Wildfire Heart – Chapter 07 – ScarsLikeVelvet

Chapter 07

July 5, 1991 – Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA

Lucas and Mary looked startled when they found Bridget Walsh from the Department of Children and Family Services standing on their front porch early in the morning two days after their mother informed them of Daniel’s and Evan’s plight.

The day before, they had talked about how to handle Daniel’s belongings, but ultimately, they decided to ask the boy about it when they got to meet him. They had already agreed to allow Daniel to sleep in the nursery with Evan, because it was clear the two boys were attached to each other in ways that might be not entirely healthy on the psychological front but served both of them well on the physical one.

They figured that once Daniel was secure in the fact that no one would take Evan away from him, he would want his own room during the night, and while there would be therapy involved to help the boy settle in, they wouldn’t force anything.

If the boys wanted to share a room until they were adults and beyond, no one would begrudge them that as there was nothing inherently harmful about them sharing a room despite their age-difference.

“You are moving fast,” Lucas blurted out as they led Mrs Walsh into the kitchen of their townhouse.

Bridget Walsh couldn’t help but smile.

“The boys deserve nothing less,” she replied. “I am sure your mother showed you the paperwork I handed her, and you also started your own investigation into the circumstances, so I won’t bore you to tears repeating ground already covered. I had a long conversation with Judge Buckley yesterday and she explained the choices the family made regarding Daniel and Evan, and after running even more extensive background checks than before—sorry about that by the way—we are inclined to agree that either you or your brother Gabriel and his wife should take them in. All of you have raised successful children of your own, and while normally, we would have asked for certifications as foster parents, we are going to let this slide in the face of the fact that you are actually related to both children. We’ll be monitoring the situation as is normal, and not an ounce more unless you give us cause, because while my department fucked up, we don’t want to over-correct our course and cramp your style as parents.”

Mary couldn’t help it. She snorted in amusement.

“Trust me, you couldn’t cramp our parenting style if you tried. Also, we both have been licensed as foster parents because we have taken in children in need in the past. We haven’t in the past couple of years due to Luke’s deployments and wanting to focus on Juli-Anne, but those situations were always short term. I don’t think the certifications have lapsed. If so, and you wish for us to renew them, we will certainly find the time to make it possible,” Mary said. “All we want for the boys is to be safe and happy.”

Luke nodded.

“We will do our best for the boys,” he said.

“And their best is pretty damn good. I can attest to that,” Juli-Anne, who had just slipped into the house through the back door, added, startling Mrs Walsh.

“You still live here?” she asked curiously.

“It’s my residence off-base, yes,” Juli-Anne confirmed. “I usually stay in my quarters on base, same as Dad often does because the commute is hell sometimes, but we both are willing to make sacrifices for the children.”

“It’s not a sacrifice,” Luke responded. “The children deserve to have parents present in their lives. If it had been available back then, I would have moved you and your mom onto base with me, but the family housing back then was atrocious and you already made friends, which is why we stayed here. If it serves us better, moving into base housing and renting out this home for additional income is always an option.”

Mrs Walsh watched the interaction.

“So you would be willing to move away from here?” she asked.

“If it serves the family, sure,” Mary said. “I already informed my employer that I’ll likely be taking in a newborn and an ill child that needs full-time care, and they have agreed to allow me to step out of my contract early if that became reality.”

“You should know that I am slated to return to Little Creek, Virginia in the near time, and the plan was for Mary to come with me this time around. We can take the boys with us and figure out Daniel’s healthcare before the move, or I can go alone,” Luke said.

“You are a Navy SEAL, right?” Mrs Walsh questioned after looking at her paperwork.

Luke nodded. There was no hiding that fact. Phillip had been the only brother who avoided joining the military complex, and aside from Maria, all of them had followed their father’s and grandfather’s footsteps in joining the Navy and becoming Navy SEALs. By now, it was a time-honoured family tradition.

“So you go where you are assigned,” she clarified.

“At my rank, I have somewhat of a say, but normally yes,” Luke agreed.

