Author's Note: Okay, here it is, Chapter 30, or Part Two of the old Chapter 29… LOL. Just a reminder that, just as Bulletproof's sister appears only once in the last chapter, this is the only time we'll meet Mace's family in this story. And again, little is known about the C.O.P.S.' personal lives and families other than Longarm's. Needless to say, I will be using many of these same characters, including Sundown's family, in the event that I write a sequel to this.
Read and review this one and, just like last time, tell me if I made the right decision here. I'm unregretfully (if that's even a word) sure I did
Chapter 30
That evening, Valerie's phone rang. She was pleased to see Mace on her screen upon answering.
"Hi, Mace," she said. "What's up with you tonight?"
"I just called to tell you that I have the weekend off," Mace replied, "an' some of my family's gettin' together at my parents' place on Saturday. You've never met any of our families, have ya?"
"Only Sundown's, over the phone," Valerie reminded him, "and that was the day he and Jeremy left for Texas."
"Well, I've told my parents an' siblin's so much about ya," he said, "an' they're eager to meet you an' Jeremy. Mom's actually a lil' peeved that I waited so many months to introduce ya to the family."
"Did you tell them you and I couldn't get any vacation time during the summer?"
"They wouldn't hear that kinda excuse."
"Mace, I'd love to join you at your family gathering this weekend. If I could win over most of Sundown's family, his brother being another story, then surely I can do the same for yours."
"I knew ya'd wanna. Thanks, I'm so glad."
Valerie had another thought. "So, what did your parents say when you told them you finally dumped Nightshade?"
Mace grinned and looked as if he was folding his arms. "You should've seen how ecstatic they were. They always told me that a cop an' a crook were never meant to be, romantically. When I said you were a full-time advertisin' manager, they started demandin' that I bring ya to see 'em."
"I hope you told them about Jeremy."
"I did, an' they seemed less enthusiastic somehow. They didn't know what to think. Nobody in my family's ever dealt with mentally dysfunctional kids before."
"I'm sure they'll adjust once they see how sweet Jeremy is," Valerie assured him. "And I can fully explain whenever he acts out due to his syndrome." She put the receiver to her chest and frightfully prayed, And, God, I hope it works with these people!
Mace tried to assure her now. "Valerie! Valerie, my parents can be super conservative, an' maybe a lil' on the crazy side, but trust me, you'll quickly warm up to them." He cleared his throat so loudly, it sounded like thunder. "So, how yer day go?"
"It was pretty good," she said. "We finally found a candidate that we're really thinking of hiring." She told him all about her bonding with Marilyn Hobbes, then they planned to see each other the next night.
It had been another busy week for Valerie, so she and Mace decided to go out to dinner with Jeremy, then back to her house for relaxation. She told him, "With getting the Texas Pride things out on Monday, and interviews the rest of the week – with more coming – I'm damn exhausted."
"Damn, I can tell," Mace replied.
They went out to a newly-opened restaurant called Chicken Shack. After ordering their meals, Valerie said to Mace, "So, tell me all about your siblings. Anything I should know?"
"I've got four siblin's in all, an' I'm in the very middle," he explained, "Three of 'em are married, one's widowed. My big sister, Vivian, is the eldest. She's fifty-one years old, has three kids, an' an interior designer in Freehold. Her eldest son, Blaine, is twenty-four an' works in the lumber an' steelworkin' industries. He's gotta work this weekend, so he can't come. Her younger son, Mark, is twenty, an' startin' his junior year in college, studyin' to be a policeman. Plans to join the police academy after graduation. He eventually wants to follow in my footsteps an' join the SWAT team. Vivian will say he loves an' respects me the most. Then there's Alexia. She's seventeen, an' just started her senior year of high school. You remember me mentionin' that some of my older nieces are drama queens like yer Nicole? Well, Alexia's one of 'em."
"Sounds like a princess to me," Valerie laughed.
