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“Gibb, sir. Why don’t you take your children home with you? I’ll handle this from now on. And Ms. Belle, child, if you could give me your papers, I’ll make sure that they’re marked correctly.” Debra said that she’d not count them toward her grade then. He turned on the woman in a second. “Sit down and shut the hell up. I’ve had enough of you today.”
He was ushering the kids out to the car when he realized something that hadn’t occurred to him before. Walkinghorse was a shifter. A horse shifter. Not that it mattered. He was a good man and someone that had won his respect today. He only hoped that the man would take care that Debra wasn’t employed there anymore.
As soon as the kids were buckled into their seats, he decided that they’d been roughed up enough for one day and told them they were going to get ice cream. That had the response that he had hoped it would. There were two places that he knew of on this side of the mountains that he could take them to. They were still deciding on what they wanted when he reached out to Maddy.
“I have the kids. I’m sure that they’ll tell you about their day when they get there. I want you to know that they’ve come out on top from a terrible teacher. She accused them of cheating.”She didn’t ask if they had, for which he was glad. “I’m taking them to get ice cream. Then, when I bring them home, someone is going to have to talk to them about the things that the teacher said to them.”
“I think that they deserve ice cream as well. If I were with you, I’d have one as well. The kids, they might well be able to communicate with each other, but they would never cheat. I’m assuming you knew that, too.”He said that he did. And then thanked her for agreeing with him.“I’ve had a long talk with the women in this family. I’m sorry for the way that I treated you this morning. I’m overwhelmed. Not just a little, either. Also, terrified that you might toss us aside. I never gave you a chance for anything, and I’m profoundly sorry for that.”
“Thank you for that. I know you’ve been through a great deal, but none of us would ever harm you.”She said that she knew that as well but that she really was sorry.“The kids and I will be home soon. They deserve ice cream, as you said. They’ve been having a rough time at school and never said anything. I need to talk to them about that—we need to talk to them about that, too. That we can’t fix things if they don’t tell us about them.”
“I think they, too, are slightly overwhelmed. And I didn’t help matters by being a bitch.”Gibb wisely kept his mouth shut. Then she laughed.“I guess that’s putting me in my place. Thank you for not agreeing or disagreeing with me. I think I needed that as well. And yes, we need to talk to them about a lot of stuff. Thank you for taking care of them.”
“It’s been my pleasure.”He pulled up in front of the ice cream parlor and told Maddy that they’d be home in about an hour. “All right, kiddos, let’s go and ruin our dinner before your mom tells me that you can’t do this all the time.”
They didn’t overindulge. He was sure that as a child, as well as most kids, he would have ordered the biggest thing on the menu. But all they did was order a dish of ice cream each and decided to share with each other. They each got a different flavor, including him and four spoons. It was the most enjoyable time he’d ever had, just having a bowl of ice cream.
“Gibb. Me and the others have been talking.” He asked Thad about what. “I’m getting to that. Did you know that we call all your brothers Uncle and their wives, who we love, too, Aunt?”
“I did. I think you’ve made them very proud of that title, too. Mark told me he’d never been an uncle before and quite enjoyed being called one.” Thad said that was what he’d told them the same thing. Belle said she’d never been an aunt before, either. “If my brothers have children with their wives or more kids come along to the family like you guys did for me, then you’ll be cousins. Have you ever been one of those before?”
“Nope.” Thad asked Belle to let him talk. “Oh, go on with you then. You always have to lead up to something. Just say it. I know that I do when I gots something to say.”
“Everyone knows that. That’s why I’m asking you to let me ask him if we can call him dad or not.” It took Gibb a moment to realize what Thad had said. Pulling over, he turned in the seat and looked at the three of them. “Well, I guess you know. Can we? Call you Dad now? We’ve never had one of those, either. I mean, I guess we did, but he’s in prison and not ever coming out. But it sure would be wonderful if we could call you Dad.”
“I’d be honored to be called your dad.” When they unbuckled and climbed over the seat to get to him, Gibb was sure that he could have taken on the entire mountain of black bears and didn’t even care if he came out on the top or bottom. He was about as high as he could be right now. After several more hugs and them calling him dad over and over, he told them that their mom was expecting them. Getting another hug, he watched them buckle in, and he then did the same for himself.
Gibb was never going to be the same after today. He was someone’s dad. Three someone’s. His heart was full, his life going well, and he had lifetimes of being with these kids and any more that came into his life.
Pulling into the drive, he was glad to see their mom on the front porch. There were delivery trucks there, too, and she was directing them, he thought. Gibb had forgotten about the kids’ furniture being delivered today and should have warned her. They all three had beds from the large barn out in the back of the land, but dressers and other things, like homework desks, hadn’t been there for them. However, as he got closer to her, he could tell that she had a handle on things.
