Elijah hadn’t been brave enough three years ago to take Ruben up on his fumbled attempts at flirting, and he wasn’t brave enough to do it now. Yep, relocating was looking better and better.
Except, he loved Cade Creek. The town was small and the people wonderful. They said hi and waved as they walked down the street.
They pitched in when a member of the community needed help. They went out of their way to make newcomers feel welcome.
Elijah would miss it.
Ruben swallowed past the tears that clogged his throat as he pulled into the driveway of the Blaecleah ranch. It was good to be home. He had missed the ranch more than he thought he would when he left three years ago. He had missed the people that lived there even more.
In the last couple of years, Ruben had been around the world. He had seen sights he would never forget—the pyramids of Egypt, Stonehenge, the Eiffel Tower. He’d even seen the ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru. But nothing looked as good to him as the houses he saw nestled together as he drove up the driveway through the light snow covering the ground.
He grinned when he saw the front door open before he even pulled his rented car to a stop. The crowd that piled out of the house onto the front porch was huge by most people’s standards. To Ruben, it represented something special.
“We’re home, sweetie.”
Ruben turned the car off and climbed out, closing his door and going to the backseat before he even waved to the people waiting for him. He opened the back door and smiled, leaning in to unbuckle his surprise.
Ruben had called and said he was coming home. He told Ma that he was bringing his family home, but he hadn’t gone into specifics.
He wanted it to be a surprise. From the soft gasp he heard when he lifted the small baby out of the backseat, he had achieved his goal.
“Are you ready to meet your grandparents?” he asked as he tucked the blanket around the baby in his arms. He glanced up at the porch, noting the astonished looks on everyone’s faces. “They sure look like they are ready to meet you.”
Ruben tucked the baby into his chest to keep her protected from the cold weather then slowly walked up toward the family waiting for him. He paused at the bottom of the steps and looked up.
“Damn, it’s good to see you.”
“Ruben, watch your mouth!” Ma admonished even as she stood on her tiptoes and tried to peek at the bundle in Ruben’s arms.
“Yes, ma’am.” Ruben grinned. God, he had missed that voice, even when he was in trouble. No one had ever loved him like Alani Blaecleah. He raised the baby up just a little but not enough to wake her. “Hey, Ma, I brought you something from overseas.” Ruben watched as Alani Blaecleah’s eyes watered when she took the small bundle from his arms. A smile worked its way across her lips as she gently pulled the edge of the blanket back to reveal the baby’s pert little face.
“Oh, Ruben, she’s darling.”
Ruben smiled, feeling his own tears gather in the corners of his eyes. After everything he had been through, all the horrors he had seen, it was good to finally see his daughter in his mother’s arms. And Alani Blaecleah was his mother as far as he was concerned. He didn’t care that he was adopted by the Blaecleah family at the tender age of twenty-two. They were his family.
“Ma, I’d like you to meet your granddaughter, Alani Blaecleah.” Ma’s head snapped up as her mouth dropped open. “You named her after me?”
“I couldn’t think of anyone I wanted to name her after more than you, Ma.” Ruben chuckled nervously as he waited to see what her reaction would be. “She might have a lot to live up to, but I think she’ll grow into it.”
Ma let out a small cry, handed the baby to Da, and reached for Ruben. “Thank you, Son.”
Ruben closed his eyes as he soaked in Ma’s sweet scent. It was a smell he associated with home. And it had been so long since he had felt like he had a place to call home. No matter where he was, nothing felt more like home than the Blaecleah ranch.
“Welcome home, son.”
Ruben looked up to see Da beaming at him, Alani cradled carefully in his large arms. “Hey, Da, it’s good to be back.” Ma finally released Ruben only to turn and take the baby right back from Da. Ruben chuckled when she ignored everyone on the porch and started talking to the infant as she walked back into the house.
“Well, that should keep her happy for awhile.” Da chuckled as he watched the door close behind Ma. “At least ten or fifteen years.” Ruben grinned and rocked on his heels. “I do aim to please.”
“Well, come inside and tell us how things have been, son. From the looks of you and that baby, they’ve been mighty interesting.”
“Oh.” Ruben waved his hand back toward the car. “I need to get the baby bag.”
“You can get it later.”