"Then there's my big brother, Jack, forty-seven years old," Mace continued. "He lives all the way out in Washington, so he won't be around. He an' his wife have three kids as well. Rebecca's eighteen, and is actually takin' time off to travel. She's signed up for a community college course, but she's on the waitin' list 'til next year sometime. Lissa's fifteen an' a junior in high school. She's another one of those 'drama queen' nieces I have. Finally, there's youngest daughter, Molly, who's twelve.
"Now to my younger siblin's. Lil' sister Joanne is a year older than you. She lives in Trenton, but her work requires her to travel quite a bit, so she won't be with us either. She an' her husband have two kids; fourteen-year-old Dexter an' ten-year-old Rosie. Lemme tell ya right now, everyone says Rosie's the bigger problem, but they're both quite a handful." He leaned in closer to Valerie. "I gotta warn ya, Joanne's said she's seen our interview with Whitney Morgan, an' she ain't too happy about it. She an' her husband are conservative, an' can be very uptight."
"Thank God she won't be at your parents' house," Valerie breathed.
And just as Mace was about to tell about the last sibling, the waiter came with the "soup of the day" that he and Valerie ordered. When the waiter left, Mace continued, "Finally, there's my lil' brother, Rocky, thirty-eight years old. He's a regular police officer in Atlantic City. He's the widower, an' is very devoted to his two sons. Benjamin's ten an' Brady's seven. They're the sweetest boys you'll ever meet. Jeremy will love 'em, I know. Of course, Rocky works day shifts while they're at school, an' devotes many evenin's to 'em. They'll also be at my parents' place tomorrow."
"He sounds so sweet," Valerie cooed. "I'm sure he can have his pick of any girl in the country." She grinned and patted Mace's shoulder. "Any girl, that is, but me."
Later on, back at her house, after a couple of movies and putting Jeremy to bed, the couple enjoyed an intimate night. They were sharing her bed, wrinkling and rolling the linens around with them in their passion. Valerie especially found Mace's beefy body irresistible, and kissed him all over his chest and abdominals, and kneading them like yeast. He quickly got on top of her and began biting her neck, down to just above her breasts.
"Oh, Mace!" she shouted. "You're so wonderful! Oh, but I love the way you act like an animal!"
"Ah, but I can't help it, baby," he grinned. "Only a body like yours can bring out the lion, the tiger, the bear in me! You know that damn well." He began to lick her cleavage, avoiding her nipples, and she laughed like it tickled. When he was done, he brought his face back up to hers. She was touching it sensually, then moved down to his shoulders and arms, until they met at his back. They were kissing and rolling around once more.
"Oh, Valerie," he said softly. "Only a woman like you could make a man like me ferget how rough an' tough I'm supposed to be. What's yer secret fer turnin' us macho men into mush?"
She snickered softly and replied, "You're still macho, given what you do to me. It's about time you big toughies faced it, when you get off your jobs, and go back to your homes, you become a solid as slushies. Especially those who see their kids." She kissed him sensually again. "And when you get to bed, you become like one of those big teddy bears women love to cuddle with. Ah, but I think you're the best-looking teddy bear of them all, especially since you like to be in my bed naked. And I just can't resist your nakedness tonight."
She rolled so she was on top of him again. "Oh, Mace! You've made me forget the hairiness I've been through this week. You've made me forget how hard-nosed your family can be. In this one night, you've taken me to this paradise that you've made me share with you, and I don't ever want to leave. I love you for this."
"I love you, too, my darlin'," he whispered. "You deserve it, 'cuz I wanna remind ya how beautiful you are, what a wonderful mother you are, an' that ya deserve any man who can woo ya into his arms." He kissed her lips three more times. "My queen, you should be put on a throne, complete with a crown an' robe."
Then suddenly, Mace decided to be rougher. Their bodies were slamming all over the bed, and Valerie loved it. When she was tired, he decided to roll her over to massage her back. But in the process, he further decided to put his dragger down into her rear, and keep it in until it was morning.
