Disclaimer: All characters, etc., belong to their owners...yep...just wrote this story here.
A/N: After last night's episode, some things with Josh and Mindy will be off in here. That's because I'm bouncing off my old story. I had this chapter written long before I even knew about last night's episode, so bear with me.
Chapter One - Just an Ordinary Day
One fall morning, Drake was skimming the newspaper while eating breakfast. He didn't really read anything unless it interested him enough, and he got most of the news when he skimmed it anyway.
"You're absolutely sure you're going to be my calculus teacher?"
"Yes. I'm the only one teaching the class this semester."
"You know, Rob," said Drake, glancing up from the paper. "It might be in your favor to have Christine as your math teacher this year. I mean, she lives in the same house as you."
"I know, but..." Rob began.
"She put up with having her mom teach her in high school for a couple years. You can do it for one."
"Oh, for..." Rob got up and went to his room.
"Don't be late for school," Drake said as Rob passed him. Actually, Drake would always think of Rob as Bobby. He was his little brother, and to Drake, he always would be. Actually, lately he'd been hoping Rob would look up to him more as a parent. Drake wasn't sure how Rob felt about that, though. Drake and Christine took care of him because when he was seven, after his dad died. Drake had grown to love him, and Christine had spoken with Bobby's mother. She gave in and thought that Drake was a bit more steady with a job at the time, working in his mom's office and on his way to becoming a psychiatrist that she signed the papers allowing Drake to adopt Bobby, provided social services and a judge saw that it was all right. They did, and Drake had adopted Bobby when Drake was twenty and Bobby was eight. It was nine years later, and Drake had been married to Christine for seven of those nine years. The last four years they'd spent raising their daughter, Angela, as well as Bobby. They'd both done their best with raising him. It proved difficult because they were young, and Bobby still had problems because his dad had died. Somehow, they pushed through, and Bobby had turned out all right. In middle school, he asked to be called Rob. It did sound a bit more grown up. Drake and Christine agreed. He was a senior in high school that year, and he was in some more difficult classes and ran track. Drake was glad for this. Maybe he'd stay out of trouble. He had done a few minor things in the past, so Drake was keeping an eye on him, but he began to see that things would be okay.
Drake had no idea how his relationship with Christine was going to work with taking care of Bobby and everything else. He realized the morning after he proposed, that she was afraid of hurting either of them. Her parents had been torn apart and so had his biological parents. He understood what she was afraid of now, and he tried to get around that. He'd managed to so far. Although, trying to be romantic was difficult when you had medical school and then a residency. But the conversation they'd had the day after he proposed finally broke what she was afraid of, and for that, they were both grateful.
"I don't want to go to school, Mommy," said Angela, looking up at her mother with the brown eyes she'd inherited from her father. They were putting her in preschool that year.
"You sound like Daddy; did you know that?" Christine asked her daughter.
"Hey," said Drake.
Angela giggled.
"You have to go," said Christine.
"I know," Angela replied.
"Well, then, it's time to go wash up," Christine responded.
"Okay," said Angela, hopping off of her chair and heading to the bathroom.
Christine sat down next to Drake at the table and sighed.
"Don't worry about Rob," Drake said. "His only problem is it's not very cool to have his, well, mom, I guess we could say, for lack of a better word, as his teacher."
"Trust me, I know about that," Christine replied. She glanced up at the clock. "I have to go," she said. "Are you sure you can take Angela to school?"
"Yes," said Drake. "I have no problem dropping her off in the mornings. As long as you pick her up from the school's daycare program at the end of the day."
"You know I can. The high school day ends before your's does." She grabbed her binder containing her first day notes inside. "Have you given any thought to that letter?" Christine asked.
"We have to tell him. I know that. We're going to have to sit him down and explain."
"We'll talk about this later tonight, okay? I'll see you later. Have a good day." She kissed Drake goodbye before heading out the door.
Drake sighed and leaned back in his chair. Life was pretty good right now, even if he didn't know what to do about the letter that had arrived in the mail the previous day. He was working on his fellowship at the moment. His name was building a bit that way. He'd finish it next year and be able to work on his own. He had done a pretty decent job of taking care of Rob, despite the large amounts of schooling and work that Drake had to do. He also had a wife that he was still in love with after seven years of marriage. Of course, they did argue. Mostly over bills and things that required the big decisions. That was expected, but Drake couldn't recall one time when they'd gone to bed angry. He'd nearly ended up on the couch a few nights, but one of them would point out how childish that was. He figured this was where being best friends before helped a lot. They knew they could talk to each other, even if it had taken a while for them to see it sometimes. Besides, their large bed could be quite lonely without someone else in it.
Drake had been extra happy too, when they'd gone to their ten year high school reunion. He noticed how a lot of the girls he'd dated in high school really weren't that appealing. Actually, when he thought about it, he realized they always had never been too appealing. Drake had felt lucky to have Christine that night. Christine had never needed to act or dress like those girls. Oh, she dressed fashionably, but she didn't wear her skirts as short as the cheerleaders or her shirts as tight as the dance team. Although, a number of their old friends chose to crack jokes to Christine for working at the school they all couldn't wait to get away from when they were young. They shut up when Drake mentioned that she taught calculus, a class a lot of them hadn't gotten to the level of, or of the two that did, dropped or failed.
