Real World, page 29
part #2 of Love is Blind Series
“No, sir. I’m gonna be right in the kitchen, okay?” Dan needed to check on Jakob.
Mel was cutting cheese and apples for the kids in the kitchen, and Maddie was pulling out Cokes. Jakob was sitting and holding his head with Emma staring at him with a frown. “Is it a bad headache, Jakob?”
“Leave me alone, Em.”
“Uh-uh. If you explode, I’m going to watch.”
Kenzie burst into tears. “Don’t explode, Jakob! Sister! Is he going to go boom?”
“Emma, he is not going to explode.” Maddie looked to her granny. “Right?”
Dan stepped into the room. “He is not going to explode. Jakob, let me look at your head. Kenzie can you find me a flashlight in the junk drawer?”
“Uh-huh.”
“You know I won’t see the light, right?”
“Shut up, kiddo.”
Jakob grinned up at him.
Emma snorted, then clapped her hand over her mouth.
“Weird laughter is a perfectly normal reaction to stress, Emma. Have some peanut butter and chocolate chips on an apple, soldier. Helps with the shock.”
“Peanut butter. Caleb, wash your hands.”
Jakob looked fine, so Dan handed over a Coke and two Advil, then went to secure his sidearm.
Mel peeked over the porch rail at him. “Oh, good. I was worried.”
“You okay, lady?”
“I am. I was sure glad to see you, though. Do I need to feed the kids? I called the Weldons, and they called Abe. They’re in Colorado.”
“Dix and Audie are bringing Weldon back and picking up Rio Grande. I need to call in the food.”
“Good deal. I’ll get homework started.” She stopped, looked back at him. “Love you, Dan-Dan.”
“I love you, too, Mel.” Pleasure spread through him, because God knew she didn’t have to accept him or like him or even approve. He adored Mel right back. That woman was his hero.
Now he had to call for supper, make sure that Caleb and Kenzie were bathed, check Pepper’s gums, and warn Maddie that her daddy had stitches in his face.
Then there would be supper and Dix and Audie and maybe a beer before he got Weldon alone.
With five kids, there was always something else to do. Dan wouldn’t have it any other way.
38
Weldon managed to make it until eleven fifteen. That was how long it took for Maddie to stop staring at his face, to get Jakob into bed and sleeping, to get Emma to stop sneaking out of her room and pushing into his lap.
The door closed behind Mel and he stared at it, blinking slowly as he finally let his hands quake, let himself take a slow, shaky breath.
Dan stood behind him, close enough to feel the heat from that hard body. “Are you okay?”
“No.” He wasn’t any sort of a hero. He was a dad. A dad who had almost had his boy kidnapped, had lost his truck, and had spent the evening in the ER. “Dinner sat too long, huh?”
“No. The steak is in the fridge for tomorrow. I just couldn’t cope with making potatoes.” Dan put both hands on Weldon’s shoulders, rubbing gently.
“Yeah. Did he…. Are you okay?”
“I am. Barney got to him before I did.”
“Oh, he totally gets extra sweet feed. Add that to the list.” The tremors got worse, and he fought them, and that just made them stronger.
Dan turned him around and pulled him close, holding him as if he was spun glass.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“What for?” Dan whispered, too, hushed and careful.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s okay, babe. You don’t have to. Just breathe.” Therapy had given Dan this—the ability to periodically find his Zen. Considering everything that had happened today, that was kind of amazing. Dan’s hands were rock steady. “We’re going to bed now. You and me. Alone.”
“Do you think they’ll let us be alone?” Weldon asked.
“I think they will. I need to touch you a little bit. Check you out.”
“Oh. Okay.” He could move, right. One foot in front of the other. They locked up, they got to their room and Weldon sat on the end of the bed, right under the ceiling fan. He swallowed convulsively, trying not to puke.
“Breathe.” A cold rag landed on the back of his neck. “I’m right here.”
“Thank God,” he whispered.
Dan crawled on the bed behind him, wrapping around him. “Fucking scared me, babe. I don’t like.”
“No. Me either. Too. Whatever. God, I thought…. He could’ve killed Jakob, taken him.”
“You beat the heck out of him. All I did was make him piss his pants.”
Weldon laughed, wincing as it pulled his bruised ribs. “Oh, you are my hero.”
“I try. You should have seen Emma. She was like a Marine, barking orders and running interference.”
“That’s my serial killer in training.”
