The Village

Author's note: I didn't want to keep you all on the edge too long. so I posted a little earlier than usual. It may be another week before my next post due to the holiday (but then again who knows). I'm thankful for ALL of you and hope you enjoy this chapter... and a Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends.

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Seth’s Perspective

“What the hell happened?” I asked as I joined Zach in his pancake making prep. “I thought their mom was doing well.”

“So did DDS and her parole officer” Zach said before letting out a heavy sigh, “but today she and her boyfriend robbed a gas station just off the interstate and fled the police on a chase” he said, then he raised his voice and shouted, “WITH IZZY IN THE FUCKING BACKSEAT” then he slammed the cabinet door shut. “Who the hell would put that sweet thing in the middle of that bullshit.” He was angry as hell and I was still processing it all. “Ms. Elkin called from the hospital; Izzy got a bump on her head but is alright. They were going to pick Freddy up from school then meet the mom and the police back at their house to get their clothes and stuff, then coming here. They should be here soon.”

Suddenly a wave of panic came over me, there was so much to do. We had to clean the bedrooms, make dinner, pull the toys out of the closet, and what about school?! Could Mrs. Mavis fit Izzy back in? If not, could I work remotely? What was my Monday schedule?! There were so many thoughts flooding my brain that my head was reeling and I started to blurt everything out to Zach.

He chuckled a little “relax” he said. I’ve been home since two o’clock. The rooms are all set, the toys are in the den, Petunia had a bath, we’re as ready as we’re gonna get. Hell, we’re way more prepared than we were the first time they showed up.” Just then Petunia started barking and ran to the front door, we followed her and got there just in time to see Ms. Elkin’s SUV pulling up.

Zach opened the door to let Petunia out and the two of us walked behind her to greet our guests. Ms. Elkin got out of the driver’s door and Larry (the case worker that had come with her last time) got out of the passenger’s door. Zach said a quick hello then went over to the driver’s side and opened the back door to let Freddie out, I did the same and opened the passenger side to unbuckle Izzy as she clutched Maxine the (now stinky) redheaded doll baby in her arms. We four adults stood there in a huddle with Zach and I holding the two kids, “Momma was bad again” Freddy said to Zach while Izzy buried her red face into my shoulder wiping snot all over my suit coat. She stunk like mold, cigarette smoke, and pot, just like she had the first time we met. I looked over at Zach who was subtly sniffing Freddy, he shot me a look telling me tonight was bath night.

“I got a bump, Zeff” Izzy whimpered into my ear then sweetly commanded, “kiss it.” I turned my head and looked at the big red knot on my babies forehead and did as she asked. With my hand on the back of her smelly head, my lips on her bruised forehead, and my sympathetic eyes locked with Zach’s. Ms. Elkin and Larry grabbed their bags out of the vehicle and we all made our way into the house. “You hungry?” I asked Izzy and felt her nod into my shoulder in response and say “Mickey Mouse.” Zach and I knew exactly what she meant and were ready for the request. Although Ms. Elkin and Larry looked at her like she was crazy. I put Izzy in the highchair that Zach had pulled out of the basement and put back in its rightful place by the counter then preheated the griddle and started mixing the batter. Ms. Elkin just observed as we picked up our lives with the kids where it left off almost a month earlier. I served brinner (breakfast for dinner) and then started kids to devour it, I took their bags to the laundry room and asked Ms. Elkin to join me. Zach and Larry stayed in the kitchen with the kids. As I loaded their stuff into the washer I asked, “so, what the hell happened?” The case worker felt more like a friend now.

“Well, from what I’ve been able to gather, the mother and her boyfriend dropped Freddy off at school then robbed a gas station with Izzy in the backseat of the car.” She said quietly so the kids wouldn’t hear. “One of the officers involved is a friend of mine and told me that shortly after the robbery their vehicle was spotted a couple miles away. An officer got behind them, put on his lights, and the car took off with the boyfriend behind the wheel and the police chasing behind. They turned off the main road and tried to shake the officer by going down side streets and through suburban neighborhoods. Several other police cruisers joined the chase and eventually they cornered them in a cul-de-sac” she paused, looked me in the eye and took a deep breath. “Seth, that… that... bastard of a man jumped out of the car, pulled Izzy out of the backseat bumping her head on the door, then held her up like a damn human shield.” She had always been very calm and collected around us but she started to get emotional. “He was willing to sacrifice that sweet baby to get out of trouble.” I could tell she wanted to say more about him, but didn’t, so I did.

“That son of bitch, I hope he rots in jail for the rest of his life.” Ms. Elkin nodded, doing her best to stay professional and letting me say what she couldn’t. “What did their mother do?”

