Seth’s Perspective
The whole family piled into the Atlas and headed to the school, including Zach. It was the first day, and Izzy and Freddy were both so excited. Freddy was starting second grade and felt like one of the big kids, and Izzy? Well, she was excited just to go to school “wif da’ big kids.” Instead of the typical carpool and drop off routine, all the parents were taking the kids to school to get them settled in. We pulled into the parking lot to find Max, Brody, Dylan, and their broods waiting for us. Gina went into work early and was out in front of the school with a clipboard doing something official while the rest of us unloaded the kids and prepared to enter the school.
With the twins strapped to their fronts, Max and Brody joined Zach in the pursuit of the fourth grade classroom. I carried Ali, and Dylan carried DJ as the two little princesses blazed a trail toward the new frontier known as Pre-K. Mrs. James greeted us all at the door, we had primed our kids all summer long, and again on the way over that at school they were to call Aunt Gina, Mrs. James at school. They understood and even made jokes about it. Izzy said “Good morning Mrs. James” as we approached Gina.
Gina smiled wide and said, “Good morning, Izzy, that’s a cute dress.”
“Fank you. My Aunt Gina hewp picked it out” Izzy said with a proud grin, completely aware of her joke. Of course, we all laughed. Gina stayed outside to help all the new parents find their way while the rest of us were venturing into the school to figure out who belonged where.
Me and Dylan tracked down the Pre-K classroom, met the teacher, and helped our big girls put their things away in the cubbies. They were both shy at first, sticking together and holding each other’s hands… yeah, that lasted all of two seconds before they met another little lady, then another, and another… then a couple of tiny gentlemen joined the group. Those two girls had amazing social skills: they’d be fine. With DJ and Ali still in our arms, Dylan and I went searching for the rest of our crew. Zach, Max, and Brody were on the front steps of the school talking to Sammy’s moms… We hadn’t seen them since school let out, they had spent the summer in the mountains near Asheville. We spent a few minutes catching up, then invited them over for Pizza night on Friday before parting ways. Dylan secured his son in a seat in the back of the Pacifica, kissed him goodbye, then headed off to work knowing he was safe with me and Max who dropped the two wee ones off at daycare on our way downtown. Zach gave Brody a lift in the bruised Atlas, and dropped him off home on his way to the office.
Mrs. Mavis’s seemed empty without the girls, but she still had plenty kids to keep her busy. The boys hardly even noticed the girls were gone, and the twins, well they were happy and giggling in their swings. When everyone was busy playing, Max and I headed downtown in the Pacifica.
On the ride downtown, we talked about all the work shit we had both avoided for a week. He dropped me off behind Harrington House then drove over to the candle factory to get back to the daily grind. I walked into the building to start my day and was greeted by an unusually chipper BA. She was refreshed from her vacation, and had been back at work for a day already, so she was in the groove. She had stopped for coffee on the way in, and handed me a cup as she guided me into Rodney’s office for a staff meeting. They updated me on all I missed, which surprisingly wasn’t too overwhelming. A couple of new placements, Cay moving out, and some clerical crap. The biggest news, sadly, was that we had gotten notice that the funds for one of our government grants had been frozen and it was unlikely we would see the rest of the money. Shit.
“That grant paid Phil’s salary and a lot of our outreach expenses beyond Wilmington” Rodney reminded me. We had hired Phil after Sams’ case had put us in the limelight. We were getting more donations, but we also had more requests for help (well beyond local) and we went through the new funds pretty damn fast. We applied for a government grant that allowed us to hire Phil, a college friend of Rodney’s, and all his expenses. He worked remotely from Charlotte and helped us help so many more kids Nationally. Without the grant we might have to let Phil go and cut back our outreach efforts. “That kind of screws us up.”
“So, we need to cover Phil’s Salary, and what else?” I asked. Rodney handed me a spreadsheet and gave me a rundown of what the grant was covering. “I’ll make a few calls this week and see what I can do” I had some irons in the fire with new sponsors, I was also going to tap some of the more reliable corporate sponsors like The Resort, and Jordy’s other hotels to see if they could help. I sighed just thinking about it, but welcome to the reality of nonprofits that rely on donations and grants to survive. I spent most of my day begging for money, I didn’t make up the deficit, but I opened several doors, it was a process. But I felt like we had just taken a couple of steps backwards. The day went by fast, and before I knew it, Zach was standing at my desk, it was time to pick the kids up from their first day of school.
