Chapter 51

The mumble from behind her hand let her know that he was trying to answer her. Lifting it off, he was able to start again, "Hey I didn't mean Mary was too old for sex, but do you really think Pop could handle that kind of activity?! Oh, I forgot, you wouldn't know! Hey Vincent, help me out here! Now that you've finally gotten some under the covers experience do you really think the old man's hip could…" he stopped cold when he realized that Mary, followed by Rebecca, and then Catherine had all left the room.

Only the men were left. Father looked like he was ready to explode, Peter was shaking his head and Vincent was glaring at him in a way he had never seen before. "What?!" he demanded.

"Devin are you aware that the only one in the room that you didn't offend by what you were saying was Peter? And I am sure, that if given a chance you would have gotten around to him as well!"

Devin did a quick mental replay of what he had said, and then in a surprisingly meek tone of voice asked, "What did I say to offend Catherine?"

"You started by hurting her friends' feelings and then somehow thought that our love lives were an appropriate topic of conversation," Vincent informed him.

"Well gee Fuzz, I'm always willing to talk about my love life, even though I'm not getting any lately, but how was I to know that yours was a sensitive subject? If you need any help or advice in that area, I'd be glad to…"

"Devin you don't know when to shut up, do you?!" Peter snapped.

"Alright! Geesh, you'd think that you guys would be a little more tolerant of someone about to go under the knife!" He tried to sigh dramatically while looking under his eyelashes to see if the mood in the room had thawed. When he saw that it hadn't, Devin couldn't help but remember his conversation with Rebecca and how he had promised that he was going to try his best to change. He certainly wasn't off to a very good start!

He issued a very sincere apology to Father and Vincent then asked if one of them would ask the ladies to come back so he could do the same to them, just in case he were to die on the table. The last part of his comment fell flat and he was once again apologizing to Father and Peter when Vincent brought Mary and Rebecca back in, Catherine had gone to lay done. Devin begged forgiveness and was granted it by both of the soft hearted women.

By dinner time it was all over. Jacob was relieved that all had gone so well. Peter was vindicated in his faith in his old friend's skills. Mary was pleased that the outcome was good for all. Rebecca was overjoyed that Devin would walk again. Vincent, who had gone to check on Catherine when the surgery started, was waiting with her in the passageway when Mary came out with the good news.

It would be a few hours until Devin woke and Father was refusing to leave his side until that happened. Even though Rebecca wanted to stay she knew that Father would appreciate the time alone with his son so when everyone else headed to the dining hall she went with them.

Devin was over the moon when he was told how well the surgery had gone, but not quite so happy when he learned how long the recovery time would be until he would be back on his feet. The news that Rebecca would stay by his side through it all cheered him up again.

Catherine was in the office early the next morning so she could catch up on some of the work she had missed the day before by taking the afternoon off. She was coming back from talking to Eddie in the computer room when she saw Joe come in. He looked like a man who had lost his best friend which made Catherine wonder if he had talked to her best friend. Not one to put things off she trailed behind him and once they were alone in his office asked, "Joe is everything alright?"

To be continued…..