by Sheila Kell
“Before you open them, I want to introduce my nephew and your cousin Lee. He was one of your Aunt Betty’s children. At the kids’ table is his son, Brandon. I’d like you to welcome them to the family.” They hadn’t known their aunt, so this probably shocked them since she’d remained hidden from her family. His first wife had asked for her sister on her deathbed. He hadn’t been able to find her, a weight he’d held on his shoulders. Not being able to grant a dying woman her final wish—no matter what was held between them—shot regret through him every time he recalled it. He hoped looking after Lee and Brandon would alleviate some of that guilt. He’d give everything to these two. They were family that grew up thinking they had no other relatives beyond their parents.
The stilted silence unnerved him. Shock and disbelief showed strongly on their features. To his surprise, Emily took the lead, stood and walked to Lee, introducing herself, welcoming him to the family, and giving him a hug. He doubted his sons would go that far, but she made him proud.
Chairs skidded back on the tile floor. Seeing what could be a problem, he instructed, “To keep this easier, for now, we’ll have my sons and oldest grandson introduce themselves so he can practice at dinner.” That brought laughter from the adults. “After we’ve finished, he can meet all of you.” With his kids and Jason already standing, he figured it should go fast. He wanted his family to open their gifts.
Brad nodded. “Welcome to the family, Lee. Great name.” Blake almost snorted and shook his head. He should’ve given Bradley Lee a different middle name. Brad turned to the kids’ table where Brandon sat watching with wide eyes. “Good to meet you too, Brandon. I look forward to getting to know you both. No matter what you hear about me, it’s probably true.” He flashed that mischievous grin at them before returning to his seat.
Laughs rippled down the table. Brad always had a way to charm a crowd. Lord only knew what he’d share when he sat down with Lee. He loved him, but Brad had no Pause button.
Quick greetings were completed, and everyone returned to their seats, and the gifts on both tables were picked up; the kids nearly bounced in their seats with excitement. He nodded. “Open them.” Absolute joy wove its way through him from his toes to the top of his head. It didn’t matter that his sons, daughter, and Jason wouldn’t understand the significance when they first held what was inside their box. He’d searched hard to find the right wood color, font, size, with burning around the edges and burning in the names of each of his children, foster son, and oldest grandson to look as if it were a part of this place.
Jesse, Devon, and Matt looked at him quizzically. Jason jumped from the chair on his way to hug his grandfather and said excitedly, “This is so cool.” The grandkids were showing off their toys to each other. His children said their thank you, but still held a curious glint in their eyes. He could never fool them.
While it appeared Brad and Matt were about to speak, Jesse wasn’t fooled. “These are great, Dad, but I have a feeling there’s something more than just nameplates. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great, and I have a perfect place to hang mine, but….”
He let the sentence drop off, probably expecting him to pick it up. That he would. Reaching down, he helped Elizabeth stand beside him. She gave a quick squeeze of his hand to reassure him of her support. He really shouldn’t worry about the news he would share. He worried about questions they might ask. Questions he wasn’t ready to answer. But, this, he could handle.
“I’d like to know what you think of this place. Honestly.”
Once again, he left them speechless, and he liked it. It’d been a long time since he’d had fun with them. He loved them with all his heart and hoped they’d back him in this venture.
Matt cleared his throat. “I haven’t seen much. But what I’ve seen I like. The bedroom for us and the twins is perfect.”
“Same here. With the other twins,” Brad added. “Thanks for the cribs.”
“I knew you wouldn’t leave me hanging,” Matt taunted. His twin sons reached behind Madison and fist bumped.
“I think we all agree it’s a wonderful place and great vacation spot,” Jesse confirmed.
“Great,” he announced. “I’m glad you like it because Elizabeth and I purchased it.”
This time stunned gazes were on him. He found it funny how his sons could hold a poker face while dealing with a criminal, never allowing anything to show. Yet, with family, they let down that guard. He was glad for it.
