Denver, CO
"Aunt Beth? Can I borrow twenty bucks?" Allie asked, pouring herself a cup of coffee.
"What's going on, Allie?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you have a job as a waitress and you get tips. Lately you've been asking for money. A lot."
"I sort of don't work at Hogan's anymore."
"You don't?"
"No. Money is tight. I was actually hoping I could move back in here."
"Think about it, hon. If you move back in, you will need to chip in with chores and pay rent."
"But the whole point of moving back in is to save money."
"You are an adult. You chose not to finish college so you need to figure out how to make ends meet without that boost that a degree might help with. Let me know what you decide."
Allie sighed, rolling her eyes, and sat down on the couch, her arms crossed. "Can I borrow a twenty?"
Elizabeth went to her purse and grabbed the money. "Don't buy more books."
"But…"
"Use it on something you need. Something essential."
"Yes, ma'am." She took the twenty. "Thank you."
Allie didn't finish college because she couldn't handle it after her Uncle Nathan died. He was essentially her father and her encouragement. Of course, Aunt Beth encouraged her too and she was like her mother but Uncle Nathan meant so much. They had raised her since she was four. When he died, Allie lost her motivation to do much of anything.
Elizabeth sat down and took Allie's hand. "Allie, honey, I hope you know that I love you."
"I know."
"I'm only being a little hard on you because you are old enough to take care of yourself. You know how to make good choices."
"Do I? I wish Uncle Nathan was here. I miss him so much."
"Me too."
It had been 26 months and three days since she lost her husband to the horrors of an out of control fire. They had been together since freshman year in college and married at 21. At 22, they took custody of Allie after Colleen, her mother, died.
Then two years later, Marley and Ivy, the twins, were born.
Elizabeth rubbed her ring finger, even though the gold band she had worn for so long no longer resided there. The memories were still fresh. The love that she had for him, her best friend, would always be in her heart.
"Do you think he would be disappointed in me?"
"No, sweetie. You are strong and smart and beautiful. I know he would be proud of you."
"I've been thinking about going back to school but I don't know how I would afford that and hold down a job and pay bills. It seems like too much all at once."
"Allie, if you are going to finish your degree, I will pay for it. We paid for all you girls to go to college. I still have the money for that. You can move back in here but you also need to get a part time job and at least pay for your car insurance and phone."
"No rent?"
"No rent. School is important and it will help you for the future. Once you graduate and get a full time job, we can revisit the rent subject."
"Oh thank you! Thank you so much! I will move back in this weekend!"
……
Lucas stood in the kitchen of the fire station in downtown Denver, making a large pan of eggs for all the guys. They took turns each week cooking the meals for everyone and this week, it was his.
He added cream, salt and pepper, pepper jack cheese and finely diced onions and bell peppers to the bowl and then poured it into the large skillet.
"Yo, Cappy, we are starved," Joseph Canfield said, leading the way into the kitchen for the others on shift.
"Yo, Canfield, patience. Breakfast in ten. Coffee is ready though."
The large urn was always kept hot and ready. On any given day there were men and women on shift that had been there for 10 or more hours, or those that slept there and needed the extra boost in the morning.
Lucas' phone buzzed on the counter. "Good morning, Van," he said, hitting the speaker button. "How are you, sweetheart?"
"Daddy, am I on speaker?"
"Yes, baby. I'm making breakfast for the guys."
"Hey, I resent that," Fiona said, walking in the room.
"The guys and Fi. Sorry, Fi."
"Daddy, please take me off speaker."
"Fi, can you come watch the eggs?"
"Why me? Cause I'm a girl? No way!"
"Daddy?"
"Someone, watch the eggs if you don't want them to burn. I need to talk to my daughter."
He walked out of the room and took her off speaker. "You are off speaker. What's up?"
"I need clothes, Dad. I need girl stuff and need money to get that stuff."
"One moment. Let me transfer you some money." Savannah was 16 and staying with him for a month since it was summer. Then she'd go back to her mom's in Boulder. "How much do you need?"
"I don't know!"
"Van? What's wrong? Why are you upset?"
"Because it's summer and I'm stuck here all alone. You are always working and I don't have a car or money or any friends here. And I'm emotional because I'm on my period and I need tampons and I need new clothes! I just want mom."
"Listen, can you hold on for another hour? I get off then and I can take you wherever you need to go."
"Back to Mom's?"
"No, sweetie. Its my month with you. I will try to be home more. Can you hang on for an hour?"
"Yeah."
"Great. I'll see you soon."
It wasn't as if he wanted to work a lot but when Vannah came and stayed, he sometimes forgot to adjust his schedule. Like this month.
He sat down at his computer, knowing the guys and Fi could fend for themselves. He looked up his schedule. He was the one who scheduled everyone so he could look ahead and see what adjustments could be made to spend more time with Vannah.
"Cappy, we need to talk," Fiona said, walking in and sitting down, not waiting for an invitation.