Ruben’s eyes widened. “You haven’t been around a baby in awhile, have you?”
“I’ll get it, bro,” Quaid said as he patted Ruben’s shoulder. “You go on in and get reacquainted with the family.” Ruben nodded and turned back just in time to catch Matty in his arms as the man jumped at him. He grunted in surprise and stepped back from the force of it then closed his arms around his older brother.
“Hey, Matty.”
“Ru!” Matty shouted.
Ruben winced. Matty was pretty damn loud, and he didn’t like a lot of loud, not anymore. He squeezed his brother then stepped back from him. “You look good. You look happy.”
Matty’s eyes instantly gazed past Ruben’s shoulder as he smiled.
“I am happy.”
“I guess accepting Quaid’s proposal worked out well for you, huh?” Ruben still couldn’t believe that Quaid Blaecleah had proposed to Matty on the night they met. Granted, it had taken Matty a few days longer to agree to marry Quaid, but it seemed to be working out well for them both. He had never seen Matty looking happier.
“Yeah.” Matty grinned. “It was the best damn decision I ever made.”
Ruben almost whimpered in envy. He wanted to have that same look on his face that Matty did when looking at Quaid, or Lachlan did when looking at Asa and Billy did when looking at Rourke. Hell, every man that stood on the front porch had someone to look at like that except Ruben and Seamus.
And didn’t that suck?
“I’d better head in and see if Ma needs any help.” Ruben forced a smile that he didn’t really feel. He loved being back in the fold of the Blaecleah family, and he had no intention of ever leaving again, but sometimes it was hard to see how happy everyone was when he was alone.
“Uh…” Matty frowned. “You said you were bringing your family home.”
“I did,” Ruben replied. He knew there would be questions. He expected them. He had even been ready to answer them. He just didn’t realize how hard that would be. “I brought Alani home.”
“Where’s her mother?”
Ruben pressed his lips together for a moment as anguish overcame him. He blinked several times to clear the tears from his eyes before looking at his brother again. “Her mother was killed.”
“Are you serious?” Matty gasped.
“I wouldn’t joke about something like that, Matthew.”
“No, no.” Matty quickly shook his head. “I never thought you would. I was just surprised, that’s all. You called and said you were coming home with your family, and I thought—well, you said you were gay, Ru, and—”
Ruben couldn’t help but smile over his brother’s embarrassment.
“I am gay, Matty.”
“Then how—” Matty’s lips snapped together.
“Come inside, all of you. A lot has happened, and I’d like to explain it just once rather than several times.” By the time Ruben stopped talking, Quaid had returned from the car, baby bag in hand. Ruben took it from the larger man and slung it over his shoulder. He sighed deeply, glancing back out over the ranch, and then walked into the house.
The first thing Ruben saw when he walked in was the large tree sitting in the corner decorated in colorful lights and Christmas ornaments. Several colorfully wrapped presents sat under the tree, some with bows, some without.
Ruben had forgotten that Christmas was coming soon. It wasn’t a holiday he thought a lot about. Growing up, Christmas had been just another reason for his father, the reverend, to parade them around in front of his church as the
good little family
.
Things changed after church. His mother took a sleeping pill and went to bed, and his father went to his study to polish off the better part of his liquor cabinet. Ruben could remember his favorite present as being not having to deal with his parents.
After leaving home, he hadn’t been in one place long enough to really celebrate a holiday. That meant his experience with Christmas was dismal at best, horrific at worst. Ruben knew that had to change now that Alani was in his life. He wanted to give her every Christmas he had ever missed. He wanted her to have the happy holiday memories he hadn’t. He wanted everything for Alani.
“She’s just darling, Ruben.”
Ruben smiled as he glanced across the room. Ma sat in her chair, Alani unwrapped from her blanket and cradled in her arms. “Yes, I’ve thought so since the minute she was born.”
“She has your hazel eyes.”
“And her mother’s black hair.”
Ma glanced up, a curious expression on her face. “And just where is her mother?”
Again, Ruben felt anguish fill him. “Mahra was killed, Ma.”
“Killed?” Ma pressed her hand against her lips for a moment.
“Oh, Son, I’m so sorry.”
