MC: LaPonte-Karr: Book Three (27 page)

Tess

I'm sitting on the ice laughing hysterically.  Patches is trying to lift me up but I can't stop laughing.  I'm a terrible ice skater.  Once I calm down and my butt is freezing Patches lifts me.  I feel like a cartoon with my feet scissoring between his legs.  He gets me straight with a smile.  I try again with his hand.  I'm not letting go this time.  He's skating backwards guiding me.  "You're so good you make me jealous.  I want to skate like you.  I'm starting to sound like the 'I want to be like Mike' commercials."  I laugh.

"What do you mean?"  He asks as he turns so effortlessly.  Damn the man.

"I wanted to be important like you.  I wanted a name badge like you and I wanted to do Little Sisters like you do Little Brothers.  It's kind of weird that I want to be Patches when I grow up."  I crack up and fall on my butt hitting his skate.  He cracks up and falls with me.

"I haven't fallen on the ice in fuckin years Tess.  Leave it to you to give me my first, did it have to be on the ice.  Fuck ass hurts now."  I laugh harder.  He gets up and pulls me with him.  "You did say all those things.  I should have paid attention.  Thank you baby."  He kisses me then grabs me by the waist so I don't fall again.

"I love you Patches but my butt is sore, I'm freezing and my face hurts from laughing."

He smiles.  "Let's get to Max and get you out of here.  We'll get hot chocolate to warm you up."

"Sounds perfect."  He pulls me to the side where Max is waiting.  He wags his tail as we get close.  I fall on the edge and crack up.  Max licks my whole face making it colder.  Patches laughs pulling me up.

We get our hot chocolate and sit in the truck with the heat blasting.  Patches put Max in the back with the window cracked.  We spend an hour talking about nothing and laughing about everything.  "I had such a good time tonight Patches.  I'm so glad we did this together."

He smiles that big Patches smile.  "I'm glad too.  Rich would have taken you but he knows I love to skate."

I crack up.  "You didn't get to do much tonight.  Somehow I don't think Rich would have been laughing if his butt hit the ice."

He laughs, "I think you might be right there.  He probably wouldn't have fallen though."

I smile at him. "I'm glad you're here then.  I was happy to see you fall."  I laugh at his expression. "I didn't feel so inept."  He laughs with me.

"It takes time to learn.  We can get rollerblades for when it's not cold.  When you get back on the ice you'll be much better than tonight."

"I want rollerblades then.  I need all the practice I can get so I can graduate and skate like a five year old next year."  He cracks up pulling me to him.  He kisses me until the glass fogs up.  Someone taps on the window.

"What the hell?"  He opens the window to a cop.  I crack up again.  Patches turns the lights on and drives away embarrassed.  I can't stop laughing.  Halfway home he's laughing with me.  We take Max for a walk and go inside.  Rich isn't home.  I think Patches is relieved.  He takes me to the shower; instead of washing me he makes love to me up against the wall.  I love it and tell him so.  The water turns cold and he pulls me out laughing.

"I don't think I've ever laughed so much.  Thank you for tonight Patches."  I kiss him then yawn.

He dries us and carries me to bed.  It doesn't take me long to fall asleep.

Patches

I watch her sleep.  She's so pretty.  I can't believe she's ours.  I've been such a fool missing everything that was right in front of me.  She has always seen me as important right from the beginning.  Rich is so fuckin smart.  He's just like Danny; always putting Tess and me first.  He doesn't need the same things I do.  Tess doesn't need two Rich's she needs me; I chuckle, even if it is for comic relief.  I had so much fun tonight.  I love her so much and want her to smile and laugh every fuckin day just like she did tonight.

I hear the door and Rich coming up the stairs.

"Hey Patch.  Did you guys have fun?"  He asks, he already knows.  He's smiling.

"Yeah.  We had a blast, well except my ass hitting the ice.  The rest was a riot though.  Her ass will be bruised tomorrow."  I smile looking at her.

"It was good for you too?"  He's asking if I'm ok.  Fuckin Rich.

"It was great Brother.  You were right, we need this time.  I feel better than I have in weeks."  I look at him.

He's got the biggest fuckin smile.  "Good.  That's real good."  I can feel him being happy for me.

"Feels good, thanks Brother."  I tell him.  He throws me chin and goes into the bathroom.

I hear the shower go on and think 'oh shit'.  I hear him laugh, "Fuckin Patches."

I crack up.  What a fuckin awesome night.