The next morning, Valerie and Jeremy were leaving Empire City with Mace, on their way to a smaller city in New Jersey, called Goldrain. She tried not to look too petrified to him, but she was thinking, what if nobody got along with her? What if they decided they didn't like Jeremy? Valerie thought about when Mace told her he believed in strict physical discipline. If his whole family was the same way, they might try to harm Jeremy when he'll inevitably misbehave in their presence. That was her biggest fear.
She adjusted her sunblocker, opened up the mirror, applied an overdose of lipstick, mascara and rouge.
Mace noticed this at the first stop sign, and frowned. "Valerie, what're you doin'?" he asked. "I don't want ya lookin' like no clown when we git to my parents' place." He retrieved a tissue for her. "You ain't that nervous, are ya?"
She grinned nervously at him and giggled. "Me, nervous?" she replied. "Oh, no, no, no. Why do you ask?" Then she lowered her head, sobbing silently in fear, "Oh, Mace, what if this turns into a disaster? What if your family looks at Jeremy and decides I'm a horrible mother? They might not bless you in marrying me. They'll make you dump me like you dumped Nightshade."
He took one hand off the wheel to comfort her. "Don't worry, babe," he assured. "They could be a lil' concerned about Jeremy, but I know my parents. They'll quickly adjust once they see how sweet an' nice he is."
She looked at Jeremy through her mirror. He was moving his head around like usual, babbling incoherently. She prayed that the Howards family would at least look past that.
Nearly three hours later, they arrived in Mace's parents' neighborhood. Valerie thought about why he'd agreed to come, and said, "So, Mace, you never told me why we were coming out here. Is there a special occasion?"
"Yeah," he said, "my Mom just had her seventy-fifth birthday just this Wednesday." Mace found the house with two cars in the driveway, and parked on the curb. "Like I said, only Vivian an' Rocky should be there. Joanne's still away on her business trip."
Now, Valerie was thinking of Sundown's mother, which brought one last question as she got out. "Mace, does you mother call you 'Colt," by any chance?"
He shook his head as he got out. "Nope, everyone in my family calls me 'Mace.' My nieces an' nephews even call me 'Uncle Mace.'" He proceeded to unfasten Jeremy's seatbelt. "Mom will only call me by my real name if she's angry, or there's somethin' wrong." Valerie mouthed a silent, "Thank you, God."
Before anyone can ring the doorbell, a short white-haired woman in a pink sweatshirt and blue slacks answered the door. She held her son before he could even get inside. "Mace!" she exclaimed. "So good to see you again!"
"Happy belated birthday, Mom" Mace replied.
"Happy belated birthday to you, uh, Mrs. Howards," Valerie said. Her nervous grin returned.
"You must be Valerie Boston," Mrs. Howards said, then looked down at Jeremy. "And this must be Jeremy. Oh, but Mace has said so much about you." She glowered at Mace a bit, "Really, Mace, you should've brought them here to meet us weeks ago. I'm sure you both must've had a free weekend to pop by and surprise us."
Mace didn't respond as he spied his father, a bald, wrinkly old man dressed in what looked like farmer's clothes, finishing up the newspaper in the living room. Valerie still had her nervous grin as Mace introduced her to his father.
"Nice to meet you an' yer kid, Valerie," Mr. Howards said. He sounded just as gruff as Mace, Valerie noticed, and she got even tenser.
Suddenly, she overheard a woman and teenage girl greeting Mace. Valerie turned to see the woman. She had the same light brown hair that Mace had, only it was graying. She wore medium-thick glasses and a purple and white-striped dress. The teenager's hair looked like it was dyed jet black, and she had a nose stud. She had on a denim jacket, a "teddy bear" T-shirt, and tight forest green pants.
"Valerie," Mace grinned, "I'd like you to meet my sister, Vivian, an' my niece, Alexia."
"Pleased to meet you," Valerie replied. She shook both their hands weakly.
