Chapter 8

"Auntie Rachel, where's Patrick?" Bree asked from her booster seat in the back of Rachel's car.

"He should be out any minute, Bree," Rachel said as she heard the bell sounding the end of the school day.

"There he is!" Bree squealed spying her cousin coming out of the building.

Rachel stepped out of the car and called to Patrick. He came over to the vehicle.

"Hi, Aunt Rachel. How come you're here?"

"You and Bree are going to have a sleepover at my house tonight," Rachel explained.

"We are? We've never done that before," Patrick said as he got into his seat next to Briana. "Hi, Bree."

"Hi, Patrick. Auntie Rachel and me made pink cakes today," Bree said with a big smile for her cousin. "I made one special for you."

"Thanks," Patrick replied as he buckled his seat belt.

"But only one cupcake for you, young man. We don't want any more tummy aches," Rachel warned.

"Okay," Patrick agreed. He didn't want any tummy aches either.

On the way to Rachel's Patrick told them about what he had learned in school. Bree listened attentively to everything her cousin described. She would ask her teachers at her school if she could do the same things.

Once they were inside the house, Rachel gave them each a snack of carrots and cheese. She wanted to save Bree's cupcake for dessert with dinner.

"How come we're over here tonight?" Patrick asked his aunt.

"Your dads had some things to do tonight, so I volunteered to have you stay here."

"But what about Beau? He might be lonely without us," Patrick said.

"Yeah," Bree agreed.

"I'm sure your fathers will look after Beau. He'll be fine," Rachel told the children. She hoped Beau was doing okay and that he would be fine by the time the children went home.

"Why don't you have a dog, Auntie Rachel?" Bree asked.

"Um … we used to when the girls were younger, but we haven't had a pet for a few years."

"Why not?"

"We got busy, and after Pepper … died, we … um … we never got another dog."

"Pepper died?" Bree asked with big eyes. She didn't really know what "died" meant but she had heard the word once or twice and it scared her.

"Yes, Bree," Rachel said softly. She didn't like the direction this conversation was going.

"Is Beau going to die?" Bree asked as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Not for a very long time," Rachel said taking hold of Bree's hand. "Not for a very long time."

"'Kay," Bree said feeling a little better.

"Aunt Rachel, what are we having for dinner?" Patrick asked as he finished his snack. He seemed to be hungry all the time. That's what had got him into the tummy problems in the first place.

"I'm making chicken and dumplings," Rachel said, getting back to her work on dinner.

"Yum," Patrick replied.

"Yum," Bree agreed.

Rachel smiled. "I think you must be going through another growth spurt," Rachel told Patrick.

"What a growth spurt?" Bree wanted to know.

Rachel sighed. She had forgotten how inquisitive children of this age could be. "It just means that Patrick is growing very rapidly."

Bree frowned. "Me too."

"No, you're not," Patrick told her.

Bree frowned harder. She had been hoping she would catch up to Patrick in size, but this didn't sound promising. "I grow big," Bree stated, remembering that her fathers were always telling her she was getting to be such a big girl.

"I'll always be taller than you," Patrick told her. "And older and…"

"Patrick, that's enough," Rachel said trying to diffuse the impending fight.

"Will not," Bree said fighting back more tears. "I want to go home, Auntie Rachel."

"Um, Bree, Patrick won't say anything more like that, will you, Patrick?" Rachel said glaring at the boy.

"Sorry," Patrick said sheepishly.

"Home," Bree said as a tear ran down her cheek.

Rachel was wondering what she could do about Bree's request when Michelle came in from school with her father. "Hey, company!" she said enthusiastically eyeing the kids. "Want to come outside and throw a ball around?"

Patrick perked up and Bree stopped any more tears from falling.

The idea of playing outside made Bree think things might be all right at Auntie Rachel's. Bree slid off her chair. "I play," she said.

"Me too," Patrick added.

Bree smiled to herself. She had beat her cousin to the punch on that one. The children all ran outside to play while Rachel breathed a sigh of relief.

*****

"So do you think Beau needs the cone of silence?" Bobby asked John, Justin and Brian. Justin had no idea what Bobby was talking about. Brian arched a brow then smirked. John, however, nearly busted a gut laughing. They were all relaxing on the sun porch after dinner.

