Enforcer

by Ryleigh Rhodes

  Tara-Lynn was in a much calmer mood. With her pajamas in hand, she asked, "Can we order Chinese?" Actually asked, not screamed, for. Yes, Tara-Lynn was taking everything in stride. It's been a few years since I'd seen both of them in meltdown mode, now that was a big handful.

  "We can order both, okay?" I said, and Tara-Lynn nodded, smiling.

  Claire waited for Tara-Lynn to shut the bathroom door. Cullen was sulking, and therefore taking his time in the bathroom to avoid her. Tara-Lynn was a girly girl, and didn't like to rush getting dressed. "You're such a pushover," Claire teased me.

  In truth, I was counting on bribery a little bit. The twins loved me, but that was before I started dating their mom. If ordering pizza and Chinese kept the kids from a meltdown, I was inclined to cave.

  Taking a few steps to close the distance between us, I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her into me as I kissed her cheek. "Is it okay, if I pick the kids up after practice tomorrow? I have some errands to run, and if Jack has time, he's going to bring Matt along. I can cook tomorrow night at my place."

  She looked over her shoulder at me and smiled. "No, I don't mind. As long as you don't fill them up with sugar, but you need to ask them." I wanted to kiss her, but worried about the twins. She wasn't comfortable with PDA in front of them, at least not yet.

  Not much rattled Tara-Lynn, just like her mother. As long as I'd known Claire, she shook off life's drama and kept her head down. She was calm, collected, even relaxed, yet she'd just uprooted her family by moving into a temporary home.

  "I'll ask them after I order food. What do you want?" I watched her, she continued her mission of hanging up clothes and tucking items away in drawers.

  "Chinese, please." Pulling my phone out, I quickly ordered. Cullen loved pepperoni, and Tara-Lynn ate the same thing as Claire: broccoli beef and fried rice.

  Walking over to her, I curled a hand around her neck, with my other arm around her waist, leaned down, and kissed her. I felt her fingers slide through my hair, as her mouth opened to mine. Pulling her tighter, my tongue met hers. I deepened the kiss. She moaned against my mouth, tugging my hair. That sound shot right to my dick. Fuck, it's going to be a long four months.

  The twins rushed out of the bathroom. Cullen took a running dive at the bed. As soon as he landed, he started jumping on it. Poor timing.

  "Ugh, gross Mom!" Tara-Lynn giggled, and Claire jerked away from me. Her cheeks flushed, and damn if it wasn't cute to see. She focused back on the suitcase, refusing to make eye contact. She was embarrassed, but in this game it was two steps forward and one step back. That kiss was worth it.

  "Cullen, sit down, please. Clay has something to ask both of you."

  "I have an early practice tomorrow, but I have some other errands to run. I was wondering if either of you wanted to tag along? Give us a chance to hang out, and I could cook dinner at my house."

  "I'll go!" Cullen shouted, jumping on the bed again.

  "What kind of errands?" Tara-Lynn asked, and Claire smiled. Maybe she wasn't as upset over the kiss as I had thought.

  "I need to go by a few furniture stores. One of my teammates is getting married soon, and I need to pick out a wedding gift."

  Not a total lie. One of the wingers was getting married in a few weeks. But the main goal tomorrow was to find the twins new beds, and maybe hit the animal shelter. The animal shelter was a last resort, and only if we have enough time.

  "Okay. I'll go," Tara-Lynn agreed. I smiled. At least part one of this plan was now in motion.

  ######

  Claire

  Standing outside Clay's front door, I rang the door bell. I wasn't comfortable enough just walking in. There were still boundaries in our new relationship, at least boundaries I wasn't yet ready to cross. The door opened and I jump. Jack's massive frame filled the doorway.

  "Uh— Hey, Jack. Didn't expect you to be here." I slid past him into the house, immediately taking off my coat.

  "Clay's in the kitchen, the twins and Matt are upstairs. We're about to head out. I just wanted to ask when you'll sit down with Kristen, you know clear the air."

  I was still upset with her, and I wanted to make her worry. I didn't feel bad for wanting her to feel guilty. She needed to think about her words and surroundings in the future. It wasn't Jack's fault, I remind myself.

  "Um. I was going to give it a few more days. Would you prefer before or after your game? It'll have to be neutral ground though, and probably somewhere close to the hospital."

  "Either is fine with me. If neutral ground is what you need, then do it. Just sort this shit out, okay?"

  It hadn't even been a week and the rift was clearly getting to him. My paycheck took precedent over mending fences, at least this week it did. Okay, and maybe part of it I was trying to avoid for as long as possible. And maybe I was hoping Kristen would be sweating it a bit.

  "Jack, I have a lot going on right now. I'm transitioning at work, plus the hotel, and things with Clay are still new. Priorities and all. I'm not putting it off, things will be sorted sooner or later."

  Probably later just because of everything that's been going on, and adjustments. Jack was smart, he could see that himself.

  "Okay ... Matt it's time to go," he shouted towards the stairs. Clay's house had two stair cases, one by the front door, and one in the back by the kitchen. Even though we'd stayed there in the past, I never asked for a full tour. It was a fairly large house.

