Chapter 25

When David caught his children after the show, he was grinning from ear to ear.  “You’re all dead”, he laughed.

“Why?” Jake asked sardonically.

“Because I fucking said so, boy.  Don’t ask questions”, he laughed as he hugged each of his children in turn.

“Am I dead, Grampa?” Miranda asked.

He bent down and hugged his oldest granddaughter.  “No, baby.  You’re the only one that’s safe”, she said after kissing her cheek.  She smiled up at him as he straightened back up.  He looked at Maddie.  “Madison Jade, you were supposed to warn me.”

“Not when both Mom and Jordan have told me that if I open my mouth, I’m dead meat”, Maddie laughed.

“Dad, we all wanted this to be a surprise for you.  You’re not an easy man to do that to”, Jordan said as she placed a kiss on her father’s cheek.

“Well, you all succeeded.  I am thoroughly surprised.”  He laughed as he looked between Jacob and Marc.   “You two did a MARVELOUS job on the video.”

“Thanks, Dad”, they said in unison.

“I know that I’ve been referred to as a prophet before, but not the Messiah.  Where did you hear that, Jake?”

“There’s this wonderful little thing called the Internet, Dad.  I went looking through old articles from during the War and there were several articles in which you were referred to as the ‘modern Messiah’.”

“And that’s exactly what I’m not.  I’m just a man.  I’m not special.  I’m not a prophet and I’m CERTAINLY not the Messiah.”

“Nope!” his kids all said in unison.  “You’re just our Dad and we’re proud of you.”

---------------

 David and Brie made a brief appearance at the huge White House reception being held for the Honorees.  As they were escorted into the ballroom, Brie stretched up and whispered in his ear.  “And now, I’m officially out of my element.”

He turned his head to kiss her temple.  “We’re not staying long.  I have to make an appearance because of this fucking medal around my neck.  May as well be a fucking noose.”

“By putting that thing around your neck, President McAllister gave you just enough rope…”

“Yeah, to hang myself with”, he chuckled.  “Come up with an excuse for us to leave so that we can get the hell out of here quickly.  I really don’t want to be here.  I’m done all of my partying.  Hell, I’ve partied enough for all of our children, everyone in this room, and the two of us.”

“Oh, I have an excuse for us to leave and it’s true.  I need to eat.  My sugar’s starting to fall.”

He nodded.  “Ok, then.  We’ll find the President, say, ‘hi’ and ‘bye’, and get back to our hotel so that we can eat dinner.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

He led them to where the President was standing with Harmon Radcliffe.  “Ah, David, you made it”, the President said when he spotted David and Brie.  He smiled brightly at the couple.

“Yes, Mr. President, but I’m afraid we can’t stay long”, David said as Brie leaned heavily on his arm.

“Is everything ok?”

“My wife’s not feeling very well.  She’s diabetic and her blood sugar is falling.”

“Well, by all means, take her back to the hotel and feed her.  I’m sure she’s appreciate it.”

“Thank you, Mr. President.”  David shook his hand and led his wife back out to the cars so that they could leave.  Once they were in the back of the limo and on their way back to the hotel, he kissed her cheek.  “How was that for speedy?”

“Nicely done, love.”  She kissed his cheek.  “Now, let’s get back to our room so that I can eat something.  I’m starting to feel sick.”

“We’re almost there, baby.  We’re almost there.”

---------------

“Jona, you should have seen the look on Dad’s FACE”, ‘Miah laughed as he got ready for bed that night.   “He was ready to kill us, but he was really happy at the same time.  It was hilarious.”

“I bet he was fit to be tied”, Jona laughed.

“I think the only one of us that he wasn’t mad at was Miranda.”

She laughed harder.  “You’re Dad; mad at one of his granddaughters?  When hell freezes over.”

“Oh, I know.  My dad’s never been able to get mad and stay mad at any of his girls… least of all Mom and his grandgirls.”

“He’s so funny when he tries though.”

“Yeah, he spends thirty minutes faking the cold shoulder and skulking when he’s really trying not to laugh, then he acts like it’s a HUGE burden to actually speak to the female in question.”

“Which is usually one of your sisters.  It just seems so out of character for him to be upset with one of the many women in his life.”

“Usually it is.”  He sighed.  “Ok, beautiful, I have a serious question for you and I want a serious answer.”

She looked at him cautiously.  “Ok.  What is it?”

“What are you thinking as far as our wedding?  When?  Where?  That kind of thing.”

“Wow, umm… I don’t really know right now, baby.  Can I get back to you on that?”

“Sure.  Take your time, honey.  I’m not in a big rush.  I’m just wondering.”  He leaned in and kissed her cheek with a smile.  “How about we head on to bed for the night?  I’m pretty tired from all that shit tonight.”

“Ok, honey.  Let’s get some sleep.”  She laid her head on his chest as soon as he was lying in bed next to her.  It didn’t take very long for either of them to start snoring.

---------------

Once they were at in their room, they changed their clothes and ordered room service.  Brie made sure that her meal was balanced so that her blood sugar stayed somewhat level for the remainder of the night.  After they’d eaten, the cart with their dirty dishes were was put out in the hallway so that they wouldn’t be interrupted for the rest of the night.  She sat on the couch with her head on her husband’s shoulder as they watched a movie.  She sighed contently.  “This is the life”, she said.

“You say that quite often, I’ve noticed.”

“It’s true.”

He adjusted so that he could look her in the face.  “Oh?  What makes you say that?”

“Think about it, David.  Our kids are all grown.  We have eight wonderful grandchildren and more to come.  We’re making plans after YOU finally retire to move to Israel.  Life couldn’t be better.”

He thought about it for a moment then nodded.  “Your right, to a point.”

“OH?”

“Life could be better.  I haven’t retired yet’, he laughed.

She rolled her eyes as she laughed, then stood and stretched.  “I’m going to go get a shower.  I need to get all this crap out of my hair and off of my face.”

“I didn’t tell you to straighten your hair”, he said with a laugh.

“I wanted to because I wanted to look nice for the ceremony and the luncheon.  But, I can’t sleep with it in my hair anymore because it makes my hair brittle.”

“Ok.  Go get a shower, then.”  He couldn’t help but chuckle.

She looked at him skeptically.  “What are you up to, David Michael?”

“Nothing.  Nothing at all.”

His face said he was innocent, but she saw through the façade.  “Ok.  If you say, so, David.  I’m not going to argue with you.  I’ll see you when I get out of the shower.”  She walked into the bathroom and turned on the hot water in the shower.  After undressing, she stepped into the stall and let the hot water pour over her.  She could feel the stress of the day just melting away as the heat soaked into her muscles.

He waited until he was sure that she wasn’t expecting him to come in.  He made his way quietly into the bathroom and stripped down as he listened to her hum a familiar tune as she washed her hair.  When she turned to grab the conditioner, he got into the shower and wrapped his arms around her waist.  He buried his face in her neck and kissed her.

She sighed.  “I knew you were up to something”, she said breathlessly.

“Always.  Anyway, I owe you.”

“For what?”

“The amazing job you did putting that together tonight.”

She turned in his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck.  “You’re welcome”, she said as she pressed her lips to his.

“Why don’t you let me thank your properly?” he whispered against her lips as his hands gripped her thighs and he lifted her.

She wrapped her legs around his waist as they kissed.  He put her back against the tiles, angled his hips just right, and pushed himself through the tightness of her body as she moaned softly in his ear.