DALTON
There was nothing unusual about the outfit I was wearing. Navy blue pants, belted at the waist, a Strawberry Fire Department t-shirt, tucked into the pants, and my black work boots. For about a decade and a half, I’ve been wearing this same thing three to four times a week, but today it was different. This was the first time wearing this uniform since the day of my accident. There was a point in time when I thought I’d never have the chance to wear it again. Today felt like my first day as a probie all over again. My emotions were all over the place, but mostly I was thrilled.
My personal life had changed a lot since the last time I put this uniform on as well. The accident brought me Elizabeth and Elizabeth brought me Eva. I wasn’t just a single dad heading off to work anymore. I had two more people that would be relying on me to come home every night. It was a bit more pressure, but it also meant I had two more people celebrating the day with me. Two more people celebrated my first day back at work this morning. Tonight when I got home, it would be three people greeting me at the door, my three ladies.
Even after agreeing that we would start looking for a place to move in together, Elizabeth and I still lived in our two apartments. The housing market in Strawberry wasn’t the best, but we did have an appointment with a real estate agent next weekend to look at a few places. If we were willing to live in another surrounding town, we could probably find something sooner, but living in Strawberry was a priority for us. We both agreed we weren’t in a rush, we would wait for the perfect place to call home.
While we waited, I still had my place and she still had hers. For the last two weeks, we’d spent most of our time together as a family of four. It wasn’t until right before bedtime that we’d split up for the night. This morning, Elizabeth and Eva dropped by my place this morning as a surprise. They made cinnamon rolls to celebrate my first day back. I gave them all kisses and hugs before Elizabeth took the girls to school. It was going to be great to see them afterward as well. The need for babysitters would lessen as well, Elizabeth was almost always able to pick the girls up from school and once I was back on a regular rotation, I could do the same on my off days.
After one final glance, I was ready to head to the station for my first day back. I wouldn’t be running into any burning buildings or recusing cats from trees today, for the next month, I would still be on modified duty. In simplest terms, I was working the desk until I could fully pass the physical test. Modified duty was better than no duty.
“There he is!” Harrison was the first person out the bay door when I pulled into the station. He shook my hand and then enveloped me in a big hug. “Damn, it is good to see you here again.”
“You have no idea how happy I am to be here, Cap.”
He shook his head and pushed my shoulder, “You’ve been gone for months and you’re right back at calling me that, huh?”
“I know you’ve missed me,” I wink.
The rest of the crew working today filed out of the station and welcomed me back. It was good to see them all. I appreciated the gestures, but I was ready to get back to work in the capability that I was able to. I would be doing anything and everything to keep myself busy and feel like part of the brotherhood until I could get in that truck once again. Maybe I could convince him to let me take the rig out here and there. I used to drive it by the school during recess, Katie would get a kick out of that, and I bet Eva would too.
By the end of my first shift, I had helped Harrison dig out of the pile of paperwork on his desk and we came up with a system for me to take over some of his duties until I was back on the squad full-time. Harrison deserved the title of captain, but he despised the paperwork that came along with it. Paperwork didn’t give me the same thrill that fighting fires did, but it would keep me busy and I didn’t mind helping out a friend.
I knocked on Harrison’s door and then stepped in and dropped a folder on his desk, “I checked our backup oxygen tanks, we’re going to need to put in an order for three more. I filled out the form, but it needs your bossman signature.”
“Shit,” he ran his hand through his hair, “I’ve been meaning to do that for months now.”
“Well, now it is done and off your to-do list.”
“Keep this up and I may never let you back full-time in the field,” he chuckled.
“Or…you could just hire a station manager. Weren’t you supposed to do that before I got hurt?”
Harrison leaned back in his chair and grinned, “Yeah, but it was even lower on the to-do list than the backup tanks. Maybe you can start pulling resumes from the county and set up some interviews.”
I shook my head, “I’m not your bitch, Harrison. Just a man bidding his time to get back to work.”
“I know, I know, but while you’re free, you might as well make yourself useful, yeah?”
“I fucking hate you,” I turned around the walk away, listening to his laugh echo through the hallway. Tomorrow morning I was be pulling resumes for a station manager, just like he knew I would.
There was an extra excitement coursing through my body as I drove home. I sent Elizabeth a text and she said they were at her place and working on dinner. I pulled into my spot in the complex parking lot and sat there for a moment. It just hit me that I was coming home to a woman making me dinner and kids anxiously awaiting my return. These were the things Brandi and I would talk about when she was pregnant with Katie. I never got the chance to experience those dreams. My heart ached for the past that didn’t go the way I had planned, but I also knew that Elizabeth gave me a chance at a future I didn’t think I would get. It wasn’t until I met her that I finally thought that maybe Brandi would want these happy moments for me. I know if I was the one who died too soon I would want her to find love again.
Elizabeth and I had exchanged keys, so I didn’t knock when I got to her door, I just let myself in. While I wasn’t expecting a hero’s welcome, what I got was the furthest thing from a welcome home.
“I don’t want you to go, it isn’t the same!” Eva was in the hallway yelling at Elizabeth. She was attempting to drain the pasta, but also give her daughter needed attention.
“I know it isn’t the same, Eva. I’m sorry.”
“This is why I wanted a grandpa. Why did you have to take him away from me?” The words went right for Elizabeth’s heart. I had no idea what they were fighting about, but Eva had just finished off this round with a kill shot. She marched down the hallway and slammed her bedroom door.
I stood in the entryway confused and speechless. Katie was sitting at the kitchen table with her school folder on the table. There was a second one open in front of where Eva must have been sitting. She was in shock, the same as I was. She had to have heard the entire argument though.
“I’m so sorry about that,” Elizabeth wiped away her tears and finished putting the pasta back on the stove. “Welcome home, I guess,” she gave me a sad smile.
“Hey, do I want to know what is going on?” I went to Katie first, kissing her on the cheek, and then did the same to Elizabeth.
“It’s nothing, Dalton. Just…it’s fine.”
“She’s mad about this,” Katie handed me a pink piece of paper.
“What’s this?” I asked while starting to read through it.
“Nothing we haven’t dealt with before. The school is hosting a Daddy/Daughter dance for Valentine’s Day and well…”
“She doesn’t have a Daddy,” I finished the statement for Elizabeth.
“Yep,” she sighed. “This won’t be the first time we’ve had to navigate “Dad” events without a dad. I just wish that schools would stop doing these types of events. Everybody has such a different family dynamic, you know?”
I put my arm around Katie, “Yeah, we know. Even in a small town, we’ve had our fair share of times that people needed to be reminded that there isn’t always a mom at home to do things.”
“Daddy, why don’t you take Eva? If we’re all going to be a family, aren’t you going to be like her dad kind of?”
Elizabeth and I share a look, we haven’t really talked about titles around the girls. Even when we move in together, I don’t expect Eva to call me her dad, I’m just Dalton. Elizabeth has always been sensitive to Katie’s feelings, knowing that Brandi will always be her mom. “Do you think I’d be overstepping here, Elizabeth?”
She wrapped her arms around my waist and leaned into my chest, “I don’t know, Dalton. I guess it is worth asking her. It can’t get much worse.”
“And Katie,” I look at my daughter, “You would be okay if I took the both of you?”
“Of course, Dad! Wait until she sees you do the chicken dance!”
A cackling laugh came from the woman in my arms, “Oh, I have to see this.”
“Sorry, babe. I only chicken dance on special occasions.”