EternalxInsanity: lol you're not the only fucked up one here so it's all good. James definitely wins, although the possibility of this having an effect on James and Mark's relationship is kind of high. James will deal with that though if it comes to it. Menaji: I'm going to take that as a compliment. Debwood-1999: James is definitely not one to waste time. When that shit hit the fan, it hit very fast. Burns your butt? *giggles* I've never heard that saying before. I like it though. NeroAnne: Glen definitely made a huge tactical error bringing her back but that was really the only way it could end. He had to go back and make an attempt to off the Lawsons and James lost his shit completely and slaughtered Glen. Ha, Amber is very smart for a five year old. I love that about her too. Glad you enjoyed it ; ) DarkMage6: Mindy knew that this was going to happen-she may not have necessarily had wanted it to but there was really no getting around it. Glen was too stubborn to let her go peacefully. The baby is fine (Glen didn't do any damage to it because he didn't know it wasn't his until James told him) and you're going to find out Amber's reaction in this chapter. slashdite: Right. Vermi and I don't do simple, or if we do, it doesn't last long. Deep down, even if he didn't show it much, Mark did love Glen but he also loves James and he knows that once you fuck with James's family, you set him off in ways that lead to someone getting killed. This is definitely going to have consequences but they might not quite be the ones you're expecting.
…
Forcing Cooper to sit on the cleaned counter and asking Amber to drag over a chair, Mindy took up her role as Dr. Mom and had wrapped an ice pack in a thin cloth before resting it on his forehead just above the swollen eye for ten-minute intervals. Chelsea sat on the counter next to Cooper, completely oblivious to everything as her mother had taped the ice onto Cooper's head and was now dabbing vitamin K all around the eye to reduce the swelling before placing a kiss on the side of his head.
"Thank you" she choked while watching Connor continue to clean the floor with Snoopy at his side via James's orders. Cooper frowned, raising an arm to touch her busted face and shaking his head.
"He still banged you up pretty bad I didn't do shit"
"Yes you did" her lips floated to his hair while massaging the fingers imprinted onto his neck, "You saved me."
Staring silently as Mindy and Cooper gently argued, Amber sniffled and left the room, moving to the stairs and running up as quietly as she could to see what exactly was going on with Daddy and Uncle Mark. James slammed the trunk shut and kept his hand on the back of the car, seemingly taking deep breaths as Mark held his shoulders and took part in the exact type of argument Mindy and Cooper were having.
Sighing in defeat after clapping a hand over Mark's shoulder and pressing their foreheads together quickly, James's gaze shifted to the house where Amber was watching him through a giant window. They made eye contact, but James immediately broke it unsurely. He killed her father she must hate him, despite whatever kind of prick he was he never treated Amber poorly. Mark was upset to say the least. That was his baby brother he only had one. Taking a deep breath, Mark wrapped an arm around James's shoulders and figured he should be the one to drive, but James was insistent on cleaning up his own mess. They drove off, and Amber knew that was the last she'd ever see her father.
…
Staring straight ahead at the road with dead eyes James shook his head, actually keeping both hands on the wheel he was so startled. Of course Mark picked up on that, leaning over and brushing the back of his hand down the side of James's face.
"Lawson…?"
"She hates me"
"Who hates you?" Mark furrowed his brow, "Little Sister? She better not-"
"No, no, no, idiot" he didn't mean to snap but adrenaline was kicking his ass, "Amber. The baby. She fucking hates me did you see the look on her face when I-"
"I raised that kid, you know" Mark replied gruffly, removing one of James's hands from the steering wheel and taking it in his own. James raised an eyebrow and tried to keep himself from crashing into a telephone pole. "M…my brother decided he wanted to be a bastard and leave my Little Sister while she was three months in with Amber, they were engaged and everything…"
"For her best friend, yeah I've heard the story" he snipped while trying to wrestle his hand away but Mark refused to release, "got her pregnant, lost the thing-Marky will you PLEASE let me the fuck go so I can drive"
"Since when do you drive with two hands?" he asked with a smirk, "You and Little Sister…" exhaling while fighting a weak grin he shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Shut it, Marky I drive just fucking fine leave me alone now"
"I loved that little sunspot when she was born; she was over three months early and Little Sister nearly died while they cut the kid out…child had to be in an incubator for two months before we could bring her home"
"Does that alter the fact in any way that she fucking hates me?"
"I'm trying to tell you a story" Mark said grimly before messing James's hair even more, "maybe if you'd shut the hell up you'd enjoy it more."
"Sorry. My stepdaughter wants my head on a stick for killing her father right in FUCKING front of her what was I THINKING? That poor thing is going to-"
"You think that's the only violence that child has ever seen in her short years?" Mark asked dubiously, raising his eyebrows for James to try and come back to that one, and he did…under his breath.
