When Iarrived at the school, Bentley was sitting in the principal’s office. Once the secretary had checked my identification and confirmed I was good to pick him up, she led me to the office. The second I enter the room, I swear the principal turns her nose up at me when she sees my tattoos and work shirt. “I’m here to pick up Bentley. His mother called ahead.” She doesn’t make any effort to move from behind her desk. “Yes. I hope his mother understands that we don’t tolerate physical violence of any kind, no matter what might be fine with her outside of these walls. We have rules for a reason.” I know it’s not my place, but apparently, my mouth didn’t get the message. “And do you have rules for bullying? Seems to me if you did, then things wouldn’t have gotten physical. Might be something to look into.” I put my hand on Bentley’s shoulder. “Let’s go, kid.”
He’s quiet until we get into my truck and head out to go back to the shop. “Is Mom really mad at me? Do I have to go home and sit in my room?” I glance over and see him gnawing on his bottom lip, just like his mom when she’s nervous. “No, I don't think she’s really mad. I think she knows you were trying to defend your friend, which is good. You just can’t be physical at school. I’m not going to say I don’t understand why you did it and that you were wrong because I don’t think you were. You just have to learn to follow the rules at school, okay?” He looks down and nods his head. I know this kid is even smarter than I think. “And you’re not going home. You’re coming to work with me for the rest of the day. I’ve got a car I need to do a tune-up on and one I need to figure out why it’s got a knocking noise.”
“Mom said I could work with you? On engines?” I have to hide my grin at his excitement. “Yeah, she did. You’re going to have to listen to what I tell you or what my brothers tell you to do. You going to listen?” He nods, and about a minute later, the questions start. “What kind of car are you working on right now? Is it a diesel or gas engine? You said your brothers. Those are the guys in that club you’re in that you told us about, right? How many work at the shop? Do you rebuild engines there or do basic maintenance? Do you work on sports cars?”
I pull into the shop parking lot and try to remember each question he just asked since I think he might have asked at least twenty. “Right now, I just have a Toyota Camry on my rack, andit's a gas engine. In fact, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a Camry that was diesel. Yes, the brothers I work with are the same guys I’m in the club with. You’re going to meet them before your brother and sister. I can’t remember what else you asked me, but if you ask me while we’re working, I’ll answer them. Let’s go inside and meet everyone, okay?” Bentley pushes up his glasses while he nods and opens the door to get out of the truck.
The bay doors aren’t open since it’s been raining cats and dogs all morning, so he can’t see that they’re all full and being used. “Do you guys do a lot of work?” I nod as we reach the door to the office and waiting room. “Yeah, we do. The doors are closed since it’s been raining all morning.” He opens the door, and I follow him inside.
I introduce him to Shandy, who’s working the front desk today. His cheeks redden when she reaches out to shake his hand. He smiles and tells her it’s nice to meet her. Shandy looks up at me. “I’m gonna run over to the parts store later, and they’re by that gas station that has the good chicken and Jojos if you want to order lunch.” I tell her I’ll check with his mom and let her know. I know she doesn’t want him to be rewarded with lunch, but I know he has to eat.
Bentley follows me down the hallway, and right before we get to the door to the shop Jon and Rory come out of Jon’s office. Rory speaks up first. “And who do we have here?” Bentley sticks his hand out to shake Rory’s hand. “I’m Bentley. I’m nine. Bensaid I can work with him today since I got in trouble at school today, though I still don’t get why when I defended my friend like a good friend is supposed to do.” Rory being smart doesn’t comment on Bentley’s getting into trouble. “Well, good to meet ya. Ben knows a lot about cars, so I think you’ll learn a lot.”
Bentley holds his hand out to shake Jon’s hand. “This is Jon. He’s our club president and our boss here.” Jon stares him down and then gives him a smile. “Nice to meet you. You do good work, and you’ll be welcome here anytime, got it?” Bentley, looking completely serious, nods his head. “Yes, Bossman.” I think Pres just got a new nickname. “Well, we better get to work, don’t you think?” Bentley nods and follows me out to the shop. I think this is gonna be more of a reward than either Kimbra or I realized. Somehow, I think she’s gonna be okay with it.
**********
I look up at the clock and see it’s a few minutes before five. Time to clean up and finish up for the day. Bentley worked with me for about an hour, and then he got distracted by Juan and Jameson working on an engine rebuild on a pickup. I look over, and he’s leaning over the edge of the truck into the engine, his feet dangling. He’s got Juan right next to him. Jon came out about an hour ago and is on Bentley’s other side. Seems they’re having funwith his bazillion questions. He seems to ask whatever comes to mind.
