Afterboom – Chapter 52

"Well if it ain't the Big Kahuna himself," Robert remarked dryly as his son unloaded his bag off his shoulder.

"Hey, Dad. Missed you too," Nick, said with a smirk. He walked over to his father who struggled to push himself off the couch and gave him a bear hug.

"Well? How'd he take the news?" Robert pried.

"He took it like Sam. Minimal emotion, but I could tell that it's gonna take some getting used to. Hannah and I discussed it in length. We're going to let him steer things between us for a while. Let him have as much contact with me as he wants. No point forcing the relationship. Besides, at ten, who really wants to be told who to hang out with anyway?" Nick called out in one breath, his head buried in the refrigerator.

"This isn't a play date with nanny son. This is your kid. Your own life's blood. How can you just leave it up to a ten year old to decide how much is too much contact?" Robert demanded.

"Dad, Sam isn't like other ten year olds. When we told him, yeah he seemed shocked at first but he already knew at the back of his mind that I was his old man. He's intuitive. He's smart. He knows exactly what he wants and Hannah and I trust him to decide what he wants out of this new relationship we got going here."

"Being a father is no cake walk. If you're in it you do whatever it takes to make it work. You fight for your relationship to work. All you have is the 'now'." Robert reminded him.

"I know, Dad. And I appreciate you worrying about this, but really, you have nothing to worry about. Sam's fine."

"And what about you and Hannah? I mean what does this mean for the two of you? Are you dating each other now? Getting married?"

Nick looked at him as if he lost his mind, "Uh, yeah, as soon as her father and I come to an agreement on how many goats she's worth."

"That's not a stupid thing to ask, Nick," Robert snapped, " Is it so crazy to think that the father and mother of my grandchild might actually consider becoming a proper family?"

"Yeah it is a crazy thought, dad. Because to know Hannah and I is to know that we're anything but conventional. And who said we're not a proper family anyway? Just because we don't live under the same roof? By that definition we were never a proper family. Because the entire time you served you lived somewhere else. Dad, Hannah and I are taking things slow at the moment. Sam has enough to deal with as it is. He doesn't need our issues to get in the way of his adjustment."

"That's all I'm asking," Robert replied defensively, "But good to know where you're at."

"Its not that crazy a question," Nick added quietly under his breath.

"Where's my grandson now?" Robert inquired.

"He's across the street, at Doodie's place. I'm telling you I've never seen a kid that excited to come back to the Ridge. Come to think of it, I've never seen anyone that excited to be back," Nick said snapping a can of Coke free from the crate. "Nothing ever changes around here, ya know?" he added pulling his head out of the fridge.

Just then the front door swung open and Ronnie walked in.

Robert's expression changed, "Uh, do you think you can make it to dinner tomorrow night?" he called after Nick.

"Nicky!" Ronnie greeted running over to Nick and pulling him into a hug.

"Hey baby bro', what goes on?" Nick asked slightly startled by the overenthusiastic welcome.

"Oh good, you're both here. Can you come in here so that I can see what's going on?" Robert called after them. Nick reappeared in the doorway of the lounge with Ronnie in close tow.

"Dinner. Can you two make it?" Robert repeated raising his eyebrows expectantly.

"Sure. What's the occasion?" Nick asked, popping the seal and plopping down opposite his father.

"The fact that you actually came back this time," Robert replied sarcastically.

"That's real funny, dad. Don't quit your day job," Nick said taking a swig of his Coke.

"Why do you need at dinner, Dad?" Ronnie asked.

"I just want us to sit down and have a civilised meal like a real family," Robert insisted.

"A real family?" Ronnie asked quizzically.

"Yeah dad's going though some phase in his old age. His ideals of a real family are rearing their ugly head," Nick informed Ronnie.

"Lately it's as if you and your brother have fallen off the face of the earth, I see you so seldom. Leslie is making her famous pot roast and I expect you two to be here at eighteen hundred hours tomorrow night with your significant others and my grandson. End of story," Robert commanded.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. That might be hard to arrange, Dad. How do we know that Hannah and Aubrey and Sam don't have other plans at such short notice?" Nick said quickly.

"Yeah I mean they could have a million things planned," Ronnie chimed in, getting a strange look from his father.

"I don't want to hear it. Its bad enough you two have been out of sight lately, I'll be damned if I let that happen to my grandson as well," Robert said sternly in a voice that told his sons he meant business. "Now, I will see you both at six sharp tomorrow night for an unforgettable evening, am I making myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," Nick and Ronnie replied reluctantly.

Good, thought Robert contentedly, sitting back in his seat, a nice meal, my family and my wife-to-be. Doesn't get much better than that, does it?