George - Chapter Twenty Four: Brother, Son, Husband, Father

This chapter can be read on it's own, or can be read with Trev's chapter which can be found here. It's the one time that the two stories have chapters for the same event so it just made sense to me to publish them at the same time. While the event is the same, their reactions and experiences are different and I think each chapter shows just how different George and Trev are by revealing what each chose to center their thoughts and attention on.

While I'm disclosing things, I might as well mention that there's one picture that might be considered NSFW and as always, this is a long chapter with a ton of pictures. 

Hope you enjoy it! Thanks so much for reading!

****George****

“Steph? Are you home?” Only a few lights were on in the apartment which meant more than likely she wasn’t, but I wanted to be sure. Soon after we returned from our honeymoon I came home to a similar sight and assumed that she wasn’t there. The scare I gave her as I entered our bedroom made her jump and scream loud enough that I wondered if the whole city heard it. She spent the next several minutes playfully scolding me and smacking my arm.  I had learned my lesson that day, always let her know when you’re home.

The memory made me chuckle as I made my way up the stairs to change clothes. This had been the normal lately. I’d return home to an empty apartment, change, start dinner, and Steph would come rushing into the apartment like a car on two wheels. I was glad for it though. She and Ethan began the prep work for their catering business after we returned from Italy and even though it was hard work and she was exhausted most nights, it was worth it to see her happy doing what she dreamt of for so long.

After changing I made my way back down to the kitchen and took inventory of what food we had in the fridge. One of the drawers contained a block of parmesan and it reminded me that we had ingredients for pasta sauce. I had enough time to cut everything up, place it in a pot, and start simmering it before I heard the sound of the elevator dinging and her rushed footsteps on the wood floor.

“Shitfire I’m sorry!” She rushed to the kitchen, flung her bags down on the floor, and quickly placed a kiss on my cheek.  “I was about to walk out the door when Ethan asked me if I’d look over some numbers with him. Which I told him wasn’t necessary since I trust him and know that he’ll keep us on track financially, but he insisted.”

Her rushed entrance made her cheeks flush and eyes dance, making her look completely adorable and too irresistible not to touch. My hand hooked around her waist and pulled her closer. “He just wants to make sure that you’re both on the same page.”

A playful smile appeared on her lips as she moved even closer. “I know. . .” She studied her hands as they started to rub my chest, making every nerve in my body tingle with anticipation. “I just wanted to get home.” Her eyes crept up, and the suggestive way they peeked through her lashes at me and the huskiness in her voice made any reassuring words about Ethan and the catering business or thoughts about the simmering dinner vanish.

“I’m glad you’re home.” The drop in my voice made her smile widen and my hold on her tightened to press her body into mine. There were several moments of the day that I looked forward to; waking up to find her in my arms, sitting down to eat dinner with her, and our first kiss after returning home from a busy day apart. It never failed in melting away the stress and worries of the day. Our kiss that night did just that and deepened into something more just as the sauce started to sputter, interrupting what could have been.

“You’re making spaghetti?” She stood on her tiptoes to peek over my shoulder and I nodded. “If I’d gotten home sooner I could’ve helped you.” She somewhat whined as her shoulders sank in disappointment.

“You’ve been cooking all day; and I wanted to make dinner for you.” She spent the previous two weeks tweaking recipes so they could be produced in larger quantities for catering events and I knew she had to be somewhat burned out on cooking.

“You do make a delicious pasta sauce. . .” She somewhat gave in and I gave her another quick kiss before she rushed upstairs to change. By the time she returned, dinner was ready and waiting on the table.

“Thank you for making dinner.” She smiled at me as we both sat down.

“It brought back some memories.” I admitted and her smile turned into an ear to ear grin. “I didn’t hand pick the tomatoes or cook it on a stove in a Tuscan villa, but hopefully it’s just as good.” During our last night in Tuscany we had a romantic spaghetti dinner that we picked vegetables for and I somehow convinced her to let me cook for her. It had been a fitting end to our time there before the second half of our honeymoon in Venice.

I anxiously waited for the verdict as she leaned over her plate and took a bite. “It’s just as delicious as it was then.” She smiled up at me and I couldn’t help but feel a small sense of satisfaction from her praise. I joined her in sampling the sauce and several minutes of contented silence passed before she inquired about my day.