Max showed up at Mrs. Mavis’s at the same time we got there. All four kids seemed to be under control and having a great time. “The four of them were complete angels. Honestly, it was quiet around here today, and I think DJ and Ali enjoyed the break from being nagged by little Miss Maggie, and little Miss Izzy” Mrs. Mavis laughed. She had a point… the two girls loved to boss around their little brothers, now the little brothers were the older ones. Anyway, we loaded up all the kids. Our new routine was I would pick up DJ for Gina and bring him to the school. At the school, I’d pick up my two hellions and Teddy… but since it was the first day, Max wanted to pick Teddy up himself, so he followed me to the school after we said goodbye to Mrs. Mavis. We got to the school just a few minutes before the bell.
Max had a car full of twins, so he went into the pickup lane and waited his turn to pick up Teddy. I pulled into the lot so I could bring DJ to his momma’s office, we met up with Freddy in the hallway on the way in, Ali was so happy to see his big bro. “Hi Freddy. Dis is your school” He said to Freddy with a smile. Freddy Just laughed, and high-fived his little brother. When I got there, Gina was meeting with a parent so we waited patiently in the hallway. When she came out, DJ jumped into her arms. “Hey sweet pea! Did you have a good day?” She said as she showered him with hugs and kisses. Then she turned to me and said, “I stopped in the girls room three times today to check on them, they were so busy they didn’t even notice me.”
“Good. I was afraid she’d cry all day.”
“HA!” Gina scoffed, “from what I saw, the two of them were running the place.” Yeah, that sounded like Izzy and Maggie.
“I saw them on the playground at recess, they were playing hopscotch” Freddy said. I thought it was cute that he was keeping an eye on his sister. The four of us walked down to the Pre-K classroom, by the time we got there most of the kids were already gone for the day. Izzy and Maggie were sitting at a table coloring with a couple of other stragglers and the Miss Pam, their teacher.
“…and dis is my bruddo, Ali” Izzy was telling her teacher as she explained her picture. Then she looked up and saw us. “Dat’s him, and dat’s my bwuddo Fweddy, and dat’s Daddy Zeff, and Daddy Sach.” She was showing the picture to her teacher as she introduced us. She was finishing up a family portrait. I noticed that the portrait included Karen… well an Izzy portrayal of her at least. As pissed as I was at Karen, she was their mom, and they saw her as part of the family… I was conflicted.
“How’d she do today?” Zach asked Miss Pam when she came over to greet us.
“She is the most social kid I ever met. She made friends with everyone” Miss Pam replied. “This morning, one of the boys in our class, Everett, started to cry. It happens a lot, especially on the first day… Izzy went over to him and not only consoled the little guy, but she brought him over to her table and got him coloring with the other kids. She’s a sweetheart.” Zach and I knew she could be, but we also knew she could be a little “B-word” when she wanted to. I was glad she was being good (for now), andit was nice to hear it from a nonbiased source.
It was clear the girls were loving big kid school… and crushing it. After a few minutes talking to Miss Pam, we gathered all Izzy’s stuff, said goodbye to the teacher. The James brood bid adieu and took off down the hallway (Gina was sticking around to do a little more work while the kids played in her office) and we headed home.
We got in the bruised Atlas, as soon as we did both Izzy and Freddy turned into talking machines. They had so much to tell us about the first day of school that they couldn’t tell us fast enough and were talking over each other. “Wait!” Izzy yelled. “I tew somefing, den you tew somefing, den I tew somefing, den you tew somefing den…” (Izzy to English translation: “I’ll tell something that happened to me at school today, then you can tell something that happened to you at school today and so on. We’ll take turns”).
“I get it, I get it, gee’s” Freddy said with a massive eyeroll. “Okay, you go first.”
“I counted like dis, 1,2,3,4,5, 9, 10” Izzy said as fast as she could.
“Wow! That’s amazing” I responded.
When it was his turn Freddy told us “our teacher said we get to go see a real battleship next month. It’s on the water, and there’s a museum in it, and everything.” He was so excited, they both were. They went back and forth about their day at school as we rode home. “Hey dads, can we go to McDonald’s for dinner on the way home?” Freddy asked.
“No, it’s a school night. Let’s just eat at home” I said.
“C’mon, puuuulllllleeeeeeaaaassssse” Freddy begged. “It’s a special day, puuuulllllleeeeeeaaaassssse.”
“Puuuulllllleeeeeeaaaassssse,” can we? I was good allllllll day. It was vewy hawd” Izzy added. The two begged and pleaded, but it was Ali that pushed us over the edge.
“I was good today too. I would like some McNuggets” he said quietly, with his perfect diction, a smile, and his sweet brown, puppy dog eyes.
