Return to Sender - 20. Chapter 20 - Kai

CHAPTER 20 - Kai

“So you grew up here, huh?” Doc asked, as we sat on the deck, out back.

“Yep. We were all born and raised here.”

He looked out over the lake, lounging, relaxed with his legs extended, booted feet crossed at the ankles, and Arya lay between us. She’d taken to him like a fish to water. He inhaled deeply.

“Nice area. Never been out this way. Lot of kids around here?”

“There were when we grew up. I think about 20 or more around this side of the lake? These days not so many anymore, but there’s a few young families around here.”

“When I drove over here, I came through town, a couple miles down the road? Reminded me of where I grew up. Gazebo in the town center, with a park. Quaint. Nice.”

“Where’d you grow up?”

“On a sheep farm just outside Berkeley Springs, West Virginia.”

“Dayum! You’re a farmboy? Nice! You mentioned a brother. Any more?”

He grinned. “Three brothers, three sisters. Eleven nephews, nine nieces.”

“Wow, big family. Parents still around?”

“My mom. Dad passed away a couple of years ago. My eldest brother, Josh, now runs the farm. But my mom still lives there.”

“Visit often?”

“As much as I can. I try to help out, especially during lambing season. It’s just a two hour drive.”
I regarded him for a while.

“Is that why you’re jumping all over the marriage thing? You miss your family? Itchin’ to have one of your own, before the clock runs out?”

He sent me a glance and chuckled.

“No. Well, maybe. I do miss them. But I’m doing that more to show her I’m not going anywhere. She has a hard time trusting guys, your sis. Found that out pretty quick. She had a couple of real deadbeats for boyfriends and Nikki’s father - I’d like to meet that asswipe. As for the marriage thing - it riles her up like nothing else, which is a bonus,” he winked. “I’m not an idiot. We gotta learn to get to know each other. Even if it turns out she’s not pregnant, I’m not going anywhere because from the first second I met her, I got this feeling ‘there she finally is’, you know what I’m saying?”

I smiled. Yes, I did.

“Told you she’d say no.”

He shrugged. “She shouldn’t do anything she doesn’t want to do. From what I can tell, she did a great job with your niece. Good kid. But I wanna be around, if it turns out she is carrying my kid. And I’ll nag about the marriage thing, wear her down.”

I laughed. “I’ll help you wear her down. Kellan too - he loves stirring up trouble.”

“Semper fi, bro.”

Just then, the backdoor opened and Megan stuck her head around.

“You boys want something to drink? Adam says there’s cold beers, if you want. We’re doing wine.”

Doc frowned.

“Relax, Baldy - mine is non-alcoholic. The temple remains clean. Dammit.”

“No thanks. Still gotta drive and I haven’t slept. We should be going soon.”

“We?” Megan raised an eyebrow.

“You haven’t slept either, sugarpuss.”

“So whose fault is that? I wanted to hang up like six times.”

“And I didn’t. Future momma and future daddy had too much to talk about. And we agreed I was coming over…”

I chuckled as she rolled her eyes.

“I’ll have a beer, if Doc says I can…” I answered her original question, sending him a questioning look. “Might as well try with a medic on the premises.”

Doc seemed to hesitate.

“Alright, one. But then we really gotta go.”

“You can leave whenever you want, Bucko,” Megan remarked, disappearing.

“But…” he huffed, finding himself speaking to a closed door, “dammit. Your sister is a bitch.”

I chuckled. “You chose her.”

He flashed a grin. “Yyyeah…I did. Alright, if I’m staying - mind if I take off these boots? They’re hot as hell and I really wanna walk on that grass.”

“Go for it!”

**********

Megan and Adam joined me and Arya on the deck, just as Doc was venturing onto the jetty. From storage, Adam produced two more chairs and set them up as Megan went down the steps to join him.

I watched as Megan went to him all the way to the end of the jetty, and spoke to him, then laughed and stepped back a little as he dipped a foot into the lake. Oh man, I knew what he felt when he turned to us and grinned wide, sticking up a thumb.

