Page 7

Chewy

I chew on my pancakes as I watch Laney sitting on the floor with Chomper. Rhodie put a muzzle on him to keep Laney safe and he’s small enough to not knock her over or anything. Not that she would mind. She squealed and babbled a bunch of words as soon as she saw him, wriggling to get down out of Rhodie’s arms.

“Chewy, we’re meeting up at the diner for lunch today, it’s kinda like our own DRMC mom’s group. Wanna join?” Nat asks, her chunky daughter Rosie on her hip.

I tilt my head, looking in her direction. “I didn’t know you had a mom’s group.”

“Well, it’s not really. It’s a get-together-for-lunch-and-spend-most-of-our-time-talking-about- our-kids group.” Blanche answers, rubbing her big, swollen belly. I eye it for a moment because there’s no way it can get bigger. Surely.

“OK. It makes sense that I wouldn’t have been interested before. I mean, kids don’t really interest me. Apart from mine, now that I have one. She seems quite smart too,” I dart my gaze to see what she’s doing. She’s sitting babbling to Chomper, staring intently at his scales. One chubby finger gently touches one of his thicker scales as she pats him gently. Rhodie is sitting next to her, murmuring something, and she nods her head. She’s learning. “Also, I’m sure I’ll be able to get lots of information and pointers seeing as Blanche and Remy have old kids.”

“Thanks,” Remy says, but not in a thankful way. More of a sarcastic way.

“So, what time is lunch?” I ask, glancing back at Rhodie and Laney.

“We like to get there at 11.30, get the good seats before the lunch rush,” Mira says with a huge smile.

My brows pinch in, Mira doesn’t have children so I point out the obvious.

“Pshh,” Mira flaps a hand at me, “I may not have kids, but I like the research. Might need it for a book one day.”

“Fair enough,” I shrug.

“Morning girlies,” Pops greets everyone, dropping a kiss to the top of my head. “So, we meeting same time, same place?”

Tilting my head I stare at Pops for a moment, “Wait, you go to lunch with the Girl Gang too?”

“Of course I do.” Pops gives me a funny look.

“I thought it was a Mommie’s group?” I frown.

“When you lost your parents I became your mommy and your daddy as well as your Pops. Realistically I should have three groups with whom to share my knowledge, yet alas, I only have the one,” Pops laments.

“I’m sure one is more than enough,” Ana says under her breath as she walks over to drop a kiss on Pops’ cheek.

She plops down next to Pops and hands JR over to him before turning and greeting Laney with a big smile and a wave. Laney looks toward her and waves for a second, her attention back on Chomper’s toenails.

“Gus got Marx business?” Lovely asks.

“Gus and Roman business. Roman was pulling in when we were,” Ana answers, taking the plate of scrambled eggs Mama Debs presents her with. “Thanks Mama.”

“Welcome, baby.”

“Welcome, baby,” I echo. I say it once more, wondering if it’s something I could pull off, now that I’m a mom and all. Turning to Laney, I echo the words once more. “Welcome, baby.” She frowns at me so I figure that one is not for me.

“Testing it out?” Pops says, bumping his shoulder with mine.

“Not for me,” I sigh.

“Hey, it ain’t for everyone,” he says.

“I agree,” Vi chimes in, Juno on her hip. “I couldn’t pull it off either.

“I think the only person who could is Lovely,” Remy joins in.

Nat, Mira and Blanche all nod while Lovely turns a little pink in the cheeks. “Welcome, baby,” she says perfectly and it just fits. We all grin at her as she snuggles Bee and whispers it into her dark hair.

I like this. This weird lady bonding. Well, lady and Pops bonding. I mean, they’re my girl gang anyway, but being a Mommy Girl Gang is different. It’s new and kinda exciting. Standing abruptly, they all look toward me.

“I’m going to spend time with my daughter so I will have questions and ideas at lunch. I’ll see you all then. Oh, and Ana? Ask Gus what his meeting was about. I may need to know the details.”

Her brows furrow. “He usually briefs you after every meeting with Marx anyway.”

“Yes but I’m on maternity leave for obvious reasons,” I wave toward Rhodie and Laney, “so I will be multitasking home and work life. Having you brief me at lunch consolidates two things into one meaning I have more time to practice caring for Laney. I’m a little slow to do things at the moment, but Jules said that it’s a good idea to try shaving off a second here or there every day. It’s all practice, you know?” I tilt my head and glance at the Girl Gang.

“Yeah, we know what you mean,” Ana says, and I ignore the twitches of the Girl Gang’s lips. I’m sure if they thought about it deep enough they’ll see that I am correct.

Leaving them to it I make my way to the rug where my little family sits, Chomper at the center, soaking up all the attention.

