Their Second Chance

Chapter 10

After a long day at the office, Andrea got home. She had worried about Hannah all day. Andrea had told herself all day that it wasn't right. Hannah was not her child. She was Mike's. It was his job to worry about her. Andrea wasn't quite sure what her position was in Hannah's life. She wasn't even her foster parent anymore since Mike had gotten custody of Hannah. Mike was worried about Children's Division swooping in and taking Hannah if he didn't stay put at Andrea's. He was terrified of losing Hannah. Mike had been a good friend for a lot of years. The least Andrea could do was let Mike and Hannah stay at her house to ease Mike's mind a bit and to give Hannah whatever it was that Andrea was giving her. Andrea wasn't even sure.

When she walked in; Hannah was sound asleep on the couch and Mike was fixing dinner. Besides being handy around the house; Mike was practically a gourmet chef. Despite limited food supplies; he managed to create delicious meals. It had shocked Andrea because Mike had always seemed like the man that probably couldn't boil water. She knew that Christine had been an amazing baker and just assumed that Christine had done the cooking too. Apparently though; it was a duty they shared when Mike was home for deployment. He was also observant of some dietary restrictions that Hannah had; and managed to keep her eating even when she didn't feel well. If they followed her diet to a tee; it was bland. Mike managed to adhere to the restrictions despite the food supply issues and make it appetizing enough for Hannah to be interested in. It was something Andrea had had issues with and Hannah was very aware of the types of food she needed to avoid.

Mike got the soup dished up while Andrea set the table. Hannah was still sound asleep on the couch with her puppy. Andrea got the sense that Mike was struggling with something but until he felt the need to share; it was none of her business. She finally went over and shook Hannah awake. The little girl acted just like her father when she first woke up. One eye open, groans, and rolling over away from Andrea. Her normally sunny disposition was a little lacking when she first woke up. Andrea shrugged her shoulders and looked at Mike for guidance.

"Let me show you something." Mike walked over, bent over and started tickling Hannah behind her knees and on the bottom of her stocking feet. Within about thirty seconds, Hannah started giggling wildly. Rather than joining in; Andrea sit back and watched the cute father-daughter moment. She loved to hear Hannah laugh and Mike hadn't really laughed in years. Hannah was tickling Mike back which caused him to laugh. Andrea loved that sound and wanted to hear it more often.

"Alright, supper is ready. You didn't eat lunch so you have to be hungry. Let's eat."

"Okay, Daddy."

Both Mike and Andrea smiled at Hannah. She hadn't spoken at all that day and barely the day before because she hadn't felt well. Mike had been worried that she was reverting due to not feeling well. It had been disheartening. He kissed her on the cheek and they walked hand in hand to the dining room table with Andrea following behind.

Hannah was apparently feeling a lot better because she ate all of her supper and got seconds. She was smiling and laughing. Mike and Andrea began talking about her bathroom renovation. The next day was Saturday and there was a planned trip to the hardware store to get the necessary supplies. They would keep Hannah away from the area of the store that had caused her asthma attack on the first trip. They didn't expect Hannah to get involved in the conversation or the odd nickname she had started using for Andrea.

"Andi, what color are you going to paint the room?" Mike and Andrea exchanged a look. It was the first time Hannah had used the nickname which told Mike that Hannah was becoming even more familiar with Andrea and because it was the most that Hannah had talked.

"What color do you think I should paint it?"

"You don't look like someone who would want pink or purple?"

"No way."

"That color in Daddy's room is nice and it matches everything."

"Mike, our little interior designer has spoken."

"She has. Hannah, what color on the vanity? I'm going to build it so it can be anything."

"What's the floor? If it's the wood like in here then a wood vanity will look silly. A white one would be pretty with anything."

"There's hard wood in there and I would just as soon not pull it up. It's in good shape."

"No need to then. You don't want the footprint changed, do you?"

"Aside from a bigger shower, no. I don't care much about the bathtub."

"That'll give me room for the bigger shower. Is it a light wood or darker?"

"It's medium. Just like the one in the living room."

"Alright, little miss interior decorator; what kind of tiles should the shower have? And what about the countertop on the vanity? You okay with this, Andrea…or Andi, rather?"

"Cute. Yeah, it's fine."

"Daddy, where's those samples? I'm done eating."

"Let me get them. Please take your dishes to the sink and help Andi put everything in the dishwasher."

"Okay, Daddy!"

Andrea and Hannah cleaned up supper and put the dishes in the dishwasher. While Mike set the samples on the table; they took Clumsy for a short walk outside. Hannah actually skipped along with the small puppy. It was like she was a different kid. Whatever had been wrong with Mike earlier seemed better now that Hannah was having a better day. They made their way back to the house and fed the puppy while Mike was taking measurements in the bathroom.

"Alright, I do think a walk in shower will work in there. You have room for a large, like a two person one with a bench. Is that what you want?"

"Yeah, that's exactly what I want. But with the glass doors?"

"Yep."

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Hannah?"

"Why would the shower need room for two people?"

"Uh…Um…well, it'll just be that big. It doesn't mean that two people will take a shower in it at the same time."

