On Saturday morning, Luke drove out to see James. Sarah Hytree had been invited to spend a couple of nights at James' house in order to get to know his family. Luke really enjoyed meeting Sarah and watching James around her. Even though they had only been together for a week, it was fun to see Sarah kidding James as though they had never been separated. Luke was really happy for his friend, but at quiet moments, when the kids were playing by themselves and didn't need "Uncle" Luke, Luke felt the emptiness in his own life. Dakota belonged there. By the end of the evening, Luke was more determined than ever to make Dakota see reason.
Before Luke left on Saturday night, Sarah asked Luke to come to her house on Monday. Glad to have the opportunity to get to know her better, Luke accepted her invitation.
Luke wasn't even out of bed yet on Sunday morning when his phone began ringing. Ms. Lily from the Children's Home wanted to remind Luke that they had an appointment in a few hours. He had promised to meet the little boy that she had told him about, and she didn't want Luke to forget. Luke hadn't forgotten, but he had been thinking about begging off of the visit. He didn't feel like dealing with some emotional kid right now. But when Ms. Lily asked for a favor, it wasn't really an option to say no. So Luke assured her that he had not forgotten, then dragged himself out of bed and threw his body into the shower.
Two hours later, Luke was making his way to the Home. When his truck turned into the long driveway, his stomach clinched. Luke thought back over all of the times he had come down this dirt path and realized that every single instance had caused that same reaction in him. He wondered if he would ever not associate that turn off the main road with the ominous feeling of abandonment.
When Luke's truck stopped in front of the main building, Saul O'Connor was just leaving. Luke greeted him, saying, "What are you doing out here? Like I don't know!"
Saul had been Ms. Lily's beau for longer than anyone could remember, and Luke would have been shocked had he not been out visiting Ms. Lily on Sunday afternoon. Saul looked happier than usual, though. Luke said, "You look like the cat that swallowed the canary. What's up with you?"
Saul beamed even brighter. His voice was hushed with excitement, and filled with what sounded somewhat like awe. "Luke," he said, "She finally said yes. Ms. Lily has agreed to marry me!"
Luke's eyes couldn't have gotten any bigger. "Are you kidding me? She's going to marry you?"
It was amazing to watch the older man's cheeks turn pink. "I've been asking her for years, but this Home was always on shaky ground. Now that the auction has set it on the right course, she has agreed to have me."
Luke's ears perked up, "Did you say that the auction made enough money to really make a difference?"
The older man continued smiling broadly, "Sure did, son. Along with your highest bid, a couple of companies heard about the whole deal and donated enough to really turn the corner. Ms. Lily has endowment funds created now to ensure the security of the Home, even after she decides to slow down. Who knows," he added with a meaningful wink, "Maybe hitching up with me is her idea of slowing down!"
Laughing out loud, Luke clapped Saul on the shoulder and said, "Well, congratulations, my man. Now, if I don't get myself in there, Ms. Lily's libel to come out here and skin us both."
With that, Luke turned and went into the Home. The front door opened into a small foyer with three rooms branching off of it. Luke well knew what all three of those rooms were used for.
The first room, on the right, was a large TV room where the kids could hang out and watch TV after supper - provided that they could prove that their homework was finished.
The room straight in front of the door was the dining room. That room held tables to seat the 40 residents along with all of the dorm parents and staff. The rule was that everyone sat down to eat together. Ms. Lily prided herself on the concept that family time still mattered, even if the group involved was a rather strange, motley form of family.
The door to the left of the front door was the entrance to Ms. Lily's personal office. That door was open and Ms. Lily was standing in it, with her hands on her hips.
"Well, I was wondering when you would get in here! The boy's waiting."
Luke shook his head at the woman's retreating backside. So much for thinking she might be emotionally carried away about having just gotten engaged. He sure hoped Saul knew how to handle his new workaholic fiancee. But for right now, Luke needed to catch up with Ms. Lily and make sure that he didn't end up on her bad side.
Ms. Lily led the way into a small conference room at the back of her office. When she reached the entrance, she waited for Luke to open the door for her. She had taught her boys manners, and she always insisted that they practice them at all times. When Luke had satisfactorily shown that he hadn't forgotten his lessons, she entered the room and sat down at the round conference table.
