Ok here comes chapter 21 just read and enjoy and if you REALLY want to read some good Terra Nova stories check my profile for my ultimate list and start reading.
And I promise I will NOT torture the poor Shannon family TOO much for too long. Josh's reaction to the "Dark revelation" about Maddy was easy just have him do some major temper tantrum (And drink).
After Howard Milner had been banished Ben watched for him for a few minutes and then looked over at Jim who were still holding Maddy, Ben looked from her to Reynolds who looked longingly at her,
"Reynolds" he barked
"Yes sir?" Reynolds answered and Ben could detect a little anger in the young man's voice,
"You got anything to do this evening?" he asked
"No sir" Reynolds said with more harsh tone than he intended to, which cause Ben to raise an eye at that.
"Then why don't you go and spend some time with my n….with Maddy?!" Ben said almost stumbling over his words and more than a little impressed over Reynolds's attitude and let it slide,
"Good he's protective of her means he cares deeply….she NEEDS that right now" Ben thought, and watched as the kid walked over to where Jim and Maddy stood and said something and Maddy looked first at Jim and then smiled weakly and took Reynolds's offered hand and they both walked off.
As Ben walked up to Jim and still Jim could see Ben had trouble making eye contact,
"I'm guessing you felt all that were too easy as well" Ben stated and Jim nodded
"I'm having a gut feeling about Milner's confession," Jim said when Kono came over as he were still worried about his brothers after that scrap they had the other day, Jim noticed the look on his face,
"Oh Kono, ya don't need to babysit us all the time, we're NOT going to start slugging it out again" Jim stated annoyed and Kono just smiled that annoyingly sly smile of his,
"Then why are you two standing here whispering like a couple of sixers or something?" Kono asked
"Firstly I think that Milner lied to us when he confessed" Jim said and then told Kono about what he'd been suspecting ever since the banishment
"So what are you suggesting we do then?" Kono asked,
"I go out and get Milner back after everything settles down, and then after we bring Milner home we talk to him and his wife WHY he gave a false confession" Jim said but Ben shook his head
"You are NOT going out there alone Jim" hi growled but Jim raised his right hand
"all I've got is a gut feeling, and I don't want to get either of you two in trouble, all I need is for you to be here and cover for me a little" Jim said and Kono had to agree though Ben was still shooting lightning at the entire idea but even he had to relent in the end,
Twenty minutes later Kono was already regretting agreeing to actually potentially disobey the ruling of his CO, as him and Ben were standing at the gates,
"So Bennyboy, have ya talked to Maddy yet?" he asked, Ben just looked at him and the shame was evident in the younger man's steel colour eyes,
"No, I haven't but I….I'm going to request a long range OTG as soon as I'm cleared for duty again" Ben answered, Kono frowned at that
"Why?" Kono asked, even though deep down he knew the answer
"Because as long as I stay here I'll just keep screwing up her life, she deserves a better….a better father than me" Ben answered
"Plus she already has a father, a father who can be there for her, a father who's been there all her life not some killer like me" Ben stated deadpan, Kono could feel a pang of pain at Ben's words,
"Ben, don't you think she'll be even more hurt if you leave?" Kono said, and almost wished he hadn't said anything as he saw Ben's eyes narrowing – not at him but simply narrowing his eyes and frowning,
"So you're just going to abandon her and run away again like you did before and probably try and get yourself killed….for real this time?" Kono said and looked on as he saw Ben getting angry at his words,
"GREAT I think I'm actually pissing him off" Kono thought as he knew that when Ben got angry it would be near impossible to calm him down, Both Ben and Jim had inherited the anger of the Shannon clan, but Ben had inherited most of it thanks to their father being a total prick,
Right then Kono got an idea, he walked a little away from Ben until he were certain Ben wouldn't hear and picked up his com and called the infirmary, and asked for Liz
"Yes what is it?" Elisabeth asked when she answered
"Liz could you go and talk to the commander about Ben – he's actually considering to leave OTG as soon as he's back on duty" Kono started
"Why? That would only devastate Maddy even more, she already blames herself for Ben not talking to her even though we tried convincing her otherwise" Elisabeth said
"I may have an idea as to how to fix this but it will require some readjustment for us but mostly for Ben and Maddy, nothing serious though, it's either that or we sacrifice Ben and this time I REALLY think he might just get himself killed, hunting sixers or something, sooner or later he'll meet someone – or something that'll be faster and or stronger than him" Kono said
