Heroes Never Die (36 page)

“All right, you little munchkin, time to clean you up.”  She pulled the slimy bowl off of his head and put it in
to the sink.  “Honestly, Bobby, I don’t know what to clean first – you, the highchair, the floor, or – oh no, not again – the ceiling.  How on earth did you get it way up there?  You’re just like your dad, except that he used the blender.”

“Listen, Bobby,” she said as she lifted his cereal-coated body out of the highchair and took him upstairs for another bath.  “You have to be a good boy for Momm
y today.  We’re moving tomorrow and I have a zillion things to do.  Promise me you’ll take a nap today – please.”  From that point on, her day only got worse.  By the time her reinforcement arrived, she was completely frazzled.

Brian took the baby from her and kissed them both.  “You look whipped.”

“Your son did his rendition of the Tasmanian Devil today.  And he still hasn’t taken a nap.”

Brian seemed to think it was humorous.  “Did you give your mother a hard time today?”

Stephanie didn’t appreciate his lack of concern, especially when she was loaded down with tons of work.  “It’s not funny, Brian,” she puffed with exasperation, her eyes brimming with tears.  “The moving van will be here at ten o’clock tomorrow morning.  I haven’t accomplishment anything because I’ve been too busy chasing after Bobby.  Every telemarketer in the country has our phone number.  By the way, if you’d like to buy a cemetery plot, we can get a discount if we buy two.”  Without stopping to catch her breath, she continued to unload.  “I haven’t started dinner because the refrigerator is empty.  I can’t go buy dinner because I can’t find my car keys, probably because Bobby threw them into one of these packing boxes I’ve been tripping over all day, and, and,” she said as tears began to stream down her face.  “And I’m pregnant.”

“Ahhhhh,” Bobby squealed, adding his thoughts to the conversation.

Stephanie dropped her shoulders and rubbed the stress in her head.  Now her son was a comic, too.  “We have a deadline to meet, Brian.  At this rate, I’m not going to be ready for the movers.”

“Back up,” he said, wanting to put first things first.  “I think I got everything but that last part.  Did you say you were pregnant?”

She knew they hadn’t planned on another baby this soon.  “I know it’s bad timing.  We’re moving, we just bought a home, you’ll be setting up your practice, but I happen to recall a certain someone saying, and I quote, ‘No, Stephanie, this can’t wait’.”

Brian grinned his mischievous grin.  “I remember that night – great night.”

“Honestly, Brian.  I’m having a crisis and you’re cracking jokes.”

His eyes smiled with sincerity.  “I wasn’t joking.  It was a great night.”  He stepped close to her and embraced her face.  “Cheer up, Stephanie.  We have plenty of love for another baby.  In nine months we’ll be settled into our new home, and my practice will be up and running.  The timing couldn’t be better.”

Stephanie felt like he had just lifted a ton of weight off of her back.  “Then you’re not upset?”

“I couldn’t be happier,” he assured her.  “You’re a good mother, Stephanie.  And you’re an even better wife.  Bobby and I are lucky to have you.”  He reached for her mouth and kissed her.  Just then Bobby began to squirm in Brian’s arms, wanting to be put down.  Brian put him on the floor, and Bobby crawled off to discover a new adventure.

Brian’s arms were free to hold Stephanie close.  His embrace was powerful, his kiss soothing, and Stephanie felt her tension melt away.  “I’m sorry I unloaded as soon as you walked in the door,” she apologized.  “I was actually very glad to see you.  I miss you when you’re not here.”

“Well then, I have some news that will make you happy.  The investigation into the death of the President was closed today.  Everyone was cleared of any wrongdoing.”

“Oh, Brian, I’m so relieved.”  She hugged him even tighter.  Now she didn’t have to worry about losing him.  They could finally move on with their lives.

“Now for the not so good news.”

“Not yet, Brian,” she whined.  “Let me enjoy the good news for at least a second longer.”

“I have to process out tomorrow.  I’ll be gone most of the morning.  So if you need help, use me up now.”

