by L. Ann Marie
"I'm excited. I finished these. Did you have anymore?"
She looks at me funny. "You finished?" She comes over and pulls a receipt from the middle and scrolls down finding it, she checks another. "You are awesome!" She hugs me.
I smile, "Thanks, it was pretty easy though."
"Do you want a job? I could use you on a regular basis."
"Yes! I would love to work here, still on my off days right?" I ask. I want to keep working at Millie's.
"Yep, same as you have been doing."
I jump up and hug her. "I'm so excited. Thank you! I can't wait to tell the guys."
She laughs, "Go and grab some coffee while you call. Patches should be here any minute. I'll see you tonight."
I run out to tell Peg and get my coffee. She hugs me with a big smile. Karen buys my coffee. I love these people they're all part of my family now. I take my coffee to the back getting a box for muffins, for the kids tomorrow, and texting Rich. I'm ready to hit send when my phone is taken from behind.
I turn and smile thinking its Patches. It's the Prospect from Doc's the day we were at the club. I look down and step back. "Give me my phone back please." I put out my hand.
He steps closer. "You were a slave, I just want a service."
I step away and turn to go back to Jess' office. He holds my shoulder. My body shakes. I clench my jaw and swing back then bend low turning so my knee hits his dick. "No one owns me!"
He yells, Peg comes running in, Patches is right behind her. I move to Peg while Patches punches the guy. Peg takes me to Jess office. Ben and Steve run through the office into the back room. I hear yelling then banging then nothing. Jess is holding me. Patches comes in taking me from her and sitting me on the couch. He wipes my eyes. I didn't realize I was crying.
"I hit him Patches. I was all alone, I talked to him and I hit him to get away." I'm still shaking but I did it, I hit him.
"I saw that baby. I'm so proud of you. You did perfect." He smiles putting my hair behind my ear.
Rich comes running into the office from the side door. He sees me and walks over. He pulls me up and hugs me. "You used your moves babe, you kept yourself safe."
I giggle. "I did and Sally didn't even see it. Again!"
He laughs, "I got it on video, you can show her. No one owns our baby." I smile. He saw. "I need to go see Pres and VP. I'm so fuckin proud of you." He kisses my head and gives me back to Patches. "Your hands ok?" He asks Patches.
"Yeah Brother they're fine." Patches smiles and holds me tight.
"What happened to your hands?" I ask.
"Nothing baby, they're fine." He isn't going to tell me.
I just nod. Peg comes back in with another coffee for me. "Oh, I dropped my other one on the floor. I need to clean that up before everyone walks in it and it gets everywhere. The Prospect took my phone too." Peg says it’s taken care of.
Jess laughs, "You were made for him Tess."
I smile, "I think so." She laughs more. Patches just smiles.
"Let's get you cleaned up Ali." Peg tells him. He rolls his eyes and follows Peg telling me he'll get my phone.
"Why Ali?" I ask Jess.
"He's one of the guys people don't mess with. When he fights he falls back to boxer and beats the crap out of guys, they don't expect it from him. I don't think anyone has ever hit him. He knows how they're going to move by their body movements or something. He beat the crap out of a guy that messed with me once. The guys face was a mess, and a father at the soccer field. He said something about the Little Brothers. Patches asked him to stop. The guy swung at him and Patches decked him with one hit to the jaw. No one messes with him anymore and the parent’s love that he takes care of their kids. Ali is a famous boxer that had an impressive record. Peg thinks Patches is like him." She looks at the door.
Ben comes in walking right up to me. "You were so scared you were shaking but still got yourself safe. I am so fuckin proud of you Tess." He hugs me and I let him. I can do anything now. I can keep me safe. "He's out Tess; Steve is making sure he never comes back."
"Ok." I don't really know what to say to that. Jess laughs. She reminds me, "Jess gave me a job."
He laughs, "Nice, I heard you have a head for numbers."
"She's fast at data entry too." Jess says. Wow that sounds impressive for putting receipts in the computer but I'll go with that.
Patches comes in. "Let's get you home baby. Peg will send the muffins over."
