Disclaimer: The usual. Don't own anything you recognize.
KINGS AND VAGABONDS
By Etcetera Kit
Chapter Two: Our Beginning II
Year 2006—cont.
Eric gently picked up Z. She was tired and had been lethargic about walking. It was late and the amusement park was about to close, but he realized that Sky's sixth birthday had been a success. Some of his friends from school had met them at the park and the boys had played and walked around together with some of their moms, while Eric had taken Z around to the things that were more her speed.
Elizabeth Evans was temporarily staying with him and Sky. Cole and Alyssa had come to him. Someone had tried to pick her up at daycare and they were afraid she would be snatched off the playground. The little girl was only three. The couple reasoned that Z being with Eric would be the last thing that the SPD bunch would suspect. Eric had to agree with them. The first person ruled out would be him. Crugger and Manx wouldn't think any of them dumb enough to put their children with him.
He reached out and grasped Sky's hand with his free hand. Sky was tired, but looked happy. For the first time in his life, he had had a birthday party with more than family members present. The kids had all seemed to enjoy themselves. Earlier, some of the chaperoning moms had loaded the leftover cake and presents into the car, so that Eric would have nothing to worry about when it was time for him to take Sky and Z home.
The drive home was silent. Z fell asleep and Sky made a valiant effort to keep his eyes open. Once home, he changed Z out of the lavender dress she had insisted on wearing to Sky's birthday and put her to bed. The house was two bedrooms and, since Cole and Alyssa had insisted that this was temporary, Eric had put Z on the bottom bunk in Sky's room. Sky wasn't too crazy about sharing his room with a girl, but had grudgingly agreed to put up with it for a little bit. Sky was fast becoming an odd mix of Jen and Wes' traits.
"How was your birthday?" Eric asked as he tucked Sky into bed.
Sky grinned. "It was awesome!"
"Good." Eric kissed his forehead. "Night, Sky."
"Night, Dad."
He made sure that the nightlight was functional and gently shut the door on the two children that were already dead asleep. He wandered into the living room, looking at the pile of unwrapped presents sitting on the kitchen table. It had been nice to give Sky something that made him feel like a normal kid.
"Was the birthday party a success?"
Eric looked up as Taylor walked into the house. The pair of them had become off and on bedmates. It was a relationship that suited him right now. He didn't need a full-fledged girlfriend. Sex every so often was more than enough. Taylor was amendable to that and they tended to get along knowing that there was no fear of commitment.
He smiled. "Yeah. I think so. You would have known that if you had been there."
Taylor shrugged. "Six-year-olds' birthday parties aren't my thing." She set a colorfully wrapped present on the table. "Tell Sky it's belated."
He drew her into his arms. She just let him hold her for a moment.
"How's Z doing?" she asked.
"All right. I mean as well as she can be for a kid whose parents left her here."
"They had no choice."
"I know."
There was a soft knock on the door, before someone pushed it open. Eric released Taylor as Alyssa came into the house, looking panicked. "Alyssa?" he asked.
"What's wrong?" Taylor asked at the same time.
"It's Cole," Alyssa said, close to tears. "They've thrown him in jail and they won't let him out unless we tell them where Z is."
"Shit," Eric muttered.
"We can do something," Taylor reassured her. "There's no reason for them to be taking your daughter in the first place."
"I don't know what to do."
"We'll think of something," Eric whispered.
Another knock came on the door. Now that was bad. He went to the peephole and glanced out. Manx was out there. She must have followed Alyssa here, knowing that the former White Ranger would lead her to what she wanted eventually. Eric had used to think that Crugger and Manx were decent people, but now… he had no clue what to think of them, other than as complete and total mercenaries.
"Your husband will be released and your daughter will be safe, if you hand her over."
Eric swore and tore the door open. "Go to hell," he spat.
"Eric," Kat said in a patient tone. "None of you can have an inkling of what is at stake here. We have to take the children away for their own good."
"Bullshit!"
He hadn't noticed that Alyssa had gone into the kids' bedroom and came out carrying a sleeping Z. She also brought out the bag that held Z's things. Tears streaming down her face, she handed her daughter to the cat.
"Alyssa!" Taylor hissed.
"I don't want them hurting my family," Alyssa cried.
Manx took Z and disappeared through the front door. Alyssa was crying and Taylor was doing her best to comfort her.
"Dad?"
