The Home & Family Pt. 05

Luke's moans seemed to light a fire inside Dakota as she closed her eyes and licked her lips. Without any more foreplay, she straddled Luke and took him inside her. With every ounce of energy that she had, she rode him to another shattering climax. As she snuggled wearily into Luke's side, he watched as the diamond on her ring caught the light and seemed to wink at him. He smiled in satisfaction. Yeah, family was an awesome thing.

?Epilogue

The sun beat down upon the heads of the crowd gathered out by the stables for the afternoon festivities. About a dozen adults stood around the yard and about twice that many children ran through the adjacent field. Dakota was waiting with the crowd and was beside herself with anticipation and excitement. James had taken Luke off fishing that morning and they were due to arrive back any minute.

"Dakota, where is that boy?" Ms. Lily O'Connor asked as she rounded the corner, carrying yet another tray of food out to the picnic table. Her new husband, Saul, was right behind her with more food. So far, every square inch of the table was filled to overflowing, and Dakota had no idea where Ms. Lily was going to put the plates she and Saul were carrying.

"I don't know! I wish they were here!" Dakota said as she peered once again down the road. Just about that time, Lazeras came running toward her.

"Mama, Mama, look what Aunt Linda Jane gave me!" He was holding out a brand new carving of a baby wolf cub. "Uncle Marshall carved it and he says that it goes with one that he done already gave to you."

"Has already given to me, sweetie," Dakota corrected her son. Lazeras had been officially adopted by Luke and her almost before the ink was dried on their marriage certificate. That had been almost a year ago. The three of them had grown into being a family with relatively few emotional bumps and bruises. Dakota was amazed how much it had changed all three of them to be a part of one another. But Luke had changed the most. He had gone from being a man who prided himself on his need for no one to a man who believed that he couldn't live without his wife and son. She only hoped that Luke could extend that love even more.

Suddenly a trail of dust was seen coming down the road. "He's here! He's here! Daddy's coming!" Lazeras yelled.

Everyone took their places behind the wall of the barn, so Luke wouldn't be able to see them until he walked around the corner of the building. Everyone was quiet as they heard Luke and James climb out of the truck. Dakota could just make out Luke's words. She heard him say, "Yeah, I used to hate coming down that driveway, because I thought I would always be alone, but, you know, now coming here feels like a new chance. Driving down that drive now reminds me that I am a part of a family - one that chose me and wants me."

James said, "Yeah, but don't you ever wish we could have had just one of those 'family' birthday parties like we always dreamed about? One with the cake and all our friends - you know - the ones where our family showed us how much they loved us?"

Luke and James were walking closer and closer with each passing step. Dakota could now clearly hear Luke's answer. He said, "Yeah, that would have been nice, but some things were just wishful kid's dreams."

At that moment, Luke and James turned the corner around the barn and dozens of voices yelled, "Happy Birthday, Luke!"

Luke stopped cold and stood with his mouth hanging open in surprise. He barely managed to put his arms up to catch Lazeras as the boy bounded into his daddy's chest. "Daddy, Daddy, we have a party for you. It's your birthday and this is your party. We have presents and cake and lots and lots to eat. Happy Birthday, Daddy!"

Luke hugged his son to him and looked over the boy's shoulder to see Dakota standing nearby. Luke caught his breath at the sight. Dakota was a beautiful vision to him. She was dressed in a bright yellow halter dress that showed off all of her curves and lots of skin. Luke loved the dress, and he loved knowing that Dakota was wearing it especially for him. She had changed so much over the last year and her self confidence seemed to grow by leaps and bounds. Luke knew how lucky he was to have her, and thank God, she thought she was lucky to have him. He pulled her into his side with his free arm and held her close to him.

Dakota whispered to him, "Luke, I love you so much. I wanted you to have a party like the ones that you always missed. And it seemed like we needed to have it here so it would help you put to rest some of those demons from your past. Happy birthday, sweetheart."

Luke's heart felt like it was close to bursting from love inside his chest. It was then that he noticed that the entire group of people all seemed to be staring at him, waiting for some kind of response. Luke's face burst into a huge smile as he said, "So, this is what 39 feels like! Well, I can't wait to see what you all do for 40!"

With that, the happy noises of a birthday crowd began. Luke ate fried chicken and potato salad with rolls and iced tea. Then, even though he couldn't think of anything that he wanted in life that he didn't already have, he made a wish and blew out his candles. The group cheered and everyone helped him eat his birthday cake. Right after that, Lazeras led him to a table covered with presents of all kinds. Luke was pleased to see that most of the gifts from the adults were checks made out to the Children's Home. Most of the gifts from the kids were handmade quilt squares that Sarah Hytree promised to sew together for him. It was a perfect birthday party and a perfect birthday for Luke.

Except for one thing. It bugged Luke in the back of his mind all through the party and all through the gift giving and all through the clean up. Even though Dakota and Lazeras stayed close by him, they never gave him a gift of their own. He had expected them to give him one early this morning. Then, when he realized that they had planned this party, he thought they would give him one at the gift giving time. Then he thought that maybe they would give it to him after everyone was gone. But now the party was over, they were back home, it was supper time and they still hadn't given him anything. Luke chastised himself and told himself that it was enough that they had thrown him such an awesome party, but in his heart, he wanted a gift.

Luke was getting irritated by the time he sat down to dinner. Lazeras and Dakota were acting like nothing was unusual. But try as he might, Luke just wasn't able to act nonchalant. He was just about to say something about it when Lazeras jumped up from the table and asked to be excused.

"Son, you haven't finished your dinner," Luke said.

But Lazeras looked agitated and asked again to be excused. Luke shrugged his shoulders and let the boy go. He turned to speak to Dakota, but she jumped up right then, as well. "I need to go to the kitchen," she said.

Luke threw his hands up in frustration. What was wrong with these two people? Luke went back to eating his supper, but somehow, it just didn't taste very good at that moment. It wasn't any fun eating alone.

"Luke, could you come help me for a moment?" Dakota called from the front door. Luke wondered what she was doing in there, but he followed the sound of her voice anyway. It wasn't like he was enjoying his supper much anyway.

When Luke found Dakota, she was wrestling a large box through the doorway. Lazeras was outside, trying to help her push it into the house. "What's this?" Luke asked as he moved to help get the box inside.

"This. . . this is your . . . your birthday present," Dakota said, between tugs.

Finally, the three of them managed to get the box through the door. "What is it?" Luke asked excitedly, looking sideways at the picture on the side of the box. It looked a lot a like a cage of some sort. A cage with legs. He frowned at the box and looked along the edges for a description of some sort. When his eyes landed on the words, "Heavy Duty, Deluxe Crib", he wondered why Dakota had bought him a crib. Then he saw the words, "Let your baby sleep in all the comfort and safety of a Bryer's baby bed."

With a questioning look, Luke turned to Dakota. He said, "Dakota? Why did you buy me a baby crib?"

When the slow smile began spreading across her face, Luke suddenly realized why they needed a crib. "Dakota?" Luke said, with his eyes practically popping out of his head.

"You did say you wanted a family for your birthday, didn't you?" Dakota whispered.

Lazeras was less inhibited and started jumping up and down. "Daddy, we're going to have a baby! Happy birthday!"

And standing there with his wife, his son and his future baby, Luke realized that it really was the best birthday he had ever had - he had finally gotten what he always wanted.