Family Business

This fic is a co-write between myself and xfilesguy. It's full of strong language and violence and serious family angst. We like it. We hope you do too. Please review. Thanks.

Disclaimer: We do not own Cheaper by the Dozen

Chapter 1 Dysfunctional

Eleven-year-old Jake Baker groaned as he was tackled again. He winced as he hit the ground.

"Ok, that one hurt," moaned Jake, spitting out his mouth guard. A trail of drool went from the mouth guard to Jake's bottom lip. Jake's brother, Henry, got off him.

"They'll be a lot worse tomorrow," reminded Henry, helping Jake up. Jake swayed a little. He took his helmet off.

"Dad, Henry's been tackling me for an hour. I need to practice throwing," complained Jake. Tom Baker walked over to Jake.

"We already know you can throw. That's why the Evanston Lions are going to the State Championship. But the Chicago Tigers are no pushovers. You're body needs to get ready for some hard hits," explained Tom. Jake sighed.

"Tom, he won't be much help if he breaks a rib," reminded Kate Baker, who was sitting on the bleachers. Jake nodded in agreement.

"Alright let's practice some throwing. Henry, take a break," exclaimed Tom.

"Sure," agreed Henry, walking over to the bleachers. Jake put his helmet back in and put his mouth guard on. Tom started running as Jake got ready to throw. Kate and Henry watched with amazement from the bleachers as Jake threw perfect throws to his father. Jake's talent for football had just recently come to the surface. Right before the start of junior football league the family had faced off against some cousins at a family reunion. Jake was the quarterback and thanks to his throwing the Bakers crushed the team of cousins. 49-14. Tom was insistent that Jake sign up for football. He was one of the smallest on the team but he had the best arm in the league. The big problem was he became the target for some serious defensive rushes. Jake had been spending a lot of time at home icing some major bruises. But his team had a no lose season and now were facing off against their rivals, the Chicago Tigers, who had slaughtered the Lions in pervious years. Jake's throwing was the key to victory and the Tigers knew that. Kate knew that Jake was going to be hurting after the big game the following night.

After three hours of practicing, Jake was exhausted. He limped a little as he headed for the showers. Tom had reserved his college football team's field and locker rooms for the night. Not hard since he was the coach. Tom, Kate, and Henry waited in Tom's office as Jake showered and changed. He came limping into the office after twenty minutes.

"Are we going to eat? I'm starving," whined Jake.

"Sure. Where do you want to go?" asked Kate.

"I don't care. As long as they serve food," replied Jake. The four made their way to the car. Jake pulled Kate aside in the parking lot.

"Hey, Mom, is Sarah going to be able to come tomorrow? I really want her to," asked Jake. Kate sighed. Sarah was grounded for a month for talking back to a teacher and getting two months of detention. Grounded meant not allowed to leave the house for anything. No exceptions.

"You know the rule, Jake. She's not allowed to leave the house for anything," answered Kate.

"Can't you make an exception just this once?" pleaded Jake. Kate smiled.

"We'll see. Now lets go. I'm hungry as well," said Kate, pushing Jake towards the car.

"Alright, already. Don't push," whined Jake.

…………

Tom took the group to the Baker's favorite restaurant, Colina's. Tom's cousin Artie ran it. Artie was overjoyed as the family arrived.

"Tommy, hey, long time no see," exclaimed Artie, walking over and throwing his arms around Tom.

"Hey, Artie. Is there a table available?" asked Tom.

"For you, of course. Tony and Jimmy are in the back if you want to say hi," explained Artie, leading the group to a table.

"What are they doing here?" asked Tom, sitting down.

"No restaurant in Chicago can compete with mine," replied Artie in delight.

"Amen to that," agreed Henry.

"Enjoy. Everything is on the house," announced Artie.

"Oh, Artie, you don't have do that," argued Kate.

"It's the least I can do for our star quarterback here," said Artie, ruffling Jake's hair.

"So you heard?" asked Jake.

"Everyone in town knows. You're a hero," explained Artie. Jake shrugged.

"Enjoy, guys," said Artie, heading towards the kitchen.

"You dumb fucking asshole!" Tom sighed as the shout came from the back.

"There's Jimmy," groaned Tom.

"You fucking look at me when I'm talking to you!" continued Jimmy.