"Mother fucker beat the shit out of her mother every god damn day of course she's-"
"She and her siblings are a very special group of children, Lawson…" his eyes focused on the empty road in front of them, "They've seen more horrors than I would like to think about…yet at the end of the day have kept enough of their innocence to forgive…they'll forgive you. Each and every one of them"
"How am I supposed to marry someone when every one of her-"
"Stop assuming and speak with Amber yourself…" he nodded stiffly, "She's a smart kid; crazy-smart kid. She mommies Little Sister half the time"
"Meaning" while keeping his gaze out the windshield James raised a finger, "She'll be raring to kick my ass all over Los Angeles and shun me from ever"
"Who does she emulate?" James had to think that one over, but his mind was bouncing all over the place he couldn't keep a single straight thought. "She takes after Little Sister, who damn worships the ground you walk on. Think of it that way if you can't seem to wrap your head around anything else"
"That's easy for YOU to say" James snapped, reclaiming his hand and keeping both on the wheel, "You don't have her dead father in your trunk."
…
Sitting on Cotton bareback as the white Arabian strode knee-deep in the water at sunset was Mindy, Amber, and Chelsea all wrapped in the pink cashmere blanket James had bought Mindy. Amber had been silent all day, simply pouting her lips as she looked out across the ocean and letting the wind swish her thick blonde hair around. Both Mindy and Amber had bleary eyes while Chelsea didn't even know what planet they were on. She was so detached from the world around her, it was almost enviable. Keeping her mother's little left hand clenched tight in hers, Amber finally got it in her to speak.
"Mommy?"
"Eh?" the Canadian asked with a frown, leaning and pressing her lips to the back of Amber's head. "What is it, baby?"
"Why was he so mean?" she asked absently, staring out across the horizon and feeling her eyes water, "Why did he hate?" Drawing a deep breath and cuddling both her daughters closer under the blanket, Mindy sniffled and tried to hide the tear that fell down her face.
"He loved me once…" with quivering lips she shuddered, "he was the world to me…he was my friend when everybody hated me, he-"
"Why did he hurt you then?" Staring at her oldest child now, Mindy's busted plump lips made a straight line and she shrugged.
"It was all he ever knewed…" slowly she shook her head, "Daddy had a very hard life"
"So did my new Daddy" Amber frowned, craning her neck to look Mindy in the eye, "He doesn't hurt you too, does he?"
"No" keeping her lips against the back of Amber's head she shook hers, "Jamie will never hurt us, I promise."
"I don't know…" sighing Amber leaned back against her mother's large chest, alarming Mindy.
"What, baby?" Amber's hair was moved behind her, "What don't you know? Tell Mommy" she began to stroke Amber's neck, "Tell Mommy what's wrong or I can't help you"
"What if he only loves his own kids?" the five-year-old asked curtly, "And Elizabeth when she comes…"
"No, baby" bloody lips pressed to Amber's temple, "never. Jamie loves us all or he would not have saved us from Daddy"
"He saved YOU" Amber frowned, feeling something on her mother's wrist so she pulled it out from the blanket to discover the pearl bracelet with the large diamond lily, "Did he give you this?"
"To say sorry for Aunt Trisha, yes"
"So is that what he does?" Amber took her mother's hand again and wrinkled her nose slightly, "He kills people who make him sad?"
"He does kill people, yes baby…" her spine snapped a bit, "He's a serial killer. You know what-"
"Ted Bundy." Mindy was taken aback.
"Excuse me?"
"Ted Bundy was a serial killer" Amber said flatly, "I read about him. I know what a serial killer is." Clamping a hand in her hair fearfully, Mindy mashed her teeth and curled her lips in for a moment.
"Ambie…"
"I love both my daddies" she reached forwards and pet Cotton's neck, trembling while thinking of her father when Mindy eased her nerves.
"Me too."
"Really?"
"I'll always love your daddy…as much as I hate him for being so mean, I'll always love him"
"Did Daddy know that?" Staring ahead blankly for a moment, Mindy took a deep breath and nodded.
"That is why he was so mean to me."
"Does my new Daddy know that?" Mindy froze uncomfortably, grimacing.
"No."
"Will you ever tell him?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I'm too in love with Jamie to make him mad."
"But Daddy loves Uncle Mark too" her eyes dropped, "Cooper says Uncle Mark acts like a real asshole"
"He is" Mindy nodded bluntly, "but Daddy loves him more, what do you want me to do?" Whimpering, Amber's torso twisted and her arms hooked around both Mindy and Chelsea.