“Did you have a lot of patients today?” She asked as she twirled some spaghetti onto her fork.

“About the same as I usually do.” I looked down at my plate before continuing, knowing that what I told her next would make me revisit a part of my day I didn’t really want to. “I did receive an interesting call though. . .” The sudden halt of her twirling fork was enough to tempt me to glance up at her and she raised her eyebrow, coaxing me to continue. “Mom called me.”

Her head snapped back a little. “At work?”

I nodded. “I was just as surprised as you are.” Mom never called me when I was working, and just like Steph, it had made me worry. “She wanted to ask me something and it was important enough that she wanted to ask as soon as possible.”

“What did she ask you?”

George - Chapter Nineteen: Welcome Home

Three days had passed since I had interviewed for the job at the hospital. I hadn’t expected to hear anything immediately following it, but as the days went by I found that I was more and more anxious about hearing from them. I hadn’t realized how much I wanted the job until I told Steph about it and once I realized it, I had trouble thinking about much else.

One thing that helped keep my mind occupied was packing. I had returned again to Appaloosa to finish packing up the last of my stuff. The next time I returned to Bridgeport it was for good. Steph, Ethan, and Charlotte were coming in two days to help pack the last little bit of my things and then the next day my stuff was going in storage at Bridgeport until the new apartment was ready. We still had at least two weeks before we could move in; in the meantime, I was going to be staying at Steph’s place. As I was finishing packing up a box, I heard my phone ring. I hurried over to answer it but was baffled by who it was. I didn’t recognize the number but it had the same area code as Bridgeport and even though I normally didn’t answer numbers I didn’t recognize, I chose to this time.

“Hello?”

“Dr. Davila?”

George - Chapter Thirteen: Jekyll Turning Into Hyde

 A little warning for language and very picture heavy chapter.

*****

I looked at the clock and watched as the second hand ticked slowly around its repetitive circle. I had seen my last patient of the day but had stayed late to try to catch up on some work and reading that I had gotten behind on from Grandma’s funeral. I had to cancel my patients for a total of three days and I was trying my best to make up the time, but no matter how much I tried to concentrate on my work, it just wasn’t happening.  I had been reading the same sentence for five minutes and decided that enough was enough. I closed the file and placed it in my bag that I was taking home, hoping that I would be able to concentrate on it better later.

I heard my phone chime and rushed over to check it. It had been four days since Steph and Ethan had returned to Bridgeport and every day since she had texted me on her first break from serving at the club.  I clumsily picked up the phone, almost dropping it, and selected the message.

Are you available to talk? This had been the start of our routine for the last four days. She would text, see if I was able to talk and I would call her. I kept telling her it was okay to just call instead of text but she kept insisting that she didn’t want to interrupt me if I was busy. I selected the phone icon and after a few seconds, I heard ringing.

“I guess you are.” I heard her say when she answered her phone.

“You know, you could have called. . .” I jokingly hinted.

“I know, but what if you were with a patient.”

“Steph, I’m never with a patient this late, ever. So it’s okay to call.” I smiled thinking about how this was the exact conversation we’d had since I had returned to work. “Someday maybe you’ll believe me. . .” I joked.

“Maybe, or maybe I’ll just keep on doing it since I know it bothers you.” She joked back.

“You’re as stubborn as I am.” I said and laughed. “How’s your day been?”

“It’s been okay, the usual, got home around 2:30 in the morning, woke up around nine, ran, tried to pass the time, then came to work. Real exciting stuff. Umm. . .speaking of exciting, have you talked to Charlotte today?”

George - Chapter Twelve: It's About Time

***I released this chapter and chapter 11 together. If you're reading this one first, some things may not make sense. Just thought I'd warn you. Also, this chapter was very much inspired by two songs, and even though the lyrics don't appear anywhere in this chapter, I wanted to include them somehow. I've included them at the end of the chapter in case you'd like to listen to them.  Thanks for reading!***
 

****Steph****

I woke up the next morning and got ready for what I was sure was going to be an emotional day. We were all going to meet in the family room and then walk over to the ranch. Once everyone arrived there we were then going to walk to the family cemetery. I looked one last time in the mirror and couldn’t help but notice how tired I looked. I hadn’t slept much the last couple of days and I wondered if I was this tired, how tired the Davila and Hobble families must be.

