Unbroken Chapter 7 - Worth the Wait

"Laura, thank God you're here," Lia said, as she shifted Luke up onto her shoulder and drew her friend into the warm house. "I've been going absolutely mad. Robbie's first words to me were 'nothing's broken, James is fine.' But they don't keep you in the hospital when you're fine."

"I spoke with his doctor," Laura said, tossing her coat onto a nearby chair. She put an arm around Lia's shoulders. "James will be okay. They just want to get his core temperature up before he comes home."

"Auntie Laura!" Grace called out as she ran over. Visits from Laura and Robbie got almost the same level of excitement from Grace as James' arrivals home.

"Hello, my sweet girl," Laura said, swinging her up into a hug and kissing her smooth cheek.

"Have you eaten?" Lia asked. "I've got roast chicken and veg ready to come out of the oven."

"So that's what that wonderful smell is. Actually, I'm starving, so yes, thank you."

Lia put Luke in the baby swing and switched it on to keep him peaceful while she gathered plates, glasses, silverware and napkins. Laura supervised Grace who insisted on standing on a chair and setting the table herself.

"You remember the "small bomb" incident before we went to New Zealand, don't you," Laura said. "Robbie is a master of understatement."

Lia brought the roasting pan out of the oven and carried it to the table. As she had cut the chicken into pieces before roasting, she only needed to plate the food and cut Grace's meal into bite sized pieces..

They kept the conversation to small talk out of deference to Grace. For a child not quite three, her verbal comprehension was far ahead of her chronological age.

"There's plenty left for Robbie and James," Lia said. "I'm sure they'll be hungry."

After dinner, the women worked quickly to store the leftovers and load the dishwasher. It would only be a matter of time before Grace and Luke needed attention. When the kitchen was tidy, Lia got the children into their pajamas. She hoped to get both children down before James came home. She didn't know in what condition he would be and didn't want Grace to be frightened.

Grace asked Aunt Laura to read with her and brought over a stack of books. She piled them on the table and climbed onto the sofa to nestle beside Laura. First up was "The Adventures of Peter Rabbit."

They were a few pages in when Laura accidentally skipped a line. "Auntie Laura, you forgot the part about the french beans. See, right there." Grace's tiny index finger pointed to the words.

"Quite right, Grace," Laura said. "I missed a bit. Sweetie, what does this word say?"

"It says 'radishes.' I don't like them, do you?"

"I do, actually," Laura said, mouthing "she can read?" to Lia, who nodded as she nursed Luke.

Auntie Laura read four books, but during the fifth, Grace grew drowsy and curled up on Laura's lap.

"It's time for bed, love," Lia said after she came back having put Luke down for the night. Or what she dearly hoped was the night, though it would probably only be for a period of hours.

"I want to see Daddy," Grace said. " I want him to give me a goodnight kiss."

"Daddy won't be home until late, Grace. He will kiss you when you're asleep," Lia said. "You know because he's a police officer, he has to keep people safe. Tonight, a man fell into the river and Daddy jumped in and saved him. Daddy is a very good swimmer but the water was terribly cold and they have to warm him up at the hospital."

Grace considered that and nodded sleepily. "I want Daddy to swim with me."

"I'm sure he would love that," Lia said, lifting her from Laura's lap. "Maybe he can take you to the community pool. You can show him what you've learned in your lessons."

"No. No. I want to swim outside with Daddy, like in Moana."

"Oh darling, it's too cold here to swim outside now."

"Can't we go someplace warm, Mummy? I want you and Auntie Laura and Uncle Robbie to come."

"What about Luke?"

Grace gave that some thought. "I guess he can come, too."

Grace insisted that Laura come up to tuck her into bed. The child was so sleepy, she didn't complain about the lack of lullabies, always James' specialty. With kisses from both Mummy and Auntie Laura, Grace went to sleep.

The women returned to the lounge, with Lia stopping to grab a bottle of wine and glasses. They settled on the sofa with the baby monitor receiver unit on the coffee table. She poured two glasses.

"I can have one glass," Lia said. "It'll be out of my system before Luke nurses again. And if there ever was a night to have wine, it's tonight."

Laura's phone pinged and she read off the text from Robbie, "Lad mostly defrosted. Should be home soon."

"Thank God," Lia said. "I know James has a dangerous job, and most of the time I can box up the worry and put it up on a high shelf in my mind. But when I see Robbie's name on my caller ID, that box falls off the shelf and breaks wide open."

"You love him," Laura said. "Robbie and I worried about James before you two got together. He was such a solitary soul. You bring him out of himself, and you were so patient with him. I know how hard it is to wait for someone to be ready, believe me."

"I had to be patient," Lia said. "I exploded a bomb in the middle of his life when I told him about the baby. I was the one making all the decisions. I told him termination was off the table." She sipped her wine.

