Solitary Man

Everyone laughed as Mike waved when he left the room. As he walked away he realized he hadn't felt that good in a very long time; so good, in fact, he was whistling as he walked by the nurse's station.

As he got in his car he said to himself, "If only she wasn't so damned young."

But he was 37 and she was 23, and that was wasn't going to change.

A week or so later, Mike got a call one day while he was at work. He was too busy to answer it and let it go to voicemail, having no idea who was calling. Later that evening he listened to it and smiled.

"Mike. Tom Cromwell. Brandi's father. Listen, Lisa and I were hoping we could get you to join us for dinner this weekend. If you're interested, and Brandi says 'you better be', give me a call back at this number so we can agree on which evening works best for you, okay? Brandi's back home and so are the boys. They're all doing well, so thanks again for everything. Okay, um...take care, and...call us. Please."

Mike hadn't forgotten about them, he just didn't feel it was his place to contact them again. He'd thought about Brandi and those three little boys many, many times, so he was happy to call back and see how they were doing.

They agreed on Saturday evening at 7pm or 6:30 if Mike wanted a cocktail before dinner. He enjoyed a drink every now and then, and this was a special celebration of sorts, so a drink to toast the good fortune of those involved in the accident seemed appropriate.

While Mike was nowhere near rich or even well off, being a single sergeant meant he had a rather large amount of discretionary income, nearly all of which went into the bank. Since he had Saturday off, he went to a toy store and tried to find something for boys under a year old. He didn't know their exact age, but he knew he close enough.

After getting some help from an attractive, younger associate, he left the store with three gifts. The first was called a "Peek-a-Boo Touch Puzzle", an animal puzzle with five large pieces that fit into the five cutout shapes on the board. The second was a set of velcro blocks that made stacking easy for a child that hadn't yet developed any real dexterity. Lastly was something called a 'pound and press bench' with a little hammer. He had no idea how much noise their grandparents could tolerate, but he took a chance and bought it anyway knowing little boys would love hammering away at it.

He decided he'd bring a bottle of wine even though Tom and Lisa said there was no need to bring anything. And that left him wondering whether or not it would be appropriate to bring something for Brandi. Nothing romantic, of course, but something...thoughtful.

It was times like this he wished he had a sister he could call for advice, but again, he asked for help in a store, and after explaining who it was for, Mike walked out with a very nice-looking, fairly expensive, cashmere scarf. It was still what his fellow officers called 'butt-ass cold', and a scarf couldn't ever be wrong in a city like Indianapolis. Or so he hoped.

Nothing was wrapped, and he also hoped that would make the gifts seem a little less formal. The last thing he needed was to have anyone thinking he was some kind of 'weirdo', another thing he could have asked a sister about, if he had one. It wasn't that he was socially awkward, it was more that he had heart of gold, a secret he didn't let many people in on. In uniform he came across as the consummate professional, but deep down he was really a rather quiet man, his gregarious side shown at work reserved for the job.

Mike normally wore his hair with a little bit of product in it to make it look shorter at work, but when he blow dried and left it that way, it had a softer look to it that women had called 'sexy' more than a few times over the years. He had a masculine-looking face, but not the stereotypical square jaw. As much as he sometimes hated admitting it, he still looked younger than his 37 years, and most of that was due to having something else several women had pointed out over the years—really great skin.

That, plus his bright, baby-blue eyes and great smile, the courtesy of 18 months in braces during his freshman and sophomore years of high school, meant he wasn't a bad looking guy at all. And being a shade over six-feet tall and around 175 pounds gave him a trim, athletic look even though he wasn't a 'gym rat' by any means.

Another comment he'd heard a few times was how he looked more 'preppy' than police officer or Marine, something he wasn't quite sure how to take. But he always took comments like that in stride knowing they were meant as compliments. Still, it would have been nice to hear something like 'ruggedly handsome' every once in awhile, but...c'est la vie, no?

Mike put the gifts in a large, green canvas bag he'd had since he was on active duty, and never thought twice about showing up toting something that was an ugly, olive-drab in color. Fortunately, Tom didn't notice, and Lisa was too polite to say anything other than 'what's in the bag?'. He told them, and when he produced the bottle of wine, Lisa gave him a hug without the kiss on the cheek and nothing more was said.

