Recovery of a Hero Ch. 12

George laughed and said, "Ok. How bout shrimp?"

Nancy punched him again.

"Midget," said George. Nance just glared at him for that.

George laughed again and said, "Ok. Ellen's the shrimp, you're the midget and Sally's the twerp." We all punched him that time.

I looked at the others and said, "Well I know who we have to toss into the pool tomorrow if we can use it."

George said, "You wouldn't dare. But yes, Inspector Reach said that we can use it now. He said that they had all the evidence they could get off of it and there wasn't anything else they could find so the pool is now opened again."

I looked at Nancy and Ellen and said, "Sandra and Shelly are coming with coach Coulter. It'll be five on one so I say we toss him in."

They agreed and George just laughed. I didn't know if he believed us or not but he was in for a wet surprise tomorrow.

We took all the groceries in and then went out back to set up all the tables and chairs for tomorrow. We also took down the fence around the pool since Uncle Dar wouldn't be alone out there, and there weren't going to be a lot of little kids around. This party was mostly for adults so we weren't worried about the fence.

Going back inside after we'd finished, George said, "I'm going to fix something to eat. You girls want anything?"

We said no since we'd just eaten before he and Janny got home. I told him that we'd had some leftovers from lunch and that Uncle Dar had eaten too, but that Erica might be hungry.

He said "Ok, I'll ask make enough for her and Janny too. I'm glad you took care of Dar while we were gone."

We looked at each other and smiled and at the same time said, "Our job now," like we'd rehearsed it.

He laughed again, and said, "Ok. It's all three of you, I see."

Ellen said, "Yup. All three of us now."

I said, "Five of us."

Nancy looked at me and nodded her head. Ellen said, "Ok, five of us now."

We went to Dar's room and I knocked to make sure that Janny was done checking his leg. She said, "Come on in." We went in and over to the couch where she was sitting.

"Where's Uncle Dar," Ellen asked.

"Asleep," said Janny. "He's not that strong yet, and he's been up all day so I took care of the leg and got him into bed."

"Did he tell you about the evaluation yet?" I asked.

"Yes," she said. "He also said he wanted to take just the three of you out to dinner after court."

I said, "We have our dresses picked out and I borrowed a pair of mom's old shoes and a pair of Erica's that she gave me and I already have a pair. Is it ok to use mom's shoes?"

Janny said, "Of course. She'd love knowing that you used her old stuff and she'd be real happy to help your friends too."

I said, "Thank you." I hugged her and said, "I still miss her and dad. I felt like they were still in their room when we went in to get the shoes."

Janny hugged me back and said, "I miss them too."

I let go and said, "George is making something for you and Erica. We already ate and so did Uncle Dar."

She said, "I know. He told me that the four of you ate just before we got home. Thank you for taking care of him today."

I smiled and looked at the other's and we all said, "Our job now."

Janny laughed and said, "Ok. Your job now. I know he loves it to have the three of you help him. He told me that the five of you are the best thing that ever happened to him."

"He's the best thing to happen to me in a long time," I said. "He gave me a purpose this summer and he's been a friend."

Janny said, "He's been a friend to all of us. I think that he's been lonely for a long time, and he's adopted us as a family. I know that I have him. He says that he's not a real nice man because of his past, but I don't agree. He's the nicest kindest person I know."

"I agree," I said.

Ellen and Nancy nodded their heads in agreement too.

"Ok," I said. "I'm tired so I'm going to bed. See you in the morning, sisters."

We hugged each other and I went to bed feeling happy that I had two new sisters that I loved, and two others that I'd always loved and all of them loved me.

The next day, when I got up I found Ellen and Nancy already up but Uncle Dar was still in bed. I asked them if he was ok, and Nancy said "Yes. He's just sleeping in a bit. He said that he was still tired from yesterday is all."

"Well," I said, "with what's going on today he needs the extra rest. He's going to have a busy day today and so are we. Couch Coulter said she'd be over early with Shelly and Sandra to help set up for the party and Uncle Dar's friends and family will be here at about noon."

Ellen said, "Janny's already checked his leg and George is out getting the BBQ ready. Erica is making up munchies and they told us to stay here in case Uncle Dar needs anything."

I said, "Ok. I'm still feeling a bit off so I think I'll just watch some t.v. for awhile."

Nancy asked, "Can we join you?"

