by Cee Bowerman
“Let me take your truck and I’ll go stock up on the necessities. We have a week to get this girl a nursery and plan a wedding. Oh, Fuck me. I have to work tomorrow. What am I going to do? I told her I was going to stay home with the baby!”
“You hate that fucking job anyway. We’re getting married and I’ll add you and all the kids to my health insurance. You get what you dreamed of and can stay home and watch the kids grow, I get a daughter named after a bird. I also get a beautiful, smart wife I love to fuck into oblivion every night. I am really not seeing a downside to any part of this situation.”
“You’re handling this so well, Bird. Truly.”
“You are too, Sunshine. This bodes well for our future.”
“Are there going to be more little birds flying around I should know about?”
“Only if they’re flying out of you, sweetheart. I promise.”
9.
“I never know how much is missing in my life until I step foot into Target.”
Summer explaining shopping to Bird
BIRD
Once Summer’s meltdown was tamed, she and I moved over to sit on the couch. Side by side, we stared at my daughter.
“She’s beautiful, Bird.” Summer reached out and touched Lark’s little hand. Lark moved her fingers to wrap them around one of Summer’s. “God, I’m already in love with her. Look at all that hair!”
“I can’t believe this. Shit. My brain is going at ninety miles an hour.” Summer looked up at me and smiled sweetly. “I need a plan. I need to call my Mom and my family. We have to get a marriage license and an engraved ring.”
“We have to plan a wedding, figure out where to put my sons and all their stuff, and child proof this house.”
“What does that entail?”
“First of all, you get all of the hidden handguns you have stashed around here and make them safe.”
I nodded at her. Good call on that priority.
“Second, we’ll need to figure out some locks and alarms for the doors so the boys can’t get out and into the pool without us knowing it.”
I nodded again but interrupted her verbal list. “I have a cover that goes on the pool in the winter. It folds out and latches down into some eye bolts in the concrete. It’s strong enough to walk across and bolts down so the wind can’t pick it up. I’ll show it to you, and we’ll see if that works. I mean, we’ll put new locks on the doors anyway, they don’t need to escape out onto the land alone.”
Summer nodded; her hand still held in Lark’s.
“I’ll need to talk to my brothers. We’ll have to move furniture out of the bedrooms and store it somewhere. I’ll need a vehicle that can carry all four kids and the two of us. I need to get some little battery powered motorcycles for the boys. A couple of go carts. A puppy.”
“Do not buy a puppy right now, Bird. I mean it.” Summers gaze snapped up to mine and I saw that she was very serious. “I’m potty training a little boy who likes to whip his penis out and pee on random things, including people if they sit still long enough. I have a three-year-old who won’t keep clothes on and runs around buck naked all day and night, preferring to pee outside rather than in a toilet. He’s rapidly teaching the two-year-old to be a nudist. The four-year-old has discovered that he knows everything and tells me so day and night. There is a little baby girl here that we know zero details about, and we need to figure out her quirks and the best way to take care of her. I can’t deal with training a puppy on top of all that.”
I nodded my head at her, absorbing the details about her kids. I didn’t see the problem with pissing outdoors or being naked for that matter. I was thinking her kids were pretty fucking cool so far. I revised the puppy issue and decided on a full grown, well trained dog. Maybe two. Or, would each kid need one of his own? I’d need to think on that. I’d need to extend the fence out, so the backyard was bigger. I may need to do that anyway. We’ll need a clubhouse and a swing set. Maybe even a slide.
I paused that train of thought and went to the more pressing issues.
“Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do. Make sure that she has enough stuff in her bag to tide her over until this evening. You go and figure out which rooms you want the boys in. Make a list of what furniture you want to keep, and what needs to go out of each room. If you want to condense stuff, that’s fine. I don’t give a shit about any of the rooms upstairs but mine at this point. Gut them or keep the shit in them. All up to you. Same with the living room. Toss all my shit and replace it with yours if that’s what you want to do. I’m thinking we take the shuffleboard and the pool table out to the garage or give it to one of my brothers to keep for a while. We make that part of the house a play area for the kid's toys.” I paused for a breath and to think for a second. “Make lists of what needs to be done to make the house safe for your boys. Put the most pressing things at the top and I’ll get some men working on that shit tonight after we get the crib set up. I’ll get them moving the pool table and whatever furniture you need out tomorrow morning. Then, we’ll head to your house and have them get what you want to move here and put it where you want it to go.”
“Holy shit. That’s a lot.” Summer and I both looked down when the baby stirred, and once she was still again, Summer looked back up at me. “We have to get a marriage license and get all that stuff done too.”
“There’s paper over there at my desk. I’m not trying to shove you into this shit alone, but I have to call my family. They are going to shit themselves and break land speed records to get here when they hear what’s going on.” I stood up and pulled Summer up with me. I put my arms around her waist and pulled her close to me. “A few good things among all the crazy shit we’ve got flying around.”
She took a deep breath and laid her forehead on my chest. “Yeah?”
