Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine.
Chapter 10
The only noises that could be heard in the Murphy house were those of the family settling down for the night. Samantha and Alex had tucked in their four children shortly after Phil had told his grandchildren goodnight before he, too, had retired for the evening. Their vacation on Tracy Island was coming to a close and Samantha had been doing some serious thinking about not only her children but of Nick and Dani as well.
Sipping on the wine that Alex had handed her, Samantha closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of ocean and the animals that inhabited the island. "Alex, I've been thinking about something and, well, it concerns you and our children and Pop." Opening her eyes, she looked over at Alex. "I'd like to invite Nick and Dani to come and stay with us during the week so that they can attend school with our children. I can't stomach the thought of my niece or nephew attending a boarding school without any family around."
Keeping his poker face on, Alex pretended to contemplate what she was suggesting. "So, you want to add two more children to our household during the school year and either we fly them home every weekend or someone comes up to San Diego to pick them up. And then, next year you'll want Kaia and Aidan to join them, right?"
"Um, yeah, I was kinda thinking along those lines," she admitted. "It would make it a little easier for my brothers and sister-in-laws to know that their children are safe and still with family. I know that we'd probably have to hire another bodyguard to help watch over them but I think that A.J. would be able to manage the six of them this year and gawd knows we have enough room. Lucy has already mentioned that she'd have no problem with sharing her bedroom with Dani since there are two twin sized beds in her room. And Nick could room in with Mikey and Benny or move into the room that Scott uses when he stays." Listening to his wife speak, Alex couldn't help but chuckle. "What's so funny?"
"Aww, Honey, I'd be more than happy to have our nieces and nephews stay with us during the school year." Setting his wine glass on the small table on their balcony, he moved so that he was kneeling before her. "Family is important to all of us and in all honesty, I'd love to have Dani and Nick live with us during the school year." Before the words had even left his mouth, Sam had her arms wrapped around in him in a tight hug.
"Do you know how much I love you, Alex?" she asked, her voice thick with emotion. The man before her had been a constant in her life for more than twenty years and she'd be forever grateful for his tenaciousness and willingness to stand up to her brothers even after John and Scott had shown up on their first date and embarrassed both her and Alex. Most teenaged boys would have run fast and far had they seen the similar expressions that her twin and oldest brother had shown but Alex had stood up to them and asked for their (Virgil, Gordon, and Alan were present as well when he asked) okay to date her.
Nuzzling his face against her neck, he murmured, "Tell me again, Honey, cus I'll never get tired of hearing it." For the longest moment, they stayed like that, basking in the love that they shared until he picked her up and carried her to their bed.
A couple of days later
The large Tracy family had gathered on the pool deck while the children played and splashed around in the pool. Johnny, Lucy, Dani, and Nick watched carefully over their younger siblings and cousins while the adults looked on. Gordon had gone up for his two weeks up on Five.
Strenghtening her resolve, Samantha took a deep breath and looked at John and Catie then TinTin and Alan. "Um, guys, I've been thinking about something and after discussing it with Alex, we wanted to know what you thought." Shifting her gaze to meet Alex's, she continued, "We wanted to offer our house to be our nieces and nephews home during the school year. They can live with us during the school year so that they can come home on the weekends and for breaks." Met with total silence aside from the children playing, Samantha swallowed nervously. "Or not." Suddenly unsure of the offer that she was making, her gaze again shifted to meet Alex's just as Catie jumped from her chair and hugged her.
From the near stranglehold she had around Samantha's neck came the faint words, "Oh, thank you Sammie. I didn't want to send Nick away to school nor did John and I want him to be without any family around him." Backing away from her sister-in-law, she turned to Alex and hugged him just as tightly. "Thank you, Alex. You don't know how much easier this is versus a private boarding school."
Nick had noticed his mother hugging his Aunt Sammie and Uncle Alex and wondered aloud what it was all about. "Benny, do you know why Mommy would be hugging Aunt Sammie and Uncle Alex?" Johnny looked over at the adults and smirked before turning his attention back to those in the pool.
