Fall - A Rocky Lynch Story

Chapter 22

Rocky really was a good influence on me. After enough reminders not to worry, not to stew in my own thoughts and constantly go over information about Mason's disorder, he had gotten into my head. On the off moments that I did find myself going back to the book on my nightstand, I heard his voice reminding me not to worry. When I realized that I completely missed breakfast that Sunday, it was his voice reminding me to eat instead of putting it off. I know they say it's not healthy to need someone, but I really don't know what I would do without that man.

With all of the kids occupied, the house was oddly quiet. I was waiting for Ryland and Karlee to finally arrive for our second to last counseling session, and I was getting a little impatient. If I went upstairs, I would end up looking at those books again. If I took my phone out, I'd end right back up on Google. The only thing left to do was pace. I picked up some toys, tossed some random socks into the laundry room, and did everything I could think of. That is, until I smelled something from the kitchen.

I slowly walked into the kitchen, not sure what or who I was going to find. To my surprise, it was Rocky. He opened the oven and pulled out two trays. When he saw me, his eyes twinkled like a child and he grinned. "I made muffins," he told me proudly. "And they're even edible!"

They had just come out of the oven, but that didn't stop Rocky from using his bare fingers to pick one up. He tossed it between his hands like a hot potato until it cooled down a bit more and then handed it to me. Warm muffins were to die for. They were so chocolatey, and when I ripped a piece off of the top, I learned that there were chocolate chips inside too. I moaned as I took a bite. "Oh yeah," I nodded with my mouth full. "That's amazing."

"Thank Betty Crocker," he motioned to the garbage where a few empty packages of instant mix were crumpled up. "She's really got this shit down."

I smiled and kissed his shoulder before walking to the front door. A couple of knocks came right as I reached for the knob. We decided to get rid of the doorbell for the sake of our son. "How'd you do that?" Ryland laughed when I answered the door.

"Your car is loud," I reminded him. "Hey Karlee."

"Ah yeah, I have an appointment to get that looked at," he shrugged and Karlee waved. "So what's on the agenda for today?"

"I made muffins!" Rocky showed his brother.

Ryland shook his head and held his hand up. "No thanks," he said. "No way those are any good."

"Betty Crocker made muffins that I added water to and put into the oven," Rocky clarified.

"In that case!" Ryland took two and ran out of his brother's arm range before he would get punched. He plopped himself down onto the couch and peeled the wrapper off before taking a huge bite. He ate half of the muffin in one mouthful. "Mmmm," he moaned.

Karlee took a muffin from Rocky and sat down next to her groom. "Really, what are we covering today?" she asked.

"Family," Rocky called back from the kitchen. He returned and sat on the loveseat, waving his arm so I would join him. It was a little cramped, but in the best way. "Ready to get this show on the road?" he asked once everyone was situated.

Everyone nodded and I started the conversation. "So last week we talked about chores and household responsibilities. And as Rocky said, today is about family."

"What about it?" Ryland asked.

"Its importance in your lives. And we're talking parents and siblings, stuff of that sort," Rocky added. "I think we know how Ryland feels."

He nodded. "For a lot of my young adult life, I didn't take family seriously enough. After moving back here, I learned just how important all my siblings and my parents are to me. Obviously, I spend a lot of time with them. That's no surprise, right babe?" he turned to Karlee.

Karlee laughed. "Yeah, I kind of noticed. And it's not a big deal. I really love your family. They're more of a family than mine ever has been."

"You never really talk about them," Ry noted quietly. "I know you're an only child... do your parents live close to here?"

"I think so? Last time I heard, my mom was in Burbank with her 25-year-old boy toy." Rocky and I gasped quietly and my jaw dropped. "Yeah, I know," Karlee shuddered. "Gross. So I don't really go around there because last time, he insisted I call him dad which was just weird!"

"Oh jeez," Ryland raised his eyebrows. "I can't believe you never told me about this."

"It makes me uncomfortable!" she laughed. "I hate talking about this stuff."

He nodded slowly. "What about your dad, though?"

"Somewhere in NorCal. We are Facebook friends. Sometimes he likes the picture I post. Rarely, though. We just don't talk." As she spoke, I noticed that she was making herself smaller. She crossed her legs, hugged her arms to herself. She was really uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry about that, honey," I shook my head. She was such a good person; she deserves more than a shitty family life. "So, I guess there won't be a lot of argument about the rest of these questions," I chuckled nervously as I looked over the page in the counseling book. "How will you divide holidays between both sets of parents? How will you decide when and how often you vacation with both sets of families?"

Karlee looked to Ryland. "Does your family vacation together?" she asked curiously.

Ryland started to notice Karlee's posture and pulled her close to him. "Sometimes," he nodded, rubbing her shoulder. She relaxed almost instantly. "Not a whole lot since all of the kids. It would be pretty crazy now with my parents, me and my four siblings plus our five spouses, and then nine kids?" He laughed as he counted it all out loud. "Jeez, that's scary."

"It would be a circus!" Rocky laughed in agreement. "But we used to vacation a lot. It would be kind of fun to--"

"Not anytime soon," I cut him off.

"Vacations sound fun," she smiled. "And family holidays with you guys are outrageous. I love them, and wouldn't give them up for the world. I guess it's situational, like depending on what we have going on personally."

Ryland agreed. "I'm glad you like my family," he smiled. "And they're your family too. Now and forever, don't you forget that."

We wrapped up the session and Ryland grabbed a handful of muffins before he left. There were only four left, one for each kid. I got Ellie up from her nap and gathered the others kids so we could have a small family snack time.

After snack, Rocky let the kids play outside while we sat on the porch and tried to get a head start on the last counseling session for the next weekend. We were mid-conversation when we heard a bunch of delighted laughter. Our kids were all gathered in a corner of the yard, kneeling down close to the group. "Do you think we should go find out what's going on?" I laughed to my husband. He was already standing up, always one step ahead. of me.

"What are you goofballs looking at?" he asked when he approached.

"Daddy look!" Avelyn moved her arm so we could see what she was holding onto. Her finger was hooked into the red collar of a small black puppy. "Can we keep him?! Please, please pleaaaaase?!"

"Yeah daddy can we keep the doggy?" Mason batted his long eyelashes.

"Doggy!" Ellie giggled and Carter picked her up before she could try to climb onto it. We could tell that she was thinking about it.

"It has a tag on it with a phone number," Carter told us. "I think it's lost."

Rocky held his hands on his hips and thought for a second before pulling out his cell phone. "Read the number out to me, son," he said. He typed the numbers out as Carter called them out and he pressed the phone against his ear. After a minute, he started to speak. "Hello, my name is Rocky Lynch and I think my kids found your dog.... a black terrier, yes...Oh, is that so?" He raised his eyebrows at me while he listened to the voice on the other side. "Sure, I can text you the address... Yeah, don't mention it. See you tomorrow," and he hung up the phone.

"Tomorrow?" I asked him.

"Looks like you kids get to have a bit of a test run as dog owners," he shook his head with a laugh.