“I’ve spent the last three days with you and I just want more. Usually I can’t stand to be around people for any length of time, other than my brothers and even they make me crazy. But, not with you. I am in shock and so confused at the rate my life is changing, but in a way I’m happy. This isn’t just a weekend, Sunshine. This is our new roller coaster life.”
Summer lifted her head up and smiled at me. “Holy shit, I’m terrified.”
“Don’t be, baby.” I leaned down and kissed her softly. “If it gets too bad just reach out and grab my hand. I’ll make sure everything’s okay.”
“Holy crap, I’ve got to call my Mom and tell her I’m getting married. And, I guess, tell my boys that I got them that pool they asked for.”
I couldn’t stop my laughter, and after a second, Summer joined me. We held onto each other and laughed until we cried, from our amusement but also from the shock of the last hour’s events.
I kissed her one more time before I stepped back. I reached around and slapped her on the ass.
“Get cracking woman. We’ve got shit to do.” She reached around me and pulled my phone out of my back pocket and handed it to me.
“Call your brothers and your Mom. Plan for them to come over for dinner, we’ll order pizza. I’ll meet them and then go shopping while all of you talk.”
“We’ll see how it plays out, baby. But, yeah, all of them are going to show. Guaranteed.”
Summer walked toward my desk and I looked down at my sleeping baby. My daughter. I shook my head in disbelief. Holy shit! I’m a Dad. I put my phone back in my pocket and bent down to pick Lark up out of her little seat. I pulled her to my chest and settled her head on my shoulder.
The phone call could wait a few minutes, I needed to hold her and process things. Slow the freight train down and think for a minute.
As I stood there, my baby in my arms, the side door of my house opened, and I looked up to see all three of my brothers and Sonny walking in. They came in and stopped in a line, staring at me with a baby in my arms.
“Well, fuck. How long has it been since I saw you?” Kale asked me with a laugh. “I knew you had a girl here, but I know for a fucking fact that pr
egnancy isn’t that quick.”
I didn’t even smile at Kale’s words. I just turned the sleeping baby around in my arms so they could get a good look at her.
“So, some shit happened a little bit ago. A woman I was seeing last year, you guys never met her, she got pregnant and had this little girl. I never knew. She died a few weeks ago and now here she is. This is my daughter, Lark.”
All four men were completely silent, their mouths open in shock.
“Holy shit.” Daughtry whispered. “Mom’s going to have a fucking coronary.”
I felt Summer move up by my side. I introduced her to Sonny, and reintroduced her to Clem and Daughtry, but they barely glanced at her and just nodded their heads in greeting. They were too busy staring at the baby in my arms.
“First dibs!” Clem growled and moved toward me. Before I could blink, the baby was in his arms and he was headed over to sit on the couch. “Holy shit! I’m an uncle.”
“I’m gonna need your help. Your girls too. Can you get Brenda and Terra here? We’ve got a lot of shit to plan and Summer doesn’t need to shoulder it alone. She needs to get to know the girls, so she has them at her back when she meets Mom later today.” I looked over at Summer as she was watching Clem coo at the baby. When I mentioned her needing back up with my Mom, her eyes snapped up to mine. “You should call Drea. If she finds out about this from someone else, she’ll kill us all.”
Summer laughed but Kale, Daughtry and Sonny all nodded in agreement with my words.
“I’m going to have her plan the wedding.”
“The wedding?” Kale squeaked out. “Who’s wedding?”
“Come sit down and let me explain. Get your girls over here ASAP. Can you have Brenda pick up Terra?” Kale nodded and called Terra as he walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water. I heard him murmuring into the phone and then he flipped it closed. I looked over at my other brother. “Daughtry, can you get the prospects over here? I have a lot of shit for them to do and I need them to get started right now. Will you call the shop and see if any of the guys aren’t busy? I think we could use more strong backs.”
Daughtry pulled his phone out and walked to the back door.
“What can I do? Terra is with Brenda and they’ll both be on their way.” Sonny asked me.
“Let me get my head straight and run to the bathroom. Will you go with Summer? Grab some sticky notes out of my desk. Put one on any piece of furniture she wants moved out. When the guys get here, direct them for her.” I looked over at Summer and saw that she was pale. As Sonny moved over to my desk to look for the sticky pad, I walked over and put my hand on Summer’s cheek before I murmured. “It’s going to be okay, Sunshine. It’s crazy right now but that won’t last.”
“Okay.” Summer whispered. She put her shoulders back and nodded. She turned to Sonny and smiled. “I’m ready if you are!”
Daughtry came back in and shut the door behind him. “Bear, Grady and Stoffer are all on their way. Three guys from the shop are coming too. I called Dad and told him no one was hurt, but he needed to get Mom here as soon as he could. He tried to question me, but this is news you need to tell them in person. I give it an hour at most before they show up.”
I moved toward the bathroom as I listened to my brother. Before I went in, I called out my thanks. When I came out of the bathroom, I saw that Daughtry was on the couch now, Lark in his arms. Kale was standing behind him, looking antsy. I knew how much Kale loved babies. It was killing him not to snatch her away from Daughtry and move to the recliner to kick back for a good nap with her on his chest.