"Boys, cover your ears," groaned Kate, wincing at the strong language. A college age kid came bursting in from the back, nursing a broken nose. Jimmy Baker came bursting in a few seconds later.

"Don't come back unless you have my fucking money you little shit!" yelled Jimmy. Artie ran over to calm Jimmy down.

"Jim, easy, easy. I've got customers," whispered Artie.

"Sorry. Fucking kid pissed me off," replied Jimmy.

"Your brother is here," explained Artie. Jimmy looked at Tom.

"Ah shit. And with Kate and two of the kids," moaned Jimmy. Jimmy's older brother Tony came rushing in from the back.

"Have you lost your fucking mind?" asked Tony.

"I'm tired of dealing with that kid, Tony," retorted Jimmy.

"This is not the place to pull this kind of shit," growled Tony.

"Sorry, Sorry," apologized Jimmy, going into the back. Artie pointed towards Tom.

"Hey, big brother," exclaimed Tony, walking over to Tom's table.

"Hey, Tony," said Tom, standing up and embracing his brother.

"Celebrating a special occasion or something?" asked Tony.

"Treating our star quarterback," beamed Tom, nodding towards Jake.

"That's right. Our own John Elway here," said Tony, ruffling Jake's hair. Jake shrugged.

"He's so modest," sighed Tom. Tony laughed.

"Well you all enjoy. Sorry for that scene. You know how he gets," apologized Tony. Tom nodded. Tony smiled and headed towards the back. Tom sat down.

"Another charming evening with your brothers," groaned Kate.

"I know Jimmy is a little rough around the edges. But he's a good guy," defended Tom.

"What's he do?" asked Jake.

"My brothers are in construction. They deal with a lot of off the book jobs so people pay in cash. Jimmy gets mad if people don't pay on time," answered Tom.

"Construction?" Come on, Dad," pleaded Henry,

"What?" asked Tom impatiently.

"He has mobster written all over him," replied Henry.

"That's uncalled for. Just because my Dad is part Italian doesn't mean we're connected to the mafia," scolded Tom.

"We're part Italian?" asked Jake.

"You are. I'm half. My brothers are basically Italian. My father is full blooded Italian," explained Tom.

"Baker is Dad's middle name. We took it because we wanted to sever ourselves from his brothers just because they're a little crazy," added Kate.

"I know that. What's your actual last name?" asked Henry.

"Cortoli," answered Tom.

"Henry Cortoli. Doesn't sound right," groaned Henry.

"I'm not like my brothers. Never will be. They do dabble in some illegal activities. It wasn't fair for me to snap at you. But we don't mention it because it's none of our business," explained Tom.

"This doesn't leave the table," ordered Kate. Jake and Henry nodded, giving each other nervous looks. They and three other of their siblings had figured that their uncles were involved in illegal activities. They had never given it much thought. But the spectacle tonight shed new light on the whole situation. Just how involved were their uncles. A kid has nose broken over a missed payment. Seemed kind of harsh for something like construction. Things got even more interesting as Jimmy came back out, arguing with a friend of his, Mikey.

"You're insane," exclaimed Jimmy, walking towards the bar.

"Tigers are a better team. There's nothing else to it. Lions got lucky," explained Mikey.

"Tigers might be a better team. But they're QB sucks compared to the Lions," argued Jimmy. Tom smiled. Jake shook his head.

"They act like I'm in the NFL," whined Jake.

"Please. The Tigers defensive line will make mince meat out of him," scoffed Mikey. Jimmy scoffed and went to talk with his family. Mikey headed to the back.

"Hey, Jake. Got something for you," announced Jimmy. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small case. Jake smiled as Jimmy handed it to him.

"What's this?" asked Jake.

"Open it and find out," replied Jimmy. Jake opened the case. Inside was Rolex watch.

"Oh my God. That's a Rolex," exclaimed Kate. Jimmy nodded.

"Congratulations on a great season," said Jimmy. "Good luck tomorrow."

"Thanks," said Jake, putting the watch on. Jimmy said goodbye and then headed for the front door. No doubt going to get his money, thought Tom. Tom watched with pride as his son looked at his new watch. It was nice that usually all encounters with his brothers were nice. If his family knew who they were. If they knew they were cold blooded animals. Tom had turned his back to that life. He had no way of knowing that soon, his brother's, the most violent people Tom knew, would be Jake's only chance for survival.