"How do you know about the cone of silence? You weren't even born yet."

"Yeah, well, I have a thing for old sitcoms," Bobby said as he blushed. When he was at college, the old TV classics were cheaper to rent than the more popular shows and movies. "Besides, John, you're not that much older than me." Bobby smiled smugly. Brian cracked up at the exchange between his brother and partner.

"What? What? What's the cone of silence and what are you guys talking about?" Justin was getting frustrated. He had no idea what the cone of silence was.

"Brian, I'm surprised you know what we're talking about. You're not that much older than Bobby," John commented.

"Ah, but guess what re-runs were popular at Debbie's house?" Brian winked at John. They all started laughing except for Justin who was getting even more annoyed at all the cackling.

"Will somebody let me in on the joke," Justin demanded putting his hands on his hips.

"John, do you have any tapes or DVD's we can show the youngun?" Brian asked before Justin could explode.

"I think I may be able to accommodate you," John said as he disappeared into his end of the cottage. After a few minutes, John called out, "I found it! Come on in."

Bobby and Justin went in. Brian decided that Beau should join them. He didn't want to leave him out in the porch unsupervised nor did he want to put the ring cone on unless it was really necessary.

"Come with me, Dog," Brian said softly then helped Beau to his feet and walked slowly beside him. Beau could walk but he favored his hind leg a bit so someone stayed with him when he went for his walks.

A few hours and several beers later, the boys had laughed themselves silly watching the old 'Get Smart' series. And now Justin got the joke about the cone of silence.

"Come on, '99', let's take out Beau then go to bed. I'm sure the kids will be breaking the doors down in the morning," Brian said as he pushed Justin off his lap.

"No, Bri, you did enough caring for Beau today," Bobby stated. "We'll walk him then he can spend the night with us. John has to change his bandage in the morning."

John nodded in agreement. "Bobby's right. I want to check out Beau's foot before the kids come back," John added.

"Sounds like a plan. Come and get me if you need help," Brian offered then he got down on his knees to give Beau a hug. "You're one good dog, Beau."

Later on, the cottage was settled. John had brought Beau's bed into their room. Beau laid down at the foot of their bed, his rope of socks securely tucked under his chin.

[good boy...warm...safe...mine...sleep...good boy]

*****

"Dada! Daddy!" Bree squealed as she barreled through the front door of Edna's Treasures. The four adults were sitting in the sun porch drinking coffee and finishing breakfast. Beau lay on his bed in a spot of sun. John had moved it back out to the porch when Beau awoke in the morning. His foot was better and he was able to put some pressure on it when he walked. It was healing nicely and without the cone of silence.

"Hey, Squirt! You're home," Brian laughed as Bree flung herself into his arms.

"Missed you, Dada!" she called before heading for her other father for a kiss and a hug.

"I missed you too."

Beau raised his head and watched the goings-on. He saw Patrick come in and kiss his fathers. Everything seemed to be as it should. He dropped his head back onto his bed with his rope of socks securely under his chin.

"Did you have fun with Auntie Rachel?" Justin asked.

Bree nodded. "And Michelle! She showed me how to catch a ball. Love you, Daddy." Bree crawled up onto Justin's lap.

"If you could call that catching," Patrick laughed.

"Bree did very well for her first time," Rachel said as she came into the sun porch. She had walked the children over, but they had raced to the front door while she carried the bags with their clothes and other items.

"Yeah, not bad," Patrick admitted.

Bree beamed. "I play baseball," she declared.

"I thought you were going to be a doctor," Brian chuckled.

"Doctor and baseball!"

"Okay, Squirt. Whatever you want." Brian shook his head at his daughter's enthusiasm.

"Where's Beau, Dad?" Patrick asked. He was used to having Beau rush up to greet him and lick his face.

"Beau had a little accident yesterday," John admitted. "But he's fine."

"Beau hurt?" Bree asked as she slid down from Justin's lap. She wanted to go pet Beau and make it all better. She didn't want him to die like Pepper.

"Whoa, Squirt," Brian said as he grabbed her little arm. "Beau's doing good but he has a sore paw. You have to be very gentle and calm around him. Can you do that?"

"Yes, Dada."