Eric turned to see Sky standing in the doorway to his room, looking confused and scared. He sighed and went to Sky, putting him back to bed and staying with him until he was sure that the boy was asleep. The adoption papers might say that he was legally Sky's father, but there was something that made him feel more and more each day that Sky was really his own.
Carter Grayson looked at the three blonde heads, sitting in the living room, playing a nonsense game amongst themselves. His three children… Dana, his wife, was in the kitchen, working on making dinner or something. He almost didn't want to break this to them, but he had to. Their children would meet the same fate as Bridge Corbett and Z Evans if they didn't do something.
"Dana," he said softly, coming into the kitchen.
She stopped and frowned, understanding dawning over her face. "They're coming for them, aren't they?"
He nodded.
"Ryan's house is a few blocks away," she said quickly. "They know the way. If they can get there, then Ryan can get them to the Aqua-Base. They'll be safe there." Dana's voice was calm, but Carter could hear the panic underneath. If the kids could get to his brother-in-law's house, then there was some hope for them. The twins had a shortcut they took through the backyards that would get them there sooner. He and Dana could hold them off here…
He went into the living room. Three blonde heads turned to him. Matching sets of blue eyes scrutinized him. The twins—Austin and Paris—were five and Sydney was four. He shouldn't be sending them on their own… but an adult would slow them down.
"What's going on, Dad?" Austin asked. He was the lone boy and the oldest.
"Listen to me," Carter said with renewed urgency. "You need to use the back way to get to Uncle Ryan's house. Go now. Don't stop and talk to anyone until you get to Uncle Ryan. He's going to take you somewhere for a few days."
Paris recognized the urgency, while Austin saw the order to move. "Why?" Sydney asked, her voice close to a wail.
"I want you to stay safe," Carter said. He gathered the children up into his arms. If he had known that working with the experimental stuff with SPD would cause him this much heartache, he wouldn't have done it. "I know you can do this," he whispered.
Paris nodded, pushing her straight blonde hair out of her eyes. Dana came into the room and gave them silent farewells. Austin and Paris took Sydney's hands between them and the three of them darted across the back yard and through a gap in the fence.
Moments later he would realize that the kids had been too late. They never made it to Ryan's house—Crugger and Manx intercepted them in the driveway… His heart shattered into three pieces that day and never was one again.
"I don't see why I should agree to this."
It was a few weeks after Z had been taken away. Eric crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Katherine Manx. What she was proposing was beyond ridiculous. Apparently, the Corbett boy had taken being snatched from his parents hard (what kid wouldn't?) and was refusing to eat. Currently, he was in the hospital on a hydration IV. Kat wanted him to take the boy for a few weeks and see if there was an improvement.
"We can't get him to eat," Manx said, her tone unnaturally soft. "I don't want him to die."
"Give him back to his parents," Eric replied coldly. "I'm sure he'll start eating again once he's with them."
"Please, Eric," she said.
"I have some conditions," he countered.
Manx looked relieved and suspicious. "Name them."
"If I take this boy in, I want legal guardianship of him for the duration of the time he's here. If he's here more than three months, I adopt him and give him the same last name as Sky."
The cat sighed. "I'll agree to those terms, but why?"
"Within three months, Sky was viewing me as his father. I assume that about the same would happen with this boy. I don't want him becoming attached and then have a repeat of what you people have already done to him."
Eric sighed as the woman left the house. He had no idea why he had just agreed to this. Crugger and Manx had screwed his life over more times than he cared to remember. But somehow… he vaguely remembered Bridge Corbett when he was a baby and his parents were visiting Earth. The kid had been so happy… now the kid was starving himself to death. Bridge was only three and, for all intents and purposes, was still a baby. God, if he could get that kid to be happy again, then he would do it.
He gingerly flipped the grilled cheese sandwiches in the large frying pan, watching Sky cautiously approach Bridge. The three-year-old had arrived that morning, band-aides on his arm proving the IV and stint in the hospital. Bridge had said nothing as Eric and Sky showed him the bottom bunk that would be his bed and where everything in the house was. The little boy just clutched his stuffed dinosaur to his chest and curled up in the corner of the couch, too numbed to be scared anymore.
Sky pushed himself on the couch next to Bridge. "Do you like dinosaurs?" he asked.
Bridge nodded, his blue eyes wide with something akin to fear.