"I KNOW Ben would be a great father to ANY child – he just has to start realizing that himself" Elisabeth said
"So you're with me on this then?" Kono asked
Elisabeth thought for a while, she KNEW that if something were to happen to Ben the entire family would feel the pain despite what Ben thought, his death would cause more rather than alleviate the pain,
"I'll go and talk to the commander right away, but I need to talk this over with Jim as well" she said
"I agree as soon as Jim comes back I'll talk to him about this" Kono said, and they both agreed to do so Elisabeth went to the command centre, when she entered Taylor were sitting at his desk reading reports as Washington stood waiting at the desk, both looked at her when she came in
"Doc Shannon what can I do for you" Taylor said
"Commander Taylor, I need to talk about my brother-in-law and about my daughter….HIS daughter" Elisabeth started and then explained to him about the last two days since the revelation and about the problems,
"I see, but you DO know I can't simply stop a good soldier from going OTG if they volunteer" Taylor said but then he started thinking about how his own family had been practically broken up because of him making a similar decision as Sergeant Shannon years ago and saw how the poor girl – Maddy becoming as bitter as his…."HELL NO, that I'll let that happen – NOT again not if I can prevent it" he thought determinedly, This family deserved a friggin break after what they've been through,
"Alright, but what do you suggest Doctor?" he asked
"A sort of shared custody between Ben and me, if Maddy and my husband agree of course" Elisabeth suggested,
"Where is your daughter now?" he asked
"I can answer that sir; she's with Reynolds taking a walk" Washington piped in
Taylor scratched his trimmed beard for a few seconds and then turned to Washington
"Wash, call Reynolds on the com and tell him to ask her to come with him here" he said and then turned back to Elisabeth
"I'd just like to say that I consider this meddling on SO many levels, but this place IS after all about a fresh start, especially people like Ben Shannon and heck all of you Shannon's considering what I've seen on them files" he said and then
"EVEN if you are a bunch of trouble makers" he mock growled and smiled,
After about fifteen minutes, Reynolds and Maddy entered the office and Reynolds being the good soldier he always were stood at stiff attention and Maddy and Wash just rolled their eyes at him,
And Taylor looked at Maddy and smiled warmly
"Miss Shannon, I wanted you here to talk about what you think about Ben Shannon, only a couple of days ago we found out he's your biological father, not his fault nor your mothers and least of all yours" he said softly to her
"What is it that can be done commander, he wants nothing to do with me" Maddy said miserably
"I don't think that's correct young lady, I KNOW for a fact that he'd do anything for you, of course right now he seem to be under the impression that staying here will cause you harm" Taylor explained and Maddy's eyes widened with surprise
And then Sheriff Shannon of course had to barge in before Taylor had a chance to talk further about it all,
"Miss Shannon Doctor Shannon, Reynolds I'm sorry we're going to have to finish this later, you all come back later today after I've heard whatever it is that the sheriff wants to tell me" Taylor finished and turned to listen to what Jim Shannon wanted
As Maddy and Mark left and were walking away from the command centre they could hear Jim and Taylor talk in there,
"WHAT?" she heard Taylor burst out
A quarter of an hour later Taylor, Lieutenant Lao and a squad entered, as Jim Shannon had been pulled aside by his wife to discuss another matter, as they entered the bar Boylan gave him that wide pudgy smile of his,
"Well Commander Taylor, what can I do for ya" Boylan asked with his cheery accent
"Boylan, I've been waiting to say this for a long while, we'll be conducting a search of your bar" Taylor said and Boylan's smile got smug
"He he, must really bite ya that I own the only establishment that operates out of your reach?" Boylan retorted and after a few minutes of word fighting with Taylor
"We're taking you in Boylan" Taylor stated deadpan, and as Boylan were taken away growling at Taylor, the commander turned to Kono
"Search the place Lao don't leave any stone unturned" he ordered and walked out after the soldiers that took Boylan
"Okay guys you heard the man, search the place"
Kono looked on as his men began to search the bar top to bottom and saw Josh walk down the stairs
"Josh, what the hell are you doing here?"
With bitterness in his voice Josh said "I work here or is that something I don't have permission to do?"
Kono walked over to his nephew and said
"Josh I may not be your father but I warn you don't take that tone with me, and I hope you never talk like that to your mother and father." He continued
"Go home right now, I want you to look after Zoe, and I heard you were drunk the other night. If you ever do that again, I'll put you in the brig for a week. I don't know what is causing this bad attitude but it stops right now, understand?"
