The Letter

Prologue

Naval Air Station, Alameda CA, 1986

Commander Dan McGee sat at his desk staring at the notes he'd jotted down during the meeting with his attorney. It was time, past time, he knew but that didn't make it any easier. Finally, he put pen to paper, writing a letter he hoped would never have to be delivered. When he finished and put the document into a manila envelope with a few other items, he went back to his main task, updating his will. Once this was done and filed, he would take the steps he'd discussed with the attorney to get his family life back on track. He wondered if he should tell someone else, maybe Dave, his CO and best friend, or Jim, his brother-in-law. But it was too overwhelming and embarrassing; for now he'd keep the plan close, sharing with just his attorney. Once they moved, he'd tell the rest of the family, of course, the kids would know by then, he had that planned. Something was bothering him about all of this and after fidgeting about it for an hour or so, he wrote a note and attached it to the updates for the will.

He looked at the time; his baby girl would wake from her nap soon. He'd take her with him to the attorney's office; they'd be back before the boys came home from school. It was nice having the kids to himself while Natalie was away this week. Her doctor said she was suffering from stress, overwhelmed by having to take care of the kids and house by herself and that time away would do her good. Dan thought it would do even more good for his sons who he now realized hated and were terrified by his wife, their stepmother. Still, divorce was a huge step, the first one in his family and he still had no idea what to do about the children next time he was afloat.

Sighing, he missed Lily, wishing for probably the millionth time that she had started treatment earlier for the cancer that quickly mowed her down. But then he probably wouldn't have Patrick or Sarah. His second most constant wish was that he'd looked harder for a gestational host for Sarah and not jumped at the chance with Natalie; he saw now what a huge mistake that had been. Not as far as having his daughter but for his boys. What an idiot he'd been, not to mention too stubborn, grief-stricken and full of pride to listen to anyone or accept help. He hoped he could make things right for his sons.

He'd talk to Maisie, the kids' grandmother, and see if she could take them for a few weeks after school was out for the summer. At three, Sarah was old enough and at 9 and 8 respectively, Tim and Pat were excellent big brothers and he knew they'd behave well for their Grammie and Grandpa Drew.

He was jolted out of his thoughts by the appearance of his little girl. "Done with my nap, Daddy!"

"Ok sweet cheeks, let's get you changed."

"C'n I have a snack?"

"Yes, good idea, let's do that first." He scooped up his daughter, tickling her as they headed for the kitchen, little Sarah shrieking with laughter.

Author's Notes:

1) If you're unfamiliar with my stories At What Price or Finding Home, this story won't make much sense. While I'd love you to read them, you can instead look at my profile on fan fiction net under "Personal Canon". That will at least give you the bare facts of Tim's background. FYI for those of you in the know: only one of Tim and Sarah's OC brothers is in this story and the 'clan' members are just mentioned.

2) This story is one of two resulting from a question put to me by a reader while I was posting either AWP or FH, I can't find the original message, don't remember who asked or my response, sorry! The question itself is posted at the end of the story, as I don't want to give everything away. Whoever the poser of the question was, thank you for asking, took me years to find ways to make it work!

Ok, so here we go… Alternate View #1 of my personal McGee canon universe!