Bridget hummed.

“Will you remain stateside at least?” she questioned.

“For a while,” Luke said, not clarifying how long a while would be, because one never knew. Assignments could come out of the blue, after all.

“I won’t have to take care of the boys alone,” Mary spoke up. “I know it might seem that way, but Gabe and Matthias generally get similar assignments as Luke does, and our families are used to moving around. The same holds true for my in-laws. Little Creek will probably be a long-term assignment, and we are looking into finding housing that’s big enough for all of us.”

“Meaning?” Mrs Walsh asked her to clarify.

“Our family, Gabriel’s family, Matthias’ family plus our parents moving into the same building or at least close to each other, so we can handle the child-rearing together. It involved a lot of driving around given how far from each other we’ve been living here but it’s where Maria and Michael as well as Phillip and Margaret settled. Maria and Michael were always pretty much self-contained and job-focused, so they won’t have any issue with us moving closer to the base we’ve been assigned to, and I think Daniel and Evan will fare better away from where Daniel experienced the heart-break of losing his family,” Mary clarified.

“We don’t need to move immediately, if that is what you are fearing. We will make sure to safely transition Daniel’s care as we would need to anyway since our insurance uses different providers. If you give us the go ahead, we will start handling it, and get the boy used to the idea. But it might in fact be easier to take him from the hospital to Little Creek, instead of allowing him to settle here and taking any newfound stability here away from him by the move,” Luke mused.

Juli-Anne watched quietly. She wouldn’t go to Little Creek for quite some time yet since she was slated to attend Annapolis, the same here father and uncles had before her.

“You might be right on that point, though I am unsure how the doctors will think about this,” Mrs Walsh mused.

“Children get moved around a lot,” Mary reminded her. “Even sick children. Maybe especially sick children, given that some types of specialists are rarer than others.”

Mrs Walsh hummed. She had known going in that this might happen. Judge Buckley had warned her the day before that military men meant making sacrifices and moving when the military asked them to, or being separated from family for unknown amounts of time. The family was used to it. This much was clear.

“Alright. I still want to see your home to make sure it is safe for the children, and then I will sign off on this and we can go and see the children,” she finally agreed. There was no way she could justify anything else.

“Of course,” Lucas replied and rose from his seat. “Please, follow me.”

Bridget rose too and was surprised when the two women with them remained seated.

Lucas Buckley allowed her to roam the house at her own pace but remained by her side, a steadfast, watchful presence, something that reassured her the two children would be safe in his care. Their daughter seemed to be well-adjusted if already sucked into the military apparatus, but it was clear it wasn’t something that had been forced upon her.

“This was Juli-Anne’s nursery once upon a time. It will be where the boys sleep should they be allowed to come home before the move,” Luke said.

“This is still set up for a baby,” Mrs Walsh said, sounding surprised.

“Mary and I always wanted more little ones, but it wasn’t in the cards for us,” Luke admitted. “She nearly bled out after giving birth to Juli-Anne and they had to take her uterus. There was no coming back from that.”

Mrs Walsh inclined her head. She didn’t say anything, though, because nothing she could say would make any of this hurt less, and it was clear that while it was an old hurt, it was still very much fresh in their minds.

“Thank you for showing me around. This is very much a child-safe space. So I see nothing that would speak against allowing you to taking in your nephews,” she said instead.

Lucas smiled, and a heavy weight that had settled on his shoulders without him even noticing during their previous conversation lifted.

— — —

“Nurse Hadley,” Nurse Hadley answered her ringing phone. She listened for a minute, and a sigh of relief escaped her without her even noticing she had been holding her breath. Then, she smiled, causing Daniel to look surprised from where he was sitting on his bed, working with a resistance band to keep his muscles active.

When she hung up, he looked expectantly at her.

“Is something wrong with Evan?” Daniel asked, worry clear in his words.

“No. As far as I know your brother is fine. The doctors are just doing a regular check-up to make sure he is growing well,” Nurse Hadley told Daniel as she sat down on the edge of the mattress.