"Why does it always have to be me?" Josh hissed at him and now Kono were getting more than a little annoyed
"What do you mean always you, you usually run off every time there's a chore to be done and since WHEN have you stayed home and looked after Zoe?" Kono started
"It's usually Maddy who does that!" Kono almost growled out
"IT'S ALWAYS about her ISN'T it; Maddy's always been the golden girl, never doing anything wrong?" Josh hissed
"THAT is enough Joshua Shishir Shannon, you go home NOW" Kono snapped at him.
Josh threw the broom he was using to sweep the stairs away and stormed out.
At the infirmary Elisabeth were talking to Jim about what her and Kono had talked about earlier
"So do you agree on this Jim?" she asked him, Jim seemed deep in thought for a while and then,
"A cooking class, I mean I knew he took violin lessons so he could learn how to play that beloved fiddle of his but….COOKING?" Jim asked completely flabbergasted
"No he took extra classes in the home sciences among other things" Elisabeth explained
"Like what?" Jim queried worriedly
"Singing, child care, arts and languages I think it was Gaelic and Spanish and….philosophy as well" Elisabeth finished, Jim's eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of their sockets,
"No wonder he had trouble in school" Jim huffed out
"JIM?" Elisabeth scolded and Jim raised both hands in surrender
"Are you saying my brother was actually smarter then he let on?" he asked in surprise
"Yes, why is that so hard to realize?" Elisabeth asked
"So hard to realize what?" Maddy asked as she were entering the infirmary, Jim filled her in and she laughed
"Those are some of the classes I took you know!" she said but Jim shook his head
"Not the same thing sweetie, Ben never told me about these classes, plus you're incredibly smart….he wasn't….Isn't!" Jim retorted
"Jim, Ben IS a LOT smarter than he's been letting on" Elisabeth retorted again
"But his grades never showed any of that?" Jim maintained
"Because he showed little interest in school other than a few subjects" Elisabeth answered
"But to the main question, ARE you okay with this?" Elisabeth asked again, and Jim nodded
"Yes I suppose I am" Jim sighed "Damn it if I'm not her father than I'd at least be proud to have Ben be that instead" he thought resolutely,
"About what Mom" Maddy asked
"That if you want it Ben could officially acknowledge you as his daughter" Elisabeth said to Maddy who looked miserable
"I don't want to cause him any trouble" Maddy said and both Jim and Elisabeth smiled
"OH sweetie, you ARE his daughter, you are so much like him and now that I know the truth it is painfully obvious" Jim said and hugged her
"But what about you d…." Maddy whimpered
"Baby girl I will ALLWAYS love you JUST as much no matter if you're my daughter OR my niece" Jim answered, and Maddy looked first at him and then Elisabeth
"And it might even get his head screwed on right for a change" Jim continued
"So do you want Ben to be your actual father, remember it will not change anything of how I or your mother feels about you, and Zoe is still your sister and Josh is still your brother",
"And cousins" Maddy said despondently and both Jim made a choking sound
"Ahem well yes sweetie but best to leave those words separated shall we? People" Jim chuckled and Maddy smiled at what he said
Maddy thought it over, "Ben have always been there for me and Josh and Zoe like an extra dad, and he DID say he would be proud if he had a daughter like me" she thought and then looked at her mother and the man she had thought were father,
"The only thing that might change would be the titles really" she thought again
"As long as it is okay with you, Dad" she said haltingly and Jim smiled
"All I want is for you to feel good about all this, I have already accepted how things are, I was never the best dad BUT….I Can be a great uncle….I hope since I've never been one….maybe I can ask Ben or Kono on how to behave like an uncle" Jim added the last parts with one of his smiles that indicated he were semi serious, Elisabeth laughed and Maddy smiled back
"Then I guess I want it….but ONLY if Be….n also want to be my father, I will NOT force him" she stuttered
"AND to stop this insecurity" she thought and had a face of pure concentration that made Jim and Elisabeth chuckle
"If nothing else you are DEFINITELY a Shannon alright, that same face they all have when they are really determined too" Elisabeth said and laughed when Jim gave her a mock glare, then Jim's com beeped and he answered
"Sheriff here" he said into the com,
"I'll be there in a few minutes" he said and then turned towards Elisabeth and Maddy and smiled
"Sorry but I have to go help Taylor with a few things, but after that we'll talk to Ben" he said and then walked out of the infirmary.
