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“We
did. It wasn’t that big of a deal. People drift apart.”

“So
you didn’t love him then?”

“What?
Why do you say that?”

“I
mean if you love someone don’t you fight to stay together?”

That
is surprising. It’s pretty obvious to me that Dylan is the love them and leave them
type, and here he is talking about fighting for love.
What the hell is that
about?
“If it’s the right person you fight. He wasn’t. He is a great guy
who helped me grow up and focus on my career and then we both just got busy.”

“So
what does he do?”

“He’s
a lawyer. And law school and passing the Bar are not easy tasks, so he was busy
all of the time too. Can we please go over a couple of things now?”

I
sound like a whiny girl, but I need to stop talking about my relationships with
Dylan.

He
nods graciously, “Alright, what do we need to talk about?”

I
let out a breath of relief and bring up the most pressing issue first, “Is
Gabby just shy or is she not talking to any of you either?”

“She
hasn’t said a word since the accident.”

It
is hard to hide my concern, but before I can ask anything else he adds, “We are
working on it.”

I
can tell this is a sensitive subject, so I tread lightly, “Okay, how?”

That
irritates him, “She’s in therapy.  Gabby, Michael, and Cassie are.”

“Luke
isn’t?”

“No,
I gave him a choice, and he didn’t want to.”

I
have to ask, “Okay, and do the kids have bedtimes and curfews in place?”

He
grits his teeth, “I’ve been taking it easy on them. They’ve been through hell
the last two weeks.”

“I
understand that, but children need structure.”

He
immediately gets
defensive, “Oh really? How many
children do you have?”

“There
have been several studies to prove that fact, Dylan.  It’s important that
routines remain as close to normal as possible.”

He
opens his mouth to say something, but something in him changes, and he simply
sighs, “Fine. I will make sure they are all home and in bed by a certain time,
anything else?”

“Just
one more thing today, I do have to ask about your relationship status.”

His
face goes back to angry. Wow, the peace between us didn’t last long, “Really,
you are going to ask me about my sex life? How the hell is that any of your
business?”

I
try to keep my face impassive, “Trust me, I wish it weren't, but having several
women, that you have no serious intentions toward, being around the kids could
have a huge impact on their lives.  It clearly made an impression on Luke, and
like you said, that was five years ago.”

He
stands up from the table, the vein in his neck popping out a little, and he
looks furious, “Don’t you dare judge me. You don’t get to tell me who I can and
cannot fuck.”

Oh,
boy, I’ve definitely touched a nerve
. I take a deep
breath.  He’s a large man, but I don’t feel threatened by him. Something tells
me he won’t hurt me, but it’s time to try my best to calm him down. “You are an
adult, Dylan, and you can sleep with whoever you want to. But I would suggest
that if you aren’t in a serious, committed relationship that you don’t bring
them around the children.  It gives off the wrong impression of what a healthy
relationship is like and will only confuse them seeing as how they already know
what commitment is from your parents.”

He
continues to stand, his body is still, “I know that.”

I
stand slowly, “Okay, great. So are Tuesday afternoons okay with you for a
standing appointment, at let’s say four? That way when the kids go back to
school everyone should be home.”

He
nods, “That works.”

“Okay,
I’ll see you guys next Tuesday then.”

He
walks with me to the door and lets me outside. I walk out to my car and start
it. I stay there for a minute, trying to collect my thoughts.

This
is
going to be a challenge. Thank God for Michael and Cassie.

Dylan

After
the first home visit, everyone stayed out of each other’s way for the rest of
the evening. I ordered dinner, and then the kids went to bed. At least, I think
they did. Shit, maybe Brooke is right, and they do need some structure in their
lives.  I’m beginning to realize just how much I need to learn.  I’ve been
thinking a lot about Brooke’s visit.  How she wants me to trust her.

I
admit that shit is hard considering my dealings with social services, not to
mention the judge.  I wonder what she would think about my short criminal
career, not to mention the rest of my past.  I’m the first to admit that I was
no choir boy.  Rebellion became my way of life, anything to defy my father’s
constant control over me.  If it were something I knew would piss him off, then
it became my number one mission.  But what the hell, I was a kid.

The
problem
is now I see Lucas heading in that direction.  I would give my left nut to find
out about his relationship with our father, but that kind of communication just
isn’t open yet.  From listening to the kids talk, a lot of their pain is
focused on losing Sylvia.  As much hell as I gave her and my dad, she turned
out to be an excellent parent.

Jax
walks into the house as I’m just sitting down on the large couch in the living
room. He goes into the kitchen, grabs two beers and walks over to me, handing
me one.  His smug grin tells me he knows the answer to his next question
already, “How’d the first home visit go?”

I
take a drink of the cold beer and say with sarcasm, “Fantastic.”

He
laughs and sits at the other end of the couch, “I figured it would go over
well, I know you love when people are in your business.”

“Yeah,
it’s fucking awesome. I mean not only did they do a full background check and
pull my credit report, but the social worker also had the fucking nerve to tell
me not to have any chicks over.” Not that that’s a problem because I don’t
bring women home.