I had hoped to get some sleep the night before but all I did was think about how George had reacted to reading the letters. He had been grateful and I was glad that I had shared them. I had been surprised that he had hugged me but what baffled me was how he acted after we hugged. He seemed to almost be in a hurry to get away from me. I knew he was going through a lot, but I had made up my mind while lying awake, staring at the ceiling, that maybe we were just meant to be friends. Or at least that’s all he was interested in since even though we had almost kissed once, he hadn’t shown any indication of wanting to do anything like that again. 

I walked out into the family room and saw George standing there wearing a suit. I knew it was probably wrong to think it during such a solemn occasion but I couldn’t help but notice how amazing he looked in it. He noticed me walking into the room and he sadly smiled at me as he walked over to where I was standing. I tried to hide my surprise as he reached out and grabbed my hand.

“Thank you again for sharing those letters with me. I understand why you wanted to share them, but I can also understand why you kept them to yourself for a while. I’m. . .touched that you shared them with me, trusted me enough to share them with me.”

“Like I said last night, you don’t have to thank me, but you’re welcome.” I heard footsteps on the stairs and was stunned when he continued to hold my hand for a moment as people made their way downstairs. As Charlotte, Trev, and Ethan made their way into the family room, George let go of my hand and walked over to Trev and Charlotte. They spoke for a moment together and it was hard not to notice how devastated they all looked.

“This is going to be the hardest day. Charlotte keeps mentioning having to go to the cemetery and being there for the first time in so many years. It’s like this has opened up the wound that was made when their dad passed away.”

I nodded. “It has.” I couldn’t help but notice that it seemed to reveal their different levels of acceptance of it also; Trev being on one end, George on the other, and Charlotte being somewhere in the middle. They stopped talking and Trev walked outside by himself. Charlotte walked over to Ethan and he put an arm around her to comfort her. I started walking into the foyer and felt a hand on my back. I couldn’t help but be puzzled by the change in Geroge’s behavior. He had been almost distant the last several days, which I understood, but now he seemed to be doing the complete opposite. He kept his hand on my back until we walked out of the house and we were all bombarded by the clicking and flashing of the paparazzi cameras. Thankfully the police were still present and helped us make our way across the street to the ranch.

We walked inside and even though the house was jammed full of family members, it was very quiet. As we made our way to a corner of the family room we heard their mom’s voice.

“Did you have any problems getting into the ranch?”

“No, having the police out front has really helped with that.” George informed her.

“Yes, I’m so glad that they agreed to do that.” I noticed her look over at Charlotte and she started hugging her.  She whispered something to her and then gave her one last big squeeze before letting go. She moved to Ethan and shook his hand while saying something to him. She then hugged Trev and then George and whispering something to each of them. She moved over to me and started hugging me. I could feel tears starting to fall and tried my hardest to not let them escape from my eyes. I wanted to be here for them, offer them support, not the other way around.

“I’m so glad that you got to know her and that she got to know you. She often mentioned how she enjoyed writing to you.” She said and then gave me one last squeeze before we stopped hugging. She pulled away and looked at all of us before turning to join her brothers and sister.

A few minutes before we were to walk to the cemetery, their grandfather appeared in the hallway and the little chatter that had been occurring, stopped. He looked back and forth between the family room and living room where everyone had gathered and then spoke.

“I suppose it’s time.” We all quietly walked out of the house and walked towards the back of the ranch. There was a walkway that led from the back of the property to the family cemetery which allowed the family some semblance of privacy from the paparazzi. We walked into the back of the cemetery and over to the chairs that had been placed near the gravesite. As we approached a row of chairs George motioned for Trev to go first and then as he moved into the row, he reached down and gently held my hand. Charlotte and Ethan filled the remaining seats in our row and we waited for the service to start. 

Eventually a minister came up and spoke for several minutes and then I was surprised that their grandfather got up. I figured either their mom or one of the uncles or aunt would speak. He walked up to the podium and stood their silent for a moment. He eventually took a big breath and spoke.

