A Shepherd Afield Pt. 05

Tina was exhausted but she held the tiny life in her arms as Ben watched with joyful tears in his eyes.

"He's beautiful!" Ben sighed and kissed Tina's forehead. Lucy kissed her forehead as well. She glowed with happiness.

"You must give him a name," she said as she gazed at the boy's sleeping face.

Ben thought about that for a moment. There was a name he'd been thinking about a lot recently. "Would it be ok if we named him after my father?" he asked.

"That would be perfect! What was his name? You've never shared this with me," she asked curiously. Ben was very tight lipped about his past. Even the good years.

"His name was Sam."

"Short for Samuel?" Tina asked with a happy smile.

"No, just Sam," he responded automatically and flashed to a memory of his father saying those exact words. His eyes teared up as he felt the warmth of the memory.

Once Tina was taken to her room to rest and Sam was taken to the nursery Lucy and Ben went out to address the crowd of friends waiting for the news and announced the birth of his son, Sam Shepherd. He hugged and kissed and was kissed and hugged until he dropped into a chair, his exhaustion catching up to him. Lucy rested her head on one shoulder as Gabriella rested hers on the other. It was one of Ben's best days.

When they got back home Ben put extra effort into finishing the renovations to ensure Tina and Sam didn't have to endure the noise and mess. Once the playroom was ready and passed its safety inspection Ben offered its use to Daphne for visits from the kids in the daycare as it had an entrance from the backyard. Daphne had the parents sign permission slips so twice a week the kids got to run themselves ragged in the big room while the adults watched from the comfort of the seating area below.

On top of this utopia for kids Ben built a huge deck on the roof with a 360 degree view of the neighborhood and surrounding forest. He had a built-in grill and cooking area up there with plenty of seating for a group of thirty or so. As was Ben's style, the entire structure, right down to its excessively strong foundation, was over-engineered and could have easily supported a CH-47 Chinook helicopter with room for the troops to deploy from the rear loading ramp.

At least that's what Kendricks said when he and several visiting military engineers were enjoying an evening drink out on the large deck.

The night was warmer than usual and Ben was enjoying a lemonade after giving the men a tour of his workshop in the basement. They'd been amazed by the display cases and what they contained and equally thrilled by the jungle gym he'd designed for his kids. The deck just took their breath away. They'd been sharing stories for a couple of hours when Ben heard the chirp of the intercom system he'd installed.

"Ben?" Tina said from the speaker.

"Yes?" he called out as it was voice activated once engaged at one end.

"Lucy's water just broke," Tina replied. Ben's eyes widened.

"Should I call in the helicopter?" Kendricks asked and several of the men laughed. The funny thing was he could and would do it if Ben asked.

Ben grinned at the man. "Thanks, but I think we'll take a more conventional mode of transport this time. I'm sorry to end your visit early but... nature calls."

More chuckles erupted and they moved downstairs and headed off after giving them their best wishes.

Once more Ashley came over to watch the children as Ben drove Lucy and Tina to the hospital.

Ben and Tina were in the birthing suite with Lucy for eight and a half hours waiting for her to become dilated enough to give birth. They held her hands and gave her strength as she pushed and soon they heard the squall of a newborn taking her first breath of outside air.

"Good lungs!" Tina said with a grin and Lucy smiled exhaustedly at her.

"Congratulations on your baby girl!" the doctor said as they brought the bundled up child for Lucy to hold. Tina and Ben smiled at the beautiful girl with a shock of black hair. Sam had been born with only a peach fuzz on his head which had eventually become black.

"Good hair too!" Ben smiled.

With smiles on their faces, the medical team left.

Tina looked into Lucy's eyes and nodded. Ben looked at them curiously.

Lucy looked at him and bit her lip.

"What is it?"

"I'd like to name her Gretchen," Lucy said quietly.

Ben rocked back. The pain from losing the woman hadn't left him but as Lucy's words reverberated in his mind he found himself nodding to the two woman waiting for his answer. There was a beauty to the gesture he couldn't deny.

He looked down at the face of the baby and whispered the name to himself. The child had an entire world of potential open ahead of her. A potential the woman who shared her name had just discovered for herself.

Ben nodded to Lucy and Tina again, more firmly this time as they relaxed and smiled at him.

"Thank you, Ben," Lucy said gently.

"No. I have to thank you. For the beautiful gesture. For dealing with my baggage. For everything. I love you both so much!" he said as his throat tightened with emotion.

"We love you too Ben. We always will!" Tina said as Lucy nodded and held his hand.

Walter would have to do his magic once more to legally adopt the child but she would be Gretchen Shepherd with her brother's Christopher Shepherd and Sam Shepherd.

Chapter 49

Ben faced the source of most of his current problems. His body trembled as his first impulse was to take violent action, to extract his vengeance for the destruction it had wrought upon his life.

Trembling, he used every ounce of his willpower to resist that impulse as he knew how impotent and futile such an effort would be. The damage was done, no matter how satisfying it might be to act now.

He took a step back and glared at the bold and defiant expression on the bronze statue's face.

"Stupid asshole," he growled.

"That's a mean thing to say to your likeness, Ben."

He turned and looked to Stephanie Murino, blind sculptor extraordinaire and creator of this 'art'.

"He and I don't see eye to eye," Ben grumbled.

"How could you, he's only four feet tall," she returned with the hint of a smile on her lips.

