A Beacon of Hope

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N:


Chapter 55 (Family Day Out)

"I miss my bike." Clint huffed while gripping the steering wheel of Alexis's silver Nissan Altima Coupe. He lifted his right hand and waved it slightly in the air. "I don't understand why we couldn't take my Frontier, it's a four door! I prefer trucks if I can't have a bike."

Tori laughed while Trina shook her head. They were in the back seat, with Tori seated behind Alexis while Trina was behind Clint. Alexis had her elbow on the arm of the door and her hand was pushing up a portion of her hair. She was looking at Clint with a slick smirk and gentle eyes.

"You made the decision to sell your bikes, Clinton. Not me." Tori made eye contact with her sister and flashed a grin. Alexis turned her head, looking back at them. "Your father sold both of his Harley motorcycles." Clint dropped his head onto the steering wheel and let his shoulders fall. "Looking up the Kelly Blue Book retail value, you can guess how much he got off of those!"

"Almost twenty grand per bike." He glanced at the rearview mirror and Tori saw a smile flash on his face. He looked away and whined playfully at Alexis. "First, my hair. Now, my bikes."

"Oh hush." She smacked his arm and laughed. "It's like my mother said, you're a family man now." She snapped her fingers and pointed out to the stoplight. "Light's green, Clint." He lifted his head and pushed down on the gas.

"Well. At least your car isn't a gear shift."

"I had one a couple years ago, it was a nice car until some buffoon decided to run over it in a parking lot."

Tori leaned forward and put her hand on the side of the chair. "You didn't get hurt, did you, mom?" Alexis glanced back with a smile and shook her head.

"No, thankfully I was inside the store. Bit of advice, though. Never go shopping after midnight when the Walmart is right next to a bar." Clint snickered and Alexis dropped her head with a sigh. "I suppose the groceries could have waited until the next day, I just didn't want to go shopping so close to Black Friday." Alexis lowered her hand from her head and pointed her finger up. "That money your father got off the bikes will go to getting a house. Among other things…" A red tint formed at her cheeks and Tori gasped aloud.

Clint glanced out the corner of his eyes and his cheekbones rose. "Well, those two bikes were new and in excellent condition. The third one I can't sell for nearly as much." Trina's forehead wrinkled and she leaned sideways to get a fuller view of him.

"Why not?"

"That's um, you know-" He chuckled nervously as Alexis shot an angry look at him. "Your mom's still irritated with me over driving you into Charming."

"Oh so that's the bike that was shot at."

"Yep."

"Good times, Dad." Clint laughed while Trina pat his shoulder.

Alexis folded the flap of her purse over and reached in for her lipstick. "Don't encourage your father, dear. Anyway, both of us have been selling a lot of things lately…but that's what you do when you're preparing a move."

Tori had some time to consider all that the two had to do. Both of them lived in small apartments, so it made sense they'd have to find a bigger place. Still, she'd been holding back her questions regarding their future as a family unit because she didn't want to seem pushy.

Trina had often told her to go ahead and ask whatever was on her mind, so she was going to try to be more outspoken. "Not to sound pushy or anything." She watched her mother apply a light amount of lipstick before returning the tube to the purse. Alexis looked in the mirror at Tori and smiled back at her. "I was just wondering, if you buy a home…will Trina and I be able to, you know…" Trina watched her closely and circled her hand in the air, urging her to speak up.

She took a deep breath and leaned forward, pushing her words out. "I want to know if we'll really be able to be a family together." Clint slowed the car down and muttered something as another vehicle cut him off. Alexis looked at him with a sigh, then glanced back to Tori.

"Of course we will." Her heart lifted as Alexis reached around and took her hand. "Everything we're doing, we're doing so we can be together. All four of us."

Trina glanced out the window as Clint grumbled once more. She laughed and Tori looked over. "Dad just got cut off again." Clint shifted his gaze to the speedometer as Alexis shook her head.

"I feel powerless in this car. At least my truck, people don't cut me off."

Alexis leaned into him and lowered her voice to a sultry whisper. "If you keep it up, I'll buy you a pink volkswagon for Christmas." Tori stifled a laugh while Trina belted one out. Clint tightened his hands around the wheel and protested with a grunt.

"On second thought, this car is just fine." He shifted his eyes to the side and huffed. "Getting rid of my motorcycles and getting a haircut, I swear I'm having a reversed mid-life crisis."

"Don't feel bad." Trina's mouth formed a smirk and her eyebrows rose. "It's all for a good cause." Tori nodded and looked at her sister with a jovial gaze. "So, the other bikers you've been running with. Have you seen them lately?" Clint exhaled and shook his head.

"No I haven't, actually. Not since Alexis and I got back together." He pressed his lips together and looked over as Alexis informed him that she didn't expect him to give up his friends. "It isn't so much as giving up on my friends, I'm leaving one life for another. They understand this, I'm no longer running with them, and someone else gets to take over."

