CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

An hour later Tom was upstairs puttering around in Sam's room. He was trying to get everything done and ready for their arrival. Rachel was downstairs. He heard a vehicle pull in then Rachel was shouting for him.

"Tom, I think they're here," she shouted up the stairs.

Tom looked around one last time and blew out a breath. He then left Sam's room and walked down the hallway, then down the stairs. As he descended the stairs Rachel got up from the couch and met him at the bottom, stopping him, by placing her hand over his heart, giving him a calming smile. He didn't feel calm. On the contrary he felt like he was stepping onto the bridge about to wage a battle against an enemy.

"It's going to be okay," she said softly. He smiled a tight smile at her and nodded slowly. It was not going to be okay for a while. This he knew. It was going to be a rocky and treacherous road.

"I hope so. I feel like I'm preparing for a battle," Tom said. He could hear the desperation in his voice. He saw her lean into him, and he met her halfway and they indulged in a quick kiss before he heard them at the door.

Tom went and opened the door. He noticed that Rachel had hung back in the living room, looking a little out of sorts. Sam came bounding in first and threw himself at Tom. Tom caught him up easily, wrapping his son into a giant bear hung.

"Dad!" Sam squealed, and Tom heard Rachel laugh lightly.

"Sammy," he breathed out. "I missed you so much, Buddy." Tom set his son down and grinned at him. Sam gave him a big grin right back and Tom felt his heart swell a little. Tom watched Ashely come into the house next, her head down, ear buds in her ears, her eyes downcast. "Ashely," he said but she ignored him as she dropped her suitcase and shifted the backpack to a more comfortable position.

"Tommy," his father boomed as he came into the house. He reached for Tom's hand as he looked over into the living room. "Rachel," he continued as he shook Tom's hand.

"It's nice to see you all," Rachel said. Tom watched as Ashley rolled her eyes, he frowned, feeling there was going to be a long talk coming up soon.

"Where's my room," Ashley demanded in a sullen mood. Tom frowned again.

"It's upstairs, I can show you. Don't you want to…"

"No, I want to go to my room and unpack," she said a little angrily. Tom looked over at Rachel feeling that wall of desperation smack him again. She gave him a reassuring smile, but it didn't little to help his mood. Tom motioned for Ashley to follow him up the stairs and she picked up her stuff and shuffled along behind him.

Tom could tell his son had engaged with Rachel, good at least one of his children was civil. When he reached the top and was heading down the hallway, he heard his daughter yell back down the stairs.

"Shut up, Sammy!" Ashely yelled at her brother. Tom bristled and looked back over his shoulder at her.

"Ashley," he said sternly. "Don't talk to your brother that way."

"Whatever," she mumbled as she put her ear buds back in place. Tom bit at the inside of his cheek as he continued down the hallway to her room. She followed and he could tell from her face and her body language she was very angry with him.

"This one is yours," Tom said as he opened the door and walked in. Ashely followed him in and dropped her stuff in the middle of the room and looked around.

"Guess it'll do," she huffed and then tossed her backpack on the bed.

"You can decorate how you want," Tom said but Ashely didn't say anything. "Ash, we need to talk."

"Not now, Dad, go back downstairs and leave me alone," she said, her voice dripping with anger. Tom sighed and looked around.

"Ashley, we're talking about this. Rachel and I," Tom was saying but Ashely cut him off.

"Look, I get it you found someone new. But just because you replaced mom, doesn't mean me…or even Sammy did. Okay?"

"What?" Tom asked a bit taken back by her choice of words. "I didn't replace your mother."

"Sure, you did. You found yourself someone to fit the role. Just don't expect us to step in line and be okay with it."

"Ashley," Tom said with sympathy. "It's not like that. I love your mother still and if she were alive, it would be her moving in with us. But she is gone. She is never coming back, we've discussed this. You had agreed to meet me halfway."

"That was before I knew we were all going to live in one house. We're not a family, Dad, she's not our family."

"But she is mine. I hope some day you can see her that way too."