His proudest moment to date was not graduating medical school. It was when his daughter was born. His Angel. They'd debated about when they would have children. Drake was in his third year of medical school when he found out that Christine was pregnant. Drake had been worried about spending time with his family. He knew there were other parents who did this. His residency had been carried out and he'd just finished last year, when Angela turned four. He did his best to make time for her, but it was difficult. If he missed even one important part of her life, he wouldn't forgive himself. It worried him more now because she was starting school, but after his fellowship, there was the possibility of him opening his own practice and setting his own hours. He hoped he wouldn't have to miss her school play or her first choir concert.
Yes, things were going well for Drake at the moment. His parents and siblings were even closer to him than he'd expected they would be when he was younger. He and Josh were still the best of friends, and he still did things with Megan. Megan wanted to work for NASA. No surprise there to Drake. She was going through school, trying to achieve her goal. He still got along well with his parents. He was a bit concerned about Josh, though. Josh had broken up with Mindy a little while after Drake had proposed to Christine. Drake had been surprised. He really expected them to get married or at least move in together. After Josh had broken up with Mindy, he didn't date as much. He'd just gotten involved with a girl named Lana. Things were getting serious, and Drake hoped this would work out for Josh. That was the odd part. When they were young, Drake had been sure Josh would get married first. However, Drake was the one who had been married seven years, not Josh. Josh seemed to be happy with his job, though. He worked as a video game designer. Josh's love of video games and math were what led him to that. It was strange, though, that Drake was still in school while Josh was working for Pintendo, the company that had created the Gamesphere.
Rob came back down the stairs. He grabbed his car keys and got ready to head out the door.
"Hey, Rob," said Drake. "Are you really that annoyed by having Christine for a teacher this year?"
"Well, I don't think so," replied Rob. "It's just...she's...you know. It might be kind of weird."
"And like I said, she put up with her mom teaching her for a year. We all did. And if we want to get technical, she's your sister-in-law." Rob had always been unsure of what Christine was to him, and Drake knew that. He had hoped that Rob would look to her as a mother, but he wasn't sure if Rob did or not.
"Which makes it weird too. I can deal with it, though."
"I know you can," said Drake. "Have a good day."
"Bye, Drake," said Rob and left.
Drake got out of his chair and put his breakfast dishes on the counter. Christine would probably scold him later for the ten thousandth time to rinse his dishes and put them in the dishwasher. He headed to the bathroom for a last minute check. It wasn't that he was as vain as he was when he was younger, but he had to look presentable given that he was a doctor now. Well, he did still feel like he had to pay attention to his looks a little bit. He grabbed what he needed for the day and called to his daughter.
"Angel! It's time to go!"
"Coming, Daddy," she replied, hurrying down the hall.
"Ready?" he asked, picking up her backpack.
"Uh huh."
Once they were in the car, Drake asked her, "You don't really not want to go to school, do you?"
"I don't know," she responded.
"Well, you really should. If you ever want a good job like Mommy or me, you have to go to school."
"Mommy said you didn't like school."
"I know what Mommy said," Drake replied. Christine had often teased him about the many years of school that came after high school for this career. She wasn't trying to be mean; she supported him completely. She was just trying to help him relax. "But I went to school for a very long time. Now I'm a doctor. Even then, I'm still in school. At least until you're finished with kindergarten."
"I thought you were a psych-psyc-psychie..."
"Psychiatrist," Drake said. "That's a hard one, don't worry. It's a special kind of doctor."
"Oh," said Angela. "What kind of doctor?"
Drake smiled. He liked that she asked questions. She learned more that way.
"Well, I'm a child psychiatrist. I talk to kids and they tell me about problems they might have, and I talk to their mommys and daddys, and we see if I can help them. Sometimes I have to give them medicine, like when you're sick. Only it helps with different problems."
"Oh," said Angela. "What kind of problems?" she continued to question.
"Well," said Drake. "Sometimes a little boy or girl might be sad all the time, and they need a type of medicine to make them feel happier." Drake decided that explaining depression might be the easiest, but he wasn't going to go into much detail. She didn't need to hear some of the results of that, so he just gave her the extremely watered down explanation.
"Oh," said Angela.
"Oh, look," said Drake. "We're at your school now," which meant the questions would have to stop for now, or they'd both be late. He parked the car and got her out. "Ready?" he asked.
"Yep," she replied.
Rob got to school and headed to the office. He took his schedule from the secretary before heading to his locker and ran into his friend Matt.
"Hey," said Matt. "What's up?"
"Same old," said Rob.
"Hey, I saw Drake play last weekend. He's good."
"Yeah, everyone says that," said Rob. Living with Drake who was, by now, quite a legend at Belleview for his ability to be smooth with the ladies, his musical talents, and charm his way through anything, had placed Rob in the incrowd when he got to high school. But, he wanted to be cool in his own way. When he began track, he was quite good at it and managed to be known better for track than being Drake's brother. Although, some people expected him to have the same appeal to women that Drake did. He didn't date the way Drake had, but the girls definitely liked him.
