I Dreamed A Dream
Part Two - Finally
By Breigh
breighbers@juno.com

Ok, this series needs explanation, and here's one:
This series starts around 6 years after "The Storm". When Doug left Carol was pregnant, and she decided to not tell him about the baby. Instead of having twin girls, she had twin boys, Ben and Joel. (You might not like the idea now, but trust me, it grows on you as the series goes along. Also, this story is one of my first, and the next ones are a lot better developed, and they're better than this one, this is just the one that explains everything and gets you into the series.) One day Doug comes back to Chicago for a conference and finds Carol and he meets the two little boys that he never knew he had, and that's where it all starts! Feedback is always appreciated, send mail to: Breighbers@juno.com

Doug spends the day with his sons, and makes yet another life changing decision



"So, that guys taking us there?" Joel asked as he put a spoonful of Lucky Charms in his mouth. "He's not that guy, his name is Doug Ross." Carol said as she set a glass of orange juice in front of each of the boys. "Ben, don't sit on your feet, get your butt on the seat." Carol said as she jolted Ben's chair.

"Is he nice?" Ben asked as he repositioned himself.

"Very nice." Carol said as she took her bagel out of the toaster.

"Does he like sports?" Joel asked.

"Yep, loves 'em." Carol said as she walked over and sat down at the table.

Doug sat in his conference examining his pen. After the first 30 minutes the guy who was giving the lecture's words started to run together, and all he heard was an occasional doctors. His mind was with the coming events of the day. He couldn't wait to spend the day with his sons, to meet them, to get to know them. It still hadn't fully sunk in, but he knew that he wanted to be with them, and that he wanted hold them, and play with them. He knew that he loved them already. He didn't quiet know how it was possible to love someone that you've never met, but as soon as Carol told him that he had two little boys, and as soon as he saw them walk into the room, he felt something that he'd only felt once before. He'd only felt that with Carol. Doug was awake all night thinking of how he could possibly go back to Seattle now that he knew about his sons. He'd came to one conclusion, he couldn't. Doug looked over at the guy next to him who looked as board as he did.

"Got any kids?" Doug whispered.

"2 daughters and a son." The man whispered back, he looked relieved that something was diverting him from the lecturer. "You?"

"Twin sons." Doug said proudly. It was the first time that he could say that to anyone, and it gave him a sense of happiness and pride.

"Boys are something else, aren't they?" They guys asked. Doug didn't know what to say; he didn't know his sons yet, although he knew that they were something else. He smiled to himself.

"Yes…yes they are."

"How old are your boys?"

"They're 5."

"5, that's a great age, my son's 9." Doug smiled at him, and the man smiled back.

Finally the conference ended and Doug was headed to Carol's to pick up his sons.

"Ben, are you going to wear your hat?" Carol asked walking out of the kitchen carrying Ben's hat.

"No, why? Does my hair look bad?"

"No, your hair looks cute, I just thought you may want to wear your hat."

"It gets in the way."

"Alright." Carol said setting the hat down.

"Mom, are Ben and me named after Doug?"

"What?" Carol asked as she sat down on the chair across from the couch.

"Well, my middle name is Douglas, and Ben's is Ross."

"Yes guys, your middle names are after Doug." Carol said with a smile, as there was a knock on the door.

"Got it!" Joel yelled as he ran over to the door and opened it.

"Joel, right?" Doug asked with a smile.

"Yep." Joel said as Ben and Carol walked over to the door.

"Are you guys ready to go?" Doug asked looking down at them.

"Yep." They both said as Carol bent down to their eye-level.

"You two be good for Doug, ok?" She said putting a hand on each of their shoulders.

"Ok." Joel said.

"Yeah, alright." Ben said with a smile.

"Ok, Doug will bring you by the hospital when you're done." Carol said looking up at Doug.

"Or, you guys could come to my hotel until your mom is off work."

"Doug, I'm not off until 11."

"So? I mean it's fine if they want to go to the hospital, but I think that they'd rather want to watch some TV and stuff."

"Yeah mom, can we?" Ben asked.

"If you want." Carol said smiling that the boys were eager to go with Doug.

"We do." They both said.

"Alright then, you can go." Carol said as she kissed each of them on the head. She stood up and got a piece of paper off of the table that was next to her. "Here's the directions." She said handing them to Doug.

"Alright, thanks." Doug said as he looked down at the boys. "Ready?"

"Ready." Joel said as he walked towards Doug.

"What about you Ben, are you ready?"

"Yeah." Ben said as he too walked towards Doug.

"Ok then, we're out of here." Doug said as he put a hand on each of the boy's heads.

"Ok, bye mom."

"Bye Ben."

"Bye mom!"

"Bye Joel…be good you two."

"They'll be fine." Doug said as he smirked at Carol and then walked away with the boys. Carol heard the boys start talking to Doug as they made their way to the car.

