A/N: You great readers deserved this chapter. I got over 20 reviews in a matter of a few hours (which is more than I've gotten for any of my other stories in that short of an amount of time). So I figured, if I've got this many people waiting patiently for the next chapter on this story….why make them wait? There were more reviews for this than Death Cuts Sharper than Knives, so this one is getting updated first.
Chapter 3:
Snake raised his eyebrows, "UNCLE Wolf? Seriously?"
Wolf tried to look indignant, "Yes, UNCLE Wolf. I'll have you know that my godson is rather fond of me. So there."
Badger practically choked, "Godson? This is your godson? Who in their right mind would name you godfather over some sweet innocent kid?"
Wolf snorted, "He's innocent-right up until the time he beats you at cards and walks away with your money."
"You taught your godson how to win poker?" Snake asked.
"Nope. That was his dad's doing. Never play him at poker either."
"What kind of father would teach his son how to cheat at poker?" Eagle questioned, looking shocked at the notion.
In response to his question, Wolf turned to the kid he was holding, "Aiden. Look up at the soldiers behind me."
The boy raised his head dramatically.
Snake stumbled back in surprise. Eagle gasped. Badger's eyes opened wide.
"C-C-Cub?" Snake finally managed to get out.
"Hey! That's what Uncle Wolf calls Daddy!" the boy cried out, excited.
Snake turned to Wolf. "Explain. Now."
Wolf huffed, "Fine. As you've guessed, this is Cub's kid. As you know, Cub is an agent. I ran back-up for both Fox and Cub on several different occasions-separately from the times that we did it as a unit. On one of these occasions, Fox borrowed my gun and forgot to give it back. So a few nights later, I went over to his house to get it back. Cub and Aiden here were over for dinner and that's when I met the kid. I had known that Cub had gotten married and that his wife died, but I didn't know about the kid. So there you have it. After I knew that there was a kid, I visited Cub often when we were on leave and stuff and babysat a few times."
"You. Babysat a kid. And they still liked you? What has this world come to?" Eagle asked dramatically.
"Oh, shut up," Wolf replied.
Badger adopted a knowing look, "Wolf might pretend to be a fierce predatory man, but inside he's really just a big old teddy bear. Kids can't help but love a teddy bear."
The sound of flesh hitting flesh resounded in the room as Wolf smacked Badger in the back of the head.
"Ouch!"
Wolf smirked, "Now who's the fragile girly teddy bear?"
"Now. Who's supposed to be watching you right now, Aiden?" Snake questioned.
"Weeeelllll….."
"Aiden. What did your daddy tell you before he left?" Wolf asked, knowing full well what cub would've instructed.
"To listen to the Sarge, be a good boy, not to go with any soldier unless Sarge tells me to, not to take too much money from any one soldier while playing poker and a whole lot of other nonsense that I don't need to pay attention to," Aiden replied with a smile that could melt chocolate.
"Nonsense?" Wolf questioned sternly.
"It's just a bunch of boring old rules and warnings and safety and stuff. Unimportant," Aiden stated dismissively.
Wolf smiled, "You are truly your father's son. And we'll see about the 'unimportant' rules."
"Yea, yea. Blah blah blah. I've heard it all before."
"Anyways. Where does the Sergeant think you are?"
"Umm…he, uh, told me I could go explore!"
"In the rain."
"Yup! In the rain!"
Wolf sighed and looked at his unit, "We should probably go to dinner before the Sergeant calls in all units to go search the forest for him."
The other three quickly nodded and ran around to get their shoes and coats on quick before heading out toward to mess hall.
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K-Unit was the first unit there. As such, they managed to hide Aiden under their table without anyone seeing him.
The units slowly trickled in. The ones sitting in the tables surround K-Unit's all noticed the kid and asked about him, but Wolf just smiled and told them to keep it a secret. Mystified, they did.
A few minutes into the meal, the door burst open and the Sergeant strode in frantically.
"By any chance, have any of you happened to see a little boy around camp. 5 years old?"
The units who had noticed Aiden glanced at K-Unit but said nothing.
K-Unit hid a smile. This was going to get fun.
"No, Sergeant. Why would there be a kid here?" Wolf called out.
"Umm…well. It's a long story. One we can get into after we find the kid."
"What did you do? Misplace him?"
"Well, no. Not exactly…" The Sergeant was looking pretty uncomfortable.
"Ooohhh. You were playing hide and go seek."
"Not exactly that either. I told him to stay in my office for a few minutes while I went to check up on training. When I got back he had disappeared."
Snake took this opportunity to talk, "You know, kids are like that. They never stay in one place and LOVE to explore. Especially those who got an extreme curiosity from their parents or dad."
"Yea…that would be this kid."
"Which is why it is probably best that someone keeps a careful eye on this kid so that he doesn't run off again." The Sergeant didn't get the subtle hint Snake was giving him.
"And it would be an extreme shame if said boy's father was suddenly informed of his missing son approximately 6 hours after he had left. I mean, perhaps the boy has found shelter from the rain out there, but who knows? Imagine how terrible it would be if the boy's father lost both his son and his wife in the matter of five years? Imagine how said father would probably crack and react very badly," Wolf continued with a smile, feeling a bit sorry for the Sergeant.
The Sergeant opened his mouth as if to respond before closing it and thinking thoughtfully for a moment.
Suddenly, his eyes narrowed and lost the uncertainty that had been in them previously.
"Alright, Wolf. You've had your fun and games. Now, where is he?"
"Where is who?" Eagle asked, seemingly oblivious.
"Aiden."
"Who is Aiden? I've never met any Aidens," Eagle questioned innocently.
"Cub's kid," Sergeant replied, getting impatient.
"Nope. Does not sound like the kid that was in our hut writing a letter to his daddy."
The Sergeant glared at all of K-Unit. The rest of the soldiers were silently laughing to themselves-especially because they knew that K-Unit was about to get some cruel and unusual punishment for their behavior.
Snake cracked first, "Alright, Aiden. Come out and go to the Sergeant before he blows steam out of his ears."
A giggle was heard, and Aiden crawled out from under the table before walking over to the Sergeant.
The Sergeant gave one last glare before picking Aiden up and carrying him to the door, "We're going to go get some REAL food while you guys get to eat that mush."
Eagle could not stop himself from calling out, "I thought you said that eating mush helps build character."
The Sergeant smiled back at him, "I did. But I already have character to spare. And, well, Aiden's a Rider. That in of itself should tell you something."
Directly before he opened the door to go outside, the Sergeant spoke one last time, "And as punishment, K-Unit, you guys are going to be the main babysitters of Aiden here. If he runs off, you lose him, or you scare him in any way, there will be hell to pay. Have fun keeping track of him! You start tomorrow."
What the Sergeant was not expecting was for Aiden to clap his hands in glee and cry out, "Yay! More time with Uncle Wolfie!"
The Sergeant face-palmed at this new development.