“Oh my god, that water’s great!” he yelled over, “I wanna go swim in there.”

I nodded. “You should! We all learned to swim here. It’s pretty deep, though. But wait until it’s around three of four - then it’s really good.”

Then he feigned throwing Megan in, who gave a high pitched girly squeal and I chuckled. Beside me, Adam was watching them too, snickering.

“Hey,” I called him, softly so they wouldn’t overhear, “Again, I’m sorry I forgot.”

“That’s okay,” he smiled, warmly. “I’m enjoying their visit! I should thank you. When I bought this house, I had this whole vision of entertaining guests and parties and eating outside…I just didn’t envision it quite this soon.”

Oh! That was a great idea.

“Well, if you really want to make your vision come true, why not go all the way and organize a little BBQ? We get some steaks, some fish, snacks. Salads…come on, let me make your dream come true…”

His eyes widened. “That’s a wonderful idea. You think they’d like that?” Then his face fell. “Oh, but I don’t have a BBQ.”

I shrugged. “So we get one. That’s easy, we go to Walmart. There’s a Supercenter nearby. One stop shop. We’ll get everything.”

Well, that seemed to agree with him. He sat up straight and I could see his mind already working.

“Oh, and I could get some bread, and toast it with garlic butter. Get olives, and feta cheese…”

I grinned. “Not too much garlic - you’ll steer clear of me.”

“Haha. I don’t mind.”

Noted! And it was kind of adorable, the way he reacted - he almost clapped his hands at the idea, as his enthusiasm rose.

We waited until Doc and Megan came slowly walking back and there was this cute moment where she grabbed his hand when he wandered off a little to look at another thing he saw. He murmured something at her. I couldn’t make out exactly what he said, and then wouldn’t let go when she did, then drew closer and planted a kiss on her lips that had her blushing. But she didn’t try to take back her hand as they came walking back.

“I got an idea,” I said, as they came back up the steps, “why don’t you stay? We’ll fire up the BBQ. Adam and I get some meat and other stuff, and in the meantime, you go get some shuteye on my bed. Close the curtains, it’ll be dark as night in there.”

“Megan can use my bed, if she wants,” Adam chimed in. “We’ll be gone for several hours.”

“Why can’t I use that bed too?” Doc asked, a little annoyed.

“Because Megan also needs sleep, not you pawing at her,” Adam snickered.

“Hah! Thank you, Adam!” Megan chuckled. Doc wasn’t having it.

“Pawing…are you serious?”

“Come on,” I said, “what do you say? You could maybe even swim, if you want.”

I’d even join him, if I could, but getting in and out onto the jetty was still beyond my abilities, I thought. But man, did I want to. I’d always loved swimming in that lake.

It didn’t take too much convincing after that, except that Megan worried about Nikki. So she texted her, to which my niece responded that she was having a great time and would ask if she could stay longer. When she texted back, a few minutes later, and let her mother know that it was all fine, Adam actually did clap his hands.

“Wonderful! Oh, this will be great!”

Doc raised an eyebrow at him, but then caught my eye, just as he opened his mouth. And then closed it again.

Don’t you dare say a word, Mister.

**********

We returned almost four-and-a-half hours later from our visit to Walmart, Adam’s car laden with groceries and a brand new BBQ. I insisted on choosing a good one, and also pay for it.

“I want you to have it. As a gift, for your generosity.”

“You don’t have to do that…” he said.

“Adam? Let me buy this for you, please? You’re already doing far too much for me, more than I could repay with this.”

“Alright, as you wish. But then you have to do the cooking, because I have no idea how to use it.”

“You got it! I’ll make you the best steak you’ve ever tasted.”

With the help of an employee, we got the thing loaded into the cart and perused further. Shopping with Adam was an experience. We wandered the aisles at a leisurely pace, with him exclaiming and going ‘No! They have that here?’ to which I carefully asked if he'd ever been to a Walmart before. He hadn’t.

