Carolyn: Always be prepared or something like that as the saying goes. This is a fun chapter, I think. Hope all's well in your part of Texas, mine's doing pretty good these days.
Chapter: 26
Max finally felt comfortable about leaving the children in their rooms but he also put Jack’s bed right in the middle of the hallway and left all bedroom doors open. For some reason the dog understood and stayed on guard.
“I swear he has a sixth sense Liz…look at him.” And Max stood in the doorway and watched as Jack cocked his ear and watched.
“I don’t have to look Max…I know he’s aware. He’s been watching JP for the past three weeks out in the back yard. It was brought to my attention by Smitty and I started to observe him, he’s never more than two feet away from him at any given time during the day. I think if JP wanted to move the entire front yard dirt to the back yard Jack would follow every footstep without fail.”
“Well, one thing’s for sure, that dog is definitely more than a free loader.” And Liz giggled…Max knew this would tickle her, she had once called the dog a useless freeloader and Max just looked at her and grinned.
“You know what Liz?” Max asked with a twinkle in his eye…
“No Max…what?” Liz wasn’t too sure about where this conversation was going but she’d hear him out without interruption.
“I think, when this is all over, that you should write a book. You keep a journal; you should just write all of this down and then publish it.” Max was on a roll now and Liz was ready to pummel him with pillows.
“A book! You want me to write a book about all of this shit? You have lost your mind Max Evans…there is no way in hell that I want to put any of this to paper much less read about it. I just want all of this to go away…and go away right now. I am so sick of being terrified that one of my children will be harmed that I don’t know where in the hell to put myself and you want me to write this down. You have gone mad Max… totally mad!@!!$!!”
Max grabbed Liz by the waist and lifted her up onto the bed and crawled in beside her. He knew he had just made a terrible mistake, this wasn’t funny and he shouldn’t try to make light of it.
“Shhh, shhh, shhh. Baby, it’s okay.” He rubbed her back and cuddled her. “We are going to be fine. It’s not like we will be surprised by anything that happens. We are expecting it and we are ready for it and neither one of these men is the brightest crayon in the box so just relax.”
Liz looked up at her beautiful husband and smiled through her tears…
“You’re right to a point Max, they may not be very bright but they are dangerous. I still want it to go away, I want my mundane life back. I want my eight year old girls to have crushes on little boys called Tim and Tom. I want my six year old sons looking for special shirts and smiling at Marlene and Margie…I want JP trying to con me into spaghetti every night of the week for dinner…and I want my husband back…my relaxed husband. The relaxed husband who isn’t walking around with a terrified look on his face. The one who can smile easily at a child’s faux pas. The one who can play a game of catch without looking beyond the fence between every pitch. I want Us Max…I want us back.”
Max smiled,
“Sweetheart you have all of those things already you don’t have to wish for them.”
“Yes I do Max. I have to keep my beautiful children away from their friends at school because some damned fool thinks it’s my fault he’s nuts. I pity him Max, I really do. Do you know that he has children of his own somewhere out there and those poor children have no father to love or to take care of them? That is sad Max and he’s too damned stupid to realize just what he’s missing and he’s making our lives a living hell. I want him gone and when I say gone I think I mean permanently.”
“Oh Liz, you don’t mean that sweetheart…you’re just worn out from all of this.”
“No Max, I do mean it. I’m beginning to think that it’s the only way to stop this… just get rid of him. You know what Max? I wish the blow on the head would have killed him…I know that would make me a murderer but if it would help our kids to be safe then so be it.”
“Shhh…I know you don’t mean that and our kids are safe and this will be over soon. The police will find them and it will all be done with.”
“I don’t think those policemen could find their asses in the dark with both hands Max. That asshole was right out there on the other side of the fence and they didn’t even see him. JP saw him for God’s sake and the cops didn’t. I don’t know Max, this is all insane.”
Max chuckled, it wasn’t funny but Liz was…she continued ranting and for her it was a good thing…she was getting it all out and Max just laid there with her in his arms and let her rant. Finally she ran down and Max kissed the top of her head and asked her if she was ready to go to bed.
“Yes.” And then she looked up at her husband and grinned. “You are wonderful. You know that don’t you?”
“Right back atcha’ sweet.” And Max got up and grabbed her hand and pulled her upright so she could crawl off the bed and get to the bathroom to get ready for bed. She did have school to teach after all and she had to be ready for JP or he just might take over for her. And Max smiled…this was getting to him also but he couldn’t let Liz know that and he headed for the hallway to check on the kids one more time as Jack laid there quietly watching every move the man made.
