Hazel Rain

Chapter 65

TWO MONTHS LATER

Adam grabbed the lunch boxes off the island in the kitchen, "Nut! Sam! Let's go!" He slipped his wallet in his back pocket and adjusted the gun in his holster, "Hurry up!" He was already behind the eight ball and he was growing impatient with his eldest children.

A lot had changed over the last two months, summer was over and both Hazel and Sam were in school. Hazel loved being in second grade and was thrilled to be in the same class as Louie Casey, though Adam wasn't so sure he was on board with their friendship.

"How old do I need to be to get a boyfriend?" Hazel asked between bites of her cheeseburger.

Kim tried to stifle a laugh as Adam nearly spit out his drink, "Adam, babe. You okay?" She handed him a napkin, "Hazel, why're you asking that?"

Adam nodded, "That's what I'd like to know."

"Cause..."

"Thirty. You need to be thirty." Adam wagged his finger at her, "I'm obviously going to run a full background check on any boy that so much as looks at you twice, and your brothers chaperone all dates."

"Shut up, Adam." Kim laughed, "You're not old enough yet, but you can be friends with lots of boys. Is there one you like?"

"No." Adam glared at his wife, "Don't encourage her."

"It's Louie! I want Louie to be my boyfriend. He's nice, and he's really cute. I like him." Hazel rested her elbows on the table, "he is so nice...he saves the good scissors for me all the time."

"Well, isn't that sweet. Louie is a nice boy, Hazel. He's your friend..isn't he?" Kim was throughly enjoying Adam's reaction to the conversation, "I like Louie too, maybe we can have him come over to play one day."

"Oh, yay! That'll be fun." Hazel replied.

"I'll be home..cleaning all of my guns." Adam replied as he cleared the table, "Its never to early to scare the boys.."

Their friendship was sweet and Adam had grown fond of little Louie, though he still feared the day Hazel was old enough to date and he was thankful that was still years away.

He was also pleased that he only had one daughter, he was thankful for his boys and he knew they'd be just as protective of their big sister as he was.

Sam was in kindergarten and he enjoyed it, though it had been a rough go of it. Sam had  an endless of supply of energy, both Kim and Sam's teacher were trying to find a way to reign him in a bit, it wasn't always easy but they seemed to have found a happy medium within the last week or so.

Dylan.

Their sweet Dylan, he had faced every obstacle with a strength that blew both Kim and Adam away. He was their little miracle, their survivor.

It had become clear that nothing in life would come easy for Dylan Evander Ruzek, he was a warrior, and he was their hero.

He'd been diagnosed with a significant hearing loss and had begun several therapies in hopes of getting him where he needed to be developmentally. He was nearly eleven months old and had only just started sitting up on his own, and he finally started trying to crawl. Though it was more of an army type crawl, but it was something.

They had numerous therapists coming in and out of the house, he received physical, speech, and occupational therapy. In true Dylan fashion he loved every minute of it, and he had his therapists, or 'teachers' as Hazel called them wrapped around his little finger.