“Babe, did you know baby girl ate all her scrambled eggs?” Rhodie says, and I’m sure that’s a look of pride on his face. Sometimes he looks at me like that and it makes my chest hurt in a good way.

“Good work, Laney!” I say, with enthusiasm because children like that kind of thing. Also, I’ve heard Vi’s sister Jazz speak like that to the MC kids and she’s a teacher so she should know the best way to get their attention and teach them things.

Laney gives me a smile and a clap and I can’t help but grin back. The same smile stays on my face as I share a look with Rhodie, because clearly the child we have chosen is very clever. I can see how easy it is for parents to brag about their children. Although many parents have mediocre children. I’ll need to research how to make sure Laney advances at the right stage for her age, or maybe even beyond.

“Babe? You’ve got that look on your face, maybe park that idea for a moment, yeah?” Rhodie says in his rough voice, like he’s been gargling rocks his whole life.

“What idea?” I ask, avoiding eye contact.

“Not sure, but I can read you like a book and that look is a ‘fall down the rabbit hole’ look. Remember we decided we’d spend as much time having Laney get to know us as possible over the next few days.”

“Yes, yes, trust me, I can multitask. I got this.” I wave him off and move to stand.

Laney tilts her head back and moves to stand with me, gator stuffy held tight in her left hand as she reaches up for my hand with her right.

“Come on, Laney-May, it’s reading time. Reading for good brain development should be done in little short bursts at your age, for optimum language absorption.”

Rhodie snorts, picks up Chomper and waves a hand. “Lead the way, Professor Chewy.”

Rhodie

“What is this music?” Cove whines in her overly loud voice.

“It sounds like an invasion!” Jovie adds in, messing around with a huge dinosaur Rider gave her.

Chewy ignores the question, instead concentrating on reading some type of chapter book to Laney, who is nestled in a beanbag. I doubt if she even knows what the hell Chewy is talking about, but she’s quietly listening, her chubby fingers playing with her stuffy’s feet. Her little fat foot is slowly moving back and forth over Chomper’s tail as he snoozes.

“It sounds bad. SO bad. Why are we listening to this and not Metallica?” Cove asks.

“Because Metallica isn’t good for brain development. Baroque music is,” Chewy says, before turning the page and reading on.

“Metallica is good for dancing. This isn’t good for dancing.” To illustrate Cove raises her rock on horns and bangs her head in some type of frantic movement to match the beat.

If I’m being honest, it looks pretty identical to how I’ve seen her dance to rock, but what would I know? Jovie giggles and gets up to copy Cove while Elio sits ramrod straight next to Laney’s bean bag listening to Chewy. His brain is probably soaking up all the classical music and shit. As if the kid needs to be any smarter.

A heavy hand lands on my shoulder and I turn in the tiny fucking kid chair Chewy made me sit in to see my dad smiling down at me. Grinning, I jump up and throw my arms around my dad, giving him heavy thumps on the back to match his on mine.

“Fucking good to see you, old man!”

“Yeah yeah, smartass. Now, is that one my grandbaby?” Mad Dog’s eyes are laser focused on Laney, a look of awe on his face. “Fuck, you couldn’t get a kid that looked more like you and Chewy if you birthed her yourself. Holy shit, Rhodie!”

I nod in agreement, because he’s right. Laney is the perfect mix of me and Chewy. Her head is full of wild, dark curls, she has tanned skin and big green eyes, identical in color to mine. At this point we have no idea what her personality will be like or how much what she’s been through will affect her in her life, but it doesn’t matter. She’s ours, through thick and thin, good and bad. I mean, shit, it’s not like me and Chewy are perfect. We fucking kill people for a living. A frown pinches my brow before I remember what Chewy tells me all the time when I sink into the darkness.

“We do what we do, to keep others safe. We protect them from the bad and we give them their lives back. With our actions they get closure. Rhodie, you are a good person that does bad things to make the world a better place. That’s one of the things I love about you. The other is your big cock.”

I huff out a laugh as I shake off the memory.

“All good, Son? Lost ya there for a bit.” Dad’s green eyes, just like mine and Marx’s assess me, looking for what, I don’t know.

“Yeah, just had a moment.”

“You went dark, huh?”

I nod, eyes still on my family.

Mad Dog lets out a sigh, “If you need a session Son, just let me know.” I nod at him, “Good, now introduce me, shit, how long does an old man have to wait to meet his granddaughter?”

I roll my eyes and huff out a laugh. “Come on then.”

We walk past Cove and Jovie who are still acting like they’re in a mosh pit and dad raises his brows.

“The dark haired girl and boy belong to Chewy’s brother Tav. The other one is Wire’s.”

“Shit, you lot have kids coming out the wazoo,” Dad chuckles.