“Hey! That’s my beautiful baby girl you’re bad-mouthing.” Dan sounded so affronted and that tickled the shit out of Weldon, and he started laughing.
Okay, now Dan might have to hit him to get him to stop.
“Shh. Shh. Come on, babe. Breathe.” Dan kissed him, the pressure steady, but not hard. They shared breath, everything smoothing out, nice and easy.
They toppled over and just lay together, still fully clothed.
“Have I mentioned that I’m glad you didn’t go back in the Army, Dan?” He said it a lot—probably once a week—but it stood repeating.
“Yes. Have I mentioned that I love my life, even as crazy as this frickin’ day was?”
“Yeah? Did y’all get the sheetrock up today?” He always asked about Dan’s work. Always.
Just like Dan always stopped by Weldon’s workshop on his lunch hour, if he was in town.
“We did. Got the slab poured on that medical building, too. I had to drop by and check on that. George’s wife went into labor.”
“Oh, man. How many does this make?”
They started chatting, Dan slowly getting them both stripped down. Each one of his bruises were muttered over, kissed and explored.
When Dan suggested they share a shower, he went eagerly. Weldon wanted to touch and feel, to make sure Dan knew how happy he was they were home and safe and together.
Somehow Dan was under his skin, as necessary as breathing. That was perfectly okay with Weldon.
He didn’t know how to love halfway.
Epilogue
Dan sat at the picnic table closest to the stage, his boot toe tapping along in time with the music. Two of his favorite people were up there playing, one lead guitar, one rhythm. The other member of their band, Mick, was on dobro, the Three Blind Mice backed up by Mick’s best friend Jonas on drums.
He grinned. God, that was a good name for a mostly blind band.
Weldon was hopping around like Jacky, their kangaroo, snapping pictures, telling everyone who asked that the young man on stage was his son, the redhead was Dan’s brother.
Dix looked totally lost in the music, but Jakob was clearly enjoying his first fairly big time gig. The Salt Lick in Round Rock was a pretty big deal, especially on a Friday night.
He thought it was the perfect venue. October was a damn pretty time of year.
Dan grinned at his dad, who had Caleb in his arms, dancing him around, playfully. Mom was sitting with Mel and Kathy, while Jefferson snapped pictures right along with his son. Kenzie and Emma were standing there, watching him like a pair of starving hawks.
“Now, Dan-Dan? Are you ready?”
“Once this song is done,” he said. “They’ll take a break, and Jakob will give me a ching a ling.”
Kenzie’s little heart-shaped face beamed up at him. “Are you so excited, Dan-Dan?”
“Yeah,” his little Marine-in-bright purple said. “Is this scarier than bombs and stuff?”
He spun the ring box in his pocket, gave her a grin. “I’m not scared. I am so tickled, though. I hope he says yes as fast as you two did.” They’d all been conspiring for two weeks. All but Caleb, who still had secret-blurting issues.
“He’ll say yes, Dan-Dan. I promise. You’re… ours.” Emma patted his hand. “Don’t be scared. We have your back.”
Theirs.
Yeah, he guessed he was.
The song came to a wailing, bluesy end, and Jakob smiled.
It was time to make it official. Dan stood when the band gave him his little thrum of guitar strings and took the ring box out of his pocket. He searched the crowd and found his love, watching the surprise dawn on Weldon’s face.
Dan felt pride swell in his chest. Five kids, two mothers-in-law, kangaroos, donkeys, and a soon to be husband. Looked like maybe he was the kind of guy who settled down after all.
Hooah, soldier. Welcome to the real world.
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About the Author
Texan to the bone and an unrepentant Daddy's Girl, BA Tortuga spends her days with her basset hounds, getting tattooed, texting her grandbabies, and eating Mexican food. When she's not doing that, she's writing. She spends her days off watching rodeo, knitting and surfing Pinterest in the name of research. BA's personal saviors include her wife, Julia Talbot, her best friends, and coffee. Lots of coffee. Really good coffee.
Having written everything from fist-fighting rednecks to hard-core cowboys to werewolves, BA does her damnedest to tell the stories of her heart, which was raised in Northeast Texas, but has heard the call of the high desert and lives in the Sandias. With books ranging from hard-hitting GLBT romance, to fiery ménages, to the most traditional of love stories, BA refuses to be pigeon-holed by anyone but the voices in her head.
BA loves to talk to her readers and can be found at http://batortuga.com/.
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B A Tortuga, Real World
