Fosters: Blackhawk (4 page)

"I'm out as soon as I finish cleaning up the
tools Cloud.  I'll have to finish the last two tomorrow."
 Chris tells me.  

"I'm not in tomorrow; I promised I'd go for a
hike with the kids."  I tell him.  His shoulders
slump.  I smile.  "Jake will be here."  

He smiles. "If you can get him here for ten
I can do some finish work in the kitchen then get the basement
finished by twelve."  He looks hopeful; I bet he wasn't
expecting to do all this when he started.  

I nod, "I'll let him know."  I follow the
Prospects up the stairs while I'm texting Jake.  Danny has me
hanging pictures with Patches.  I don't mind the heavy work
but I like the clean and easy after lugging and holding beams
downstairs.  

"It looks like we're almost done."  I say
when Danny moves close to me.  

He looks over, "Yeah, the plumber and
electrician showed when I expected to wait a couple of days. 
Surprised the fuck out of me.  We are two days ahead of
schedule.  I got two safe rooms and two bathrooms left. 
Depending on who shows tonight we may be finished tomorrow
night.  Patches has a list of toys to fill the bins, some PD
help will be here tomorrow night to get that and the furniture
moved in."  

"Nice.  They'll be excited to get
home.  I know she didn't expect all this."  I tell him
with a smile thinking about her reaction.  

"Looks like she's got another admirer."  He
says.  

I look at him, "another?"  Who the fuck is
her admirer?

"Rob seemed interested to know when we'd be
finished and Chet and Tiny.  You have no competition with
Tiny, he just likes strong old ladies.  He loves them to
death."  He smiles.  Fuck!  Fuckin Rob with his
sensitivity and shit.  I can't talk like he does.  "Piece
of advice Cloud.  Women want a man to be there for them, just
them.  You have no one competing with you but you.  It's
completely her preference in men, but she's going to want someone
that won't cheat and stands by her."  It's like he knows
what's going through my head.  

I look at him replaying his words.  I nod
and go back to hanging pictures.  He's right.  I don't
need to be any more than I am.  I think about the kids. 
Jacob and Jeremy are six, Christian is eleven, Brantley and Taylor
are twelve and Joey is thirteen.  It's a lot of fuckin kids
and they're all young.  Christian acts like the oldest, he
sees everything.  They seem to be good kids though.  They
help each other and while I was sitting with them they showed
they're bonded, even Taylor who is new to the house.  Jeremy
seems fragile, after what they went through I can understand
why.  He's scheduled for a psych evaluation next week.  I
hope the little guy can get past what his fuckin mother put him
through.  CJ has a weight chart up for them, they're still
small for their age but they're gaining weight.  She's good
for the kids.  

I finish the pictures and call it a day.  I
let Danny know I'm out and ride home through the reservation. 
It's ten minutes from my house this way.  It was a good day,
I'm glad I went back to help.  

Rob

I call Digs to find out where CJ is. 
Calling the hotel Rena answers.  "Two days in a row, I'm
feeling lucky."  I can hear her smile.  

Fuck, my dick twitches.  "You're up for two
in a row?"  She doesn't usually like consecutive days.
 

"Not usually but you had me thinking about last
night all day.  I'm up for another go round."  She sounds
interested.  

"I'll leave my door open, come over when you get
off."  I'm feeling like a player but I'm not doing anything
with CJ yet.

"I'll be there.  Did you call just for me?"
 She sounds happy that I did.  

Fuck.  I'll call CJ on her mobile.  "I
did, I'll see you when you get here Re."  I hang up and hunt
down CJ's  mobile.  

"CJ, it's Rob from the MC.  I hope your day
went smoother than yesterday."  After talking to Danny a
nuclear attack is the only thing that didn't happen to her
yesterday.  

"It was a fun filled calm day, thanks for asking
Rob."  She sounds distracted.  

"Do you have plans for tomorrow?"  The kids
must be ready to climb the walls.

"Yes we have a full day planned."  She's
smiling, I can hear it.  I wonder what she's doing, she didn't
invite me, maybe it's a family thing.

"No problems today with the little guys?"
 I've got nothing else to say here so I'll fall back on the
kids. 

"Not a single one.  They have therapy on
Tuesday; if there's a problem she usually sees them right
away.  Thanks for asking though."  