  "Have a good night, Jack," I said, walking towards the kitchen. I found Clay closing the oven and adjusting the timer. He caught my gaze, and smiled.

  "Hey handsome. What's for dinner?" My mouth suddenly went dry. I stared at Clay, worn-in jeans hung low on his narrow hips. Sarah grey Henley fit snuggly across his broad shoulders, the man oozes sex. This game we've been half-ass playing was becoming more and more dangerous. My years of a dry spell and hormones were not helping me stay on the road of abstinence.

  "Hey, baby." He leaned down, brushing his lips against mine. "Baked spaghetti should be ready in fifteen. Jack corner you about facing Kristen?"

  I nodded, wanting to avoid the subject of Kristen. "Sounds yummy. How did errands go? The twins behave?"

  "I should just show you." He took my hand in his big calloused ones and went towards the stairs.

  Show me?

  "Baby, I had the best intentions. I promise." He took the stairs two at a time, and I had to lengthen my stride to keep up.

  Just what the hell was that supposed to mean?

  "You're not exactly giving me warm, comforting, tingly, thoughts right now, Clay," I told him, as he led me down the hallway to one of his spare rooms.

  "I think you might overreact, so give me a kiss before you look into the room."

  I stepped up on my toes, leaning into Clays' body. Keeping my mouth closed, I gave him a brief kiss, stepping away quickly, and into the spare room. There was furniture, alright. Two twin bunk beds in a natural oak color, with matching dressers and toy chests. They looked nice and sturdy, not something cheap you'd get at Wal-Mart. Tara-Lynn had picked out some zebra bedding, whereas, Cullen chose a Cars theme.

  Holy crap!

  "Hey, mommy! Look at the puppies. Clay said we can help take care of them," Tara-Lynn replied. My eyes bugged out, but I managed to keep my mouth from dropping open.

  How could I have overlooked the two black lab mutts on the floor next to my kids? I struggled to keep my reaction neutral. Might overreact? Yeah, I'm not flippin' happy about this! In fact, I was glad I skimped on the kiss earlier.

  "Dinner will be ready soon. Pick up your toys, wash your hands, and put the dogs in their kennels, okay?" Thank goodness the twins complied, and quickly. Oh, yeah. Total bribery.

  "One dog wasn't enough, you had to get two dogs?" I whispered, mostly because I wasn't sure how far down the hall the twins were, and I didn't want them to hear us arguing.

  "I only planned on looking at dogs. Jack did not help the situation."

  Jack wouldn
't. He'd been trying for years to talk Kristen into getting a dog for Matt. It hadn't happened, but this way Matt could have his fill of having a dog around. I had to give it to Jack, he played this game very well. However, Jack's misgivings did not absolve Clay from his wrongdoings .

  "You're bribing them with the dogs. You should have talked with me about all of this. Dogs, furniture, bedding, all of it. Now, if I don't go along with this, I'm the bad guy."

  This was moving at a much faster pace than I had anticipated. I wasn't sure what pace I would be comfortable at, but becoming Suzy Homemaker and decorating was not an option for me.

  "You'll be over here more it will be easier for them to have their own space. They need a place to sleep. The furniture was for Matt too. I assume he'll be over more with the twins being here."

  It was hard to be mad at him for wanting my kids to be comfortable, and to feel welcome. Still, a pushy, egotistical, and infuriating move on his part.

  "I understand the thought process behind it, but you should have talked to me first. This is just as bad as what Kristen did." If not worse, since it was premeditated. This was like walking into your bathroom and finding toiletries that aren't yours spread across the vanity. It was a big step in commitment, and there was no avoiding that conversation.

  "I didn't mean to undermine your authority. The dogs will stay here. Jack and Matt volunteered to help out with them, if you and the twins couldn't. It was a group effort there. But, honestly, baby, the furniture needs to be here. I wasn't going to let you chip in for it regardless." He smiled at me. Ugh. This isn't amusing at all, and there was no way I was going to let him bat his eyelashes at me to earn forgiveness.

  He knew what he was doing yesterday, and still said nothing to me. I totally understood the furniture issue, but a heads up would have been nice.

  "It's not funny. I'm feeling more like you're trying to manipulate me, not undermine my authority. You have to communicate things like this with me." He looked at me with this warm melting look, it was intentional. My heart picked up a beat, he knew he was sexy, and it could distract me, if I let it. I ignored the warmth in his eyes, hoping to drive the point home. "You can't cute your way out of this. Seriously, it's not negotiable. You can't spring stuff like this and just expect me to go with it."

  Although, I did, because I'm a pushover concerning my kids. I didn't want the twins to feel bad or become defensive about the dogs. I grew up with dogs. I'm not an animal hater by any means. I wanted to wait until the twins were older and could shoulder more of the responsibilities and chores that go along with owning a pet.

  "For God's sake stop spending money on my kids." I was of the mindset that spending time over money with kids is better. Granted, I worked a lot, but I sat and read with my kids, or played games, not shopping trips.