He
chuckles again, “And that’s a problem how?  Did you happen to tell her you haven’t
gotten laid since you’ve been here?”

“I’ve
been busy, and no I didn’t tell her that. It’s none of her fucking business,
and I told her that.” And I can’t even explain to myself why it pissed me off
for Luke to point out my history.  It shouldn’t, but damn if doesn’t.

“Man,
you better play nice.”

I
raise my eyebrow in his direction, “Are you telling me to play nice with a
woman who could potentially take away my brothers and sisters?”

He
nods, “Yep, you want these kids then you have to play the game. That’s your
forte anyway. I’m sure if you put your mind to it you could charm the panties
right off of the uptight bitch. I mean hell from the way you described her I’m
sure she’s desperate for a man’s attention.”

I
thought about Brooke’s beautiful face, her large, intense eyes, and perfect
full dark pink lips. She was uptight and a huge pain in the ass, but there was
no way she was desperate for a man, she probably had every asshole she had ever
met falling all over themselves for her. That fact really shouldn’t bother me
as much as it does.  “Yeah, I’m not interested in her panties or anything else.
She’s just an inconvenience, another hurdle I have to jump over.”  The problem
is, I’m looking for her next inconvenience.

“So
how did the kids handle her?”

“The
three little ones were fine. Luke was a shithead.”

“Not
surprising, that little fucker needs an attitude change.”

I
instantly feel defensive of Luke, “He’s been through hell, man.”

“I
know that, but letting him act like an asshole isn’t doing him any favors. He’s
got to deal with his anger.”

I
turn to Jackson. We have been friends for seven years, and not once had I ever
heard him talk about feelings or emotions of any sort. This situation was
making him soft, “Are you fucking with me?  Do you hear yourself?”

He
shakes his head, “That kid has a lot of anger, and if you don’t want to lose
all of them you’re going to have to rein him in.  He’s like a ticking time
bomb.  You can pretend all day long that it’s because he’s had it bad the last
couple of weeks or whatever, but his shit goes deeper than that.  If it’s got
anything to do with you being gone the last three years, you’ve got to do
something to fix that shit.  I know you care about these kids, and you would be
devastated if they were taken away.”

Shit.
I hate how well he knows me. “You sound like the social worker. She told me I
need to give the kids structure.”

“Well
no shit, Sherlock. Everyone knows kids need structure. When you were a teenager
were you allowed to stay out until one in the morning?”

I
don’t say a word, and he just sits there with a smug look on his face.  I
return the smug look, “No I wasn’t allowed, but damn if I didn’t.”

“And
right there should wake you the fuck up when it comes to Luke.  All you have to
do is remember what you were doing at 16.” He gives me a second to let that
sink in before he hits me with the next item on ‘Dylan’s neglected
responsibility list.’  “Okay, so on to the next thing, when did you fuck Joy?”

Son
of a bitch! Would this day just fucking end already? “Why do you think I fucked
Joy?”

His
eyes roll, clearly irritated, “I know you did. I picked it up the tenth time
she asked me how you were and when you are coming back when I went home.”

Dammit,
Joy.
“It was a mistake, just one time.”

“Well,
I figured it was a one-time event, asshole, why did you do it? After all of the
lectures you gave the guys at the garage. Never fuck a client, never fuck a
co-worker. And then you do just that!”

“I
know, okay. It was a rough day, and it just happened. The next day we were
here.  So, no harm, no foul.  It’s not happening again.”

“Yeah,
well you need to call her and get that shit straight with her if we plan on
keeping her as an employee. She’s a good fit down there, and I don’t have the
patience to go down there, hire someone new, and train them.  We’ve got too
much to do up here with opening a new place. Call her and let her down easy. A
lawsuit is the last thing you need right now.”

I
look at Jax; there’s worry in his eyes, so instead of arguing with him I give
in, “Fine, I’ll call her soon.”

“Tonight.”

“It’s
late; I’ll call her tomorrow.”

“Okay,
one last thing.”

I
groan, “What?”

“You
sound like a fucking whiney kid, this one’s good, relax.”

He
tosses me some papers with a lot of facts and figures and what looks like a
land map. “What is this?”

“It’s
for our new garage; it’s the perfect area. It hasn’t been over developed yet,
but it’s growing in downtown Kansas City.”

I
scroll through the pages and feel the stubble on my chin. “Jax, it looks like a
great location, but I don’t know if I have it in me right now. You know how
much work goes into starting a garage.”

“Yeah
I do, that’s why I’m here. All you have to do is go with me to the bank with
the proposal I have written. They will jump on the opportunity. Then I’ll bring
in assholes to interview for jobs; you interview them. We get some clients, and
boom we are in business.”

I
shake my head; Jax always makes things sound easier than they are. “I just
don’t have a lot of time.”

