102 - O'Malley

*My name is Shawn O’Malley; I am the legal representative of Amos and Camille Johnson. They have legal guardianship and custody of Marvin, Monique and Mitchell Johnson. The children are not missing, nor have they been kidnapped. – Celt*

Shawn had been gone for more than two hours when Camille finally received a message stating that he was on his way back to the cabin. When she asked if everything was okay, he replied with a thumb’s up emoji. When Darkness silently looked at her, asking for hope, she gave him a small nod.

The kids had a somber attitude, as would be expected, but they were also still youthful and resilient. The boys spent a lot of time playing video games and going to Camille for hugs. Nicki went back and forth between Chowder and Darkness.

Celt finally arrived back at the cabin and pulled Camille and Darkness into the small office that he had commandeered for the duration. One of the dark wooden walls had bookshelves that were filled with probably unread books from floor to ceiling. Mounted heads and other trophies covered the other two.

Just like the rest of the large house, the side facing the lake was all glass. In the center was a double door that led out to the wooden deck. Bam Bam and Critter had found fishing rods and tackle gear that were sitting against the railing, waiting on them to return with fishing licenses.

They had been warned not to do anything to draw attention to themselves. Follow the laws, *all* of the laws. No picking and choosing. And if they wanted to go hunting or fishing, abide by all the regulations. Critter knew why the presidents wanted no additional attention on the club. But he had been sworn to secrecy.

Although Celt also knew, he was bound by lawyer client confidentiality.

Darkness closed the door behind them as Camille moved to the small refrigerator under the cabinet on the side wall. A mounted spotted bass sat on the shelf above the refrigerator, forever frozen as he swam over a log. Grabbing bottles of water out of the refrigerator, she was tempted to pour water over the fish. However amusing it might be, she was afraid that it might mess up the trophy.

Instead, she placed one on the desk for Celt and handed another over to Darkness. She took a quick drink of her water as she stood next to her husband.

Removing his dark gray jacket, Celt sat his briefcase on the desk before he sat down in the chair, loosening his tie. Motioning to the other chairs across from him, he leaned forward to remove the official Kelly-green tie for the law offices of O’Malley, Tulley and Burch from around his neck and the black band in his hair.

“Is everything settled?” Darkness demanded as Celt unbuttoned his cuffs and then the buttons on his shirt.

“With the police? Yes,” he confirmed. “But with the courts, that is still pending.

“What’s next?” Camille asked as she took Darkness’ hand in hers.

“We have a virtual court appearance on Monday to confirm that you are now the legal custodians and guardians of the three children. Dominique has asked for a few concessions, and I agreed to speak with you about them.”

Darkness sat up and Camille squeezed his hand. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out before asking, “What does she want?”

“Visitations and to be able to call them at any time.” As he removed the thick white shirt, his multiple tattoos became visible through the think white T-shirt that he wore underneath.

“We would never try to keep them away from their family,” Camille said before Darkness could respond.

“I know, and I assured them of this,” Celt tossed his shirt on the desk and sighed as he leaned back and ran his hands through his hair. “If they agree, we will meet with Dominique and William tomorrow at a park.”

“What about them saying that we kidnapped the kids?” Darkness demanded.

“I explained that the kids thought the house felt suffocating because everything reminded them of their parents. They needed space to breathe. We were staying here on a retreat and had planned to go to Baton Rouge but when you called your mom, we changed our plans.”

Camille shook her head. He was full of bullshit and they both knew it. Whatever was going on back home, he would give no indication of it.

“Why were you headed down to Baton Rouge?” she asked, curious as to what his story would be.

“Your brother turns 21 this week,” Celt grinned. “What a better place to celebrate turning 21 than New Orleans and you’re only what an hour? Maybe two away? And we were going to surprise you.”

She stared down her friend for a moment before smiling. “You’re good.”

“I’m an O’Malley,” Celt countered with a knowing grin. “Penny poker?”

She chuckled as she shook her head. “You should talk the Cajuns into a few hands.”

“Maybe once we’re down there,” he conceded as he grabbed his bottle of water.

Darkness leaned forward in his chair as Celt took a drink. “What about them accusing us of kidnapping the kids?”

Celt finished off the small bottle before putting the lid on and dropping it into the trash can that sat next to him. “They are… sorry, the police are marking it as a misunderstanding of concerned family members. As of right now, they, the police, are not going to pursue the charges as they are unfounded.”

“So, they get away with it?” he asked the other man.

“No, they were ticketed with filing a false report. I spoke with the magistrate who will be handling it, the charges will probably be adjudicated,” he held his hand up when Darkness started to object. “Let me finish. The charges will most likely be adjudicated and eventually wiped clean as long as they abide by the judge’s orders.”

“What are the orders?” Darkness demanded.

“They have not gone before the court yet, but, as I said, I did speak with the judge. I spoke on your behalf and advised that you did not want ill feelings between you or Keisha’s family. I also stated that you want to be assured that the children are safe.”

He took a moment to simply look at the darker man. He was larger than Celt and could easily beat the red head in a fight. But Celt hoped that the situation did not come to that.

“That is your main concern, is it not? The safety and security of your niece and nephews?”

Darkness relaxed and leaned back in his chair. He nodded and brought Camille’s hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. Trapping her hand between his hand and chest, he nodded. “I just…. I…”

“I get it, man,” Celt chuckled. “Certified bachelor to the rupture, loving every aspect of club life.”

Unable to help herself, Camille rolled her eyes at him.

“Not as bad as Chance, but I sure as hell was up there. And then I met this woman, I’d seen her on the fringes, but she stayed away from the clubs. Then suddenly there she was, invading my space and my mind and then my heart. Woke up one morning and suddenly I had two preteens calling me dad. I get it. Your life will never be the same. You won’t want it to be either.”

“Yeah,” Darkness sighed out, grateful that someone else understood his fears and excitement.

“Don’t know if your woman has told you or not, but Saints stay. You won’t get rid of us.”

Camille laughed. “Saints stay and Lowerys never leave.”

“True story,” Celt shook his head. “But you won’t have to do this on your own. We’re here for you.” He took a deep breath, “That being said, the judge will probably limit their contact to supervised visitations. No overnights and nothing without your express approval.”

There was a knock on the door and Celt looked at the couple to see if they were good. With nods from both, he called for whoever was on the other side to enter.

When the door opened, Critter stuck his head inside and smiled at his sister. “We can get an out of state visitor’s fishing license online. You want one?”

“Hell, yeah!”

Celt shuddered. “Worms, slime, blech. Keep that to yourselves.”

“Until it’s cooked,” Camille smirked.

“Yeah, let me go talk to Chowder about dinner,” Celt said as he stood up. “Let me know if you want me there when you talk to the kids.”

“Maybe after dinner?” Darkness suggested as he looked at Camille and she nodded.

“Sounds good,” Celt agreed. “I’m going to go call my wife. Maybe I can get her cookie recipes because I am really wanting some sweets.”

“Talk to Chowder,” Camille suggested. “He sent Duke and Rino to the store for some baking shit.”