Chapter 21

As Riddick waited on the back porch for Cole to be done with his two o'clock in the morning bathroom break, he cracked his neck. He had sat on Kayden's bed for over two hours answering questions that the boy had about him. Riddick had done his best not to go into the fact that he had killed people, stolen stuff and things like that. Instead he focused on where he had come from, a not very detailed description of how him and Jack met and the fact that sometimes in life people do certain things in order to survive when they are on their own that they might not do if they had a better choice. Riddick explained the name change as a way to have a fresh start for himself, Jack and eventually their kids.

Kayden seemed to understand why it was important not to tell anyone; something the boy promised not to do. Kayden even taught his dad the promise handshake that him and Davey do: spit in your hand and shake on it.

After Riddick tucked his son in and headed for the door, Kayden had stopped him. 'I'm proud of you, dad,' Riddick could hear Kayden's words ring through his head. 'I'm proud of you for being brave enough to do the things you needed to in order to survive and be here for mom, Aurora and me.'

Riddick smiled to himself and whispered out into the darkness, "Someday I'll tell you the whole story, son."

On the way back upstairs, he checked on Kayden who was sound asleep. As he was about to peek into Rori's room, he stopped. From within Rori's room a small thud was heard.

Very quietly he peeked through the slightly opened door. To his surprise Rori was standing in her crib looking down at her baby doll that she had obviously thrown onto the floor.

Not moving a muscle, Riddick continued to watch as his little girl walked to the end of her crib and used her strength to pull herself up so that she could get her leg over the railing. Tilting his head, he studied her movements while she carefully got both legs over the side before allowing herself to slide down and land on the floor.

Rori wasn't used to dropping to the floor from about two feet in the air, so as soon as her feet made contact with the hardwood she fell back onto her pull up and night gown covered butt. She sat there for a moment before she turned and crawled the foot to grab her baby doll. Once she had her baby doll in her hands she stood up and began to walk in the direction of the door.

Riddick saw her coming towards him, so he stepped fully in front of the door. He watched her little fingers appear outside of the door and pull it open. His arms were crossed over his chest and his silver eyes glared down to where he knew she would be as soon as the door was opened more.

As soon as she had opened the door more, Rori's eyes grew wide and she jumped when she saw Riddick standing there. The initial scent of fear that Riddick smelled when she jumped quickly faded when she smiled up at her daddy. "You should be in your crib sleeping, Aurora," Riddick said quietly; his arms were still over his chest and his face was solid.

Rori stood still as she looked up at her daddy. "Ood ownin', dada," she said with a smile.

Shaking his head, Riddick uncrossed his arms and squatted down to see her face to face. "It's not time to say good morning. It's still night night time," he informed her.

Stepping forward, she gave her best pout while hugging her baby. Riddick pouted back and shook his head, "No pouts, you need to go back to sleep." Picking her up, he kissed her cheek, "Do you need to go potty before you go back into your crib?"

"Wowi wink," she said and licked her lips.

"A drink it is," he told her as he began to walk them down to the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen, Riddick sat her on the counter and moved over to the fridge. "What would you like? We have milk, water and apple juice," he listed her options.

Looking like she was thinking, Rori finally smiled. "Ik ease," she replied.

"Say mmmilk," he corrected her.

From her seat on the counter, she listened to him sound out the first letter. She did her best to say it too, "Mmmmmmmik." She clapped her hands thinking she had said it correctly.

"Good job," he got the milk jug out of the fridge and went to get her a sippy cup. When he opened the cupboard, he spotted the box of cookies. "If I give you a cookie, do you promise to go back to sleep for me?" he asked while already getting them each a cookie.

Rori nodded her head and grinned when she saw the chocolate chip cookies.

Riddick sat the two cookies on the table and took out a big glass for him and a little glass for her. He filled both half full before putting the milk back into the fridge and going to get her off the counter. "Let's dip our cookies and then go back to bed," he said after kissing her head.

Sitting down in a chair, he sat her on his lap and dipped his cookie into his glass to remind her how to do it. He grinned when she did it too. "Did you know that your big brother didn't learn to climb out of his crib until he was about seventeen months old?" he asked.

Busy dunking her cookie and fist into her milk, Rori just nodded her head; she wasn't even paying attention to her daddy.

Riddick kissed her tangled curls as he thought about to the first time Kayden escaped from his crib.

"Daaaddy," Kayden called out somewhat quietly as he stood out in the hallway.