Ruben gave Ma a weak smile and moved further into the house, walking over to sit in the chair next to her. He set the baby bag down on the floor next to his chair. “If you get tired of holding her, just let me know.”
“Son, your ma will never get tired of holding that baby.” Da chuckled as he sat down on the other side of Ma. “You may never get her back.”
Ruben smiled for real this time. “I could use the break. I don’t think I’ve had a full night’s sleep in the last year.”
“It sounds like you’ve had a hard time of it, son,” Da said.
“It hasn’t been easy, but having Alani back home has been worth it.” Ruben sat forward and rested his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands together and letting them dangle between his knees. He watched the rest of those there walk into the living room and sit down.
It was time to fill them in on his life for the last three years. He hadn’t told them much after he left town, just a postcard here and there, the occasional letter, and phone calls every now and then.
“After I left Cade Creek, I wandered around for awhile. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do with my life.” Ruben smiled. “And then I met Mahra. She was working at a refugee camp in Ras Ejder on the Libyan-Tunisian border in northern Africa.”
“Africa!” Matty exclaimed. “What in the hel”—his eyes darted to Ma—“heck were you doing in Africa?”
Ma chuckled but didn’t lift her eyes from the baby.
“Traveling.” Ruben shrugged. “Trying to decide what I wanted to do with my life.”
“Did you figure it out?” Da asked.
“In a manner of speaking. After meeting Mahra, and seeing what she was trying to do, I decided to stay with her and help.” The corner of Ruben’s mouth quirked up as he remembered the woman. “She was amazing. She had such spirit. And she could talk anyone out of medical supplies, food, or safe passage. I’m pretty sure she could have given Ma a run for her money.”
Ruben chuckled when Ma just cocked an eyebrow at her. “You would have liked her.”
“I’m sure I would have.”
“One night, the camp we were working in was attacked by rebels.
We lost a lot of people that night, refugees and aid workers alike. It took us days to clean up and bury the dead.” Ruben glanced over at the baby. “That’s how she got here.”
“I don’t understand,” Matty said. “How could the attack on a refugee camp get you a baby?”
Ruben grimaced and glanced down at his hands. “Too much whiskey and the need to be close to a living, breathing person.”
“Oh, Ruben,” Ma whispered. “Did you love her?”
“I loved her, but I wasn’t in love with her. I don’t think anyone that met Mahra could help but love her. She was very special.” Ruben smiled sadly. If only he had loved her, maybe things would have been different. “She knew I was gay. After she found out she was pregnant, she offered to let me out of it. She said she would give the baby up for adoption. She wasn’t ready to be a mother.”
“I hope you dissuaded her of that idea,” Ma said sternly. “We do not shirk our responsibilities because it might be a little uncomfortable.”
“I think that some people are meant to have children and some aren’t. Mahra loved children, but she was the mother of hundreds of children that had no parents. She loved Alani, but she wasn’t ready to settle down with just one child. Her work was very important to her.” Ruben hoped that the Blaecleahs wouldn’t think badly of Mahra for not wanting to be a mother. He tried to convey that, but it didn’t sound right when the words came from his mouth. “She—”
“Son, you’re right,” Da said. “Not everyone is cut out to be a parent. That doesn’t make them bad people. It’s good that your Mahra knew this. It’s the ones that aren’t cut out for it and do it anyway that I have issue with.”
“Well, it may not have been the best decision I ever made, but I married her.” Ruben grimaced. “Mahra knew how much I wanted Alani, so she agreed to have her and give her to me. The day Alani was born was one of the happiest I ever remember. Our plan was for me to have Alani and raise her. I was going to just follow Mahra around from camp to camp so we could all stay together but—”
“What happened?”
Ruben drew in a deep breath then let it out slowly. The next part was the hardest for him. “We were in a caravan bringing medical supplies back to the camp from the border when we were attacked.
Things went pretty crazy pretty fast. Mahra was shot trying to get people to safety. She died in my arms.” Ma sniffled and covered his mouth. Ruben reached over and patted her arm. “It’s okay, Ma. She died doing what she loved. She wouldn’t have wanted to go any other way.” Ruben looked back at his family. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. “Mahra made me promise to bring Alani home and raise her here. After she died, I went back to camp and got Alani and came home.”