Ms. Elkin shook her head, “I don’t know. I guess Karen just let him sacrifice her baby” (Karen. I had never heard her name before then). Then she got real with me. “I’ve been doing this for a long time. My first thought with these kids is always to try to reunify them with their parents, but I’m a realist. These kids need better, oh my god did you smell them?!” She was being real with me. “They stink!” I just laughed at that.

“It took us a couple of weeks to get the smell out of the house last time” I said with a little scoff.

“These kids are neglected; Karen’s intentions are good, she wants to be a good mom, but I don’t think she has the ability to truly care for them like they deserve. I know, I know, it’s not my job to judge but I watched the four of you in the kitchen. Those kids trust you. They need you.” I don’t know how appropriate my response was, but I hugged her. We were unified in our quest to help Freddy and Izzy have the best life possible. After our private moment we joined the others in the kitchen.

Freddy finished his brinner and Zach lifted him up and took him up to the bathroom for a bath. Ms. Elkin pulled some paperwork out of her purse for me to sign while Izzy finished eating, at least she wasn’t sobbing anymore… but the tears were welling up in my eyes as I looked at that sweet, smelly little angel. Goddammit I had missed her and Freddy so much, and without warning, they were back in our world. I was almost about to lose it when the front door flew open and Gina’s voice yelled from the living room, “we’re here!! Bring on the pizza!!”

I looked at Ms. Elkin and Larry, “I totally forgot about pizza night” then quickly filled them in on how we all got together on Friday nights with the kids (biological and foster) and just hung out and ate pizza and it was our turn to host.

Gina came into the kitchen with Maggie toddling behind and saw Izzy in the highchair. She squealed. “IZZY!!!!! Oh my god we missed you!!” Maggie squealed just like her mother and Izzy squirmed to get out of her highchair and greet her friend. I wiped her face, lifted her out of the chair and put her down to hug her friend.

I introduced Larry and Ms. Elkin to Gina, while we were all talking Dylan entered the room carrying a cooler full of drinks. He put it down when he saw Izzy and that cub of a man hugged that little girl like there was no tomorrow. “What in the world are you doing here” he said, then I heard him mutter under his breath, “we missed you so much.” Within a couple of minutes Elie, Riley, Brody, Max, TJ, and Theodore all entered, and our house was total chaos. I apologized to Ms. Elkin and Larry for the noise, they both just laughed. They both knew Max, Brody, and the kids and were happy to see them.

Ms. Elkin looked over at Izzy and said, “look at her laugh. I don’t think I’ve ever even seen her smile before.”

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” I said with pride as I watched her reunite with Maggie. It WAS beautiful and damn I’d missed it.

Zach and Freddy came down to join the party. Max introduced Freddy to Theodore and the two ran into the den to play, within minutes they were laughing like best friends. Zach only stayed downstairs a minute or two before he scooped Izzy and Maxine up in his strong arms and took them upstairs for a bath. Izzy did her best to fight it but Zach won out in the end.

Gina order the pizzas and we invited Ms. Elkin and Larry to stay, but they politely declined. I walked them out to the car and thanked them for all they had done. Ms. Elkin hugged me and told me she’d be checking on us, I felt like we were in this together, she was a great lady. I went back into the house and moved my way through the party in the living room, up the stairs, and into the bathroom where Zach was drying Izzy’s naked little body with a clean, fluffy towel. “It was a short bath” Zach said. “She wants to go play with Maggie.” I went into her room and found a clean outfit in her dresser drawer leftover from their last visit. We dressed her and rejoined the party now in full swing.

The kids were all playing in the den and the adults were all in the living room talking in a hush so the kids wouldn’t hear. I told everyone what Ms. Elkin had shared with me in the laundry room earlier. It was the first time Zach had heard the part about the boyfriend using Izzy as a human shield… I could see the anger build in his face, the hatred washed through him as he thought about Izzy deliberately being put in harm’s way. Zach, quietly excused himself then walked through the kitchen and out the back door, I excused myself and followed him out into the cold North Carolina night leaving the others to talk. “You okay?” I asked my husband.

He gritted his teeth as he rubbed his hands together and blew into them to warm them, “I wanna kill that motherfucker” he said. I came up behind him and put my arms around him and just held him. “Who would do that to a baby?! We can’t let those kids go back there.”

I felt the same way, “but it’s not up to us, you know how this works. I hate to fucking think about it but they could drop the charges and send them back to their mother like last time.” I said.

“Nope. Not this time. Not after the bullshit they just put Izzy through, she could’ve been fucking killed.” He kept his voice low, but did not waver in his conviction, “tomorrow I’ll call my contacts at the PD and Sherriff’s department and look into the charges and both of their records. These kids need better.”

