My Twin Flame

Chapter Thirty Six

It had been a long day and I just wanted to take a shower. I gave my dad a kiss and a hug to Janet. "I'm going to take advantage of him sleeping and I am going to run home and take a shower." Janet nodded.

" Do you need me to bring anything back with me?" She whispered back to me "No, I'm good."

I hadn't known about this woman in my dad's life but I was so glad to see that she loved my dad so dearly.

I went home and grabbed a shower, changed my clothes and called to give Shelly a quick update. I thought about calling Trent but I didn't want to deal with his questions about coming to be with me. I just didn't need all that drama well dealing with dad.

I drove over to Krissy's to check up on the kids before going back to the hospital. I followed the directions to find her street. I couldn't believe the beautiful home she lived in. It must have been the biggest on the block.

I rang the doorbell but there was no answer. I waited a few more moments before letting myself in. No wonder she didn't hear the bell, there was the TV going in the living room, a baby crying on the floor of the kitchen and kids screaming and chasing each other with nerf guns.

I thought I saw a brief blur of Max running past me. "Hi mom, can't talk, we're on a stealth mission."

I worked my way into the kitchen where Krissy was busy making dinner. The crying baby was now on her hip again. "Whoa how do you not lose your mind?" I can't balance three kids without losing my mind.

"I stopped caring."

"You stopped caring about your kids?"

"No silly, I stopped caring about being perfect. As long as my home is clean, they're all happy, and go to bed with full tummies. I don't worry about anything else."

"I wish I had your stamina. Between work and being a single mom, I get so burnt out. Vanessa, she just keeps pushing my buttons."

"Well I work from home at night when the kids are sleeping and Hunter is great about taking over when he gets home. That's why we never see each other. Ethan and Emma help me out a lot, and Paisley is like a little mom. Andrew is a handful, but since he started school last year that made it easier. Annabeth was a result of baby fever, and this one was a complete surprise." As she rubbed her belly.

"Paisley and Andrew were Hunter's cousin's kids, but they got put in foster care a few years back so we adopted them." Still I admired her. She put a plate on the bar where I was sitting, and filled it with white creamy sauce over noodles.

"Eat, it's homemade Alfredo. You're doing your dad no good on an empty stomach." She got herself a plate and put the baby in the highchair and sat down beside me.

"So tell me how has Brooklyn's life been?"

"Boring and not special." I told her about my business. I filled her in on Elliot and then all about our hurricane Tonya.

She told me about how her and Hunter had moved to Boston till the twins were about ten then decided when they adopted the other two, to move back home to the country to raise them. She told me the tragic story of how they came about getting Paisley and Andrew in the first place. We were talking like there was no time between us so much that I noticed I had scraffed down my food.

I looked at my watch and realized that I needed to get going. "Brooklyn, why don't you let the kids sleep here tonight, I called Hunter he already knows and Vanessa and the twins aren't back yet anyways."

"I couldn't put that on you really you have already been to kind."

"Well I am not giving you a choice. Go take care of your dad. We got you covered I have clothes here they can borrow for the night and they can sit down and enjoy dinner." I was so pleased and relieved that the kids didn't have to sit up at the hospital that I thanked her a dozen times before leaving.

I got in the car and saw more missed text from Trent. I tossed my phone on my seat and just left it. I just didn't want to have to find some reason for him not to come here. I needed to just deal with my family and my life at the moment.

When I got up to the hospital I was pleased to see that my dad was sitting up in bed, well Janet fed him some broth.

"Your just in time the doctor is supposed to come in and give us the final results of your dad's tests."

I sat in the chair and looked at my dad. "When you get better, we need to have a serious talk." He chuckled at me and finished slurping his broth off the spoon. "It's not funny dad, you scared the hell out of me."

Before anymore could be said Dr. Bernard walked into the room. "I'm glad you are all here. So as I feared the test showed there has been a good bit more damage done to your heart. But I think we can fix it. I would like to keep you in the hospital a while longer where I can monitor you then once you're strong I would like to do surgery. You have some blockages I want to see if we can take care of and I would like to do a bypass."

"So you want to do open heart surgery?"

"Yes, but not until we are sure he is more stable than he is now. I don't feel comfortable releasing him until after the surgery.

"When do you think you could do the surgery?" There was fear in Janet's voice.

"I would like to reevaluate again in a week to see if he is strong enough to handle the procedure."

"What is the prognosis of this surgery. I mean, is it safe?" This was all too much for me to handle, I was trying to process it the best I could.

"Well that is why we want to wait but leave him here so we can keep an eye on him. If we do the surgery now I don't think he will survive, his heart is very weak and won't handle anymore stress."

"Well that does it then, Dad you stay here and get the surgery. I am going to call Shelly and have her arrange my schedule. I am staying here with you until you are back on your feet."

"Brooklyn you can't put your life on hold for me."

"The hell I can't." with my cell in hand I walked off and went to call Shelly. I filled her in with everything the doctor told me about dad and his surgery. I told her I can handle all the emails and ordering from here. I had my laptop and tablet with me. She agreed she could hold down the fort and told me to take as long as I needed.

When I hung up with her I saw the notifications from Trent. I ignored him at this point till he had now begun calling me. With a sigh I dialed his number and prayed it went to voicemail.

"Hello, Brooke, I have been worried sick about you all day. How's your dad?"

"I know I'm sorry it has been crazy all day. He is better, though there has been a lot of damage to his heart and they have to do surgery once he is more stable."

"Well that's it I am coming there to be with you, I don't want you to go through this alone."

"Trent please, that would just add more stress to me. I would have to tell my dad about Fiji, the kids would be confused who you were. I mean I just don't need that on me right now."

"Do you regret Fiji?"

"What! No, not at all. I just have so much on my plate right now. Dad has a long haul to get better. I am just so distracted. And I don't want the kids to meet you when we are all under stress. I want them to like you."

"So you do want me to meet them? I was beginning to wonder, I mean I was starting to feel like a dirty secret you were keeping from everyone."

"That's not true. I finally talked to Shelly about our time together. It's just different with the kids." I was not about to tell him the reason I cracked and blubbered everything to Shelly sitting on her couch with a pregnancy test in my hand.

"Ok well I love you, I am sorry I don't mean to pressure you right now with all this. I'm an ass. Here you are going through all this and I am selfishly thinking of myself."

"It's fine Trent. I am just so burnt out right now, I'm exhausted, half hungry, and I have a horrible headache. Can I just text you in the morning?"

"Of course baby, get some rest. We'll talk tomorrow."