"That was as it should be. That baby was inside your body."

"James would have supported me no matter what I decided, but keeping the baby was my choice. I had always wanted children and when a five year relationship ended, I thought I might have lost my chance. So finding I was pregnant wasn't the terrible thing it might be for another woman."

"But you were concerned about the impact on James."

"Absolutely. I felt as if I might be using him. Let's face it, I hit the genetic jackpot with James. He's brilliant, kind, well-educated and tall. Not to mention good-looking."

"He is quite the dish," Laura laughed.

"You know, when I told him I was pregnant, he asked if we should get married. I laughed at him, but he was serious. I knew then that I needed to tread carefully. It would be too easy to take advantage of that overdeveloped sense of responsibility. So I kept it light and easy and let him decide if and when he was ready to be part of a family."

"I'm glad you waited for him."

"James was worth the wait."

They sipped their wine and relaxed in the knowledge that James and Robbie would be back soon. At some point, the four of them had become deeply bonded, supporting each other. Now Robbie was caring for James in hospital and Laura was keeping Lia sane at home.

The front door opened and Lia jumped up as James and Robbie walked in. Robbie had one hand under James' elbow and in the other, held a plastic hospital carry bag full of wet clothes. Releasing James, he reached into his coat pocket and drew out a white paper sack. "His meds," he said, handing them to Laura.

James moved stiffly, obviously in discomfort, but otherwise he looked tired but happy to be home. He was wearing his top coat and a set of not quite long enough exercise clothes. A couple of inches of his wrists and ankles were visible below the cuffs. He wore hospital issue plastic sandals.

She held her arms open and he stepped into the embrace. Lia held back tears as she buried her face in James' chest. He gasped as she tightened her arms around him. "I have a few bruises," he said.

"Sorry," she said, loosening her grip. She moved her hands up to gently cup the sides of his face. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"My core temperature is within normal limits. And I'm home, so yes, I am okay."

"Hungry?" she asked.

"Famished, but first I want a shower. I smell of river water, hospital and Robbie's mostly clean exercise things."

She took a deep sniff. "So that's what I'm smelling."

"None of that, now," Robbie protested. "I could have let him come home in a hospital gown."

"You're a good man, Robbie." Laura came up to kiss him.

James slid out of his coat, wincing as he moved. "A shower will do you good," Lia said. "Try not to wake the children." He murmured an agreement as he climbed the stairs.

"Who wants to lay money that he's carrying one or both children when he comes down?" she asked when he was out of earshot. "He misses them terribly when he gets home late."

"I used to drive Val crazy when ours were little. I'd stomp around and wake them up just so I could hug them."

"Are you hungry?" Lia asked Robbie. "I have leftover chicken and veg. I could warm some up, or I could put them in a panini. I know that's what James will want."

"A panini sounds amazing," Robbie said. "James is a lucky man."

"I think I'm the lucky one," Lia said listening to the sound of the shower. It was strangely comforting, evidence that James was home safe.

She pulled the food out of the refrigerator and heated the panini press. She sliced the chicken and assembled the sandwich with roasted peppers, onions and fontina cheese. After putting the sandwich in the press and closing the lid, she prepped a second sandwich for James.

"I think we have an open bottle of wine." She sliced Robbie's sandwich diagonally, putting it before him. Laura poured him a glass of wine. Robbie groaned in pleasure as he took his first bite.

"How is the other fellow doing? Brian Burns?" Laura asked.

"I talked to the doctor,," Robbie said between bites. "They're not yet sure if his mind will be affected long term from the LSD. And it's very likely that he inhaled water, so they'll be watching him carefully for pneumonia. They said they're keeping him for a few days at least."

Upstairs, the shower stopped, so Lia put the second sandwich into the press. A few minutes later, James came into the kitchen wearing pajama bottoms, with his tee shirt tossed over his shoulder and Luke in his arms.

"Who had James bringing down one child?" Lia asked. Still chewing the last bite of his sandwich, Robbie raised his hand. "Yes, but you guessed it would be Grace, so you lose half a point."

"The sound of the shower woke him," James said. "I caught him before he started wailing so he wouldn't disturb Grace."

"Wise move," Robbie said. "So lad, Is the bare chested thing a treat for the ladies?"

"Not sure it's much of a treat," James replied. "I want to get the arnica ointment on the bruises before they stiffen up completely."

"Let me take this wee lad," Robbie said, reaching for Luke. "Hello there, Luke Robert. I'll say this for you two. You make beautiful bairns."

Lia took the sandwich out of the press and brought it to the table. She dug through the sack and pulled out two vials, antibiotic and a pain reliever, as well as the tube of ointment.

"What the hell happened?," she exclaimed at the sight of the dark purple bruise on his abdomen.

"It's just a hairline fracture," James said.