"Well, not today," Ashely said with disgust and then turned her music up louder while starting to unpack her suitcase. Tom felt sick with hurt. He knew it was going to be a tough road. He walked out of her room to give her some time. He walked down the stairs and saw his dad coming in with boxes.

"Sammy, go get your stuff form the truck," Jed said as he set down the boxes he was carrying.

"Okay, Grampa," Sam replied and rushed out the door. Tom walked towards his dad.

"I'll bring stuff in, why don't you sit down with Rachel," he said to his dad. Tom didn't like the way his own voice was sounding. His dad nodded and walked over to the couch, taking a seat with a sigh.

Tom walked out to his dad's truck and started to look at all the stuff. Sammy was getting his stuff out and heading towards the house again. Tom grabbed a few boxes and then beat his son inside.

"Where's my room, Dad?" Sam asked.

"Let me set these down in the kitchen and I'll show you," Tom replied.

"Okay," Sam said. Tom left his son standing in the entry way as he went into the kitchen and plopped the boxes down on the kitchen table. He then walked back out and led Sam upstairs to his bedroom.

"This one is yours," Tom told him as he opened the door.

"Awesome, " Sam said half-heartedly. Tom watched him as he piled his stuff near the bed. Tom watched his son for a moment.

"How do you feel about all this, Sammy?"

"About what?" Sam asked as he dug through his stuff.

"Moving here, living with me…and Rachel?"

"It's okay, I guess. I'm happy to be with you again."

"How do you feel about me and Rachel?"

"Like what do you mean?"

"I mean she's going to be living here too. With us."

"Which room is hers?"

"She's sharing a room with me," Tom said. He watched his son's face.

"Like you and mom?" Sam asked. Tom could see the emotion flooding his son. It wasn't happiness either. Tom sighed.

"Yes, son, like that."

"Do I have to call her mom?"

"No. You can call her Rachel."

"Dad," Sam asked as he sat down on his bed. Tom walked over and sat down next to him.

"What, Buddy?"

"Ashley said you replaced mom and don't care about her anymore. Is that what you did?"

"What? No, not at all. I love your mom, Sam. I always will. We were married a long time and I have Ashely and you from her. I'll always remember your mom and cherish the love her and I shared."

"But you love Rachel now," Sam said with sadness. "So really you replaced Mom."

"It's not like that, Sam. I love them both. Just like I love you, and Ashely too."

"I don't think I understand," Sam said sadly.

"It's okay, Buddy, we can talk more later. Right now, I need to unload that truck. Sam simply nodded and Tom got up and walked downstairs. He went out and started to bring more boxes into the house as Rachel and Jed put things away in the kitchen. The kids stayed upstairs in their own rooms, unpacking their stuff and putting it away. Once he brought in the last of the boxes he went in the kitchen and sat down at the table.

"Dad, come sit down," Tom said as he looked at Rachel. She understood what he was doing and came over and sat down next to him. Jed came to the table and slowly sat down, eyeing his son.

"What's up?" Jed asked cautiously.

"I…we…have something we want to tell you," Tom started. He picked up Rachel's hand and squeezed gently.

"Okay," Jed drawled out.

"We have some news to share," Tom said feeling the excitement of the baby again. He paused to take a deep breath the told his dad his news. "Rachel is pregnant. We're going to have a baby."

Jed looked from Tom to Rachel. Tom watched as Rachel smiled at his dad, then nodded slowly. He could see his dad processing the words, then he smiled a wide grin.

"That's great," he said finally, then he paused, and a look of concern came over his face. "It is right?"

"Yes," Tom said as he pulled Rachel's hand up to his lips and kissed it. "It is. But I'm not sure how to tell Ash and Sam."

"They're not going to be as excited about it, especially Ashely. I know you and she had talked before you redeployed but she is really struggling with living here…with the…two…of you." Tom bit at his lower lip as he recalled the conversation he had had with Ashely.

"I'll talk with her," he said softly. "How's Sammy taking all this?"

"He's not sure either. He likes the idea of having his dad around all the time, but he's really missing his mom."

