Just My Type

22: Home-Base

The drive to Delaware is easy, mainly because Ben drove the whole way and I slept. I've really been taking this pregnancy one day at a time, and allowing myself to take it easy as much as possible. Although, it's getting to be wedding season and I've been busy with work. I've never  been more ready for a vacation. 

We pull into the drive way of my childhood home, and Noah and Hannah are already here. It's an emotional reunion with Holden between them and the other boys are excited to see them. Noah helps Ben unload our bags and we go inside. 

"How ya feelin?" I say to Hannah and point to her belly. 

"ugh, I don't think it's going to be this weekend." I point my lip out.

"You better pull out all of the stops. We want to be here when that baby comes."

"Noah and I were talking, and we think we're going to keep Holden with us here, for a week or so until the baby comes just so we can spend time with him and then Noah can drive him back up when the time comes. Between everyone here, I'll have plenty of help."

"Of course! We can even meet him half way, which ever seems like it'll work out best for everyone."

"How about you and Ben? How is everything? Started wedding planning?"

"We're in an incredible place right now. We're communicating, he even went to a therapy session with me recently. We started, but we postponed it, and we're thinking about pushing back the date, it's just coming up on us so quickly, and I think we need some more time getting ourselves together, I mean, we're not in a rush, we know it's what we want, we'll get there."

"Its so good to hear you guys are on the same page, it seems like that isn't a thing you guys have ever had an issue doing." I nod my head in agreement. 

The day goes by quickly and soon the rest of the family starts arriving for dinner. I find myself sitting around the dining room table, just my siblings and I, all of the significant others were off talking amongst themselves. Seb still hadn't arrived, and he wasn't responding. I knew it was time to break the news to everyone.

"I've got an update for you guys."

"Whats going on?" Owens brooding voice calls from the opposite side of the table.

"Two weeks ago I got a call from Seb out of the blue. He told me not to tell anyone, but he stopped communicating and I think I pushed too hard for him to come visit this weekend and I'm a little worried."

"How is he?" Lucy's worried mom voice shines through. 

"Honestly? He sounds the best he has in a really long time, or at least he's putting on a good front, He says he's nine months clean, he has a job, an apartment, he's going to daily meetings, living in California."

"He's been in California this whole time?" Noah huffs.

"Yeah, he said he was going to come back to your house, but realized getting clean would be a Better situation."

"How did he pay for rehab though?" Owen questions. I look around the table waiting for someone to come up with an explanation when I catch Eli's guilty sweats.

"Eliot. Talk." I've always been able to read him, no matter how well he tried to hide it.

"Okay, Mike and I helped pay for it. We've been in constant contact with him. He said it's what he wanted, he wanted to get clean and then come back to try to amend, he said he wanted to do it for himself more than anything and wanted to prove to everyone after it was over that he could do it, and was doing it. He called me when he made that scene at Kam's and said he needed money that he was in a bad spot, he wanted to go back and live with Noah and Hannah, he didn't have a supply connect out there and he thought he had a better chance of getting clean, I told him that it probably wasn't a good idea to go back there because of the kids, that he was more than welcome to come back here and stay somewhere that was free of kids. He said he definitely wanted to be in California. I told him I wasn't going to send him money, I'd only help if he went into rehab and even then I'd pay the rehab directly, not through him. I didn't say anything to anyone else because we didn't want anyone to feel obligated to help, Mike and I were in a position where helping was an easy decision for us, So I secretly flew out, and then flew with him to California, the plane ride was hard, he was pretty sick. Then I got him checked in, and I left. I told him, he had to stay and finish the program or I was telling everyone what was up. He's at an age where he has a full life ahead of him, he managed to escape without a criminal record, he's only twenty two, almost twenty three. He has so much of his life to still live, this was the crucial time to get him clean. Please don't hate me, I was just doing what I could to get him healthy. We've all gone through a lot in the past two to three years especially, I didn't want to loose him too." Lucy places a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.