"What's your first class?" Matt asked.
"Uh, let's see," said Rob, looking down down at his schedule. "I've got English."
"Hey, me too." The two guys walked down the hall. "I can't believe it's senior year," said Matt.
"This will be the best year ever," Rob said.
"No kidding. Prom. Graduation. This is going to be great."
"Yep."
Drake arrived at the hospital. This was the last two years of his training, and he was glad for that. Then he'd finally be able to open his own practice. He'd been told that the doctors here would get to know him, so if he was good, he might be recommended. Before heading to where he was supposed to go that morning, he bumped into someone.
"Good morning, Drake," said Dr. Carla Reynolds. "Busy day?"
"I guess so," said Drake. "I've got a two year fellowship. I'll be glad when I've finally finished. I can work completely on my own if I want."
"That's good to hear. Are things going well so far?" she asked.
"As good as they can be, I guess," said Drake. "I really never thought I'd want to stay in school as long as I did, but it all paid off."
"It feels good to be doing something worthwhile, doesn't it?" she asked.
"Yeah."
"You don't regret not becoming a musician, do you?"
"I'm still a musician," Drake responded. "It's just not my career. I can still play as well as I used to, if not better."
"I've heard you play. You are very good. Well, I'll leave you alone. I'm visiting patients today, but I arrived a little early."
Drake watched her walk away. Dr. Reynolds had been hard on him when he was in school. She pushed a lot of work on the class and told them that if they really wanted this, they had to know how much it would take. A large number of students dropped the class. Drake hadn't. People told him over and over again that this would be hard work. He wasn't expecting what Dr. Reynolds gave him, but he felt that he needed this. If he quit now, he'd let himself down, and if he let himself down, he felt like he couldn't face his family, even though they told him countless times that they didn't care if he became a psychiatrist or not. Dr. Reynolds saw how hard he worked. She noticed something different about him than most who claimed they wanted what he was going for as his profession. She questioned him and found out he had a family. He was married and taking care of his younger brother. She'd asked him about children of his own, but Drake replied that he didn't have any. The following semester, Drake came to her and told her with a bright smile that his wife was pregnant. He admitted he was worried about his career path. She didn't blame him. Trying to get to this place was difficult and draining. You wanted to have time for your family. She was surprised that Christine had stayed, but when she met her, she appeared to support Drake completely, and Drake appeared to have managed to have taken the time out for his family that was necessary. Although, he seemed to have done the "man" thing once or twice and nearly forgot his own anniversary. Interestingly enough, Josh had to remind him of that.
Dr. Reynolds had many reasons to like Drake. He was charming; she could see that right away. The rockstar haircut and clothing concerned her at first. She soon realized he cared about the kids he wanted to one day help. That made a lot of difference. She knew he'd do what was best. She would be glad when his fellowship ended. He'd finally have his career.
Drake arrived home that day, feeling exhausted. Actually doing the work and running around the hospital all day was draining. He found Rob doing homework. Angela was sitting a little way away from him, coloring in one of her coloring books. She liked Rob. It was like having a very big brother.
"Daddy!" she said, running up to him. Drake picked her up.
"And how was your first day of school?" he asked her.
"Good," she replied. "My teacher is nice. She read us a book about the first day of school."
"Oh," said Drake. He gave her a little tickle, making her giggle. He set her down, and she went back to her coloring book.
"Homework on the first day?" Drake asked, turning to Rob.
"Yes," Rob replied, slightly irritated.
"You all have to take the A.P. exam in May," said Christine. "I have to start you as soon as I can."
"Right," Rob responded.
"How was your day?" Christine asked Drake.
"Busy. I enjoy it, though."
"I'm glad."
Drake followed her into the kitchen.
"And how was your day?" he asked as she stood peeling potatoes over the sink.
"I spend my days teaching high school students. I guess it went as smooth as it could," she said with a laugh.
Drake smiled and wrapped his arms around her. He breathed in the scent of her hair.
"You know, when I'm not preoccupied with work, I'm thinking about you," he said.
"Oh, really?"
"Mmm hmm."
"Here's some news I think you'll like, then. Rob and his friends are going camping this weekend, and it's also the weekend that your parents wanted to have Angela stay with them."
"Oh. So, you're saying we'll be here alone?"
"Yes," she replied as she continued to peel the potatoes.
"I like the sound of that," said Drake as he kissed her neck.
"I had a feeling you would," Christine replied, smiling. She turned to kiss him. It wasn't often they got to be alone for a weekend. Once in a while, they wanted a little time to themselves.
"Listen," said Drake. "Do you think maybe we should wait until next week to tell Rob about that letter? I don't want to ruin his weekend."
"I guess," Christine replied. "We shouldn't drag this out too long, though. She might write again. Then he'll just be upset with us for not telling him about it in the first place."
"I know," Drake said. "When he comes back Sunday morning, we'll tell him."