Drake Forever_Book Seven in the Unrestrained Series

by S. E. Lund

  I made my way down the stairs to the living room, where Drake was busy putting a mix-cd into the music system. Something soft and clearly from the sixties came on. I didn't recognize it but it sounded Brit Invasion.

  "Is that the Animals?"

  I went to his side and he shook his head, holding up a CD. "Zombies. Time of the Season."

  I slipped my arms around him and watched as he flipped through his CD collection. "I like this."

  "Who's your daddy?" he said and turned to me, pulling me into his arms.

  "Who's my daddy?" I said with a laugh. "Is that what they called boyfriends back in the 60s?"

  "It was," he said.

  "Kind of creepy when you think about it," I said, adjusting his robe collar. "But I understand the sentiment. Someone strong and caring to look after you."

  "We're going to play this in our upcoming practice, so I wanted to listen."

  "Saturday night?"

  He nodded. "We'll practice on Saturday afternoon, and then we have a gig at the O'Riley's on Saturday night. Maybe you could get Karen to come by for the late set and I could pick you up. We could play out a little scenario..." He raised his eyebrows.

  "Mmm," I said and stood on my tip toes to kiss him. "I like the idea of picking you up."

  "Hmm," he said and cocked one eyebrow. "I thought I'd pick you up."

  "We could pick each other up. Go to an expensive hotel for a couple of hours. Maybe Karen would spend the night?"

  "Oh, now that sounds good. It'll be just the right timing for me to have sex again. Two weeks without has been hell."

  I nodded, having felt rather deprived over the past two weeks. "It'll be good for you to practice with the boys and then go out with your loving and very needy wife. Get your mind off things."

  "I won't be able to sleep now, imagining it."

  He smiled and we kissed again.

  "You sure you have to wait the whole two weeks before you can have sex?"

  "Technically, I should wait until Monday, but I think I could get away with Saturday night, considering my concussion was pretty mild."

  "You're the acclaimed neurosurgeon."

  We kissed again and stood in an embrace, enjoying the warmth of each other's bodies.

  For the next two hours, we lay on the sofa together and listened to music. When ten o'clock rolled around, we went to bed and lay in each other's arms for a while in the darkness, the only light coming from a crack between the curtains at the window.

  I waited for Drake to say something about Michael's job offer, but he didn't. Perhaps he'd decided not to accept it and so I didn't feel like revealing it in case I pushed him to say no. It hurt me a bit that he didn't tell me, but I tried to understand his point of view.

  The offer of a job as the head of the robotic neurosurgery unit would be plum and right up Drake's alley. The fact he'd be working with Michael would be a plus, since the two of them got along so well. But at the same time, we'd just moved back to Manhattan...

  "Good night, my love," Drake said, murmuring against my temple as I lay in his arms, my head on his shoulder.

  "Good night," I said, fighting with myself to ask about Michael. "I'm so glad this horrible experience will soon be over and we can forget all about her."

  "Me as well."

  We kissed and then Drake turned over onto his side and I spooned in behind him, one arm around his waist.

  The fact he didn't bring up Michael's offer stung a little bit, but I was sure Drake had a good reason. After forcing the issue out of my mind, I listened to his slow and steady breathing, and was thankful once again that I took a chance and went out with him that first night. It was with thoughts of the first trip to the Russian Tea Room that I fell asleep, Drake's body warm against me.

  Drake

  I spent a glorious day with Sophie while Kate attended court.

  The three of us ate breakfast together and then Sophie and I said goodbye to Kate as she left the apartment for her journey to the New York Supreme Courthouse. She was dressed in her soccer mommy disguise, wearing a pair of fake glasses she'd bought one year as part of a costume for Halloween. She braided her hair and put on a toque, looking every inch a Millennial with her Doc Martens and parka. I wouldn't have recognized her if I saw her at a distance and I hoped that no reporter did either, because I knew she wouldn't want to have to talk to anyone on camera.

  "Keep in touch. Let me know how things are going and if your cover is broken. Sophie and I will come and rescue you if that happens."