They began talking at once, and to whom, he wasn’t sure. “Quiet.” He hadn’t needed to raise his voice as his boys and girl always listened to him. Another trait he figured one of the many nannies they’d chased off had instilled in them.
“Are each of you satisfied with the room you were assigned? That also means you, Jason.”
Some nodding, some yeses, and a combination of both answered his question. “Good. Those plaques are to be hung over the doorway of your room. When you visit—any time of the year—that room will be yours.”
The entire table came to him with genuine smiles and hugs for him and Elizabeth. The children, seeing the fun, lined up for their hugs, even though they weren’t sure why. It became a big laughing fest as the kids made a game of it.
Sensing two people missing, he caught Lee staring at the package in disbelief. It might take time for him to feel part of the family. Lee probably didn’t want to think his mother had been the reason they’d been estranged all those years.
He looked up, and Blake slowly nodded. “Welcome to the family.”
Lee opened his mouth and closed it. Before Blake could get to him, the twins nodded and moved to bring Lee into the fold.
Knowing someone important had also missed the hugs, he turned to Jason. His grandson held the plaque in a hand, slowly rubbing his fingers over it, tracing his name. He’d not understood the significance of the gift when he’d thanked him. When Jason swiped his face, Blake knew he had to go to him. Jesse turned his head and caught the same emotion on the teen. Blake shook him off because he needed to do this.
Maybe hearing and seeing him approach, Jason dropped the plaque, turned away and wiped both hands across his face. Blake waited until he felt Jason was comfortable before he approached him, and turned a chair facing his grandson and sat.
It’d been a long time since he’d had a conversation like this with a teenager. He hoped he didn’t blow it. Time to go open-ended and see what fish he caught. “How’s it going?”
Jason wouldn’t look up at him, but Blake would be patient. “Fine.” Jason’s voice held a quaver that he hoped didn’t bring about more tears.
Glancing over to the group, Jesse watched him and Blake with a proud smile. This would be good for Jesse and Kate to hear, so he knew they’d slip behind Jason in their stealth mode. “That’s good to hear.” He’d go all in and hope he didn’t embarrass Jason. “Then why are you crying?”
Jason popped his head up so fast, Blake wondered if he’d damaged his neck. “I wasn’t crying.”
That answer he’d heard many times over the years with too many boys to count. “Got it. You’re not. Okay. Well, you should know that even as adult men, there are times we cry. We tend to hide it, but it isn’t always like that. Heck, I cried in public every time one of my kids were born. You even saw me cry when I gave Emily away at her wedding.”
Now the hard part. He waited, giving him the pregnant pause where he’d finally spill. He squirmed, and Blake knew what would be said next would be important.
Showing Blake the sign with his name, Jason asked, “I thought this was just to hang somewhere. Why did you give me a room? I’m not even your real grandson.” His head dropped again.
Ah. The crux of the problem. “Look at me, Jason.” Once he had, he continued, “You are in every way, except by birth, my grandson, Jesse and Kate’s son, a nephew and cousin to so many, and a brother to a sister who adores you. It doesn’t matter that you aren’t of our blood. Your Uncle Matt knew your dad. He believed that your father w
ould be happy with us as your new family. We’ll never ask you to forget them, we only ask that you embrace us as your second and final family.” He waited a heartbeat or two. “Do you remember how Kate spent time with you at the hospital?”
He nodded. “She was so great. I loved her right away. I’d wanted—” When he cut himself off, Blake had a feeling Jason had remembered when he’d told Kate that he’d like her to be his new mom.
“You wanted her to be your new mom, didn’t you? It’s okay to admit the truth. In fact, everyone should live by that rule.”
With a trembling lip, he nearly mumbled, “I did, but my mom had just died, and it was wrong of me to want another one that quick. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I do now.”
“And why do you feel it now?”
“Everything’s changing. Everyone wants so much for me, and I feel guilty because I’m not really a Hamilton.”
Inwardly sighing, he wondered if he could get into a teenage mind. “Did you know that Jake was my foster son?”
