"Hey, hold up," Miles called.
Bass turned and frowned at him. "What is it?" Miles gestured to the toy store. "That's for kids," Bass reminded him. "You want an adult version it's called a whorehouse."
Miles scowled at him. "I have to get something for my niece," he snapped.
"Really? The kid's like two. She won't notice if you don't' bring anything."
"Says the man that refuses to let us even book plane tickets until he has an entire suitcase full of presents for his sisters."
"They're older."
Miles rolled his eyes. "Look, Bass, I'm not making you come in. But I have to get something for Charlie. Sit out here if you want."
Bass ended up following him into the toy store simply because Bass followed Miles everywhere. Bass was actually the one that ended up finding the soft brown bear in Marine dress blues. "It's cute," he said, tossing at Miles.
Miles looked the bear over. "It'll do," he declared.
"Pay for it and let's get going," Bass sighed. "I want food before we take off."
"Do you ever think with your actual brain or is it only certain body parts?"
"Oh fuck off."
"Unca Mi!"
Miles laughed as his two year old niece shot through the door and he lifted her into his arms. "Good lord, Charlie, you've gotten so big," he smiled. The little girl was all golden hair and blue eyes and big smiles.
"Didja bring me sumthin' unca Mi?" she asked.
"Of course I did," Miles replied, tweaking her nose.
"I'm a little hurt that I didn't even get a hello!" Bass called.
Charlie leaned over Miles' shoulder. "Hi unca fishy," she smiled.
"Hey peanut," Bass grinned.
Ben came out to hug his brother which was awkward for Miles because he refused to put his niece down. "It's good to see you, little brother."
"You too, Ben."
Ben smiled at Bass. "You coming in for a visit?'
"Can't," Bass shrugged. "Going to meet my family. I'll drop by at some point."
"Well, drive safe," Ben advised.
"You got it," Bass grinned as he pulled out.
Miles shifted his niece so he could carry her and his bags at the same time. "Let's go inside, little duck," he declared.
Ben grinned. "Charlie, tell uncle Miles what you learned in school last week."
Miles looked expectantly at his niece. "Ducky go quack!" she exclaimed joyfully. She looked at him with hopeful eyes, expecting some sort of praise for her discovery.
"Ducky go quack," Miles repeated dryly, trying desperately not to laugh. He looked at his brother. "You got a regular genius on your hands here, Benny Boy."
"I smart?" Charlie asked.
"Very smart," Miles agreed. "Daddy needs to take you so I can carry my stuff."
Ben cocked an eyebrow. 'You just want to laugh' he mouthed over Charlie's shoulder. Miles nodded. Ben just rolled his eyes. "Let's get you both inside."
"Mommy!" Charlie called as they entered the house. "Mommy, Unca Mi here!"
Rachel came downstairs with a thin smile. "Miles," she greeted.
"Rachel," he returned.
Before the tension could reach new levels, Charlie tugged on Miles' pants leg. "Present," she demanded.
Miles arched an eyebrow. "Secret word," he countered.
"Please."
"Alright." Miles knelt to her level and dug through his suitcase. "Close your eyes," he ordered. Charlie screwed her eyes shut tight. She felt something soft being pressed into her hands. "Open your eyes," he told her.
Charlie did as he asked. In her hands was a brown stuffed bear that was so soft she had to hug it. "I got bear!" she crowed.
"That thing is terrifying," Rachel declared.
Miles glared at her. "I didn't buy it for you."
Charlie leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Thank you Unca Mi."
"You're welcome sweetheart."
Charlie turned back to her mother. "Mommy, I'mma hungry," she insisted.
Rachel took her little girl into the kitchen for a snack. Ben sighed as his brother got to his feet again. "Why can't you get along with Rachel?" he demanded softly.
"Why did you have to marry such a pretentious snob?" Miles countered. They both knew it wasn't what he meant to say but his respect for Ben kept the swear words inside his mouth. Barely.
"Look, she's pregnant right now."
"I can see that."
"What I meant is her hormones are crazy. She doesn't know what she's saying. So please, just try to be nice to her while you visit."
