Lyon
Chapter 147

When I wasn’t dealing with Kat and her kids, or killing myself at the shop trying to meet quota, I was thinking up ways to f**k the Porters. It wasn’t my style to let things wait this long and it was killing me, but things were finally moving thank f**k.

Old man Mallory had come through with some shit this afternoon that I felt I needed to share with the guys from the meet, but I had to wait until the coast was clear before I could start that conference call. The people in my house, especially the ones that were missing a chromosome are nosy as f**k, there’s no telling who’s listening at the door and shit.

“Hey Caitie Bear.” I caught her at a rare moment when her damn shadow wasn’t around, and barely stopped myself from asking where he was. That’s some dangerous shit in itself. I’ve grown so accustomed to seeing those two together, that although I wouldn’t dare mention it to my wife, it feels off when I don’t see him sitting in the little alcove off my kitchen doing homework with her.

“Hi daddy.” She smiled bright and closed her book, patting the seat next to her for me to sit. I’m a grown man, some might say a hard a*s, but when my little girl smiles at me like that, and wants my company, I’m putty. “What you doing there baby?” I sat and put my arm around behind her.

When I look at her I see the best of me, and Kat. I see that first year of loving and fighting and getting to know each other. I see me panicking the day she came into this world, scared the f**k outta my mind. Never knew it was possible to love this damn much, doesn’t seem like a body could hold that much emotion.

“I’m studying for the SATs.” What the f**k? Isn’t that what you do when you’re leaving high school to go off to college? She still had two more years. “Come again.” I didn’t want to freak out because around here that’s grounds for hilarity. F*****g Kat and her kids always find something to laugh at my a*s about.

“Why are you doing that now? I thought that was next year or the year after.”

“No daddy, remember? I told you and mom weeks ago that I had to take a test and if I did really well they would let me take them early. I passed daddy isn’t that great?”

What the f**k is going on in these schools? I went to school with motherfuckers that didn’t graduate until they were staring nineteen in the a*s. Granted they were dumb as a stump but what the f**k? Because my kid was smart I had to lose her a couple years early? We’ll just see about this shit.

“That’s real good baby daddy’s proud of his smart girl.” I kissed her hair and hugged her shoulder; still no awkwardness. I was waiting for the day, dreading it more like, when she wouldn’t want her old man’s hugs. She prattled on about some shit some girl at school had said and what some other one had done, and then of course I had to hear about Todd and some funny thing he’d done or said and my eyes started to cross.

I sat with her for a little while and did the dad thing. My sons were upstairs somewhere. I knew this because the little f***s were trying to jump through the flooring up there with their shit. I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Kat the sneak. “You finish your homework baby, I’m gonna go look for your mother.”

“Okay daddy.” Her head was back in her book and I stood in the doorway and watched her for a few seconds more, wishing like f**k that these moments weren’t coming to an end anytime soon. F*****g kid owns my a*s.

I found her mother, my wife walking around the living room with the baby in her arms trying to put him to sleep. My boy smelt me and picked his head up. “Oh good you’re home, here.” She passed the kid off, pecked me on the lips and tried to escape.

“Not so fast you. You tell my kid she could graduate early?” She rolled her eyes. “It’s an option Colton.”

“I opt no.”

“Seriously Colton, you’d really keep her back? She’s worked really hard for this, you can’t”

“She’ll be sixteen, that’s too young for her to be going off away from us.”

I wasn’t even thinking about the assholes that were after her, them I can handle. But once a kid heads off to college that’s it, they never come back. I was not ready for my little princess to fly the coop.

“You do know that that’s what school is for right? And that it’s a good thing that ‘Our’ kid is doing so well. I spoke to her teacher and she’s way ahead. If we keep her back now it might do more damage than good.”

F*****g woman always has an answer for everything.

“I gotta sign anything to make that shit happen?”

“Colt” Uh-huh, I ain’t signing shit. I rubbed my face against the baby’s head and held him close. “How was he today, still colicky?”

She’s so good with the kids sometimes it seems I’m just ballast. I don’t know how she does it either what with running her company from home and keeping the house in order. I help there of course, but somehow my little contributions never seem to be as much as hers. She does it all, my little wonder woman; pain in the a*s.

“He’s doing better aren’t you baby? She made cooing noises at Cody and he giggled and rutted around in my arms. “F**k Kat what’re you feeding this kid? He weighs a ton.” The lil freak hefted her tits at me and grinned. I smirked at her because we both knew I got about just as much of that shit as he does. “I can vouch for that, I think I put on a coupla pounds myself.”

We both had a good laugh at that one before we talked about our day. She’d stopped pestering me about my visit to Law’s days ago and although she hadn’t told me what it was that was bothering her she seemed fine and at night when I watched her sleep, she wasn’t restless so I’m thinking we’re good.

Things have been smooth sailing on the home front thank f**k, none of the drama that is usually running rampant around here with a houseful of hardheaded f***s who took after their mother. No one had broken any bones lately and the school wasn’t calling us to complain about some shit that had nothing to do with me.

I don’t know how many times I have to tell them whatever these kids do on their time is their headache. As long as they don’t put hands on my kids we’re straight. But every other week at least there’s a call for a parent teacher’s meet. The f**k, I live there?