“Do you see what you started?”
Lucas looked over at Julian and grinned unashamedly of what he started.
“All right, let’s not get upset,” Mark said calmly to the two kids who were in a staring match. “If and when your parents decide to have another child, they will talk it over with you two. But until then, enjoy being the apples of their eyes.”
“But I want a little sister and not a brother because boys are so yucky,” Lily whined.
“Listen to your grandpa Mark,” Julian told his granddaughter. “Right now, your parents have no plans to have another baby, well, I hope they don’t,” he said looking toward his son and Brenden. “For now, don’t worry about such a thing, okay?”
“Okay,” Lily said, crossing her arms over her chest pouting. “But I still want a sister. I know, maybe they could adopt?”
Snickers were heard around the table. “You’re not going to give up, are you?” Lily shook her head looking at her grandfather. “Your kid is just as stubborn as you were growing up,” Julian said to his son.
“I think she has me beat in that department,” Stephen said to Julian.
“I doubt it,” Julian and Mark said together, and everyone started laughing.
Julian and Mark Colvin still acted as if they were newlyweds along with his parents, Asher and Marilyn. They’d married a few years earlier. Mark retired from his position as Chief Surgeon of Sheffield and went into teaching part time. Mark seemed to enjoy teaching just as much as he did being a doctor. Julian was still working to save as many children as he could who were without parents or living in abusive situations. But Julian felt as if he wasn’t doing enough and opened a boys and girls home along with starting an organization that was associated with Hamilton Enterprise. Working in conjunction with the organization, Julian was also able to help men and women who were in abusive relationships.
The Hamilton family chipped in at the boys and girls home as well. They all volunteered and mentored the kids and parents using whatever skills they knew would help the kids become successful members of society. Looking around at the people sitting at the table, Lucas noted the two people missing from the table. One was Tucker who, if Lucas remembered clearly, had only attended one dinner since the family started expanding. And the other was Richard who was at a conference and wouldn't be back for another week.
Lucas smiled thinking about Richard who had become more like a brother than an in-law. Lucas' life was filled with people that genuinely loved each other. It was also their love and strength that helped him to get through the rough patches he had to deal with in his life a couple of years earlier. There was a tug on his shirt sleeve, and Lucas looked down at the tiny hand pulling on him, tryingto get his attention.
Zoi.
Zoinida Lynne Hamilton, his beautiful two-year-old daughter who looked just like her mother, Rebecca. Lucas felt a wave of sadness flow through him, just thinking of his wife’s name. One year earlier, Rebecca, the love of his life, had died after losing her battle with cancer. Lucas remembered the day they’d announced they were getting married. It was at Mark and Julian’s wedding.
Before he’d proposed to Rebecca, he’d asked Mark and Julian if it was okay for him to ask her at their wedding. They were excited and told Lucas they enjoyed seeing young people in love and did not mind sharing that part of their day with him and Rebecca.
Lucas had planned on getting married right away, but during a routine breast exam, Rebecca found out that she had breast cancer. Lucas still wanted to marry her right away, but Rebecca wanted to wait until after she wassure she was cancer-free. Lucas loved Rebecca and wanted to make her happy, so he waited. Rebecca’s doctor had recommended that she have a mastectomy. At first, Rebecca was hesitant to agree to have the surgery because she feared Lucas wouldn’t find her attractive without her breasts.
Lucas assured his woman that he would love and find her attractive regardless. He made Rebecca understand there were so many other things he loved about her other than her breasts. It was the truth. Rebecca was smart, caring, loving, and most certainly wasn’t afraid to put him in his place when he got too bossy or was acting like an idiot.
Rebecca was his, and he was completely hers. When they found out Rebecca was cancer-free,they got married two weeks later. Marilyn, his mother, threw everything together the second Rebecca said she was ready to get married.
It was two years later when Rebecca told him that she was pregnant. Lucas couldn’t stop smiling and walked around with the brightest smile on his face for what seemed like months. But with their joy of a new life came sadness her cancer had returned. Even with the advancement of science, some diseases were still incurable. Losing Rebecca wrecked him.And Lucas wasn’t ashamed to admit that he was thankful he had his family to lean on.
Lucas reached over and picked up Zoi, giving her a quick kiss on her cheek. He closed his eyes and inhaled her scent. Cookies. She always smelled as if she’d been munching on cookies all day. Lucas loved Zoi so much he wished Rebecca had lived to watch her grow up. A few moments later, he stood up fromthe table excusing himself, noticing that Zoi was rubbing her eyes; a clear sign that she was sleepy even though she was trying to fight it.
“Hey, guys,” he said getting everyone's attention. “I’m going to put Zoi down for a nap. I'll be right back.”
“Aw, my sweet baby girl,” his mom said,reaching over to take Zoi from his arms and kissing her a few times on the cheek, making her giggle.
“Don’t believe him, Mom, he’s just using Zoi, so you don’t ask him about that blind date you set him up on,” Tyler said, and Lucas narrowed his eyes at his brother.
“Yes, dear, I forgot to ask, how did it go?” she asked him.
“Um . . . Look at that, Zoi seems to be falling asleep.”
He took his daughter from his mother’s arms and walked out of the dining room, leaving his family to talk about him and his lack of a love life. Sunday dinners couldsometimes last late into the night, and those that lived in New York, ended up staying overnight. He, along with Tyler, Ethan, and Richard, had their own rooms. He lay down on the bed with Zoi resting on his chest.
Her beautiful dark curls hitting his chin. Brushing her hair down, Lucas started rubbing her back and listened to her breathing. His mind went back to his wife. He loved Rebecca so much, Lucas had no idea how he’d made it some days without her. He chased her and practically begged her to marry him until she’d said yes.
Lucas had been so damn happy. He did not expect anything bad to happen. Rebecca was seven months pregnant when she found out that her cancer had returned. Being adopted, Rebecca did not know much about her family history. Rebecca had no idea what illness could have been passed down to her through her bloodline.
Before Rebecca had the mastectomy, her surgeon and doctors had explained that even though she would be removingher breasts, the cancer could still return around the chest area. The last month and a half of Rebecca’s pregnancy was the hardest for everyone involved.
Rebecca’s cancer had spread to other parts of her body before the doctors could think of removing the cells. And she was also against chemotherapy while she was still pregnant. She did not want to take the chance of having the chemicals endanger the baby.