Lark was awake now, and Daughtry was holding her in front of him, talking to her as she inspected his face and beard.
“Fuck. She’s beautiful, Bird.” Kale said from his spot behind Daughtry. “Say your peace, fucker. It’s my turn.”
“Back off, asshole. Clem got a lot of time. Now it’s my turn. You’ll get your fill.” Daughtry turned his head to look at Kale. “I don’t want to fuck you, and that’s the only reason for someone to be breathing on my neck. Move the fuck back.”
“You’ve got to support her head, man.” Kale reached out as if to take the baby from Daughtry.
“I know what the fuck I’m doing.” Daughtry growled as he turned back to look at Lark. “I’m your Uncle Dot, baby girl. That ugly guy behind me staring at you is your Uncle Asshole.”
I laughed at Kale’s expression and had to resist the urge to snatch Lark out of Daughtry’s arms myself. I’d get my time with her, and her meeting my brothers was important.
Lark started to fuss and within just a few seconds it was a full-blown wail.
“Look what you fucking did.” Kale growled out. “Give me that baby.”
“I didn’t do anything.” Daughtry moved her to his shoulder and started to pat her back. “It’s because you’re staring at her with that ugly fucking face of yours.”
“Man, fuck you.” Kale started walking around the couch to take the baby, but I beat him to it.
I reached out and took the baby from Daughtry’s shoulder and moved her to mine. I rocked my body gently back and forth as I spoke calmly to her.
“One of you get in that bag and see about a bottle. I’m going to check her butt.” Daughtry pulled out a diaper and a package of wipes. He rooted around for a second and then brought out a bottle and a canister of formula that he handed to Kale. Kale took off for the kitchen to make a bottle, and I sat down on the other end of the couch and laid the baby down between me and Daughtry as she screamed bloody murder.
“She goes from zero to sixty pretty fucking quick, doesn’t she?” Clem was standing now and out of the corner of my eye I saw him moving to the stairs. “I’m going to see if Summer needs any more help before the guys get here.”
I unsnapped Lark’s pretty little pink and white pajamas and pulled her tiny feet out. I wiggled and moved her until I got her situated. I opened the diaper to see that she was just wet, and I pulled it off her and handed it to Daughtry. I replaced her diaper as he stood up to take the used one to the trash. As I got her dressed, Kale walked up holding the fresh bottle.
“Can you call Marcus and tell him I need someone to look over some papers for me? It’s Laura’s will and her Mother is going to fight me for the baby. The case worker said that she already has a lawyer filing motions and all that.”
“Want me to find the woman?” Kale asked me quietly.
“Not yet. Let’s go this route first. Get Marcus on it and see what he says.” I adjusted the still screaming baby in my arms and took the bottle from Kale. As soon as the nipple hit her mouth, she was quiet and intense. I took that time to stare down at her and study her blue eyes.
“She’s so fucking perfect. And tiny.” I whispered to my brother.
“Yeah, she is.” We both looked up quickly when we heard a gasp come from the kitchen. Terra and Brenda were both standing there, eyes wide, taking in the scene.
“Whose baby is that?” Brenda whispered.
“She’s mine. I’ll explain as soon as my parents get here.”
“Oh, my God, Bird. You’ve got a baby?” Terra and Brenda both moved closer to look at Lark. “What’s her name?”
“It’s Lark.”
“Oh, she’s beautiful.” Brenda sat down at my side by Lark’s head. Terra sat down on my other side and reached out to touch Lark’s foot. “What the fuck?”
“Yeah. I’ve been saying that a lot today.”
I heard a motorcycle pull up in front of the house. I could tell from the sound it made that it was my father. He had apparently rushed to pick up my Mom at the diner and brought her straight here.
I looked down to see that Lark had already finished all four ounces, so I put her up on my shoulder for a burp. Before I could even pat her back, she let out a belch that made my brothers and I laugh. I pulled Lark away from my shoulder and looked into her blue eyes.
“You ready to meet your Grandma?” I asked her as I stood up. She waved her arm aro
und and I was almost positive she smiled. “She’s going to eat you up.”
The door flew open and I looked over to see my Mother rushing inside, my Father close behind her. She stopped abruptly when she saw me holding a baby, and my Dad bumped into her back. He reached out to grab her and then looked up at me. Confusion registered on his face as the two of them moved across the room to me.
“Mama. This is Lark. She’s my daughter.” My Mom’s hands flew to her mouth and tears started to roll down her cheeks.
“How?” Mom reached out and took the baby out of my arms and held her to her chest. She bent her head down and took a deep smell of her hair. A smile crossed her face and she closed her eyes. “Tell me.”
I heard Summer’s voice at the stairs, and I turned to look at her. She was coming down the stairs ahead of Sonny and Clem. She paused for a second when she saw my Mom and Dad. My Mom’s eyes flew open and shot to Summer. I could see that she was enraged, assuming that Summer had kept my child from me for months, and I knew I had to get ahead of this train wreck before it happened.
