“Who else besides Rogen knows about us going to see them?” Allie said that Tru and Anna knew, but they said they’d not say anything. “Rogen even suggested that we keep the kids with just us for a few days to see if we can make it fit. I don’t know what she thought we’d do with them if they didn’t. But I have confidence in our ability to take care of them. Don’t you?”
“Yes.” He thought about what he’d told his mom about sitting the kids. “You know that we’re not really watching the kids, don’t you? I mean, I was just getting at Mom before you nearly had her head exploding.”
“Yeah, I knew. Boy, she was fun to play with.” They both laughed right up until they pulled in front of the station house. “This is it. Our last night of freedom. Are we sure about this?”
“Yes. I am as sure about this as I am with my love for you.” Neither of them got out of the car. “Are you afraid? Because I’m terrified.”
“Right there with you. But we won’t know shit until we go and meet them.”
Allie got out of the truck first. He thought she was braver than he was because not only was he having second thoughts, he was having fourth and fifth thoughts as well. Getting out, he took her hand as they entered the building. They’d be parents in about an hour if he didn’t miss his bet. And he couldn’t wait.
Chapter 6
Conor held his sister while they sat in the cell. This was the third time they’d been brought here after running away, and he decided the next time they weren’t going to run in any direction that led back to here. He wasn’t sure how that would work, but he was going to try his best. They kept returning them, and that wasn’t helping them be safe at all.
“Conor, there are some people here to see you two. Are you going to behave yourself this time?” He shook his head. Behaving himself nearly got his sister killed. “Yeah, I didn’t think you would. Something you should understand about this couple, they’re not going to take your shit. You mess with them, and you might find yourself wishing you’d not. I’ve already explained to them that you get mouthy and mean. I’m telling you right now, Conor, you’d be well set up if you were to allow these people in—”
“They hurt us.” Andrew got down on his knees in front of Stripes. Holly was her real name, but the last home kept calling her that for some insane reason. Andrew asked Holly to look at him. Her black eye and cut lip made his blood boil each time he saw it. They’d locked Conor away from her to get at her, and that hurt him badly. “They wanted me to do things with the man.”
“I know, sweetie. I’ve had them picked up and put into a cell, too, in another stationhouse. The next county over is going to deal with them pretty quick. I’m so sorry you had to go through that.” She turned her head into his shirt. Conor felt the need to lash out at the policeman for taking them back there over and over. “I will tell you that Allie and Beckett are the nicest people you can meet. They come from a long line of nice people too. Beckett’s mom is one you don’t mess with, and her boys, all six of them, are afraid of her.”
“Why can’t we just stay at the home where they took us when our grandma died? I didn’t want to be taken out of there, Mr. Andrew.” Conor wanted to know the same thing. They didn’t want to be adopted if all there was out there were perverts and dick heads. “We wasn’t bothering no one.”
“No, you weren’t, honey, but you can’t stay there forever. You need a home that is good for you. All right?” She didn’t answer him, and Conor looked at the older man. “Conor, you have to give these people a chance.”
“I hope he will, but I have a feeling he’s not going to. Are you, Conor?” The woman came into the cell where they were sitting, and Andrew left them. “My name is Allie Robinson, and this is my husband, Beck. I know your names are Conor and Stripes. I don’t understand why you’d be called that but nothing much more.”
“Her name is Holly. Don’t act all friendly to us. We know you won’t want to keep us both. Well, I’m not going to let you take her from me so that you can let that man mess with her. You hear me, bitch?” Allie looked up at her husband, then back at him. “I’m not afraid of either of you. We will run away from you too if you pull any shit like the last place did.”
The slap to his cheek startled him. When she hit him the second time, he stood up. After being told to sit, he did so before he realized he was making a stand. Conor wanted to hit her back, but he was afraid of Beck. Men could be really mean when you hurt their women.
“You speak to me like that again, and I’ll ground you for the rest of the summer. I’ve done nothing to you to warrant such behavior, and I won’t tolerate you taking your shitty mood out on me. Understand me? Also, you’re going to cool your jets. I’ve only introduced ourselves to you, and you’ve flown off the handle like I’ve told you that you’re going to be slave labor for us. You’re not, in case that is going through your mind. Now, are you willing to keep that trap of yours closed and listen to us?” Conor nodded. He realized then that he had it wrong. He should be more afraid of the woman. “Now. We’re going to start over. My name is Allie Robinson, and that is my husband, Beck. Holly, since your brother is being a little shit, why don’t you tell me a little about yourself.”
Conor had no idea what to do now. Usually, when he was mouthy with one of the adults, they’d say they didn’t want them. Not only had this woman hit him, but she hadn’t raised her voice nor her fist. The slaps weren’t that bad, and he did really deserve it. Conor, never one to show tears, felt them well up in his eyes as he turned to the man, Beck.
“The people there tried to rape Holly. They locked me up so I couldn’t get there to save her. But I got out by busting the door down.” Beck asked him if either of them had been hurt. “Not too much. Holly was tied up, and it cut into her some. I’ve been trying to keep the wound clean, but there isn’t much in the way of water and soap just lying about.”
