MC: LaPonte (23 page)

Everything has fallen into
place and we have an almost normal family. Natalie is our
receptionist and helps keep the kids schedules straight. The MC has
stepped up and scheduled days for the boys to be watched so me and
Danny have some time alone. Little Ben and Jessie keep watch over
them and have at least one day a week with them. Aaron goes to
Millie's daycare while Victor and Darren go to school with Little
Ben and Jessie. Darren gets help but is mainstreamed with his age
group. He goes to a program once a week for deaf kids. Little Ben
goes with him, I have no idea why but Jess let's him and he seems
to keep Darren calm. Victor plays soccer with Jessie and Little
Ben. Danny and Darren help coach with Steve and Ben. Tiny had
miniature bikes made for the boys, they all match Danny's but
they're different sizes. We, of course, now have a shed for the
boys. With all that the guys keep bringing, we'll need another one
next week. If it weren't for everyone stepping up, I don't know how
we'd make it through a week.

Anita picks up the slack
for me. I knew she'd be perfect for the job. We had an open house
inviting everyone. The Baxter's we're happy with the changes in our
program and our new social workers. The shelters are running great.
We very rarely double up anymore.

"Babe?" I look at Danny.
"Where did you go?"

I laugh, "Just thinking
about how good everything is." I kiss him and laugh when Victor and
Aaron make kissy noises.

"Mommy kkKate Jessie says
kissings not gross. He said moms and dads kiss to show they love
each other. Yyyooouu love daddy?" I smile at him; he's talking so
much better. Danny laughs. I noticed last month he hasn't been
holding his face every time he laughs. He's not holding it
now.

"I love daddy very much.
Almost as much as I love you three." I say as I sign.

"Hey, I was here first.
Almost as much?" Danny asks in mock horror. The boys
laugh.

Darren signs 'we love you
dad, almost as much as mommy Kate.' I crack up as Danny chases him
around the kitchen. The little guys laugh and run too. All I can do
is laugh.

Tiny comes to the door for
Darren and Victor. He yells getting everyone's attention. I'm still
laughing. "It's a fuckin circus in here." He signs without the
swear. Victor holds his hand out for the quarter. Tiny reaches in
his pocket. "Fuck! I forgot again."

Aaron laughs, "That's two
Uncle Tiny."

"Shit!" He says as he
pulls another quarter. I crack up when Victor holds his hand out
again. "What? I didn't say fuck!"

Danny cracks up. "Just
stop talking Tiny."

Tiny gives each boy a
dollar. "I don't know why I agreed to that fuckin swear jar. You're
bleeding me dry, you little fuckers." He smiles, the boys crack up
putting the money in the jar.

I look at Danny and shrug,
"he paid." Darren and Victor get their backpacks and kiss my cheek
as they leave with Tiny.

Danny gets Aaron's bag and
brings him to me for a kiss, then he kisses me. "Five." He kisses
my lips again. They walk out and I hear the truck leave. I sigh at
the quiet.

I get the kitchen back in
order. Even with the cleaning service coming three mornings a week
I still pick up. I feel bad for them if I leave too much of a mess.
Danny thinks I'm nuts, I just can't help it.

I grab my bag and waddle
my butt to work.

Checking in with Natalie
she tells me Patches is taking the boys to the mall and dinner at
the diner. My meeting at the school is at ten and class at Security
at twelve. Len and Karen are out on deliveries and two out of
county clients are sheltered in the city. This makes me happy
because they pay for us to shelter for them. With Ben adding solar
to the city shelters the landlords dropped the rent and gave the
long term lease. Out of county sheltering helps our programs stay
in the black even with the added people and programs. I thank
Natalie and make it to my office. I'm in my chair for two freakin
minutes when Anita comes in and sits down. "We have a high security
client coming in. There's one open at Baxter's and one at the
MC."

Damn! "What do you know?"
I really dread high security clients, they break my
heart.

"Husband is a politician,
city but still. Wife is at the hospital now; transport will bring
her right to court for an emergency order. Two daughters both
sustained injuries nothing life threatening or sexual." I let the
breath I was holding out.

"Call Doc. Have him
arrange for the Baxter shelter. We're spread thin right now with
Devon on her honeymoon." I know Mitch likes to set up therapy and
activities with the clients and kids. Her girls love helping the
kids get comfortable.