Ben since Lieutenant Washington had forbidden him from doing anything work related so he sat in his room playing various tunes on his fiddle when he heard a slight shuffling of feet outside, he put the fiddle down and walked to the door and opened it – the hall outside was empty apart from a few of the soldiers – female soldiers who stood and doing various chores that didn't seem to actually be real chores the most amusing was private Diana Shackleford who were polishing her boots….without any shoe polish at all and Reilly who stood at her door talking with another Joan Wilder he thought her name was and at least two more standing around doing absolutely nothing – a LOT of nothing,
Ben shook his head and wondered what the hell was going on, then he remembered what Reilly had said at the hospital about the girls having some sort of betting pool on who would get him into the sack,
"What the heck?" he thought, he knew he was at least mildly attractive but still "There are a lot more younger and far more good looking males in this place, why would they be interested in me?" he thought and shook his head and went back into his room and closed the door, he felt sad about his impending decision to leave on OTG, he didn't want to, and he was angry at Kono for accusing him of running away, he sat and played a sad ballad on the fiddle among them some old civil war songs his grandfather had taught him.
Outside Sergeant Shannon's quarters Reilly and about three other female soldiers were sneaking a bit closer to his door to listen.
When the music started again this time another sad ballad everyone even the usually disciplined Anna Reilly all but swooned, before they had to go back to work
"Is he really that sad?" Diana said wiping a tear from her eye,
"Didn't you see what some prick uploaded to the eye, about his family? – About his niece that apparently is his daughter?" Joan asked annoyed
"Who would do such a thing?" Diana asked
"Some asshole who seems to have it in for him and his family, I guess" Reilly growled
"Yeah okay, but it's not incest since Doctor Shannon is not related by blood" Diana retorted
"And I've been hearing some crap about the whole thing from some conservative morons, and that brain dead idiot Hunter Boyce have been spreading it around during his drunken revelry" Reilly said
"What kind of a moron would do that to that wonderful family?" A another female soldier asked
"Hunter Boyce started the rumours during his last bender" Reilly said
"I'm going to kick his ass!" Diana growled
"First he's a civilian and secondly it would be a total waste of time and effort since the guy probably hasn't got a brain cell to his name left anyway" Reilly admonished.
As Wash was on her way to fetch Sergeant Shannon after being called by Taylor that they had caught the one who was truly guilty for the murder of Ken Foster – it was Tim Curran and Taylor and Sheriff Shannon had brought him OTG and banished him on the spot, and then told her to go get Sergeant Shannon for some serious family therapy, she were just about to clear the training field when she saw five female soldiers among them Corporal Anna Reilly exit the barracks of second and third squads – chattering like lovesick little girls as they were talking about the sarge,
She smiled about what she heard, "poor Ben he's going to have to be careful as to avoid a full on brawl over him" she thought, true Ben Shannon was handsome and those sad suffering eyes made most women's hearts ache – and he DID have a nice butt at least – not as nice as Kono's from Alicia's point of view anyway, but a handsome face even WITH the scars that only strengthened his rugged handsomeness, "And he seems interested in Reilly….good" she thought.
As she entered she understood why the others were so reluctant to leave as she heard what must simply be the most beautiful and sad tones played on a violin or fiddle as Shannon called his favorite instrument, she walked up to his door and knocked politely,
"What?" she heard him say in an annoyed voice and opened the door
"I'd like you to accompany me to the command centre sergeant" she said he put away his fiddle with an almost tender carefulness into its case and put it under his bed and followed her out,
When they got to the command centre Taylor and Jim and Elisabeth Shannon were already there together with Maddy Shannon and Mark Reynolds obviously sensing something important and wanting to give moral support to Maddy "cute" she thought and in the corner she could se Kono smirking at his own awesomeness.
"What's this?" Ben asked surprised and then it started to dawn on him
"Jim, Liz I told you I don't want to wreck her life anymore than I've already have" Ben said but Jim fixed him with a stare
"Ben Maddy IS your daughter whether we like it or not – What is it exactly you are so afraid of when it comes to fatherhood?" he then asked
Maddy watched the man she had always thought of as an extra father – now he looked almost scared.