Mrs. Howards looked somewhat disapproving. "Now, Valerie," she said, "you can wipe that nervous grin off your face. I'm not nearly as God-fearing as Mace put you up to think." She picked up Jeremy, and Vivian took Valerie's wrist. "Come into the kitchen. You two must be hungry. I'll fix you all some bowls of instant chicken noodle soup. Mace, would you like some?"
He nodded. "Sure, Mom."
"I'll pass, thank you," Mr. Howards said.
While the soup was heating up, Mrs. Howards said, "So, Valerie, tell us a little more about yourself. Mace says you work as what, advertising official for a magazine?"
"Just advertising, ma'am," Valerie corrected. "I've worked for Lancer and Sussex my whole career, starting out in one of their smaller branches in Parrish, Indiana – the only advertising agency in that town, mind you – where I'd lived with my now ex-husband. Don't ask me about that. Let's just say it was a marriage made in hell that jumped the shark early on."
Vivian looked somewhat sympathetic. "Too bad for you," she said. "I've been married to the same one for twenty-eight years."
Valerie looked a little irked, but didn't respond. "Anyway, I'd tell you about all my successes in Parrish, except I'd bore you all to death. I'll just say that out of thirty employees, I was the hardest-working one, according to my boss. Only during the latter stage of my marriage did I really throw myself into my job, which is how I got promoted to Empire City. And again, I've had so many successes here, I'd bore you if I mentioned them all."
Suddenly, Alexia interrupted and pointed at Jeremy moving his head around. "Let me guess," she said, "weak neck muscles due to Shaken Child Syndrome?"
"I call it Shaken Baby Syndrome," Valerie said. "But how did you know?"
"Had to write a report on it for bio," Alexia answered.
"Did you feature Jeremy in any of your projects?" Vivian asked.
Valerie nodded, and started bragging about her Neapolitan Ice Cream Puffs ad. "This particular decision made him spokeschild for the cereal. Ask if I have any regrets. No way!"
Mr. Howards and Mace came in just as she got into the Shaken Baby Syndrome awareness commercial. Though she knew it wasn't really her project, almost everyone looked sympathetic as Valerie told about how Jeremy was maltreated on the set. But when she looked back at Mr. Howards, he was frowning at her as if he disagreed, as did Vivian.
By this time, the soup was nearly done. Valerie quickly searched the cupboards for a smaller bowl, and instantly took one. She waited until it was finally ready, then poured enough soup to fill it. Mrs. Howards looked dismayed at her.
"Is that supposed to be for Jeremy?" she asked. "That's all you're going to give him?"
"That's all he can handle, this one with no crackers," Valerie answered.
Vivian watched Jeremy's slow eating with equal dismay. "Okay, that's pretty stingy to feed him like that, don't you think?" she asked. "I know Mace mentioned that boy's small stomach, but it's liquid food."
"He gets serious stomachaches if he eats too much, too fast," Valerie told her. "Even from soup. My, ex-husband Tom, would feed him big plates, and tell him to eat every scrap, never mind if he got sick as a result." She looked as Mrs. Howards. "Mrs. Howards, I suggest you give him a small plate for dinner tonight."
"Bah, don't listen to her, dear," Mr. Howards scoffed. "Small stomach, weak muscles, those outbursts you mentioned, Mace! All those don't matter to me one bit!" He pressed on Valerie's shoulder. "Now, ya listen to me, missy! I don't care what problems yer boy has, if he steps outta line even once today, he's gonna get it!"
Mace and Valerie glared at him, then returned to their lunch. She looked at Alexia again, and decided to make conversation. She said to her, "You know, you kind of remind me of one of my own nieces, Nicole. She's into the whole punk grunge look and music, too. Nicole's only fifteen. And how old are you?"
"Seventeen," Alexia answered. "I'm due to graduate at the end of this school year."
"I know you'll get along with Nicole like the best of cousins," Valerie replied. "That is, if I end up with your uncle here." She smiled, looked at Mace, then put her arm around him.