Stephanie’s anxiety returned.  “Not tomorrow, Brian.  I can’t possibly take care of Bobby and organize all of this chaos by myself.  I need you here.”

“Tell you what,” Brian said.  “I think I know how to lighten your load.  Why don’t we call one of those nanny services to see if someone can take Bobby off of your hands tomorrow?”

“That’s a great idea,” she bubbled.  “Do you think we can get someone on such short notice?”

“There’s only one way to find out.  But if I were you, I wouldn’t describe Bobby’s energetic personality.”

Stephanie smiled.  He did understand what her days were like.  Then suddenly her expression went blank.  The house was too quiet.  “Where’s Bobby?”

“He was here just a minute ago,” Brian said as he scanned the room.

“I don’t hear anything, Brian.  That’s not a good sign.”

“He can’t be far.  Maybe he crawled upstairs.  I’ll look up there.  You look down here.”  Brian raced up the stairs while Stephanie searched the rooms below.  She couldn’t find him anywhere.

Brian ran down the stairs, two at a time.  “Anything?”

“No,” her voice shook with alarm.  “Where is he?”

“He has to be here somewhere.”  Then she saw Brian’s eyes fill with alarm and she followed his focus to the front door.  The door was open.  “Dear God,” he called out, as he bolted toward the door.

At the same time, Stephanie had a vision of Bobby crawling into the street, and she froze with fear.  Then they heard scratching coming from one of the boxes in the living room.  They turned their heads toward the box which gently rocked and then came to a standstill.  Brian and Stephanie glanced at each other, hoping it was their son, and they hurried to investigate.  Bobby was sound asleep inside of the box.  He had finally gone down for a nap.

“Bobby,” Brian finally exhaled as he lifted his baby out of the box and squeezed him tight.  “You scared the life out of me, son.”  He sat down on the sofa and cuddled him close to his chest.  Stephanie snuggled up to Brian and put her arm around both of them, and for a moment they were silent, still afraid of what could have happened, and tremendously relieved that nothing did.

“Do you think he’ll ever realize what he put us through?” Stephanie asked.  She could still feel Brian’s heart pounding in his chest.

“Never,” Brian said.  “He sure put my priorities straight in a hurry.”

“Your priorities always were straight,” she gently corrected, feeling as though she had just been severely reprimanded for allowing all of the little annoyances to crowd her life.  “Mine were the ones that needed a fine tuning.  I was letting the move get to me.  Funny – it just doesn’t seem important anymore – only you and Bobby.”

Brian gently kissed her, and then Stephanie watched as he scanned the room.  It would be the last night they would spend there.  “I’m going to miss this house,” he fondly reminisced.  “We had some great times here.”

“The best,” she sadly agreed.

“Do you remember the picnic we had over there on the floor when we closed the deal on this house?”

“Are you kidding?  Now that, Brian, was a great night.”

“Yeah, it was, followed by many, many more.  I still remember carrying you up the stairs after we bought this house.”

“Me, too.”  She fondly smiled.  “I thought you were going to drop me.  Do you remember how we spent the next several weeks breaking in every room?”

Brian grinned.  “I think I can safely say that I know where every squeaky floorboard is.  We certainly toasted a lot of champagne here.”

“Yeah,” she sighed, thinking back over all of the romance they had shared.  “We never needed a reason to celebrate.  Just being together was always reason enough.”  Stephanie smiled with contentment.  The happiest days of her life had been spent with Brian.  “I think one of my favorite times in this house,” she said as her mind revisited the shadows of the past, “was when we came home from Ted’s party and we danced all night until the sun came up.”

“That was one of the best,” Brian agreed.  “I’m almost positive that’s the night Bobby was conceived.  I can still remember you heaping all of those candy bars on my dinner plate as if it was yesterday.  God, I was happy.”

“How about when we brought
Bobby home from the hospital?  We stood over his crib for hours and watched him sleep.  I remember being so afraid that he would stop breathing and you telling me he would be okay.”

“My favorite memory is coming home to find you waiting at the door to give me a kiss.  Seeing you after a hard day’s work has always been the highlight of my day.  I don’t know what I’d do without you, Stephanie.  Don’t ever stop being here for me.”

