Bird

by Cee Bowerman

  "Oh no, Summer. I'll buy." Fain swooped down and picked Petra up and she giggled as he pretended to drop her. "Hello, little princess."

  "Hi, Fain." Petra suddenly became shy and laid her head down on Fain's shoulder. I wasn't sure when my little sister had gotten to know Fain, but it seemed like they were already friends. "I'm not a princess today, I'm the President."

  "Well, hello Madam President."

  ~*~

  BIRD

  "Mama." I pulled my Mom into my arms for a hug. She squeezed me tightly and then moved on to my brothers. It felt so good to hold her, if only for a second. For the hour or so that they were gone, I had been terrified that I would never see her again.

  Once Kale, Clem, and Daughtry had all three given our Mom love, she moved back to Dad's arms. Jenna was sitting on the side of Crow's bed, brushing his hair from his face and murmuring to him. He had started moving his head back and forth and muttering in his sleep just a minute ago, and Jenna was trying to calm him.

  "My Nix. My Gamma." Crow mumbled as his eyes opened. Mom moved over the side of the bed and leaned down to rest her hand on Crow's cheek.

  "I'm okay, sweet boy. So is Nix. We're just fine." Crow smiled and nestled his cheek into her hand, sleep taking him back under once again.

  "Oh, these kids have a lot to process today." Mom took a deep breath and looked up at me. "I'm glad Phoenix is so small, Bird, but he saw what I did."

  "He's so young, Mama. He might not even have realized what was happening. If he did and it bothers him, we'll get him help. You did what you had to do, and I can never thank you enough." I pulled her back into my arms. "I was so worried about you two, but we knew you would take care of things."

  "I wasn't going to let that motherfucker take one of my babies." My mother said it quietly, but I could hear the passion in her voice. "I strapped Phoenix in the best I could and then did what needed to be done. I'll admit, I was just trying to incapacitate the son of a bitch. The fact that he's dead is just a bonus as far as I'm concerned. Now, I need to find a way to get to that old bitch that started this shit."

  "They've already got her in jail, honey. Her time will come. We'll make sure of it." My Dad reassured my Mom.

  Mama nodded. "Okay. We have things to do. Kale go get the other little ones. Clem, can you check on Shannon for me? She put up one hell of a fight. Daughtry, sweetheart, you, Fain and Jenna go to Bird’s house and make sure everything is tidy there. We don’t want the kids to have any reminder of today when we get them home. I’ll come over, cook dinner, and we can all stay together this evening and snuggle the kids close to us. Help them forget.”

  All of my siblings jumped to do Mama’s bidding, as we always had. Before anyone left the little room, Mama stopped them with just a few more instructions.

  “All four of you looked at Fain like he had stolen a priceless gem from the castle. I want you all four to know that he has spoken to me and your father at length, and there will be no repercussions for him regarding Jenna. With him beside her, she has blossomed back into the girl we lost a year ago. You won’t punish him for that. If anything, he deserves our gratitude and thanks.” Mama made a point to look each of us in the eye before she continued. “Fain has done nothing wrong. His behavior has been very honorable. He hasn’t touched her. Not once. They are just friends. He has helped her through things that none of us have been able to.”

  I stiffened at her words but understood what she was saying. I could tell that it bothered my brothers also, the thought that Fain had been seeing Jenna alone behind our backs. But, when we looked at Jenna, we could see the happiness on her face at Mom’s words. I was so glad to see her beaming up at us, I might end up thanking Fain after all. If he ever hurt her feelings or broke her heart, I’d just kill him then. I could hold out if I needed to.

  20.

  “If the baby can hear everything while he is inside my belly, then I’m pretty sure his first word will be fuck. Or nachos. It could go either way.”

  Terra to Summer and Brenda

  “How are you feeling today, beautiful?” I whispered to Summer from across the pile of little boys in our bed.

  “Drained, to be quite honest.” She reached over the boys and I put my hand out to hold hers. “Happy that everyone is okay.”

  “I am too, sweetheart. When you called me, my heart hit the floor. I don’t think I took a single breath on the ride over here.”

  “I was so confused. I didn’t know who to help first. Mom, Crow, Hawk and Petra. Lark was alone in the house and I had no idea where Martha and Phoenix were.”

  “I can’t imagine, sweetheart.”

  “I never want to deal with that again, Bird. Promise me that nothing you do with work or the club will come into our house.”

  “I promise to do anything and everything in my power to make sure it doesn’t.” I knew that wasn’t a guarantee I could make, but the promise I gave her would have to do. “This wasn’t the club, baby. It was a crazy lady.”

  “I know that. But you had a shootout here in this house, Bird. That had everything to do with the club. There is a man out there that you and your brothers are hunting for right along with the cops and the FBI. What if he comes here to get to you and gets one of the kids instead?”

