Everlasting (Unrestrained 6)

We finished dressing Sophie in her sunhat and tiny heart-shaped sunglasses and took the car to Maureen's home in the hills outside San Francisco. As we drove, Sophie fell asleep. When we arrived at Maureen's, Drake went to the door to get Liam and I smiled when I saw him. He looked so much like Drake with his fair skin, dark black hair and blue eyes. He was truly a mini-Drake and it made my heart squeeze to see them side by side. Drake spoke with Brenda for a moment and she turned and waved at me.

I waved back, smiling, glad that Brenda was so understanding and so positive about Drake and Liam establishing a close bond. Even if Drake didn’t get shared custody of Liam, I knew that Brenda would always be open to him seeing Liam as much as possible. It hurt me to think Drake might not get shared custody because of his past, but we had to face that possibility.

Father and son came to the vehicle, and Drake opened the door for Liam, who climbed in beside his sleeping sister. Drake helped him on the booster seat and fastened his seatbelt. Liam had on a baseball cap with the Giants logo on the front, a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with a Batman logo. He smiled at me.

"Hello, Kate," he whispered, holding his finger up to his lips. "Sophia's sleeping."

I nodded, realizing that Drake had told him to whisper so that Sophie could get her nap in. "She is," I said and held my finger up to my lips in reply.

He turned to Sophie and stared at her like she was something special – and she was something special to him. His half-sister. Beside him in her car seat, she slept, her pacifier in her mouth, her head tilted to the side.

I knew he wanted to talk to her and to us but he was a big enough boy to understand that we didn’t want her to wake up just yet and so he was patient, waiting until she did wake up to talk.

Drake got back in the vehicle once Liam was secured, and off we drove, on our way to the hospital.

"I told Liam that we wanted Sophie to sleep so we'll try to be quiet until we get to the hospital," Drake said in a quiet voice.

I nodded and turned to glance back at Liam. He was sitting in his seat, happy to be out with us even if he did have to be quiet. I winked at him and he smiled back at me. He had a backpack with him and fished inside it, pulling out a comic book and a Batman toy. He held them both up for me to see.

"It's Batman," he whispered, his eyes wide when he examined the doll.

"Cool," I whispered back, realizing he had graduated from being a fan of Despicable Me to Batman. Behind us, Liam settled in to read his new comic while we drove, the comic in one hand and Batman held tightly in the other.

I turned back and reached over to take Drake's hand. We really were a little family. I squeezed his hand and he squeezed back, turning to me and smiling.

I knew that for Drake, this was heaven.

We arrived at the hospital and Drake parked in his spot near the ER. Sophie woke up when the car stopped and we got out, the slamming of the doors waking her. Drake lifted her out of the car, still in her car seat, and placed her on the pavement while Liam put his things away in his backpack and got out of the car. Sophie smiled widely at Liam when he bent down to her in the parking lot, while I gathered up the diaper bag and Drake locked up.

"Hi Sophia," Liam said, his face a few inches from hers. Then he reached into his backpack and pulled out a stuffed toy. It was another minion, this time with two eyes. He handed it to her. "This is for you. His name is Jerry. I was going to give you a transformer but my grandma said it would be better to give you something soft."

Sophie took the minion from Liam's hand and bashed it against the side of her car seat. Liam laughed.

"She likes it!"

"She does," I replied and stroked his hair affectionately.

While Drake went up to check on his mother, Liam, Sophie and I went to the cafeteria to get Liam a cookie while we waited. I didn’t want the trip to be disappointing to him if it turned out that we couldn't see Louise. We sat at a table and waited, Liam entertaining Sophia by talking about Jerry and telling her all about the minions and who they worked for. She was happy just to watch him, smiling periodically.

Then, he changed to his latest obsession – Batman. He talked away to Sophie, his brow furrowed as he informed her about the new Batman comic he had. He reached into his backpack again and pulled out the Batman figurine to show her.

Sophie seemed excited to see the doll so Liam handed it to her. It went immediately into her mouth like everyth

ing else she picked up. Beside her, Liam looked horrified at the prospect of baby drool on his prized possession so I took it away from her. I wiped it off with a baby wipe from Sophia's diaper bag. Liam looked relieved when I handed it back, no worse for the wear.

Drake returned about ten minutes later and by the expression on his face, I assumed that Louise was in pretty good shape.

"Let's go," Drake said, his hand on one of Liam's shoulders. "Your other grandma is feeling better today. The medicine they're giving her is working."

"She has Alls—high—mers," Liam said carefully. "My grandma said it makes people forget things."

"That's right," Drake said and led Liam down the hall, hand in hand. "She may not even know who we are, but I wanted you to meet her and know your other grandma."

"I have three," Liam said, looking up at Drake. "My grandma, your mom and my other dad's mom."

"You're lucky," I said and smiled. "Most people only have two."

Liam smiled, and I could see his mind working. "I am lucky, I guess."