Chapter 57: Holidays

Summer came quickly. With it, the long days, the sun, the heat, the mosquitoes. Claire hated mosquitoes that bit her all the time. "Stop scratching, it'll be worse after you do so." It was Neil's favorite sentence these days. But she couldn't help but doing it. "Stop telling me this! I'm going to become insane because of all these bites." She kept cursing for a while before he stopped hearing her. She must have found something to keep her mind busy.

At Raleigh General, the new organization of the ER was almost totally optimal. Dr. After having worked on it for months with Cameron and Lisa, it was time to put int into practice. Challenging and stressful. Dr. Litt was still defiant to yield but each day that passed, Claire could feel he was backing off. Most of his colleagues were quibbled over the new procedures less and less. Some said it was OK, others even said there were good ideas in what had been put in place. Of course, Litt was not this kind and tried some tricks to make the new organization fall down. Unfortunately for him, Cameron and Claire had predicted his actions and had been able to overcome him. Even better, they managed to beat him at his own game.

"Claire? Where are you?" Neil was telling her name all over the house. She waved at him from the back of the garden. She was giving food to Nuggets and Kotkot. It was nice to her like this. Appeased, smiling, happy. Away from decades of pain and sorrow. He smiled and then remembered what he was about to ask because he saw she had her impatient air.

"Neil? What is it?"

"Do you know where my car keys are?"

"Seriously?! You've lost them again?"

He bent the head. "Yes… But you know I was…"

"Tired?! Busy?! Seriously, Neil! Is it so complicated to put them in the key cupboard when you come home? It'll spare us… Me, hours to look after them because you do know I'm gonna look for them, because I'm so furious right now you've lost them again."

He looked at her passing just behind him. She was angry. He knew he lost his keys often, too often but he didn't expect she would react this way. He preferred to remain quiet and followed her in the house. She was under so much stress at work that he'd better not say a word. She came out of their bedroom fifteen minutes later, car keys in her hands. She handed them to him with a satisfied smile. "All yours… Next time, put them in the key cupboard when you come home. I'm tired to look for them constantly when it's so easy to…"

He stuck a kiss on her lips. She was so sexy when she was pissed. And it was the best way to end a fight. She kissed him back with strength. As if she was using all her anger to kiss him. And it felt good. He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her against the wall behind them. She didn't resist. She knew what was coming and she agreed with all of this.

He took her tee-shirt off and kissed her breasts. Wildly. But softly. She enjoyed the moment to kiss his neck. From here, she could hear his heart beating and it invigorated her. She unbuttoned her trousers, then his. Pushing both of them to the ground. He grabbed her more tightly. She knew that it was the moment they were waiting for. The moment when they were in perfect symphony. At every level.

Feeling him so alive here and in her right at this moment made her forget about her troubles to get pregnant, her disagreements with Dr. Litt and her recent sleepless nights. He got apart from her a few minutes later, getting dressed again.

"That was a hell of a ride…"

"I just felt it was the right moment… And I still had a few minutes before going to the airport and pick Morgan, Alex and Gabbie…"

"And you used them well…." She smiled at him while getting dressed.

"Now if you excuse me, I'll have to pick my lil sis and our friends to the airport."

"And I've got beds to prepare, a dog and chicken to feed."

"See you in a few hours…" She waved at him and watched him go away by the bathroom window. She had a lot of work to do before welcoming their friends!

[…]

Neil arrived at the airport just in time. The plane landed 30 minutes ago. Time for him to park the car! Morgan, Alex and Gabbie will have the time to get their luggage back. He couldn't wait to see his little sister! He hadn't seen her since they had arrived in Raleigh, 6 months ago. Of course, he called her by Skype but it was not the same thing. All he wanted now was to hug her.

When he saw her face at the arrival desk, he grinned. Like a child looking at all the gifts under the tree on Christmas morning. She was here, smiling, holding Alex's hand. She let out a shout when she saw Neil. She ran as she could and dropped Alex's hand to go in her brother's arms. It felt so good to see after more than six months!

"Hola Gabbi! I'm so happy to see you ! Cómo estás pequinas?"