That brought Jason’s head up. “I just thought he was just Aunt Em’s husband.”
Tightening his lips together, he slowly shook his head. “He is her husband, but I meant he came to us as a foster son when he was ten.” He didn’t need to explain all the crap Jake had gone through before he made it there. He needed to show the positive. “He lived with us for twelve years, including his college years. As far as I’m concerned, he’s my son. I love him just as much as my other kids. Like you, he’d felt he didn’t belong and couldn’t keep the things given to him. Long story short, we almost lost him because he didn’t feel he deserved to be part of our family since he wasn’t blood born with us. When trouble found him, he needed the family, and we came together because there was no doubt in our minds he was family.”
“But I don’t deserve this.” He gestured toward the wood sign with “Jason” burnt onto it. “Mom and Dad have already given me lots of stuff, and I’m not even eighteen yet.”
Blake nearly shook his head. “Son, did you not learn anything from that story?” At blank eyes, he answered his own question. “Jake didn’t feel he was part of the family. Do you see him over there as part of the family? We brought him back. Don’t make us have to track you down, because we will. We never forget family—no matter how they came to us.”
Jason appeared to be mulling something over. When his grandson handed the plaque to him, he worried he’d blown it. “I don’t think I should take this.”
He had blown it. A knot worked its way up his throat making it difficult to speak. He couldn’t let Jason walk away from this family. He couldn’t suffer through it again. “Why?”
“Since I have no way to get here and no money to pay for the room, you should give it to someone else.”
“It’s not because you don’t feel part of the family?”
Jason slowly shook his head. “I was young, but I remember the family while searching for Uncle Jake. It made me think of how I’d be sad if we were separated.” He shrugged. “I want to be a Hamilton.”
Chancing it, Blake reached over and touched Jason’s shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. “You already are. So much so, you deserve a room at this lodge when you want it.” He held up his hand to forestall an argument. “When you’re here, you don’t pay for a thing. That’s how family looks out for each other.”
A twinge of excitement crossed Jason’s features, but he held too much defeat. “I still can’t get here.”
“Do you promise me—and this family—that you’ll be a true part of us like we see you?”
Jason sniffed, and he couldn’t tell if more where on the way. Flinging himself at Blake, as best as they could in the chairs, he did start to cry. Blake held the lost teenager as he did his sons. Looking in the shadows, he nodded Jesse and Kate closer. From their position, they should’ve heard everything.
Unclinging the strong football player, he looked at him. “Now, we were talking about coming here for vacation. We’ve already established you wouldn’t have to pay for the room and I think, because we’re family, we can fix the transportation issue too.”
The bewildered face on his grandson was comical. He had no idea what was meant.
A key slowly dropped in front of his face. He jerked around so hard he moved the chair; his parents gave him a loving smile.
“Is that—Is that mine?” Jason squeaked out while holding back full excitement.
Almost simultaneously, Kate and Jesse said, “Yes.”
His job done, Blake slid from the chair and went to round up everyone to sit. Watching Brad, who must’ve been who Jesse tagged to keep the others away, Blake couldn’t say it enough: his kids were amazing. No man was luckier than him.
One thing was for sure, he didn’t want to leave this large Hamilton family, but some things were beyond one’s control.
WITH HER ARMS crossed in anger, Reagan harrumphed just like her mother did when she wanted Dad to agree to something. It hadn’t worked for Reagan. In fact, her Dad wasn’t even paying any attention to her.
It wasn’t fair. Not only had her mom and dad taken her phone for dinner, but Jason also got to sit at the adult table, and she didn’t. His job was to watch over all the kids with her, not leave her with kids who made more of a mess than they ate.
To make it worse, this Brandon character, who’d she found out was ten months older, didn’t help with managing the rugrats. Then to find out he was her cousin…. It was too much for a growing woman her age to take.
