Let Your Heart Hold Fast
Chapter 35
By the time the Christmas holiday was over, everything was almost back to normal. Neal's physical therapy was going great and he was finally able to walk small distances. He still got tired easily and sometimes his leg was achy, but he was definitely on the mend. His visits with Dr. Lennox were going well, too, and Neal was finally able to let Peter out of his sight for longer periods of time, allowing Peter to finally return to work.
Nighttime was a completely different story, however. Each night, Elizabeth and Peter tucked Neal into his own bed, making sure to read him as many stories as he needed and staying with him until he fell asleep. By morning, though, Neal was wedged in between them, his head usually nestled in Elizabeth's arm and his feet always poking Peter in the back. Elizabeth didn't seem to mind the added occupant, preferring to know that Neal was safe right there with them, but Peter was growing irritable due to the lack of good sleep and the continued presence of Neal's cold feet.
New Year's Eve was going to be a busy day for the Burkes, since they were going to have both sets of grandparents visiting. Robert and Tina Mitchell and Richard and Nancy Burke were all anxious to see Neal and to assure themselves that he really was alright. Neal was excited to see both sets of grandparents and to finally be reunited with Satchmo. He was also excited when he found out that Rachel was going to stop by, too. He hadn't seen her since that night and he wanted to make sure that she was okay.
At three o'clock that afternoon, Elizabeth told Neal it was time for a nap. Neal, of course, didn't want to take a nap, wanting instead to help her get ready for the party.
"I'm not tired, Lizbef. I took a nap earlier, remember?"
"No, Neal, you went to your room, but if I'm not mistaken, you spent the whole time playing with your Legos. Now, it's time for an actual nap."
"But, I'm not sleepy," Neal whined. "I wanna help you get ready. You said I could help put the frosting on the cake, Lizbef."
"And you can, sweetie…..As soon as you wake up from your nap." Neal looked like he was going to argue some more, but Elizabeth continued. "Neal, Peter and I said you could stay up past your bedtime, but only if you took a nap, remember? That's the deal, kiddo. Nap now, or go to bed at your regular bedtime."
Neal definitely didn't want to go to bed at his usual time. He wanted to be awake when everyone was there celebrating. Without any more arguing, he allowed Elizabeth to carry him upstairs and within ten minutes he was sound asleep.
When Neal woke up from his nap two hours later, the house was filling up with guests. Peter went upstairs to check on the little boy and found him sitting up in his bed, still half asleep.
"Hey, buddy, are you ready to go downstairs and greet our guests?" Peter gently picked Neal up and tried to flatten down his hair that was sticking up in all directions. "Let's get you cleaned up a little, okay? What do you want to wear?"
Neal's eyes lit up. "Can I wear my new hat? Please? Rachel's gonna be here."
Peter laughed at the look on Neal's face. He could just imagine how everyone would react when he showed up downstairs in his new fedora. "Okay, but no tie. I get to pick out your other stuff."
Minutes later, Neal was ready to go downstairs, dressed in a pair of khaki pants and a blue button-up shirt that matched his eyes. With his beloved fedora on, he looked like he had just stepped out of a fashion magazine for kids. All of the women were going to melt when they laid eyes on him.
"Prepare yourself, little man. Things are about to get a little crazy."
Once they were downstairs, Neal was immediately surrounded by both sets of his grandparents. It was almost fifteen minutes before they were all done hugging him and praising him for being such a brave boy. Once he was free, Neal turned around to find Peter holding onto a very excited dog.
"Satchmo!" Neal cried. "Satchmo, I missed you."
Neal started towards Peter at the same time that Peter let go of Satchmo, who immediately ran to Neal. Everyone around couldn't take their eyes off of the reunion that was happening between the boy and his dog. Peter would have never admitted it, but his eyes were suspiciously watery as he watched Neal and Satchmo.
Surprisingly, Satchmo was being extremely gentle with Neal, as if he understood that the boy was in a fragile state of health. After a few minutes of the two of them gently rolling around on the floor, Peter picked Neal up and sat him down on the sofa. Satchmo curled up on the sofa with Neal, and Peter decided to let him stay there, praying that Elizabeth would understand.