Lucy grinned and answered for him, "I think Mom and Dad offered to let you and Dani come and stay with us during the week so that you can go to the school we attend instead of staying at a boarding school like Mom and her brothers did." Dani looked nervous at the thought of not being with her parents, brother, and grandfathers so Lucy gave her a reassuring hug. "I already told Mom that I'd be more than willing to share my bedroom with you so that you wouldn't be alone. And I know between all of our parents, you and Nick would be home every weekend so that you'd be with your parents." Smiling nervously, Dani relaxed a little before staring back up at the adults. John and Alan were patting Alex on the back and hugging Samantha.
"Thanks for offering this," John asked. "Not that sending Nick away for school is going to be easy but it'll be more bearable for him to be with family."
Alan and TinTin had been pretty quiet aside from the hug and clap on the back that Alan had given Samantha and Alex. They looked at each other for a long moment before Alan nodded. "We'll feel a lot better knowing that Dani and eventually Aidan will be safe with you in San Diego rather than being in a boarding school far from home and family. We're grateful for the offer and gladly accept it. Thanks for doing this for all of us."
Samantha and Alex looked around at Scott, Bekkii, Virgil, and Nicole for a moment before Samantha spoke up again. "When the time comes for Nathan, Kaia, Ani, and Brenna to start elementary school, they, too, will be welcome to stay with us." Smirking just a bit, eyes sparkling with mischief, she added, "Of course, none of you will have a room to sleep in except for Dad. The Tracy children will have taken over the bedrooms that each of you had stayed in during visits."
Knowing how important it would be to each of the nieces and nephews coming to live with them, Alex added his own little surprise. "Since they will be spending a majority of their time at our home, the room that they 'take' over will be decorated according to his or her taste unless Dani chooses to room with Lucy or Nick chooses to room with Benny and Mikey. Luckily, Dani and Lucy have similar taste in décor and Nick is much like Benny and Mikey and the fact that they all like planes, fire trucks, police cars, and astronomy." Jeff, Phil, and Kyrano watched over the siblings working out the details and some of the 'what-ifs' that could come up.
"I am much relieved to know that our granddaughter will be in good hands," Kyrano admitted. "It will be ever so much easier for the parents to see their children off to school, will it not, Mr. Tracy?"
With a slight shake of his head, Jeff answered, "It's never easy to see your children off to the unknown, ever." Shifting his gaze back to his children and daughter-in-laws and son-in-law, "But it's a bit easier knowing that family is nearby and that makes it more bearable."
Looking around the bright and airy room, Dani pushed back the feeling of homesickness and set about unpacking her clothes and toiletries. Lucy watched her younger cousin from the open door. "Dani, I shifted my clothes to the right side of the closet so that you can have the left. The three drawers on the left side of the dresser are for you, too."
Stunned at her cousin's generosity, Dani nodded her head in understanding and made short work of getting her clothing put away. Samantha had promised a girls' shopping day for the next day to get the required uniforms and other necessities that both girls would need for the coming year. "Thank you, Lucy, for being so nice and sharing your room with me. I was afraid of being alone. I mean, I have my own bedroom at home but my brother and parents are nearby."
Lucy moved to her cousin's side and quickly hugged her. "Dani, you're my cousin and I'm glad that you're here. Seriously, think of all the boys that I'm surrounded by every day. At least with you here, I have a girl to talk to." Giggling softly, she continued, "I also cleaned out the 'junk' drawer of my desk and that is for you to use as well. Mom said that Dad will set up an account on my desktop computer for you to use and the vidphone is downstairs in the home office. It's not password locked so you'll be able to call home and talk with Uncle Alan, Aunt TT, Aidan, and both grandfathers."
At a loss for words, Dani gave a ghost of a smile in thanks. A loud ruckus broke out across the hall from Mikey and Benny's bedroom. Dani and Lucy ran from their room and into Lucy's younger brothers' room, stopping short at the sight before them. Mikey, Benny, and Nick had Johnny pinned to the floor and were tickling him unmercifully.
"I give, I give," Johnny shouted, laughing. "Three…to one is…not fair."
Leaning close to his oldest brother's ear, Benny chuckled, "All's fair when you mess with me and Mikey." A brief pause and he looked over at his cousin, "And Nick. You may be bigger, Johnny, but there are more of us."
