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“God, it never gets old to see people’s reaction. Yes, my younger siblings are younger than my oldest two. It’s fun when we go places and I call Jocelyn,Mom. People almost fall over when I do. She’s a great sport about it and will just smile and sayyes, honey. Of course it’s not funny for others when men check her out and my dad sees them. He goes all possessive caveman and wants to rip their heads off. That’s fun to watch too.”
“Mind if I ask how old Jocelyn is?”
“She’s thirty-eight and Dad is fifty-five. I tease the hell out of him about it. She’s five years older than me. Dad had me young, and she had her daughter even younger.”
“And you didn’t have any issues with him marrying someone that close to your age?” I asked, as we pulled into the inner walls of a property. It surrounded a house and another building. There had been a gate which opened when she pushed a button on her visor. She stopped the car and shook her head.
“I wish I could say I was great about it from the start, but I wasn’t. I was a total bitch to her and it almost ruined my relationship with my dad. I thought she was after him for his money. She wasn’t. They truly love each other. She ended up trying to walk away from him so it wouldn’t ruin my relationship with him. If he’d never gotten her back, I wouldn’t have my dad today. She’s the love of his life. I know he loved my mom, but that was his first love. This is forever for him and I’m alright with that. It’s the way I feel about Terror, so I understand perfectly how they feel.”
As we got out of the car and got the kids unbuckled, I tried to imagine what that must feel like. I thought I loved Dan when we got married, and that first year hadn’t been too terrible. We’d spent most of it pregnant and trying to prepare for what our life would be like. We learned more about ourselves and settled into being a couple. As time passed, I tried not to dwell on the things that he did or didn’t do that upset or disappointed me. I figured this was what all couples went through. Now, I wasn’t so sure. Not after seeing Falcon with Soleil and the other Warrior couples.
The front door opened and out came Wren and another woman I didn’t recognize. They came over to greet us. Wren gave me a hug which surprised me.
She introduced the other woman. “I’m so glad you decided to come check us out, Tonya. Let me introduce you to Monica. She’s one of the superstars here who makes it possible for me to do what I do. Monica, this is Tonya. I was telling you about her. She’s a friend of Soleil’s and the club. And these are her three darlings. Hi, guys,” she said to the kids. Dena and Daniel said hi softly. Dylan just stared at them. Even though he wasn’t talking yet, I found him to be overall very quiet.
We gathered the kids and went inside. As soon as we did, Monica took them and hurried off. I went to stop her, but Wren stopped me.
“Don’t worry, they’ll be perfectly safe. This way they get to have fun and not be bored with us. We can take our time looking and chatting. There are several things to see and then I know you’ll have questions. How about we start inside then we can move to the outside?”
Seeing that I was outnumbered and knowing they wouldn’t harm my kids, I nodded and followed them. The next couple of hours were a whirlwind for me. There was so much to see and talk about. The daycare was set up more like a school than just a free-for-all daycare. They had different rooms for different ages. They had staff who worked with them on a variety of lessons, as well as helped direct their play time. The daycare was better stocked than any I’d seen. The club hadn’t spared any expense.
The outside was just as nice. They had a huge outdoor professional playground set up with everything you could think of. I was shocked to find out they even had a smaller pool here like they did at the compound. It was securely fenced and locked. The children only got to use it under strict supervision.
What truly amazed me was the gardens. The club grew crops here like I’d been told and they allowed the kids to help with those. They got to learn about growing and tending crops as well as picking them and getting to eat what they grew. In addition, there were several flower beds around the property that they could grow and tend to, and orchards further back. It was a dream property and place for the kids.
By the time we sat down to have a drink and talk more, I would have given anything to be able to afford to send my kids here. They would love it, but I knew there was no way. While we’d been looking at the grounds, Wren had explained how the daycare got funded. Each Warrior contributed a set amount of money based on how many kids he had going there. The more kids who went, the more money was added by those children’s parents. This kept it from continually costing the others who didn’t add more kids more tuition. If they thought there was something that was needed as a whole, the club voted on it and then contributed club funds to make it happen. That’s how they built the playground and pool at the compound and here.
I was in awe of what they had accomplished and how organized it was. There were other workers than just Wren who had experience teaching. Wren acted as the administrator. I got to meet most of them. Their names were a blur. I did recall Monica, Paige and Ashley were three of them. They were the ones I got to talk to the most.