Riddick felt Jack shift when she heard their almost seventeen month old son calling out for his daddy. He himself, had been awake since he heard through the baby monitor that Kayden had woken up and was chatting to Cole.

"Is he in the hallway?" Jack whispered as she lifted her head off his chest.

He nodded. "I think we have another escape artist in the house," he mumbled as the room became a little brighter from the already slightly opened door being pushed further open and the nightlight in the hallway shining in.

"Daaaddy," Kayden said again; this time he was walking quickly towards the bed with Cole following right behind him. "Daaaddy up."

Removing his arm from around Jack's body, Riddick looked over the edge of the bed. "Thought we left you in your crib?" he asked.

The side of the bed was filled with giggles. Kayden grabbed a hold of the blanket and tried to pull himself up. "Daaaddy up," he repeated when he couldn't make it onto the bed.

"What's the magic word?" he asked and as soon as Kayden said please, Riddick got a hold of him below the arm pits and gracefully picked him up. Once he was sitting in the middle of the bed Riddick smiled at him. "You should be sleeping, son," Riddick told him and then playfully gasped when Kayden shook his head. "What do you mean no?"

Kayden finished shaking his head before crawling up to the pillows and covering his daddy's eyes the best he could with his little hands. "Ows, daaaddy," he then pointed towards the curtain covered window.

Jack giggled. "Are you saying the sun is up and it will hurt daddy's eyes?" she asked since she could see a small amount of sun light coming in around the bottom of the curtain.

"Ows, daaaddy," he repeated again while nodding in agreement to what his mommy had said.

Smiling, Jack rubbed Kayden's back. "That's so nice of you to keep daddy's eyes from having owies, but you should be in your crib sleeping."

Kayden shook his head again, "Den no no eepin', mama."

With a playful growl, Riddick covered Kayden with the blankets. "You will be sleeping, Kayden," Riddick said with a chuckle since Kayden had told his mommy he wasn't sleeping anymore.

Jack kept smiling. It was after seven so she knew Kayden wouldn't be going back to sleep, but she was still wondering exactly how he got out of his crib. "Riddick? Do you think maybe him getting out of his crib means it's time to get him one of those toddler beds that Brent and Marcy have for the twins?"

Riddick was making Kayden laugh by growling and putting the blanket back over Kayden's head every time the little guy got it off him. "Might be safer than having him climb over the sides every time he decides he wants out," he told his wife.

"I would like to see how he got out of the crib though before we go and buy him a bed," she said. "Kayden? Wanna show mommy and daddy how you got out of your crib?" She got off the bed and slipped her house coat over her long baggy t-shirt.

His hair that had finally grown to be about an inch long stuck up from static when Riddick took the blanket off his head. Kayden stood up and walked on the bed to his mommy so he could go with her.

Getting out of the bed too, Riddick followed them down the hall to Kayden's room. When Jack stood Kayden in his bed, Kayden started to pout.

"No eepin', mama," he told her while reaching for her again.

Jack frowned, "You don't have to go to sleep, baby boy, just show mommy and daddy how you got out!"

Kayden stood there pouting, but didn't try to get out.

Smirking, Riddick took Jack's hand. "Come on, let's go make some yummy sausages for breakfast," he said with a wink since he knew those were something Kayden would eat for every meal if they let him..

Walking to the door, Jack looked back at Kayden, "Want some sausages too, Kayden?"

He continued to stand there pouting as he watched his parents wave to him. Walking to the end of his crib he held on tight as he worked to pull his upper body over the side of the crib.

Jack gasped watching him and rushed over to be ready to catch him if he fell. Whereas Riddick just leaned against the door frame with an intrigued expression on his face.

Once he had his upper body over the side, Kayden worked one leg and then the other over the railing. When his whole body was over the side, he held on with his hands and allowed his weight to pull him down the wooden crib bars and onto the floor.

"Daaaddy, haudage," he said as he rushed to his daddy.

Riddick picked him up, "You can have all the sausage you want for figuring out how to do that!" He laughed and looked at Jack. "How we going to keep him in the room once we get him that toddler bed?"

"How we going to keep him in his room with this crib?" she giggled as she came over to them, "Since he's just like you, there will be no way to keep him in his room now that he's figured out how to escape."

