MC: LaPonte (28 page)

Jake comes over and sits
on the desk like he's getting ready to watch a movie. I laugh.
Harris goes right to Steve. "This your work Knight?" He asks with a
smile.

"Not playin your fuckin
games Barney." He hands him the flash drive. "Get this fuckin body
out of here and get me a real cop. Not answerin a fuckin question
you put to me." Steve says pissed. He's scary when he's pissed.
Harris just looks at him, he’s no longer smiling.

Danny and his friend Paul
come in with big smiles. "Sorry Knight, I just had to see your face
when Barney showed up." Paul says. I thought Peter was Harris’
partner. It’s funny to have two Pauls’. Danny brings me my coffee
and stands beside my chair. The coffee is perfect. I pull him down
for a kiss then watch the guys while I'm happily
sipping.

Steve doesn't look happy.
He takes the drive away from Harris and gives it to Paul.
"Justifiable homicide. Uniform has my gun. I want it back and we
need this fuckin body out of here."

Paul laughs. "I love when
you give me video. Makes my life easy. I'll get your gun and get
the stiff out of here. Is this the SWAT guy?" He bends putting the
guy’s gun in a bag.

"Yeah, Anita's insulted he
just winged her." Steve says with a smile.

"She at the Bakery?" Paul
asks. Steve nods then looks at Harris.

"Why he fuck you still
here? Nothin to fuck up here Barney, get the fuck out." Steve says
in a menacing voice. “Next time you’re sightseein in one of our
buildings you leave your fuckin gun outside.” Paul laughs when
Harris jumps. He holds the door for him and talks to the uniform.
The cop waves the morgue guys in. When Paul comes back in he smiles
at Steve. "Why the fuck you always send Barney? Fuckin guy makes me
nervous wearin a gun. Hope you don't give him fuckin bullets."
Steve says still looking pissed. Jake laughs. The morgue guys take
the dead guy out.

Ben looks at me. "Patches
should be here any minute. Doc is setting up at your old house." I
nod. The CNA walks in looking curious. I give her the address and
tell her Doc is waiting for her and the client isn't far
behind.

Paul looks at me. "You got
stuff for the kids, it was twins right?"

"Yeah eight years old,
high functioning Down Syndrome. The old ladies were picking up some
basics for them but I don't know about toys. They should be here
any minute. I'll be able to tell what would be appropriate age when
I can talk to them." I tell him. "Glad their father's not still in
the doorway."

"Fuck. I'll get your gun
back Knight. I can wait until they get here. Got some guys looking
for something to do. They mentioned shopping; I know the MC handled
the kids in town. We can take the kids and the mom off your
plate."

"That would be perfect,
thanks Paul. You might want to get Steve's gun, I think he's
running out of patience here. Harris drains it out of him." I smile
at Steve.

Paul doesn't look back, he
walks out the door. Steve gives me a smile. "Thanks
Kate."

"No problem." I look at
Ben. "Did you get the paperwork from the lawyer yet?"

He nods, "Yeah, Keith is
bringing it down as soon as the judge signs it. I had to get the
papers redone after Steve shot the guy."

Jake looks at me. "Not
squeamish at all huh?"

Danny laughs, "Only for
worms." I shiver. They laugh.

Patches comes in holding
the hands of the twins. Danny holds my hand and we walk to them
squatting down to their level. "This is Ms. Kate and Mr. Danny the
people I told you about." The little girl looks at me and smiles.
My heart melts. The boy asks Danny if he's a pirate. Everyone
laughs. His voice is thick and distorted. Danny signs no he's just
Danny with a broke eye.

They both smile and sign
back. Their names are Ally and Alex. I laugh and sign Merry
Christmas. They sign it back. Patches laughs, “I didn't think to
sign. I was having trouble understanding them, I should have tried
it."

"It's not something you
would know right off Brother. Now that you know can you get them
making a list, we have volunteers to shop for them." Danny tells
him. Patches takes them to the conference room to make lists. They
are excited, making funny noises. I smile at them. They are
adorable with platinum blond hair and green eyes.