  "What's the point of having money if I can't make the people I care about more comfortable. I didn't give them carte blanche, they had a limit. I will discuss it with you next time, I promise. Are you going to turn me down if I ask you to stay here tonight?"

  Well, duh. How did he imagine this going down? I was hungry, and the kids expected to eat here. I took in a calming breath, attempting to squash down my irritation.

  "We'll stay for dinner, but I need some space tonight." Lots of cool down space.

  ######

  There was an older coffee shop and bakery near the hospital that I chose for the "meeting". It was laid back, the food was great, service fast and it was close to work. Granted it was more out of the way for Kristen to meet me, but I had some patient files to go through before I could fully move out of my office at the hospital.

  Kristen was late, but that was normal. I was sitting in the back corner by a window with my back to the wall. I ordered a chai tea with a blueberry scone, and waited. The waitress just returned with my order when Kristen came strutting in. Expensive sunglasses, twice as expensive shoes, that was Kristen's style, and she looked good in it. I preferred comfort to fashion, even more so now after Iraq and the twins were born. I still loved shoes, but what girl didn't?

  Kristen sat across from me.

  "Is this place safe?"

  I smiled. Okay, maybe making Kristen slightly uncomfortable had been why I truly picked this restaurant. Not very mature of me, but I didn't care.

  "It hasn't killed me yet. The building is old, but the service isn't lacking."

  Kristen nodded, and ordered a cappuccino from the waitress.

  "All Matt talks about are those dogs. He wants his own dog." It was a ploy for sympathy on her part, but I was not taking full responsibility for those dogs. That was Jack and Clay, and I'd be damned if Jack didn't play his part in watching them.

  "The way Clay explained it, the dogs are a joint custody venture. That was negotiated by the men in your house. Of course Clay was already in the proverbial dog house so might say anything to ease his way out of it."

  "So we were both duped on that, huh?"

  I took a sip of tea before muttering, "Yep."

  I looked out the window, as waitress returned with Kristen's cappuccino and quickly left. Kristen would avoid this for as long as possible. So I decided to dive right on in. "Tara-Lynn was heartbroken when I told her there was no baby. She was really excited about the idea of having a little sister."

  "I didn't realize Matt had heard me talking about you and Clay. I will be more careful in the future."

  Okay, not exactly an apology, but a small step in the right direction. I bit my lip waiting for her to continue, hoping for an apology.

  "Clay wants kids, assuming everything stays on track, you'll eventually be pregnant."

  I sucked in a deep breath, because that was not where I imagined this conversation going. The twins had been unplanned and very much a surprise. Sawyer and I hadn't used birth control for years, and then suddenly I was pregnant, with twins no less.

  "Look, we haven't talked about that, and I'd prefer to talk it over with him face to face."

  She tilted her head to the side, looking at me. "Do you not want more kids?"

  I took a bite of the scone to delay answering. The twins had always been a handful, and being a single mom with a full time career, was not a walk in the park. If I had another kid, I'd never manage to get a full night's sleep. I'd have to offer up a blood sacrifice to Morpheus. Morpheus is the God of sleep and dreams, but he has an insane amount of siblings, like in the thousands. He probably never experienced a peaceful night's sleep anyways.

  "I don't know. I haven't thought about it. The twins and I have been by ourselves a long time. My life plan never included dating again."

  "You just planned to go for years without getting laid?"

  Originally, I had. It wasn't until Clay made a move that I realized how lonely I truly was.

  "We've talked about this before. You know I was happy with my vibrator. And for the record Clay and I are waiting until the end of the season."

  Kristen's mouth gaped open. That was not a good sign. Kristen was rarely shocked in regards to sex. Except sex toys, those she considered embarrassing. Honestly, for me, after five years what was waiting a few more months?

  "Shit ... Honey, you need to talk to him. After you figure out what you want. I made a bad assumption about you having more kids. At this point I'm thinking we all did."

  Aw, hell. Kristen admitting she was wrong was bad. Really, really bad.

  "I know Clay has a late game tonight, but y'all need to watch the dogs for the next few days, okay? Clay needs to focus on his games, and I need to process some stuff."

  Even if Clay and I stayed on this path and things escalated, he had a full-time schedule. And so did I. Could I even handle another kid on top of the twins, and now two dogs?

  "We'll watch the dogs. I was hoping to talk you into moving in with him. Looks like that's out."

  This freakin' family has lost their ever lovin' minds!

  She had to be kidding. Quickly I took a sip of tea to hide my revulsion. Thankfully, this allowed me a
second to recompose myself. Otherwise my Marine Corps mouth would have come out. Trust me, that's never pretty.

  "Seriously? You just came to terms with us not even, what, a week ago? And you were going to push us to move in together?"

  She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Well, yeah. With his season, max he'll be home is four or five days, then he'll be back on the road. His house has a high-end security system, and he has room in his garage. With all that extra space, you wouldn't have to move into his room right away."

  Kristen looked dead serious, which I found confusing. It was time to retreat and regroup. I needed to get work stuff done, finish cleaning out my office, then pick up the twins. I held up my hand to signify that I was done.