"I'll handle the meeting
with the mayor. I want to get part of that grant money for
self-defense classes." She looks determined.

"I think it's a great idea
and he'd be a fool to turn you down. There's that reporter that
wants to do a story on the Center. Remind the mayor you have that
meeting right after the luncheon." I give her a devilish
smile.

"Oh you know I will." She
says with that attitude she's been growing showing through. I can't
help my smile at the confidence I see in her. She gets up telling
me that's all she has for now.

I get to my paperwork.
Mitch's computer programs are a breeze to get through. I finish the
financials just in time to make the school meeting.

Danny meets me at the
front doors. Thirty minutes later we walk out smiling. Darren is
adjusting well and his testing shows he is well above his grade
level. They'll be giving him extra tutoring so he'll be ready to
jump a grade when the new school year starts. His teacher tells us
the school is offering sign language classes after school free of
charge. They've had a good turn out since the start. I'm glad
they're showing support for him and making it easy for him to feel
accepted. Danny reminds me again about five. I smile driving back
to the office.

I run through the rest of
my paperwork. I don't understand how Jerry took so long to do it.
We have more programs to run, more people to pay and monitor, and
more shelters to fill. I swear I have one full day of paperwork a
week. I split it up but it's still fairly light. I shake my head
and get to Security for my class. Doc is teaching it, I'm really
just sitting in and answering questions if needed. Doc is awesome
and answers everything right. He's become an important part of our
team. He even goes to the security seminars and training with me. I
tell him good job and give him a hug on my way out. He stops me at
the door asking to take the boys to a ball game next week. I tell
him to call Natalie. I have no clue what's on their schedules. He
laughs but I'm not kidding.

As I'm walking toward the
front door Doc comes running down the hall. I stop but he keeps
going. "Digs says there's a problem at the shelter house." He pulls
me along. I waddle down the steps and get in his car before he
peels out. Jeesh, you'd think a doctor would be a better driver. I
see Danny's truck when we pull up. "Stay here until I know what's
happening." I nod. Doc goes around the house. "Call an ambulance."
He yells. I dial for an ambulance giving our location and ask them
to keep the sirens off. We have a PTSD client in the next house.
They agree and tell me to stay put. My door is opened and I'm
looking at a gun.

"Out bitch. I want my boys
back. I know they're here. Where are they?" This man is not too
bright, he knows they're here but where are they? He stinks, has a
beard, dark hair, isn't as tall as Danny at six-one and his clothes
are filthy. I'm trying to get all the information I can to stick in
my brain. Doc comes around the house on a run stopping short when
he sees the guy. He puts his hands up. The guy points the gun at
him and shoots. Fuck! I jump and scream. Doc yells, “Steve, five."
What the hell? He falls holding his leg. I start to shake. He
freakin shot Doc. He pulls me over to Doc. Oh no, my brain keeps
chanting oh no, oh no, oh no. He's going to shoot Doc again. When
he raises the gun I elbow him, he shoots the ground. His air rushes
out but he doesn't miss a beat, he flips me around and back hands
me with the freakin gun in his hand. Fuck. I fall hard feeling fire
burning my face. The guy is down. Danny is on top of him beating
his head into the ground. Steve pulls him off. The Police and
ambulance show up. Of course they couldn't show up before he hit
me. Damn my face hurts. Danny lifts me up. He has blood
everywhere.

"Didn't I tell you no more
fuckin blood dripping down your face!" I yell at him. He holds his
face and laughs.

"You're ok?" He puts his
hand on my face; I swear to God it takes the sting away.

"Yeah, I'm ok. But you're
not." I tell him.

“I’m fine Kate. I was
checking the porch railing when the guy came up on my right. I saw
the gun and kicked but not before the shot. Doc came up on the same
side, I took my eyes off the guy, he pushed me into the porch and
ran. The cut on my head is from the porch.” He smiles at me. Fuckin
men.

I look around. There are
cops and the ambulance in the street but no one is moving. "What
are they doing just standing around?"

Steve and Danny look over
at them. "Fuckin pussies." Steve says giving Doc a hand
up.

I can't help it I laugh.
Then I can't stop laughing. Danny hugs me and I stop. I love this
man. "Let's get you out of here baby." He turns me and walks to his
truck. Danny puts me in the back and climbs in. Steve helps Doc
into the front. I call Anita and tell her to get people over here
to reassure the families.