  "I will," she said and kissed both me and Sophie. Sophie seemed amused to see her mom wearing reading glasses and tried to pull them off.

  "No, no," Kate said. "Mommy need these for her disguise." Then Kate took them off and put on some Ray Bans.

  "Call me," I said and held up my hand to mimic a cell to my ear. "I can come pick you up."

  "No, that's okay. I want to take the subway. No one will recognize me in these. Besides, I want to feel part of the city again. John will follow me the whole way so I won't be alone."

  "Okay. Try to enjoy yourself, or at least, quench your curiosity."

  "I will," she said and then she seemed to stop for a moment, frowning a bit.

  "What?" I asked, and waited before closing the door.

  "Is everything all right?"

  It was my turn to frown. "Of course," I said. "I feel fine, Kate. Really."

  "Okay," she said with a sigh. "I'll be glad when this is all over."

  "Me, too."

  She left, waving goodbye and I watched her walk down the stairs.

  Then it was just me and Sophie.

  "Well, kiddo, it's you and me all day. Whatcha wanna do?"

  "Momo!" she said and pointed to the television.

  Nemo.

  Her favorite movie. I practically had the dialogue memorized after watching it so often during the past few weeks.

  "Okay, honey," I said and took her into the living room. I put her down on the carpet with her blankie and toys and slipped in the DVD. Soon, the opening credits were playing and she was bouncing up and down with excitement, her Tiny Town people in her hands.

  I went to the kitchen and made some coffee and grabbed the New York Times. I proceeded to read the headlines while I enjoyed the sunshine in the kitchen. That was the way my morning went, with Sophie playing with her toys and watching Nemo. Around eleven, I remembered that I wanted to take Sophie over and see Ethan and Elaine for a visit. I called Ethan's number, checking my email while I waited.

  "Hello, there, Drake," Ethan said, and from the tone of his voice, I could tell he sounded pleased to hear from me. "What's up with my favorite son in law?"

  "Ha ha. That's faint praise since I'm your only son in law," I said with a laugh. "I'm fine. Much better."

  "How's recovery from your concussion?"

  "Almost all better. Headache's gone and I feel pretty much normal."

  "I hear you've been taking in some golden showers..."

  I laughed out loud at that. "Yeah, not quite the greeting I had in mind when I went to court. I survived, but my pride was severely wounded."

  "I'll bet. I guess it's true what they say -- better to be pissed off than pissed on."

  I snorted at that and we laughed for a moment. "Hey," I said when the laughter passed. "I'm alone with Sophie today while Kate goes to court to hear closing arguments and thought it might be a good day for us to visit. What do you think?"

  "That sounds wonderful. I'm here all by my lonesome while Elaine is out at the shops, but she'll be back in time for lunch. Why don't you two pop on over and have lunch with us? I think Elaine was talking about her famous turkey melts and soup or something."

  "Sounds fantastic. We'll be there by noon. We're just finishing up watching Finding Nemo."

  "That again? She watched that the last time we were there."

  "I know," I said with a laugh. "It's her favorite. She calls him Momo. From the time she gets up in the morning until bedtime, it's Momo."
>
  "Back in my day, we had to amuse ourselves with Saturday cartoons, or reading comics or actually playing outside. Kids these days -- who can imagine what they'll be like as adults? Bored to tears, most likely."

  "You sound ancient, old man."

  "Watch your tone, young man!" Ethan said in reply to my good-natured ribbing. "See you soon."

  "See you."

  I hung up and smiled to myself, looking forward to speaking with him and having lunch with the two of them. They'd get to indulge themselves in Sophie and I'd get to enjoy watching them.

  On the television, the final credits for Finding Nemo were rolling and so I went and turned it off. Then, I got out Sophie's jacket and boots, as well as her toque and tiny heart sunglasses. We got all bundled up, and soon, we were going down the stairs. John met me outside and opened the door to the vehicle. Since Ethan and Elaine moved to Brooklyn into a more residential area, it was more of an adventure when we went to visit. We drove across the bridge to Brooklyn and finally arrived at the townhouse just before noon. I got the stroller out and the diaper bag, and finally, Sophie herself and together we trundled into the small entry way to the yard. Elaine was waiting at the door, smiling, her arms open to take Sophie from me.