I said, "Well, I was planning on using the Plasma so if you want to watch it's fine with me. Besides, we're sisters now. Maybe not officially but that doesn't matter. So lets watch t.v."

We sat down on the couch and got the remote. I don't know how, but I ended up in the middle with them snuggled up to me. I put my arms around them and we watched an old Sci Fi movie that I'd seen lots of times and still loved.

After the movie, I went to look in on Uncle Dar. He was awake now and reading one of dad's old books. He looked up as I peeked in the door and said, "Good morning."

"Good morning," I answered. "Ready to get up?"

"Now's as good a time as any," he said.

"Ok, I'll tell Janny," I said.

I went out to the kitchen and found Janny helping Erica with the munchies and said, "Uncle Dar's awake now and he's ready to get up."

"Tell him I'll be there in a moment," said Janny.

Erica asked me, "Can you help a bit?"

"Sure," I said.

I helped her make up some potato salad and some fruit salad.

While we were doing this she said, "Are you feeling better now?"

I said, "Yes. I get tired easy sometimes, but I feel a lot better now."

"Good," she said. "I was real worried about you for awhile. I don't need to loose a sister. To hard to find good ones now days."

I said, "Well I think your stuck with two new ones now."

"Oh I know," she said. "But I still want to keep the ones I already have. I just want you to know that."

"Thank you," I said. "I don't want to loose you or Janny either."

She smiled and said, "You know, it takes a special person to do what you did for Uncle Dar when he first came here, and then for Ellen and Nancy when they lost their parents. I'm proud of you for that. You have a big heart for someone so small."

My eyes got misty at that and I said, "I had very good teachers with my sisters and my big brother. They showed me how."

She kept smiling and hugged me. I hugged her back and we finished making the salads together.

That day was a blast. Uncle Dar's friends got there at noon like George said, and so did his aunt and Uncle with his cousins. Megan showed up with Sandra and Shelly and we got every thing ready for them just in time. George made hamburgers and hot dogs and steaks for all of us. Best though, was how happy Uncle Dar was.

He spent the whole day talking to his friends and relatives and smiled the whole time. I was glad that we'd managed to do that for him.

The best part was when us girls got our swim suits on and got George. The five of us caught him and dragged him to the pool and tossed him in. That was fun.

Then we got Janny and Erica and Megan. We had a great time that day.

After the party, when everybody had left, I helped Erica clean up in the kitchen and Ellen, Nancy, Sandra and Shelly cleaned up in back. Janny and George were with Uncle Dar in his room.

I said to Erica, "That went real well. Uncle Dar was so happy today. I hope we can do that again for him."

Erica said, "Yes, that was great. We all had fun today."

When we'd finished in the kitchen, I went out to see if they needed help around the pool. They were already done and I said, well since Erica and I did all the work we're going to eat all the ice cream."

Shelly said, "No your not. We helped to so we get some too."

I laughed and said, "George got a big tub of it so if you want some chocolate ice cream, come in and help yourselves. Just make sure to save some for George and Janny and Uncle Dar."

They agreed and we went in and fixed up bowls for the five of us and Uncle Dar. We took them into his room and gave him his then sat on the couch and ate.

After we finished, George and Janny got Uncle Dar ready for bed.

I asked Janny, "How's his leg?"

She said, "It looks better than when he first came here. All the red's gone and it's healing nicely now."

I said, "Good. I was so worried about it when he got sick. I thought that he might loose it when you said that the infection had spread so much."

"So did I," Janny said. "I haven't seen that bad an infection in a long time and it really worried me. But now that they've found that piece of bullet, it's healing quite well. He shouldn't have any more trouble with it now."

I said, "I'm glad." I hugged her and said, "I'm going to bed now so good night."

I went into Uncle Dar's little bed room and saw he was still awake, so I walked over to him and gave him a hug and said, "Good night Uncle Dar. I love you."

He hugged me back and said, "Good night munchkin. I love you too. Thank you for a wonderful day."

"You're welcome," I said. I hugged him again and went back out and said good night to my friends and went to bed happy that the party had worked so well. Uncle Dar was happy and my friends and I had had a wonderful day.

Best of all, in two more days, Uncle Dar would adopt Ellen and Nancy. He'd have a real family then, and they'd have a new father that loved them and would do anything for them. I'd found this out myself when he rescued me from the pool. He'd die for them if necessary and would do his best to protect them and take care of them.

This ends Chapter 12. Sally will continue with 1three.