Chapter 10: The Hero's New Family

This story is a work of fiction only. Any chance resemblance to actual people or events is purely accidental.

Special thanks to Mistress Lynn for her assistance and advice.

The day after my birthday excursion started out normally enough. Jenny and Erika had gotten me dressed and Sally's friends helped her.

After that, we ate breakfast which Sandra and Shelly made for us. After eating, we went out back where the girls started chatting while I read one of Sally's fathers books. I had been impressed with his collection from the start and was determined to read as many as I could while I was here.

Shortly after we got out back, Ellen and Nancy got phone calls on their cells.

They both started crying almost immediately, and when they both hung up. Ellen said, " Our parents are gone. Oh my god they're dead." If anything, she started crying harder. I was shocked myself.

Sally asked them, "What happened?"

"They went to a party in Redmond last night. They were coming home today and they got into a wreck on the freeway. They're gone."

I couldn't think of anything to say to that, so I just moved myself in between them and hugged them both. The other girls joined me while I just held two heartbroken little girls. There wasn't much else I could do right then, but I thought about what would happen to them next.

I knew CPS would step in and take them into protective custody. The first thing that would probably happen was that they would be separated and put into foster homes. The chances of them remaining together was small.

I made a decision then that I would do whatever I could to prevent that from happening and a plan came to me. I would adopt them if they didn't have family that could take them in and keep them together. They'd lost enough, I figured, and didn't need to loose each other too.

I told Sally to go get George and Janny and tell them what had happened and that I needed to talk to them right away. She ran off to get them, and I told the other girls to stay with them. I went inside to talk to George and Janny and explain my plan to them and my reason for doing it.

When Sally got back with her sister and brother-in-law, I told her that I needed to talk with them in private for a bit so she should go back outside with her friends.

When she had gone, I told George and Janny what I wanted to do and what they needed to do if they wanted to help. Right now, I couldn't adopt two children because I was still listed as mentally incompetent. But they should be able to take the girls in as foster parents as they could show the means to take proper care of them.

They both agreed to my plan and Jenny told me, "I was right. You really are a nice man.

I disagreed with her on that, but she didn't know my past or what some of my duties in Iraq were. I am not a nice person. I love kids though, and I just couldn't bare to think about what would happen to those two little girls if I didn't try to help them. This was something that I had to do.

I asked George to get the two girls so he could tell them about him and Janny taking them in if they wanted to stay. I thought it best to wait for a bit before I offered to adopt them. One thing at a time, I thought.

When the girls came in, I went out to the others. I felt real tired about then. Emotional pain took a lot out of you.

Sally asked me if I was alright, and I told her, "I'm just a bit tired. I talked to George and Janny, and they're going to try to get custody of your friends. I don't want them going into State custody if I can help it because I know what would happen."

Sally asked, "What would happen?"

I told here, "They would most likely be split up and put into foster homes alone. Since they aren't sisters, the CPS people wouldn't try to keep them together. Most people who take in foster children only take one at a time anyway. Once they're split up, they wouldn't be able to contact each other because of a policy against releasing that information."

I'm not going to let that happen to them if I can prevent it," I finished. I really meant that too. I would do whatever I could to keep the pair together.

"What did you do about it?", asked Sally.

"I asked George and Jenny if they'd take them in if I paid for their upkeep. The V.A. pays them to take care of me, so it doesn't cost me anything to stay here. Since I have a good income, I can afford that, and when I get the mental evaluation done and the incompetence rating removed I intend to adopt them.

Sally asked me, "Why are you doing this?"

I looked at her in the eye this time and said, "Because I care about them as much as you three do. I want them to be able to stay together and this way I can make sure that they can if they want. I'd do the same for all of you."

Shelly asked, "You really mean that?"

"Yes," I said. "I hope something like this never happens to you, but if you ever need any help I'd be honored if you came to me. All of you have been my friends, and friends take care of each other."

George and Janny came out and Janny asked Sally if she'd be willing to give up her room. She agreed immediately and said, "They're my friends and I have a great room now thanks to uncle Dar. I can stay there so now my old room is free. I can also give them some of my clothes if they need them since we're close to the same size."

"Uncle?" Janny asked. "When did he become uncle?"

