My Southern Gentleman 4

"Mr. Parker?" Gina cried in alarm.

"Alan?" Jewel heard her and came running from the kitchen with December right behind her.

"Oh my God, somebody call an ambulance!" December shouted when she saw her father slumped in his chair. Jewel sobbed as Damian put his arms around her and comforted her and Gage called for an ambulance. It arrived within a couple of minutes, and the paramedics helped Alan onto a stretcher and then drove him to the hospital.

"I will take your mother to the hospital," Damian told his wife. "You stay here with the baby."

As badly as December wanted to be with her parents, she knew that her husband was right. Damian embraced her and kissed her lips. "I will call you as soon as I can," he promised.

Reluctant to leave the shelter of his arms, December watched as he helped her sobbing mother to the car and drove her to the hospital.

Time seemed to crawl as December sat in the heavy silence of her parents' home with her son and stepdaughter. The TV droned on, but nobody was really watching it. Violet slept in her carrier, waking every couple of hours or so to nurse. It was almost nightfall before Damian finally called.

"Your father had a stroke," he told December. "He is in the ICU. He still hasn't woken up yet. I promised your mother that I would stay with her until visiting hours are over. Is Violet all right?"

"She's fine. She's asleep right now, but I can't stay here all night, Damian. I didn't bring enough of her stuff."

"Have Gage and Gina take you home. I will follow later."

"But the car seat base is in our car!"

"That is right." Damian sighed deeply. "I will bring it to you right away."

He stayed only long enough to move the car seat base to the other car. "I had a very hard time leaving your mother, December. She held me tight, begging me not to leave her."

"Well, I guess you'd better hurry back to her, then."

The ride home seemed to take forever, and it was pitch black by the time December got home. As soon as she entered the house she heard the telephone ringing, and her heart nearly stopped.

"December! At last you are home," said Damian.

"How's Dad?" December's heart was in her throat.

"There has been no change." Everything was completely silent for a moment. "How is Violet?"

"All right. She's still asleep. How's my Mom?"

"A little bit calmer. Still very worried, of course. I'm calling to make sure that you got home safely and that everyone is all right. I am leaving the hospital now, so I will see you in a little while." He paused. "I love you, December."

"I love you too." Suddenly tears were running down her cheeks. "Please take care."

She was nursing Violet and rocking and singing to her when she heard him come in sometime later. He came to the nursery door and stood silently watching her. When the baby was sleeping soundly, she gently laid her in her crib, then went to Damian. He held her silently for a few minutes, stroking her hair. Then she went to bed while he went to take a shower.

She was not quite asleep when she felt the mattress sink slightly as he joined her. "Damian?"

"I am sorry. I did not mean to awaken you."

"That's all right. Will you make love to me, please?" He did, very slowly and gently, and they fell into an exhausted sleep together.

The ringing of the telephone awakened them the following morning. December breathlessly grabbed the receiver, automatically handing it to Damian when she heard the voice on the other end. Violet had awakened and was whimpering, so she went to the nursery to feed her.

She was sitting in the rocking chair in the nursery, still nursing Violet, when Damian came to the door. "My mother and Kate want to visit again, for Christmas this time," he told her. "I told them about your father, and they want me to find out if it is still all right for them to come."

"Um...well, sure, that's fine," December told him. "We'll manage somehow, and after all, they've never even met Violet."

Damian looked grateful. "That is the main reason why they want to come," he said. "Stacy and Alena and Paul are also coming this time, and my baby sister Monya and her son Luke. Also Evan and Lisa and baby Peter. He just turned one year old."

"Oh, that will be nice!" December said with a smile. "But where will they all stay?"

"In a motel, just like last time."

Within a few days, Alan had regained consciousness, and by the day Damian's family was due to arrive, he'd been transferred to a rehabilitation institute, where he was learning to walk and to feed himself again. At five months, Violet was only the size of an average two-month-old, but she was gaining weight regularly and finally sleeping through the night most of the time. December still hadn't returned to her job at the library and spent her days caring for Violet and her evenings and a large part of her weekends sitting with her mother while Damian cared for the baby.