"Oh, ok. I'm gonna go get Clumsy her toy." Hannah bounced into her room and as soon as she was out of the room, both Mike and Andrea started laughing. Mike was blushing which was even more hilarious. Thankfully Hannah was taking her time and it gave them time to recover.

"I love that she's talking but wow, I wish she hadn't decided to ask that question."

"You're blushing. I didn't think that you could get embarrassed?"

"It's more over a memory."

"Want to share?"

"You might consider it too much information."

"I'm intrigued?"

"Christine and I always did really well when I first come home from deployment. One night, we forgot to lock the bedroom door. Things had started in the shower of the master bathroom. Neither of us realized it when we were in there, Hannah and Lucas had come in, wanting to sleep in our bed. The bathroom door was closed and we were going to continue things in the bedroom. I walked out in a towel and thankfully got stopped in time to alert Christine who didn't have anything on. Hannah and Lucas were both sitting on the bed in their footie pajamas, completely oblivious. She was about five and he was three. More information then what you wanted to know, right? It was so embarrassing."

"Bill and I had something similar happen with Lily. It's like a rite of passage, I think. So what happened?"

"We ducked into the master closet and put pajamas on. We couldn't deny them. They were just so darn cute. Before the end of the night, Abby ended up with us too. She was about eight then. It definitely put the kibosh on our plans."

"It's a sweet memory. I'm just trying to figure out how you fit the three kids, yourself and Christine in the same bed?"

"And it was a queen sized bed. Lucas, more or less, slept on top of me. I did end up with a split lip from that night. Abby elbowed me. She felt horribly."

"She was such a sweet girl."

"Mmm-Hmm."

"Mike, it's healthy to talk about them. You need it and they deserve to be remembered."

"I've been doing that a lot today. It's Christine and I's seventeenth wedding anniversary…or would have been."

"I didn't realize. I'm sorry."

"It snuck up on me. Christine always had to remind me."

"Bill was like that. Never remembered it until a week or so later."

"Our last anniversary together, our fourteenth, we'd been in counseling. No one figured we'd make it. We had the Navy Ball. Christine hated that stuff with a passion. It was also our anniversary that weekend. I had gotten us a hotel room that night. Neither of us would be able to drive. Mom was watching the kids. She was on a fixed income but had won some jackpot at bingo. Mom knew that Christine and I were having issues and she was determined that we'd stay married. She loved Christine and Christine adored her. She took the money she won and got us a second night at the hotel. We did a lot of talking that weekend. We'd even talked about having a baby when I got home. Mom died suddenly the next week and three weeks later, I deployed to the Arctic. By the time I made it back to the house; according to those death certificates, Abby and Christine were dead and Lucas had been for a while."

"I didn't realize that you're mom had died so soon before the deployment. You didn't request personal time?"

"You never knew my mom. She would have absolutely come undone if I did that. She was really proud of my service. And before you say it, yes, I was a Momma's boy, through and through."

"You were an only child. And you are a man any mother would be proud to call her son. What caused her death?"

"Thanks. It was an apparent heart attack. The bad part was that I had picked Hannah and Lucas up early from school. She had a picture she wanted Mom to have. I stayed in the truck with Lucas while Hannah took it in. She came back out and was having an asthma attack. I got her calmed down and she finally told me that her Nana wouldn't wake up. I had the neighbor watch the kids while I went into Mom's apartment. She was already cold and stiff. Mom was sitting in her recliner with her feet up. Had her pajamas on, She had the habit of fixing herself a cup of chamomile tea before bed and reading her Bible for an hour. Mom had done that since I was a kid. The tea was still sitting there when I got to her and her Bible was in her lap. I figure that she had sit down the night before, read and drank part of her tea and then died. Peaceful."

"I'm sorry. How did Hannah do?"

"Not good. And me leaving so soon afterwards didn't help. Christine got stuck sorting out Mom's apartment and helping the kids grieve. And she and Mom were close. Christine's parents left a lot to be desired and Mom and she bonded, I guess over being a mom. Looking back now, I feel horribly about leaving. Here's Hannah."

Mike got quiet. He apparently didn't want to remind Hannah of finding her Nana. She had probably witnessed a lot worse since. Hannah had sat down at the table and was looking at the samples. She had handed Mike her notebook. There were pictures that she had drawn of Andrea's bathroom. Mike was shocked at how good they were. There were detailed drawings of a shower that was identical to what Andrea had described wanting and also of a vanity. And also of the whole room.

"No detailed picture of the toilet?"

"No, Daddy. That would just be silly."

"Andi, what do you think?"

"I love it. Hannah, what do you think for tiles and countertop?"

"These brown tiles for the shower with these little ones in a diamond pattern. This light colored stone for the counter."

"Our interior designer has spoken. Mike, you have your marching orders."

"I do. You know, Andi, this can't get out. We're being bossed around by a ten year old pip squeak. Two Captains in the United States Navy."

Hannah started giggling at them. Mike's day had been rough but Hannah was feeling better and had talked more than she had. Her laughter made him feel lighter. They spent the rest of the evening, talking about the bathroom. Hannah would talk at different times and Mike and Andrea both included her into the conversation. It was the best night the three of them had had in a long time.