I think the best question I heard all day was when he was first working with Juan. Bentley was standing next to Jon, and Juan had just made some off-handed comment. Bentley looked at Juan and asked him, “Why do you call it backfiring when I don’t see any fire in the back of the car?” I think Jon almost had an aneurysm, trying not to laugh out loud at Juan’s expression. Bentley looked over at me, and I gave him the answer. What I said must have made enough sense because he moved on to another question. It’s good to keep these young men on their toes. Makes them realize we never have all the answers.
I walk over to them. “It’s quitting time. We need to get cleaned up and get home. Your mom will be heading home in a few minutes. She messaged me that she was picking up your brother and sister.” He follows the guys' directions and puts the tools away. Then he washes his hands alongside his new favorite person, Juan. He grabs his stuff and follows me to the truck, talking the whole way about how he hopes he gets to come back tomorrow or another day. “I think Juan needs my help to get that engine working right.”
“I don’t know if your mom is going to have you spend the day with me or not. Remember, this isn’t supposed to be a vacation.” He sighs and leans back into the seat of the truck. “I know, but I wasn’t going to let that dummy Dexter pick on my friend Abbyanymore. He is always teasing her and pulling her braids, calling her slow, ugly, and fat. She’s actually super smart, but she’s quiet and doesn’t like to speak in class because she talks funny. He’s the dumb one.” I know he did what I would do, but I also know that he needs to behave in school and not get suspended again. “I get why you did what you did, son, but in school, you can’t hit people. Did you tell your teacher before this all happened?” Out of the corner of my eye, I see him pout and look out the window. “Then I’d be a tattletale and snitch. That’s what little kids and babies do. Besides, Mom says you’re supposed to defend your friends.” Well, when he’s right and reasonable, how can you argue with that?
“In school, it’s not really tattling when you tell the teacher, especially if this is happening where she can’t see it going on. The other piece of advice that I doubt your mom ever said to you, but as man-to-man, I’m going to let you in on a little secret.” I stop at a red light and look over. He seems almost excited to hear what I have to say. I’m really beginning not to care for their dad and his lack of parenting. “In life in general, but especially at school, never throw the first punch. If you have to be in a fight, make sure the other guy starts the fight. You’ll get in less trouble that way, and it’s self-defense.” I really hope Kimbra doesn’t think I’ve overstepped.
A few minutes later, we’re pulling up to her place, and I see she’s pulling into the driveway. Bentley sighs a big sigh for someoneso young. He grabs his backpack and jacket and opens the truck door. “Let’s get this over with.” I can’t help but chuckle. He is super smart, and then there are moments that remind me he’s not quite ten years old.
I walk up the driveway as the kids run into the house. Kimbra gets out of her SUV with her bags and gives me a tired smile. I lean down and give her a kiss. “Long day, Doc?” She gives me a slight smile. “Yeah, long day, and I still need to deal with Bent. This is the part of parenting they don’t tell you about where you’re actually happy with how he defended his friend, but you have to tell him otherwise.” I grab her bags from her and follow her in. “He’s a good kid. He kept the guys on their toes all day with his questions. It was great. Do you need me to take him with me tomorrow?” She shakes her head. “No, Ms. Elenore is back tonight and already said she would watch him. Besides, I can’t make both days a fun thing for him. Otherwise, I’m not being that great of a mom. Want to stay for dinner? We’re having nuggets and french fries tonight. Real gourmet.” She chuckles as she moves through the house, kicking her shoes off and picking up toys, clothes, and other things the kids have left about. She gets to the kitchen and opens the freezer. She lets out almost a whine. “I swear this morning, when I looked, there were chicken nuggetsandfries in here!” She pulls out the nuggets but then just stares into the freezer. I walk over and look. There are definitely no fries in the freezer. “You got potatoes?” Kimbralooks at me. “Yeah, I have some in the pantry.” I grab the bag of nuggets from her. “You go do the mom thing, and I’ll get dinner ready, fries and all.” I have to fight busting out laughing at her shocked expression. “You’re…you’re gonna cook us dinner?” I make a scoffing sound. “Doc, this is hardly cooking. I know how to cook. I had to learn so I could survive all these years. This is pretty basic, so I’m sure I can handle it.”
I’m gifted with her grabbing me by my neck and kissing me with emotion that I wouldn’t have guessed making dinner brought out. She breaks the kiss and looks at me, her eyes looking glassy. I might have to kick my own ass for making her cry. “I was married for more than ten years, and not once did he ever even offer to make anything more than a phone call to order takeout. Thank you, Mathis.” I lean down and kiss her quickly. “Go do what you need to do. I got this. You’re not alone anymore.” She nods and heads down the hall to the kids’ rooms.
Kimbra
I can’t believe he cooked dinner for us. He just jumped right in and helped out. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming because I was starting to believe that men didn’t actually do things like that in real life. He not only made dinner with homemade fries, but he made a salad that my kids are actually eating. What kind of sorcery is this? I mean, evenBentley, who’s my pickiest eater, has eaten all his salad and had seconds on fries. He’s not quite as big a fry eater as most kids, so this is pretty monumental.