I walk over to him thanking Ben and Jess. Patches walks me out, puts me on the seat and kisses me breathless. "I'm so proud of you baby." He kisses my cheek and hands me my phone. I'm so proud of me too. When I tell him he laughs.
Rich
Patches and his lists. He cracks me up. We get through the lists for every fuckin thing that's happening on Christmas Eve. I can't believe how much goes into one damn day.
We're eating when Tess freezes. I look at Patches. He holds her hand. Tears are falling; she's not making a fuckin sound. Fuck! "Don't let him help Devan. You have to get him out.” She starts making noise.
"Get who out?" I ask. Everyone quiets down.
"Jessie, don't let him come back." She's fuckin out of it. My father comes over and kneels down by her.
"When Tess?" He asks.
"I don't know don't let him come back for Devan." She's getting agitated crying louder.
"Where are they?"
"In the Diner, they have to go into the back." She's breathing heavy.
"Can you see the clock Tess?" She looks over the counter.
"It's seven forty, he can't come back in, you have to keep him in the back!" She's shaking.
Ben tells Jess and Kate to get down and take the kids into the stockroom. He tells the men to spread out. Everyone moves. Tess is still out of it, Patches pulls her over to his lap. My dad takes Devan, Steve takes Elizabeth and Nancy takes Sandy.
Steve and my dad come back out. Fuckin Tess is still fuckin blank. My dad takes her and she screams. Holy Fuck! The windows explode. Patches tackles my dad and Tess. He pulls Tess under him and gets her to the back. She's not making it easy. Sam grabs her at the door and Patches follows. I fuckin breathe again.
"Fuckin Prospect." VP says.
"Who's armed?" Ben asks. VP, Tiny, Rob, my dad and me. I know Sam is. "If you have a shot take it."
Everyone is moving around on the floor. This is fuckin bullshit. I stand up walking to put me straight in front of him. He's walking to the door looking in the side windows. I shoot and don't stop until he falls. "Clear!" They fuckin laugh.
"Fuckin Rich! You could have waited until he came in the fuckin door. It's gonna cost a fortune to get the fuckin doors replaced!" Sam yells at me.
"Seriously? My fuckin old lady has a meltdown over Jessie getting shot and you're fuckin worried about the fuckin door?"
Pres steps in front of us. Sam moves around him and man hugs me. "No asshole I was worried about you getting fuckin shot. I didn't want fuckin Tiny throwin tampons at me again." We all fuckin laugh.
Kate comes out and watches us. "You think we could move the dead guy so I can get my kids home and into bed?" We laugh again. Fuckin Kate. "With all the bullet holes in him what the heck happened to his face?"
"Not what, who. Patches." VP tells her. She nods as if that explains everything. My dad and Ben laugh.
"Is Tess ok?" I ask her.
"Yeah, once she was back she held Jessie so he wouldn't come back out. I'm so glad she knows this stuff but it freaks me the hell out. She has to live the dream scaring the hell out of her then she saves another of one my kids." She shakes her head. "Are we moving the dead guy or what?" Everyone laughs again. Ben pulls his phone.
VP looks at the camera. "Get video over to Peter. Get someone over here to pick up the body."
I go into the back, no ones in the kitchen; I walk through to the store room. The kids are on the floor with Tess she has Jessie in her lap they're signing and singing a Christmas song. I look at Patches he shrugs. Jess i
s smiling. Fuckin Tess.
Nancy laughs. "She's perfect. Don't you dare do anything to change her."
I smile. "She is and there isn't a fuckin thing I'd change." Tess smiles and signs 'thank you'. The kids put their hands out. I throw a buck and laugh.
Tiny and Rob are shuttling the women and kids home. Ben hugs Tess thanking her for keeping Jessie safe. She's still shaken but let's him hold her. Patches takes her home while I stay and help get the doors and windows boarded up. The dead Prospect is finally moved and the Prospects get all the glass picked up. My dad and Ben talk and work really well together. I see they're closer than before we went to Colorado and smile. The guys start talking about Tess and her dreams. I asked my father how he knew to ask the questions.