Adam in Walmart was like a child in a candy store, going ‘Oooh’, ‘Aaah’ - much like those words he’d scribbled on that one-sheet on my bedroom door. Man, he was cute.

When we got to the grocery essentials, it seemed better to just unleash him, as it were. Completely in his element, he filled the cart with so much food and drink, I was kind of scratching my head, going ‘ehr, dude, it’s a BBQ for four people, not the base mess hall’. But I just followed and enjoyed his enthusiasm, as more items were added to a cart already filled to the brim.

Even the employee helping us unload everything into the car had his eyes bulging, muttering a ‘fuck me’ when Adam asked for his help. I softly chuckled.

So when we arrived back home (and I could not get enough of that thought - back home) Adam went inside to gather the troops to help out. It didn’t take much more than a minute or he was back out, his cheeks red.

“Uhm, they’ll be a while.” When I raised an eyebrow questioningly, he mumbled, “They’re not quite decent.”

Oh come on, Doc. Really?

It took about ten minutes before Doc showed up downstairs while we were going back and forth to the house from the car.

“Your bed is tiny,” he remarked, coming down the steps as Adam went up.

I noted he wasn’t wearing the t-shirt he’d previously worn, just the lumberjack one, and unbuttoned at that. Wow Doc…train much? Hard muscle peeked out as he began helping unload, grabbing the BBQ, lifting it effortlessly from the trunk and onto his shoulder, then grabbing the bag of charcoal as well. Wiry as he might be, the man was strong as an ox.

“Couldn’t keep it in your pants for even a few hours?” I muttered.

He just flashed me a grin.

Seriously? In Adam’s bed?

Asshole.

Alright, so maybe I was a little jealous. Because they had gotten to that bed even before I did.

Assholes!

**********

We fired up the BBQ around 6pm, having set it up on the grass near the back stairs down into the yard. And Adam, bless his heart, had insisted on bringing the chairs and table down too, so I wouldn’t have to go up and down those steps constantly either.

“He’s a keeper,” Doc said to me, eying one of the steaks with a little too much eagerness to my liking. “I like it rare. I want blood on my plate.”

Megan made a gagging sound.

“I’m a carnivore, baby. Blood must flow.”

“You’re hopeless,” I snickered. But fine. He could get it as he wished. I pointed at the steak. “Done?”

He nodded in agreement. “Other side. Fifteen seconds.”

Flipping the meat, it sizzled. Ah, I’d gotten the coals just right. Adam’s steak was cooking nicely too. But he would be having one medium rare, so a little longer. It was nice to know we had the same taste! Mine was right beside it. Megan wanted fish, which was off to the side, wrapped in aluminum foil. Smelled pretty good, Adam had put some herbs in there and other spices. Dayum, that smelled really good!

Doc got his bloody mess on a plate, pretty much salivating as he went over to another table Adam set up with grilled potatoes and cream, salads and baked slices of garlic bread, just out of the oven, and heaping it up on his plate. There was a bowl of olives and feta cheese, cold pasta he’d made, and a collection of sauces. It was a damn feast for the Gods!

“Adam, you’re up,” I said over my shoulder, “bring mine too?”

He came over with two plates. “What do you want?”

“Hmm, I wanna try some of that pasta you did, and a grilled potato.”

“Want garlic butter on your steak?”

Never tried it. “Sure.”

He’d made cute small dishes of it, fresh, and added one on there. Doc spoke up.

“What’s that?”

“Garlic butter.”

“Oooh, I’ll have some.”

“You stay away from me the rest of this evening,” Megan spoke up, as Adam brought one over to him.

“Don’t come between a man and his food, woman,” he replied, already chewing on his raw cow. I shuddered. His plate looked like a butchers’ prep-table. “This is yummy. Well done, Soldier!”