Casper pulls on the side
of us. "Boy's father. Need him to sign off on the kids or I'll deal
with him and get them another way." Steve tells him. Holy shit!
Casper nods. "Clean this up." Casper nods again looking at Danny
and me. He gets out and walks over to the guy on the ground. I see
him kick the guy as Steve turns the truck around. Danny laughs
holding his face. Fuckin guy making him hold his face again. I hope
Casper kicks him again.

"How come the police are
just standing around?" I ask anyone.

"They're afraid of Steve."
Doc answers.

I don't know what to say
to that. "Oh." Is all I can come up with. Danny cracks
up.

“That kick martial arts?”
Steve asks. It takes me a minute to realize he’s talking to
Danny.

“Yeah.” Danny says and
looks out the window.

Steve gets Doc into the
hospital; the nurse looks at Danny and gets him in the bed next to
Doc. Steve tells her I need to be checked out, she puts me in the
next bed. She hands us all clip boards, Steve takes Danny's. I
don't say a word because he's a little scary right now. Jess comes
running into the room. Steve made them leave the curtain open so
she sees us all at once. "Holy Crap!" She looks at Steve. "Where
were you?" She's pissed. He puts his hands up.

"It's my fault Jess. Steve
would have had him if I didn’t take Danny’s eye away from him. I
screwed the whole thing up and got Danny’s fuckin head cut too."
Doc tells her. Oh shit. I don't say a word. "I don't know why Digs
even said anything."

Steve looks pissed at
that. He's back to scary. Jess looks at him, "sorry honey." With
that his face softens. He lifts his chin, hands her the clipboard
and walks out. I smile at Danny and get off the bed. Now that
Steve’s gone I don’t feel like he’s going to tie me to it. Jess
hugs me and we go over to Danny. Two doctors come in looking
nervous. One goes to Danny the other goes to Doc.

Me and Jess sit on the
edge on my bed watching and filling out the sheets. She touches my
face and asks a passing nurse for an ice pack. Danny needs stitches
on his head and arm where a bullet grazed him. At least that's what
they said, it looks like a long damn deep cut that freakin hurts to
me. A woman doctor comes in to check me out. She hooks me up to all
kinds of crap, closes the curtain and does an internal. She
declares me and baby are fine. Jess helps me dress and opens the
curtain just as the doctor finishes bandaging Danny up. A nurse
tries to put something on Danny, he’s waving her away, she gives it
to him with a huff, I laugh when I see it’s just a
sling.

Ben walks in and right up
to me giving me a hug. Patches and Tiny are right behind him.
Patches looks relieved to see we're fine. They all stand and watch
but they don't say a word. The doctor that is working on Doc asks
if he can close the curtain. Doc tells him no. The guy jumps. I
have to hold my laugh in. I think the guys not talking is scaring
him even more than Steve did.

I get some gauze and wet
it so I can clean Danny's face. He takes off his patch so I can get
both sides. He looks at the patch. "Fuck, there's no way I'm gonna
clean this one."

"I'll order you more. You
still have the black one and the original that the hospital gave
you." I tell him as if it's just another day. I smile at him trying
not to laugh, he still has the eye one too. I hear Anita yelling in
the waiting room. Jess cracks up and goes out to calm her down. The
guys still haven't said one word.

Finally the doctor working
on Doc bandages him up and orders the nurse to get him crutches.
Tiny goes over to him and helps him stand. The doctor starts
talking about how to clean it but stops when Tiny looks at him.
Crap, I'd shut up too. Sometimes these guys are a scary looking
bunch. Jess comes back in. Tiny walks to the hall with Doc, Patches
stands beside Danny, Jess and Ben on the side of me. We walk out in
that order. The whole damn waiting room is bikers, old ladies, some
off duty cops, center workers and Detective Harris. He looks pale
as he asks Steve questions. Danny sees him and laughs holding his
face. Doc stands in the middle of everyone. "Kate is fine, her and
the baby did not get hurt except for the backhand the fuckin pussy
laid on her." The bikers growl. I step closer to Jess. "Danny has
17 stitches in his head and fourteen on his arm where a bullet
grazed him." They don't growl for him. Jeesh! "I'm fine, they
removed the bullet and I'll be good as new once it heals." Everyone
starts talking.