Gabbi giggled and hid in Neil's arms. He understood it was her way to tell him she missed him too. He pressed her tighter against him. It felt so good to see her here. He stood up a moment later to embrace Alex and Morgan. "Finally, you take us into account!"

"Always so sarcastic, Morgan."

She smiled proudly. "You know me. Glad to see you! How is life in North Carolina?"

"Good, really good! But follow me, Claire is waiting for us at the house! She will explain everything to you in details! I'm very happy you're all here!"

He took Gabbi's suitcase from Alex's hands to lighten him and he led them to the parking. Morgan helped Gabbie to get in the car, while Alex and Neil put the luggage in the trunk.

"We'll be home in about 45 minutes!" Neil announced proudly. "While I'm driving, enjoy the landscape, it really changed from San José!"

Neil explained to them how Claire and he settled in their new house. How they adopted a dog and two chicken. He could see the sparkled in Gabbie's eyes while looking at her in the inside rearview. He let out a large smile. Alex asked him about Raleigh General Hospital. Where it was. Was It far away from their house? How were the other doctors there?

"I can show you the location, it's on our way!"

Neil turned right, leaving the highway. He drove through the old city and reached the hospital. He parked for a moment to show them the place from the outside. "If you like, we could come for a little visit? I've got some documents to drop at the HR anyway."

Morgan and Alex agreed. "So we could see your offices! Claire can't stop telling me that the view is amazing. She sent me pics but it's better to see with your own eyes."

"We could organize this and by the way, I promise Dr. Cameron some tips about finding funding. I made a copy of our work for the clinic but you could talk with her too."

"If we can help!" Alex was very enthusiastic to help. They got back into the car and Neil drove them to the house. Gabbie started to become impatient. As he parked the car in the alley, Claire came out of the house and ran to the car.

"OMG I'm so happy you're here!" She hugged Alex and Morgan while Neil helped Gabbie to get out of the car.

"Claire!"

"Gabbie! You're here too! I'm so happy to see you!" She ran to take her in her arms. She knelt to be at Gabbie's height. "I prepare your room, next to Neil and mine. And there's a surprise waiting you there…"

Gabbie's eyes were about to explode as she imagined the surprise in her head. "Do you want to come with me and I can show you?"

She nodded and took Claire's hand. "I join you later, just time to make Gabbie comfortable."

Neil whispered her "thank you" and helped Morgan and Alex to get the suitcases out of the trunk. Claire helped Gabbie to climb the stairs. She hold her backpack and could see Beebee, the seal plush toy inside the bag. She let out a smile.

"Here we are Gabbie, this is your room! Open the door…"

Gabbie pushed the door and let out a yell. A giant seal push toy was on the bed, with a tiny otter and a medium-size dolphin.

"Neil and I thought maybe Beebee will be happy to have some company…"

She smiled when she saw her hugging as strong as she could the plush toys they had bought for her. She enjoyed the view and the giggles. "And I was about to forget, Gabbie, there's a lot of puzzles in the drawers just there. And also some dolls here."

The eyes of her sister-in-law sparkled like on Christmas morning. "Do you want to come back with us or you'd rather stay here?"

"Want to stay here… Beebee too!"

"Not a problem but if you need anything, you call us and either Neil or I will come to help you, ok?"

"I promise."

Claire closed the door and let Gabbie play. She could hear her talking to the plush toys. Holidays started well. She joined Morgan, Alex and Neil on the terrace. Neil poured them some coffee.

"Is Gabbie ok?"

"She doesn't want to leave her room anymore. I tell her to call us if she needs anything." She smiled at her husband. "I'm so glad you're here! I mean it's been 6 months! Time has been so fast since we left San José! What's new there?"

"Glassman finally retired!" Alex shouted.

"No way, finally? I thought he will never leave his office! Like he could have died in here. Ok, not funny, but he could have."

"Neil… That's not nice." Claire scolded him before burst into laughing. "But it's so true! I'll always believed he'll stay in there till his dying breath."

"Look who's not nice now." Neil teased her. She stuck her tongue to him. As when they started dating. Old habits were hard to lose. Even more when you had no intention to.

"Ah ah ah … And Shaun is fine with that? I mean it's a lot of changes for him in only six months…" Claire lowered her look. She had her worried air.