They led him inside and explained that Brandi was with the triplets trying to get them to eat again then go to sleep early.

"Any luck?" Mike asked just as he heard the first scream.

"Poor Liam's sick, and when one of them starts..."

And then, as if on cue, the other boys followed suit.

"Ah. A regular cacophony of crying," Mike said with a smile.

"Cacophony. That's a very good word for it," Tom said a little louder so Mike could hear. "Come on. I'll walk you back there so you can say 'hey' to Brandi."

As the noise got louder Tom said, "Not that you'd need a guide to find the source of the um...cacophony."

Tom knocked on the door, and Brandi hollered, "Come in!"

Mike noticed two things immediately.

The first was that Brandi seemed to be very good at orchestrating 'managed chaos', and the other was that she was even more attractive than he'd given her credit for in the hospital. He'd wondered what she looked like with her hair and makeup done, and assumed it would be a very pleasant sight. He just had no idea it would be this pleasant, her small amount of post-pregnancy weight aside.

"Mike! Hi!" she said as she stopped for a moment and gave him a very long, very warm hug. "I am SO glad to see you!"

"It's good to see you again, too, and you...look amazing," he told her as Tom excused himself.

"Oh, gosh. Thank you. I don't really have anything nice to wear yet, so I hope this is okay," she told him.

"I wasn't referring to your clothes," Mike said with a warm smile. "I meant that you look really great."

"Oh. Um...thank you. That's very sweet of you to say."

Mike wasn't sure but he thought she was flattered by the compliment, and that surprised him because attractive women were used to hearing those kinds of things. And the truth was, she did look very nice, even in the modest-looking, off-white sweater and black sweatpants she was wearing. He was fairly sure she was in the sweats because they were all she had that would fit her, and once she lost the weight, any pants she might buy that would fit now would be too large then, so it all made sense.

"Here. Let me help," Mike said as he dropped the big, green bag and went to pick up a crying boy.

"Which one is this?" he asked.

"That's Liam," Brandi told him. "You probably don't want to..."

Mike already had him in his arms, and as soon as he picked him up, Liam stopped crying and started staring at the man's face the little boy may have somehow kind of recognized.

"Oh, my goodness. How are you doing that?" Brandi asked as she picked up Noah and turned him toward Mike. As soon as she did, Mike made a funny face, and he stopped crying, too. And when Elijah realized his brothers were no longer crying, he stopped, as well.

"Can you just stay here like that for say...another 17 years or so?" Brandi teased, grateful for the silence.

"I might need to be fed every now and then and use the bathroom occasionally, but...sure," Mike kidded causing Brandi to laugh, revealing a beautiful smile of her own under the two full lips that were painted with a shiny gloss that only added to her own natural beauty.

"I'm glad to see you laughing. Are you in any pain?" he asked.

"Not really. The antibiotics and pain pills have been doing the trick, and I'll be getting the stitches out sometime next week," she informed him.

Mike knew there'd been internal bleeding, but he wasn't about to ask where they'd gone in. Besides, he was reasonably sure it was the abdomen, and as long as she was okay, it didn't matter.

"So what's in the green bag, Officer Simms?" she asked, that beautiful smile shining brightly.

"Hey. That's...Sergeant Simms, okay?" he said very seriously drawing another genuine laugh.

"Oh, yes, sir, Sergeant, sir!" she said back just as seriously.

Mike couldn't resist using an old line from his days in the Marine Corps and said, "Don't call me 'sir', I work for a living."

It wasn't all that funny, but Brandi laughed anyway, and Mike suddenly realized he was...feeling the effects of her physical attractiveness.

To avoid things 'growing out of hand' he quickly changed the subject as he turned away and spun Liam around in the air, getting another baby laugh in return.

"I uh, I got something for the boys," he told her once the swelling had subsided.

"What? Mike. Why would you do that?" she asked, making him second guess himself.

"Well, because...I'm just so glad they're all okay?" he replied as he bent down and picked up the bag with his free hand.

"Let me get that," Brandi said. "If Noah will let me lay him back down, that is."

She cooed to him as she placed him in the crib, and he smiled back at her.

"May I?" she asked as she opened the bag.

"Of course. Please."

She pulled out the puzzle first and when she saw it, she started tearing up.

"I can take everything back if you don't like it," he said immediately.