“Fifty years ago a beautiful, feisty woman from the city moved to Appaloosa Plains. She didn’t know a thing about living in the country but she had always had a dream to move there; and being the brave woman that she was, she listened to her heart and moved here. After some convincing, and some pretty bad horse riding on her part,” There were several chuckles. “I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to propose and then marry her forty nine years ago. I had always hoped that I would one day marry, have a couple of children, and hopefully one day some grandchildren; providing them with the love and support that I didn’t have growing up. I never could have imagined though that forty nine years later that we would have four wonderful children, fourteen amazing  grandchildren. . .I’m sorry, she would want me to include another in that number and I would have to agree with her. . .” He paused and briefly looked at me. “. . .fourteen grandchildren and one “adopted” grandchild, and one great grandchild soon to be born.” George reach over and grab my hand and squeeze it.

“I have been blessed more than I could ever tell all of you, and it was all because all those years ago she threw caution to the wind and made her dream a reality. I know that if there is one thing she wanted all of you to know and pass on to your children and grandchildren it would be to not only listen to your heart, but to also follow what it’s telling you; even when you’re scared, unsure, or think that maybe you can change what your heart wants. By doing that, you’ll be honoring her memory and you’ll be blessed more than you could possibly imagine.”

He walked over to his seat and sat down. I looked over at George and he was fighting back tears. I squeezed his hand and he looked over at me and smiled sadly. I next looked over at Trev and he was sitting there with a glassy look in his eyes. I knew that their mom had told me that was how he seemed to deal with things but I was still worried about him. I turned to look at Charlotte and Ethan was trying to comfort her. I lightly reached over and touched her arm and she put her hand over mine for a brief moment.

 

Their aunt Scarlett sang and then the service was over. Everyone stood up and I noticed that their Mom started to walk over to the section that was next to the one we had been sitting in; the section where their father’s gravestone was. George, Charlotte and Trev watched her walk over there and then joined her. Ethan and I stood several feet away and watched as the four of them stood around the grave, looking down at the headstone.  Eventually George moved toward Charlotte and put his arm around her. After several more moments, they walked over to where Ethan and I were and soon Charlotte was asking the question that I was sure some of the family members had.

“Who’s the adopted grandchild?” She asked her mom and she bit he bottom lip.

“Well. . .” She looked over at me and then quickly looked away. “They didn’t ‘adopt’ a child or anything like that. More so that they recently started to include someone else in our family.”

“Who?” Trev asked.

“I suppose that would be me.” I quietly said. They all turned to look at me and I told them about the letters and how she had been very encouraging to me. I also tried to explain why I hadn’t told them about it before now.

“I’ve also been in contact with Steph since Christmas. As I explained to George we didn’t want you all to put any pressure on her to accept our offer. . .”

“We wouldn’t have done that.” Charlotte tried to argue.

“Oh really? You wouldn’t have tried to convince her that we were serious about wanting to include her in our family. . .?” Their mom asked.

Charlotte looked over at me and then back at her mom. “I suppose we might have tried to do that. . . wait, you explained to George?” She looked at George. “Why did you know?”

“I didn’t know until last night and I had the same question that you did about Mom and Grandma not telling us about it.”

“You do know that they were serious, right? Mom and Grandma didn’t go around offering to include people into our family.” Charlotte asked me.

“I know that now.” I admitted. I wished that the conversation would turn to something else at that point. I felt very uncomfortable with the conversation revolving around me.

“It looks like some of the family is heading back to the ranch. Maybe we should head that way.” George suggested and I was glad for it. We walked in silence back to the ranch and were overwhelmed by the sight that awaited us. There was food everywhere; tons of casseroles, breads, and desserts. “This is what happens when someone passes away in the country. People send food.” George whispered as we looked at all of the food in the kitchen and dining room. 

We each grabbed a plate and then sat at one of the tables that had been set up in the family room. Once we were done eating, we made our way into the living room and then everyone started to socialize. At one point I noticed their mom talking to Trev and neither of them looked happy. He had his arms folded across his chest and eventually stormed off. I was pondering what all that had been about when George started to talk to me. 