“They need us” I added. Then, we calmed ourselves, kissed each other, took a deep breath, and headed back to the party just as Ella arrived with the pizzas. We all ate, then the adults talked while the kids played. Our friends all offered up support, Gina made a call to Ms. Mavis and got Izzy back into daycare. Meanwhile, Izzy and Freddy seemed to just shake off what had happened… two and four years old and they had been through so much. They needed stability, and we could give it to them. For the rest of the night, our house was filled with laughter and love as our village rallied around. When all our friends left, we put the two kids to bed… they had a rough day and their heads barely hit the pillow before they were both fast asleep. Petunia resumed her post between their rooms, her tail wagging as she laid there. She was happy they were home where they belonged.

Zach and I locked our bedroom door, stripped, and slipped into bed naked. It had been an emotional day and it felt good to just hold each other. We were face-to-face when Zach whispered, “I don’t think I’ve ever been angrier about anything in my life. He could’ve fucking killed her.” He just couldn’t let go of it, neither could I.

“Thank god she didn’t, and now they’re back with us. Safe” I whispered and punctuated my sentence with a kiss.

Zach let out a sigh then kissed me back, “and they’re gonna stay here as long as possible if I have anything to say about it.” I knew the look in his eye and the lilt in his voice, he was on a mission. How could I not love a man who was so passionate about protecting others. I kissed him back, this time our lips stayed locked for a while. The house was quiet as the kids slept soundly down the hall. Zach’s tongue snaked its way past my parted lips and danced a slow, deliberate dance with mine sending waves of pleasure through my tired body. Just lying there next to my hot jock and feeling the heat from his naked body helped me leave the insanity of the day behind. Zach put his arms around me and pulled my body tight against his, our soft cocks touched and it was fucking electric. The unexpected thrill just shot through me and the blood rushed to my tool rendering it hard and ready for any task. Zach chuckled as he grasped my hardon. “God, I love everything about you” he said as we let the troubles of the day evaporate and explored each other’s bodies.

I rolled on top of him as we continued our lover’s kiss, my groin was mashing against his, hard shaft pushing against hard shaft, we were both moaning into the passionate kiss when I shushed Zach, “Shhhhh the kids are down the hall.”

“They’re freaking passed out” he responded with a little laugh. “I want you to fuck me tonight” he said. That was a rare offer! The truth is, Zach was the more dominant one and I was great with that, but once in a while he liked me to fuck him… and I freaking loved those times. I smiled into our kiss then took my tongue and licked his lips then continued south over his chin, then his neck, down his torso between his nipples then kissed his rock hard abs. finally I got to his magnificence, the epitome of masculine perfection, and I took it in my mouth looking up and meeting his eyes as I did. He watched as I licked his shaft up and down and then took it down my throat, sucking and stroking him for a little while. I licked down his shaft until I got to his soft scrotum then bathed it with the warmth of my saliva as he watched and moaned softly. Our eyes still locked; I licked down his taint until I reached his sweet, pink pucker. It winked at me invitingly and I dove in and ate him out with vigor and desire, damn I couldn’t get enough. My tongue swirled around his entrance as it contracted with each lick, his musk filled my nostrils as his sphincter grabbed my fucking tongue and it sucked me! I pushed his legs back and gave his ass a loud smack that echoed through the old house. I stopped for a second and listened for the kids… nothing. So, I dove back into to his delectable hole, damn I was possessed as I slurped and slobbered prepping Zach for a good fuck.

I pulled my tongue out and got into position with Zach’s legs wrapped around me. We kissed passionately as I pushed my hard cock all the way in, I moved slowly but kept pushing until my balls hit his ass. “Fuck yes, you feel so good in me” Zach whispered as he grabbed my ass and held me inside him. “Just stay there for a minute.” I held my cock in him and moved my hips in a circular motion before I slowly pulled out, inch-by-inch I retreated until I fell out of the tight hole with a *pop*. Zach gasped and bit his lip as I did. “Put it back in” he whispered in desperation. I lined up again and pushed in, this time just a little faster. I moved in and out of him at a slow, steady pace while his sphincter contracted around me, milking me.  Zach jacked himself off and encouraged me as I fucked him. “Yeah, Seth, that’s it. Fuck me, make me cum. Fuck that feels so good” He ranted in a whisper as he ran the nails of his left hand lightly down my back and jacked himself off with his right.

I pumped him faster and his hand moved in sync with my strokes. He was the first to blow “Fuck, Seth I’m cumming” he whispered in a pant as his hand moved faster and I thrusted harder. Suddenly I felt his hot jizz hit my abs and squish between us as I pumped harder and faster. I quietly shot my load deep inside him as I grunted in his ear. I kept moving slowly in and out using my cum as lube. I swear I stayed hard for another five or ten minutes and just kept fucking him slowly, it felt so good. Eventually, I wore myself out and rolled off him. He grabbed a towel from the hamper and cleaned us both off, then we lay there and talked.

