Ben handed Gabe a bottle of water as he leaned against the counter and downed his own.

He went into the master suite to change into his workout clothes.  Lane always slept on the side of the bed that was closest to the bathroom, but as usual after Ben had gotten up, she’d migrated toward the middle, to the warm space he’d left.  She had pulled the covers up tight under her chin.  He could stand here and watch her for hours, but he needed to change and get to the gym.  He changed out of his thermal running gear into shorts and a T-shirt, pausing to watch Lane sleep again before kissing the top of her head and leaving the bedroom.

Gabe was in the gym doing a full body workout on the rowing machine.  And, for God knew what reason he was singing Row, Row, Row your boat.  Jamie was on the weight machine finishing his upper body workout.  Ben knew Jamie would move to do leg presses soon.  He turned the TV on, sat on the weight machine next to Jamie, and started his upper body workout.

Ben and Jamie normally worked out this way every morning and because they were men, they worked out silently.  Gabe was a chatterbox though.  It was enough to make father and son grind their teeth.

“Jamie, what time is the game today?”  Gabe asked as he rowed his way merrily down the stream.

“Kick off is at 7:30 tonight.”  Jamie replied.

“It’s across the state, how long does it take to get there?  What time will we leave?”

Ben looked at Gabe.  “The bus for the team will leave around 2:30, but the family will fly over in the Lucky Bets jet, so unless you have an overwhelming desire to drive,” God please, he thought, “we’ll leave the house around 5:00.”

“That’s Joey’s plane, right?”

Jamie shot a look at his father as he moved to do leg presses, as if to say, “God, is this guy ever going to shut up?”

Ben knew that there were mixed statistics, and that the average man spoke between 2000 and 7000 words per day, maybe Gabe was trying to get ahead in anticipation of a forced silence in his future.

“Yeah.” Ben replied as he got up and made his way out of the gym.  He winked at Jamie as if to say, “Sorry Bambino, but you’re on your own now.”

Ben walked into the master suite and paused to kiss the top of Lane’s head before going into the master bathroom.

He shaved, and then turned the water on in the shower.  He stepped in and stood with his face turned upward toward the rain showerhead in the ceiling.

Six months ago, he was single, living in this 6000 square foot house alone.  Now he had a wife, a seventeen-year-old son, a baby on the way, and the house was full of family, who weren’t even related to him.  He laughed thinking, Oh, and a super star houseguest who's a chatterbox in the mornings.

His wife, and now his son seemed to be murder magnets and he needed to find the current killer before anything happened to his family.  The current killer, he thought, who even thinks like that?  It didn’t matter; he didn’t feel good about Jamie getting on that team bus.  He needed to talk to Tanner and see what he had been able to find out on his own or from Detective Duncan.

Ben finished showering, dried his hair, and went into his closet to dress.  He quietly walked through the bedroom and went into the kitchen.  They had a house full of guests who still needed to be fed.

He was surprised to find Evie at the stove when he got to the kitchen.

“I hope you don’t mind that I’m helping myself.”  She said as she cracked eggs into a skillet.

“I don’t mind, but my wife might strangle me when she finds out.”  Ben said as he made his coffee.

Evie laughed.  “Don’t you worry about Lane, I can handle her.  Can I fix anything for you?”  She asked.

Ben shook his head.  “My normal breakfast is a protein shake and a cup of coffee.  If you don’t mind, I think that’s what I’ll have.”

“I guess you can’t eat like a lumberjack every morning and keep that toned body.”  Evie replied.

Ben laughed, thinking of his son.  “Only when you’re seventeen, I think.”

Evie looked at Ben, she wanted to say something about Jamie; wanted to tell him she was glad that Jamie had a father whom he was going to get to know.  She loved her only son, but she knew that Philip Parker hadn’t done right by his kids.  It didn’t matter that he was gay, he still had children, and he shouldn’t have abandoned them.

“Ben, I want you to know I’m glad you and Jamie have a chance to know each other, to bond.  You’re a good dad.”

Evie didn’t know it, but Jamie had come into the kitchen and had overheard her.

“Nana?”

She smiled at her grandson.  “Jamie, I’ll always be your Nana.”

Evie Parker was five foot nothing, and Jamie bent to hug her.  “Ben’s been more of a father to all of us over the last three years than Philip has been in the last seventeen.  I know he’s your son, but it’s true.”

When had Jamie started calling her son Philip?  Jess had been calling him Philip since she was old enough to form the word, but her grandsons had continued to call Philip, ‘Dad.’

Evie held Jamie and patted his back. “I know.  Believe me; I raised him better.  Now what can I get you for breakfast?  A growing boy like you needs a hearty breakfast.”

Ben, who had been leaning against the kitchen counter during this exchange, finished his shake and put his dishes into the dishwasher.  There was nothing for him to say, and he was glad that Evie was letting Jamie know that their relationship wasn’t going to change.

“I need to make some phone calls.”  He said as he left the kitchen heading toward his office.

Gabe had showered and joined Evie and Jamie in the kitchen just as Ben was leaving. “Did I hear someone say something about protein shakes?”  He asked.

Jamie directed him to the cabinet where Ben stored his protein powder.  Gabe opened the dishwasher, retrieved the blender’s pitcher, and rinsed it before pouring milk and mixing the powder into it.  He blended the concoction and poured it into a glass.  He took a drink and then rinsed the blender and put it back into the dishwasher.

“I don’t know how anyone can eat like we have been for the past two days and not weigh at least 300 pounds.”  He said as he finished his shake. “My personal trainer would have a fit if he had any idea what I’ve eaten the last couple of days.”

Evie had finished making eggs over easy, bacon, fried potatoes, and toast for Jamie.  She placed the plate on the table in front of him and smiled at the boy who would always be her grandson regardless of whose genetic material made up half of his DNA.

“Thanks, Nana.”  Jamie said.  As he dug into his breakfast, he looked at Gabe.  “It helps if you’ve inherited Mom’s metabolism.”

Jess walked into the kitchen.  “What about Mom’s metabolism?”

“You know, Mom’s had three kids and she barely knows what the inside of a gym looks like, let alone ever worked out in one.”  Jamie said as he continued to shovel food into his mouth.

Jess put a k-cup into the Keurig to make a cup of coffee and turned to look at her brother.  “I know, but why are we talking about Mom’s metabolism?”

Jamie inclined his head slightly in Gabe’s direction.  “He was asking how we could eat like we have been and not weigh 300 pounds.”

Jess was still not ready to forgive Gabe.  She couldn’t figure out why he had come out to defend Joey and pain medication or none, she sure wasn’t happy that he had taken a parting shot and left before the conversation was finished last night.  She looked at Gabe.  He was drinking some smelly concoction and grinning at her with that, well that, Greer grin.  She shook her head.  He was a lot like a big puppy dog only he didn’t chew on her shoes.  In other words, it was hard to stay mad at him.

Gabe looked at Jess.  “Maybe we should run some lines later.  If you don’t have anything else going on, I mean.”