*~*~*
The next morning the alarm went off right at 6:30 on the nose and Liz groaned, she had forgotten to change the time so she just reached over and flipped the button off with full intentions of going back to sleep. Max awoke immediately on hearing the offensive appliance but didn’t make any indication to Liz that he was awake…he just laid there and waited for her to make the decision to get up or not and when she proceeded to crawl back onto his body and go back to sleep he grinned and wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in much tighter than she expected.
“Are you sleepy?” He asked, knowing full well what the answer was going to be…
“Mmm Hmm.” Was her only reply…her mouth making a tickling sensation on his chest as she mumbled…
“Do you think you might have a couple of minutes for me this morning?” He chuckled…that usually got her attention.
“Mmm Hmm.” She managed to get out as she wiggled a little…finding a much cozier spot on his body to lay next to.
“Well, that feels nice. Just how awake are you?” Max grinned over the top of her head.
“I’m as awake as I’m going to get but don’t you think that, if we carry on this CONVERSATION, we should close the bedroom door?”
“Well, maybe for a little while anyway…who do you think should do the closing?”
“Since this was your idea I think you should have the honors, don’t you?”
“Well, if you insist.” So Max got out of bed and made his way to the bedroom door, quietly pulling the set of French doors off of the sitting room in the master suite to the closed position. He left the other doors open just in case someone felt the need to come in and get them…of course he did make sure the door was locked first and when he got back to his bed his wife was already prepared for him…pj’s thrown to the foot of the bed and propped up on the pillows waiting for him with open arms. Max chuckled at the sight and he knew he was in for a great start to his morning, nothing else like it on earth than to be with the woman you loved and he was one happy man.
When they finally got up and headed for the bathroom there was some scratching at the bedroom door and since Liz was already half dressed she went and opened it for Jack. She knew by the sounds just who it was wanting in and when she opened the door the dog made a bee line for the balcony door and Liz was hot on his tail.
“What Jack? What’s out there?” Her heart was jumping out of her body she was so scared and when she looked over the balcony she saw that Jonesy had found a cat in the side yard…apparently the animal had gotten stuck somehow and couldn’t get out and Liz relaxed. Then she started to wonder how in the hell a cat would get stuck…there was nothing to get stuck on and she took off like she had been shot out of a cannon and Max was right behind her.
“Liz…what’s wrong?”
“I don’t know yet…” and she kept on running down the stairs.
When she got outside she ran into Jones and repeated Max’s question…
“Oh, it’s alright Liz. A cat has kittens back here and was trying to move them. I guess she didn’t know where to move them to. Should we call the shelter?”
“How big are the kittens?” She asked breathlessly and also relieved. She wanted to know if they were old enough to be separated from their mother or not.
“They aren’t too big Liz…as a matter of fact I would say they’re very young, maybe just a couple of days if that, their eyes are still closed.”
“Oh damn.” Was Liz’s only comment.
Max knew damned well that those kittens had just found a home…just what they needed. If they kept the kittens until they were old enough to take them to the animal shelter the kids would have already named all of them and then they would all have a fit. Damn…he agreed with Liz.
“What do you want me to do with them Liz?” Jonesy knew what she was going to say before she even said it. They were all getting to know each other fairly well by now and he just knew she wouldn’t get rid of them.
“Well, we’re not going to take them into the house but I guess we can get a box and put them in the enclosed patio. Does the mother look tame?”
“Yeah, she seems to be but I wouldn’t try to get between her and her babies just yet.”
“Okay…let me get some tuna fish and some water and put it on the patio for her. I’ll find an empty box and put some papers in the bottom and some towels. She can make herself comfortable back there with her babies and then we’ll decide what to do with them in about six weeks.” And with that she turned and headed back into the house while Max and Jonesy stood there shaking their heads.
“Looks like you’ve got cats Max.”
“Seems as though.” And Max followed his wife into the house. Just what they needed…cats, dogs, kids and criminals. What next?
*
After Liz got a box from the basement she went to the linen closet and got a couple of old towels…then she saw the heating pad, retrieved that as well and headed to the patio and left the door open to the yard. She made a clean bed for the kittens; she cut a hole in the lower side of the box to feed the power cord to the heating pad through and then plugged it into the wall and turned it as low as it would go. She then placed the pad under the folded towels. She put some water in a metal bowl and opened a can of tuna and put that in another bowl about the same size, then she left the patio to allow the mother cat to do her moving.