"That….I….I'll become like Dad myself" Ben stuttered, Taylor had checked up on that – Richard Joseph Shannon had been a true monster of a coward beating both his sons and their mother, But Taylor could also see that Benjamin Franklin Shannon would NEVER harm any child least of all any of the Shannon kids,
"Son, I'll let you in on a little secret that few know about except Wash; I was never there for my kid nor enough anyway and that is something I'll regret for the rest of my life – I'm not going to order you to do the right thing here….I'm begging on behalf of your daughter, she needs her father" Taylor said solemnly
"But Jim have been her father her entire life, had we not decided to look at those damn files none would have been the wiser" Ben said with finality
Elisabeth started getting more than a little angry at all this honour crap AND the incessant Shannon stubborn pride
"DAMN your idiotic pride Ben, last time you left, for Cuba it almost wrecked our entire family, I will NOT let you do this again ESPECIALLY not when my….OUR daughter is hurting because the man that have been like an extra father the man that IS her real father thinks that the right thing to do is running away….as if THAT would solve anything" she said with a very stern voice
"But Liz I'd be terrible as a father, I wouldn't even know HOW to be a father, not like Jim….Heck even Kono would be better" Ben said
"Oh thanks a lot little brother" Kono said in mock hurt
Elisabeth looked at Ben after what he said and Ben could see what she were about to say and shook his head with a pleading expression in his face
"Wouldn't even know how?" Elisabeth started
"I'm sorry Ben but I'll have to tell you a few things" she said and then started
"Let's see YOU were the one to stay at home during my first and second pregnancies taking care of both me and Josh when he was born"
"Yeah but I had to…." Ben tried to diffuse what he KNEW was going to be humiliating but Elisabeth raised her index finger like she were scolding him
"DON'T interrupt, and then just so you could help out more you took classes in domestic science including child care, plus the fact you had such patience helping out with changing their…."
"OKAY, you don't have to mention everything….please" Ben pleaded but Elisabeth continued to count up all his faults as a father meantime Ben were squirming on the spot and Taylor and Washington were actually wondering how long it would take before the poor man was going to burrow through the floor, he was blushing like a tomato
"After you came home from that dreadful war, YOU were the one to stay home with both Josh and Maddy while I and Jim were working" Elisabeth finished and Ben sighed, Wash had to stifle a giggle
"A miracle he's even standing after THAT broadside" she thought
Both Kono and Jim looked at Ben who were still squirming under their gaze and from Elisabeth's word barrage,
Taylor finally decided to pipe in since he could clearly see Lao getting ready to fire off some teasing remark
"So Sergeant, you do not think YOU are worthy of being the father of a sixteen year old girl am I right?" he started
"After THAT list Doctor Shannon just counted up, if YOU are not good enough then NO man in the entire universe are good enough to be a father at all!" he exclaimed Maddy stood looking at Ben she knew that he could all those things that he simply dumbed himself down with everyone else, Mark simply couldn't believe his ears
"What is this an entire family of geniuses?" he thought amused
Jim stepped forward to Ben and put his hands on his baby brother's shoulders, Ben was still blushing heavily
"Ben I'm going to say this once, I KNOW you and I know you would rather die than risk hurting or hurt coming any of us, that's why you gave yourself up to the population control and that's why you ran away to Cuba, You've been a GREAT uncle to my kids and I know deep in my heart you'd be a GREAT dad to Maddy and if ANYONE deserve to be her father than she'd be lucky to have you being her dad" Jim finished
"But what about Maddy she's been torn up with the roots by this, and what about what SHE wants….I will NOT have her feel as if she's being forced into this?" Ben tried a final time but Jim and Kono and Elisabeth saw his resolve against it had collapsed that last statement was simply a valiant retreating action as Joshua Shannon their grandfather would have said,
Maddy left Mark's side and walked up to Ben
"I want to acknowledge you as my father but only if you want the same" she said resolutely and stared him down he looked down at her….at his daughter and a tear fell from the eye where the scars were, Maddy were almost taken aback by it years ago when he came home from Somalia even if her memories from those days were sketchy at best she remembered how his eyes looked so full of shame – not anymore now she could see something else in them - pride and hope
"This is what you want sweet pea?" he simply asked and she nodded tears in her own eyes now, Ben turned around to face Commander Taylor
"Then sir I'd like to acknowledge Maddy as my daughter….IF that is alright with Jim and Liz" he stated
