149 - Vin

*Family, my little man, is not defined by blood or shared last names. It’s by choice and decisions and actions and sticking through the hard times. We’ll always be here for you. Saints stay, no matter what. - Porthos*

Camille never asked what Porthos and Mitch talked about while they were gone much longer than it took to get donuts. But after that morning, her youngest was much more comfortable with himself being attracted to guys. The only thing that Mitch ever told her about their talk was that it would not be long after they moved up to Massachusetts that Porthos would come home. And his husband would be home a few years later.

Mitch insisted on going with Athos and Aramis when they took Porthos to the airport so that he could fly home. A few days later, the rest of the Saints headed home, and the clubhouse began to fall back into a regular routine.

The Johnson household did not fall into a regular routine. Sid stayed for another week to help Vin get ready to move up to Massachusetts for college. She took over cooking and Camille did not object since she was doing a short online course. Darkness did not object to the cooking but insisted that he and the kids helped to clean up the kitchen.

After the week was over, Sid flew home, Nicki and Mitch went with her. A few weeks later, Vin loaded up the back of Camille’s with the belongings that he was taking with him to college and prepared to drive up to Ridgeview.

Camille placed the last box in the trunk area before Vin closed the back. he let out a deep breath and then looked at his adoptive mom.

“You okay?”

He shrugged, “Yes… no… I’m not certain,”

Smiling, she opened her arms, and he stepped into the embrace. “All three of those are valid and acceptable answers.”

“I… I honestly never thought that I would be going to MIT,” he admitted as he hugged her.

“And for that I am sorry,” she rubbed her hand up and down his back.

“It’s not you… you didn’t… it was…”

“Don’t,” she whispered. “Your parents made mistakes, hell, I’m sure that I’ve made mistakes.”

“You’ve accepted us as we are,” he said as he rested his chin on the top of her head. “You didn’t try to change us. Or make us act differently. If the living room or game room got messy, you did not flip out.”

She chuckled, “I’m the youngest of nine kids. By the time I came along, my parents had mastered parenting. But were too damned tired to do it.”

He chuckled, “I love your mom.”

“She’s pretty awesome. You can even tell her that I said that, and I won’t even deny it.”

“I’m afraid if I tell her that, her ego might grow even more.”

“That’s always a risk.”

“How are you getting the Jeep back home?” he asked as he stepped back and grabbed the travel dog bed off the roof.

Tink saw the bed and sat up from where he was laying in the grass. As Vin moved out of his line of site with his bed, Tink yipped pawed the ground. He had not been given the command to leave the grass, and he would stay right where he was until it was given. He would, however, let his displeasure be known.

“I’m driving it.”

“Are you riding with me on the way up?”

She shrugged as she chuckled at her dog, “I might. I’ll probably split my time between the bike and the Jeep.”

“What am I going to drive while I’m up there?”

“Umm, well, Aramis and his family has a large car collection, and you could probably borrow one of theirs. Mom has a couple of Jeeps that she might, emphasis of might, let you borrow. I think that Roscoe is making you a bike. Evie’s parents will use that as an excuse to go up and see her and the grands.”

“Is she really married to two men?”

“Technically, legally, she’s only married to one man. She won’t say who, no matter how many times people ask. Once you get to school, you’re only about an hour away and you can run home to get tutoring from her. And despite his attitude, Aramis is really smart too. He was valedictorian for his class.”

“Aramis?” Vin asked, unable to hide his surprise.

She laughed, “Yeah, I know. Hard to believe, but yeah. He’s smart as fuck.”

“Darkness said that you graduated at the top of your class too. Are you disappointed that I wasn’t top ten?”

“Are you upset over it?” she asked with a cocked eyebrow.

He shook his head, “No. I’m glad that I graduated here and not…” he sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Nicki has told me a little bit about what your junior year was like.”

We watched Darkness pull up into the driveway on the Roscoe Reagan custom bike and stopped next to the Jeep. He killed the engine and put down the kickstand. Patting his leg, he gave the hand signal for Tink to come to him.

“Oh, you poor boy,” he gave Tink attention that the dog was so desperately missing. The rump bounced happily as he rubbed up against the man’s leg. “Just so mistreated, aren’t you?”

“Are you sure that he’s your dog?” Vin asked with a grin.

“No,” she replied dryly.

“Zy is going to stay here while we’re gone, he’s promised no ragers,” Darkness said as he slapped the dog on his rump.

“Would Papa Zy really have a rager?” Vin asked.

The two adults shared a smile and then both began to laugh.

“I guess that is a yes?”

“That is a definite yes,” Darkness confirmed as Camille continued to laugh.

She pulled out her phone and scrolled through the pictures until she found the one she wanted. A very drunk Zydeco sat on the back porch of the clubhouse. It was from before the swing bed had been put up and he was propped up against the railing.

Boudreau sat next to him, and he had one arm around the large gator. The other was pouring a bottle of bear into the large mouth.

“Holy shit!” Vin laughed. “How drunk was he?”

“Let’s just say that if he was on a drunk scale of zero to sharing a beer with an alligator,” Camille grinned, “he was on the far side of the deep end. They shared at least a six-pack. Boudreau still follows that man around if he has a bottle in his hand.”

“You guys have an alcoholic alligator?” Vin asked, handing the phone back.

“He’s not an alcoholic,” Darkness pointed out. “But if he could open those bottles himself, that might be a different situation.”

“You be nice to my swamp puppy.”

“Your swamp puppy was trying to get into the clubhouse earlier.”

“Probably because he’s ready for his Saturday chicken. Rosie said that she would feed him while we were gone.”

Vin shook his head, “You guys are fucking crazy!”

“Us?” Camille laughed. “Your college offers a degree in piracy.”