Paul comes in with Steve's
gun. "Watched the video, don't really need anything more. That was
some impressive shooting. Two shots one hole. Thanks Knight." He
smiles at Steve.

Steve gives him a chin
lift and walks out saying he has shit to do. We hear bikes pulling
up. I look at Danny, "this is like the day that never ends and it's
not even three." He chuckles.

Tiny comes in with a
Prospect following. "Got you some chaps, gloves and hats for under
your helmets." He tells Jake. "Prospect will take your vehicle to
the Club lot."

"Thanks man, this is
fuckin awesome." He says as Zack and Anita come in followed by my
workers. He holds up the gear so Zack can see and gives Tiny his
keys. Paul pulls Anita to my office.

"Fuckin nice, thanks man."
Zack says as he fist bumps Tiny.

"Did the kids come in
yet?" Tiny asks. Danny points to the conference room. "I got them
Santa hats for the deliveries." He holds a bag up.

"Nice. They sign, it might
be easier to understand them." Danny tells him. He goes to meet the
twins.

Zack asks, "Everybody here
really does sign?"

"Yes, Ben set classes up
so the club could learn to talk to one of our boys, he's deaf.
Shocked the hell out of us when everyone showed for the classes.
It's not your ordinary MC." I tell him.

"I believe it, sure as
hell not what I expected." Jake says. "With Knight around I'm not
surprised. He's always doing the unexpected." He says with a
smile.

"My Brother hasn't changed
much. You were on the team he was satellite for?" Ben
asks.

Jake looks at Zack, "Yeah,
we had some shit jobs. Didn't really work with Knight. Most of our
time together was traveling. We ran cleanup for him a few times but
he's not a talker and we didn't get details just
orders."

"I think it would be good
to stop there. The whole town is wired and Steve's head of
Security. I don't want another fuckin threat of him killing me in
my sleep. I was just wondering how long you've known him." Ben
tells them.

They crack up. "Wouldn't
have said anymore but I don't want him killing me in my sleep
either. He'd find us anywhere but we're sleeping at the club
tonight. We met him when we were put on Baxter's team with the
tenth. I think he'd been there two years already. We worked
together for three."

Me and Danny get up and
check on the twins. They have their lists done and are coloring
with Tiny. Patches brings me the lists. "I think Gameboys would be
good for them. One of the boys left one in the truck and they
played it. They never played one before. They read like Aaron. The
clothes they're wearing are size six. I wrote it all down with the
favorite colors, characters and shows. They never made a list so
had to I ask them questions. They didn't ask for
anything."

"Good job Patches." I kiss
his cheek. "I got this if you need to get moving."

"I told them I'd bring
them over to your house tomorrow. Doc said their mom will be out
for a few days." He looks back at them. He doesn't want to leave
them.

"I'll call Doc. If he
thinks she'll be out we can bring them over tonight. They can spend
Christmas with us."

He gives me the biggest
smile. "I need to pick something up. I'll be over for the boys at
five." He bends and kisses my cheek before running out. I just
laugh.

Paul walks in I hand him
the list, he reads through it. "Wow this is great. Do you know
anything about the mom?"

"No I can give you Doc's
number, you can ask him but Patches said she's going to be out for
a few days." I tell him.

Danny gives him Doc's
number. "They'll be at our house for Christmas. If no one’s there
have the guys call me, I'll have someone open the door for them.
Tell them put the stuff in the laundry room with the door closed.
We'll get it under the tree for them."

"Will do. Merry
Christmas!" The twins sign 'Merry Christmas' to him. "Fuck they're
cute kids." He signs back, turns and walks out. Danny calls Doc, he
tells him we should keep the kids with us.

"Wow." I put my arm around
him and walk to the kids. "We need to get the kids in the truck and
get moving. I need to get Devan from Millie and get dinner going
for everyone. Patches is picking the boys up at five."

"I got Sam to make us
sandwiches. A Prospect is delivering it over at four. Bob got us
booster seats for them. They're old enough to sit on the seat but
they're small and won't be able to see out the window." He tells
me.

