Count On Me

Part One

The phone ringing dragged them from their 'moment', and Oscar reached to answer it.

"Uncle O, you up and about old man?"

Oscar groaned at the enthusiastic voice of his best friend and now brother-in-law, "Coop? It's like nine am, what the hell you doing calling at the crack of dawn?"

Coop's laugh was deep, "just you wait, one day you'll have two monsters waking you up at the REAL crack of dawn. Anyway, your sister wants to know if you and Krystal want to come for lunch. She's desperate for company I think."

He and Krystal weren't in the habit of spending the day together, it wasn't their thang...maybe it should be?

"Still in bed, can I get back to you in five?"

Coop's laugh was even louder, "have I interrupted..."

"...something like that!" He snapped but it was without animosity, then hung up. Why was he having such a hard time committing to Krystal? But then why was she so reluctant to change? She was an exotic dancer, he didn't care about that, he wasn't jealous though he didn't feel it was a forever job, but she showed no interest in changing her it or anything

Rolling back to her, he smiled, "Freya and Coop need some help with the kids I think. Lunch chucked in of course."

She wrinkled her nose, "they're cute, but they're not my thing...kids. You don't need me there do you?" Shrugging he rolled out of bed, as she added, "I've got a facial and mani/pedi booked for later."

Ducking under the shower he groaned. Spending time with his niece and nephew was everything to him; he loved every minute with them. But it hurt him so much too. He thought once again as he did everyday about Nathan, the son he'd met on three occasions before he disappeared off the face of the earth with his mother. No amount of paying private investigators and lawyers had revealed where in the world they'd gone.

She was long gone when he got out of the bathroom, and he was glad. Freya would feed him; she'd transformed into some form of a domestic goddess since she'd married Coop and become a mother. She was a million miles from the child prodigy who was snapped away from their Berkshire home when she was just in her teens to study, the intelligent woman who'd graduated from Harvard aged nineteen. Now she was a mother, a baker, a homemaker.

He'd lived in this upstate New York town for years, and really liked the small apartment he had on the outskirts, but before Freya had turned up on the scene he'd lived in Coop's converted warehouse since work had brought him across the Atlantic, and it had been the best few years of his life.

As he pulled up outside the house he could hear the voices from inside. A few taps at the front door went unnoticed, so he opened it and let himself in. There he was confronted with the sight of his friend, huge ex-NHLer Mitchell Cooper, dancing around the sofa holding his almost two year old daughter, dressed in a pink tutu, on his shoulders, and singing some cheesy pop tune. Freya was sat across from them laughing as four month old Riley fed, fortunately tucked under her shirt...there were some things that a brother didn't need to see.

It was a long moment before they realised he was there, and it was Freya who jumped up lifting Riley over her shoulder as she corrected her clothing then came across to him.

"Big brother, so glad you could make it. Alone?"

He hugged her then nodded, "it's not Krystal's thing, you know?"

Freya rolled her eyes but as she opened her mouth to comment, she instead smiled then handed him Riley and nodded in the direction of Coop, "I just want you to have what we have."