“The
kids start school in like two weeks right? Then you’ll have some free time.
Seriously, man, running things in Oklahoma from here is fine, but I need
something else to do. This market is perfect. We are right in the middle of the
US, and there are plenty of rich pricks around here just looking for someone to
help them spend their money.  But there’s one thing I want to add up here that
we never did in Oklahoma.  I want to open up a scouting service for our
clients.  We always talked about it.  They tell us what kind of car or bike
they want, and we find it.  Just think of the contacts we can make.  And that
shit will only bring in more clients and more money.”

“Okay,
okay, fuck, I’m in.”  The car scouting business has always been something I
wanted to do.  If he’s all in this time, there’s no way I’m not in too.

He
grins, he already knew I would be. “Alright, now get your beauty sleep. We need
you looking your best.”

“Fuck
you.  So, when do we head home to get my bike and car?  I’d like to get it done
this week. I can also pack up my clothes and shit while I’m down there.”

“Yeah,
this week is good.  Aren’t you bringing your truck up?”

“I
don’t know how to bring it all at once.  You’ll have to pull the bike trailer
behind your truck while I drive the car.”

“Have
you forgotten Luke?  He could easily drive the car or truck up.  That boy would
eat that shit up.  You can let everyone know about your move when you pack up
your office, and maybe let Joy down then too.”

“Alright,
good point.  I’ll talk to him about it tomorrow.  And I’m letting Joy down
while I’m here.  I don’t need any of that begging drama to ruin the trip.  I’ll
let her know the score, so she doesn’t expect anything when she sees me.”

“Please,
just be fucking nice, man.”  I flip his ass off as he walks out of the room. I
lay down on the couch, and my thoughts drift to Brooke. I wonder what she would
think about us opening a new shop. I hate that my first thought is her. I
shouldn’t give a fuck about what she thinks, but I can’t help but think how
pleased she would be. And when she sees that Jax and I can build a successful
business, there’s no way she wouldn’t think I deserve the kids. I drift off to
sleep with the picture of her smile firmly planted in my dreams.

Why
in the hell is the TV blaring and Michael and Cassie yelling at each other. 
Don’t they know if they turned that shit down they could stop with the
yelling?  I risk opening my eyes and focus on the real cause of the yelling,
the remote.  Cassie is the first one to catch my now awakened state.

“Dylan,
Michael won’t let me watch MTV!”

Michael
turns the TV to some cartoon I don’t recognize, “She always gets to watch what
she wants!”

I
sit up on the couch and pull a t-shirt over my head, “Cassie, just let him
watch his show for a little bit, and then you can watch what you want.”

She
huffs and sits next to me, “This place is too small, I have no space!”

I
have to agree, this house is small.  No wonder they’re always at each other’s
throats, and I’m close to losing my fucking mind. Cassie and Gabby share a room
as do Luke and Michael.  They all need their privacy, and I definitely do. 
Riding this couch got old after the first night, and now with social services
on our ass, I know I can’t sleep on this couch forever. And if Jax continues to
live with us, he needs his space too. I wonder if I should call Brooke and ask
her about it?  No, no, no.  I don’t need her permission.  I need to talk to my
family about it.  What she thinks should not even factor into my plans, and I
need to stop these stupid thoughts right now. “What do you suggest we do,
Cassie?”

“Well
dad had been thinking about adding on to the house, but I think we should just
move. I hate it here.”

That
catches Michael’s attention briefly, and then he turns back to the TV. “Cass,
this is where you grew up, where we all grew up. You want to move?”

She
shrugs her small shoulders, “Everything here reminds me of mom and dad, and it
sucks not having to share a room.  I want my privacy.”

Jax
and I have decided to put our place in Oklahoma City up for sale.  With the
money I make and the sale of our house and this house, there’s absolutely no
reason that everyone shouldn’t have their separate rooms.  I’ve thought about
buying a new place here, but until now I didn’t know if anyone else would be on
board.  Now that interest has been raised, I need to talk to the others. 
“We’ll discuss it sometime, okay?”

She
nods, “Okay, but please make it soon.”

I
get up and take a quick shower because there are five other people waiting to
take a shower after me.  After that, I head outside to the porch. Pulling out
my cell phone, I call the shop.  Joy answers immediately, “Dylan, is that you,
honey?”  Oh fuck, this is not good. 

 “Hey,
Joy, how are you?”

“I’m
doing pretty good, but I miss you.”

Not
good. “Yeah, I miss Oklahoma a little too.” Not necessarily a lie.  I miss
things about Oklahoma, just not her.  “Look, Joy, I’m not coming back to
Oklahoma. I’m staying here in Kansas to be with my family.”

“Yeah,
that’s what Jax said. I’m so sorry about your parents.”

“Thanks,
I appreciate that.
 
Jax and I have landed on a new opportunity to expand
the business, and with you and Joe in the Oklahoma City shop, we know we’re
leaving it in good hands.  I’ve been thinking about moving you to Office
Administrator.  It would mean a raise and more responsibility.  What do you
think?”  Jax is going to kill my ass, but he said to let her down easily.  I
consider this a little bit of both.  She can’t have me, but she can have a new
shiny title and a raise.
Sorry, Jax.