  “Honey. I don’t know what to say to make you feel better. I don’t know what to do to make you feel secure here. Tell me what I can do.”

  “I want you to build an impenetrable bubble around our house so that no one can bring bad things in.”

  I chuckled quietly. “I’ll get to work on that this afternoon. How about right now, you and I head downstairs for coffee. We’ll get the baby and take her with us, so she doesn’t wake the boys. We can sit outside and watch the sunrise and plan the backyard renovations.”

  “Okay.” Summer whispered as she squeezed my hand. “Make sure that the new backyard is under the bubble, okay?”

  “Definitely.”

  ~*~

  I pulled Summer up closer to my side on the couch. Lark was in her little bouncy chair after enjoying her morning bottle. The boys still hadn’t come downstairs, and all was quiet in our little world.

  “Your doctor appointment is tomorrow, right? I’m coming with you. I have questions.”

  “Like what?”

  “I thought pregnant women threw up every morning.”

  “The lucky ones don’t.” Summer laughed. “I did with Hawk, but not Crow or Phoenix.”

  “Carlie thought she had the flu. She was only sick for a few days in a row, and it always got better around mid-morning. When we were out of town that last time getting Brighten and visiting Terra, she was always better by around ten in the morning.”

  “With Hawk I threw up day and night. With the other two, I didn’t know I was pregnant for quite a while. Not like this baby.”

  “I love you, Sunshine.”

  “I love you too, Bird.” She looked at me, curious where that came from. “You okay?”

  “I am. I just don’t say it nearly enough. After yesterday, I realized that things can go bad in an instant. I just want you to always know. You and the boys.”

  “They already love you so much, Bird. At first, Daddy was just a name for them. Something they knew that everyone else had and they didn’t. But now, it’s your title. You have that place in their heart.”

  “I don’t want you to let them forget their Father, Summer. I’d never ask that of you.”

  “I won’t let them, Bird. I have boxes of pictures of him, and they have the names he gave them. The ones that made destiny bring us to you.”

  “Should we name our next baby girl Destiny? I know it’s Lark’s middle name, but it could be the next girl’s first name.”

  “I think it should be Starling if it’s a girl. I’m leaning toward that. Or maybe Cardinal or even Blue. That one has grown on me.”

  “Oh, Starling is a good name. We can call her Star, like Jamie Gertz’ character in The Lost Boys. She was hot by the way.”

&nbs
p; Summer just shook her head. “Keifer made that movie. And Jason Patrick? Damn. Teenage girl’s dream. Although that movie is how I got my aversion to rice. I never touch the stuff.”

  “A billion Chinese people can’t be wrong. What if it’s a boy?”

  “Merlin, Falcon, or Griffon.”

  “I like all of those. We need to have three more boys.”

  “My womb is ever at your service, Master. However, I’ll remind you that Big Bird’s baby batter is what decides the sex of our children.” Summer said with a flourish of her hands.

  I snorted out a laugh. “Woman, you’re so crass.”

  “Yeah, but you love it.”

  “I do.” I shook my head. “Baby batter? Really? And you’re sticking to the Big Bird thing? That’s terrible. The boys were watching Sesame Street the other day and I felt a little dirty. I couldn’t even look at the damn television.”

  This time it was Summer who laughed. She threw her head back and thoroughly enjoyed the guilt she had caused me.

  We were both startled when Rolo and Leon jumped up from the grass and looked to the back door. We had left it open so we could hear the boys come down the slide. Both dogs took off at a run right about the time we heard Crow and Phoenix laughing together. Soon, all three boys were barreling out of the house toward us. The youngest two as naked as the day they were born.

  All three ran over to the fence and had their morning pee.

  “You know, there’s a bright spot to them being streakers.”

  “If there is, I have yet to find it.”

  “We have to buy less clothes and we have to wash less clothes. And, they don’t have any pesky tan lines.”

  “Jesus, Bird. Don’t encourage them.”

  “Meanie.” I looked toward the boys and shouted. “Little boys who don’t have clothes on don’t get to go with me to buy donuts.”

  All three boys screamed and ran back into the house.

  “That was pure bribery.”

  “I haven’t been a parent long, but I know to use whatever works.”

  ~*~

  “Are you nervous?” I asked Summer as she walked past me to reach into the car and unstrap Lark from her car seat.

  “No, honestly I’m not. Excited to have this over with, yes.”

  “I was surprised when Marcus called, but you handled it like a champ. I didn’t know it was possible for a woman to get herself and four children dressed and out of the house in under thirty minutes.”

  “It doesn’t normally happen like that, but this is important. Besides, I’ve had a lot of practice. And, I used some of your bribery. I told them if they wore their clothes the entire time that we were gone, I wouldn’t make them put on anything at all tomorrow.”