Neal was sitting on the sofa like a king on his throne. Everyone at the party was gathered around the little boy, soaking in his presence, and he in turn was happy to be getting all of the attention. When Rachel finally showed up, Neal jumped up excitedly and practically threw himself at her.
"Rachel, it's me, Neal! Remember me?"
"Of course, I remember you, Neal. How could I forget someone as adorable and brave as you?! I'm so glad you're okay and I'm so sorry I let them take you."
"I tried to get away, Rachel. Did you see me kick that guy in the stomach?"
"I sure did, Neal. That was very, very brave of you."
Neal basked in Rachel's words, his smile lighting up the room. "I didn't want them to hurt you, Rachel. I had to protect you from the bad guys, because that's what husbands do and someday I'm gonna be your husband and when I'm your husband, I can sleep on the couch, right?"
By ten o'clock, Neal was fading fast, but he was putting up a good fight. Elizabeth offered to take him upstairs to bed, but he adamantly refused. Instead, he started talking to Mozzie, who had shown up an hour before.
"Mozzie, do you wanna see all my Christmas presents? I didn't think Santa was gonna bring me anything, but I got a lot of stuff. I even got my own set of cards, so you can teach me poker, but you can't tell Lizbef, okay? She only wants me to play silly games, but I think I'm too smart for those, don't you? What did you get for Christmas, Mozzie? Did Santa bring you lots of toys? You weren't on the naughty list, were you? Is that why you have that look on your face?"
The look on Mozzie's face was from the fact that his head was spinning after listening to Neal's whirlwind conversation. Peter, Elizabeth, Diana, and Jones, who were all sitting close by, could only laugh at the way the man's mouth kept opening and closing, making him look like a fish out of water. They had all been on the other end of Neal's constant chatter, too, so they could easily empathize with what Mozzie was going through. Mozzie looked at all of them, silently asking for help, but they all just smiled at him and left him to fend for himself. Before Mozzie could say or do anything, Neal's chatter continued, causing everyone around them to laugh.
"It's okay if you're on the naughty list, Mozzie. I'll share my toys with you. Do you like Legos? I got lots of play-doh, too. You could build a museum and I could draw lots of pictures to put in it. I'll let you play my guitar, too, if you want. I can teach you how to play it, Mozzie, because I'm really good at it. Do you want to hear? Lizbef says I can play as good as some beetle guy, but I don't know who that is. Do you? And what's a beetle guy anyway? I don't think a beetle can play the guitar? Do you? Isn't that silly?"
Mozzie looked again at everyone gathered around and luckily Elizabeth finally took pity on him.
"Neal, sweetie, why don't you help me get the sparkling cider ready, okay? It's getting close to midnight and we want to be ready, don't we?"
Neal jumped up and followed Elizabeth to the kitchen. Right before he went through the door, he turned back to Mozzie. "Don't worry, Mozzie…..We can play with my toys later, okay? And I'll teach you my favorite song on the guitar, too. And it's okay if you're not as good as me. I won't laugh at you."
Mozzie just nodded and glared at Peter, Diana, and Jones, who were all laughing hysterically at the look on his face.
A few minutes before midnight, everyone gathered around the Burke's television, watching the ball drop in Times Square. Elizabeth and Peter were both thinking about how much their life had changed in such a short time. They had been through so much with Neal, but they both were thinking that everything that had led up to the exact moment they were in was definitely worth it. Neither one of them would change a thing about their life at that very moment.
Looking around at all of the faces surrounding her, Elizabeth couldn't stop the tears that welled up in her eyes. She felt like she was about to burst with all the happiness she was feeling at the moment, especially when she looked into the eyes of the little boy that had stolen her heart.
With less than half a minute left in the year, they all raised their glasses, preparing to toast the New Year. Neal was standing up on a chair with Peter hanging onto him tightly when the countdown started.
