Chapter 24: Papa Nate

Walking around the main floor of his modern style mansion Nathan Scott listened and waited for the sounds of his grandkids. Home alone with his youngest daughter and his three youngest grandchildren Nathan wondered when the next bang would come. Having three kids under the age of eleven in the house made it an interesting time for who was watching them, and bad for his house.

Nathan looked around the hall he was standing in. He thought when LK was twelve it was just a matter of time and his tour as a parent would be over. After LK was in college, he could take Haley and travel a bit more and see the sights that he couldn't see when they were younger. Her touring and his basketball schedule kept them from seeing the same sights together. So, he was thinking and discussing with Haley where their first vacation as a couple would be, and that was just before the Annus Horribilis happened, and that was when Lennon, Lacy, and Darren came to live with them, they were eight, three, and two respectively.

Finally coming to his living room, he looked out the large glass windows, that was a selling point for this place but were now leaking frigid air, overlooked the custom basketball court that he had built in the back yard. Standing in the window he gazed out upon his land and finally settled on the court. His three grandchildren were out on the court, even in the unseasonably frigid air.

Lennon was bouncing a basketball and trying to work on some of the drills that Nathan himself had taught him. Nathan smiled and watched as his grandson works on it. He was only eleven and Nathan noted he was still not doing it right, but he was young and could correct what he's doing. The only reason Lennon was even learning basketball was that he had too much energy, and Nathan couldn't keep up with him, with his bad knee. Which screamed in this frigid weather. So, getting him on the basketball court was to burn off his energy.

Lacy, his redheaded granddaughter, was in the corner of the court with her sidewalk chalk. That was one thing Haley was good about was making sure the kids were kids. She learned from the raising of LK, Sawyer, and Keni. That meant they didn't have smartphones or tablets; they spent their time doing things to expand their mind. When they needed to, they had access to technology. Most times they were off doing things that they did as kids. Nathan at first didn't like the sidewalk chalk on the basketball court, but after a while, he didn't mind, and it kept Lacy in check, and she was developing as a sidewalk chalk artist.

That came down too little Darren, the youngest of the bunch. He was playing with his little child basketball. Darren was just five, and when he came to live with them, he was still very much a baby, well technically a toddler, but he was just two and remembered his parents the least. Maybe that was a blessing for Darren and Lacy, being so young when they came to live here, and not knowing the chaotic world of Brian and Gabi. But Darren was being the typical little brother trying to imitate his big brother Lennon.

Nathan pulled himself away from the window and walked, more correctly hobbled to the rear door. The frigid weather was playing hell on his surgically repaired knee and back. So, moving around was not something he could do easily. Which was the blessing of having the grandkids occupied? Often, when he was physically like this, he would let the kids use their tablets because it kept them still, and he didn't have to react to anything quickly.

He wasn't a young man anymore. Not that he was old, but his body had taken the brunt of his career as a basketball player. One regret he had was that he had to sell the labors of his body for his living. He did it well and for many years, and three different teams, but it took its toll, with many knee surgeries and his back wearing out. The last knee injury was the worst, which destroyed quite a bit of the internals, and he had been putting off the final knee replacement surgery, where he could walk without a limp. Something he feared for his oldest son, James, who was currently playing in the NBA.

Nathan grabbed his coat and walked out of the house. He took his time as he walked towards the basketball court. The frigid air burned his lungs, as he breathed it in. He was once told that freezing and burning injuries initially causes the same damage to the body, as water would expand when it would both freeze and boil. He didn't think was possible, but after the recent weather, he believed it.

The frigid air didn't nip at his fingers, it felt more like it bit at them. It made him at first put his hands in his coat pockets. After a few more steps he started considering going back into the house. He had a new respect for Huck Burke, who would on his days off be off in the woods of his sister's property managing the lands and tracking the game. Huck was a tough man as he would be off fighting fires, no matter the weather.

Stepping on the court he looked over the kids. He smiled and walked over to where Lacy was drawing with her chalks. In his younger days, Nathan would squat down and get a closer look at the drawing and talk to her on her own level. Not now, especially considering he was looking at reconstructive surgery for his knee, and not in this weather, he would bend at the waist to look at what she was drawing.

"What are you drawing, Lacy?" Nathan asked.

"The trees," Lacy said.

Nathan looked over the drawing. He nodded, for a six-year-old at least, it was a good drawing of the nearby trees. Something was odd about Lacy's artistic ability, Nathan knew he couldn't draw anything more than a play or stick figure, and Haley was the same way. Nor could he recall if Brian or Gabi could do anything as detailed as Lacy.

Nathan nodded, "It looks good," he said.

"Could you help me color it in?" Lacy asked.

Nathan sighed, "I would love to, Lacy, but I can't," he said.

"Your knee, Papa Nate?" Lacy asked.

"Yes, sadly," Nathan said.

Lacy nodded, Nathan could see the disappointment in her body, "It's okay, Papa Nate," she said, with the downcast sound of a disappointed six-year-old. Nathan sadly nodded and walked over to the next of his grandchildren.

Darren was trying the best to dribble his little basketball. Nathan laughed as he watched his youngest grandson try to be like his older brother. Watching, Nathan sighed and fought his nature to want to correct him, but Darren was just five-year-old, and he wasn't ready to work that hard. After a minute the ball got away from Darren. Nathan caught it and held it. Darren walked over and held his hands out.

"Ball, please, Papa Nate," Darren said.

Nathan smiled and held out the ball, "Here you go," Nathan said.

Darren gave him a toothy smile, with the gap from his missing tooth, "Thank you," Darren said, and went off to another section of the basketball court and started trying to do what Lennon was doing.

Nathan smiled and shrugged. Darren was already showing personality. Nathan turned and watched Lennon doing his drills. Sighing, Nathan walked over and watched for a few minutes. Lennon was well Lennon, he had the ability, but he seemed disconnected with everything. It reminded Nathan of Lennon's dad, Brian when he was the same age.

Nathan watched and took note of what Lennon was doing. Nathan nodded, he was wrong, Lennon was doing it right. Smiling Nathan stood there and watched.

Well, Nathan smiled, even though he was starting his second tour as a parent, he smiled and nodded. He couldn't complain about the three grandkids he was raising, they were wild, but he saw there were good kids underneath it all. Yes, life was good, Nathan nodded and enjoyed watching his three grandchildren, even though it was frigid outside.