“Ain’t that the truth,” I answer before turning to Chewy. “Babe,” I call, pulling her out of her reading.

Her head snaps in our direction, her eyes growing huge when her gaze lands on Mad Dog.

“Mad Dog! You’re home!” She jumps up and instead of throwing herself into his arms immediately, she bounces on the balls of her feet, flapping a little, unsure what to do.

Mad Dog opens his arms and she bustles into them, gently tapping her hands on his back before pulling back.

“You’re back just in time! Laney and I have just finished up our chapter for this morning.”

She drops to her knees in front of Laney, looking into the toddler’s face, “Laney, this is your grandfather-” her brows pinch and she looks back at us, “What do we call you? Laney already has a Pops. What do you want to be called, Mad Dog?” she asks my dad.

Mad Dog thinks, his mouth in a straight line, brows furrowed. “Well -”

“Doggy,” A tiny voice says quietly.

My head snaps toward Laney, cuddling her gator, her finger pointing in Mad Dog’s direction. I crouch down next to Chewy, in front of our daughter.

“That’s right baby. That’s Mad Dog,” I grin at her.

“Doggy!” she says, stronger now as her feet kick.

“Well, there you go,” Dad booms. “Looks like I’m gonna be known as ‘Doggy’ to my grandkids,” he throws his head back and laughs, then grips my shoulder and shoves me out of the way, making Laney giggle.

He holds his hands out to her and she practically throws herself into his hold. His grin is fucking infectious and I watch him murmuring to Laney, rocking her this way and that.

“Shit, what the fuck!” Mad Dog stumbles back, eyes wide, gripping Laney to his chest. “What in the fuck!? That’s a fucking gator!” He’s gaping down at Chomper who decides at this very moment to lazily open his mouth and try and have a go at Dad’s boot.

“Oh, this is your very first grandchild! Meet Chomper!” Chewy says, scooping up our gator baby and holding him up to my father who stumbles back.

He’s fucking speechless and I’d take my phone out to record this if I knew I would stay alive long enough to show it to all the brothers.

“Chewy, why, how the fuck- shit you know what? I don’t want to know.” He loosens his grip on Laney, rubbing one hand down his face. “I’m sure he’s a lovely little gator but let’s just agree that he stays far away from Doggy, OK?”

I snort, he’s not gonna live this down. He became a grandfather and now he’s referring to himself in the third person.

“It’s OK, baby. Doggy loves you, just not up close,” Chewy murmurs, running her hands down Chomper’s back.

“Aunt Chewy! Can Chomper dance with us?” Jovie asks, looking all damp from the amount of bouncing her and Cove have been doing.

Elio who was sitting listening to Chewy read has obviously had enough of what’s going on because he’s now taken the chapter book and moved into a quiet corner, reading to himself.

“He’s not good at dancing, but I’m sure he’ll try,” Chewy says, putting Chomper on the floor in the middle of the two girls who dance around him like women dance around their handbags in clubs.

“Hey babyg-,” Pops’ words cut off as he freezes in the doorway, taking in Laney in Mad Dog’s arms. “What the fuck?” he murmurs, eyes narrowing at the scene.

“Sid! Good to see you again,” Dad offers his hand then pulls it back when all Pops does is stare at it. “So, how about this little miracle huh? We’re now grandpa’s in-law,” Dad grins at Laney then back at Pops, his eyes still narrowed.

“Yes, isn’t that something,” Pops answers. He holds his hands out to Laney, a big smile on his face, “Wanna come give Pops a little cuddle?”

She grins at Pops then points to my dad, poking him in the chest. “Doggy!”

Pops’ hands spring back, like he’s been burned, shock on his face.

“Doggy!”

“Yeah, sweetheart,” Pops swallows and clears his throat, “yeah, that’s Mad Dog.” Laney grins and leans her head on Dad’s shoulder.

He stares for a moment longer, eyes getting narrower and narrower the longer he stares at my father.

“You OK there Sid?” Dad asks, looking concerned.

“Oh yeah, just…thinking.” He leans around Mad Dog and Laney. “Elio, mind giving me a hand with…something?” His eyes dart to Dad, then back to Elio who carefully places a bookmark into the book he was reading, and places the book back on the shelf, before coming toward us.

“Explosions?” he asks, looking up at Pops, ignoring everyone else in the room.

Pops’ eyes flick to Mad Dog, then back, “No, not just yet. Let’s go brainstorm.” He turns stiffly, then throws a wave over his shoulder, bustling out, Elio hot on his heels.

We watch him leave and then Dad turns to me, “Son, I know I’ve been away for a while but holy shit, this place is chaos.”

I throw my head back and laugh, he has no fucking idea.