Without me needing to ask, Juan took my truck keys from my hand and loaded David and I into the truck. He told Jax he'd pick everything up later, and then drove us to the hospital. I didn't know what to think. What I hadn't told David was that the nurse had said that Larry had flat lined. He'd been dead, but they'd brought him back, and he was awake now. He'd almost lost his father. I'd almost lost mine. He'd never been a father to me, but did I want him dead? I'd always thought I wouldn't care, but somehow the possibility that maybe we could fix things had always been there, as unlikely as it was. I didn't know how I felt any more about that possibility being taken away.
Even though I had said as little to Juan as I had to David, my husband still knew me well enough to know I was trying to process something. He held my hand in his as we drove, and he was sending me looks to let me know he was here and he supported me, no matter what was happening and no matter what did happen. I squeezed his hand gratefully, once again amazed at how lucky I was. He always knew what I needed and always gave it to me willingly, sometimes before I even knew what it was. I never had to question how important I was to him, and considering I'd never come first to anyone, including my own parents, that was everything to me.
Glancing in the rearview mirror, I studied my little brother. His eyes still had the childish innocence that mine had lost almost before I was his age. He didn't have the same responsibilities or weight on his shoulders that I'd had at his age. I'd been acting as my mother's mother since I was about his age, and I'd lost my innocence before that, really. I wanted him to retain his innocence as long as possible. I didn't want to see it crushed out of him as mine had been. I realized then that I would do anything to keep that look in his eyes as long as possible.
Reality smacked me in the face. I'd been hoping for some way for things to work out so he wouldn't have to be go into the system, and we wouldn't have to take him in, but I realized then that was exactly what I wanted to do. I didn't want strangers raising my little brother, my own flesh and blood. I definitely didn't want Larry to do it; didn't want him to screw my brother up as badly as he'd screwed me up. I'd have to talk to Juan about it, of course, but I realized then that I wanted to take David in. I wanted him to have the best life possible, and I wanted to give it to him, almost as much as I wanted to give it to the two babies inside of me.
When we reached the hospital, I took the lead again, shoving my thoughts and emotions aside so I could get be strong and get through this for David. I talked to the nurse at the nurse's station, and then let another nurse take David to see his dad while I spoke to the police. Juan stayed with me, but held back, holding my hand and just offering support. I didn't know if I wanted to see Larry or not yet, and I could tell he knew that. "How many years are we talking about?" I didn't bother to beat around the bush with the cop, not one of the San Joa Sheriffs, but one from Stanislaus county, where Larry lived.
Regarding me for a moment, I could tell the cop was trying to decide how brutally honest he should be, considering my dad, as far as he knew, had just almost died and I should have been a wreck. He seemed to sense I was okay with all of it, because he nodded slowly. "Well, it'll probably be fifteen years. He wasn't driving the vehicle, so basically what we have him for is possession with possible intent to sell, because he had quite a large amount of meth in the vehicle with them. He might get parole in ten, if he's lucky. Have you decided if David can stay with you, or should I give you the number to contact someone so they can start looking for a foster family for him?" he asked.
Sharing a look with Juan, I really didn't know what to say. We hadn't discussed this. I cleared my throat, and I was about to say I needed more time to discuss with my husband, and decide, but Juan took a step forward, squeezing my hand and addressing the cop. "He'll stay with us," he said, and the cop nodded, saying he'll get in touch if he needs anything, and we can do the same, before he walked down the hallway. My eyes were still wide with shock as I looked at my husband. "He's your brother. We're not handing him off to strangers to raise. There's enough room in the house. Between both our incomes, we make enough. It's not like we were ever planning on having a small family. We can fit him into it, too," he said.
Biting my lip, I tried to hold back the tears as suddenly the reality of it all hit me. Larry had almost died. I didn't want him in my life, but I didn't want him dead. My brother just lost his mother, and almost his father, too, and I felt it for him more than I felt like crying for myself. I also wanted to cry for a happy reason, though. I was overwhelmed by the love I felt from my husband, the things he would do for me. I couldn't have asked him to take David in, but the fact that I didn't even need to made me feel more blessed to have him in my life than I ever thought possible.
Even though I made a point not to cry, and especially not over happy reasons, I found I couldn't stop the tears. I blamed it on my out of whack hormones. I walked into his embrace and he just let me, wrapping his arms around me, rubbing my back in the way I liked. He sent me silent reassurances and comfort, and I cried until I had no more tears, knowing this would be the last time I cried over anything to do with Larry. I looked up at him when I finished, sniffling and wiping the tear trails from my cheeks. "I love you more than words could ever say, Juan Carlos Ortiz, and I'll never be able to tell you how much I appreciate this, but I won't stop trying either. Not until I take my last breath, if then," I vowed, snaking my arms around his neck and stretching onto my tiptoes to kiss him.