"10…..9…..8…..7…..6…..5…..4…..3…..2…..1…..Happy New Year!" they all yelled in unison. Lifting up their glasses, they all clinked them together and then watched in amused shock as Neal lost his balance and reached for Peter. In the process of grabbing onto Peter, his glass of sparkling cider spilled all over the man. Everyone, except Peter, laughed as he stood there with sparkling cider dripping down his face and covering his favorite shirt. Neal was laughing the hardest, his giggle echoing through the room.
By the time all of the guests had left, Neal was beyond exhausted, but still wanting to talk about everything that had happened. Elizabeth was picking up some of the mess downstairs and she could easily hear Peter trying to reason with the five year old.
"Neal, it's almost one o'clock in the morning. It's time for bed."
"But, I'm not tired, Peter," Neal said with a big yawn. "It's New Year's, and you said I could stay up as late as I wanted."
"What?! I never said that, little man. I said you could stay up past your bedtime since it was a special occasion."
"But, I'm not tired, Peter," Neal whined again. "Can't we watch a movie or something? I haven't watched my favorite movie in forever."
Peter groaned, knowing that if he had to sit through another watching of "Frozen" he'd go crazy. That damn "Do You Want To Build a Snowman" song would be stuck in his head for days. Again!
"You just watched it last night! It's time for bed, Neal," Peter said in a no-nonsense voice.
"But, I didn't even take my bath, Peter," Neal countered.
"Now I know you're beyond tired if you're reminding me that you didn't get a bath," Peter laughed.
"But, I need a bath," Neal argued. "I think Satchmo licked me all over when I first saw him. And Lizbef says I need to take a bath every day, remember?"
"Fine, bud. You can take a bath, but no toys. Just get in the bathtub and wash up, then straight to bed."
"I don't wanna take that kind of bath, Peter," Neal whined. "I hate that kind of bath."
"Listen up, buddy. I'm done arguing about this. Mommy cleaned you up after the sparkling cider incident, so now it's time to go to bed. No more talking about it, just get in bed."
Neal could tell by the way Peter was looking at him that he had better listen, so without another word, he climbed into his bed and waited to be tucked in. Peter pulled the blankets up around him and knelt down and kissed him on top of the head. "Goodnight, Neal. Sweet dreams, buddy."
Just as Peter got to the door, he heard Neal's voice. "Peter, can you read me a story? Please?"
Looking into Neal's sweet little face, Peter had no choice but to do what he asked. Grabbing a book off of the bookshelf, he sat down next to Neal on the bed. "I think we need to get you some new books, kiddo. I'm getting a little tired of reading about Jim the Monkey."
"Not me," Neal said. "Jim's my favorite."
Minutes later, Elizabeth joined Peter and Neal, sitting down on the other side of Neal as she listened to her husband reading Neal's favorite story. She had never felt more peaceful than she felt at that very moment. When Peter finally finished the story, Neal's eyes were closed and he had a sweet smile on his face. Elizabeth leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. "Goodnight, sweet baby," she whispered. She was surprised when Neal answered, thinking that he was fast asleep. Her heart melted when she heard his words. "Goodnight, Mommy. I love you."
Seconds later Neal was sound asleep, his gentle breathing rhythmic and deep. Peter turned to his wife, who was still staring down at the sleeping boy. "Well, Mrs. Burke…I think it's time we headed to bed ourselves, don't you?"
"But, I'm not tired," Elizabeth whined, giving her husband a suggestive look. "I don't want to go to sleep."
Peter smirked, before throwing his wife over his shoulder and smacking her on the backside playfully. "Who said anything about sleeping, young lady?"
Peter and Elizabeth were just getting their second wind, enjoying their rare moment of intimacy. Since Neal had come into their lives, their moments together were few and far between, so after putting the exhausted child to bed, sure that he wouldn't wake up for several hours, they took advantage of their free time. Neither one of them realized that Neal had woken up, walked to their room, only to turn around and run back to his own when he heard the noises that were coming from their room.
Once morning came, both Peter and Elizabeth were surprised to find that Neal hadn't come into their room at all during the night. They both figured that the boy must have been so tired that he slept the whole night without waking up. This was a good sign, in their opinion.