"You told me nothing was broken, Robbie." Lia squeezed a bit of the ointment on her fingers and rubbed it in with as much gentleness as possible.

"Cracked is not broken," Robbie replied.

"You're on thin ice, Robbie. Cracked, even," Laura said.

"All right, love. Let's see the bruises on your back," Lia said. James sat at the table, folded his arms on the table and rested his head on them. Sections of hIs upper back, from the shoulder blades down nearly to his waist were turning the same eggplant color as his rib area. Lia bit back a comment as she applied the ointment. James was safe. She had to focus on that.

"You falling asleep, there, lad?" Robbie asked. "I might just grab that sandwich."

James raised his head a bit and protectively moved his food out of Robbie's reach. "I'm quite awake."

"You gave the nurse a bit of a fright, you know. She came in to check your vitals and couldn't rouse you. Checked your chart and asked me if you'd had a head injury. I told her you had a newborn at home and nobody was getting much sleep. She had a chuckle at that."

"It was quite restful," James said. "Warm and comfortable, and the blanket made a soothing humming sound."

Lia patted his shoulder. "You're done. It's a good thing they gave you something for pain. You're going to be sore."

With a hiss, James shrugged into his tee shirt.

"Lia told Grace how you saved someone from drowning," Laura said. "Grace wants you to take her swimming. Outside, not at the community pool. Somewhere where it's warm and sunny. She was very specific."

"And she wants Uncle Robbie and Aunt Laura and me to come," Lia added. "She's even agreed to have Luke along."

"A holiday somewhere warm?" Robbie said. "That is by far not the worst idea I've heard."

"After tonight? Hell, after this whole bloody year, I vote yes," James agreed.

"Are we really serious about this?" Lia said. "I could check the internet for rentals."

The decision that night was unanimous. Investigating online, Lia found a lovely guest house with a heated swimming pool a short walk from the beach in a quiet little town on the Costa Del Sol. The next few weeks were busy as they got ready, digging out summer clothes and buying vats of sunscreen.

The next few weeks were quite eventful in Oxford. Brian Burns was released from hospital with a cautiously optimistic physical and mental prognosis. Allison Carter was charged with poisoning Brian Burns and Lucy Phillips and manslaughter for the death of Lucy and attempted manslaughter of Brian. James received an embarrassingly raucous ovation on his first day back at work and an official commendation for his rescue of Brian.

The most important event in the Hathaway household was that Luke began to sleep for longer stretches at night. As he approached five and six hour stretches, his parents no longer resembled sleep deprived zombies.

And a month after James' ice cold plunge, the Hathaways and Robbie and Laura went on holiday. Grace swam with her daddy in the sparkling water of the swimming pool. Mornings were spent at the beach, making sandcastles, and wading in the water. In the afternoons, they put the children in a borrowed pram and walked into the little town for ice cream. The adults took turns making supper in the evenings. Robbie was tasked with grilling the meat, something at which he was quite good.

The trip was such a pleasure that it became the first of many holidays together. A lifetime of them in fact.

When the Hathaway children were small, it was a blessing to have two adults along helping to manage the metric ton of stuff needed for little ones. They went back to the beach house in Spain so often the owners referred to them as the "nice English people with the beautiful children."

One special holiday was spent with Lia's family in Tuscany. They wandered the sun-dappled cobblestone streets, visiting ancient village churches. They drank vino out of tumblers at lovely communal meals on long tables under the trees. The consensus was that as talented as Lia and Rosemary were at cooking, Nonna Ferrante was the queen of the polpette.

As the children got older, the six of them alternated sightseeing in the great cities of Europe with their beach holidays. When the children were adolescents and became annoyed at every single thing their parents said, did or believed, Robbie and Laura were the perfect intermediaries. The children loved watching Robbie wind up their father and adored Laura's dry, snarky wit.

And by the time the children were young adults, when most of their peers were bailing on family holidays, Grace and Luke didn't want to miss a single trip. By then, Robbie was having some trouble getting around, his back issues finally taking their toll. Having two strong young people to help with luggage and to give Robbie an arm to lean on enabled him to travel far longer than he might have been able to.

Over the years, they sat around the table for Laura's Saturday morning fry ups and James' curry dinners. There were many shared Christmas meals, and scores of summer suppers in each of their gardens. Robbie's children and Laura's family joined them as often as possible.

They saw each other through all the patches, the rough and the smooth. They celebrated the milestones, rejoiced in the good times, mourned the losses, consoled each other through sadness. But mostly they enjoyed the warmth of that lifelong friendship.

Note: Thank you so much for following along with this seemingly endless saga. We are finally at end and I will miss having these characters live in my head. I hope I managed to keep it real and to give you a window into what the future would bring for them.

And in the interest of full disclosure, according to my teenage grandson, I am the queen of the polpette (meatballs). Northeast US division.