One month

Rich

For the first time I'm chomping at the bit to get out of work.  Pres worked out the problem with the Outlaws.  Janelle is gone now that Tess is able to control her dreams better, I know they're visions but she calls them dreams so I do too.  Janelle left Sally and Danny as gate keepers for Tess.  I think it's perfect.  Patches is so fuckin happy I'm surprised he's not floating instead of walking.  Tess is loving her jobs and Jess loves her.  She's teaching her more every time she shows up.  I have a feeling she likes numbers more than she's saying but she's happy with her life so I'll wait for her to say something.  The kids are doing great.  Jessie, Darren and Little Ben watch out for Tess like she's one of the Little Brothers.  Best of all, I finished this hellish week of training.  Fuckin Casper needs to hire competent people.  The morons that I get stuck with are draining.  I've got one hour then we're off to New York.  I can't fuckin wait.  The one thing that's bugging me is the jail at the muster.  We never found anyone to ask about who paid to put Tess in jail.  Ben is still pissed about it.

VP comes in.  I've been at the screens for two hours.  When I see him I almost groan out loud.  "VP."

"Need you to hear me out."  He looks to see if I'm paying attention.  Fuck!  He smiles.  Fuck, I need to watch it around him.  "Got a position for Officer.  All the fuckin firemen are pushin our numbers up.  Need someone to keep the fuckin associates straight.  Got you and Patches.  Casper is stepping down.  Need to fill for him too.  Told Pres you'd say Patches first then you for Casper. Yeah?"  Fuck me.  Officers.

"Yeah.  I'd rather him first.  I don't mind waiting."  I'm stunned.  Fuckin Officers?

"Knew you'd put him first.  He'd be able to make a fuckin list.  Casper is inner circle, Security falls in there.  Fits you better, not advertised like that.  Patches wouldn't know different."  Thank fuck!  He just got back up.

"Thought the same thing."  He smiles.  Fuckin VP.  I laugh at his expression.

"We're in New York this weekend, we'll miss church."  I don't want to come back early.

"Church is Monday night. Yeah?"

Fuck, they changed for us?  "Yeah, we'll be here."

"Good.  Get the fuck outta here.  Your girl is out front waitin.  Jess dropped her."  Fuck yah!

"Thanks VP!"  I say running out the door.  I hear him laughing.  So fuckin what.

I run out the door and see Tess and Max waiting by my truck.  Fuck I'm a lucky bastard.  I smile as I jog over to her.  I lift her up and kiss her like I haven't seen her in a week.  She laughs when I put her down.  "I love coming to your work."  I laugh with her.  She's fuckin cute and I love her quick wit.

I put my wife and her dog in the truck and get to the house speeding the whole fuckin way.  She just laughs.  Fuckin cops are too fuckin lazy to give me a ticket.  Patches is waiting.  "Did you both know VP let me go?"  I ask Patches while loading our bags and one of Max's beds.

"Ben called him.  Did he talk to you about replacing Casper in a couple of months?"  He asks nervous.

I smile, Ben talked to him.  "Told me you’re our new Officer working for the Associates.  Fuckin nice Brother."  I give him a man hug.  "I think it's perfect for you."

"You're not pissed?"  He's still unsure, my fuckin Brother.

"Patch, I couldn't be fuckin happier.  You deserve this; they couldn't have picked a better man for the job.  It is so you Brother.  Don't add stress to a fuckin gift like this.  You would do a fuck of a lot better than I would with the new guys.  The day you become an Officer is a fuckin day like no other.  I'm fuckin proud of you Patch.  Be proud with me."  He smiles and I know he's proud.  'Just like that Brother.  Fuckin proud.'  I say in my head.  He nods.  'Love my Brother.'  He slaps my back and we get in.  No need for tampons here.

Tess is bouncing.  She's so fuckin cute after an hour she falls asleep.  I tell Patches about the morons in the PD.  Casper can't seem to get rid of them.  Half of them failed training.  They didn't even try.  I hope he can get them out now they failed.  We park at the hotel and wake Tess up.  She's amazed at the buildings.  Max sticks close to her.  Fuck I didn't even think about how her dreams would be affected in a place like this.  Patches looks at me, he got it.  I started working with Steve sending and catching our thoughts then blocking them.  I like that Patches can catch them from me.  I think it makes us closer.

Once in our room Max relaxes.  "Tess we didn't think about how you were going to be affected here.  We can go somewhere with less people, where you'd be more comfortable."  Patches agrees.