“I’ll always be here for you, Brian.”  Then she suddenly recalled the time she told him she would wait the rest of her life for him to return from the war.  It was one of the most heart wrenching moments of her life.  “I can remember some sad times too, Brian.  The very worst was when you came home and told me you had to go off to war.  It still hurts when I think about it.”

“Yeah, I can still see you blowing me a kiss goodbye.  But we got through it.”

Stephanie chose to ignore the hell she went through while he was gone, and the hell he put her through when he found out.  Then Brian lifted her chin.  “I’ll never forget how you nearly decapitated me when you threw our wedding picture at me.”

“Oh, please,” she giggled.  “It didn’t even come close.”

“Bull,” he said with wide eyes.  “I can still hear it whizzing by.”

Stephanie knew he was teasing, but the memory of what might have been pierced her heart with pain.  “I’m glad we were able to work things out.  I can’t imagine living my life without you.  And you were right
.  We are stronger.  And nothing will ever be able to tear us apart again.”

Chapter Forty-Two:

Brian buttoned the shirt on his crisp uniform for the very last time.  At noon today he would become a civilian all over again.  The Army had been good to him, but now he had to stand on his own.  His family was counting on him and he couldn’t let them down.

Stephanie walked up to him, struck by his handsome appearance.  “I’m going to miss seeing you in your uniform,” she said, her eyes sparkling with admiration.  “You look so handsome.”

“I never thought I’d say this, but I’m going to miss putting it on.”

Stephanie felt a twinge of sadness.  She wasn’t sure whether she was clinging to everything that was familiar in the midst of upheaval, or whether she was blaming herself for all of the sacrifices Brian was making to protect her.  “You had a wonderful military career ahead of you.  I feel responsible for taking it all away.”

“It was a joint decision,” he corrected.  “We both know we have to make this move.  It’s the only way you’ll be safe.”

“But you’re the one making all of the sacrifices.”

He was surprised he needed to explain.  “I would eat dirt for the rest of my life if it meant keeping you alive.  I don’t want to lose you, Stephanie.”

She embraced his face, wondering what she had done to deserve him.  “You are the most wonderful man alive.  I love you, Brian.  And I can’t wait to have another chat in a year.”  Stephanie gazed into the future.  “We have a lot of new memories to make.”

“We’ll have another baby by then.”

“And we have a new house to break in.”

“Thank God it’s a big house,” he grinned.

“And lots of champagne to toast.”

Brian brushed her long blonde hair with his hand.  “I have no regrets, Stephanie.  So don’t blame yourself for taking anything away from me when you’re the one who has given me everything I ever wanted.”

She buried her head in his chest and embraced him as tightly as she could.  “I don’t want you to leave,” she whispered.  She could smell his woodsy cologne.

“When is the nanny coming?” he whispered back.

“Eight o’clock.”  She felt so safe in his arms.  “I have to wake up Bobby.”

“Let me,” he said as he kissed the top of her head.  “I want to tell him goodbye.”  He held her for as long as he could, and then they walked to the nursery to wake Bobby.  Brian kissed Stephanie and Bobby goodbye and left to process out.

***

The nanny arrived a few minutes early.  Stephanie went to the door with Bobby in her arms.  She was expecting to see a younger nanny but was pleasantly surprised when she saw an older, more mature-looking woman.  “You must be our nanny,” Stephanie said when she opened the door.  “Please, won’t you come in?  I’m Stephanie Fairchild, and this is my son, Bobby.”

The nanny slowly reached out her hand to greet Bobby, allowing him the time he needed to feel safe so that she could win his trust.  “It’s nice to meet you, Bobby,” she tenderly said, her face bright with a smile.  “My name is Lillian Pezan, and I’ll be taking care of you today.”

Bobby looked worried.  “It’s all right, Bobby,” Stephanie assured him.  Then Bobby looked back at his nanny and smiled shyly.

“How old are you, Bobby?”

“He’s almost nine months,” Stephanie said, proud of her son.