one of them. How are you? Do you need coffee? I need some. Where’s your father? Mother? What time do visiting hours start? What can I do?” Julia finished as she dropped her head to Rick’s shoulder.
Somewhere in the middle of Julia’s verbal assault, Rick had wrapped his arms around his sister of the heart. He leaned his cheek against the side of her head and just breathed.This. This right here was family. Rick had known that Drew’s family was grateful for their friendship. Knew that they had drawn him into their network when Coop and he had dinner with Mackey and Scott. But Drew’s sister driving two-plus hours to be there for him and his family? Yeah, this was what Drew had always talked about.
“Hey, Julia, I’m glad you’re here,” Rick whispered. Maybe he didn’t have his man or his best friend with him, but they’d made sure that he had someone by his side.
“Not going to say that there’s nowhere I’d rather be, because the beach in the Bahamas sounds heavenly. The beach anywhere sounds amazing. But there was no way one of us wasn’t goingto be here for you. Drew is going to try to get some leave. Cal and Maddy said they could be here in a few hours. Uncle Liam said to call him if you don’t understand any of the medical talk. Mom and Dad will make the trip when…well, when.” Julia pulled out of his arms and looked him up and down. “Fantastic view but I don’t think Coop would appreciate me taking you out to breakfast dressed like that. Chop, chop. Put on some clothes and let’s find coffee and eggs.”
His father’s laughter rang down the stairs. Rick turned and saw his father for the first time. Damn, this had taken a toll on him. His face was drawn and he was sure that he’d lost weight like Christopher had said Mom had. Rick stepped to the bottom of the stairs and met his father with a crushing embrace.
“Dad—” Rick choked back a sob. His parents were supposed to be there forever. Be there for any kids Rick adopted or had, not that he and Coop had talked about children. He was supposed to have them forever. They were immortal.
“It’s okay, son. Let it out,” Dad whispered, as he ran his hands up and down Rick’s back. “I’ve got you. Let it out now so when you see your mother, you’ll be all smiles for her. You can tell her all about what you and Coop are up to. I would expect a cross-examination as to why your partner isn’t with you.” It took Rick a few minutes to bring himself under control. As he stepped back, his father asked, “Now, why don’t you introduce me to this little spitfire and then I’ll take you both to the Waffle House for breakfast before we go see my Jessie.”
Rick straightened his shoulders as he’d learned from many hours in formation and held out a hand to Julia. “Dad, this is Drew’s sister Julia. Julia, this is my dad, Hal Stanton. She’s come to be here for us.”
“Ma’am, you didn’t need to—” Dad didn’t get to finish his sentence as Julia cut him off.
“Yes, I did need to be here. Rick’s important to Drew and our family. We learned from our parents, uncles, and aunts. Family is there for you when you need someone, whether they are biological or chosen. Drew chose Rick long ago as his brother of the heart. He’s part of our family so we’re here. I’m just the forward contingent. As soon as I’ve got the lay of the land, I’ll text with the others. One of us will be here until Rick doesn’t need us,” Julia said, standing there with her hands on her hips.
Rick felt the tears that had just dried up return with a vengeance. What was the quote Drew's uncle had said? Oh yeah, one of these days these kids were going to kill him.
Chapter Twenty-Four – Coop
Coop arrived at the airport in Michigan to see a young man holding a sign with his name on it. That felt special. “I’m Lucas Cooper.”
“Hi. I’m Johnny Killebrew from the BikeMax team.” He stuck his hand out for Coop to shake.
“Nice to meet you, please call me Coop.”
“Excellent. Coop. I’m just Johnny.” Yeah, but he’d heard a lot about Johnny, and he wasn’tjustanything. Nope. He was Gavin Peri’s partner in every sense of the word.
“I’m not so sure about that,” Coop mumbled as he followed Johnny.
“Do you have a checked bag?” He stopped and pointed in the direction of the luggage carousels.
Coop shook his head and patted his carry-on. “Nope. Travel light. I’m used to it.”