Daniel sighed in relief.

“That is good,” he whispered as he released the resistance band and focused on his nurse. “What is going on then?”

“Mrs Walsh made a choice regarding your and Evan’s guardianship,” she told him.

Daniel bit his lip.

“Will I go to strangers? The way Maddie did?” he questioned, his lower lip wobbling and tears already welling in his eyes.

Before she could think about it, Nurse Hadley went ahead and hugged her young charge.

“No, Daniel. You aren’t going into the care of strangers,” she told him firmly, cupping the back of his head gently. “She had long conversations with your Grandmother Buckley, and after Mrs Buckley had a conversation with her family, they made a choice regarding your care together with Mrs Walsh.”

“And?” Daniel sniffled.

“You both will go to live with your family when the doctors are ready for you to leave the hospital,” she told him gently.

Daniel burst into tears, and Nurse Hadley held the overwhelmed little boy in her arms and rocked him gently back and forth, rubbing her hand up and down his back.

“It’s going to be okay, Daniel. They will take care of you,” she assured him softly.

Daniel just sobbed, clinging to her until he exhausted himself so much that he fell asleep between one sob and the next.

Nurse Hadley held him and reached for a tissue to clean his face. Normally, she would have settled him into the pillows and tucked him in, but it didn’t feel right to let go of the little boy the way her normal professionalism demanded.

“Everything alright?” the charge nurse asked when she slipped into the room to check on them a while later and found Nurse Hadley holding the little boy.

Maria looked up and nodded.

“Yeah. He just cried himself to sleep after learning he wouldn’t go into foster care the way his sister did, and that he would stay together with his brother. He fears being separated from him, and long-term separation would be detrimental to both of them. I already received a message from the nursery to let me know they’d be returning Evan shortly because that little boy is pitching a fit up there and not taking his bottle,” she answered.

“Ah, yes. I heard about that. For a newborn, Evan is quite opinionated,” the charge nurse replied.

“That’s one way to put it,” Nurse Hadley replied with a soft snort as she finally managed to tuck her charge into bed properly. It felt like a chore, but she knew she needed to do it, else it would be even harder to let go when the time came.

The charge nurse chuckled and shook her head in amusement.

“I’m just here to let you know that you’ll be having visitors in about an hour. The new guardians are having a conversation with the doc about the logistics of Daniel’s care, and they will come here the moment they are done,” she informed Maria, who nodded to confirm she had heard her.

“I will make sure I have everything ready to hand over to them,” she said.

“Daniel isn’t leaving today, Maria. He’ll be with us for a while yet, I think,” the charge nurse said.

“But they will be taking Evan,” Nurse Hadley said, her eyes suddenly wide.

“No,” the charge nurse assured her. “it was already explained to them that both boys have an intense attachment to each other, and separating them isn’t worth the tears and heartbreak it would cause, not to mention the physical issues that would follow.”

Something in Maria relaxed, and she just nodded, her focus back on the task at hand. Soon enough Daniel’s and Evan’s Aunt and Uncle would arrive to meet the two boys, talk to them, and explain what the future would hold for them.

Maria wasn’t sure if she wanted to know what was going to happen. For some reason, she had a feeling that when Daniel left this hospital, it would be for the last time, and she wouldn’t see the little boy again. The thought made her heart ache because she had been taking care of him for such a long time, and she had grown attached despite her best attempts not to.

Nothing had prepared her for the little blonde boy with those big blue eyes that seemed to look directly into your soul, and his little brother was the same way. Evan had a way to communicate what he needed that she had never seen before and didn’t expect to see ever again.

They were absolutely lovely little boys, and she hoped they never followed in their parents’ footsteps when it came to personality because that would be a fucking shame in Maria’s opinion.

Please be aware that the third chapter took a darker turn than expected, and there are mentions of a child being abused by another with what seems like a sexual component.
While I had most of the relevant tags added from the start, I wanted to let people know about the added incest tag so that they could avoid it if it might trigger them in any way.