Authors note, Ok so I am being creative here. So, bear with me people. This is the product of my creative juices. Watch out!
Upstairs….
Diana watched as Sanderson attempted to fix the leaky showerhead that leaked more then it sprayed water.
She knew exactly what was wrong with the man.
She had seen the pissed off face that he had many times before, just not on him. It didn't really surprise her that he could be so easily upset. Infact she was a little relived.
Sanderson kept his temper and what he felt inside. Which she knew was professional and kept him alive at work. She was glad to see him finally react to something. Neutrally she asked, "That woman….she's your mother?"
Sanderson glanced at her from in the shower, "Yeah. Jordan tell you?"
Diana shook her head, "No. I've only seen guys get that pissed off when a parent is involved."
She watched him mutter under his breath, something she had never seen him do before, and then turn back to the showerhead. Diana crossed her arms over her soapy chest and walked over to the shower stall and leaned on the wall beside the open door. Peeking inside she patiently prodded, "What does she want?"
With a grunt while he tightened a nut with a wrench, he muttered again, "She's getting married."
"That's not what's pissing you off," Diana told him.
Annoyed with her he turned, "Why do you care?" Before his wife, Humera, just let him stew. Let him work whatever it was out on his own. Diana was very different from Humera, it was beginning to annoy him.
She didn't move or back down, instead she met his annoyance head on, "I didn't put up with Hoot's moodiness, you think I'm putting up with your shit? If you want to brew, fine, I don't care, just don't do it around me or the kids, got it?"
Her answer slightly surprised him, slightly annoyed him.
At that Diana stood up straight, "I'll be next door with the kids." She snatched her robe from the back of the door and pulled it on, tied it, then pulled the towel out from under it.
He heard her walk down the hall and inwardly he felt like shit. "Dammit," he softly muttered to himself. She was one person he didn't want to and couldn't afford to anger and alienate.
He listened as Diana gave orders for the kids to go get their book bags.
He listened as they headed next door so she could shower before she drove them to the bus stop.
Quickly he set to fixing the shower head. It was at that moment he remembered the horror stories Hoot told him about Diana's temper. Unlike Hoot, Sanderson did not want to toy with her or see how angry he could get her, he seriously doubted if he and Diana fought it would end up in the bedroom.
Ten minutes later…..
Sanderson made his way across the small lawn that lay between his and Eversman's houses.
The houses were pretty much the same in set up and design.
He picked up his niece's bicycle and set it against the house wall, he walked in through the garage into the kitchen. A total of five grade scholars and two extremely young toddlers were keeping Eversman company.
Sanderson immediately went to Daniel and picked the baby up out of the playpen, where his other niece slept. At the sight of Sanderson the baby cooed, a smile came over Daniel's face. The baby grabbed his ear and began to suck on Sanderson's shirt.
"Hey man, congratulations on pissing Diana off. Nice job. Hoot would be proud." Eversman teased, in the middle of eating waffles.
Both Robin and Rachael looked up, from Eversman to Sanderson, Rachael looked to her sister who stood up from her backpack. They had been getting their school stuff ready.
"You and mommy are fighting?"
Sanderson looked down at Robin, "No sweetie, we just had a small argument." Robin's face filled with fear that killed a part of Sanderson. In a frightened voice she told him, "But, mommy and daddy would have made up in bed by now. You're not moving away are you?"
Eversman quickly spoke up, "Don't worry Rob. Sanderson and your mommy aren't married so it doesn't count. They are like best friends, like your daddy and Sanderson, and remember how much daddy and Sanderson argued? It just made them better friends."
Robin looked to Sanderson, who assured her, "Sweetie I'll go right down the hall and apologize to your mother. Ok?"
Robin thought about it, then nodded, "Ok."
Baby on his hip, he made his way down the hall. While Daniel gnawed on his shirt he rubbed the infants back. He always held and spoiled his children when they were babies. Daniel was no exception. He saw the little boy as his own.
As he turned the corner of the hall he could hear Jamie and Diana talking.
It stopped him dead in his tracks.
It made Daniel perk up at the sound of his mother's voice, and then look up curiously at Sanderson.
Diana's upset voice, which was past the verge of tears whispered heartbrokenly to Jamie, "I can't keep this up! I can't. I'm not gonna make it to old age Jamie."
"Diana please, maybe its, maybe its not part of the grief?"
With a sob Diana cried, "No. I can't. No. I can't stop thinking about Hoot, I can't get him out of my head, and I'll love him forever. He was everything to me. But then, I can't get Sanderson out my head either. He helped more then he knows after Hoot died. He still does. He makes me laugh, he makes me feel safe, and I can't stop thinking dirty things. And then I feel guilty because I am starting to feel it more often. I think I'm falling in love with him, but I can't."
"Diana, maybe, maybe this not grief? Maybe you're moving on?"
With a wail Diana began to cry harder, "I don't want to move on from Hoot. But I don't want to be just stuck in the past. And what if it is the grief and we screw up what we already have? What will happen then?"
For a moment Jamie was quiet, Sanderson listened for the sound of feet, but then heard his sister, "What if you and Sanderson fall in love? Maybe it will work out perfectly?"
"No. I don't even know if he thinks about me the same way. I can't. We can't. I can control myself. I can ignore this, I can fight it. I have to worry about the kids."
"Diana, sweetie, if you're gonna say that, at least sound believable. You sound as determined as a recovering druggie in Amsterdam."
With a sob Diana fell apart, "What did I do to deserve this? I could handle loosing Hoot. I have the children. I have his brother. But I can't handle falling in love with his best friend."