Fuck I've got no reason to keep her on the
phone.  I think of her tight little body and I'm fuckin hard.
 "That's good.  I'll see you when you get back in your
house.  Give me a call if you need anything."  She says
goodbye sounding distracted.  

Maybe she's just not interested.  She's a
knockout though.  I'll wait until she's in her house, then I
can see her while I'm talking to her.  I walk through the
house straightening whatever is out of place and wait for Rena,
another beautiful body.

CJ

Cloud is waiting with our food when we get
downstairs.  Everyone is happy to see him.  He isn’t so
scary in jeans and a t-shirt.  The boys bump his fist making
me smile. “Hi CJ, I brought an suv so we can all fit for the
ride.” 

“Yes!”  Joey and Christian say.

“You’ll have to be lifted in Joey.  Are you
sure?”  I know how independent she is. 

She gives me a look like I’m crazy.  “Did
you see his muscles, he can handle it.  I hate the wimpy guys
that can barely lift me.” 

I laugh and wave my hand to the suv.  “I
guess that’s as good as a compliment.  Thank you Cloud.”

“No, thank you, I don’t think I’d fit in your
little van.”  He says with a smile.  He lifts the boys up
then Joey.  She has a captain’s seat and loves it. 
Lifting the chair into the back I notice his very fine
muscles.  I hand him the bag with our lunch, he clips it into
a net so it stays upright.  How cool is that?  He closes
the back door and puts his hand on my back guiding me to the
passenger door; he doesn’t close it until I’m buckled in. 
Joey slaps my arm.  I wave her away but I’m jumping up and
down in my head.   Friggin Christian laughs.

Cloud

Fuck I almost kissed her; I need to keep my head
around her. I take a deep breath to clear my head walking around
the truck.  Being close to her is fuckin with my head. 
I'm fucked.  Away from her I keep thinking about her.
 

Smiling I get in and ask the kids if they're
ready.  They yell back making me laugh. "Cute kids."
 

"I think so."  She smiles back and my
fuckin heart speeds up.  Fuck.  I didn't act like this
with Mia and I was ready to marry her.  What the fuck is going
on with me?

I get us to the park and get Joey in her
chair.  I strap the bag to her chair and walk behind her with
CJ.  "What is CJ short for?"  

She laughs, "Nothing.  My birth certificate
says CJ, my mother was Claire and my father was John.  My
guess is it is their initials."  

"You've never asked?"  

"I grew up in care.  There was no one to
ask."  She doesn't sound bitter.  

"Is that why you foster?"  It would explain
a single woman with six kids.

"Yep.  I lived in some pretty bad places
but the last home I was put in really cared. It made an
impact.  I wanted to do that for someone else.  So I
started fostering when I got out of college." She says it so easy;
I'll bet it wasn't that easy. 

"What about you?  Have you always flown?"
 She wants to know about me.  Interest.

I smile, "I grew up on the reservation.  My
grandmother is a shaman; she believes in the old traditions and
raised us in that culture.  I was interested in planes and
encouraged to fly. I started young, went into the military, learned
to fly helicopters, became a SEAL.  Jamie and Kevin were my
team leaders, when I got out they offered me a job.  I used to
do international missions, now I stay stateside." 

"Did you not like the international missions?"
 She sounds surprised; I look at her and see she is.

"I loved the scenery; anything different is
beautiful when you first see it.  The reason I moved to
stateside is my sister.  She needed me to be here while she
went through some tough times."  I don't really want to talk
about Aleena.   

"I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to pry."
 She understands it's not an easy topic for me.  

I take a breath.  "I'm not usually a
talker.  I want us to get to know each other.  In order
to do that I need to talk."  I give her a smile.  

"The strong silent type.  I get it. 
I'd like to get to know you so I hope you're not too silent."
 She gives me a shy look.  

I watch the boys.  Joey is half way between
us and them.  "Aleena was in an abusive marriage.  Her
husband not only beat her but cut her.  She called me when I
had just gotten back from a mission.  I picked her up from a
shelter.  She had been in the hospital for a week before
that.  I'm her closest male relative and I didn't protect her
like I should have.  I talked to Jamie and he agreed to keep
me stateside so I could be closer to Aleena.  Now she lives on
the same street as I do."  I smile thinking that wasn't so
bad.  