“He’s not handling this well; partly because he never really dealt with things after dad died. He’s gotten very good at pushing it down and pretending that he’s okay.” 

I nodded. “I had wondered if that’s why he’s been so distant these last several days. Charlotte seems to at least be acknowledging her feelings. . .”

He looked over at her and Ethan. “Yeah, and she hadn’t done that before. Hopefully she’s coming to terms with all of that.”

“What was he like, your dad?” He looked down at the floor and I immediately regretted asking. “I’m sorry, this is probably the worst time I could have asked.”

“No, it’s okay.” He sighed heavily before continuing. I was surprised as he talked about his dad that he began to somewhat smile. “He was a fun, patient, kind, athletic, loving man. He was fun because he could literally make any situation fun; even doing laundry. I remember doing laundry with him one time when Mom was out of town for an art show and he turned on some music and we jammed out while folding laundry. He was probably the most patient person I’ve ever known; not only with Mom but with all of us. He was the laidback parent, the one that even though you messed up he didn’t freak out but calmly waited for you to make the right decision. He never met a stranger and was kind to everyone he met.  If you’ve ever wondered where Trev gets his athleticism from, that would be Dad. He and Uncle Charlie played high school football together and if he hadn’t had an injury his senior year, he would have played college ball and probably gone pro. He was really good. But he never complained about his injury, instead he realized that from his experience, he could help others with similar injuries and became a physical therapist.”

“Something that seems to run in this family. . .” I offered and he nodded. 

He continued. “He not only loved us kids, but I’ve never seen a man love a woman more than Dad loved Mom. We used to complain when we were younger whenever we’d see them kissing or holding each other but I’d give anything to see that again.”  As we stood there for the next several moments in silence, I couldn’t help but wonder about the change in him from even just the previous night. He had even been open about his dad which I had never known him to do. He usually would just say a couple of words about him and then change the subject. I looked over at him and saw that he was looking at me with an expression that I couldn’t read.

“I’m sorry. I really shouldn’t have asked about him right now. You’ve got enough to think about without me bringing up your dad.”

“It’s okay. I told you before, I don’t talk to people about personal things unless I’m comfortable with them. If I didn’t want to talk about it, I would have politely changed the subject.”

I was still baffled by his behavior though. Maybe it was like his Mom had said, when the time was right he’d share how he was feeling. But then there was the couple of times that he had held my hand.

“Something’s bothering you.” He stated.

I furrowed my brow. “You act like you know that as a fact.”

He smiled. “Whenever you’re pondering something you bite your bottom lip. When it’s really bothering you, you start to chew on it.”

I tried to remember if I had done that when he started chuckling. “You’re biting your bottom lip now.”

I realized that he was right. I stopped and consciously tried to keep myself from doing it again. “So, what’s bothering you?”

I didn’t want to have this discussion now. Not with all of the family around and he had enough to think about without me starting to question how he was acting. “It’s something that needs to wait.”

He looked troubled. “Why would it need to wait?”

“This just isn’t the. . .right place or time to talk about it.”

“Will you talk to me about it later?” I looked into his eyes and I knew if I continued to I would waiver in my stance to wait.

“At some point, yes.” I didn’t specify when, but I had no intention of talking about it in the near future.

We heard what sounded like something falling in the hallway and looked to see what the noise was. Several people, including their Uncle Charlie, walked over to where the noise had come from and it looked like they were helping someone stand up. I was floored when I saw them help Trev stand up. It was obvious even from our distance from him that he was impaired. The room grew quiet as we watched him being helped out of the hallway and I assumed to a different room. I glanced at George and he looked mad.

“Are you going to go talk to him?” I asked.

“No, it wouldn’t do any good. It never does. Maybe if someone else talks to him it might knock some sense into him. He just gets pissed and stops talking to me when I try to reason with him. Same with Mom, he just doesn’t want to admit that he has a problem, and until he does, nobody’s going to be able to help him.”

 

I nodded and noticed that his mom was walking over to us. “Would you mind giving us a moment Steph?” She requested and I walked over to where Charlotte and Ethan were standing.

“What are Mom and George talking about?” Charlotte wondered. 

“I don’t know, but she asked to talk to him alone. . .”

****George****

“What are we going to do about Trev?” Mom asked.