"Give me a moment please. I am in the middle of something."
"I'm pregnant," she blurted.
He all but spit out the coffee he had just sipped. "Excuse me?"
"Pregnant. In about seven months, there will be a Baby Hickam entering the world."
He sat back and looked at Fiona. Not too closely. He didn't want her to feel uncomfortable.
"I need to be placed on light, non-hazardous duty. Here's a letter from my doctor."
He took the letter and read it. "Okay. I will work on an updated schedule."
"I still need full time, Cap, but I'm good with paperwork."
"Alright. Thank you for letting me know."
She nodded and got up, leaving him to move things around again.
About 90 minutes later, he had it all figured out. He took Fiona out of the rotation for any fire calls and only assigned her to in-house duties. That meant, he would need to either hire another person or work more himself.
His phone buzzed. "Shoot! Vannah, I'm sorry. I'm on my way."
"Okay."
He walked back downstairs where the guys were washing their new rig. "I'm off. Lieutenant Canfield, you are in charge. See you in 48."
"Wait, Cap…" one of the guys said.
"Nope. Any issues, take it up with Canfield." If he didn't put his foot down, he'd be stuck there.
He drove home, only about ten miles thankfully and steeled himself for the wrath of his hormonal teenager. Girls. He would never fully understand them but he was convinced that's what God wanted.
When he walked in the door to his small house, he was immediately hugged by his daughter. "Daddy."
"Honey, I'm here. Tell me what's wrong."
She looked up at him, tears falling down her face. "I told you already."
"Its nothing else?"
"No." She wiped her cheeks and sniffled.
"Would you like me to go shopping for you?"
She giggled. "No. I need girly things and you are clueless. No offense, Daddy."
"Alright then. Let's go. You ready?"
"Let me grab my purse."
A few moments later, they were on the interstate out of Denver, heading to Boulder.
"The mall there is the best, Daddy. They have a grocery attached too so I can get my other stuff."
"Any idea how much money you need?"
"Maybe $50?"
"Sure. I will transfer the money once we get there."
"Thanks."
"Of course. I feel bad that I haven't been around much this week. I made a few changes to my schedule so that I'm home a few evenings a week and the weekends. But Fiona at work is pregnant so she can't work in the field. Which means…."
"You have to."
"Yeah."
"Why am I even here, Dad? Why send me to Denver to be all by myself?"
"Sweetie, I'm sorry. I know its hard."
"Yeah. It is."
"Well, I have two days off starting now. What should we do?"
"I don't know." He watched her wipe her tears. He hated when she cried. It made him feel helpless.
"We could go see a movie. Get candy and popcorn and soda."
"Maybe."
"We could go mini golfing. You love that."
"I loved that when I was twelve."
"So no mini golf?"
"No. I'd rather just read."
"I took the weekend off to spend with you so we are going to do something. You pick though."
"I guess a movie is fine," she mumbled later as they parked in the parking garage at the mall.
"Great. That sounds good to me too. Now lets go get you what you need."
……
"Aunt Beth? Are you going to this?"
"Going to what?"
Allie showed her the screen on her phone. "Denver PD and Denver FD annual fundraiser?"
"Probably not, hon." It was too much. Seeing all of Nathan's "brothers" and feeling their pity…too many reminders.
"I think we should. I bet Marley and Ivy would agree with me. All four of us could go."
It made sense to support the organization that paid for Nathan's funeral and paid off their debt, including their home. It just felt like bringing up all the pain that came with it.
"Yep, Marley and Ivy want to go too. Its two weeks away and they said they would come down from U of C."
"You asked them?"
"Yeah."
"You three can go if you want. I'm on the fence." Elizabeth got up and started washing dishes. It was only a couple but she needed something to do with her hands. Something to take her mind off of Nathan.
……
Mall
"Vannah? Do you like them?" he asked, watching her walk back and forth, trying out her new shoes.
"Yeah. I do. They're on sale."
"That's good. And we got your bra and …."
"Daddy! Please don't announce that you bought me a bra."
"Oh, sorry." He smirked and sat down on the bench in the shoe store.
She put the shoes back in their box and put on her flip flops that she wore shopping. "Daddy, that fundraiser is in a few weeks, right?"
"Yeah. Do you want to go this year?"
"I read online that they need people to bake cookies to sell. I want to do that."
"Sounds great, Van. Thank you."
"So, can we get some ingredients so I can practice making my recipes?"
"Sure. We can go back to the grocery."
Lucas was happy that Vannah found something to keep her busy when she was alone. The fundraiser was a huge deal every summer. They used the money raised to pay off bills and funeral expenses for the police officers and firefighters that lost their lives in the line of duty.
That made him think of his best friend and former "brother" Nathan Grant. It had been just over two years and he still expected to see him sitting in the Chief's office behind his desk.
The fundraiser had helped his family and three kids and that was wonderful. He wondered how Elizabeth, Allie, Ivy and Marley were doing.