~*~
“Is she here? Is she here?” Daman was running around saying.
“She’s asleep, son. I keep telling you that, now shhh or you will wake her.”
“But Dad, I want to play wiff her!”
“Daman, you have to wait until she wakes up. We went over this in the car.”
“I don’t see why I can’t just wake her up myself; she loves me. I am her favorite alarm clock. She’s told me so before.”
“But she isn’t sick when she says that; she is sick now. Hush, or else I’ll duct tape your mouth shut.”
“Oh Dad, you wouldn’t.”
“Try me.”
Daman ran off in a pout and found a corner to hide in; all he wanted was to play with his Aunt Nadia.
“Kids, they are quite a handful. Glad I don’t have any,” Gabe said to Kain as he walked up from behind him, handing him a beer.
“You sure you don’t want just one? I’ll loan you the youngest. Hell, I’ll pay you to have him for the weekend.”
“Nah, I’ll pass.” Gabe brought the top of the bottle of beer up to Kain’s and tapped it against his. “Here’s to the start of a great holiday season. Hopefully Thanksgiving brings us good stories and lots and lots of turkey.”
“I’ll drink to that.”
The men laughed and took a drink. Kain looked around the room and surveyed what everyone was doing. His father was putting the last touches on the food under his mother’s watchful eye. He wished his ex-wife was capable of being in his kid’s life like his parents had been in his. He hoped that one day his boys would be able to find a bit of normalcy like that. Until then, it was him and his sisters for his boys.
Leon was leaning up against the hallway wall. His arms were crossed and his eyes were glued onto Nadia’s door. Anabella was talking to him, but he didn’t think Leon was really listening, not the way he appeared to be focused on the door.
“Gabe, will you excuse me a moment? Leon looks like he’s not taking this whole Nadia thing well. I think we need a man to man.”
“I don’t think any of us are taking this whole Nadia thing well, Kain. We are all just coping in our own way.”
Kain paused a moment to look at Gabe. The man had a point, a very valid point. None of them really were coping in the same way, but they all were feeling somewhat to blame for one of their women being taken.
“You gave me an idea about what to say. Would you mind if I brought Leon over here to talk with us, as ‘men’?”
“Nah, of course not.”
“Good, just a second then.”
Kain walked off in the direction of his sister and eldest child. He was so proud of his son; he had no words to express properly how much pride he felt.
“Hey there guys.”
“Hey Bro, what’s going on?” Anabella wrapped one arm around Kain’s waist and gave him a half hug while Kain all the while was looking down at Leon.
“Hey Leon, will you come over with Gabe and me for a moment? We wanted to talk to you about something.”
“I guess,” Leon said.
“Everything alright, Kain?” Anabella asked.
“Yeah Ana, everything’s good. Why don’t you get our guest of honor’s lazy ass up? She’s slept half the party away.” Kain leaned over and kissed his sister’s cheek then walked away with his son.
Leon and Kain walked up toward Gabe. They all smiled at one another. “Hello Mr. Sarmani,” Leon said softly.
“Hey there Leon. How are you doing?” Gabe kneeled down so he could be on the same level as him. He had always liked Kain’s boys.
“I guess okay.” Leon shrugged. He didn’t seem like he wanted to be at the party or to be talking.
Kain kneeled down and put his hand on Leon’s back. “Son, we know you are worried about your aunt; we are all worried about her, but you can’t let it eat away at you like this.”
“Yeah, you know we all love her like crazy, right Leon? She’s a very lucky woman,” Gabe spoke up.
“But none of you were there to keep her safe,” Leon replied.
“Bad things happen to good people all the time, Leon. That is part of life. Nothing anyone does can stop that.” Kain wished he could do more for his son. He hated that he was hurting like this.
“But I don’t like that she was hurt, and I don’t like that none of us could help her.”
“We are helping her now, Leon. Sometimes, helping someone after the trauma is more important than before, because they need the love and support of their family after. I promise, this is what she needs.” Gabe hoped that his message was getting through. He didn’t know kids, didn’t know how their minds worked, but he knew Nadia and assumed her nephews were as smart as she was.
“Do you think she will be the same?” Leon asked them.
“What do you mean, son?”
“Well, I heard on the TV that sometimes after a near death experience people aren’t the same, so does that mean she isn’t going to be our Aunt Nadia anymore?”
Kain and Gabe let out a little laugh and Kain brought his son in for a hug. “Oh Leon, no, that’s not what that means at all. It usually means people are more thankful and enjoy life more. They are more appreciative for what they have and the joy in life. They no longer take things for granted. You know, they care about things in a whole new light.”
“So Aunt Nadia isn’t going to change?”
“No Leon, not at all, she is still going to be the same crazy Aunt Nadia you have always known.” Gabe said. He smiled at the child. Okay, so maybe kids weren’t so bad.
“Hum…okay, well, I guess if she is going to be okay then I’ll be okay. I just don’t want her to change.” Leon leaned into his dad and the guys sat there for a moment before Leon walked off to go play with Daman.
Kain and Gabe stood and finished their beers. “Well, I think that went well, but I don’t have kids.”
“It went better than I thought it would.”
“Well, I call that success.”
Kain laughed. “Yeah, I guess I do too.”