"At the carnival," said Shelly. "He's uncle Dar to the whole Cheerleader squad now. Even coach Coulter called him that a few times."

"Coulter called him that?" asked George. "I took senior math from her. She's a tough lady, but she's fair. If you had a problem, the only thing that would make her mad about it is if you didn't ask her if she could help."

"Yes, that's her alright," said Janny. I took girls Phys Ed from her."

George said, "Ok, here's what we do now. Janny and I are already approved foster parents. We called CPS and told them about the girls, and they're going to send someone out for an inspection tour. Once that's done, and CPS approves them being placed here, we need to take them home to get some necessities and then go shopping for some clothes."

Sally asked, "What should we do?"

"Just stay with them. Don't leave them alone at all. I'll set up the basement so you girls can all sleep down there tonight. After CPS is done, I'll take them home to get what they need and when the estate is settled, I'll help them get the rest of their things brought over here."

"Tomorrow, we'll see about taking them shopping for whatever else they might need," George said. "They won't be able to get much except necessities for right now."

Sally said, "I think we'll need a bigger car. We won't have enough room for all of us plus uncle Dar's wheelchair."

"Dar already thought of that," said George. "He told me he wants a large van for himself anyways. He thinks he can get his drivers license back soon and wants something large like a big passenger van. We'll check out some of the car dealerships tomorrow when we go shopping."

Sally said, "That would be great. Then he wouldn't need to have someone drive him if he wants to go somewhere. I'll still go with him though."

"And you girls would have your own chauffeur to take you where ever you want to go," said Janny." I bet you five have him rapped around your fingers already."

Sally blushed and said, "I think you've got that backwards."

George laughed at that and said, "I bet if any of you asked him for just about anything, he'd get it for you. I also think that he'd be glad to do it for any of you. He told me that he plans to adopt Ellen and Nancy as soon as he legally can so they won't ever be split up. I'm sure that he loves all of you girls as much as Janice and I do."

Sally started crying at that, and ran up and hugged George. She said, "I love you too. I've loved you since you started dating Janny when I was a little girl. When you took her out, you'd take Erica and me too. You've never left us out of anything since we met you."

George hugged her back and said, "I knew it was a package deal. I'd have to take all three of you to get one. You were always ready with a hug, and you and Erica never got jealous of me and Janny. The three of you are the most important people in my life, and you always will be, twerp."

Although I had been talking to the cousins during all this, I heard them outside too. I realized that I had found a special group of people here.

I had told the girls that I would help them stay together. I also told them that if they needed anything at all, just ask. If I could help them, I would. For as long as they needed me I'd be there.

They both were still crying, but they hugged me and said "Thank you, uncle Dar."

I hugged them back and then told them to take me back out side.

When we got out there, Sally ran over to them and hugged them both saying, "Your both welcome to stay here as long as you want. Just ask me if you need anything. I have some extra clothes that you can have since we're the about the same size."

I told her, "That won't be necessary. I'll get them some clothes later today along with anything else they need." I glared at her for a moment and said, "My job now."

She agreed and said, "Ok, your job now. But I'm helping. They're my friends and a wise man taught me that friends help each other." I had to smile at having my own words used on me like that.

"You're a smart girl," I said.

"Yup," she said, "and I had a good teacher too."

"I had a good teacher too for some things, so just remember that, munchkin," I said.

I started to feel a bit wobbly and said, "I need to sit down for a bit."

Ellen helped steady me while Nancy and Sally went for my chair. Nancy won and pushed it over behind me and Ellen helped me sit down. "Been doing a bit too much, I think. Why don't you girls take me to my room so I can lie down for a bit?"

Ellen grabbed one handle of my chair, and Nancy grabbed the other and they both pushed me into my room. I had them take me over to the recliner since I didn't want to go to bed before we were done with CPS. They each climbed onto an arm of the chair and hugged me like they were afraid I'd disappear if they didn't hang on tight enough.

I slowly relaxed and let them. I figured that they needed that comfort as much as I needed to rest. I may have been recovering, but I still wasn't as strong as I would have liked.

While we were sitting there, I told the girls about what would happen if I adopted them. They would be my legal dependents, and that would give them certain benefits. Since I was one hundred percent disabled now, they would be entitled to I.D. cards and such and if I died before they were eighteen they'd get other things too.