  "There you are," she said, hugging and kissing Sophie. "We've been so excited to see you. Both of you. "

  She glanced at John, who remained on the street beside the vehicle.

  "Come on in, " she asked, jerking her head to the side. "What about your bodyguard?"

  "John's happy to stay in the car and listen to audiobooks. He tells me it's why he took the job." I grinned at her.

  "That's good. Come on in. Ethan's in his study, of course, on the phone with someone from his club, talking politics as usual."

  We went inside and removed our coats and boots and hats and heart sunglasses. I put Sophie down and she ran off, looking for grandpa. Then, Elaine and I went down the hallway to the back of the main floor where Ethan had his study. He was seated in his wheelchair behind his huge mahogany desk, Sophie sitting on his lap, examining the items in his desk drawer.

  "You two have a chat while I get lunch ready," Elaine said. "I hope you like vegetable noodle soup and turkey melt sandwiches on panini bread."

  "Sounds fantastic." a drawer and

  Before I could say anything, Ethan offered Sophie a lollipop, which she happily took.

  "Grandpa spoils you with those," I said, shaking my head although I wasn't truly mad.

  "That's what grandpas are for, aren't they Sophie?"

  She smiled around her lollipop.

  We spent some time chatting while Sophie played with a set of toys we kept at Ethan's.

  "You really don't want to listen to the news about closing arguments?" Ethan eyed me from over his reading glasses.

  "Honestly? No," I replied, shaking my head. "I heard opening arguments, and I heard the evidence. I don't need to hear them summarize what they've already said. In fact, if I didn't hear another word about it, I'd be a happy man. There is something I want to talk to you about though," I said, deciding to broach the subject of Michael's offer with him.

  "Shoot. You know I'm always here to listen."

  "I do know and I appreciate it."

  Then, I went over the offer Michael had made to me to head up the robotic surgery unit at the Children's Hospital. I told Ethan I hadn't spoken to Kate yet.

  He nodded, pursing his lips like he was considering. "Sounds perfect for you. I gather you're worried about Kate not wanting to move again so soon. And because of me."

  "Exactly. I know how hard it would be for her to say yes and I know she'd feel obligated to do so for my sake."

  He stared off into the distance for a moment. "I don't want to see you two go, but given what you've said about the publicity around the trial, what happened with the foundation, and your fellowship at NYU, it might be a way to escape Manhattan's gossip mill for a while and then, when you're ready, and when all this has died down you could come back. With that position under your belt, you'd be able to write your own ticket pretty much anywhere in the world."

  "Anywhere except Manhattan," I said sourly. "As long as the current crop of people are in the administration, I doubt they'll want me here. Bad for fundraising."

  "Probably."

  We sat in silence for a moment and he sighed. "Well, of course it's up to you and Kate to decide. I give you my blessing to go and wish you well with it. It's a great opportunity. Kate is young and will adapt wherever you two go."

  "Thanks, Dad. I'll talk to Kate tonight and see what she thinks."

  "How soon would you start?"

  "The new year."

  Ethan nodded and rubbed his chin. "That would give us Christmas at least." He sighed and pointed to his wheelchair. "We'll come and visit of course. The south of England is a lot nicer than Manhattan in winter."

  "That would make it easier for Kate. She worries about you."

  "I know she does. I don't want her making decisions about your plans because of me. She has to focus entirely on you, Sophie and herself. I only want the three of you happy."

  "I know."

  We sat in silence for a moment. Ethan turned to me. "You won't mind if I listen to the news?"

  "Be my guest," I replied. I understood he would be curious. "I'm only interested in the verdict and sentence. And I instructed my lawyer to send me both in an email. I'm ignoring the news and papers for the next month."

  "Good plan," Ethan said. "It's out of your hands anyway. Focus on what you can change."