"I didn't. She was talking about the kids and all I could think was asking her like a story you write; who, what, when, where, and how. Since the kids were with us it was a high probability it would happen soon. I didn't really think it would be in fuckin minutes though. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if she didn't warn us. That was a too fuckin close for comfort." He finishes putting a screw in the plywood.
Ben stopped; he's looking at the floor. My dad puts a hand on his shoulder. He takes a breath and smiles looking at my dad. "She did it though. She's saved Rich, Ally, Brenda, Amanda, Kellan and Jessie. Her parents were so fuckin wrong. They missed out on seeing how sweet she is and how happy she makes everyone. On top of that, she's like a fuckin angel saving people with her visions. Thank fuck she's ours. Our family is ok because she's here and has no fuckin embarrassment over her visions despite what her parents did to her. Thank fuck she's ours."
I have nothing to say to that. I thank God she's ours too.
VP is smiling just watching. "Jess on money and bakin. Kate on the Center and takin in strays. Nancy on clothes and jewelry. Mary on cakes. Peg on every-fuckin-thing. Kelly on salvage and websites. And Tess, our own angel. Strong women beatin the odds, makin life good. Who's next? Bob, Geek, Rob, Doc, how many more? This shit keeps up, tellin Jess to buy into ammo companies. Maybe ask Tess who the fuck is next."
The whole fuckin place cracks up. I've never heard him say so much if it wasn't work related or he was pissed. Fuck if he isn't right though.
"I'm out. I have to go kiss my old lady for beating the odds and being a fuckin strong woman. Tell Tiny I'll buy my own fuckin box of tampons." They all fuckin laugh. I don't care; I say 'so what' as I walk out the fuckin door.
Twenty Seven
One week
Patches
"Doc, thanks for coming we wanted to talk to you about Tess." I tell him as he slides into the booth.
Rich laughs, "Let's get him a drink first Patch." Rich gets out and goes to the bar.
"Sally says Tess is doing great. She has some little things that haven't been addressed but for the most part she's integrating very quickly." I nod looking at the bar for Rich.
Rob gets Rich our drinks, he makes his way over and sets the drinks in front of us sitting down. "What did I miss?"
Doc laughs, "I just said Tess was doing great."
"She is but we had a couple of questions. The first is her dreams or visions or whatever you want to call them. What if she has one while she's driving? They come out of nowhere." I ask thinking of the worst case scenarios.
"That's one of Sally's concerns. She's had a couple at the daycare. She held a baby during one, she kept the baby close to her chest and it only lasted for about a minute but the baby was sleeping and Tess was sitting down. The concern is what if it was a toddler?" Fuck! She loves her job.
"Fuck Doc. What do we need to do?" Rich asks.
"She loves her job but it might be better for her to be with the older kids. Sally thought with Ally getting older she would have a need for girl activities that Tess can make happen for her. This was something I was going to talk to Kate about later this week." I nod. Fuck she's been through so much, now her dreams are going to fuck with her happiness.
"I think it's a great idea. She's happy with any of the kids. I'm not sure it would bother her so much if she moved as long as she had someone to take care of." Rich tells him. I didn't see that coming.
I look at him, "Really? You don't think she's going to resent the dreams for taking away her job?"
"No. She wants to feel useful; she doesn't really care how she's useful. I bet if Peg needed help she would jump at the chance to make coffee. She just wants to be needed showing she's worth something." He tells me. Fuck he has a point. Maybe I'm looking at it wrong.
"What are your other concerns?" Doc asks.
"When she rolls in bed she doesn't spread her legs. If one of us touches her to roll her, her legs always spread. Is that going away or is there a way to stop it? It's a fuckin constant reminder of what they did to her." Rich asks him.
"That's one of the first questions I asked Sally when I got your call. I knew it would come up again. There's not a lot you can do. You could try hypnotic suggestion but Sally is completely against it. First you'd have to tell her she's doing it. This could set her back because she'll start worrying about everything she does that she's not aware of, this could cause her progress to stall. The other thing is adding more suggestions to her mind for something that is not life threatening is doing just what you want to stop. Sally thinks it needs to stop on its own, she'll get there herself." That's not really what I wanted to hear.
Rich looks at me. He's thinking what I am. I look at Doc. "The last is her trigger words. We still haven't seen anything but 'sweet treat' trigger a reaction."
