After La Roca

Chapter 10

"Alright Jack!" Stephen cheered, "You are getting to be quite a sailor, you'll have your license in no time." Jack beamed proudly as he steered the boat to the dock and jumped off to tie it in. Stephen watched as his son secured the boat. The past three weeks were busy for them, sailing, crabbing, scuba diving, and exploring the lighthouses and the time quickly flew by. Jack was growing so fast, and Stephen was glad that they had the chance to reconnect. A twinge of guilt came over him as he thought about Baracas, but he put it out of his mind as fast as he could.

"Hey buddy how about a nice dinner out tonight, I'm sure you are getting tired of the old man's cooking" "Sure Dad." Stephen smiled and hugged his son. Jack was a great kid, why did it take him almost dying in Central America to figure it out? "Dad…. you're crushing me" Jack choked. Stephen chuckled. "Sorry son."

At the restaurant they were looking over their menus when Jack said the most random thing to Stephen.

"I like Natalie."

"What?" asked his father in amazement. Jack repeated his statement. Stephen was shocked, Jack had only met her on two or three occasions, how did he remember her?

"She's nice and she's really pretty, you should ask her out. Stephen looked at his son and laughed that an 11 year old would give him dating advice.

"Yeah, she is a great doctor."

"Come on Dad, you like her don't you?"

"Yes, I like her very much."

"Well then…"

"Son, I appreciate your concern, but I'm ok really."

"But Dad, I don't want you to be lonely, mom has Derek now and…." Stephen smiled as he interrupted his son. "Jack, I have you how can I ever be lonely?"

Stephen was not one to ask women out. How he got Lisa to notice him was always a mystery to him. When they met, he had just come back from his tour of duty with the army in the Middle East. He had a reputation as an outstanding, exceptional doctor but very serious, and somewhat with drawn. They were introduced by mutual friends who felt that her outgoing personality would loosen him up. Lisa was instantly attracted to his bright blue eyes and his brooding good looks and he was surprised at how easily he could talk to her. Within a year the two were married. She was a big help to him as his career took off and she enjoyed going to his functions and hosting parties in their home.

As time went on though he became more and more involved in his work first as Head of Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins, then at the NIH and his wife took second place. Stephen was a crusader, hoping to cure all the world's ailments as if to make up for the loss of his beloved sister. That drive and commitment made him a great doctor but a lousy husband. When Jack was born, he tried to scale back a bit, but each time he tried, his drive to find a cure to whatever disease presented itself to him proved to have a stronger hold on him. He always promised Lisa that he would change but it never happened. They went for counseling once and it seemed to help for awhile but then it was business as usual, Stephen's work hours got longer, the assignments took him away more and more, and when he was home the arguments between them grew steadily worse.

He accused her of being whiny and selfish; she accused him of being cold and uncaring. When she demanded a separation, he resisted, and again promised he would change, offered to go to back to therapy, but it was too late in her mind. She wanted out and nothing would change her mind. The arguing continued to escalate and during one heated exchange Jack came in between them crying and begging them to stop. Lisa took him in her arms, and Stephen's heart broke as he realized he was hurting his son, so he finally relented, with the hope that they could work it out, but every attempt was always interrupted by a phone call and another case he couldn't refuse. When Stephen found out she was dating again and was getting pretty serious about one guy Jack told her about, and once the divorce was final, he decided to close himself off to that part of his life, not wanting to cause or feel that kind of pain again.

They spent the rest of the evening talking about other things, Stephen made sure of it. That night after Jack had gone to bed, Stephen's thought long and hard about his life. He promised himself and God that he would be different. If it was too late for him and Lisa, he would make damned sure it wouldn't be too late for him and Jack. As he drifted off to sleep thoughts of Natalie surfaced. He could see her face, hear her voice and he wondered how she was doing, what new case the team was working on and if she missed him. "Don't go there Stephen," he scolded himself, "you will only wind up hurting her too."