“My goodness. It’s been a long time since we’ve all had new furniture.” The kids seemed to be a little standoffish with their mom at first, but they soon realized that she was all right again. He’d not realized until then that they’d been a little afraid of her when she’d been upset. Hugging them, she told them that it would be all week putting things together. “Unless you guys can convince your uncles and aunts to come over and help. We’ll even have a cookout together if they agree. What do you think?”
“They’re coming now.” Belle went into the house and came back out to look up at her momma. “Are you all better now? You’re not going to tell us again that we’re not to love it here, are you? I just called Gibb here, Dad. I don’t want you to have to take that away from us. Do you?”
Maddy looked at him and smiled while speaking to her kids. “No. I’m glad that you’ve decided that he could be your dad. I don’t think that you could do any better than him. But you guys go in and change, and we’ll get the rest of the truck unloaded. All right?” Ten minutes later, his brothers showed up in full force.
~*~
“So what did they do with her? I’m assuming—well, hoping that she’s been fired.” Gibb told her that he’d not heard anything, but that didn’t mean much. “Yes, I suppose they’d not put it out there that they had a bigot working for them. And that she had to be terminated. Why did you pick that particular school?”
“I’ve known about the school since I was a kid. I’d never heard anything bad about it. So when I went looking for a place where the kids would be safe, I enrolled them there. Mr. Walkinghorse was all right with them being temporary in the event that you wished to put them someplace else. But I do think that they’re having a good time and they seem to love it there. Also, they’re all three in the same class now. I never agreed with them being separated either.” Maddy told Gibb that she was glad they were together, too. “The first couple of nights here, we only had a couple of air mattresses for them to sleep on. They all huddled in the same room, so I didn’t rush to get their beds set up. Then, one afternoon, I was with Mark and Barron out at the big barn when they joined us. The first thing that they fell in love with was the big beds. The girls loved the bunk beds. I think that I had a set in my room, and so did Mark. Thad said that he wanted a bigger bed so he could spread out when he wanted to. I think it had more to do with them all getting into his bed after I put them to bed. However, now, they all sleep in their own rooms.”
“When they were little, we only had a two-bedroom place. They all three shared the same room. It wasn’t so bad back then. But it was difficult as they got older. Especially since their personalities are so different. I have to admit, Maria was the one who was forever backward when they were together. Now, she is out there just as much as they are. I’m so glad for that.”
Maddy pulled the stuff out of the cabinet to make pancakes for the kids for breakfast before they left for school. Gibb told her that they’d not eat that. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that she knew the kids better than he did when he spoke while making their lunches.
“When they first got here, the cook asked them what they wanted to eat. All three of them said that they never wanted to eat another pancake as long as they lived. Thad told me that it was about the only thing they had to eat while you were working, and they got sick of it.” He looked up at her and smiled. “They also don’t want to have sandwiches. Maria told me that she and the others got sick on some meat that they’d found and they’d not been able to eat it since. I’ve tried to get them to branch out on subs, and so far, that’s working. But I don’t know how to change up pancakes for them to ever eat again.”
“We did have a lot of pancake meals while on the run.” She thought about what else they’d eaten a great deal of while they’d been homeless. “Sometimes, I’d take a little of my check and get them a treat. They never wanted a candy bar or anything like that. And they never had soda before, either. Their idea of a treat was to have ranch dressing and carrots. I think they might still like that.”
“They do. Thad, not as much as the girls, but he calls it girly food. I have no idea where he might have gotten that from. But I did take them out to the garden that my grandma had before she passed. We were able to find a few carrots that had been left behind. You should have seen their faces when they tasted them. They’re nothing at all like the ones you get from the store.” Gibb laughed. “Next year, we’re going to grow a lot of fresh vegetables. Even for being bears, we eat a lot of fresh when we have it.”
“Do you eat a lot of meat? I mean, large qualities of it?” He said no more than a human would, he supposed. “I’m not much of a red meat fan. I can eat it, but it’s not my go-to comfort food. I do love seafood and fish, however.”
For the last few days, they’d been hanging out together and learning things about each other. She knew a good deal more about him than she thought he did her simply because the kids would tell her something that they learned about him. She, too, had been getting information and tidbits here and there from the family, too. It was fun getting to know Gibb and his family. When the kids, dressed for school, joined them in the kitchen, she had made them eggs and sausage with toast.
“Momma, did you remember about the class project for next week. We gave you a supply list, remember?” Maddy told Belle that she was going into town today to get it. “Goody. Thad and Maria and I aren’t allowed to work on the project together. The teacher wants us to get to know the others in the class, so she let us get into other groups. I have three new friends.”