Zach and I looked at each other and totally gave in, “Alright, if y’all promise to be good” I said. The kids all cheered at their victory. A few minutes later we were at McDonalds having dinner. The kids ate and talked to each other while Zach and I talked quietly about our first day back at work after our long vacation.
“I spoke with Shadow Wolf’s lawyer” Zach said. “He’s toeing the line for Shadow Wolf, and refuses to budge. He said if River wants his money, come and get it.”
“So, now what?” I asked.
“Well, we confiscate anything in the barn and put a lean on his farm.”
‘Can you really do that?’
“I called Uncle River’s lawyer. Uncle River was no fool, the lease is iron clad. There’s no grace period and he has the right to evict without notice upon breach” Zach replied as he dipped a nugget into the hot mustard sauce reminding me of our first date. “He knew who he was dealing with and left nothing to chance, the lease is solid and doesn’t leave room for Shadow Wolf’s BS. He knows it too; he’s just testing River. The lawyer suggested we send a certified letter that gives him five days to pay or vacate, if he doesn’t respond, then send a wrecker to take his equipment.”
This was hardball, and River was a sweet, quiet guy. “What does River say? Can he afford to do that?”
“He says screw him, and yes, Uncle river left some working capital in a trust for legal fees. Uncle River obviously knew what he was up against.” Zach said with a laugh. “I think Che had to talk him into it, but he’s not backing down.”
“Good. Shadow Wolf’s a prick” I said forgetting the kids were there.
“OOOOOOOOO You said the “P” word like Che does” Freddy said with a snicker. He totally busted me, as always. After that, we stopped talking business and hung out with our kids, it was a fun dinner. When we got home, the kids stayed up to play for a bit, but by 8:00 they were all in bed and out for the night.
We were both lying in bed reading. I was reading a book, and Zach was reading work shit, when out of the blue he says, “Let’s whack off together.
I laughed out loud, “whack off? What are we sixteen?”
Zach set his work on the nightstand, then reached in the drawer and pulled out a bottle of lube. He pulled his body out from under the covers, got on top of the bedspread, then shucked his boxers to reveal his semi-hard man-candy. He drizzled the lube onto his tool and stroked it with his right hand. I watched as it grew and glistened with the lube, I moved my gaze to Zach’s chiseled face, is hazel eyes locked to mine and his smirk grew as he tried to entice me. My book got thrown onto the nightstand, my underwear got tossed on the floor, and my hand got busy with my manhood. Zach chuckled as he handed me the bottle of lube and I slathered it on my cannon… he had won that battle.
Zach reached over and addressed my soldier by gently taking him in his hand. I sighed with pleasure at his touch before reaching over and engaging in hand to hand combat with my more than worthy opponent. We just lie there stroking each other off like a couple of teenagers experimenting after school while mom and dad were still at work. There was something so innocently hot about it. Our heads were turned towards each other, watching each other’s faces. This went on for a long time before Zach released my weapon and to his position between my legs.
I could feel the warmth of his tongue on my heavy balls as I continued to give my own soldier a beating. As his mouth worked it’s magic on my cannon balls, his finger invaded from behind making a surprise attack on my hole. “Fuck, yes!” I groaned out of necessity while Zach continue his ASSault. His finger explored as his tongue covered every inch of my balls and coated them with his spit. When he had me wet and opened, his tongue replaced his fingers in my hole darting in and out taking possession of my ass. I was so lost in the sensation that his missile took me by total surprise. Zach seamlessly moved from eating me out to fucking me relentlessly. Zach took me with force, the top of my head banged against the headboard as he thrust in and out of me.
My hand kept stroking my engorged cock as he fucked me, matching him hard powerful thrust for hard powerful thrust. “Holy mother of pearl harbor I’m gonna shoot” I yelled in a whisper.
“Fuck yeah, shoot” Zach said in victory as he thrust even harder and faster. And shoot I did; my load flew into the air smacking us both in the face and motivating Zach to go faster until he launched his cannon into my dark cavern filling my guts with the warmth of his buckshot. The two of us lie there in the sweaty aftermath of our lust war huffing and puffing as we waited for the dust to settle. Eventually, we fell asleep in each other’s arms.
We woke up the next morning ready to tackle the day. The kids were still sleeping so we showered together. While we were getting dressed, Zach reminded me that Karen was scheduled to go in front of the parole board that day. “Dad’s going with her, not that there’s much he can do at this point. She needs to convince them.”
“Am I an asshole for kind of hoping they revoke her parole?” I asked. I’m sorry, but ever since she called us on vacation to tell us she was locked up again I had been picturing our life without her… yeah, the kids loved her, but she was always letting them down so what the hell was the point?