"What's your dinosaur's name?"
"Olive," Bridge whispered. "He's a brontosaurus."
Eric snapped to attention. Bridge had actually said something. The fear in those blue eyes was melting and he was looking at Sky with wonder. It was also unbelievable that that kid knew exactly what kind of dinosaur his stuffed animal was.
"Do you like dinosaur-shaped grilled cheese sandwiches?"
There were times Sky just flat-out amazed him. Bridge looked a little fearful, but eventually nodded his head. Sky leapt up off the couch and raced into the kitchen. "Walk," Eric reminded him. He obediently slowed down, but came into the kitchen and started rummaging through the junk drawer, before he came up with a large silver cookie cutter in the shape of a dinosaur. Eric could see what he was thinking. He flipped the finished sandwiches onto plates and set them on the table. Sky moved from the drawer, to a cupboard on the floor level that held most of the plastic cups. He rummaged around until he found an old sippy-cup that had colorful dinosaurs all over it.
Eric poured Kool-Aide in a normal cup for Sky and put some in the sippy-cup for Bridge. Sky went back into the living room. "Come eat lunch," he said to Bridge, holding out a hand. The boy cautiously took the offered hand and, still holding his dinosaur, allowed Sky to lead him into the kitchen and sit him at a place on the table.
He watched with some amusement as Sky carefully cut a dinosaur shape out of his sandwich and Bridge's and then put both the dinosaurs on Bridge's plate. Bridge looked at them and then slowly began to eat them. Pride swelled in his heart for Sky. He also began to drink the Kool-Aide that was in the dinosaur cup. Sky could barely sit still, jumping up and getting the bowl of sliced apples from the kitchen. Soon enough, Bridge was beginning to look like a satisfied toddler rather than a scared waif.
Once Bridge finished his Kool-Aide, Eric rinsed out the cup and put some kind of shake drink in it that the doctors wanted Bridge to have for a few days. He drank that as well and his eyelids began to droop. He was still little enough to take naps. Eric picked him and the dinosaur up, taking them into the bedroom and tucking him into bed. Bridge was asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. His brown hair was mussed, but his expression was peaceful.
Sky was putting the dishes in the sink when he came back.
"I like Bridge," Sky said. "Is he going to stay?"
"Hopefully," Eric replied. "I'm proud of you."
"For what?"
"For helping Bridge out."
Sky rolled his eyes. "Well, I mean he needs to eat!"
Eric just laughed and pulled Sky into his arms. Sky returned the hug. He hoped that Crugger and Manx would leave Bridge with them. Sky was already adapting to being an older brother really well.
"I see you, Bridge."
The little boy jumped around the corner, his hands raised. "Boo!" he said.
Eric smiled as he dumped a bag of microwave popcorn into the bowl. Bridge had Olive in one hand and a dinosaur flashlight that roared in the other. (Eric had taken the batteries out of the latter, but all Bridge cared about was that it was a dinosaur.) Bridge liked to jump around the corners to 'scare' people, but they all knew he did it.
"Did I scare you?" he asked.
"A little," Eric replied.
Bridge smiled, looking satisfied that he had succeeded to some degree. Sky was in first grade, so Eric had enrolled Bridge in a full-day preschool program, since the kid had been desperate to go to school like Sky. It also worked out well for his work schedule. He got off in time to pick Bridge, then Sky up, while having enough time in the mornings to drop them off.
"Hey, everyone!"
"Miss Taylor!" Bridge hurried to the front door in order to give Taylor a hug. She smiled and returned the gesture. Bridge was one for hugging everyone. Eric didn't mind. The kid had some tough breaks early on.
"Hi, Miss Taylor!" Sky called from the living room.
Eric picked up the bowl and met Taylor as she hung up her coat. He gave her a quick kiss, before bringing the popcorn into the boys. It was Friday night and he had promised to let them watch a movie. Granted, the type of movie they wanted to see might not be what he and Taylor wanted to, but they could suffer through eighty minutes of Disney.
"Start the movie," Eric said to Sky. Taylor sat down on the couch and Bridge promptly scrambled into her lap. Sky pushed the correct buttons on the remote to start the movie in the DVD player. All right, so Eric could actually stomach watching Aladdin, the movie that the boys had picked this time around.