Miles knew that was a bunch of bullshit. He was pretty sure Ben knew it too. But he just smiled instead. "Yeah, I can do that," he agreed.
Miles was on his feet before he even completely registered the sound that had woken him. Charlie was howling her head off. He groaned as he pulled his jeans on. For a two year old, that girl really had a pair of lungs on her. Miles stumbled out into the hall and shuffled his way to the little girl's room.
Rachel was trying to soothe her daughter but nothing was working. Miles gently pushed her away and sat down next to Charlie. "You're being loud," he informed her.
"I won't go to bed," she sniffled. "Mommy wants me to."
Miles' brow furrowed in confusion. "Why wouldn't you want to sleep? Sleep is amazing."
"Bad dreams."
Miles thought for a moment. "Alright, stay here."
Both Charlie and Rachel watched as Miles went straight for the teddy bear he had bought Charlie earlier. "That's going to make her nightmares worse," Rachel hissed.
Miles glared at her but said nothing as he settled on the bed next to Charlie once more. "This guy," he began, "is going to help you with nightmares. Because that's his job. You see the uniform he's wearing?"
"It's like yours."
"That's right. These are dress blues. They're what I wear when I have to defend civilians here at home. That makes this bear a Marine. And what are Marines?"
"The best thing that ever happened to this country," Charlie recited from memory.
Miles glanced down at her. "I have taught you so well." She grinned. "Anyway, there's no better fighters on the planet than us Marines. So you keep this guy around you when you sleep and he'll fight away the bad dreams. Okay?"
Charlie studied his face and then the bear in his hands. "Okay," she agreed. "Read me a story?"
"Why not?" Miles sighed. "I'm already up. Which one?"
"Cinderella."
"You got it, little duck."
Charlie woke up to loud noises downstairs. Her Uncle Miles was back home! She crawled out of bed to be the first one to see him. As she got to the top of the steps, she could hear Uncle Miles talking softly with Daddy. "Look, Ben, I know this isn't ideal," Miles sighed. "But he's got nowhere else to go."
"No, Miles, its fine. He's family after all." There was a pause in the conversation. "Did you really find him with a gun in his hand?"
"And drunk off his ass." Miles ran a hand over his face. "God, Ben if I hadn't found him…"
Ben grasped his brother's shoulder. "You did find him, Miles. That's all that matters. Why don't' you come sit with me in the kitchen. I'll make you some coffee."
Charlie waited until they had disappeared into the kitchen before carefully making her way downstairs. Her uncle Bass was asleep on the couch but he didn't look too good. He didn't' smell too good either. He smelled sour, like Uncle Miles sometimes smelled when he came in late. Uncle Bass looked like he had been crying too. He slowly opened reddened eyes as Charlie snuck closer. "Evening, peanut," he greeted in a raspy voice.
"Hello Uncle Bass," Charlie smiled. "You look sad."
"Not feeling so good peanut. Things…" Bass looked away. "Things happened."
"Bad things?"
"Yeah."
"Did they give you bad dreams?"
"Lots."
Charlie studied him for a long moment. Then she strode up to him and securely tucked her teddy bear in the crook of his arm. "Better," she declared.
Bass frowned at her. "Charlie?"
"He keeps bad dreams away," she explained.
"Charlie?" a voice cut in. "Charlie, what are you doing up?"
Miles and Ben hurried from the kitchen to confront the three year old. "Charlie, what's going on?" Ben asked softly.
"Uncle Bass was having bad dreams," she said. "So I gave him Unca Mi to make him feel better. Uncle Miles said that Unca Mi keeps bad dreams away. Now Uncle Bass can get some sleep."
Miles swallowed as he got down on Charlie's level. "That was very nice of you," he told her sincerely. He smiled at his very proud niece. "You're getting to be such a big girl aren't you?"
"Course I am," Charlie grinned.
Miles kissed her forehead. "Course you are," he agreed. "But even big girls need their sleep, little duck. You should head back upstairs."