"Seatbelts!" Carol yelled from the front step. Doug put his hand up to wave to her as the boys jumped into the backseat of Doug's rent-a-car. Carol smiled as she saw Doug pull out of the driveway. Finally, she thought to herself, finally.

"So, um…" Doug began looking into the backseat. He didn't know what to say, or how to start a conversation. "Are you guys in school?"

"Not now, it's summer. But we'll be in 1st grade next year." Ben said proudly.

"First grade, huh?"

"Yep." Joel said as Doug smiled at them in the mirror. "Where do you live?"

"Huh?" Doug asked.

"You said you're at a hotel, so where do you live?" Ben inquired.

"Well, right now I live in Seattle."

"Where's that?" Joel asked.

"It's on the other side of the country." Doug said as he looked down at the directions.

"Then how do you know our mom?" Ben asked him.

"Well, I used to live here for a while."

"Did you go out with my mom?" Joel asked with a smirk.

"Huh?"

"Were you her boyfriend?" Ben asked, trying to explain his brother. Doug paused, he didn't know if Carol wanted him to tell them about him and her. He decided to, they needed to know the truth, he wasn't going to tell them about him being their father, but he could tell them about he and Carol.

"Yes…I was her boyfriend." Doug said looking back at the boys and smiling. The boys both turned to each other and smiled. "Why?" Doug asked, wondering why the boys cared.

"Just wondering." Joel said looking over at Ben deviously.

Doug watched admirably as Joel and Ben played a game. It was an interactive rafting game, where the boys sat in the boat and paddled, trying to reach a point on the screen as it moved. The game ended and the boat stopped moving. Ben and Joel jumped out.

"Can we eat now?" Ben asked.

"Sure, if you want to."

"We want to." Joel said as they headed down to the restaurant.

"Do you have kids?" Ben asked as he dipped his french fry in some ketchup. Doug looked over at Ben, and then over to Joel, what should he say? Maybe they'd just let him say yes, and not go into the details.

"Yes."

"Do you live with them?" Joel asked.

"No bud, I don't."

"We don't have a dad that lives with us." Ben said looking up at him. Doug just looked at him, he felt guilty as anything, and he wanted to tell them that their father was right there, and that he loved them and wanted to be with them.

"Yeah, that's what your mom said."

The day went by fast, and Doug now sat in his hotel room admiring his sleeping sons. They lay sprawled out on the bed, and they were sound asleep. Doug laid a blanket across them, and then rubbed his hand through their hair. After the day, he knew that he couldn't go back. He called Mercy, and they were going to give him an interview. It wasn't exactly where he wanted to be, but it was near Carol and Ben and Joel. Doug heard a knock at the door and ran over to get it so that it wouldn't wake up the boys. He opened the door to see Carol standing there.

"Hey, I got off a little early." She said with a smile. "How was it?" She asked as Doug turned back to make sure that the boys were still sleeping.

"Come here." He said walking inside the room, Carol followed, and they walked out to the balcony. Once they were outside Doug looked over at Carol. "I want to tell them."

"What?"

"I want to tell them that I'm their father. I had a great time with them today, and I think that they had a good time with me too."

"Doug, I don't know, I mean it's a touchy thing."

"Carol, I think that they have a right to know, and plus, I'm not going anywhere."

"Yeah, for a week."

"No, forever. I've got an interview tomorrow at Mercy, and I'm going to look for apartments." Doug paused. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to be here, for you…and them. I've wanted to have a baby with you from the first time I saw you, and now, there they are." He said pointing to the little boys.

"Doug, why are you doing this? Are you doing it because of guilt?"

"Carol, think if you never knew you had 2 little boys until they were 5. Then you come back and spend a day with them, and it is one of the best days that you've ever had in years! But, all day they ask you if you have kids, and if you love your kids. What the hell am I supposed to say? I want to let them know that they are my kids and that I love them."

"If you want to stay for the boys, fine, I don't think I can stop you, but us is another story."

"Why?" Doug asked, somewhat hurt by her comment.

"We'll just have to wait, ok?"

"Ok." Doug said with a nod.

"I guess you're right, they’ve went 5 years with no father, they should know." Carol said as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"What would you have done if I hadn't come back?" Doug asked as he moved up against the railing. Doug saw the look on Carol's face. "Would you have told them? Would you have told me?"

"Doug, you came back, so that point is irrelevant." Doug sighed.

"Yeah, yeah I guess it is."

"Come over tomorrow night around 4, we can eat dinner, and then we'll tell them."

"Thank you." Doug said with a smile. He walked over and hugged her. "You don't know what this means to me."

"You don't know what this means to them." Carol said as they parted. "But you have to promise me that your going to be there for them, because they've wanted a father forever, and I don't want to bring you into their life, only to be leaving again."

"I'm not leaving." Doug said looking in at his sons-how could he?