"I don't want him to hurt you again, I'll kill him Mommy! I'll-"
"Hey hey hey shhhhhh" smiling gently Mindy wiped her own teary eyes before pressing a huge kiss to Amber's head, "Daddy isn't going anywhere. He's with us; he's stuck now, okay?" Gripping Mindy's hair, Amber wept and snuggled harder against her breast plate.
"Will he come to my dance recitals?"
"He'll be at every one."
"And" she sniffled, "drive me to school?"
"He hates mornings, but I'll talk him into it." An epiphany made Amber's eyes widen in horror.
"He knows you're sick, right?" she watched Mindy's mouth open, "Besides the crazy sick?"
"You mean my agranulocytosis and akathisia?" Amber nodded worriedly. "No. He doesn't need to know-"
"Mommy you can DIE he has to-"
"I need a new donor now that Daddy is gone, that's all. I'll talk about it when I go back to the doctor alone"
"You have to tell Daddy."
"Ambie the last thing I need is for him to leave me"
"If he really loves you he won't" Amber shook her head and frowned, "Daddy didn't leave you when he knew."
"Your daddy did some other fucked-up things though"
"If he was nicer would you still have fallen in love with my new Daddy?"
"Yes."
"Mommy…" she sighed, curling her plump lips in, "don't let him hurt you."
"Ambie-"
"He killed Daddy…he killed Aunt Trisha…he kills people…" she swallowed hard and looked Mindy in the eye, "What if you make him mad? You make people mad when you don't mean it"
"I won't make him mad, Ambie I'll try not to"
"I love him too, I love him lots Mommy" Amber nodded stiffly, "but I won't let him be like Daddy."
…
"Fuck, Marky LOOK at her!" watching from a balcony on the first floor, James panicked as Amber and Mindy (with Chelsea) walked up hand-in-hand after putting Cotton away, seemingly in deep conversation. "She hates me, she fucking…" running a hand over his hair to smooth it down he panicked.
"Cool it, Lawson" Mark waved the three girls off while heading back in the house, "The whole friggin' town will hear you."
"Can you at least pretend to give a fuck?" James hissed as they walked along the boardwalk somberly, "Christ, Marky that's my family they're MINE now! I have seven and a half kids! Officially!"
"Not 'officially' yet" Mark responded while watching Cooper tape up Snoopy's paw for Connor, "You gotta prove your case in court and win her. Harder than it sounds, she's a maniac."
"My maniac" he reminded Mark as Mindy brightened to see him on the balcony and smiled faintly, "Baby Doll…!"
"Hi, Jamie" as he bent to kiss her one of her arms wrapped around his neck and rested the bridges of their noses together, "What did you-"
"She hates me" he whispered without looking at Amber against her mouth, "I know it she hates me I'm-"
"She does not" she kissed him to cease the panicking, and a hand of his gripped her hair; staring at her face which was now littered with bruises and blood by her lip.
"Baby Doll, who cleaned you up?"
"No one"
"Go inside and make Marky clean you up now" running a hand over the top of Chelsea's head he kissed Mindy gently not to agitate her lips, "Marky feels like being an idiot then ask Cooper being that he let YOU clean him up but didn't go to treat your face"
"Where did you…?"
"You'll never find him" he gave her hand a squeeze before ushering her and Chelsea into the house, "I'll be back at some point." He gave her a nod before turning and facing Amber, releasing a long exhale in apprehension. "I suppose you want to talk to me…?" Staring at him and giving him a quick nod, she began to hyperventilate and threw herself into his legs, hugging him for all he was worth and sobbing loudly.
…
"That was a beautiful bracelet you gave Mommy" Amber nodded while playing with his giant left hand. They were lying together in a deck chair by the pool, and little did he realize at night the obnoxious bitch literally replaced where normal pool lights would have gone with disco balls, so the water changed all sorts of funky colors every few seconds.
"You liked it?" he smiled weakly, hugging her with his right arm and staring at her head on his chest.
"I love it"
"I'll get you one too then" he grinned as her head came up and gave him a big kiss on the mouth.
"THANK you, Daddy!" Smiling and holding her close he kissed the top of her head. Sitting still for a long moment, she lifted his left ring finger and tapped it. "When are you and Mommy getting married?" His eyes widened and he shrugged.
"I don't even want to know what type of plans Mommy is making she's got like forty people working on it."
"You gotta dance with her at the party" Amber nodded as his eyebrows raised, "At least you should play her favorite song"
"Oh" he was interested, "And what would that be?"
"How does COOPER know these things but YOU do not?" she sighed disappointedly, further smoothing his hair and cuddling his chest, "It's called, 'She Will Be Loved' she's always singing it. If you play it she will cry and love you forever"
"Really now?"
"Yes."
"Anything else, sweetheart?"
"Yes" she nodded while squeezing his hand, "Do you really want to be our daddy?"