Taylor looked at Elisabeth and Jim who both nodded and Taylor showed Ben a plex pad which Ben signed and then turned to face Maddy again who hugged him which he returned
"You don't have to start calling me dad or anything" he stated
"Why not?" Maddy asked she WERE getting tired of the constant confusion about labelling him lately
"Because first, I need your forgiveness….not yet though but soon one of these days I'll ask for it and then you can decide if I'm worth it" Ben said by now even the stoic Alicia Washington were wiping tears furiously from her face, Elisabeth and Jim came forward and added to the hug, as Maddy felt a little snuggled in by it, Mark looked on and felt happy that everything had worked out for Maddy he could see the heavy sadness in her face had been replaced by the same happiness she had shown before all the revelations struck, the Shannon's were once again a family changed but strengthened,
"How will we handle visiting arrangements?" Elisabeth queried at Ben and Jim
"I can visit as usual" Ben said but Elisabeth shook her head
"No I meant which week will she be with you and what weeks with me and Jim?" she said
"OH she is NOT visiting OR staying with me at the barracks" Ben stated firmly
"Why not there's probably some room I could stay in" Maddy asked
"NO Maddy you will NOT spend ANY amount of time in the barracks with all those apes around" Ben stated again the last made Taylor and Wash chuckle – they both knew Sergeant Shannon cared deeply about the men and women under his command but that he may have problems separating between family and work under such circumstances and Wash came and whispered something into Taylor's ear
"I'm surprised I haven't thought of that myself" he said which made the Shannon group hug break up and look at the officers
"Sergeant Shannon, since you've been serving exemplary in TN security not to mention you'd probably have been promoted much earlier if not for that incident in Cuba, so I'm promoting you to Warrant officer second class, and as such you'd be a commissioned officer and Wash here has offered her house over to you" Taylor said, Ben looked surprised
"Err sir that's not necessary I can manage as is" he protested half-heartedly but Taylor raised his hand
"As a commissioned officer you are supposed to have a house anyway and as a father to Madelyn Shannon you need a house" he stated
"But sir, where will Lieutenant Washington be staying then?" Ben asked
"Oh don't worry Bennyboy, I'll be moving in with Lieutenant Lao here" Wash said and moved closer to Kono who at first looked taken by it and then smiled up
"But there's going to be some ground rules" she stated
"Thanks Bennyboy, oh and sorry about before" Kono said
"Sorry for what sir?" Ben asked
"I was worried you were not interested in girls, with those classes and all" Kono said with a very teasing grin
"Why wouldn't I be interested in g…?" Ben started and then his eyes narrowed
"I am NOT GAY Kono!" He half growled Elisabeth and Maddy looked around and stared down Jim, who had to cover his mouth as he had trouble not laughing,
"And THAT will be rule number one, No more teasing your brother about those classes which I frankly think makes a REAL man, a man that can take responsibility and I did also take art and music classes at school" she started
"Or are you saying that men can't be men taking such classes?" Wash said and fixing Kono with a dangerous glare,
"Of course not Alicia" Kono blurted out
"Good you may actually get to sleep IN the bed room tonight….on the floor" she said, Taylor simply sat there NOT wanting to add to Lao's misery
The only one that were not finding the jokes about sergeant – Warrant officer Shannon's classes were Mark, he had himself taken a few similar classes not that many though and probably no way near as good but decent,
"Okay Bennyboy sorry about the joke" Kono said and Jim nodded to as Elisabeth were glaring at him practically incinerating him on the spot,
"No harm done Kono….I mean Lieutenant, I'm sure I can track down my masculinity again someday" Ben said with a smile, Frankly Ben didn't care if people thought he was gay,
"Well good Kono" Alicia said and turned to Ben
"Okay you can come by in the morning to my house and we'll start clearing out whatever I'll take with me" she said and then without as much as a word took Kono by the ear and marched him out of there, of course she were planning on having a little fun with him she just wanted him to squirm a bit first….which was part of the fun, as Taylor and the Shannon's were laughing at Kono's discomfort, there was ONE person hidden behind the wall of the building with eavesdropping equipment listening in to what was being said, and Nicholas Smythe were NOT happy at all,
"Bloody hell, getting closer to Madelyn will now be even harder than I thought, and now that stupid paddy will be even more insufferable now with that rank" Nick thought as he hid the equipment back into the equipment shed and walked to the bar,
"Wait maybe I could use that idiot nephew of his, and he works at the bar for that bloody aussie, even if it takes longer time I shall possess Madelyn, they say all things come to he who waits" he thought and smiled and started whistling as he always did when he felt in a very good mood.