She headed upstairs to get the kids up and get them ready for the day and when they had all made their beds, taken their showers and were dressed they headed to the kitchen for breakfast.
Since Liz had a house full of grown men she had decided that a hardy breakfast was in store for today and when Max came back down stairs dressed and ready for work he wanted to know if she needed any help.
“Why don’t you set the table in the dining room and make enough places for all of the men as well. Olivia can clean up after she gets here. I think we’ll do bacon, eggs, hash browns, and toast today. Does that sound good?” She asked with a puzzled look on her face.
Max smiled and gave her a hug…
“That sounds wonderful. I need that after the workout I got this morning.” And then Max really smiled…he could still make her blush and it was a wonderful feeling.
It wasn’t but three minutes after coming down the back staircase until JP came running into the kitchen to get his sisters and brothers ….
“Come on!!! We have kittens.”
And Liz yelled…
“WE do not have kittens. A STRAY CAT HAS KITTENS and they are too little to move…DO NOT PLAY with those kittens, DO NOT TOUCH those kittens… AND ABOVE ALL, DO.NOT. NAME. those kittens!!!”
And five little bodies stopped dead in their tracks. Then JP, the leader of the pack, had to ask…
“Can we look at the kittens?” He was as serious as Liz had ever seen him. Not ignoring what she had said but knowing his mother as he did he knew she just got a little excited sometime. She looked over at Max and he told the kids to sit down a minute.
“Look guys…if you touch the kittens before they are old enough the mother cat won’t have anything to do with them and then they’ll die. We have to wait and see if she has moved them all into the patio room first and then we’ll all go out and look at them because the mother might get angry and we don’t want her to scratch you. Do you understand? And above all, we don’t know how Jack is going to act around them so we must keep him away from them for sure.”
“You mean she’ll let them die because we want to hold them?” Briana asked.
“Yes…for some reason cats don’t want anything or anyone to touch their babies. Maybe they think we have germs or something, I don’t know. Just don’t touch them.” Max wasn’t sure whether he was telling a story or not but if it worked then it was worth it.
And five little voices all said
“Okay.”
And six grown men had to leave the room and find something to occupy themselves with because they knew those kittens were going to have names before the day was over.
*~*~*
When Olivia came in the back door all five kids went running to greet her as they always did and she was just as happy to see them as they were to see her and then JP announced
“A cat had kittens in our yard and they’re living on the patio. We’re going to go see them when Dad makes sure they are all in the box. We can’t play with them though and Mom said we can’t give them names or play with them but we can look. Do you want to look with us?”
Olivia looked down at her little angel faced imp and smiled and then got a look at Liz…she knew Liz wasn’t really happy about the new arrivals but she would bet her life that those kittens would be named by tomorrow and she gave Liz a knowing grin.
Liz looked back at Olivia and grinned right back at her and said,
“Be quiet.” And both women giggled…
After breakfast was over and done Max and Jonesy went out to the side yard and looked all around and found no kittens so they headed to the patio…sure enough the babies were all snuggled down in the box laying on the clean towels Liz had placed in there all snug and warm and the mother cat had emptied both bowls and was snoozing with her babies. Max told Jones that he’d go get the kids and be right back and Jones just nodded his head and then said with a chuckle…
“You know they’re going to give those kittens names.”
“Yeah, I know but it was worth a shot. I just hope Jack takes to them. I think we’ll bring him out with us and see what he does. The mother cat might not take to him either. This is going to be interesting.”
So Max went inside and called the kids and the dog and they all went out to the patio to have a look. The mother cat wasn’t too pleased with Jack but didn’t make any territorial advances toward the dog and then Max thought…’this cat is used to a dog. She’s not afraid of Jack at all…let’s hope Jack is okay with this’ and the dog just sat and watched. The kids were enthralled with the whole ordeal and then JP popped up with…
“That one looks like a tiger!” And the other four agreed with him. Max just stood there and shook his head…
“Remember what your mother said…do not name the kittens. They do not live here they are only visiting.”
And JP looked at his dad and said…
“Well, he does.” In a very matter of fact tone and Jonesy left the patio to take care of the bushes. This was not going to work at all. Six kittens…oh boy!
*~*~*