101 - Legs

*I know that you don’t know these kids, and you have every right to say no. But is there any way that you would consider letting them steal your legs? - Celt*

After the guys got back from the grocery store, Nicki went to the kitchen to put the groceries away. Critter hugged her, kissing her temple the same way that he would have done to any of his sisters or nieces and then turned her around and gave her a gentle push out of the kitchen.

“Let me tell you a secret,” Critter whispered in the worst stage whisper that anyone in the house had ever heard, “Chowder is picky about his kitchen. The only thing that any of us will be able to fix will be ice water.”

“That’s debatable,” Chowder warned.

“Just for that,” Critter threw over his shoulder, “you can put everything away.”

“Oh, no, I’ll be able to find everything,” the other man said with mocked disdain. “Don’t threaten me with a good time.”

Nicki stood there in the open space between the kitchen, dining room and the living room. She looked confused as she looked between the kitchen and the living room.

“What’s the matter, precious?” Chowder asked, looking at the confused child.

Her eyes filled with tears, “Mom, didn’t like men in her kitchen.”

Chowder reached her in just a few quick strides and wrapped her up in his tattooed arms. He gently pressed her head to his chest and rested his chin on her head. Tears fell from her eyes and dampened his shirt as her arms moved around his waist and grasped the back of his shirt. The entire time he stood there, holding her and humming the same song that he hummed for his own children.

Without him saying anything, the other Saints moved to put the groceries up. The cold goods were placed in the refrigerator or freezer while the shelf stable goods were placed on the counters.

Darkness and Camille came down the stairs from their room and found his standing there. Camille knew that Chowder missed his kids being young and still needing him. His youngest was now in the Coast Guard and the oldest worked with Sticks at the furniture shops.

Chowder would know what these kids would be going through, his wife had died quite suddenly when the oldest was a freshman in high school. Camille had been in fifth grade when she died, and the brother and sister spent a lot of time at her house for the next year.

After a year of grieving, Sid sat him down and in her sweet way reminded him that he had children. Camille had been on the receiving end of her mother’s sweet but tough love. Her words and tone were kind. But her demeanor and actions told the recipient not to argue and shut up and listen.

She rubbed small circles on Nicki’s back but did not try to take the girl away from her protective friend. Instead, she looked up at her father’s friend and asked about dinner.

“It’s been a long day; everyone would understand if you wanted to just order pizza.”

“The hell you say,” Chowder replied indignantly. “If you want pizza, I’ll make you pizza. Precious, do you want to help me make pizza?”

Nicki nodded, “Yes, sir.”

“None of that sir business, precious,” he chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “You jus’ call me Chow Dah.”

Shifting, he kept an arm around the girl’s shoulders as he guided her back into the kitchen. Camille watched as the two of them began to organize the cabinets and food. Soon enough, Nicki found a radio and connected her phone via the Bluetooth connection. Discovering that they both liked Imagine Dragons, the teen began to play some of their songs.

Turning around to face the living room, she saw Critter point towards a small game room that was sunk down off to the side. Camille walked over and sat in her brother’s lap, and he wrapped his arms around her.

“Thanks, Chris.”

“Anytime, Brat,” he smirked. “Oh, yeah, I heard about that. Please don’t make me see it.” He looked down at her, “Or hear it.”

Laughing, she kissed her brother’s cheek. “I’ll make sure he gags me.” She jumped out of his lap and ran for the game room as her brother cussed her out in Dutch. She just laughed harder as she sat down on the floor next to Tink.

The dog rolled over to his back for her to give him good boy belly rubs. Camille obliged and spoke to him in German. When the round of Mario Kart was over, she grabbed a controller and joined the next race. She sat between the two brothers, and they bonded over cheat codes and wins and losses.

When the homemade pizzas were done and Nicki came to get them, the large group moved to the oversized dining table. As was their tradition, the three siblings linked hands and expected the others to also join them in prayer. Darkness and Camille did so and the others followed suit.

With a soft tremble in his voice, Vin said a prayer. He paused and swallowed hard a few times. Camille squeezed his hand and gave him a small smile of encouragement and he continued. The rest of the table echoed Amen and moved to sit but stopped as the three recited the four lines of prayer that had been drilled into them since they were very little.

“God is great, God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. By His hands, we are fed. Let us thank Him for our bread.”

As they all sat down. Critter looked across the table at his sister who gave a subtle shake of her head. He inclined his head slightly before filling his plate with salad and slices of pizza.

Easy conversations flowed around the table about everything other what all would need to be done over the next few weeks. When Celt’s phone rang and it was his father’s office number, he excused himself and took Tink for a walk.

After dinner, Camille and Darkness cleaned the kitchen while the others picked a movie to watch. They finally settled on a Marvel movie and Celt came into the kitchen to make popcorn. As the kernels jumped and popped in the microwave, he told the soon to be adoptive parents what his father told him.

“Destiny and Dominique have filed missing person’s reports on the kids and listed the two of you as possible kidnappers,” he told them quietly. “I’m going to the police department in the morning. Be prepared to have to go in and make a statement. If it comes to that, I have been authorized to pay ap to a million dollars in bond for both of you.”

“Do you think it will come to that?” Camille asked.

“No. We have the documents; you have legal guardianship.” Celt shook his head. “You even have them on your insurance. They have nothing other than a bad recording showing that she indicated that she wanted her kids to go to her mother. But she had a breathing tube in her mouth, and she was nonresponsive.”

“Thanks for everything,” Darkness said as the microwave beeped.

Settling into the couches in the living room, they all got lost in the Marvel Universe and forgot the events of the day for a few hours. As the credits rolled, everyone headed towards their rooms to settle in for the night.

Camille knew that Celt had talked to Bam Bam and it was confirmed when he said that he was going to probably just sleep on the couch. You know, big screen TV and all. She might have believed it a little more if he had not winked at her after that statement.

Darkness tried to convince Camille to ignore her early morning alarm. She kissed him and then slipped out of bed. As she had suspected, all three kids ended up huddling together in one bed.

Quietly, Camille sat on the edge of the bed and gently shook Vin’s shoulder. “Come on, there’s something I need your help with.”

“Can we come?” Mitch asked as Nicki also stirred.

Nodding with a mischievous grin, Camille warned, “You have to be quiet.”

The four of them crept down to the living room where Bam Bam was asleep, and his legs lay on the floor. At her directions, each of the boys grabbed a leg. Vin placed one leg on the top of the upper cabinet in the kitchen. Nicki put the other one on the fireplace mantle.

Giggling, they all ran back upstairs.

An hour later, they went back downstairs and found Bam Bam standing on his legs that ended just below his knees looking at the mantle. “No, Critter, I don’t think it grew legs and walked up there.”

“Okay,” Critter admitted, chuckling, “so, maybe it hopped.”