"I'll be careful too," Patrick promised as he walked slowly across the porch. "Hey, Beau. You okay? I missed you last night," Patrick said as he knelt beside the big dog and ran his hand down Beau's back. The big tail swished slowly.

"Love you, Beau," Bree said as she gently placed her arms around the pup's neck and kissed the top of his head.

The pup raised his head and licked all over Bree's little face. She giggled in delight. Then he turned his attention to Patrick and did the same thing.

"See, he's doing fine," John said as he stood behind the children. "You just need to be careful with him for the next couple of days.

"We will, Dad," Patrick promised.

Bree nodded in agreement. "I look after you, Beau," she said solemnly.

"Time for school, Patrick," John said. Patrick got up to go get his book bag.

"I stay home and help Beau," Bree declared.

"I think that can be arranged, Squirt," Brian told her.

"Good," she said as she laid her forehead against Beau's.

*****

"Daddy, can I have a treat for Beau?" Bree asked as she appeared beside Justin who was painting on the sun porch.

"Didn't you already give him two?"

Bree scuffed the toe of her pink sneaker on the floor and batted her eyes at her father. "That was a long, very long, time ago. He needs another one."

"He does, does he?" Justin laughed as he dropped his paintbrush into the cleansing fluid. "All right, let's go get him one."

Bree took her father's hand and they walked into the kitchen. Brian was getting a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Did you finally come up for air?" Justin asked.

Brian snorted. "I had work to do."

"I know, but I told you to go into Kinnetik if you wanted."

"I didn't want. I'm happy right here."

"Good, Dada," Bree said waiting expectantly for the treat.

"And how is your patient doing, Doctor Briana?" Brian asked.

"Good. He mostly sleeps, but I give him treats to make him better."

"You do?" Brian asked raising an eyebrow.

"John gave me a bag of treats that Beau could have," Justin said hastily. He knew how protective Brian was of the pup.

"Treat, Daddy," Bree said impatiently.

"Here ya go," Justin replied handing her the doggie treat. She raced out to the sun porch to feed it to Beau. "She certainly has the maternal care instinct."

"Yeah," Brian said making a bit of a face.

"Now, now," Justin clucked. "It only took Joan, what, sixty some years to find hers."

Brian shook his head. "I guess late is better than never."

"You bet it is," Justin said standing on his tiptoes to kiss Brian's cheek.

"Beau says thank you," Bree giggled as she reappeared from the porch.

"Beau talks now?" Brian asked tongue in cheek.

"Sure, silly Dada," Bree said.

"If you say so, Squirt."

"Dada, Auntie Rachel said Pepper died. What does 'died' mean?"

"Who's Pepper?" Brian asked hoping that might deflect Bree's question.

"Auntie Rachel's doggie."

"Oh."

"What does 'died' mean?"

Brian sighed. Bree was nothing if not persistent, just like her father. "It means you cease to exist," Brian said simply. He lifted Bree onto his knee as he sat down at the kitchen table. He had a feeling this might be a complicated discussion.

Bree frowned. "Is Beau going to cease to exist?" Bree asked parroting Brian's words.

"No, Squirt, not for a very long time."

"But he will? Do all doggies die?"

"Everyone dies eventually," Brian admitted. He didn't like thinking about death and getting older.

"No, not you, Dada," Bree protested.

"Yes, even me, sweetheart. Everyone dies."

"No," Bree said again. "Don't die." She patted Brian's face from her perch on his knee. Her blue eyes stared into Brian's hazel ones.

"I have no intention of dying," Brian stated. "You can look after me if I get sick. How's that?"

"I look after you good," Bree told him.

"I know you will," Brian said kissing the top of the blond head.

"Enough of this," Justin said. "I need to get back to work on my painting. And I think Beau has earned another treat." He fished another one out of the box and handed it to Bree. She slithered down from her father's lap and headed for the sun porch.

"Thanks," Brian said to his husband.

"I thought that was getting a little too maudlin."

"She does ask the damnedest questions, doesn't she?"

"Of course, she does. She's our daughter. What else would you expect?"

"Nothing else. She's just perfect the way she is."

"You got that right," Justin said as he slid into Bree's spot on Brian's lap and gave his husband a long kiss.