Second Time Around (18 page)

E
mily was grateful that Kevin agreed to stay. Her sisters offered their continued support for her and Kevin, each taking a turn talking to Naomi. Emily doubted there was any hope of her mother changing her attitude after all these years. Though Emily longed for her mother to be happy for her just once in her life, she no longer depended upon it.

She and Ricky “helped” Kevin take measurements of the cabin for Kevin's drafting, while Katarina and Lisa took Naomi to Estes Park to shop. When they were finished, Kevin fixed a pitcher of lemonade and poured three glasses. He and Emily sat on the veranda, while Ricky gathered pinecones.

“I'm sorry I put you on the spot this morning, Kevin.”

He took a long drink, then rested the glass on his knee. “I noticed a load of bricks falling, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure a way to dodge it.” He turned to her and his whole face spread into a smile.

She took his hand, grateful he could laugh about it already.

Kevin tipped the chair back and stretched. “I must admit, under the circumstances I'm surprised you're still wearing the ring. I half expected it to come off immediately when I couldn't commit, and definitely thought you'd take it off when your mother arrived.”

Guessing that meant he hadn't come to any decision yet, Emily said simply, “It gives me hope.”

Kevin leaned over the side of the chair and pressed his lips against hers, and Emily fought the temptation to assume everything was going to turn out the way she wanted it to. She was too old to presume that. Despite her fears, though, she wouldn't give up hope.
God is still in the miracle business.

“Mommy? I mean Emily…” The soft words were accompanied by a gentle tap on her knee.

Emily jumped and looked around. She looked back to Kevin, tears instantly forming. “Yes, Ricky?” Even though it was a mistake, it tugged on her emotions and gave her hope that one day he would accept her as his mother.

She rested her hand on his shoulder. “What, Ricky?”

“Can we go see the water?”

“Sure. We can take a walk to the river. Ask Kevin if he wants to come with us. Maybe he'd even show us how he caught all those trout for supper.” She smiled at Kevin, daring him to turn the charming little boy down.

Kevin waited casually, pretending he hadn't heard a word Emily had said.
Please, help Kevin to see how much he would love being a daddy, God. And
help me to give him the time he needs to decide.
She looked up, thrilled to see Kevin put Ricky on his shoulders and grab the fishing pole.

They spent the afternoon fishing and hiking along the banks, gathering sticks and pinecones. The flowers were just beginning to bloom, and Ricky wanted to pick all of them.

“If you leave them for a few more days, they'll be much prettier,” Emily suggested. “Then we can pick two or three, but not all of them.” He scrunched up his face at the advice, but settled instead for making a pouch from his T-shirt to hold the collectibles he found along the path. When they returned to the cabin, Emily helped him make a centerpiece from the twigs and clusters of cones and various other “treasures.”

While Kevin prepared the fish, Emily put a bowl of broccoli in the microwave and buttered a loaf of French bread. Her mother and sisters returned while dinner was cooking. After they all ate, Emily bathed Ricky and put him to bed upstairs on a folding cot.

Kevin was increasingly disappointed that he hadn't spent much time alone. There was nowhere to escape, and he was impatient to get started on the cabin. He knew Bryan was, too. Kevin couldn't imagine what four kids sounded like within these walls. Ricky seemed to echo off them all by himself.

Emily brought some needlework with her, and filled any spare time with that. Naomi had her knitting, Katarina brought books, and Lisa had her paints and easel. Her project for this week was a portrait of Emily and her new son. Kevin loved watching her work, especially when the subject was so interesting.

Once they were satisfied that Ricky was asleep, Emily suggested a moonlight walk. They both welcomed the break from the stress inside.

“Mom seems to be adjusting to everything. She's thrilled to have a grandchild, finally,” she said as they strolled.

Kevin laughed. “How did she expect to get grand-kids when she did her best to chase any husband-prospects away?”

Emily didn't say anything, but snuggled closer. Even he was chilled by the cool evening air. “I guess I'm a fine one to talk, aren't I? It's not that I don't like kids, Emily. It's not even that I don't want them. You know I always wanted us to have a house full of little ones.”