“Oh shit,” Zach blurted out in realization. “With everything that happened I totally forgot to ask you about your presentation to the chamber! I’m so sorry.”

I smiled and replied, “Shit, I forgot that even happened” then laughed. “It seems so long ago, but it went great! They were engaged and I made some great contacts, but Colton… he was a fucking superstar and they loved him. Two restaurateurs were fighting over him. It was amazing.” I babbled on for a while bragging about Colton and telling Zach everything. I loved the fact that with everything else going on in our world he still remember the presentation because it was important to me… Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m gonna say it again; how could I not love him!

I woke up alone in our bed Saturday morning and could hear Zach down in the kitchen and the kids giggling. I pulled on my sweatpants and literally ran downstairs, taking the steps two at a time; I was so excited to join my family. Zach was feeding them breakfast and facetiming with G-Ma Kelly. It was a joyful reunion. To my surprise the two kids didn’t seem very traumatized by the events of the day before, they we surrounded by people who knew and loved them, and they seemed comfortable and content. They were home. “Good morning” I said as I walked into the room, “Y’all are up early.”

“Zeff, it’s G-Ma Kelly” Izzy said clear as a bell with a giggle in her sweet little voice, her speech had gotten a little better since she was last with us. I was happy about that, Zach and I had worked with her a lot and I was afraid she’d regress once she went home.

“Hi Seth” Kelly’s voice said from the phone.

“Hi Mom” I said as I kissed her son on the cheek and walked over to pour myself a cup of coffee. Kelly said goodbye and hung up then the four of us sat at the kitchen counter together and ate breakfast, the kids seemed happy to be back; it was almost like they never left. Things seemed eerily perfect. I was convinced that they had been through it enough times with their mother that moving around was just routine now; that thought saddened me. After breakfast we all got ready to run errands, we had a lot to do; grocery shopping, clothes shopping, I wanted to stop at the nursery and look at plants for the garden.

I was the last one to get ready, while I was in the shower the kids played in the playroom while Zach supervised and did some research on their mother and her boyfriend. He sent some emails out to his contacts at the PD, Sherriff’s Department, and the DA’s office to see what else he could learn. As far as he was concerned, even if the state let the kids go back to their mother (Karen), there was no way in hell her boyfriend (who Zach had identified as Johnny Black) was getting near them after what he did to Izzy. “This guy has a rap sheet eight miles long and there is some bad, violent shit on it. I’m guessing that Just being in his presence was a violation of Karen’s parole” Zach said.

“Did you learn anything else about the charges against her?” I asked.

“No, I wasn’t able to confirm anything official yet, but she’s got several priors, and yesterday’s robbery is all over the damn internet. The media is running with it, armed robbery, a police chase, and a baby put in the middle of a potential shootout… it makes for great headlines. It’s everywhere” he said as he handed me his laptop. “If the reports are accurate, Karen pointed a gun at the clerk, so that’s armed robbery which is a Class G felony that carries a sentence of up to 50 months. Izzy was in the getaway car without even a damn car seat, plus she bumped her head and got injured, I think they could make a case for child abuse which is Class D felony, she could get over 200 months in prison for those two charges alone.” After he rambled off the possible charges, he took a deep breath and let it out. “She could be looking at two decades in prison.” He looked up at me, “Seth, we need to look into our options for keeping these kids.” I nodded in agreement. Long term fostering, custody, adoption, I had no clue what our options might be, neither did Zach. But we were determined to figure it out and keep Freddy and Izzy away from the chaos and safe. It was painful to think about what life could be for them with their mother in jail. We were all they had.

Zach shut his laptop and I shouted, “Okay gang! Let’s go shopping!” Both kids cheered then we put on our coats and piled into the Audi where the two car seats had sat unused for weeks (we couldn’t bring ourselves to take them out). We buckled everyone in and I got in the driver’s seat. As soon as I started the engine, Izzy yelled, “What I Like About You” and Freddy followed with a “Yeah!” The Romantics song from the 80’s was one of my favorites and the two kids and I used to sing it every time we got in the car… over and over. I couldn’t help but smile when they remembered. I immediately put the song on and the four of us wailed out the lyrics over and over until we got to Target. Our shopping trip was hectic with the kids pulling us in every direction. They had some clothes with them when they arrived, but it was all pretty disgusting, even the stuff we had gotten for them on their last visit was covered with mildew and stank. I washed everything twice but still ended up throwing a lot of it out. I shuddered to think about what their homelife was like. We had gotten a stipend from the state for the time the kids spent with us. We had put that money in a separate account to use for the foster kids we took in, we tapped that account big time that morning for clothes and groceries we figured the kids would be with us for a while so it was worth the investment. THEY were worth the investment.

Goddammit we were so happy they were back home with us.

 

To be continued…