Many years had passed and a lot had happened in that time. Sean had gotten a good job but it required them to move away. They would come back for visits, but after Joe had died, the visits became fewer and fewer. Besanna and Dan's mother and father moved to Florida to live with their grandmother. When her grandmother died they just stayed there.
Dan heard a knock and was surprised to see Besanna, Sean and their daughter Megan. "Come on in. What brings you guys all this way?"
Besanna hugged her brother, "We were in the area and thought we would visit."
"Sit down. " He grabbed Megan by the hand, "Help me get some drinks for everyone."
"Okay Uncle Dan," Megan allowed herself to be led into the kitchen by her uncle, while her mom and dad found a place to sit in the living room.
Dan thought that his 14 year old niece was beautiful. With striking blue eyes and long dark hair, she was gorgeous, just like her mom. He suspected that Besanna and Sean either had their hands full beating the guys off or they would soon. He cornered Megan near the refrigerator, "You all just happen to pay me a visit? You live over 200 miles away."
Megan put her hand on his arm. With her lips pouting, she looked at the floor, "Aw, Uncle Dan."
Dan cupped her chin and raised her head so they were looking eye to eye, "Don't you use those pretty girl tricks on me. I trust you to give me a straight answer."
Megan felt herself blush at his compliment. "I can't, please let mom and dad do it."
Dan just shook his head, "I never could say no to you or your mom."
Megan hugged him, "Thanks Uncle Dan."
"It's a good thing you're my niece," and hugged her back.
Dan and Megan brought the drinks out. It had been awhile since they had seen each other, and everyone just sat around getting reacquainted. Finally, Dan turned to his sister, "I love having you all visit but I can't help sensing that you're here for another reason." He saw both Besanna and Megan turn toward Sean.
Sean took a deep breath, "I guess I should be the one to tell you." He took a deep breath, "We lost our home because of my gambling. We lost everything."
"Whew," Dan whistled and looked at his sister. "How bad is it?" He was shocked when she refused to make eye contact with him.
Besanna's voice quivered, "We rented a U-Haul and have our clothes and few other things. We had to sell everything else, even our cars."
Megan had tears rolling down her face, "And my college money."
Dan had been holding his breath and finally exhaled, "Damn! Savings wiped out?"
Sean just shook his head, "Everything is gone. I even lost my job because of it."
Dan knew that they hadn't just dropped in to see him, but he really had no idea what their problem was going to be. He was pretty much in shock. "How can I help?" He saw his sister joining his niece in a crying session which put a lump in his throat.
Besanna tried to stop crying, "Can we stay here for a while?"
Dan had never heard his sister sound so fragile. "I'd love for you to stay here." The instant smile that was on everyone's face made him feel good. Luckily, Dan lived in a three bedroom house. He put his sister and her husband in one bedroom and his niece in the other. They all started bringing in stuff from the U-Haul.
Dan was going to move his car out of the garage so they could put everything else but clothes there, but it turned out to be unnecessary. It was late when they finished so Dan ordered a couple of pizzas. He decided that they would take the U-Haul and turn it in the next day.
Later that night Besanna kept tossing and turning. Maybe it was because it was the end of some very stressing days or maybe because of being in a strange place, but she couldn't sleep. She just lay there listening to her husband snoring and finally just got up. Opening the bedroom door, she found the living room light on. Using the light that reflected down the hallway, she checked on Megan who was sound asleep. Then she went to investigate and found her brother in the basement. "Wow, you've really fixed this up nice."
"Hey Bee, welcome to my office slash man cave."
Besanna smiled hearing his pet name for her and walked around checking everything out. "Big screen television over there, computer and printer and telephone over here, even a pool table and refrigerator. Not bad."
"Speaking of the refrigerator, want a beer? Sorry, no wine coolers or anything."
She plopped down on a recliner in front of the television, "A beer will be fine."
Dan brought them both one and sat in the other recliner. "Cheers."
Besanna took a drink. "Thanks for helping; we didn't have anywhere else to turn."
"Bullshit."
She looked at her brother in surprise, "What do you mean?"
"You'd have made a great hooker." He ducked as a pillow got thrown his way, and then the basement was filled with laughter.
Besanna felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. "Thanks, I haven't laughed for a long time. What are you doing up anyway?"
"Well I was thinking that you guys could move down here. It already has a full bath and it's big enough for a couple of bedrooms as well as a living room. That way you all can have like an apartment and some privacy.
"What about your office?"
"I can move my computer and stuff into one of the spare bedrooms."
She got up and walked over to the pool table, "And the pool table?"
Dan followed his little sister, "Aw, I was getting tired of that thing anyway."