Grinning at each other, Dani and Lucy, joined the melee so that the odds were evened out, the three oldest pitted against the three youngest. Having heard the laughing and rough housing in their youngest twins' bedroom, Alex and Samantha had come up to investigate. What they saw warmed their hearts and brought laughter to their lips. Hugging his wife, Alex drew her back against him, resting his chin on the top of her head. "We have our full house, Sammie, but the best part is that our children will love their cousins as much as they love each other. They'll get to fully develop that family bond that I always wanted to share with a brother or sister. Now I have five brothers, five sisters, and even more nieces and nephews."
"And I have all the grandchildren I had hoped to have," Phil said from behind them.
Samantha smiled at her father-in-law, "Pop, I'm happy that you're such a big part of our life now." Her smile shifted to a mischievous grin, "But I do have to wonder about your sanity. Seriously, you do realize how chaotic this house is going to be, don't you? Quietness is a thing of the past."
Pensive, Phil weighed his words before responding, "Much as my son wanted brothers and sisters, I wanted more children. I never understood why Pamela was so set against more children. We were both only children and I thought that she'd understand why I wanted more than one." Shaking his head, he a small, sad grin ghosted across his lips. "I was wrong about a lot of things when it came to her. The best thing that came from my marriage was Alex. Did I ever tell you how excited I was the day the two of you called to announce your engagement?" Alex shook his head while Samantha waited to hear more from her father-in-law's perspective. "I was finally getting the daughter I'd always wanted and knew that eventually I would have grandchildren. Only I didn't count on two at once both times." The three adults laughed as Alex and Samantha hadn't anticipated twins for both pregnancies. The only single birth that they suspected had been the one Samantha had spontaneously aborted around her fifth or sixth week.
"You're not the only one," Samantha laughed. "I'm still surprised that with all the technology and medical advances that Lucy was able to 'hide' behind Johnny."
Alex picked up where she left off, "And neither of us expected identical twins but with the addition of Mikey and Benny, our family was complete and now with all of the nieces and nephews, I have the family I've always wanted and then some. I'd never trade what I have for anything but I'll admit I'm sorry that Mom chose not to be part of it. She doesn't know what she's missing out on. Money can make things easy in life but it can't replace the love of a family." Samantha turned in her husband's arms just as Phil placed his hand on his son's shoulder and smiled.
"Hearing you say those words means that I did something right in your upbringing," he said. "And that you know the true value of family and not the pitfalls of wealth."
Suddenly, Samantha, Alex, and Phil realized that the noise level had dropped and glanced back at the children, who were watching them in return. "Grownups are so weird," announced Johnny to his twin, younger brothers, Nick, and Dani. "Mom, what's Andrea fixing for dinner and when will Dani get to meet A.J.?"
"I wonder sometimes if you don't take after your Uncle Scott, Johnny," she answered. "You're always hungry. Andrea's preparing lasagna, garlic bread, and tossed salad for dinner and A.J. will be eating dinner with us tonight so that he may meet Dani and Nick."
Grinning at his younger cousins, Johnny couldn't resist saying, "A.J.'s a huge guy and built like a brick wall. It's best to stay on his good side." Dani's eyes widened in fear while Nick started laughing.
"Johnny, you are so full of baloney," he laughed. "A.J. is big but he's not a meanie. Besides Aunt Sammie could take him down if he messed with us. I saw her take Uncle Alan down lots of times." Turning his attention to his cousin, he patted her arm. "Aunt Sammie and Uncle Alex won't let nothin' happen to us, right Aunt Sammie?" Dani looked over at the grownups and waited for her answer.
With her hand firmly on her cane, Samantha walked over to her niece and carefully knelt down on the floor in front of her. "Dani, I will never let anything happen to anyone in this family. Don't mind what Johnny's saying, he's only teasing you. A.J. is a good man and it's his job to protect all of you when Uncle Alex and I aren't available and even then he's normally with us so that we can protect you better."
Watching her aunt's eyes, Dani knew that she was safe with her aunt and uncle and that they would fight to ensure her safety as well as anyone else they loved. "Thank you, Aunt Sammie for letting me come and live with you and Uncle Alex." Shyly, she looked up at Phil, adding, "And Grandpop." Both sets of Murphy twins grinned at each other and then up at their paternal grandfather, who was watching them and puffed with pride at Dani's acceptance of him.
Never one to be left out, Nick asked, "Can I call you Grandpop, too?" If it were possible, Phil puffed out more with pride and acceptance from his daughter-in-law's niece and nephew.
