(I don't own this song or OTH. The song is called 'He Didn't Have to Be' By Brad Paisley)
And then all of a sudden
Oh, it seemed so strange to me
How we went from something's missing
To a family
Lookin' back all I can say
About all the things he did for me
Is I hope I'm at least half the dad
That he didn't have to be
Keith and Karen got married about 6 months after the proposal, and they made sure to include Lucas in the ceremony, they then settled into their life as a family together. Lucas had asked Keith shortly after he proposed to Karen if he could call him his dad, and Keith happily told him he could. Pretty soon it was time for Lucas' birthday again. Karen once again sent Mae an invitation to the party; much to her surprise she got a phone call from Mae the next week.
"Hello?"
"Karen, it's Mae I was just calling to let you know I would love to come to Lucas' birthday party this year, I know usually I just send a present but I would really like to be a grandmother to my grandson. I've missed to much already and I don't want to miss anymore."
"Mae, I would love for you to come." Said Karen.
"Great so how is my son doing?"
"He's doing great he's actually out in the backyard with Lucas and his friends playing catch right now. Which has been really interesting."
"Why?"
"Because it's Keith and three almost 6 year olds and an almost 8 year old. Keith is trying to teach them not to be afraid of the ball when he throws it to them." Said Karen watching them from the window.
"Well I can't wait to see you guys and I will talk to you soon." Said Mae.
"Talk to you soon." Said Karen as she and Mae hung up the phone.
Keith came in a little while later to get some water.
"Hey." Said Keith.
"Hey, so how's it going out there?" Said Karen.
"Good, I think I finally got them to stop being afraid of the ball." Said Keith.
"I saw that. So I had an interesting phone call earlier." Said Karen.
"From who?"
"Your mother called and said she would be here for Lucas' party."
"Really."
"Yeah, she said she wanted to be a grandmother to her grandson. She said she didn't want to miss anymore." Said Karen.
"It'll be good to have her here." Said Keith. "Did she mention if my father would be coming also?"
"She didn't mention it and I didn't ask." Said Karen.
"Good approach." Said Keith.
"I thought so."
"Well I'm going to go back outside and play with the kids again." Said Keith.
"Have fun." Said Karen.
Keith went back outside and saw the boys riding their bikes around the backyard and just sat there and watched. He knew from the moment he saw Lucas almost a year ago that he was meant to be his son.
Karen would drop Lucas off at school every morning and then Keith would pick him up and take him back to the garage where he would teach him about cars and how they worked. Lucas would ask all kinds of questions and tell him about his day at school. And Keith answered every question that Lucas asked as best he could.
"So are you excited to for your birthday, buddy?"
"Yeah. Daddy can we take my training wheels off before my birthday?"
"Yeah if that's what you want we can do it this weekend okay." Said Keith.
"Okay." Said Lucas.
"Okay so how about we get cleaned up and go home and see your mom."
"Okay."
