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One of the kids runs into the back of my legs, and I stumble a little. Bodie grabs my arms to stabilize me, and asks, “Angel what’s wrong?”
I just point, unable to speak. “god dammit!” Silas curses quietly. Bodie and Callum walk off a little ways with the kids so they don't see me freak out.
Odin walks over and looks at it, his whole body taking on a business demeanor. “Orin, grab my kit out the back of the truck. I have gloves and an evidence bag in there. Silas, check out the cars, make sure they haven’t been tampered with.”
“Bodie! Callum!” he calls out to get their attention. When they walk back to us, he asks, “Can y’all get the kids buckled in and get a movie started for them?”
Bodie nods understandingly. “Yeah. Hey my little monkeys, wanna watch some Scooby-Doo?” he asks as they herd the kids into the car.
Orin returns and Odin puts his gloves on, handing his brother a pair and asking him to hold the evidence bag.
Odin carefully opens the envelope and slowly starts pulling out pictures, moving beside me so I can see them. Like the first time, it’s pictures of me and the guys over the last couple months at a bunch of different places; the park, mall, restaurant, and the school. Pretty much everywhere we go.
Once again there is a note; this time it reads, “You must not have taken me seriously. They are mine. I will get them back. Now I’m going to take something from you. Too bad your son is still alive.”
I can’t breathe. Everything has gone silent, and I can feel the tears running down my face. “No, no, no…NO!” I sob. Orin grabs my face and mimics taking deep breaths until I copy him. My breathing slowly goes back to normal and the tears slow a fraction.
Odin pulls me into a hug and kisses my head. “Babygirl, I swear to you that we will not let ANYTHING happen to you or the kids. Okay? Bodie and Silas can take the kids home while the rest of us go to the police station and file a report. I’m going to talk to the chief about having someone patrol the school to keep an eye out on the boys, and Emma has the best security system money can buy.”
I pull away and look at him, sudden realization dawning on me. “They aren’t trying to take the kids from me. Whoever it is thinks I took y’all from them. Who do you think it could be? An ex-girlfriend, maybe?”
He looks lost in thought for a moment. “I don’t know, we haven’t really dated much, other than Bodie dating Victoria for a little while. Honestly, we all had mostly one night stands, or women we just hooked up with occasionally, as bad as that sounds.”
“No, I get it. Y’all explained the dating thing to me. I’m just worried this person, or people, may actually try to hurt the kids to prove a point,” I tell him, hugging him back to me.
He steps back and lifts my chin so I’m meeting his eyes. “We will never let that happen.” He says it with such conviction, I believe him.
Bodie walks up behind me and kisses my neck. “Angel? Si and I are going to take the kids home, and I think I’m going to make some chicken and dumplings for dinner. I’ll ask Emma to help the kids bathe and clean up. That work for you?” he asks, turning me into him for a hug.
“Yeah baby, that’s fine. Thank you. Hopefully, this won’t take too long.” I give him a kiss. Silas steps up next and gives me a hug and kiss, then I kiss the kids, tell them goodbye, and let them know that I’ll see them at home in a little bit. After Bodie and Silas leave, I get in the truck with the twins and Callum, and we head to the police station. Once there, Odin takes us straight back to the chief’s office. He explains everything, and we file a report, turning in the pictures and note.
It takes about forty-five minutes then we are back in the car headed towards the house. It sucks the stalker had to ruin an amazing day, but honestly it was still one the best days I’ve had.
When we get home we find everyone in the kitchen. The boys are sitting at the table eating dinner and I notice they seem to be freshly bathed. Maw-Maw and Bodie are looking over the menu board, planning the upcoming week's dinners and lunches for the kids. Silas has Vivi in his lap and she’s giggling as she steals his food.
Walking over to my little ones, I give them all a kiss on the head, glad to see they’re safe. “Hey my babies, how’s dinner?”
Arden promptly shoves a spoonful in his mouth and mumbles around it, “Good!”
“Don’t talk with your mouth full buddy, it’s rude. Okay?” Silas softly corrects him.
Arden swallows his food and starts to tear up. “I’m sorry! Please don’t hate me!” he says, bursting into tears. It completely devastates me seeing his reactions to simple corrections.
Silas stands and hands Vivian to me, walking over to Arden and pulling him into a hug. “Buddy, I’m not mad at you. I love you so much and we all want you to grow up to be a gentleman and have manners. So when you do something that is rude or icky, we will tell you so you can learn. I promise nothing you can do will make us hate you, alright?”
Arden nods, sniffing and wiping his eyes. “Okay. I love you too.”
“Now then, finish up and then we can watch a movie before bed.” Silas kisses the top of his head.
A few minutes later my grandmother takes the kids to the media room while the rest of us finish eating. Once they’re out of the room, Silas turns to me. “Wildflower, why did he say ‘don’t hate me’ when I corrected him? I think that broke my heart.”
I sigh. “When Corin would get mad because the kids made a mess–or pretty much anything–he would start yelling and saying how much he hated all of us, or that we were stupid and worthless and stuff like that. As soon as he died, I put the kids in therapy. Since school started, he’s been talking to Nathan twice a week.” I run my hands over my face. “I think talking about it may be bringing some of those memories and feelings back up.”
Callum pulls me into a hug. “He’ll be fine, Kitten. If it doesn't seem to start helping, we can look at other options. Actually, we wanted to see what your thoughts were on starting the boys in jiu jitsu. We think it will help them with their confidence and teach them to defend themselves. Vivi is too small, but the place that we would take the boys also has tumble and gymnastic classes that start at two years old.”
I take a minute to think about it before agreeing. “I think that’s a great idea. They need that kind of structure, and it’s something to keep them busy. Let me know when we can take them.” I kiss him and straighten up the kitchen some before heading down the hall to watch movies with my family. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to not having to be the only caring parent or having people who truly love my kids like I do.