“I remember,” she said softly. “I'm not trying to pressure you, Kevin. I just need you to know where I'm at. If you decide you can't commit to me and Ricky…I'll manage, and so will you.”

He leaned his head against hers. “I feel like some ogre. We were younger then. Young and naive. Taking a chance at hurting you again is bad enough, but to think of involving kids…like Ricky. He's already lost his mother and father. What if I had died after that accident?”

“You didn't die, Kevin. It was a freak accident. If you hadn't choked on that candy, we wouldn't have made nearly the issue over it.”

He shrugged. “It's not just that. We weren't absorbed in careers eight years ago. I don't know how I can back off now that business is booming, Emmy.”

She knew what he was feeling and understood his
doubts. There were no easy answers. “Kevin, don't worry. I'm not going anywhere. You don't have to give me an answer today.”

Kevin stopped walking and pulled her into his embrace. “I think Alex was right.”

“About what?” Emily asked, wrapping her arms around him.

“I need my head examined for having even one doubt, don't I?”

 

Kevin pulled a sleeping bag and pillow from the closet and moved out to the veranda to sleep. The stars were bright and the mountain air was crisp. Even when he snuggled to the bottom of the bag, his shoulders stuck out.

He went back inside to grab a sweatshirt from his bag and was surprised to hear the sisters still giggling as if they were having a slumber party. He slipped back outside unnoticed, wondering how Ricky could sleep through the noise. The little tike was his last thought upon falling asleep, and his first upon waking up.

Ricky greeted him early the next morning, completely dressed, well before anyone was awake inside. Kevin left a note on the table and took Ricky fishing. They made a short pole from a willow branch and fishing line, and sat on a grassy spot along the bank, next to a quiet spot in the river.

The little boy's cough started with an occasional ticklish sound. Kevin didn't think much of it, but after a while it became more constant. “You catching a cold, Ricky?”

“No, just a cough. I have medicine to take. Dr. Em—Emily gives it to me.”

“Let's head back and see what Emily has planned for breakfast, shall we?”

Ricky eagerly pulled in his empty line and ran up the hill to the cabin, with Kevin puffing and panting close behind.

Kevin got Ricky a glass of juice and told Emily about the cough. After listening to Ricky's chest, she gave him his asthma medicine. By midmorning, Ricky was feeling better, his cough was much quieter, and he went from one activity to another at lightning speed. Kevin worked outside until lunch, trying not to intrude on the women's time together.

Before long, Ricky made his way outside, too. “Kevin, will you play football with me?”

Kevin reached his hands out, expecting a little toss. Ricky wound up and slammed him in the chest with the sponge ball. “Nice throw.” He stepped farther back and returned the ball. They continued playing until Emily called them for lunch.

The tension among all of them eased as the week went on, so much so that Naomi eventually offered to watch Ricky so Kevin and Emily could get away for an afternoon.

Emily didn't hesitate for a moment. On the way out the door, she grabbed the pole in one hand and took his hand in the other. “I want to fish. Will you teach me?”

“We've been fishing all week. Why haven't you asked earlier?”

She shrugged. “I was busy keeping an eye on
Ricky. Since he's napping now and Naomi's babysitting, I can relax and enjoy it.”

They hiked farther downstream to an area with fewer trees to get caught on, then set down the tackle box. Kevin tied a fly and showed her how to “strip” the line. Then, standing behind her, he held her arm, showing her the rhythm of casting the line back and forth, letting out more line with each cast.

Emily began to get the idea, so Kevin let her go on her own. He whispered suggestions as if it were some sort of secret. She turned her head to talk to him, and the line went wild. She cast forward, and her arm jerked to a sudden end.

“Oh, no, I'm caught on something.”

Kevin felt a tug on his shirt and laughed. “Looks like a big one.” He twisted around to try to grab the hook from his back, then saw the line arc from him to the willows at their right, then over to Emily. Kevin walked over, hoping to untangle it without losing the fly. Emily turned. Kevin ducked under the pole, and the line snapped loose. The hook tugged his shirt again, and Kevin swung his arms, trying to avoid the line getting tangled around him.