  “We have everything?” I looked around and counted heads. I had the diaper bag over my shoulder, Hawk’s and Phoenix’s hands in mine. Crow was holding Phoenix’s other hand. Summer carried Lark in her arms, along with a folder of papers.

  My family and I walked quietly into the courthouse to visit with the judge. His secretary had called Marcus and informed him that the judge denied bail to Lark’s grandmother this morning, deeming her a flight risk. When he realized who she had tried to kidnap and why, he had his secretary call us to see if we could squeeze in a visit to his courtroom.

  When Summer opened the doors, I was surprised to see all three of my brothers, my parents, Summer’s Mom and all six of her children along with Grunt, Jenna and Fain, Sam, Carlie and their twins, Lisa, Zeke and Brighten, Brenda, Sonny, Lout and Hank waiting for us outside the courtroom.

  Standing in the middle of them all was Ms. Cherry, our CFS worker.

  “How did they know?” I asked Summer in amazement.

  “I sent our Moms a text and had them put the word out. The judge said he wanted to see our family together for his ruling today, so almost all of them are here.”

  I smiled down at her.

  “Yeah. They are all our family, but you’re my heart, Ms. Summer. My whole fucking heart.”

  ~*~

  “Mr. and Mrs. Forrester, it pleases me to tell you that your petitions for adoption have been granted. As unusual as this case is, I am happy to see that these children are surrounded by family that loves them. A family that will protect them at all costs and nurture them as they grow.”

  I looked over at Summer and saw tears streaming down her cheeks. She smiled at me and then looked back up at the judge.

  “Children are the legacy that we leave to the world. A baby comes into this world as a blank canvas. The picture we paint through their childhood forms the beauty that they put into the world throughout the rest of their lives. I feel sure that the two of you, along with the million family members you have at your back, will nurture these children and color their worlds with love and laughter.”

  I choked back tears of my own and heard a few sobs behind me.

  “Mrs. Forrester, you are now the legal mother of Lark Destiny Forrester.” My family erupted into cheers behind us, and the judge raised his hand for silence.

  “Mr. Forrester, you are now the proud father of three young sons. Hawk Tyler Preston-Forrester, Crow Marcus Preston-Forrester and Phoenix Christopher Preston-Forrester.”

  Once again, our family went wild behind us. This time the judge didn’t make any move to stop them.

  I leaned over and kissed Summer, Lark in her arms between us. The boys were drawing on the excitement and bouncing around together around our legs. This was life. My life.

  EPILOGUE

  “A real parent loves another’s child as if they were their own.”

  BIRD

  “Are you excited about the party tomorrow, Sunshine?”

  “I am. It’s crazy how fast the time has gone.”

  “In the blink of an eye.”

  I looked out over our large backyard and watched two of the boys playing in the clubhouse. One of the younger girls was in the swing being pushed by her older sister. Two little boys were running naked over by the fence. One of them suddenly stopped and peed, right there in front of God and everybody.

  A few of the older kids were in the pool, their floats connected so they could talk and laugh together. Our oldest grandson, the nine-year-old, sat alone under an umbrella while he played on his phone, his infant baby brother asleep in his lap.

  “I hope everyone is able to make it.”

  “I know they will do everything in their power to be here. I’ve already spoken to my brothers and Jenna. They are all going to make it, along with their kids.”

  “Same with all of my brothers and sisters. Good grief, just with both of our families there maybe it should be at a bigger place.”

  “Nah. We’ll make it work. We always do.” I reached over and took my wife’s hand. “It’s like history repeating itself. Twenty-five years ago, I took you to my parent’s anniversary party in that same building. Now, they can celebrate their fifty while we celebrate our twenty fifth.”

  “And this time, we’ll be showing off our grandchildren and the baby bumps that will be our future grandchildren. Just like your parents did at their party all those years ago.”

  “I’m glad you took my hand that day in the bar, Sunshine.”

  “And I’m glad you never let mine go.”

  “Gammy! I found a bug!” One of the littlest grandbabies toddled over to us from the grass, his hand held out toward Summer.

  “You did?” Summer leaned up in her chair and held her hand out. “Let me see.”

  He got closer and turned his hand over to dump the bug into hers.

  “It’s a spider, Gammy!”

  With a shriek, my wife jumped out of her chair and started moving around to make sure that the spider wasn’t on her. At her scream, our grandchildren all looked toward her and saw her ‘dancing’ around. Their laughter rang out across the yard.

  In my wildest dreams, I would have never imagined a life like this. A wife, children I was proud to call my own, grandchildren I enjoyed every chance I go
t, my family always around me. I never thought my life would turn out this way. And yet, here we are. Together. Destiny.