Ben sighed and moved to pull Stephanie into a hug. "How are you doing?" he asked.

"My, I keep forgetting how big you are!" she squeaked. "I'm doing very well! I'm getting a lot of requests to sculpt people but there is always something missing."

"Clothes?"

She snorted and shook her head in his direction. "Passion! With you, it radiates from within! But these others... meh." It was Ben's turn to snort.

Her face took on a strange expression. "I have been asked by a very reputable art house to do a new piece. Life sized this time."

Ben looked at her wondering what she was getting at then it hit him. "NO! Absolutely not! I'm done with having the world ogling my... naughty bits."

She clung to him and turned her face up to his pleadingly. "It would be my finest masterpiece! You would be immortalized!"

"No!"

"They've already seen you naked! How could this make it worse?" she pouted cutely.

"Gabriella! Tell your cousin, when I say no I mean no!" he huffed in frustration as the woman squeezed herself against him. He began to react.

The beautiful brunette smiled at Ben, her green eyes flashing with joy. "Ben, you know I'm powerless when it comes to resisting art. I would personally love to see what magic Stephanie could do with a life sized sculpture of you!"

"Oh my god! That would be so fucking hot!" Trish gushed as she walked up to Gabriella's side. "Do it, Ben! For art's sake!"

"You two are NO help!" Ben growled.

Stephanie was biting her lip as she could feel Ben pressing against her sensitive places. "Passion, Ben. There is so much passion in you," she whispered.

"If you keep doing that you might find my passion inside you," he rumbled back quietly and she trembled with a wide grin on her face.

"Stephanie! Are you going to hump our special guest before he checks in with his... extended family?" her sister Alexis barked at her, her wife Béatrice grinning at her side.

Pouting, Stephanie pulled back from Ben but not before running her fingers over the large bulge in his pants. "This I remember very well!" she said quietly to him with a coy smile.

Ben shook his head and looked at the grinning women around him. Gabriella was looking back for her kids but Trish was just admiring the contours of his pants.

Mason and Ryan went charging by, excited to be in France but mostly to be out of the car. Hannah followed them around the corner and spotted the statue.

"Oh my god! That is magnificent!" she sighed as she got closer.

Stephanie beamed happily in the direction of her voice. "Can you imagine a life sized one?" she gushed.

"You're going to pose for another one?" Hannah gasped looking at Ben in surprise.

"No!" Ben barked and Hannah sighed in disappointment. That drew some laughter.

"Not you too!" Ben exclaimed. Then he caught in the corner of his eye the two boys charging down the path towards Arsene's house. "Boys!" he called out and they stopped to look back.

"It's ok Ben. We own that property now." She waved to the boys and they went charging off downhill. "We tore down the barn and Arsene's old house and built a number of beautiful little cottages. It's all ours!" Alexis said with a happy grin. "They are very private and truly secluded." She bounced her eyebrows at Ben.

"Are there any other guests staying with you?" Ben asked, trying to hide his blush.

"No, as per your request, every room and cottage is reserved for you and your guests for the entire month of August," Béatrice piped in. "You may take your pick!"

Ashley walked around the corner from the parking lot with Joshua in her arms and Beth by her side. Their kids followed close behind though Savannah only had eyes for Daniel who was describing Ben's adventures on their last visit in explicit detail. Madison was busy talking with John while Jane, Miriam and Karlene burst into giggles about... something young women giggle about.

Karlene had been a last minute addition and looked thrilled to be included. Gabriella lobbied hard for permission from Karlene's mother to bring the young woman along. Ashley was looking around like she'd landed in Wonderland.

Tina and Lucy, babies in their arms and Christopher at Tina's heel, followed.

With the approach of the young people, Alexis stepped forward and wrapped her kerchief around the statue's midsection... for discretion's sake. Ben nodded his thanks.

"Oh my stars, Ben. This place is lovely!" Ashley sighed.

"Thank you!" Alexis and Béatrice said in unison.

Ashley froze in shock. "Is... is that the gazebo from 'The Sound of Music'?" she gasped.

Their hosts chuckled happily at how thrilled she was. "Just a replica but it was designed after the one in the film." Alexis said proudly.

Finishing off their party Lisa and Lori joined them after locking up the vans. Or fish tanks as Ben called them. He'd rented five of them as he, Trish, the twins, and Gabriella knew how to drive the manual transmission people movers. Catherine and Chanel could too but they would only be joining the group when the group ended the vacation with a few days in Paris.

He looked at the collection of people admiring the chateau, the cottages, and the grounds and recalled the emergency meeting they'd called when he announced he needed to get away for a while. They sat him down and gently informed him they didn't want him travelling on his own anymore. He understood their concern and he silently agreed. He couldn't take the chance of meeting another Gretchen or worse, a tortured soul like Margaux. He also didn't like travelling without his family so his answer was to bring as many as could take the time off.

Gabriella made the introductions and they took an inventory of available rooms and cottages and assigned them to the guests.

Once the rooms and cabins were allocated Ben saw the kids were staying in the large family cabin separate from the others. It had bunk beds so it was like they were attending summer camp. The ladies however... aside from the twins they each had their own room as they had their own ideas of nighttime entertainment. His face heated up when he realised he'd been set up as they shared knowing smiles. He could almost see them working out a schedule! Even Stephanie seemed to be in on it. Well, he had something to say about that!

"I'm still not posing for another sculpture!"