Vivian then started bragging, "Don't you be fooled by this look, Valerie. She has a bit of an attitude at times when she's home, but she helps out with her high school lunch canteen, and has a job at one of our malls, a store called Hard Rock City. Have you ever shopped there?"
Valerie shook her head. "I'm afraid all the rock instruments and clothing and other stuff they probably sell would make me feel out of place. I'm sure Mace would love it there, though. I like rock music, though I listen to lots of other stuff too, classical, country, oldies."
"Yeah, when I went for the interview, they looked at my dyed hair and nose stud, and thought I'd be perfect," Alexia added. "They said I looked like I could… EWWW! Valerie, your kid is slobbering all over the place!"
Valerie rushed to get some paper towels. "Yeah, Alexia, that'll happen sometimes." She wiped off his face and clothes, then looked at Mace's parents. They were shaking their heads and sighing. She thought she heard Vivian say to her mother, "She doesn't care about that boy's appearance."
Valerie tried to ignore her. She finished her soup quickly, but just as she was about to start more conversation, the doorbell rang. Mr. Howards excused himself, then moments later, the family overheard him say, "Rocky, so glad ya made it. Joanne, what a surprise to see ya here!"
Joanne! Mace and Valerie gave each other worried glances. "Oh, shit!" she muttered. "Mace, is this the sister from Hell you were telling me about?"
He decided to brave himself, and took both Valerie and Jeremy to the front hallway. They were soon facing a tall man, with darker brown hair in a crew-cut, but noticeably piercing blue eyes. He didn't have the same facial features as Mace, but certainly had his body mass. Valerie thought he looked stylish in a black sweatshirt, with a brown leather jacket and black jeans. His two sons looked like mirror images of him, but the older one was wearing what looked like a football jersey with a player's picture on it. The younger one had a sweatshirt with airplanes on it. The woman had a mixture of dark and light brown hair, wavy, down to her shoulders, but the glasses and business suit made Valerie think she was a younger version of Kim Masterson. The way she was looking at her, too. The boy had the same hair as his mother, but the bangs were covering the forehead. His T-shirt had a rock band she couldn't identify, and he wore brown jeans. The girl had blonde hair in a bun, and wore a pretty pink dress with black Mary Janes.
Mace introduced them all. "Uh, Valerie and Jeremy, I'd like you to meet Rocky and Joanne, and these are the kids, Ben, Brady, Dexter an' Rosie."
Valerie's nervous grin returned as she caught Joanne staring her down. "Uh, nice to meet you."
Before anyone could respond, Rocky picked up Jeremy and said, "Hey, Mace, isn't this the kid on that Neapolitan Ice Cream Puffs cereal box?"
"It is," Valerie answered, feeling a little more confident. "Is that your boy's favorite cereal?"
Meanwhile, Mace said to Joanne, "Uh, sis, I thought you were in Hong Kong to confirm a deal."
"Well, my idiot partner fucked up the whole thing because he couldn't master the Chinese language," she complained, "and the clients thought we were making fun of the way they spoke. They cancelled the deal immediately and sent us back here. I called as soon as I got home last night, to tell you I'd decided to join you here. But you were never home."
"I spent the night with Valerie," he said. "We wanted to leave early in the mornin', so I thought it'd be best to stay there, rather than run back to my place after the date, get up super early, an' rush to her place to pick her an' Jeremy up."
Joanne folded her arms and glowered. "Figures you'd be with your bitch!" Before Valerie could respond, she turned on her. "Valerie Boston, on behalf of this whole family, what in hell are you doing with my big brother?"
Rocky slugged his older sister. "Joanne! Valerie seems like a nice woman, and Jeremy seems like a sweet, harmless kid. We discussed this in the driveway! Give them a chance!"