“I have two brothers that are doctors. I’ll have one of them look at the two of you when we get back to the house. Do you guys have anything other than what you came here with?” The man was talking to him like he was a person, not like he was nothing but a bug under his shoe. Conor felt his eyes fill with tears again when the man asked him how badly he’d been hurt too.
“I’ve been trying my best to make sure Holly wasn’t hurt. But all people want to do is have sex on her. I’m just a kid, but they should know better, don’t you think?” Beck stood up and pulled him up from the seat. Thinking that he was going to be hurt by the large man, Conor stiffened his body for the blows. But all he did was hug him. Tightly too.
Conor only cried at night, when the lights were off, and his sister was asleep. He didn’t have the strength to hold them back anymore and let them flow like they were hot lava making his eyes boil over. Beck held him as tightly as he’d allow him to while Allie did the same to Holly.
He didn’t know how long Beck held him. And really, Conor decided he didn’t care either. It had been so long since anyone had bothered with him in a nice way that he would have stayed there being held all day if he could have. However, when he pulled back, Beck didn’t brush him off like he thought he would but kept his hand on his shoulder lightly, like they were the best of friends. Beck asked Holly if she was all right with having Andrew take some pictures of her wounds.
“They had a lady police officer do that already.” Allie said that was wonderful. Then she asked if they were hungry. “Yes, ma’am. It’s been a couple of days before we left since we got any food. They were making us weak, they told us.”
Anger. It came off the woman like the lava hot tears that he’d cried. Conor reached for his sister to pull her away from Allie, but she smiled at him. It was a real one too. Not a bit of evilness was in her eyes. Conor had never been so confused around two people in his life. They weren’t acting at all like anyone ever had with them before.
“I’m not angry with you two. But I might have to teach a cou
ple of people what it is to be responsible for another person’s life. I want you two to know this right now. There will never be a time when we hold food from you. We’ll never turn away a hug. And you can bet your sweet asses that you guys are going to be taken care of.” Conor laughed. He was nervous, but her cursing was just like he thought someone would talk. Not holding back. Conor told Beck that when he asked. “Wait until you meet the rest of the family. You two will hear cursing like you’ve never heard before. But you’ll have a set of grandparents and aunts and uncles that will be there for you too.”
“You’re acting like you’re going to take us home with you. Don’t you want to, I don’t know, have a dry run or something? The other people did.” Allie looked at Beck and asked him if he needed a dry run. He smiled at his wife and told her he was good. “You two are weird. Do you know that?”
“We are. And yes, we know it. I was a child of the system too. It didn’t get any better after I was adopted either. No one tried to rape me, but they did hurt me mentally, as well as verbally. I already want the best for you guys. Oh, I forgot to mention, you’ll already have lots of cousins. Come on, Beck, let’s feed these guys and take them home. Tomorrow we’ll have to get them other things to wear, but for now, I just want to get to know them.”
The pizza place wasn’t very busy, but the owner came out from the back when they entered to give Beck and Allie a hug. She asked after someone that Conor didn’t hear her name, and they were seated in an area that just held them. Beck handed them menus and told them to get whatever they wanted. Conor didn’t even know what he wanted, not having had pizza from a restaurant before.
“I’ve invited my family to come and eat with us. Mom and Dad, my parents, will be here first. They don’t know that we’re going to adopt you, so I would appreciate it if you would put your best foot forward for them. I’m asking you nicely, Conor, not to piss my mom off. She’ll be both your best friends if you allow her to be.” He lowered his head and felt his shame. He’d not asked him to be nice to him or with Allie. Just his mom. For some reason, that hurt him all the way to the tips of his toes. “Are you listening to me?”
“Yes, sir. I’m sorry I acted the way I did. I have no excuse for acting like that against you two.” Beck said his name, and when he looked at him, he told him that he had every right to be hurt with people. No one had treated them kindly. “No, sir. No one has cared a bit for either one of us. Not even our parents.”
“I’m sorry about that. Both of us are. The moment we heard about you, we both considered you ours. Allie told you that she’d been a part of the system, and that’s the truth. She wasn’t abused, not like you guys were, but she didn’t get the love she already has for the two of you.” Conor looked at Allie as she read over the menu with Holly. His sister was smiling, something that he’d missed until now. “I’m not going to blackmail you into anything either. Nor will I try to mislead you into something that will harm either of you. I want you to know that we’re nice people and only want what is best for the two of you.”
“I kind of figured that out. That you’re nice people, I mean.”
There was a loud voice at the front of the restaurant, and Conor reached for his sister. He’d been doing that for so long, protecting her, that he did it now whenever she was afraid. But seeing the look on her face when she stared at the man coming toward them, he relaxed for a moment to see how this would go. The man looked like a giant coming at them. But he looked so much like Beck that Conor knew this was his dad.
“I surely do have me a pickle of a time finding a place to park here sometimes. I knew when I was able to get me one close up that we’d be about the only ones in here. What did you have to pick up at the station house? Boy, oh boy, Tru surely did give them a piece of her mind.” The older man looked at him and smiled. “I guess you found you another date than me and your mom. She’s on that phone of hers making arrangements for our vacation coming up. Who might you be, young man?”