Adam appeared beside me, holding both plates. I slipped his steak and mine on there. It smelled awesome. “Meg!?” I yelled, “you ready? Fish done.”

In turn, Doc made gagging sounds.

“Coming!”

Unwrapping it, I waited for her to show up and slid it from the foil onto her held out plate. Smelled pretty good!

And then it was time to eat.

I couldn’t have asked for a better audience as we ate, listening to grunted sounds of approval. Listening to the cutlery clinking on plates and contented sighs after a sip of drink. I had my second beer and just sighed.

Life wasn’t getting much better than this.

“Alright, I made up my mind - I’ma go swim after this,” Doc said, getting up and refilling his plate with cold pasta. “Adam, how did you make this? This is awesome.”

Pleased, Adam gave him the recipe. “Just cook pasta al dente, add Ravigote sauce, ham cut in cubes, onion finely sliced, pickles the same. Mix and that’s it, it's really easy to make.”

“Damn man, I love it. I could have this for lunch, every day.”

He really heaped it on there. And he stole another potato with cream. His appetite was amazing. And, truth be told, that pasta salad was great.

“Glad you like it. Take some home, if you like.”

“I like. Meg, you tried this?”

“Mhm. It’s good. Where did you get this recipe?”

“Some Dutch friends of mine,” Adam answered, “They made it when I stayed with them for a while.”

Doc groaned. “Ahhh, Holland. Love that place. Just open a door to the yard and just sniff the lawn. You’re high within a minute.”

I guffawed at that. So did Megan. Adam just gaped at him.

It wasn’t my experience with Holland, but I’d only been there once.

“You smoke weed?” Megan asked.

“Sure. Medicinal, of course…”

“Ahuh,” she replied, unconvinced. Oooh, that bugged her, I could tell. “You still do that?”

He nodded.

“Occasionally. When my back acts up…it helps.”

Adam frowned at him. “What do you mean?”

Looking up, Doc raised his eyebrows, then looked at me, then Megan. “He doesn’t know?”

I shook my head.

“I told him you were wounded in Afghanistan. I didn’t tell him to what extent.”
I knew to what extent - she’d told me and he had told me in quite colorful detail.

“Oh, okay. Well…you ready?”

And then he grabbed over his shoulder, and pulled up his shirt, then stood and turned.

Oh. Fucking. Hell.

Hearing about it and seeing it were two quite different things. The only one who did not react audibly was Megan. But beside me, Adam gasped and muttered a soft ‘oh my god’ and as for myself, I winced at the sight. Deadpool’s face indeed.

It was like someone had taken a hot cheese grater to his back and went to town. Angry scars crookedly reached all over like lightning, from right below his shoulders, all the way down to the lower end of his back. It looked healed, in flesh color, but horrible. There’d once been a tattoo there, half melted down. Letting his shirt fall, covering it, he then turned and sat down again.

“Does it hurt?” Adam asked softly.

“Nah, not anymore. Sometimes it does, especially when it’s cold,” Doc shrugged, “and then I might smoke a little spliffy.”

“Thank you for your service,” Adam replied, still soft in speech. I glanced beside me. His eyes were suspiciously moist. Reaching over, I took his hand, which he’d held to his mouth and lowered it, squeezing a little. He hadn’t seen my lower back yet, either. But if he responded to it like he did now, I wasn’t too worried. He wasn’t disgusted by it, at least.

“You’re welcome,” Doc replied, continuing to eat. But when Megan lay a hand on his shoulder and squeezed him a little as well, a corner of his mouth went up and he slightly raised his chin in acknowledgement. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” she replied, clearing her throat. “Asshole.”

Swallowing, he looked up as we all were silent. Then he sighed. “Ruined the mood, huh?”

“No!” Adam exclaimed. “No, not at all.”

“No!” Megan exclaimed, “they just didn’t expect that. You ass.”

I just waited until his eyes slid over to mine. I winked.

“Nah. But I’d love a smoke.”