But she grabbed Valerie's arms and shoved her onto the living room couch, anyway. "Listen up, you permissive little bitch!" she spat. "I tuned into that Eye on Empire City show that night just to see my brother, Mace, describe his relationship with you and that brat of yours! Now, I'm not saying that I totally agree with your husband; I can admit he'd carried things too far. But I thought that doctor was wrong when she claimed Jeremy isn't smart enough to manipulate anyone and cause lots of trouble! Anyone with a working brain can see he definitely is! And here, you submitted to what Dr. Know-It-All told you, and manipulated your family into abiding by your wishes! What's wrong with you!"
"Nothing's wrong with me," Valerie answered. "Do you even know anything about Shaken Baby Syndrome? Do you know how much trouble these kids have with learning and comprehension, and physical things like balance?"
"And from what I learned, you do absolutely nothing to help him correct these problems!" Joanne shouted. "Instead, you just sit there and accept that he can't do shit! That is weak and lazy parenting in itself!"
"Correct these problems!" Valerie repeated. "See, that's another example of other people's ignorance! They assume that a special needs child's problems can be cured through some kind of medication! Wrong! If you knew anything about SBS-ridden child, you'd know that their effects are lifelong and irreversible."
Joanne just glared at her. "Well, I don't get why kids like Jeremy are called 'special needs' children. You know damn well the last thing they need is to be treated special. They need their fair share of discipline, too."
"Joanne, stop!" they heard Mace boom from behind. "Quit comin' down on Valerie like that! She's only doin' what she believes is right!"
"Looks like they brainwashed you, too, big brother," Joanne replied. "How surprising coming from someone who firmly believes in serious physical discipline. I'll have you understand that none of us would be where we are today, if Mom and Dad hadn't beaten the shit out of us when needed!"
Mace turned to his father, but he just said, "She's right, son. You'd all be dead or with a prison record if it weren't fer that!" He glared harsher at Valerie. "An' that's exactly where Jeremy's headed if ya don't step up to the plate now, an' quit coddlin' him!"
Suddenly, they heard Alexia yell from the kitchen, "Rosie, stop teasing him like that! Quit pulling his hair!" Then a crash and bang, and Jeremy crying loudly. Mace, Joanne and Valerie all ran to the kitchen just to hear Alexia announce, "Aunt Joanne, your daughter just shoved Jeremy into the cupboards and knocked him down!"
Mrs. Howards and Vivian joined them from outside. The women sighed, and Mrs. Howards picked up Rosie and scolded, "I can't turn my back for a minute with you, can I?"
Valerie noticed a red spot on the back of her son's head. "I'll keep him inside for a while," she said. "Mrs. Howards, if his head starts to bleed, I'll need to know where the gauze is."
And before anyone can do anything else, Mace took Rosie and said, "Maybe someone needs to go outside fer a while." He took her out to the backyard, where Rocky and the other boys were tossing around a football.
Later, Valerie was outside with Vivian, Mace, Rocky and the kids. Vivian offered to hold Jeremy, and as soon as she got him, he started rolling his head around.
"Does he do this all the time?" she asked.
"Not all the time, but pretty frequently," Valerie told her. "It'd probably be a good idea if you just let him do that. If you grab his head and force him to stop, it'll seem as if you're trying to hurt him."
"I got that," Vivian said, "but I don't think Dad or Joanne will be receptive to that. Dad especially expects the kids to sit straight and properly at dinner."
Valerie got up and looked through the glass, at Mrs. Howards and Joanne starting dinner. She said, "I wonder if I should go in there and offer help? Maybe this'll be my chance to warm up to your mother and sister."
"I don't know," Vivian replied. "Joanne doesn't seem all that interested in bonding with you, and Mom only likes people helping her if she asks them."
Valerie sat back down and watched Rocky toss the football to Mace, who tossed it to Dexter. The men and boys were positioned like the points of a pentagon. Suddenly, after Benjamin tossed to her younger brother, he called to Jeremy and went over to him.
"Jeremy, you want to play catch football with us?" he offered.
"He's not all that physically inclined, I'm afraid," Valerie replied. "He won't be able to catch with his short arms, and if you throw too hard, you just may hit him in the head." Benjamin shrugged and went back to his place.
