You Do What You Have To Do:
Chapter 62
By Tee and Danielle
This part by D.
(C) 
*********************************
I held Kevin close and stroked my fingers through his thick hair, feeling
 his tears still wetting my shoulder. I didn't mind, because I knew after 
almost giving in the night before, that any reaction was good. These were 
good tears, that much I knew.

Losing his mother I knew was tearing him up inside but with my painting I 
had given him something tangible of his father back, something he could see
and touch.  Nothing would ever patch up the hole his mother had made in his
heart, but getting that moment in time with his dad back gave him far more 
than I ever understood when I was painting it. 

The love and gratitude I saw win his eyes when he looked at me blew me away.
It literally hit me like a physical sensation. He had paid the ultimate 
price for us to be together and it humbled me to know that he thought I 
was worth it. Little Nicky, the annoying blond doofus that had been a thorn
in his side since day one. 

I held him closer to me and steered us both blindly back to our couch. I
laid down and pulled him down with me, letting him rest his head on my 
chest so he could still see the painting.  I kept stroking my fingers 
through his hair and noticed that his eyes were drooping and blinking 
rapidly.  I sighed with a small smile on my face.  It was definitely all 
catching up to him, the sleepless night last night and the whole thing 
with his mother and the relief that his brothers were still there for him.   

I felt him snuggle closer to my chest and his hand slid under my shirt to 
rest on my stomach, skin to skin.  I put my hand on my shirt over where his 
was, while my other one kept stroking through his hair.  He was so close to
falling right asleep.  I started humming a song that reminded me of him, 
hoping it would lull him to sleep.  

He shifted a little, "What are you humming? It sounds familiar."

I rubbed my fingertips over the back of his neck, "Something that 
reminds me of you."

Softly I started singing, so only the two of us could hear it.

It's undeniable that we should be together
It's unbelievable how I used to say that I'd fall never
the faces you need to know if you don't know just how I feel
and let me show you now that I'm for real
if all things in time, time will reveal

One, you're like a dream come  true
Two,  just want to be with you
Three, boy ,it's plain to see you're the only one for me
and Four, repeat steps one through three
Five, make you fall in love with me
if ever I believe my work is done, then I start back at one

so incredible the way things worked themselves out
all emotional once you what it's all about
and undesirable for us to be apart
never would have made it very far
cause you know you've got the keys to my heart

One, you're like a dream come  true
Two,  just want to be with you
Three, boy,it's plain to see that you're the only one for me
and Four, repeat steps one through three
Five, make you fall in love with me
if ever I believe my work is done, then I start back at one

Say farewell to the dark night
I see the coming of the sun
I feel like a little child
whose life has just begun
you came and breathed new  life into this lonely heart of mine
you threw out the lifeline just in the nick of time.

One, you're like a dream come  true
Two,  just want to be with you
Three, boy,it's plain to see  that you're the only one for me
and Four, repeat steps one through three
Five, make you fall in love with me
if ever I believe my work is done, then I start back at one

When I finished, I knew he was asleep and I could see the smile on his 
face reflected in the brass of the fire place.  I stayed with him a few
minutes until his breathing evened out and deepened and I knew he was in
a nice deep sleep. Carefully I tried to move without waking him, but he 
stirred and held on to me tighter, "Don't leave me."  I relaxed and let 
him pull me closer, snuggling further into me.  I was always a sucker for 
his voice when he was sleepy, it had just enough of the little boy from 
Kentucky in it to just make me melt.  

I kept rubbing the back of his neck and closed my eyes, knowing it was 
bad form as a houseowner to fall asleep on your guests, but siren song 
of a nap that Kevin's breathing was singing for me was too sweet to resist 
and I tightened my hand that was laying over the one of Kevin's that was 
on my stomach and fell asleep too.

Brian came in a few minutes later when there were no sounds heard in the 
room we were in.  He grinned when he saw us laying there on the couch, 
all cuddled up to each other.  My arm was around Kevin, holding him to 
my side and to Brian, Kevin had never looked more content.  He grabbed 
his bag from the entryway and snuck back in with a camera in his hands.  
Taking a few shots of the sleeping couple, he tiptoed out and caught Dylan 
just as he was about to run in.  He showed him the both of us sleeping and 
put his finger to his lips.  