“Kai!” Megan exclaimed, “don’t be a jackass.”

But Doc just winked back at me and raised his chin.

“You got it. I’ll score some, soon.”

**********

“I’m going for a swim,” Callum declared as we were sitting after dinner. He’d accepted one of my cigars, exhaling through his nose, the smoke slowly curling away into the sky.

To be fair, he did ask Megan first, if she minded. When she’d frowned and asked why, he answered that she might not be able to do stuff, like have a drink or coffee, but that didn’t automatically mean he should continue living as if nothing was going on. That was pretty considerate, I thought! And I think she thought so too, because she said she didn’t mind, but bumped him and uttered a soft ‘thanks’.

It was dark by now. Lights all around the lake had sprung out, one by one. We were sitting at the edge of the lake, having brought our chairs there, setting them up in a half circle, the table in front of us with drinks and some leftover bread and dip.

“Now?” Megan asked.

“Sure. Let’s go!”

“No thanks. I don’t have a bathing suit.”

“You don’t need one?”

“I’m not skinny dipping!”

He just shrugged and rose from his chair.

“Well, I am. Soldier? You coming?”

Oh, I was tempted but I shook my head.

“If I jump in, I’ll never get back out.”

“Yes, you will. Just get out on shore, not the jetty. I’m right there, if you need help.”

Inhaling deep, I looked out there, the moon shimmering on the surface. Well, with some help to get out…

“Okay. I’m in.”

“Kai!” Megan hissed. “No.”

“Let him do it. I’m there with him. Nothing will happen,” Doc assured. He raised his chin questioningly to Adam. “You comin’ too?”

“No,” Adam declined, rising from his chair, “but I’ll get you some towels.”

“Idiots,” Megan mumbled, “What’re you, ten?”

I just grinned at her and, while plucking at the hem of my t-shirt, drew it over my head, following Doc who was already halfway down the jetty, stripping as he went, leaving a trail of clothes. He waited at the end, already stark naked.

“How deep is it here?”

“Deep enough to dive in, if you want,” I chuckled, sliding my shorts off.

We looked at each other and he wiggled his eyebrows. “Always wanted to do this.” Then he half turned to where Megan sat. “Can you see my ass from there?”

“You mean that bright white glaring spot that’s giving me arc eyes?” She yelled back.

“Such a bitch,” he muttered, turning back and glancing at me, then down. An eyebrow rose and he turned again, this time addressing Adam, who was approaching from the house with towels.

“You’re in for a treat, dude - his dick is as big as mine,” Doc yelled, causing me to laugh. Megan, audibly gasped and said “oh good god,” while Adam, unphased, answered, matter-of-factly, “Oh, I know.”

Ha! Doc chuckled and nodded in an appreciative manner. “I like him. Alright man, you ready?” I nodded. “I’ll go in first. Don’t jump in until I can watch your six…”

“Alright…”

And then he went, breaking the surface with a huge splash. And as agreed, I waited until he came back up and turned.

“Go for it. It’s awesome! Warmer than I thought - like someone peed in it.”

Lovely. I chuckled, then jumped in, in a much calmer fashion. And gasped when colder-than-expected water hit my body. Jesus! Resurfacing, I turned to where Doc was treading water, closer than I thought he’d be. “Asshole,” I grinned, “this is friggin’ cold.”

“You wouldn’t have jumped in, otherwise,” he grinned back. “Didn’t wanna be the only one with my balls in my throat. You good?”

“Mhm,” I nodded, slowly kicking my feet. Ah, but this was very good! I could move my legs better.

A movement made me look up and saw Adam standing there, bending to place a stack of towels on the jetty. He’d also picked up our clothes, putting them in two small piles next to the towels. To my surprise, he took his sandals off and sat down at the edge, putting his feet into the water. He grinned.

“Ooh, that’s cold. I’m glad I didn’t join you.”