"What? No! I love it. Mike, this...this is so...incredible."

He saw her reach up with her free hand and try and wipe away a tear and realized she wasn't upset at all. And by the time she pulled out the last item, less the box at the bottom, he knew how much this meant to her. He couldn't be sure, but the cop inside him was thinking she'd been treated poorly by her husband and any little thing was something to be treasured.

"There's one more thing in there," he told her.

"But I'm out of boys," she said with a smile mixed with the remaining tears.

"Then it must be for you, huh?" he told her, smiling back as he bounced Liam in his arms.

"What? You...you bought something for me?" she asked, not sure she heard him correctly.

"It's no big deal. It's just something...practical."

Before even opening it, Brandi hugged him with one arm and fought off another round of tears. But when she opened the box, and pulled back the crinoline paper, the tears fell anyway.

"Oh, my goodness. Mike, it's...beautiful," she told him as she gently unfolded it and touched the soft fabric.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

"I...I love it, but...it's too much."

"Why?" he asked, the way only a man could.

"It's cashmere, that's why. It's beautiful, but it has to be very expensive," she explained without any hint of accusation.

"I didn't think it was expensive," he told her in a way that sounded almost naive.

"Are you sure?" she asked, her eyes a mix of gratitude and disbelief.

"Put it on. Let me see," Mike told her, his smile back in full force as he took the box.

Brandi looped the scarf around her neck and crossed it in the front then looked to Mike for approval.

"Wow. It looks great on you," he told her sincerely.

This time, she hugged him with both arms, taking Liam with them, then kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you, Mike. This is just...so special," she told him as she moved back and stroked the soft fabric.

"Well, you and these boys and are kind of special to me, so..."

Lisa popped her head in and said, "Come on, you two!"

"Here. Let me take Liam," Brandi offered.

"What? And risk getting something on your new scarf?" he told her with a smile.

Lisa noticed it and started stroking it, too.

"Oh, my goodness! This is...gorgeous!" she told him just as she noticed the toys. "Did Mike..."

"Yes. Yes, he did, and look at the toys," Brandi said as though she was verbally chastising him for doing something wrong or at least foolish.

"I think I may just be in love with this man!" Lisa said before giving him another hug and one more kiss on the cheek.

The kiss was interrupted by a loud, "Ahem!" causing everyone to laugh at her husband's feigned jealousy.

"Drinks are waiting," he said to them all.

Mike kept Liam, and the two other boys stayed quiet when they walked out. Liam was so tired and so sick that he'd laid his head on Mike's shoulder and by the time they got to the kitchen, he was sound asleep.

"What's your pleasure, Mike?" Tom asked quietly as he pointed to the liquor bottles.

"Um...Scotch. On the rocks, please," he replied. "And I'm gonna try and lay this little guy down with his brothers, if that's okay."

"Good luck!" Brandi nearly whispered.

When he reappeared a minute later and the house was still silent, Lisa said, "Oh, my. I am very impressed!"

"Yeah. Me, too," Brandi said to her mom as she smiled at the handsome police officer.

For the next two hours, they ate, drank, and mostly talked. Mike didn't like talking about himself, but his three hosts kept dragging one fact after the other out of him from growing up to enlisting to his service on the force.

Of course, his ex-wife came up, and although Mike tried not to badmouth her too often, he did finally explain how she became so materialistic it ruined their marriage.

A few minutes later, it came out that Brandi's experience was very different than his, and his earlier suspicions were confirmed. Her ex rarely ever bought her anything, and after the triplets were born, he was so angry and resentful that he walked away from them.

Mike also learned that Brandi had less than a year's worth of credits left to earn to get her bachelor's degree, and after that he did his best to stay away from former spouses and onto...anything else.

But as it turned out, Brandi was carrying around a very large load of guilt for having dropped out—against her father's wishes—so his attempt to find a more pleasant topic failed miserably when he asked her what she'd majored in.

"What about you, Mike?" Tom asked, sensing his guest's discomfort. "Do you have any big plans with the force?"

Lisa shot him a dagger then said, "He just sat here and explained why he became a sergeant, and you're asking if he plans to do anything big? Isn't sergeant pretty big—Thomas?"

When she used his full name, her husband backed off and apologized even though he didn't think the question was out of line at all.