"That's another one of those 'you have to wait it out' things. Sally made a good observation. It could have been the words paired with the Dom demeanor."
"But we got the same reaction." I tell him.
"I don't even have to ask. Rich said the words that got the reaction right?" He asks.
"Yeah." He answers looking into the bar.
"Rich, there's nothing wrong with dominant people. It's not exclusively a demeanor or personality that is bad, wrong, or entirely male." Doc says looking at him.
Rich looks back, "there's not a fuckin bone in my body that wants Tess to ever feel like she's owned or has to follow someone else's orders because of a punishment threat."
"You are the last person I see as trying to dominate her. Your whole relationship is based on love and protection. You're not about control and domination. Sure you control your life and situations that cross your path, but not people. You’re about teaching them to grow and think for themselves. You do it with the kids, some of the Brothers, Patches and now Tess. Your whole fuckin job is to protect and teach Rich. It's who you are."
Rich smiles and looks at me. I laugh. "I knew it all along." I tell him making Doc laugh.
Rich looks at him. "Thanks, I never thought about it that way before."
"Back to what you asked, her triggers haven't been found. It could be that they never will be or it really is a combination of words and the demeanor or voice that sets it in motion. It's another wait and see answer."
He looks back and forth between us. "You’re not full of answers like I thought you'd be Doc. I was hoping for at least one easy fix." I tell him, he spits his drink across the fuckin table spraying me. Rich laughs jumping to get a towel from Rob.
Once they fuckin calm themselves Doc says, "You're not asking about a cut that's infected or shots. You’re talking about Tess' mind. Nothing is as it seems because her past was so fucked up. Preacher’s daughter, homeschooled, secluded, slave. On top of that she has a will of steel, the courage of ten men and visions. You could have picked someone that was a little easier. Fuck, the battered women don't have half her baggage. Instead you brought me Tess. It's a good thing there's two of you, that's a heavy fuckin load, it takes both of you to carry it. You want easy, break your fuckin arm."
Rich laughs hysterically. I shake my head. "It's not like we had a choice and you met Sally."
He smiles. "Yeah, I did. If you're done
I'm getting back to her." I look at Rich, he nods. Doc stands to leave. "Next time you can ask Sally all this. She won't do anything to hurt Tess and she'll answer truthfully without breaking confidentiality. Tess gave her permission to answer any question you ask." He throws chin and walks away.
"Fuckin Doc." We say at the same time and laugh.
Twenty Eight
Christmas
Rich
We go to my dad, Ben and Kate's to open presents with them. The kids are taking turns, they are so fuckin patient. I want them to tear into the presents but they wait their turn. Tess is loving every minute of it but something is bothering her. I'm waiting her out. Something tells me it's big.
They finally finish and start playing with their new toys. Thank fuck they don't have a million things to open. The 'rents, our new word for my dad, Kate and Ben didn't go overboard. They were thoughtful and generous but didn't buy gifts just so they'd have more things to open. My dad has always been that way, I'm glad to see it hasn't changed. We hand Ben a box. We had Penny make him a LaPonte shirt with James on the bottom. We got one for Jessie too. We'll let Ben give it to him later. He loves it. He hugs us telling me it means something.
My dad and Kate give him an envelope. We watch as he opens it. He is stunned. I want to see what he's got but I wait. This is something that means something to him too. He looks between them then hugs them both. I look at Patches and Tess. Patches shrug, Tess has tears. She knows. They're talking low so we watch the kids. My dad gets everyone's attention and looks at Ben. "My Christmas present is this." The kids gather around him looking. They look at Kate, she's smiling. Jessie launches himself at her. What the fuck is it? I get up and go look.
"Fuckin Kate." I laugh hugging Ben. "Welcome to the family, officially Ben! I'm so fuckin glad we got the shirt now." He laughs. The kids start hugging everyone they can reach. Patches and Tess join in. "Mrs. Kathryn Marie LaPonte-James, I'm so fuckin happy for you." The kids put their hands out. Everyone laughs. I dig for money giving them a twenty; I'm going to be here all fuckin day.