Clint ran his hand through his hair, which was now a mass of waves that resembled Tim Allen's hairstyle. The beard looked like that of George Clooney, which made for an interesting combination. "Honestly it's better this way. I need to be with you girls, have to settle down and be a man." Alexis tapped her chin and raised an eyebrow at him.

"You're letting my father get to you, aren't you, Clint?"

"Maybe, but this is also what I want. So it is my decision." His chest expanded and he brought the car to a stop at the red stoplight. "I'm kind of tired of bikes and bikers anyway. I wish I made that decision twenty years ago."

"You blame them." Tori looked to her mom and frowned as Alexis whisked her finger from her face. "I see you want to leave that life, be a father, but you're also blaming those bikers aren't you? Clint, it wasn't their fault. It was Gemma, it was only her and always her."

"That life is over now, Alex. Whether or not I harbor anger towards the bikers or the Sons in general does not factor into any degree of importance."

"You're right, it isn't important." Alexis rubbed his forearm and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "You're here for us, that's the important part." Tori sank back in her seat, sighing contently as she watched the two. "You've been looking for a job too, right?"

"Yeah. Though your brothers all want to give me a job or help me find one, I'd rather get one on my own." He scratched the back of his head and looked into the distance. "Part of the reason we're headed to this airshow is the reason, actually. To support American Airlines and, well, to meet my boss."

Tori's eyes widened and she let out a delighted gasp as Trina and Alexis both congratulated him and asked for more information. He leaned to the left and chuckled at them.

"I got a job at the airport working security. It was either that or a hotel management position, but management and administration isn't really my thing."

"Regardless it's a job, and I'm glad you found one. Is it set in stone?"

"Not entirely. I've got both jobs being offered to me. At this point it's a matter of which one I want to accept-and both of my potential new bosses apparently want me to work with them." He glanced over his shoulder. "If you girls are interested, tomorrow I can take you all to the hotel for a free dinner while discussing a possible position as assistant manager of the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel."

"Sounds great," Trina replied, "If you don't want the hotel job though, then why bother?" The hotel job sounded terrific, though. Tori heard of this particular hotel, it was one of the top rated five star hotels in the Los Angeles area, and they were known for coddling their guests and making sure the guests were truly taken care of.

"Well I'm just not sure. I can probably make more money as an assistant manager at the hotel than airport security, but I feel like I'd have more mobility at the security job."

"If it helps any, I'll probably get a job in the future as a CSI agent. Not the same as airport security, but it is the same field. Also, I didn't know you had the qualification for management."

Clint started up the car and laughed. "Your mother and I both attended college. I wound up with a degree in business administration and management." Alexis leaned back and furrowed her brow.

"So you would definitely make more money at the hotel?"

"Yes."

"The hotel job might also be safer, but still you're at the age where you don't need to worry about getting a job for financial reasons. Well, any age really, you should get a career in something you enjoy doing, so…it's more which one you want."

Clint pulled into a parking lot and hummed briefly. "If you think it would be safer at the hotel, then I might look that way. Still, I'd like to speak with both supervisors and see what they've got to say."

"We also have to meet with their social worker, I think." Tori wasn't sure why it mattered. At the age she was, plus the age Trina was, there was hardly a reason to deal with him. Still, she didn't know the legal process, and clearly there would be some amount of paperwork involved.

"A lot of things are changing?" Tori asked under her breath. Clint looked to the rearview mirror as Alexis nodded. "For the better, which is good. Gemma's still out there, though, so…are we safe?"

"We're not going to let ourselves be afraid of that woman anymore, Tori."

Clint lowered his hands from the wheel after parking the car. He sighed and closed his eyes. "Safety is the most important aspect. I will say that what I know so far from the supervisors is that the airport security job would require me to have more hours."

"And hotel management?"

"The supervisor implied that hotel staff would reside in the top floor suites, if they chose to." Tori watched Trina's face tighten and her lip curled back.

"Wait a minute." Trina snapped her fingers and the parents looked curiously. "If you've been offered a job at the Peninsula Beverly Hills Hotel-The top hotel in Los Angeles, no, in California…"

Alexis coughed and Clint raised his eyebrows. "She has a point, Clinton. Maybe we ought to consider it? What do the suites look like?"

"I um, I haven't seen them."

"Then let's go tomorrow and see the hotel. For now, let's enjoy the airshow and our time together."


Hope you enjoyed the amusing back and forth in the car ride, a little breath of air and a step to getting to where things ought to be as well as a glimpse of what their family life should be like if never influenced by one woman that didn't want them to have it, and a glimpse of a life what things could become for them in the future. Speaking of Gemma, in a couple chapters you will see the world through her eyes, and the big reason why she didn't want this family together and why even today she doesn't want them together-and it goes a little deeper than John Teller's murder and isn't about revenge either. Know the phrase, Jealousy can be a powerful weapon.