"Of course I do" wrapping both arms around her tight he pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose and furrowed his brow, "Why wouldn't I?"
"Well" she shrugged, "there's five of us without your own kids and then Elizabeth"
"Honey" he smiled warmly, "I love you. I told you I wanted to be your new daddy"
"But did you MEAN it?" she pouted impatiently, "Are you going to come to my dance recitals?"
"Of course I will, pumpkin"
"And will you take me to school?" His eyes widened.
"What time is that?"
"You drop me off at eight-thirty."
"Christ…" he groaned and ran a hand over the top of his head, "yeah, why not?"
"And will you take care of my Mommy because she's very sick?"
"I'll take care of her when she's healthy too"
"You don't know how sick Mommy is…" she shook her head with a frown, "When you become her guardian you will see." He didn't like that one bit. "She's always with doctors."
"That's not good"
"No it isn't" she shook her head and placed her fingers over his lips, giggling as he play-bit them, "But now that you killed my Daddy" he internally cringed at that, "You have to promise me you won't ever leave us"
"Never"
"And you can't just love Elizabeth when she comes because I'm your baby too"
"Yes you are" he nodded along with her, holding her tightly as she nuzzled his neck, "All seven of you…" seven for now at least saving the unborn Elizabeth.
"You have to get them from Meatball" his brow furrowed at that, "You know" she looked at him like he was stupid, "Phil? Mommy's bestest friend in the whole wide world?"
"She's best friends with Princess Straightedge?" he laughed loudly and sighed, shaking his head, "When I get my hands on her…"
"She likes him a lot…I think he's in love with her. My daddy used to call him her 'groupie'."
"Oh. Excellent" he groaned, "So you're telling me I have to deal with the little fucker all god damn day?"
"Yes. He's always with Mommy."
"Fabulous" he grunted. "Why didn't your Uncle Marky tell me any of this shit, huh?"
"Because he's mad at Mommy, silly" she poked his nose, "You should have asked ME."
"So from now on when I have a question I come to you?"
"You should" she nodded, "I'll always help you, Daddy."
They heard a door open and out came Mindy with Connor in hand.
"Guys, it's getting late and I think it's gonna rain please come inside" Mindy looked to the ominous-looking clouds in the night sky when James shot up and smirked.
"Baby Doll!"
"What, Jamie?"
"When were you planning on telling me your relations to Princess Straightedge?"
"He's my best friend, ya ass" she rolled her eyes while walking with Connor and Snoopy towards the pool.
"Can I swim now, Mommy?" Connor was awed by the disco ball lights in the pool, tugging on her arm to go in.
"Eh…" she cringed before nodding, "If I hear thunder then you come in, you got me?"
"Yes yes, Mommy thank you!" he received a kiss on the cheek before darting into the water with all his clothes on, splashing all over Amber and James, who shielded themselves and pouted at getting wet.
"Hey!" James shouted at Connor, "WATCH it!"
"Do you know how to swim, Daddy?" Amber asked worriedly, following James's eyes to her mother and grinning, "Mommy can't swim at all."
"I should push her in"
"She'll drown"
"Nah" removing his shirt and standing on the edge, he motioned for Amber to push him in, and excitedly she did so.
"HAH!" she laughed loudly as he emerged from the deep end and treaded water, which brought Mindy closer to the water out of broad curiosity.
"What are you doing?" Mindy frowned when James disappeared under the water and made his way towards where she was now standing by the edge, "Jamie?" she looked to Amber before placing her hands on her hips, "Jamie-baby? Ja-WAHH!" He sprang out of the water and ripped her in with him, causing Connor to howl with laughter as Mindy went batshit in the water and flapped around like a chicken despite the fact that James was firmly holding her. "JAMIE!" she gagged even though she wasn't underwater at all, "JAMIE! You son of a BITCH I'll kill you I SWEAR I'll-"
"You're a feisty little one, huh?" he snickered while moving the sopping hair out of her face, "That's what you get for enjoying Phil's company."
"WHY you…!" her legs wrapped around his waist and they kissed, "I do like my Meatball so tough shit for you."
"But WHY?" he lamented, "He's a wannabe-twink who won't even"
"He's my friend you be nice to him now" she poked his nose when he nipped her fingers and she laughed, almost forgetting they were in the pool and giving him a huge wet kiss. Mark watched out one of the back windows with an unreadable expression, while Cooper could only beam, catching eyes with Amber and giving her a wink. She ended up leaving her parents alone and sprinting back into the house to watch 'The Last Song' with Cooper, snuggling on the great room couch and turning up the volume to drown out the volume of the 'water fight' apparently going on outside because Connor was bored by himself and didn't want James and Mindy making out when they could be playing with him.