Soon enough, the popcorn was gone, the movie was over and Eric had put both the boys to bed. Taylor smiled as he pulled her into his arms in the blessedly quiet living room. It was just gone two months and Eric wasn't sure if he should hold his breath about the ultimate placement of Bridge. It would be just like Crugger and Manx to show up the day before the three month mark and claim that nothing was official.
"Bridge is such a sweetheart," Taylor said softly.
Eric nodded. "I think he's slowly going back to the kid he was on Mirinoi."
All Bridge had to do to win Taylor over was to look at her with his big blue-eyed puppy expression. She had been in love with the kid ever since, even going so far as to comfort him when he started crying. He was prone to nightmares, so if Taylor happened to be spending the night, then she would take care of Bridge after they happened. Sky was good about that too, even offering his train blanket to Bridge temporarily.
Her lips gently grazed his jaw. Eric smiled to himself as they met in a fiery, passionate kiss. Things were hard with two kids around and work… it didn't give them nearly as much time together as he would have liked.
Hours later, in the faint afterglow, he held Taylor close to him, wondering what would have happened if he hadn't taken Wes' child to hide him.
So Crugger and Manx got their way. Eric inwardly seethed as he watched Taylor pack Bridge's clothes into a duffel bag and Sky putting all his toys and blankets into one of the milk crates. Bridge was clinging to him, holding Olive and sobbing his heart out. Eric held him tightly, gently rubbing his small back in an attempt to calm him down. He refused to be comforted—and it was obvious that he was terrified of Manx.
"I don't want to go," he was wailing in a never-ending chant. "I don't want to go."
Eric didn't want him to go either. In the past three months, Bridge had gone from a scared, half-starved child to a thriving, healthy kid. He had charmed his way into their hearts and no one wanted to see him go. Pictures he had drawn at preschool hung on the fridge next to Sky's perfect spelling tests and math papers. Eric remembered the day Bridge had learned how to write his name and how proud he had been. It was cruel to take Bridge and put him with people who wouldn't tolerate the nightmares or hugging or the things that made Bridge unique.
"It's okay," Eric whispered. "You're going to be all right."
"You'll have all your books and toys," Sky added, looking worried because none of Bridge's previous crying spells had equaled the intensity of this.
"I don't want to!" Bridge wailed. The moment he had seen Manx at the door, he had gone running into the boys' room, hiding under his blanket.
"Bridge," Taylor whispered. Tears were glistening in her eyes as she gently smoothed down his ruffled hair and pressed a kiss to the crown of his head. Bridge continued to sob into Eric's neck, his grip tightening.
The four of them walked out into the living room where Manx was. If it was possible, Bridge began to wail more loudly. Taylor carried his duffel bag and blankets, while Sky was lugging the crate of toys. Eric noticed that he had added the dinosaur cup to the odd assortment of things that Bridge had amassed while he had been here.
"Bridge," Eric said in a soothing voice. "It's okay. You can do this. You're brave."
The baby's sobs were dying out and turning into sniffles. A moment later, Eric realized that Bridge had managed to cry himself to sleep. He dropped to his knees to that Sky could hug Bridge. Taylor kissed him again. They went out to Manx's car and settled Bridge into the car seat in the back, putting his things on the seat next to him. Bridge was fitfully sleeping, holding Olive. His face was tear-streaked and he looked miserable.
Manx drove away without a word.
Eric felt Sky press himself to his side as the car disappeared down the block. His heart felt like it was bruised and aching, like someone had squeezed a hand around it in an attempt to hurt him. All of them had loved Bridge so much that it hurt. It was back to being just him and Sky with Taylor around occasionally.
What other cruel blows would there be for them in the future?To Be Continued...
Author's Note: I'm going to recap the conference I had with Jepoliant about the order of events in this story. There is a chapter that explains Crugger's motives and rationale in detail and I had toyed with the idea of placing it before the Our Beginning section. (It is scheduled to come later in the piece.) However, it makes more sense placed in the original spot. So, I made an executive decision, and Jepoliant agrees with me, to not alter the chapter order of the piece. In conclusion, all will be explained, but some explanations will have to wait. That did seem to be the main concern in the last bout of reviews. I promise there is a reason for everything.
With that diatribe out of the way, the response to this piece is still blowing me away! I appreciate the comments and concerns that all of you raised. I have some of the coolest reviewers around. :) (And the flame made me laugh - must have been the word 'regret.') Thanks for your continued support of this piece!