  Elaine popped her head in the door. "Lunch is ready."

  "Let's eat," Ethan said and wheeled the chair out from behind the desk.

  Sophie squealed in delight.

  * * *

  We had a nice lunch, and I stayed at their place for another two hours so they could get their fill of Sophie. I told Elaine about my job offer and she responded just as Ethan had. Sad to see us go, but understanding that it was too big an opportunity to miss.

  "Kate won't be as excited about it as I will be, but I hope she's fine."

  "I'm sure she will be, when she thinks about it."

  "We should go," I said, gathering up Sophie's toys and her diaper bag after changing her. While Sophie was happy and enjoying herself in Elaine and Ethan's company, she would need to go back home so she could have a nap. "She has to go down for a nap soon."

  "Oh, can't you stay longer?" Elaine said, sounding really sad to see us go. "We already have a crib set up in the spare bedroom. Call Kate and get her to come for supper. It's so nice to have you kids here. We get lonely."

  Given the news about my job offer, I figured that both Elaine and Ethan would be sad, and so I figured it would be good to stay for dinner.

  "I'll text her."

  I did, perfectly happy to stay and do nothing.

  DRAKE: Hey, how's it going?

  KATE: Good. I'm at the studio, finishing up my painting.

  DRAKE: Feel like having supper with Dad and Elaine? They'd like me to stay and for you to come when you're done. I'm sure Dad would love to hear about the trial.

  KATE: Sure. I'll be there in an hour.

  DRAKE: Great. See you then.

  "Done. Kate will come here when she's finished at the studio."

  "Great," Ethan said wheeled his chair into the living room.

  "Come with me," Elaine said, pointing to the hallway. "We'll get her settled into the spare bedroom."

  "Kiss Grandad," I said and leaned down with Sophie so she could give Ethan a kiss. "Time for a nap."

  I got her a bottle of water and then followed Elaine down the hallway to the back bedroom where the crib was located. Elaine was closing the drapes so that the room was nice and dark. She'd turned on a tiny globe lamp beside the crib, which was very much like the one we had in Sophie's room. It would feel pretty familiar with the stars sparkling on the ceiling.

  I laid Sophie down and she sucked on her bottle of water, her eyes already closing. Elaine lea
ned over and kissed Sophie's forehead and tucked her blankets around her. Then, we left Sophie alone.

  When I closed the door, Elaine shook her head. "I'm amazed at how easily she goes down. I'd expect her to cry and fuss."

  "Not Sophie," I said quietly. "She's a sleeper. We were lucky."

  We went back to the living room where Ethan was in his chair watching the news. When I sat on the sofa beside him, he switched channels to a replay of a golf game.

  "You don't have to change because of me," I said and pointed to the television. "What's up with the trial?"

  "Closing arguments are over and there was no drama in the courtroom, thankfully. I guess Kate's disguise worked since there were no pictures of her entering or leaving the courtroom."

  "That's good," I said. "She didn't mention anything so I assume it went okay. She'll tell us more when she gets here."

  Elaine stood in front of us. "What do you boys say about a stir fry for supper? Chicken or beef?"

  "Beef," Ethan said. "Make that hot Korean beef I love." He turned to me, expectantly. "You like spicy?"

  "Bring it," I said and nodded to Elaine. "Kate loves Korean."

  "I have to zip to the store to pick up a few things, but I'll be back shortly," she said.

  Then, the two of us watched golf while Elaine went to the stores to shop for supper. It was nice to spend time alone with Ethan, and to talk about nothing more important than Tiger Wood's golf game and who would win the Masters this year. As usual, Ethan was full of insight from a lifetime of playing golf and watching the pros. I'd never really gotten into golf, preferring racket sports and running, but as a lawyer and then a judge, it was almost expected for someone like Ethan.

  Elaine returned in about half an hour and went to the kitchen to get things started for supper. About an hour after that, Kate showed up, just when Sophie started to grouse in the spare bedroom.

  "Hey," I said and kissed her when she came in. "How was your afternoon?"