One Step at a Time
Disclaimer: All characters, etc., belong to their owners...yep...just wrote this story here.
A/N: This story picks up some years after Life's Decisions. If you haven't read it or its preceding stories, We've All Made Promises and Truths Revealed, you may want to do that so you have an idea of who some of the characters are here. Yes, this starts off a new trilogy. Hope you enjoy it.
Prologue
Walking up the sidewalk, Christine stopped at the mailbox. Glancing up, she realized it was about to storm. She grabbed the mail and hurried inside the house before the rain began to fall. There was a flash of light, and by the time she got to the door, a roll of thunder cracked through the air, causing her to jump. She made it inside and shut the door.
Christine hurried to the back of the house to make sure nothing was in the backyard that shouldn't get wet. She returned to the living room to find a teenage boy and a four-year-old girl sitting on the sofa. The little girl looked startled.
"Is she all right?" Christine asked.
"I think that thunderclap scared her," the boy replied.
"It was loud," Christine replied, sitting next to the little girl on the sofa.
"Mommy, where's Daddy?" the little girl asked.
"He's still at work, sweetie."
"Won't the storm get him?"
"Not if he's inside," Christine responded. "He'll be okay, don't worry."
After the little girl seemed reassured, Christine headed back into the kitchen where she'd dropped the mail. She picked it up and shuffled through the envelopes. It was the normal mail, the bills, the ads, but she came across one envelope that made the others seem even more insignificant. She looked at the return address and nearly jumped when she read the name. She didn't know what to do. It would have to wait until her husband came home, which shouldn't be too long now.
She was right. She was still staring at the envelope when a twenty-nine-year-old Drake Parker walked through the front door. He was soaking wet.
"Man," said Drake. "It's really coming down. I should have brought an umbrella this morning." He stopped at the mirror in the hall to check his reflection. He still took pride in his looks. Some things he just wasn't going to grow out of. "For my hair's sake, next time I'll check the weather," he said, shaking his head. "I...what's the matter?" he asked Christine. She was still holding the envelope that had caught her attention. She handed it to him, and he studied it carefully. "It's from..."
"...yeah," Christine replied. "What do we do?"
"We have to talk to him. If we don't, he'll find out eventually."
"It's just been nine years. Does she really expect..."
"Maybe she expects him to be more like me."
"When do you want to tell him?"
"I don't even know how I'm going to tell him."
"We'll think about it, okay? Give it a few days. Then we'll talk to him together."
"All right," Drake sighed. The first few years of taking care of his brother, he'd expected this. However, nothing came in those first few years. Why now?