Stepping around his son and joining Samantha, he knelt down on the floor so that he was on more of an eye-to-eye level with the children. "I'd love for you to call me Grandpop." Glancing at Samantha, he continued, softly, "Thank you, Sammie, for welcoming and including me into your family."
Reaching out a slightly trembling hand, she smiled at him though her eyes were watery. "Pop, I should be thanking you for being supportive of Alex's proposal and accepting one of those "damn" Tracys into your family." Alex stood back and watched those most important to him and smiled at his wife's choice of words.
"Those 'damn' Tracys had accepted him when he was fifteen-years-old and had accepted his father into the family with no questions but wholly and completely even after his mother had shown how nasty she could be," he thought.
With Phil's help, Samantha got back to her feet and said those magical words that would send Johnny and Mikey running to the bathroom to wash up, "Dinner time, now go get those hands washed." Lucy and Dani stood back and watched the boys run for the bathroom Mikey, Benny, and Johnny shared and would share with Nick before heading to the bathroom that they'd be sharing, chatting all the while.
Leaning heavily on her cane, Samantha watched her family until Alex blocked her view of them. "C'mon, Honey, let's go downstairs and get you sitting down."
"That obvious, huh?" she asked, wearily. No longer dependant on the wheelchair or walker, she still relied on her cane when she had over-exerted herself as she had today. They'd gotten up early to finish packing for the return trip to San Diego, loaded the plane, the flight home, and the settling back into their home and she was feeling every bit of it.
Softly kissing her forehead, "Yeah, that obvious. Now, downstairs for a hot dinner and then maybe a nice hot bubble bath and if you're really good, a back massage before bed." Phil discreetly left the couple and checked in on the boys, washing up.
"Hmm, Mr. Murphy, that sounds wonderful," she said. "But right now, I'm so looking forward to that lasagna dinner Andrea prepared."
Laughing out loud, he couldn't help but tease her a bit. "Now who sounds like Scott and Alan?" Taking her free hand in his, they started down the stairs that led into the kitchen. Lucy and Dani were behind them, still chatting. The four boys followed behind the girls with Phil bringing up the rear.
Andrea smiled at the large family and nodded at Samantha and Alex. "Dinner is ready and Johnny, the whoopee cushion that you planted on Nick's chair has been removed."
Chuckling, good-naturedly, at having been caught, Johnny hurried to his place at the table but didn't sit down until Lucy, Dani, and Samantha had all sat down. Mikey, Benny, and Nick mirrored his actions though Nick was a bit confused as to why they had waited. "It's just nice to wait for the women and girls to be seated before we are," Johnny said, shrugging his shoulders. "Dad has always done it for Mom and I kinda just followed what he was doing and then Mikey and Benny fell into the same pattern." After prayer that Dani quietly offered to say, they all chatted amicably with one another and Sam watched over her family and offered her own small thanks for her family, friends, and life. It could have so easily have ended all so differently when she had been shot if Gordon had not tackled Rachel Reed to the ground and held her there until the police came. Looking back over her life, she was somewhat surprised that she was still alive with all of the accidents that she'd had. Surely, someone was looking after her and protecting her and her family.
A warm hand gently covered hers, drawing her from her internal musings. "Honey, are you okay?" Alex stared at her face, searching for clues as to what she was thinking or feeling.
"I'm fine, Alex. Just thinking about just how lucky I am and how much my guardian angel or more than likely my family's guardian angel or angels have worked at keeping us safe." Entwining her fingers with his, she smiled that special smile that was reserved for hiim and him alone.
"You know, Mom, I think it's Grandma Lucy watching over us," Johnny said, suddenly. "I don't remember much about when Lucy and I were stuck in that playhouse but I got the feeling that someone was watching over us and keeping us safe until Uncle Scotty and Uncle Alan got us out of there." He noticed everyone staring at him and cleared his throat. "Sometimes, I could smell something flowery, kinda like that perfume that you wear every once in a while."
Samantha's eyes widened in surprise for no one at the table would have known that Lucy Tracy's favorite perfume was one that smelled of lavender. "Mom always wore the same perfume because Dad liked it. It was light and not overpowering," she said, softly. "Mom, were you watching over my babies until we found them?"
"Yes, Sweetie, I was watching over my grandbabies for you just as I've watched over my babies and dearest husband for all these years. I've never left just as I promised you all those years ago that I'd never leave any of you."