Hearing Rori tell him she was all done with her milk and cookie was what brought Riddick back to what was currently happening. "Your mom might have a heart attack if she watches her little girl climb out of the crib," he told her as he reached for the towel to wipe her hands and face off. "You want a big girl bed, Rori?"

Rori smiled at her daddy. "Den bid bid?" she asked.

Riddick grinned, "It will be like Kayden's big bed, but smaller. One that will fit only you!"

She grinned back at him. As her daddy picked her up to carry her back upstairs, she wrapped one arm around his neck while hugging her baby with the other. "Wowi bid bid, Den," she told him with a yawn.

Running a hand up and down her back, Riddick spoke quietly as he reached the top of the steps and headed for the bathroom. "I know you want a big bed like Kayden, but you have to have a princess sized bed so you don't fall off it," he kissed her head.

Once she had declared to her daddy that her pull up was dry and she had gone potty, Rori laid her head back down on his shoulder.

"Daddy is so proud of his princess for having a dry pull up! Soon you can wear big girl undies to sleep at night," he told her as he carried her down the hall to his room.

Rori lifted her head when they entered her mommy and daddy's room, Rori smiled and pointed to her mommy who was still sleeping. "Wowi bid, mama?" she asked, wanting to know if she got to sleep in the bed with her mommy right now.

Nodding, Riddick pulled the covers back and sat her on the bed. "You get to sleep in here tonight with me and mommy. Now move over and lay down with your baby by mommy." With a big smile, Rori did what she was told. Getting into the bed next to Rori, Riddick whispered to her one last time, "Good night, princess." Kissing her hair, he tucked her and her baby doll in under the covers.

Later that morning, Riddick and Rori pulled in the drive from taking Kayden to school. Stepping out of the truck, Riddick helped Rori get out of the truck.

"Good morning," Brent called from his spot on Riddick's front steps.

"Ood ownin'," Rori said back to Brent as she waited for her daddy to give her her box.

Riddick handed Rori her little doughnut box from the bakery while he carried the bigger box. "You're here early," he said to Brent.

Standing up when Riddick and Rori got closer to the steps, Brent nodded. "Yeah, didn't sleep too well last night, wanted to come over and talk to you about some stuff before we start our work for the day," he mentioned before taking a sip from his coffee cup.

When Brent was done talking, Rori held up her little box. "Bit, Wowi do-not?" she asked, knowing it was nice to offer to share.

Brent grinned, "What kind of doughnuts do you have in there?"

"Ummy, ummy billy!" she told him with a huge grin.

Riddick took her free hand to help her up the steps. "She calls the ones with the sprinkles the kind that are yummy yummy in her belly," he chuckled. "Let's talk inside, I picked up doughnuts, muffins and bagels for breakfast."

Following his boss and Rori into the house, Brent could hear Jack humming in a room down the hallway. From the clean clothes he had already spotted hanging on the line to dry outside, he guessed she was doing more laundry.

"So what's up?" Riddick asked as he put Rori in her high chair and helped her get her box open.

Brent sat down in the chair closest to the back door. "You know how you had me go yesterday morning to get wood to make more pallets for the boxes?" he asked after taking a sip from his coffee.

Opening the large box that held a large variety of baked goods, Riddick gestured for Brent to help himself. "Yeah, I see you were able to get it all," he said while turning to get himself a fresh cup of coffee.

"Yeah, that was no problem. The issue was that I ran into Mr. Camp," he said and watched Riddick stop his movements briefly before setting his coffee down and went about getting Rori a sippy cup of milk. "Apparently he runs the saw mill and he heard my stupid comment about your past," his voice trailed off towards the end of his sentence.

Riddick handed Rori her sippy and took his seat. "I know, Jack and Kayden told me yesterday when I got home," he told him; he made it sound as if it wasn't a big deal.

Brent watched him take a bear claw doughnut and finally reached into the box to grab himself a blueberry muffin. "How did they know he heard it?"

"Kayden overheard the entire conversation with Mr. Camp and asked Jack about it. She then had me talk to Kayden about it," Riddick said. "Did Mr. Camp say something to you about me yesterday, Brent?"

With a mouth full of muffin, Brent just nodded as he chewed. As soon as he swallowed he continued, "Guess he spent all weekend trying to dig up dirt on you."

Riddick's eyes narrowed, "And?"

"And he wasn't able to find anything which I guess pi..." his eyes flickered over to Rori as he caught himself before he swore. "I mean, I guess that made him really mad."

