Handicapped in Hawai'i

Eleven

When Rikki and Blues left so they could head back to their homes in So Cal, Rob was quick to head out with them. Even though he was still just as pissed at him as the virtuoso was, he didn't have it in him to not visit Bret, now that he'd been told about the wreck he'd gotten himself into. He said that his long-Time friend had paid him a visit after even his first shoulder replacement, and said virtuoso remembered that he'd paid him one after the second. As far as he was concerned, this was his friend's equivalent of a joint replacement, and it just wouldn't be right not to visit him and essentially Return the favor.

        After he'd left–much to lil Zeph's displeasure since she was such a Daddy's girl–that left Richie to play the role of Daddy and man of the house. He damn well didn't mind, though, 'cuz he'd considered her and Zep both to be a part of his family–his ohana–ever since the Day he'd met both of them. Even before he'd started dating their aunt, he couldn't stop himself from falling in Love with the lil boy, and it wouldn't have been right to not love his baby sister once she was born.

        Besides, playing Daddy to these two while the bassist was visiting his recovering friend gave him even more practice for when he became a daddy in his own right. It gave him the chanceta sharpen his skills on things like Discipline when he'd to step up and do such a thing in their daddy's place when their mama's attempts didn't work, if need be.

        However, between that, being measured for that mock-up of his wedding kimono, and just spending Time with his fiancé, he damn sure didn't forget to make a call to his parents. Georgine was ecstatic when she found out that not only was he now engaged, but that he was gonna be a daddy, himself. She'd made no bones about wondering if or when he was ever gonna do such a thing with his Life, 'cuz both of his older siblings'd at least one child of their own. In fact, she'd Begun to think he was never gonna pop the question, and that having children'd be purely by accident. Whether they were with Leilani or some other woman that he was dumb enough to sleep with was entirely up for debate, though.

        "Mom, I'm not dumb enough to cheat on her," the virtuoso chuckled, the cordless handset held between his head and shoulder as he fed Zeph since she still needed some help. "Ya heard her threaten to turn me into Shark bait, if I even considered it, for yourself."

        "I know how dumb and hormone-driven young men can be, though," she laughed.

        "Well, like she swears Rikki told her when he was here, I'd be a fool to let her get away from me," Richie said. "'Cuz there's a whole lot more Deannas in this World than there are Richies and Leilanis."

        "Wait, Rikki was there–at your house?" his mother queried, the shock evident in her voice.

        "Yeah–long story short, he finally got the evidence he needed to believe that Deanna'd been cheating on him, just not with me," he explained. "I dunno whether it was 'cuz his buddy Blues made him, or 'cuz he really and truly wanted to, but he tracked us down so he could apologize to Leilani and I."

        "Boy's got a damn big set of balls, I'll give him that," Georgine mused.

        "It was the right thing to do, whether he wanted to or not," the virtuoso pointed out. "Besides, his showing up when he did helped me pull off my proposal the way I wanted to."

        "Oh, really–and how'dja do that, baby boy?" she asked.

        Choosing to ignore her calling him baby boy since he was a grown man, Richie explained how he'd wanted to get his feelings across by writing a song for his fiancé. Naturally, he didn't quite know where to start on such an endeavor, so he'd decided to bounce ideas off the bassist. After all, he was a musician and songwriter in his own right, so he knew where he was coming from–as well as the challenges that could come with such a thing.