Chapter 18

The next morning, Luca stood in front of the calendar. He held a pen in his hand. He reached up and wrote Abbie's due date as 1/22 on the calendar. He also put Tyson's name next to Elena and Alicia's.

"What are you doing, babe?" Tyree inquired, stepping up behind Luca and hugging him from behind.

"I'm adding Abbie and Tyson to the calendar," Luca said.

"Are you still sad?" Tyree inquired.

"A little," Luca replied. "But I want to remember all of my babies, including yours," he explained. Tyree turned Luca around and kissed him passionately.

"I adore you," Tyree said.

"I love you, too," he said, returning the kiss.

Footsteps were heard entering the living room, causing them to break away from each other.

"I'm prepared for school," Alicia declared. "Can mommy Luca come too?" she inquired.

"If he wants," Tyree replied.

"All right, but sis has to come as well," Luca said. Luca got Elena ready and grabbed his baby bag as Alicia and Tyree walked to the car. Alicia was buckled by Tyree, and Elena was buckled by Luca. They drove to the preschool after everyone was buckled up. When they arrived, they parked and unloaded everyone. While Luca carried Elena and the baby bag, Alicia held Tyree's hand. Alicia's teacher welcomes them.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully.

"Good morning, Mrs. Gomez," Tyree said. "This is Luca, my boyfriend," he introduced himself.

"So you're the one who stole his heart," she said with a grin. Elena started to act fussy.

"Sorry Elena is hungry," he said. "It's nice to have met you," Luca said, walking away to tend to his daughter.

Luca, Tyree, and Elena went to the art studio after Alicia and her teacher entered the room. Luca had not been there in weeks and was eager to see what had changed.

"Have you had many visitors?" he inquired.

"We had a lot of people interested in your work," Tyree said. "Can you draw characters?" Tyree inquired.

"Yes," Luca agreed, nodding. "Why?" he inquired.

"There was a guy willing to pay good money for video game drawings," he explained.

"Really?" "A video game company is interested in me?" he asked.

When they arrived, Tyree parked the car and turned off the engine.

"Are you scared?" Tyree enquired.

"A little," Luca replied.

"About what?" Tyree enquired.

"Everything," Luca said. "What if everything falls apart again?" he wondered.

"You'll be fine," Tyree said, caressing Luca's hand. Luca noticed a familiar face standing in front of the building when they got out of the car.

"Dad," he said as he approached him.

"Good morning, son," he said.

"What brings you here?" Luca inquired.

"When Ken told me what had happened, I came right away," Carl explained.

"Who is this young man and this beauty?" he inquired.

"This is Elena, your granddaughter," he explained. "This is my boyfriend, Tyree Richards," Luca added.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," said Tyree.

"Let's go inside so Elena doesn't catch a cold," Luca said.

Tyree unlocked the doors and pushed them open. Carl followed them inside.

"How long are you staying?" Luca asked.

"I've disbanded the pack and am locating a place here," he said.

"Seriously?" Luca asked with shocked eyes.

"I wanted to be closer to my family, and the pack only had me in it," he said. "Why don't you show me your art?" Carl asked.

"Right this way," Tyree nodded and motioned for Carl to follow them. They entered the main room and stopped. "This is where Luca's artwork is displayed," Tyree said.

Luca was as surprised as his father. His drawings were strewn about the room.

"When did you set this up?" Luca inquired.

"Shortly after we met," Tyree said, kissing Luca on the cheek. Carl walked around the room, inspecting each photograph.

"You have talent," he said.

"Dad, Ty told me that a company that makes video games is interested in my work," Luca said.

"That's fantastic, son," he said.

Tyree noticed Luca had taken a seat on a bench. "Are you okay, babe?" he inquired.

"Yeah," he agreed, nodding. "I'm just exhausted," Luca added.

Tyree said, "Hand me Elena and lie down in the office."

"All right," Luca said as he handed Elena and the baby bag to him. Tyree had noticed Carl's perplexed expression. "It's okay, sir," Tyree said. "He probably overworked himself." He stated this.

"Is it because of the virus?" Carl wondered.

"Most likely," said Tyree. "We don't know what side effects came with the virus, but tiredness and weight loss are obviously some," Tyree said.

Carl glanced at the baby girl, who opened her small eyes and stared up at him.

"She's got my son's eyes," Carl said, as he smiled at her. "What did her brother look like?" Carl asked.

"Tyson had hair like Luca's but had Patrick's blue eyes," Tyree explained. "Did Ken tell you that Luca almost died before he got the cure administered?" Tyree asked.

"Yea, he did," Carl said, nodding his head. "What did Ken do after the incident?" Carl asked.

"He kicked him out and banned him from the pack," Tyree said.

"I guess his father was furious with him," Carl said.

"When Ken first found out, he nearly strangled him," Tyree said.

Elena reached out her tiny hands to Carl and squealed. He took Elena in his arms and smiled at her. "She is so precious," he said.

"Yea, she has strong instincts," Tyree said. "She starts fussing whenever Luca is sad or sick," he said. "Tyson was the same way," he added.

"That's my granddaughter," Carl said. "Sensitive and smart," he said.

"Since you're looking for a place, you can move into the house that Luca and Patrick used to live in," Tyree said. "Patrick won't be needing it anytime soon," he added.

Carl and Tyree turned around when footsteps approached them. Luca entered the room, rubbing his eyes.

"Talking about me behind my back," he said teasingly.

"Just the good things," Tyree said, kissing him on the cheek.

"Your boyfriend told me that I could live in the house you used," he said. Luca glanced at Tyree and smiled.