He heard a car door slam and smiled down at the small boy, "Uncle Kevin 
and Uncle Nick are sleeping, but I think I have some new playmates for you!"
He left the room and closed the door on the way out, being careful not to 
make too much noise and wake us. 

Brian stood at the door with Dylan in his arms and smiled at Howie and AJ 
as they walked up to the house.  "Hey."  

AJ stopped in his tracks, "Brian, what did you do to Nick? My god, man! 
You shrunk him!" 

The little boy in Brian's arm busted out in giggles and shook his head, 
"I'm not Nick. My name is Dylan!"

Howie and AJ smiled, liking the kid already. Howie pulled something from 
underneath his Jacket, "Rok, we brought something for you."

Brian raised an eyebrow and heard a familiar whimper. There in Howie's 
hands was Tyke.  Brian looked down at Dylan, "Wow, we have another 
playmate!"  

Dylan nodded and reached for the tiny dog, "Doggie!" Tyke took to the child
immediately and didn't know who to lick first, his master or the smaller 
one. So he leaped back and forth in Dylan's arms and licked them both.

AJ and Howie just laughed at the hyper little dog and walked into the house.  "Where are the happy couple?"  

Dylan knew the answer to this one.  "Shhhhhhh Nap time!"  

Brian laughed and nodded, "They fell asleep.  You guys have to see what 
Nick did for Kevin, it's just about the sweetest thing I've ever seen.  
If you are quiet, I'll show you. I'm just going to put Dylan and Tyke with 
Sam and Melinda.  His moms are probably wondering  if I kidnapped him. " 

As Brian walked away with kid and dog in tow, AJ turned to Brian, 
"Moms? as in more than one?" Howie just shrugged.

AJ crept over to the door to the living room and opened it quietly, 
stopping when he saw the painting over the mantle, which was the first 
thing that came into view when you opened the doors. "Oh wow."

Howie looked over AJ's shoulder and drew his breath in also, "Wow.  Did 
he draw that from memory?"

"Yeah, he did."

They both turned and saw Brian there, "The whole time Kevin was ripping 
his heart out and he was locking himself in that hotel room, he was doing 
that.  I thought he was doing drugs or doing something awful to himself. "

Howie and AJ went inside the room quietly to get a closer look and stopped 
at the back of the couch.  Howie looked down and nudged AJ to look down 
also, the two of them smiling at the sight below them.  

Brian grinned, "Let's let them sleep some more. They didn't get any last 
night at all."

AJ gave a dirty grin and Brian chuckled before shaking his head, "No, Bone.
Come on, I'll explain."

Brian brought Howie and AJ to the deck at the back of the house where Sam, 
Melinda and Dylan were playing with Tyke.  The two of them quickly caught on 
to the whole two moms thing and barely blinked an eye at it.  

Dylan had them all playing Duck, Duck, Goose! when I stumbled out into the 
fresh ocean air a half hour later.  Brian had explained the whole situation 
with Ann between rounds of chasing each other around the deck, so when I 
came out, I didn't have to worry about questions flying at me.  

I joined in the game of Goose and we all decided to delay lunch and the 
tour of the finished house until after Kevin woke up.  We fed Dylan so he 
wouldn't get cranky and when he was finished, I brought him inside and 
laid him with Kevin for his nap.  He was already falling asleep on me as I 
carried him down the hall.   I covered the two of them with a blanket 
thingie that was on the back of the couch and kissed both of their 
foreheads before going back outside.

About an hour later, Kevin stumbled outside with a groggy Dylan in his 
arms and gave him back to Sam, then came over to me, sitting behind me 
on the bench I was on and wrapping his arms around me, resting his head 
on my shoulder after kissing just below my earlobe on my neck, making me 
shiver even though the sun was beating down on us.  

I put my arms over his around me, "Sleep well?"  I felt him nod and 
heard his stomach rumble.  I giggled softly, "Lunch?"  He nodded again, 
not being a man of many words when he first wakes up, a lot like Dylan 
who just sat in Sam's lap sucking his thumb as Sam hugged him and let 
him wake up slowly.