Ben’s making dinner also gave me time to have a talk with Bentley, and even though I think he did the right thing, I had to do the whole mom thing and tell him hitting someone wasn’t the answer. I get a feeling he and Ben had a talk today, and that’s another thing to add to my list proving he’s a unicorn. Or a cyborg. That’s an alien, isn’t it? I don’t think I’m in trouble. I think I might be already gone.
CHAPTER FIVE
When your kid asks you why bald eagles are called that when they aren’t bald, how the hell do you answer them?
~Text from Kimbra to Ben~
Kimbra
It’s Saturday, and I’m a bundle of nerves. Ben’s coming over to pick us up and take us to his club’s family day. The family day where I’m meeting everyone who’s important to Ben. That’s not intimidating at all. I know I’ve met quite a few of them before, but that was in a professional setting, and I wasn’t being introduced as his girlfriend. I may have changed my shirt three…okay, four times. You’d be nervous, too, if you were in my shoes, and you know it.
He told me I didn’t need to bring anything with me, but there are four of us. I know that’s a lot of extra mouths, so I’ll be damned if I come empty-handed. I made cheese puffs because, one, they’re delicious, and two, I might need some emotional support olives inside of them. I also made Watergate salad, though my kidsrefuse to call it anything but green fluff. I don’t bake much, and I know Jane is queen of all baked goods, so I had no desire to make a dessert.
The kids have asked me dozens of questions about who we’re going to meet. Bentley has told them all about the guys he met at the shop. Hell, I think he knows more of the guys’ names than I do at this point. He’s super excited to go, even though I told him they were most likely not going to be working on engines since I know he can get super focused on something like that. I got an actual eye roll from him and an, “I know that, Mom.” Why did he sound just like his brother? How is my Bent—my little smarty pants—growing up enough to do that? Must be spending too much one-on-one time with Branson and boys that age, as I refuse to acknowledge he’s almost ten.
I’m currently standing in my kitchen trying to decide whether I should whip up something else when there’s a knock on the door. Bentley goes running to the door, and I have to remind him, “Look out the window before you open it!” He doesn’t stop running toward the door. “Iknow,Mom!” I hear the door open and Bent peppering Ben with questions. I’m still looking into my pantry cupboard to see what else I could throw together when I feel hands touch my waist and a kiss on my neck. “Doc, have you been running around here all morning, working yourself into a freakout?” Asshole knows me too well already, jackass. “I…no…I just want to make a good impression. These are themost important people in your life, and that makes me want to have them like me and my kids. They’re your family, and I know what that means to you and…” He cuts off my rambling by spinning me around and kissing me senseless. When he breaks the kiss, he holds my face in his hands. “First off, half of them have already met you and like you. The women all say they won’t go to another doctor ever again. Secondly, they are going to see how importantyouare to me. I know we haven’t been seeing each other that long, but, Doc, you gotta know that you mean the world to me.” How could I not kiss him after that? He really is a sweet marshmallow to me. He drops his hands from my face and takes one of my hands in his. “Just so you know, it’s not just me who thinks your kids are pretty awesome either, I got asked where Bentley was by almost every brother in the shop yesterday, and they asked about what Branson and Bailey were like. They’re gonna love you.” He looks behind me at the counter and shakes his head. “Doc, I told ya you didn’t need to bring anything.” I must give him a look because he chuckles and shakes his head at me. “You’re bringing four extra people, and both boys are going through spurts where they eat a ton, so yes, I want to bring something. It’s just cheese puffs and the green fluff salad.” I watch his eyebrows go sky-high. “If my brother Tripp proposes, remember you’re not available. He fucking loves all those fluff salads and might try to keep it all to himself.” Good, that means at least one of them will be in my corner.
Bentley comes into the kitchen and stands there looking at Ben and me with his hands on his hips. “Are we going yet? Time’s a ticking, people!” I see Ben trying to contain his laughter at Bent. “Go make sure your brother and sister are ready. We’re leaving in five minutes.” I don’t think I’ve seen him move faster after I’ve told him to do something in years. “He’s just a tad excited, isn’t he?” Ben grabs the two trays on the counter to take to the SUV. He leans over and gives me a quick kiss. “He made a great impression, and it’s gonna be a good day. Have a little faith, Doc.”
It only took us fifteen minutes to get out of the house, so I’m calling that a win. Branson went back for a hoodie and his headphones so he can listen to music in case we’re all, “Just boring adults and little kids,” and Bailey needed her bag with coloring and two baby dolls in case there is someone to play with her. Can’t say my kids don’t come prepared to entertain themselves.