"Can we stay for one day?  I really want to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island."  She looks sad.  Fuck we didn't think this through.

"We can.  Do you want to see it today before it gets dark or tomorrow?"  Patches asks putting his arms around her.

"Tomorrow.  I'd like to see Time Square tonight.  They have a Forest Gump Store and M&M's and Disney."  She's so fuckin serious I crack up.

"Anything you want baby.  Tomorrow we can go to Newport if you want.  It has mansions and beautiful views with a lot less people."  Patches says with a smile, he's trying not to laugh.

She nods with a smile. "I read about the mansions.  That sounds really nice.  I think I'll like that thank you."

I feed Max and get his bowl of water down.  I need to take him out.  There's a dog park on the side of the hotel.  It's really a patch of grass and dirt with a couple of trees.  It has plastic bag dispensers and barrels.  I laugh when I take Max down.  Fuckin New York.  It gets the job done, we go back up.  We never collar him and I get some looks.  He's got his vest on so I don't give a fuck.  Walking to the room Tess and Patches come out ready to go.  I smile.  She's so fuckin excited.

We don't wear our cuts out of town unless we're in a group.  I feel funny without it.  We hit the square and the Bubba Gump.  Tess is so fuckin funny me and Patches are holding our stomach as we walk out.  Disney is next then she about dies in M&M.  I had to take a picture with the giant M&M guy.  Tiny's going to have a fuckin field day if he ever sees these fuckin pictures.  If I know Tiny, he'll have pictures of tampons mixed in with these as soon as we get home.  We stop to eat but can't take Max in.  They offer the patio seating.  It's fuckin forty degrees, we keep walking and end up eating at the hotel.  We should have stopped here first.  I run the bags to the room and meet them at the table.  They brought Max water.  Fuckin nice.  We eat and laugh.  "I'm really glad we did this.  It feels good to have fun together.  I'm glad we're going to Newport tomorrow though.  The tall ships are starting to come in."  I tell them.

Patches explains about the whole gala thing.  I'm glad one of us knows about it.  I'm an embarrassment to my SEAL team not knowing about the ships.  I don't really care about them but I should know something more than they exist. 

We all take Max out, Patches and Tess are laughing when two guys come up to us.  Max goes to Tess and sits on her feet.  I stand in front of her, Patches in back with his back to her.  The guy in front of me pulls a knife.  I laugh at him, he's getting pissed.  I slap his hand and pull my gun.  Pointing it at him he puts his hands up dropping the knife.  I turn to the side, swipe my leg up and put some force to the side of his face.  He goes flying.  I laugh at him.  "The ultimate cliché never bring a knife to a gun fight.”  I turn and see Patches punch the guy in front of him.  His face is a bloody mess when he finally hits the ground.  I laugh again.  "Fuckin pansy-ass New Yorkers."  Patches bends and wipes his hand on the guy’s shirt.  Tess cracks up. 

We go into the hotel and up to our room.  We have an awesome view.  Tess doesn't say a word about the fight.  I wonder if she's pissed. Patches looks at me then her.  She's taking her clothes out for tomorrow.  "Tess are you pissed?" 

She looks up surprised.  I guess not.  "About what?" 

"That we fought downstairs."

She laughs.  "No I'm proud to be with you.  I don't think they expected Bruce Lee and Mohamed Ali though.  The bringing a knife to a gun fight was kind of funny too."  We crack up.  I go and kiss her 'cause she's just so fuckin cute.

Tess

My whole weekend was unbelievable.  On top of sightseeing and driving up the coast they take me shopping then ballroom dancing.  It is the most romantic thoughtful thing they have ever done and that's saying something.  They're romantic regularly but this weekend they didn't hold back on anything.  I'm so happy and proud to call them mine.  I tell them earning me some pretty heated kisses in public.  They laugh at me when I tell them the cops might come.  I see why they laughed not too long after.  The music changes and younger people come in.  They dance with obscene gestures.  At least it was obscene before Rich teaches me how to do it.  Then it was erotic and I loved every minute of it.  Patches danced with us until he couldn't anymore.  He said he would embarrass himself if he stayed.  I had a blast.  I was sorry it had to end but so happy we got a whole weekend with nothing but fun and each other.  We make it home at eight on Sunday night.  I am exhausted.  Rich showers me and puts me to bed.  I'm so happy I fall asleep with a smile by ten.