"Why are you smiling?"  She catches
everything.  

"I was just thinking that wasn't so bad."
 

She laughs and grabs my hand running toward the
kids.  I'm so surprised I don't realize what she's
doing.  Joey is rolling down a hill.  I run, fuck! 
I pull her along, she's still laughing.  I reach for the right
side and she grabs the left.  We slow down together
laughing.  Joey is hysterical. "You should have let me get to
the end."  She gets out between laughs.  Cute fuckin
kid.  The boys are yelling for us to hurry.  CJ looks at
me with a smile.  She lets go so I do, we jog behind a
laughing Joey.  The kid is having fun speeding down the hill,
I see why she guards her independence and wonder if Mitch could
find a way to get her more.  

The boys walk the wall while we walk behind
Joey.  It's a nice walking trail with pretty views.  The
boys ask about food so we sit and eat.  "Sam made a good
lunch; I'll have to thank him."  Joey says.  

"That's nice of you Joey.  I don't know him
well but what I do know is he likes feeding people and he always
does a great job."  I tell her.

"How come you don't know him?"  Brantley
asks.  

"There are over two hundred Brothers. 
There's a recognition program for the Brothers to learn about one
Brother a month.  That's how I know about Sam.  I don't
work for the MC unless there's trouble, so I only see them on my
down time.  I don't really spend much time in the yard so I
don't get to meet many unless we're at a Club function or during
church."  They're all listening and watching me.  

"Why are you in the Club?"  Christian
asks.

"I met my cousin two years ago, he is the
VP.  He grew up with his dad not knowing about us.  His
mom, my aunt, died when he was born.  I wanted to see him more
than just holidays so I started helping when there was trouble or
they were doing special projects like with your house.  He was
a SEAL too; he was on the same Team I was before I got there. 
It's funny, we did the same things, ending up in the same place, we
even look alike."  I smile thinking of Steve and his gruff
personality.  

CJ laughs, "When I first saw all the guys
running in my house I thought you were all giants, my head kept
calling you that.  You were the Indian giant; two of you would
have messed with my head."  Joey and Brantley laugh.
 

"You took down two of those giants.  When I
needed you to get the boys, I threw you over my shoulder so you
didn't kick me too."  I tell them, the kids find this
funny.

Christian is watching me, he seems
contemplative, he doesn't miss much.  "You didn't grow up with
your parents either."  It's not a question.

Where the fuck did that come from?  "No my
grandmother and our people raised us."  He nods but doesn't
say anything else.

"We all don't live with our parents.  We
can still be great people because we have CJ.  She teaches us
how."  Joey says.  Christian nods.  

"You're already great people.  I noticed
when I first met you.  You take care of each other just like
the Brothers and my people.  My grandmother believes people
are put in your path to teach you about life and living in harmony
with other people.  You have to decide who you follow; CJ is a
good person to follow."

She's been watching and listening to everything,
she looks at me, "Thank you."  

Jacob and Jeremy stand up.  "We have to
pee."  CJ laughs.  

I stand, "I'll take them.  Anyone else need
to go?"  Taylor stands.  Jacob holds my hand and grabs
Jeremy's, we walk into the trees.  They find this funny and
giggle until they find good trees.

We make it back to the group and they go to CJ
for a squirt of sanitizer.  "Germs can make Joey sick."
 Christian says.  I nod.  Her immune system is
lowered by her meds.  I read it in her book.  

"Taking care of each other."  I tell
him.  He smiles and nods.  He reminds me of Little Ben
and Darren.  

CJ 

We've had an awesome day.  Cloud takes us
to dinner on the way home.  He's answered all of our questions
and he's been great with the kids.  I'm drawn to him and
learning more hasn't changed that.  He's held my hand most of
the day, it's been so long since anyone but the kids have done
that.  My heart beats fast and I feel heat run through me when
he touches me.  

Getting back to the hotel we get the kids
settled, I'm glad he stayed.  He gets the boys clothes ready
while they shower and I get Joey's treatment done.  We meet on
the couch.  "I'm glad you stayed."  I tell him as I
sit.  The kids are playing the hand-helds.