They needed to know these things before they made a decision as it would affect their lives a lot. I have always believed that it's best to be honest with kids, and tell them everything that would affect them. Even the bad things sometimes.

One of the things was that if I died they needed to know how to contact my aunt. Since she was the only family I had left that I had contact with, and since the girls were under eighteen she was my emergency contact for them as well if I adopted them.

I knew that if something happened to me, she would make sure they were taken care of. My aunt was a very special lady and if I told her that I loved these girls it would be enough for her.

They also had to know how to contact the V.A. hospital in an emergency and other things. I knew that they were smart girls, and would do what was necessary but they had to know how. I also told them that if they needed anything at all they only had to ask. If I could get it I would.

After the talk, I went to sleep for a bit. I don't know how long I was out, but when I woke up I still had a girl snuggle to each side of me.

What woke me up was a couple of the girls from the Cheerleaders team walking in. They ran up to my new girls and hugged them. I don't remember what they said, but it didn't matter much I guess. It's the physical contact that helps the most at times like this."

Within a few minutes, the whole team was there along with Megan. Sally, Shelly, and Sandra brought in a couple of trays of finger food and a big jug of something to drink. Sally also had a cup of coffee for me. I thanked her when she gave it to me. She smiled at me and started talking to my new kids.

"I know it hurts," she said. "I know exactly how you feel because I've been there. I lost my parents when I was ten, and it still hurts. It gets better with time, I guess but I still miss them so much that I sometimes cry. I got through it because of my friends and you've got friends to help you too."

"If you want a hug, I've got plenty," she continued. If you want to talk I'm here. You're two of my best friends and if you need me I'll be here."

After that little speech, she went to her room. She didn't look well, so I thought she was going to lie down. I hoped that the stress of the day wasn't making her sick after her recent injury.

I bit later, the CPS official and two local police men arrived. They went into the family room to talk to George and Janny. After a bit, George called me on the intercom and asked me to bring Sally, Ellen and Nancy. I asked Megan to get Sally and had my girls help me into my chair. I was still a bit weak, so I needed the help.

As they started to push me to the door, Sally came out of her room and joined us. With her and Megan following, Ellen and Nancy pushed me into the family room.

I knew something was wrong as soon as I was inside. Megan had a blank face which told me that she knew what was going on. George looked angry and so did Janny.

Sally went up to George and quietly asked him something, but I was to far away to hear what.

George said, "The CPS woman has decided that because of Dar this is not a sound environment for children. She's going to take them and she's threatening to take you too. She says that having children in a house hold with a mentally disturbed person isn't safe."

Now I saw something new. Sally got a truly frightening look on her face, and almost screamed "she said what?"

I had never seen that little girl angry before. I'd seen her happy and sad, smiling and laughing and crying. But I'd never seen her when she was furious.

Janny was also quite obviously angry. She said, "She said that Dar is mentally disturbed and is a danger to young children, including you.

Sally turned around and looked at the CPS official and said, "You've insulted a man who almost died when he saved my life. He was wounded in Iraq saving my brother-in-laws life. If you don't leave this house right now, I'm going to do something that I might regret but you will. Leave. Now."

Sally started toward the woman. George grabbed for her but missed, and Janny just watched. I didn't think that she'd interfere with whatever Sally did, and I knew that would be a mistake. I pushed myself in front of Sally and she stopped and looked at me.

I said, "Let me handle this. I can fix this problem and her at the same time, so don't do anything foolish."

Sally said, "I wasn't going to do anything foolish uncle Dar. I was going to get rid of a problem that angered me. She insulted you and my sister and my big brother. If she doesn't leave now, I'm going to make her leave. Hard."

No. You've forgotten that this house has an intercom system with two recorders on it. They're both on and one of them is in here. Everything that was said in this room is on them and I'm going to use them and file a criminal complaint against these three."

"You're what?" exclaimed the CPS woman.

I said, "I'm going to file a criminal complaint against you. You should really think about getting a good lawyer right now."

"You can't do that," she said.

I said, "Watch me."

I wheeled myself over to the phone and dialed a number from memory from when I worked for the office of the Secretary of the Navy. When it was answered, I gave them my recognition code and explained the situation stating that if they didn't help, I'd handle the matter myself. I knew that the person answering the call would already have my records up.