"What about Uncle Bass?"
"I'm alright, Charlie." Bass held up the teddy bear. "I've got Unca Mi after all."
Miles glanced at his friend and then back at his niece. "I'll watch over him," he promised.
Charlie hugged them both before allowing her father to carry her back to bed.
Charlie scowled at the baby in the crib. "What's wrong, don't you like your new brother?" Ben asked.
"No. He's stupid," Charlie frowned.
"Charlie, don't use that language," Rachel said distractedly.
Ben crouched next to his daughter. "Why is your brother stupid?" he asked.
"He keeps trying to take Unca Mi from me." Charlie glanced at her father. "Uncle Miles is mine."
"Uncle Miles isn't here," Rachel reminded her daughter.
"She means the bear," Ben corrected. He looked back at Charlie. "Maybe Danny has bad dreams and he wants Uncle Miles to protect him," he suggested.
"He doesn't," Charlie declared.
"How do you know?" Ben countered playfully.
"Because he's one daddy. One year olds don't' have bad dreams."
"And four year olds do, huh?"
"Sometimes."
Ben looked at the bear in Charlie's arms. She was never without it. It even followed her to preschool. "I guess four years old isn't too old to still have a teddy bear," he sighed. "Not yet."
"Not ever," Charlie corrected.
"We'll see," Ben replied.
Rachel sighed at her fussy daughter. Most days Charlie was perfectly fine cooperating with what her mother needed from her. But today she was not having it. And it was the worst day for a tantrum ever. "Charlie, we don't' have the room," she insisted.
"I'm not leaving without him," Charlie snapped. "And you can't make me."
Ben came in with extra bottle of water. "What's going on?" he asked.
Rachel got to her feet. "Charlie is having a tantrum because I won't let her take her bear."
"What? Unca Mi?"
"Yes, Unca Mi." Rachel sighed. "Ben, we have no room. Please, explain to your daughter that she simply cannot take the bear."
Ben took in his daughter's insistent yet broken look. "Go pack these," he ordered his wife softly. Then he knelt down to Charlie's level. "Charlie, did your mom tell you what was going on?"
"She said we had to leave the city. We're going to be doing a lot of walking and I need to keep a hold of Danny's hand."
"That's exactly right. And we cannot stop once we start, Charlie. If you bring Unca Mi, he will be your responsibility. You'll need to look after him just like you do Danny. If you lose him, that's it. He's gone. Can you handle that, Charlie?"
"I swear I can daddy. I'll keep a really close eye on him." She gave him her best pleading look. "Please let me bring Unca Mi."
"Go quickly," Ben ordered. He caught Rachel's look as he got to his feet. "She's not going to leave without him."
"She's five and we have no room."
"Five years old is still young enough for a teddy bear."
Miles felt his fingers brush something soft at the very bottom of his pack as he was looking for food. They had camped in the densest part of the forest in the hopes that Monroe's helicopter wouldn't find them here. He reached deeper into is pack to pull out "Unca Mi". The worn bear continued to look at him through steady eyes just as it had when he first bought it for Charlie all those years ago. His gaze turned to where his niece and nephew were busily catching up as Nora bandaged Danny's leg. "Hey Charlie," he called.
His niece came jogging up to him. "What do you need?"
Miles tossed the bear at her. "Think someone should have this back."
Charlie looked at the bear then back at him with a grin. She didn't say anything, just took the gift and ran back to her brother. The blonde siblings both looked down at the old bear with deep fondness in their eyes as they spoke quietly to one another. It made Miles smile just a little bit.
He looked up as someone sat next to him. "Rachel," he greeted stiffly.
"Miles," she replied. She looked over at her children. "I still think he's terrifying," she said nodding to the bear Charlie and Danny were holding.
"And I still didn't buy it for you."
Rachel gave him a mildly annoyed glance. "You didn't let me finish. I was going to say, I still think he's terrifying. But I'm glad they had him to protect them all this time."
Miles thought about all that bear must have been through since Bass found it in a toy shop in an airport. "Yeah," he agreed. "Me too."