When Luke followed her in, he realized that she had strategically removed all of the extra chairs from the room. He was forced to sit down between Ms. Lily and the small child who was already seated. Although Luke's eyes had taken in the fact that the boy was there, Luke found that he really didn't want to look at the boy. He wondered what was going on - he had never had any problem before dealing with younger kids. When he had lived at the Home, he had often helped them adjust to their new lives and, now, as a social worker, he spent his time finding ways to help kids adjust to life in general. But, for some reason, Luke was having to force himself to greet this child.
As Luke turned his head and first made eye contact with the child, he knew what his heart had been trying to protect him from. The child couldn't have looked anymore like Luke if he had been his own son. Words seemed to fail Luke as he looked into the child's face. The boy's blue eyes were fringed in long brown lashes. His hair was the same chocolate shade of Luke's and it had the same soft curls.
As Luke sat there in complete shock, he simple couldn't think of any words to say to the child - all he had were questions. Luke didn't realize that his face had taken on a colorless pallor until Ms. Lily laid her hand on his arm and said, "Luke, are you alright?"
Luke looked at her with all of his feelings showing in his eyes. Ms. Lily patted his arm reassuringly. She said, "When I saw Lazeras, I thought his name was rather apt. He looks like a little boy I used to know, come back to life. But he's not that little boy, Luke. Lazeras is a that little boy's cousin."
"Luke," Ms. Lily continued, "Lazeras was born to a child that your grandfather had after you were born. He apparently left your grandmother and married again after your mother died. His daughter, by that marriage, was an unwed mother who died during childbirth. There was an on-going custody battle for a few years before the father was put in prison for life over his part in a local murder. Lazeras was put into the foster system until he could be placed with another relative. Now, the rest of the family has either died or has claimed to not have room for Lazeras. He needs you, Luke."
It would have made Luke a lot more comfortable if Lazeras hadn't heard all that Ms. Lily had just told him. Rules had changed since he was a child and had not been allowed to know anything about his own family. Apparently Lazeras was up to date on his own personal history. But Ms. Lily was smarter than people sometimes realized and Luke knew she had rehashed Lazeras' story on purpose. It would be impossible for Luke to turn his back on a child, especially a child who was related to him. Even more so because the child was in practically the same situation he had been in growing up. Luke took several deep breaths, then turned back to face the little boy.
"Lazeras, it looks like we're cousins," Luke said, still trying to figure out what to do. Without warning, the little boy slid out of his chair and climbed up into Luke's lap.
"I knew you would come for me someday," the boy whispered.
Luke's heart twisted in his chest. Lazeras thought that Luke had come to take him home. He thought that Luke was going to be his family. That thought chilled Luke to the bone. Then a quiet voice inside his head asked, "Why not?" Luke began mentally making pros and cons lists.
With his arms wrapped around the child, Luke began automatically rocking him back and forth as he thought. Luke lost track of time as the thoughts swirled through his brain. When he heard quiet snores coming from Lazeras, Luke realized that the boy had fallen asleep. Luke turned to ask Ms. Lily what to do, but discovered that the lady had managed to slip out of the room while Luke had been focused on Lazeras. Luke realized that she wasn't going to make this any easier on him.
It was about 30 minutes before Lazeras stirred. Luke had continued to hold him and rock him the whole time. When Lazeras opened his eyes, he stared solemnly at Luke, then threw his arms around Luke's neck. Luke held him tightly, trying to think of how to say what he needed to say.
"Lazeras? Laz? We need to talk," Luke said finally.
At first, Lazeras wouldn't face Luke, but Luke waited until the boy finally pulled back enough to look Luke in the eye.
"That's better. I need to make sure that you understand what all I am saying. Lazeras, I didn't know that you were here. Ms. Lily apparently only figured out that we were cousins a few days ago. But she didn't tell me then. She wanted me to meet you. I grew up here in the Home, too. So I know what it's like for you. Lazeras, I want to be a part of your life, but I gotta take this slow. Why don't you come home with me today and see if you like my place. Then we can spend the rest of the afternoon together and I'll bring you back here tonight so you can go to school tomorrow. Let's spend a few days getting to know each other, ok?"
Lazeras seemed to weigh Luke's suggestion. A smile finally broke across his little face as he said, "Ok, but can we go get some real ice cream? You know, the kind in a cone?"