“A little bit” Zach said with a smirk. “But we’ll deal with whatever happens.” We talked about it for a few minutes before Zach went to wake the kids and I went into the kitchen to pack lunches and make breakfast. The kids came down to start the day, everybody was in a great mood except Ali… it’s usually the other way around. Izzy was motor mouthing about her day at school, Freddy was telling Zach that there was a soccer league he, Teddy, and Sammy wanted to join, and Ali just sat in his highchair looking down on his tray and pushing his food around.
In the midst of our normal morning chaos, I went over to my baby, “hey bud what’s up?” I asked.
He tried to put a smile on his pouting lips and whispered, “my tummy hurts.” It probably was nothing, but we’re talking about Ali, the kid that never complained about anything! So, I was worried. I went to the cupboard above the refrigerator where I kept a pharmacies worth of kids remedies and took out the Dr. Talbots Tummy Ache relief, Kelly swore by it. I gave him a capful, the rest of the family didn’t even seem to notice, they were caught up on their own breakfast banter.
By the time we finished breakfast and loaded into the Atlas, Ali seemed to be feeling a little better. Zach kissed us all goodbye before he got into the Jetta, “Hey, don’t forget, the insurance adjuster is coming to your office this morning to look at the dents on the Atlas” Zach reminded.
“Got it” I said as I rolled up the window, turned the SUV around and headed down the driveway and over to BroMax Farm to get Teddy. I pulled up behind the Pacifica where Brody and Max were loading the twins into their carriers. I parked behind them, opened the back door, Teddy jumped in and climbed over Izzy to get into the third row seat next to Freddy.
“I can take Ali to Mrs. Mavis in the mornings if you want, it’ll save you a trip” Max offered.
“I think I may take him with me into the office today, he has a stomach ache” I replied. “I was going to watch him and decide after I drop the kids off at school.”
“Poor little guy” Brody said as he walked over to the Atlas to check on Ali.
“Let’s skip today, but I was thinking about the carpool schedule. You can drop off Ali when you pick up Teddy, You go to the elementary school, I’ll go to Mrs. Mavis’s and save you a trip.” Max said. It was a great idea and would save me like twenty minutes every morning.
“If you’re sure… hell yes, I’m in.” We talked logistics, baby seat juggling, and all that crap and decided to try it the next day. After that we were off. The ride was a little quiet with Izzy and Ali just looking out the windows while Teddy and Freddy planned their day. I pulled into the parking lot, the boys jumped out and took off while I got the two little ones out and walked Izzy to her room. Ali insisted on being carried and just rested his head on my shoulder, poor little guy. Gina was out front with her clipboard again and greeted us.
“What’s wrong bud?” She asked Ali as she brushed the hair out of his face and kissed him on the forehead. He didn’t respond.
“Tummy ache” I whispered to her, “I think I may just take him with me to the office today.”
Gina understood, but was disappointed, “DJ will miss his bud.”
“Either way, I’ll pick DJ up on the way here this afternoon.”
“Thank you! Feel better big guy, Aunt Gina loves you” she said before running off to deal with some drop-off chaos a few feet away.
We made our way to Izzy’s classroom where Maggie was waiting for her. The two girls took off and did their thing, Miss Pam greeted us, and still… Ali just rested his head on my shoulder. After the ladies were settled (which took all of two seconds, they loved school), I took Ali to the car, buckled him in and announced, “You’re coming to work with me today” as I looked at him in the rearview mirror.
Without any expression he responded, “k.” My little guy was hurting.
On the way to the office, I called Mrs. Mavis to let her know the situation. “I hope the little guy feels better, we’ll miss him around here today” she said before hanging up.
We finished our ride to the office where BA greeted Ali, she was the first one to get a smile out of him that morning. I set DJ up in my office where he played quietly while I worked, he even napped a little. By the time the Insurance adjuster showed up, Ali was a little more animated and more than happy to tell her all about how the car got “broked.”
By the end of the day Ali felt good again. When we picked up DJ, he hugged Ali, no words were exchanged, but the two best friends obviously missed each other. After that we picked up the others at school and all was well.
We got into our routine over the next couple of days. Kelly and Nathan closed the condo, and packed up their car for the long ride back to WI. The parole board let Karen off with a slap on the wrist and told her that one more screw up would get her thrown back in jail to finish out the rest of her sentence (I hoped this would wake her up). All in all, it was a long week, but Friday night was finally upon us.
Our Pizza night was a loud, crazy goodbye to Grandma Kelly and Grandpa Nafan. We would all miss them (especially Riley, she loved having a nanny next door), but they’d be back at Thanksgiving.
It had been a great summer, but the new school year had begun, and time moved forward.
To be continued…