“This place is amazing. Thank you so much for showing it to me. I wish I could send the kids here. It’s perfect. However, it’s not feasible. But if things were ever to change and you were still willing to accept others, I’ll be the first to call you.”
Wren and Harlow exchanged amused looks, then Wren spoke up. “Tonya, I don’t think you understand, but you will. Let’s get back to the kids going here. The club decides who can be added or not. We had some non-club kids here when it first opened. We thought of running it as a public daycare. That was before all the guys started settling down and producing kids like rabbits. As soon as that started, they quickly realized they couldn’t do that, and it became club only. It’s true you’re not officially an old lady of the club, but the club considers you part of us. Your friendship with Soleil promises you our help.”
Harlow jumped in to add more before I could protest. “And my husband as the president can say whether or not to extend that to others as well. There’s no way we’re going to let you and those kids struggle just because Dan is an asshole who won’t take care of his kids. That’s not fair. You raising them on your own the last two years is phenomenal and you deserve a break. We’ve run the numbers and with so many of our kids now in regular school most of the year, we have a slush fund of money that we’ve saved and invested for the school. That fund is more than enough to cover any extra costs of your three coming here. In fact, the current salaries are enough to add them without dipping into it. We really want you to say yes to sending them here, Tonya. They’ll have a blast and you’ll get to do your work without running yourself into the ground.”
“You can’t keep going like Harlow has said you have been. You’re going to get sick and land yourself in the hospital. Where will the kids be when that happens?” Wren asked.
I felt like a ping-pong ball, bouncing my head between them as they fired stuff at me left and right. My head was whirling. Finally, I held up my hand to get them to stop talking.
“I hear you. I do. I appreciate you all being willing to do this, please don’t doubt that. I just don’t feel right taking advantage of my tiny tie to the club through Soleil to get this. The club has already done more than enough by letting us stay a few days. As much as I would love to do this, I can’t. I can’t let others take care of my family. That’s my job even if it’s not their father’s in his mind. Believe me, if I was a part of the club like you all are, then I’d be all over this. Me and my Warrior would be contributing like all the others do. However, I’m not an old lady. Please don’t be mad. I love that you were so willing to make an exception.”
They didn’t say anything for a minute then Harlow said something again. “I get it. I do, but you’re not taking advantage. You speak of a tiny tie to the club. I don’t see it that way and neither does Terror. How about we table this for now and we can revisit it again in the future? Until then, if there’s ever a day you really need a break, feel free to let Wren know and the kids are welcome to come visit for the day. They can have a day of fun and you can get whatever you need. Deal?”
Her steely eyed look told me she wasn’t going to take no as an answer, so I nodded. “Deal.”
She looked pleased. We spent a little while longer talking to Wren, before gathering up the kids to head back up the road to the compound. Dena and Daniel voiced their objections. They were having so much fun. I hated to take them away but it was past nap time. They’d been fed lunch with the other kids.
Back at the compound, Harlow dropped us off at the guesthouse. I asked her if she was going to pick up Hunter and Emmie from school soon. She smiled and shook her head no. That’s when she surprised me by informing me they either rode the local bus home or got picked up on a small bus the club owned. Apparently, they’d bought one to haul them around when a large group was going places. I was shocked. God, they had their own bus and everything! I wouldn’t be surprised next if they told me they produced their own electricity and water. It was like the compound was its own city.
It was a struggle to get the kids to settle down and take a nap, but finally I did. While they were, I tidied up the house and did a little accounting work. My phone rang. Picking it up, I saw Soleil’s number.
She and I had talked last night. She had volunteered to come back early, but I refused to spoil their time. They got it so rarely. Besides, they were due back on Friday, anyway. I wondered why she was calling me.
I answered the phone with a stern voice. “No, you’re not coming back early, so forget it.”
She laughed then said back, “Listen biotch, I will if I want and there’s nothing you can do about it. But that’s not what I’m calling about. I wanted to call and see how you’re doing and how the tour of the daycare went. Didn’t you love it?”
“God, it was amazing. I know you mentioned it but I never imagined it being like that. Those kids don’t have a clue how good they have it. The gardening part I know Dena would love. She tries to dig in the flowers and stuff all the time.”