When he sat back down at the kids’ table—she wished they’d stop calling it that—she decided she liked him because he was her age. When they’d been introduced, he hadn’t said he was her cousin. “You’re family?”
Brandon nodded, looked down at his plate and gave a one-word answer. “Yep.”
Amber almost jumped out of her seat. Bouncing, she added, “I’m almost seven.”
“You’re six,” Reagan corrected her cousin. When she realized how harsh she’d sounded, she took a breath and tried to calm down. Her hurt pride wasn’t their fault.
She pushed her bottom lip out in a pout. “I’m six years and ten months. That’s almost seven.”
All right, she’d give her that. “You are. I’m sorry.”
Amber beamed, and Reagan liked putting that smile on her face.
Reagan turned to Brandon. “Did you get to meet all the adults?”
He shook his head. “No.”
Reagan wondered if he could speak more than one word at a time. She remembered her dad teaching her that if she wanted a long answer to ask an open-ended question. While she didn’t quite understand, she searched her brain for one her dad had taught her. Her head hurt thinking that hard. Refusing to give up, she focused on her early HIS training. “Tell me about what you do for fun?” Her dad would be proud of her for remembering that question. She’d have to write some down because it took too long to figure out one. But, she didn’t have them with her. Who’d have known she’d need them on vacation?
He looked at her and Amber and glowed with a big smile. “I love going to, you know, the skateboard park. I have this great board that—” He must’ve seen their “we’re girls not interested in skateboards” expressions. Maybe she shouldn’t have asked because boys did crazy things. That’s why they always got in trouble. “It’s not important now. I’ll show it to you when we, you know, get all moved to Baltimore.”
“What does your dad do?” Amber asked.
Glancing over at Brandon’s dad, Reagan wondered if calling him Cousin Lee would be okay instead of Mr. Lee. That didn’t sound like family, and he was an adult, so she had to show him respect.
Cousin Lee could have a job that was a big secret. Oh, maybe he was a secret agent like some of HIS. He didn’t look like he was a big fighter though. Maybe he’d been working in another country—like Russia—to steal and bring back secrets back to the US. Like a Mission Impossible dude. Thinking of mission impossible, she needed to continue her search for th
at man who disappeared after going to the kitchen. Looking around the room, she found him sitting at a table with another man. Before she could think further, Brandon answered Amber’s question.
“He’s really good on the computer. Mostly, he’s hired to try to break into a company’s computer system.”
A hacker. Ooh, much better than she thought. Maybe he could break into Fort Knox. She’d heard that was impossible. “Uncle Devon is really good at computers too. Everyone always asks him to do computer magic. I don’t believe magic is true because I saw Jackson Miller mess up his magic tricks during the school talent show. The scarf he was to pull from his sleeve was showing when he started. And the cups— Don’t get me started. That’s why I don’t believe in magic.”
With a chuckle, Brandon said, “I feel ya. My dad bought me a magic kit once. I didn’t feel any magic from that stupid wand. Everything else was so cheap it fell apart when I tried the tricks.”
Dinner was served, interrupting their conversation. When she looked at her plate, she turned to her dad. His wink always made her feel like a princess. Turning back to her plate, she had an adult meal of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes coated with gravy, and veggies, not a kid’s meal of mac and cheese and chicken tenders. It didn’t even bother her that Brandon had an adult plate also.
Amber picked up a chicken tender. “Ew. They gave you two the wrong plate. Who wants to eat all that stuff? Yuck, it even has vegetables.” She took a bite of the fried tender, and with her mouth full, said, “This is real food.”
She and Brandon looked at each other and said nothing, but dug into their adult meal where, admittedly, her favorite food was the roll.
Throughout dinner, she, Amber, and Brandon talked a bunch. And when she helped a younger cousin with his food, Brandon helped another. Keeping Uncle Matt’s twins out of a food fight was the biggest challenge of dinner. She and Brandon separated them and still…. Uncle Matt needed to get them into obedience school. It works for dogs so it must work for uncontrollable babies. Of course it was boys. Always boys.