After the initial shock, it really wasn’t that cold. But he stayed there, and watched as Doc and I swam around for a bit, then was joined by Megan, who came over with his drink, also bringing her own. She sat down beside him. Her boots were nowhere to be seen, she’d taken them off too.

“How’s it feel?” Doc asked.

“Good!”

“You wanna get out again?”

I shook my head, grinning. “Not yet.”

“Alright. Muscles aching?”

“A little.”

“Never went for a swim at the hospital?”

“I wasn’t there long enough.”

“Ahhh, right. Not at Brooke, either?”

“Oh, sure.”

“Good. It’s a good exercise for you. But don’t do it alone. Have him at least watch.” Doc glanced over to where Megan and Adam were sitting. “You can swim, Scribbles?”

“Of course,” Adam smiled. Satisfied, Doc looked at me again..

“Try floating on your back, kicking your legs.”

I didn’t mind that Adam was watching but…nuh-uh. Not with my sis there.

“Ehr…not wearing anything? I ain’t flashing my sister, man.”

Doc chuckled. “Heh. Forgot. Feels nice, though, no?” He winked.

It did, yes. And no, this wasn’t the first time skinny dipping in this lake, I told him this. I’d done it hundreds of times, with friends and Kellan, and alone, the latter often at night, like now. And yes, Megan had as well, though not after a certain age … that I knew of, anyway. I’m fairly sure she had.

“Alright, I think this is about enough. Don’t tire yourself in water because you won’t get out for sure.”

We swam over to the jetty and, keeping a hand on it, it was actually pretty easy to get out. I didn’t need much help. Doc remained floating a small distance away. Then Adam came over with a towel and held it out in front of him, eyes averted.

“Thanks,” I grinned, tying it around my waist, and making my way back to the chairs, Adam remaining close by. Once there, he returned to the jetty and brought my clothes and another towel. “Do my back?”

Alright, so I didn’t really think when I asked him to do that. But when I heard the sharp intake of breath, I realized that he was looking at the scar. But he didn’t say anything. Instead, he dabbed me dry and as he neared it, dabbing the area feathery light. I closed my eyes.

“That okay?” He asked softly.

“Mhm,” I responded. I hadn’t meant to confront him with my back like Doc had with his, though mine was nowhere near that bad, - one is a pretty big scar, more recent, and several smaller, older scars where Doc had removed shrapnel back in Germany. Opening my eyes again, I glanced over my shoulder. “Hand me my shirt?”

Adam held it out for me. I shrugged it on and dropped the towel once it hung over my ass, then put on my shorts, tying the chords. I turned around. He stood close enough for me to reach over and drew him to me.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to confront you like that.”

He smiled and put his hand on my chest. I hadn’t closed the shirt yet. “It’s fine. It looks mostly healed, except for the big one.” He bit his lower lip. “You’re very hairy.”

Dipping my chin, I watched him slowly move his hand to my collarbone. I sought his eyes.

“Mhm,” I murmured, “I rival a shaggy dog.”

That caused him to chuckle. “I thought more like a monkey.”

“Oh, thank you.” Ass.

Leaning in, I planted a kiss on his mouth. “Monkey, huh?” I smiled against his lips. “That’s not a very nice thing to say.” I stole a little taste, then let him go. “You compare all your guests to zoo animals?”

“No, they usually keep their clothes on,” he smiled.

That’s better!

“Though if I were, I’d call Callum a slug.”

I guffawed at that response and turned to the jetty where we saw said ‘slug’ heave himself effortlessly up onto the jetty and plonk down next to Megan, who squealed as he sprayed water on her and then fluttered his hands at her as well. I loved her laugh then, and grinned when he grabbed her, threatening to throw her in, but instead dipped her back and planted a similar kiss on her as I’d just done to Adam.

“Hey Doc!?” I yelled, “Put some clothes on, man!”

He didn’t even respond, continuing to kiss her quite thoroughly. Well, not at first. He waited until her arms snuck around his neck.

Then his hand came up and he slowly gave me the finger.