Smirking when he pulled away, he shook his head slowly. "I could say the same to you, angel of mine. You don't have to try to tell me anything. I know, and I feel the same way about you. You know that," he kissed my forehead and then looked down into my eyes again, almost like the cop had earlier, trying to tell if I was okay to handle what he was going to say next. "Do you want to go in and see him, or do you want to wait here until David is done?" he asked and I pondered the question for a minute, then noticed a clock behind him, realizing visiting hours were over.
Two options were in front of me, I could get David and take him home to bed, tell him he could come back in and see Larry tomorrow, while I'm at work, or I could go speak to Larry myself, but I realized I didn't have anything I wanted to say to him. I'd said it all the last time I'd seen him, and whether he'd almost died or not, I still didn't believe he'd changed, so I didn't have anything to add at this time. "Can you get David? We need to get him home and in bed. Visiting hours are over anyway. He can visit with Larry tomorrow, and every day till they haul him away, I guess," I said.
Nodding, he went to do what I asked, and I headed to the nurse's station, asking them to call me with any updates before I waited there for Juan and David, trying to figure out how I was going to tell David about this new development. We'd explained that if his dad died like his mom had, he would either need to stay with us, or there would be another family who would take great care of him (probably an exaggeration when it comes to the system, at least in my opinion, but what else do you say to a kid his age?), but we hadn't really expected Larry to live and be sent to jail so now we were going to have to explain that even though his dad hadn't died, he'd still be moving in with us, because Larry had to go to jail? This was not going to be a fun conversation.
Actually, since I was thinking about conversations with sons about their fathers, I wondered how Venus's talk with Joey had gone. She'd said she wanted to do it after the party tonight, because she wanted to get it done, but she also wanted one more good memory with him first. She was really scared of his reaction still, but I was pretty sure he was going to be accepting, especially after I'd met him tonight. He'd seemed pretty cool. I sent her a text asking how it'd gone, and she replied a few minutes later, telling me it went great and asking how things were here. I replied, 'Larry's going to jail, and Juan and I decided we're going to keep raising David. It'll be hard, but we'll manage,' just as Juan and David were walking up to me.
Since it was a conversation better had at the house, I leaned into my husband and wrapped my arm around his waist, tucking my hand into the back pocket of his jeans as he draped an arm across my shoulders and then I took David's hand in my free hand and the three of us walked to the truck. I'd been planning on having the conversation when we got home, after picking up my stuff from Jax and Tara's, but we'd barely left their house when David broke the silence we'd been driving in. "Dad's going to jail, right? What's going to happen to me?" he asked.
For a moment, I was surprised at how well he understood, but he was 8 years old, but he'd grown up so far with Larry, and he seemed to be a pretty smart kid in general. I glanced at Juan, who sent me a look that told me it was up to me to answer that question. I knew he wasn't shrugging off the responsibility, but moreso letting me decide how much to tell him. I turned in the passenger seat to look back at David. "He is, probably for a long time. I was thinking you could stay with Juan and I, if you're okay with that? Do you like living with us so far?" I asked, deciding not to go too deep into Larry's situation, and focusing on David instead.
Tapping his chin, David thought about it for a moment, before he nodded decisively. "I'm okay with that. Can I help you finish tuning up your bike tomorrow, Juice?" he asked, his eyes lighting up. I could tell we had a future motorcycle enthusiast on our hands, if not a potential future club member, and had to stifle a laugh, and Juan met his eyes in the rearview and nodded. David seemed to think of something else, because he was talking again before Juan could verbally respond. "I won't have to share a room with one of the babies, will I?" he asked seriously.
Part of me wanted to laugh at the somberness of his tone, but I managed not to, and I shook my head. "Of course not. You'll have your own room. Actually, I was thinking, since we're going to have the babies who will need our attention a lot, maybe you could use another play mate," I glanced at Juan, who looked intrigued, but not discouraging, which was good since I hadn't mentioned this to him. The idea had just formed in my head. "You're a responsible young man. How would you like your own puppy? If you promise to take him on walks and feed him? That way you will have someone to look after while Juan and I are taking care of the babies. How would you like that?" I asked, and the way both of their faces lit up at the idea of having a puppy, I knew that our ever growing family was about to add a dog as well.
A/N: I'm posting this now, because I'll be busy later today and dunno if I'll remember to post it. Hope y'all enjoy. Please review! Here's a bit of a spoiler to get you excited for the next chapter: The title is The Name Game.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