"I know how they feel," Tom replied then felt the pang of guilt as he wondered how Rachel felt about that statement. He looked at her and gave her an apologetic smile. She smiled back at him before looking down at the table.

He knew this was going to be hard, but he also knew it would be worth it on the other side. He knew the kids just needed some time to get used to the changes. He would sit them both down and talk with them soon. Rachel decided to make a meal of spaghetti and Tom was grateful. He sat at the table with his dad and talked.

They talked about the kids, the move, and drive. They talked about what Jed wanted to do once he was settled here in St. Louis, which was stay retired and live life. They talked about his house down the road.

"Food is ready," Rachel finally said as she set the noodles and sauce on the table. Tom got up and went upstairs to get the kids. He stopped at Sam's door first and knocked.

"Yeah?" Sam asked from the other side. Tom opened the door and poked his head into the room.

"Rachel made spaghetti if you're hungry, Sam," Tom said. His boy's face lit up and he sprang to his feet.

"Alright!" Sam yelled and then headed out the door.

Tom then walked down to Ashley's door. He knocked on her door but got no response. He knocked two more times and neither time garnered a response from the other side. He opened the door and popped his head in. Ashely looked up and frowned at him.

"Spaghetti is ready," Tom said softly.

"I'm not hungry," she grumbled.

"You sure, it's all we have tonight."

"Doubly sure," she said sullenly. Tom nodded slowly and then left her room closing the door. He felt his heart grow heavy. He came across Sam at the top of the stairs and the two went down together. They went to the table and Tom helped Sam fix his plate. Sam dug heartily into the pasta making Tom shake his head a little. As soon as he was finished Sam took off and went back upstairs.

"No Ashley?" Jed asked.

"No. She said she was not hungry."

"Tom, maybe we should rethink the living arrangements," Rachel said with pursed lips. Tom looked at her incredulously. Rachel cringed.

"What?" Tom asked in shock.

"Just for now, I mean, Jed can live here, and I'll take the house just down the road, and…"

"No," Tom said sternly cutting her off. He was not going to entertain that thought. He did not want to be away from Rachel, especially now that she was carrying his child. No, he wanted his entire family to be in one home. His dad got up and excused himself, heading to the living room.

"Tom," Rachel said after Jed had gone.

"No, Rachel," he said. He reached over and grabbed her hand. He watched her lick her lips and then she looked out the window. "We can get through this."

"But at what cost?" she asked.

"I want my family under one roof," Tom replied.

"I understand that, Tom, but your children need time to heal and adjust."

"Rachel, I don't want to spend nights away from you," he whispered. There was a desperation in his voice that he hated, but he couldn't deny feeling it. He did not want to spend any time away from her. She looked down at her hands.

"Are you willing to risk your relationship with your daughter?"

"I'll talk to her. It's going to be okay."

"And Sam?"

"What about Sam?"

"I'm not sure he understands yet, and when he does, I don't think it's going to be like you think."

"Rachel," Tom said, the exhaustion from everything weighting him down. He pinched the bridge of his nose, and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Tom," she said softly, pulling her hand free of his. She reached up and cupped both sides of his face. "This is going to be a hard rough road. We need to make it as easy as possible."

"That's not making it easier," Tom protested. He would be the only one suffering at that rate and he didn't like that idea at all.

"For you," she sighed. "But it might for the children…and me."

"So, I'm the only one that suffers?" Tom barked a little more harshly than he had intended but it irritated him. She cringed and he immediately felt remorse.

"No, I…this is new territory for me."

"Me too, Rachel. I've never had to introduce my kids to my girlfriend, who is pregnant."

"I know, Tom, but," Rachel said earnestly.

"No, we need to stick together. I know it's going to be hard."

"Let's at least keep it as an option," she said as she dropped her hands. Tom leaned in and kissed her quickly, then rested his forehead against hers.

"A last resort option," he whispered.

"Dad?" Sam's voice carried to them, and they both pulled back. As Rachel started to clean the table up, Tom got up and walked towards the living room to see what his son needed.

To Be Continued…