“Your grandson.” Conor put out his hand and watched the man as he continued. “I’m Conor, and this is my sister Holly. We’re going to be kids of Beck and Allie. I guess he told you, right?”
“No. No, he didn’t.” The man looked at Beck, then back at him. “He never said a word about me having grandkids today. I have me a bunch of them now. But you two, you and your sister, are the oldest. Can I have me a hug, young Conor?”
It hurt his ribs a little to be held by this man. He hugged like he meant business. When he let him go, Beck asked him if he was all right, and he had to confess that he wasn’t rightly sure. Lifting up his shirt, he could see that the bruising there was getting bigger. It made him slightly sick to his belly to see how bad it really looked. Then he couldn’t breathe in enough air to make his lungs work.
“Jumping Jehoshaphat. Who did that to you, son?” He tried to tell him who had done it and why, but he was having some trouble breathing. When he found himself on the floor with his shirt up around his neck, he looked at Allie, who was right there over him. Grandda was telling him he was sorry. “I didn’t mean to break him. Lordy, you’ll never let me watch him now.”
“Look at me, Conor. That’s it. Just think about breathing. Very slowly, right now. All right?” He nodded, then stopped. “No. Breathe, honey. Breath in and out. Not too much air, but you do it until it hurts, all right. In and out. Dawson is here now. He’s a doctor, and he’s going to look at you. Don’t close your eyes. Breathe.”
Her voice calmed him down. It was like she had a direct line to his lungs, too, so that they worked better. It hurt like the dickens, but it was feeling better all the time. When a man came into his line of sight, he smiled at him too.
“I’m Dawson. Your new uncle. I’m going to press on your ribs just a little, all right? You just keep breathing like your mom told you to do.” Conor looked at Allie. He wanted her to be his mom. Even after embarrassing her by making a scene in a restaurant, she didn’t yell at him. “She won’t yell at you for having some broken ribs, Conor. No one should do that. How are you feeling?”
“I hurt, but I don’t want to cry. I don’t want to embarrass them anymore.” Dawson said he hadn’t done that. Like he said, it wasn’t his fault he’d been hurt. “That other man, he hit me all the time. Will you help me with the pain? I’m thinking I might be sick from it.”
“I’m going to give you just a little bit, Conor. Enough to take the edge off the pain. Next time you’re hurt, you’ll have to tell us. Though I doubt very much, you’ll be hurt this badly ever again. Unless you play football. Do you play?” He said he didn’t know how. “Well, you stick with this family, and we’ll help you out with that. Now, you’re going to feel just a little pinch.”
The pain didn’t go away, not all of it, but he could breathe around it now. When he was set up, he noticed that everyone was standing up watching him. Allie asked him if he was feeling all right for dinner or did he want to go on home.
“I’d rather stay if I can. I’m sorry.” She ruffed up his hair and told him he was fine. When he was helped to stand, he was put in a booth seat next to his granddad. He told him he was sorry for hurting him. “You didn’t. You gave me the best hug I’ve ever had, Grandpa. I can call you that, can’t I?”
“You surely can. Yes, sir, you surely can.”
The pizza was brought out. Conor couldn’t eat all that much—he was suddenly exhausted. Finding a soft spot up against his grandda, Conor decided to take a little nap. He knew he’d feel better after a little nap.
~*~
Beck carried Conor up to the bedroom he was going to be using. They’d have to redecorate it. Well, do something with it besides having just furniture in the room. He’d not even gotten around to having any blinds or curtains put in. His mom was hot on his heels as he laid the young boy in the big bed.
“My goodness, he sure is tiny in this bed, don’t you think?” Beck told his mom that he thought both of the
m were underweight. “I believe you’re right—that poor little Holly. Every time something louder than a bump happened, she was looking for a place to hide. Both of them have been having a hard time of it, haven’t they, son?”
“Yes. Tru and Allie, with the other two, are looking into a couple of things. Andrew told us what the kids had told him when they were picked up. They had tied Holly to the bed and had men lined up to take their turn with her. Conor was locked up in the shed out back. It’s not hard to imagine what would have happened to them had he not broken out of the shed and gotten in there and saved her from her fate.” Mom cried a little, her hand over her mouth to keep the words she wanted to say well hidden. “I want to tell you that Allie smacked him twice before you got to the restaurant. He deserved it, hands down, but if he gets mouthy with you, I want to know about it.”
“You will. But I’ll take care that he doesn’t.” He knew that she would too. His mom was going to love these guys if she didn’t already. “Beckett, I want to hunt those people down and make sure they understand that they messed with the wrong family.”
“I think if you wanted to help the women, they’d let you. They’re in the basement of Thatcher’s house plotting now.” She left him after kissing Conor on the forehead.
They didn’t have anything for the kids to wear to bed. Holly had been given a long shirt of Allie’s to put on. Conor would have to sleep in his underwear. But Beck wasn’t all that comfortable taking his jeans off him. He was afraid the kid would wake up and think the worst was happening to him. Reaching out to Dawson, he asked him how deeply Conor was under.
Beckett: Robinson Destruction – Paranormal Tiger Shifter Romance Page 8