Clearing his throat, Riddick glanced over at Rori who had chocolate frosting on her lips and chin. "You sure he wasn't able to find anything?" he asked when he looked back to Brent.

Brent shook his head, "Nope and that's what made him more suspicious, but I think I set him straight." He took another drink from his cup. "What really caught him off guard was the fact that there were no birth announcements for Kayden and Rori. I guess it's some unwritten law around here that if you don't do that then you are suddenly some mysterious criminal."

Riddick raised a silent eyebrow in Brent's direction.

Smirking, Brent nodded. "Yeah, yeah, yeah I know. But I quickly turned the tables around to my situation. Told him that if he would have bothered to look up my kids he wouldn't find a birth announcement for them either. After all why would we announce the birth of our children to a bunch of strange people that we don't know?" he asked, but he wasn't expecting Riddick to answer. "That and we were broke after buying the house and moving here," he chuckled.

Riddick reached over and helped Rori take a bite of the actual doughnut so that she wasn't eating just the frosting for breakfast. "Anything else I need to know about?" he asked.

"No, dada!" Rori said, thinking he was talking to her.

Smirking, Riddick put her doughnut down. "I was talking to Brent, silly!"

Brent smirked too. "I told him you were an orphan and that's why he couldn't and wouldn't be able to find any records of you before you were eighteen," he shrugged when Riddick looked at him. "What? It's the truth and it makes sense."

"Maybe I should go talk to him, just in case he didn't buy it," he said as he reached for a muffin since he had finished he doughnut.

Just then, Jack walked into the kitchen with a smile on her face and Cole following her, "Good morning, Brent."

"Ood ownin', mama," Rori said even though she had already seen her mommy before going to take Kayden to school.

Leaning down, Jack kissed Rori's head, "Good morning again, sweetheart!"

"Morning, Jack!" Brent replied and looked back at Riddick. "I think he bought it. I even threatened to talk to the business board myself if I found out he was still snooping on you or if he started doing this to other people."

Jack leaned against the cupboard with her coffee mug in her hands. "You guys talking about Mr. Camp?" she asked, curious as to who it was.

Riddick nodded, "Yeah. He approached Brent about it yesterday." He sighed while keeping his eyes locked with Jack's.

Frowning, Jack took a seat at the table. "I don't get why people can't just leave us alone. We are good, honest people and it's not fair that they keep trying to change that," she told them.

"I know, Jack," Riddick said. "But he didn't find anything. And I know you said you scared him, Brent, and I'm sure you did, but I think I'm going to go settle this with him."

Jack looked up from where she has been staring at the table. "What are you going to do?" she asked.

Brent nodded, wanting to know what his plan was as well.

"Wat do?" Rori echoed before she picked up her sippy cup and started to drink from it while staring at her daddy.

All three adults smiled at her. "What I'm going to do is go over to Mr. Camp's office and have a nice, civilized talk with him," Riddick spoke directly at Rori, but was telling Jack and Brent.

Rori smiled back at her daddy.

Jack looked at Riddick, "Do you want me or Brent to go with you?" she asked and then shrugged. "You know for a witness in case he tries anything?"

Nodding his head, Brent agreed with her. "I think that's a good idea, Robbie."

"I think he might talk more candidly with me if it's just him and I together," Riddick said.

To save a private argument with Jack later, Riddick agreed to allow Brent to go with him to visit Mr. Camp. Pulling up to the saw mill, Riddick looked at Brent. "You stay out with the secretary," he said before getting out of the truck. "I'm sure if I need you, you will hear it!" he told him with a smirk.

Brent was right behind him so he hadn't seen the smirk on Riddick's face; he just hoped it didn't come to blows.

Moments later, the secretary was showing Riddick into Mr. Camp's office.

"Mr. Richards, I hope Mr. Overly didn't forget part of your order yesterday," Mr. Camp said as Riddick walked into the office.

Riddick could already smell the change in the man's scent. "The order was just fine. Although I did hear about an interesting conversation that took place yesterday," Riddick informed him as he took it upon himself to have a seat in front of Mr. Camp's desk.

Mr. Camp sat down too. He looked at the other man for a moment, "What part of the conversation did you find interesting?"

Cocking his head slightly, Riddick leaned forward a little. "The whole thing," he said in a deeper tone than his normal voice.

Swallowing hard, Mr. Camp leaned back in his chair. "Ok," he said before glancing towards the open door.

To Be Continued...