“Emily! Kevin!” Lisa called. “Ke-e-e-vin! E-em-m-m-ily!

Kevin turned just as Emily did, and the two wound up fighting each other's efforts. “Lisa, we're down here.”

“Hurry up here. Something's wrong with Ricky!”

Emily started up the hill, and was quickly jerked backwards. “Kevin!”

“I'm trying to reach my knife, just a minute. The hook is caught in my shirt.” Emily turned to look,
and whacked Kevin in the head with the pole. “Stop tugging, Emily, you're making it worse. And drop the pole, would you?” Once he was able to get his hand into his pocket, he cut the line, and they both bolted up the hill.

 

Emily ran into the cabin, directly toward the horrible wheezing sound. “Get his medicine.”

Katarina handed it to Emily, adding, “We just gave him two puffs a few minutes ago.”

“Let's get him to the hospital. Call ahead for us.”

Kevin carried Ricky outside, then tried to hand him to Emily, but the little boy tightened his grip around Kevin's neck while continuing to gasp for air. “I guess you're driving, Em. I'll sit in back with him.”

He turned to the preschooler. “Watch, Ricky. I'm going to buckle my seat belt right here next to you. But I need you to sit in your seat, so we're both safe. Okay?” Before Kevin detached the boy's arms from around his neck, he buckled his seat belt across his lap and showed Ricky. “It's your turn now.”

Kevin couldn't believe the drastic change in Ricky's condition in such a short time. It was a struggle for him to breathe.

“See if you can get him to take another puff from the inhaler. I don't think he's breathing deeply enough to help much, but we're going to have to keep trying. As soon as we get him to the hospital, they'll set up the nebulizer treatment.”

Kevin shook the medicine, then held the mask over Ricky's nose and mouth. “Come on, sport, I need you to take a really deep breath.” Kevin gently coaxed him to keep inhaling. He brushed the damp
hair from Ricky's brow and wiped the perspiration with his shirtsleeve. Just as Ricky tried to inhale, he went into another coughing spasm. By the time they reached the hospital twenty minutes later, the wheezing had deteriorated to a high-pitched whistle, and Ricky seemed too weak to care who was holding him.

Emily pulled into the emergency room parking lot. “I'm going to go order the medicine and get him admitted, while you bring him in.”

“You're so good at giving orders,” he teased, giving her a wink of encouragement.

She put the car in Park and ran inside.

“Ricky, we're going into the hospital to get you help.”

“Daddy?”

Kevin stopped dead in his tracks. “It's me, Kevin.”

“My new daddy,” the boy said slowly. He smiled and put his head on Kevin's shoulder. “Emmy, my new mommy.” Just saying those few words seemed to exhaust him.

Kevin felt love seep through him. He was unconditionally loved by a little boy who had lost everyone dear to him, everyone except his new mommy. A little boy who had every reason to be angry, yet trusted God, trusted Emily, trusted him. Just because. There were no strings, no conditions, just love.

It was enough. Just love…
Okay, God, I get the message, loud and clear. If I could ask a favor, it's that You let me have a chance to be Ricky's daddy.

Kevin closed the car and was inside before he realized it. When Ricky saw the doors to the emer
gency room, his body grew tense, and Kevin held him closer than ever.

“I know how you feel, Ricky. I don't like this place, either, but they're going to help you. Just take it easy. I'll stay right here with you.”

I'm not about to let you go.
All the way down the corridor Kevin found himself breathing more deeply, as if doing so would benefit Ricky.

He suddenly realized that Ricky would be alone if it weren't for Emily. Of course, somebody would see that his essential needs were met, but it wouldn't be the same.

He recognized the love in Emily's gaze when she looked at Ricky; it was the same tender gaze she gave Kevin.

Suddenly it was no longer a matter of Ricky needing Kevin, but of Kevin needing Ricky—the little boy who had the wisdom to teach Kevin all about what was important in life.

Love.

Not money. Not jobs. Not business commitments. Just
love.

Emily met him at the door and led Kevin to the nurse who was waiting with the treatment, then paused. “I need to finish filling out the forms.”