When it was almost ten o'clock and Neal still wasn't awake, Peter went to get him up. They didn't want Neal to sleep all day, knowing that that would only screw up his sleeping habits even more. When Peter entered Neal's room, he was surprised to find the boy wide awake, clutching onto his favorite stuffed animal as if his life depended on it.
"Neal? How long have you been awake, buddy?"
Neal didn't answer Peter. Instead, he shifted further into his bed, hiding behind his wall of stuffed animals lining the bed. Not for the first time, Peter wondered when the boy had gotten so many toys.
"Hey, buddy…..it's time to get up. Mommy's making pancakes and waffles for us."
Neal only shifted even further under the blankets, until only the top of his head was showing.
"What's wrong, kiddo? Are you feeling sick?" Peter had absolutely no idea what was wrong with the boy and his frustration was growing with each passing second of silence. After trying several more times to elicit a response from Neal, he finally had had enough. Walking over to the bed, he reached for the blanket and tried to pull it off of the bed. Unfortunately, Neal had a firm grasp on the blanket and they just ended up having a tug of war with it.
"Neal! What in the world is wrong with you, buddy? Come out from under the blanket right now!" When Neal still didn't respond, Peter's frustration won out. "Okay, fine. I guess we're going to do it the hard way….." Bending over, he grabbed Neal and lifted him to his chest, blanket and all. Neal immediately began squirming and crying, much to Peter's complete bewilderment.
"What has gotten into you, buddy?"
Neal's only answer was to bite Peter right on the hand, causing the man to yell out in pain. "Damn it, Neal. That's it!"
Without another word, Peter carried a squirming and crying Neal downstairs and plopped him into a chair, which he then dragged into the corner. By this time, Elizabeth had come out of the kitchen, confused about what was going on. She was even more confused to see Peter trying to force the squirming Neal to stay in the chair.
"What is going on?!" she asked loudly, trying to be heard over Neal's wails.
"He bit me, El!" Peter yelled, incredulity filling his voice.
"What?! Why?! What did you do?" Elizabeth asked.
"I didn't do anything, El. I went to wake him up, but he was already awake. When I tried to get him out of bed, he just burrowed into his blankets. I thought maybe he wasn't feeling good, but he wouldn't answer me. When I tried to lift him out of bed, he started kicking and screaming and then HE BIT ME!"
By this time, Peter's voice was echoing around the room, which only served to make Neal cry even harder. Elizabeth knew she had to get things under control, but she had no idea where to start.
"Peter, calm down, please. You're scaring him."
Peter knew that he needed to calm down, but he was furious at the fact that Neal had bitten him. He looked at his hand and was surprised to see Neal's teeth marks. "He bit me, El," he said again.
Elizabeth took her husband's hand and inspected it. "He didn't break the skin, Peter. It's not that bad."
"That's not the point, El. He bit me!"
After looking over at Neal, who by this time was sobbing loudly, Elizabeth made a command decision. "Hon, take Satchmo for a walk, okay? He looks a little unnerved by all of this. I'll talk to Neal."
Without another word, Peter grabbed Satchmo's leash and called the dog to him. He knew that he needed to calm himself down, so taking Satchmo for a walk was a good idea. Once he was gone, Elizabeth walked over to Neal and pulled him to her.
"Hey, sweetie…..can you tell me what has you so upset?"
Author's note: A little bit of a shorter chapter, but I wanted to get it posted tonight. So, does anyone have an idea of what Neal's so upset about? It's probably pretty obvious, right? I'm just wondering how Peter and Elizabeth are going to explain it all to Neal, lol.
Okay, I know some of you may not like the movie I chose, and I have to admit it's not the movie I first thought of. But, after thinking about it for a while, I realized that Elizabeth would probably be pretty picky about what movies she allowed Neal to watch. I'm sure she wouldn't have let him watch "Catch Me If You Can" or "Ocean's Eleven" right? That being said, I then picked the most annoying movie I could think of, which is Frozen. Sorry if some of you like the movie, lol. I've tried to watch it and like it, but I just can't seem to. And that darn Snowman song always gets stuck in my head and drives me crazy. Sheesh!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'm hoping to have the next one up soon. I would love to hear your thoughts, rants, questions, etc….. Thanks for reading.