"Indeed it is… But he's dealing very good with all of this. I guess Miss Vera has something to do with all his new philosophy of life. I mean I know he's still scared of changes but he deals with them very well. At least, he knew how to apprehend them. I ate lunch with him two days ago and we were talking about coming here. And despite his fear of planes, he seemed fine with moving for the holidays. Which is huge!"

"By the way, when is he coming?" Morgan asked.

"Vera texted me they are leaving tomorrow morning. Shaun can't take a single flight because he's scared of planes so they did the trip in three time. So in three days from now." Claire answered.

"It's been months since I've seen him. Spend all my days at the clinic and when I get home, I'm so tired, I can't even watched a whole movie with Alex. "

"And she snored on my shoulders so I don't hear a single thing."

"You're over exaggerating, I'm not snoring… At least, not that loud. Come on!"

"I know someone else who's snoring." Neil told, pointing Claire with his forefinger.

"Not you too! Ok I may be snoring a little but you're good at too. Remember this night when…"

"And we end this conversation here."

It was really good to see their friends again.

[…]

Alex and Morgan went in their room and took a nap while Claire worked a little on her files. Neil was making some research on a new pathology he had heard about in a scientific journal. Potatoes and chicken were cooking in the oven. And they heard Gabbie talking to her dolls and plush toys. They were interrupted when Morgan and Alex woke up from their nap.

"Hey! You relaxed well?"

"Perfect! Thanks Claire. And all I so quiet here!"

Neil raised his head from his phone. "I've just texted Cameron. She's Ok if we come to see her tomorrow to talk about the best ways to find funding. Is everyone ok with that? So after we can fully enjoy our holidays!"

"Great for us. I mean, Alex?"

"Yeah Of course! If we can help, I'm in."

"Just one question. We can't go with Gabbie here. She won't be at ease there…"

"I can ask Lisa if she's working tomorrow, maybe she could keep an eye on Gabbie while we're meeting with Cameron. She could play in one of our offices… Let me call her."

She grabbed her phone on the table and went outside.

"Who's this Lisa?"

"Don't be jealous, Morgan. She's one of the nurses Claire has quickly befriended with. But you'll always be her number one... I mean after me, of course."

Neil and Alex shared a conniving laugh. "Anyway, let's talk about something else. Where's Scooter?"

Neil whistled and yelled Scooter's name from the terrace. The dog appeared at the end of the garden. "Come on, guy, we've got guests." The dog understood Neil's gestures and ran up to the terrace to lying on Neil's feet. "Ohhh that's a good boy. That's my good boy."

After a while, he stood up and introduced him to his friends. "Scooter, meet Morgan and Alex! Morgan and Alex, meet Scooter!"

Morgan knelt and stroked the dog who rolled on his back. Alex joined her just after. "I already love him!"

Claire came back. "And it's good! Lisa will keep an eye over Gabbie tomorrow." She stopped for a minute and smiled. "I see you met Scooter! Come see Mommy, my Scoot!"

The dog ran to Claire and she stroked him hard. "Is it too soon to show Scooter to Gabbie?"

"Don't think so… We used to have a dog when we were kids. Let go and get her."

Neil climbed the stairs. They could hear him talk to Gabbie, asking her to come with her. Even if she was reluctant at first, she finally agreed to come with her brother. "I promise you this is a big surprise!"

"Bigger than the seal and the otter and the dolphin?"

"Even bigger." Neil let go of Gabbie's hand when she saw Scooter. She remained in awe.

"A dog…" Scooter immediately turned when he heard her voice and came closer. She sat on the ground and Scooter lay next to her. She stroked him and tipped over the dog. Neil smiled at the scene, then looked at Claire who was smiling too.

"I guess you have no time to meet Kotkot and Nuggets, then, Gabbie…"

She stood quickly. "Who are they?"

"Our chicken who live at the end of the garden."

"Cool!" She took Claire's hand and they walked to the hen house. "If anyone wants to come, you're all welcome!"

Morgan and Alex followed, then Neil and Scooter. He kept an eye on him. He knew he had no right to come into the hen house but he could try something. And Gabbie was in good hands. So there was nothing to fear.