"You are the best husband.
If we were alone I'd lie on the table for you." I bite his ear
lobe.

"None of that here, I
watch Oprah. That shit's not good for kids to hear." Tiny stage
whispers cracking us up.

"You're just jealous. It's
not what she said, it's what you know is inferred. They don't get
that. You need to be watching Mr. Roger's." Danny tells
him.

"So my little friends are
we ready to go. We're going to be Santa's helpers tonight and
deliver presents to good boys and girls. Do you think you can
help?" They jump up and down yelling. Tiny cracks up.

I get Ally's coat while
Danny gets Alex's on him. We get the kids in the truck and he goes
to pick up the boys. I go back into the office for my coat and to
let my people leave for the day. Len is on call, I have him set a
message that we're full and can be reached for emergency only.
Everyone leaves with Merry Christmas' and hugs. Anita is going to
the Community Center so I'll see her in a little while.

I pick up my boy from
Millie with a see you later and head home. I'm excited to see how
the boys react to Ally and Alex.

I pull in and Ben is
sitting in the driveway, he brings me the custody papers and tells
me he'll see me later. He doesn’t look happy. I kiss his cheek and
wonder about the frown.

I get us in and feed my
little man. Tiny shows up and burps Devan. Danny and the boys come
in with Jessie and Little Ben holding Ally and Alex's hands. I
crack up. Danny takes Devan and Tiny gets the kids to sit at the
table. I get Devan back and finish feeding him. Ally comes over
wanting to know what this is all about. I smile telling her I'm
feeding him. She looks under the blanket and Tiny swears. Danny
cracks up. The boys hold their hands out. I think my house is
officially crazy. Little Ben comes over and tells Ally the baby
hides to eat because girls don't show that to boys until they're
married. I can't help but laugh. He takes her back to the table. A
Prospect comes in with Steve, Jess and Elizabeth. They tell me
Tracy and Nancy are on their way. Little Ben and Jessie give
Elizabeth a kiss and tell her they love her. They are just too
cute.

Holy crap! "We need a
bigger table." I tell Danny as I'm handing Devan over.

He looks at Steve, "we
could build one." Steve laughs. He takes the bottle Jess is holding
and feeds Elizabeth. Tiny gets sandwiches on plates for the kids. I
get drinks. Jess gets napkins for the kids then plates for Steve
and Danny.

Nancy and Tracy come in
with Patches following. Tracy gets chips on all the plates. I
laugh, "As a group we make awesome parents." They laugh with me. "I
can't even imagine that woman that has eight with six the same
age."

"She's nuts." Tracy says.
Something seems off her voice is flat. I look at her. She busies
herself with a sandwich. I look at Jess. She's watching her
too.

I sign to Ally and Alex,
'Jess is Little Ben's mom and Steve is his dad. The baby Steve has
is his sister Elizabeth.' They watch Steve feed Elizabeth. I tell
them, 'Tracy is Jessie's mom.' They ask 'where is his dad?' I ask
Tracy she signs 'the club.' I explain what that means then let them
finish eating. Something is going on. I look at Jess. She shakes
her head.

Patches comes back in
grabbing a sandwich and drink. "Did you get what you needed done
Patches?" I ask. He smiles around a bite and nods.

Danny slaps his back. "You
did good today Patches. Do you have experience with
Down's?"

"No but I had a friend
who's little brother was handicapped. He just took a little more
time than everyone else. He was a wicked good kid. Always smiling."
He smiles remembering.

I squeezes his arm,
"you're a good man Patches. You're going to be a great dad
someday." He smiles down at me then lifts his chin. I just smile.
Darren catches my attention asking if Alex is sleeping in their
room. I look at Danny. He shrugs. I ask Alex and Ally what they
think. Ally tells me she 'can't sleep with the boys she has to
sleep in the girl's room.' I nod looking at Danny again. "I think
I'm going to take care of that while you do your
deliveries."

"I can stay and help." He
says but I wave him off.