"No, it's okay," Mike said with a laugh to diffuse the tension. "I don't really know. I miss being out with the public, but being a sergeant kind of has its benefits. So were I to say...settle down...who knows? I could see myself being a lieutenant or maybe even a captain someday."

"Well, I'm sure you'll have no problem finding someone whenever you're ready," Lisa told him.

"I agree," Brandi said very sweetly, causing Mike to again notice how pretty she was just as a loud cry came from the back of the house.

As she got up to attend to the boys, Brandi also said, "And while it's none of my business, I just wanted to say that I can't imagine a woman needing anything more than a loving, caring husband."

Brandi waited a second then added, "I hope that came across the right way, Mike."

"It did, Brandi. And I can't tell you how many times I wanted to hear those words from her."

"Well, if you'll excuse me," she said.

"Wait. Let me...give you a hand, okay?"

Mike didn't see the way Lisa looked at her husband because he was too focused on the beautiful, younger woman who'd completely captivated his attention.

"Oh. I can't imagine you'd want to subject yourself to any more torture," Brandi told him.

Mike stood up, smiled at her, then assured her there was nothing torturous about it.

"Okay, then. If you're sure."

"I'm sure," he told her, this time his starry-eyed comment drawing a raised eyebrow look from Tom once he noticed what his wife had already seen.

Once they were out of earshot, Tom said, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"If you're thinking they just might be smitten with each other then—yes," his wife said.

"Why couldn't Brandi have waited for a guy like Mike?" Tom said almost rhetorically.

"Because our daughter had to learn this lesson the hard way, honey—through personal experience. That's why."

Tom kind of shook his head then said, "He's a little too old for her, but he's a heckuva nice guy."

"He's very nice. And while he is a little older, he's not that old, and I can't help but maybe get my hopes up."

"Honey, Brandi's not even officially divorced yet. Aren't you putting the cart a little ahead of the horse?"

Lisa smiled then said, "Maybe a little. But I know a good man when I see one. And I know that look."

Tom got up then moved over next to her and playfully said, "Oh, I see the way you look at him."

Knowing he was only teasing, Lisa said, "Well, you can't blame me, can you? He's a very handsome young man."

"Yeah? What about me?" Tom said, pretending to be hurt.

"Well, you're not so young anymore, but I still think you're kinda handsome," she replied, trying not to laugh.

"I can live with that," he said rather glibly before kissing the only woman he'd ever loved.

"Stop that! What if the kids come back?" she told him.

"Kids? What kids? The boys can't even walk yet."

"Tom Cromwell, you're...terrible!"

"You won't be saying that later tonight, Mrs. Cromwell," he assured her.

"No. No, I won't," she said very sweetly before she kissed him back.

Mike tried working his magic with Liam again, but this time there wasn't any magic left to work.

"He's probably hungry," Brandi said. She slid a finger under his diaper and added, "And he needs to be changed."

"I can change him," Mike said.

Brandi stood up, looked right at him, then said, "Mike, you're an amazing guy, and I owe you so much. But this is my responsibility, and you don't need to spend any more time making me feel good, okay?"

Mike smiled at her then said, "So...I'm making you feel good?"

Brandi smiled weakly but couldn't laugh.

"Yes. But as much as I appreciate that, these boys are a lifetime commitment, and one I'm gladly and willingly making. So as much as changing a diaper would be really nice, I can handle it. Really."

Mike moved a little closer, and when he did, Brandi momentarily wasn't sure how to take it and instinctively moved back.

"Sorry," Mike told her.

"No. It's okay. I...I just had this kind of...flashback. About my husband. I'm the one who's sorry."

"Don't be. You have nothing to be sorry about."

He moved closer again then gently touched her forearm as he spoke.

"Brandi, I don't mind helping. And while I know I'm...a few years older than you...I have to say I haven't felt like this about anyone before."

"Felt?" she asked, now paralyzed with a different kind of fear.

"Well, yes. "I'm not sure I understand it myself yet, but I...I find myself..."

Mike hesitated, ran a hand through his thick, dry hair, then said, "I guess the word is...drawn...to you."

"You're...drawn to me?" she said, her heart beating wildly out of nowhere.

The boys were all screaming their lungs out, but Mike didn't care. He moved a little closer then put his hands on her shoulders and told her he was drawn to her in the sense of being very attracted to her.