This prompted another conversation for Vivian. "So, Valerie," she asked, "what other school subjects can't Jeremy do? What kind of school is he attending?"
"Oh, he loves Language Arts and Art," Valerie responded. "He's an avid reader, and it's probably one of the only things he can do to keep from getting bored if he can't watch TV. He especially loves it when I read to him. Too bad I didn't think to pack any books along."
"Rosie would probably try to steal them," Vivian said. She tried to look through the glass door into the kitchen. "Did Mace ever tell you how naughty she can be at home?"
Valerie thought of the previous incident in the kitchen. "He did, but I wonder if Joanne maybe put her up to it. Judging by what Mace said about her, I think maybe she told Rosie and Dexter not to play with him. How could she decide to dislike me just by one stupid TV appearance?"
She shrugged it off, and continued with the original conversation. "Anyway, Jeremy can't do Math very well, and the only Science he was ever good in was animal studies. With Social Studies, his interests include geography and cultures, but he just sucks at History."
"I can understand the History bit," Vivian agreed. "How is he in foreign languages and music?"
Valerie shook her head. "No can do! Jeremy talks very slowly because of his brain damage; I doubt very much he'd be able to sing. And he can't hold stuff very well, so musical instruments are out. And forget foreign languages. He had to drop French in the winter trimester, before I came to Empire City. The teachers said he couldn't pronounce words very well. He spent much of the last school year with specialists."
"So I guess he's not in a regular school then."
Valerie shook her head again. "It'd be a bad idea, considering how harder it gets. He goes to a special school for the mentally handicapped." She started telling about Prince Richard's and the selected subjects Jeremy was learning.
"That'll go over well with Dad and Joanne," Vivian replied sarcastically. She said the same thing twice, imitating them both. "What kind of mother are you, limiting your kid's education like that?"
They saw Rosie leap off her chair and run back and forth in front of them. Valerie looked perplexed and asked, "Has she been diagnosed as bi-polar?"
"Doubt it; Joanne never said anything about it," Vivian answered. "She's probably bored. Maybe I should ask her to find this girl something to do."
Suddenly, Rosie grabbed Jeremy by his legs and pulled him off her aunt's lap. The women were horrified as he banged his head on the ground. She started dragging him all over the yard, screaming and laughing. The game of catch football suddenly stopped as Valerie and Alexia pushed past Benjamin to get to Jeremy. Mace, Rocky and the boys noticed this, and they joined the chase. But Rosie was a little quick for them.
She continued to drag Jeremy through the gravel-ridden path as she took him to the front yard. All this time, he was screaming incoherently for help. Valerie and Mace motioned for the others to stay off as they continued chasing her all over the yard. Finally, Mace tackled her as Valerie helped pry her hands from Jeremy's legs. She had him take Jeremy as she grabbed the girl's arm. "Can I handle this, please?" she offered.
She dragged Rosie all the way back to the kitchen, and opened the door so hard she nearly shattered the glass. Mrs. Howards looked horrified at her, but she showed no remorse as she threw Rosie off her.
She glared at Joanne so hard, Mrs. Howards had to restrain her to keep from slapping. But Valerie turned Jeremy around to show his shirt and pants ripped at the back. She spat at her, "Look at what your damn daughter just did! Didn't you hear us screaming at her to let go of Jeremy! Why the fuck didn't you come outside and help us! Did you feel that Jeremy was getting what he deserved, huh! Is that it! Look, I understand if you have a beef with me, but do you have to encourage your daughter to bully my son! I want to know what you plan to do about this!" Soon, Mr. Howards joined them, and she shifted her anger to him as well. "And you, sir! You look outside your living room window to see what's happening, and you don't come out to stop it! You let Mace and me do that all by ourselves! What the hell is wrong with you, anyway! You make me sick!" She immediately took her son into the bathroom to check for head wounds.
About a minute later, she heard Joanne arguing with her mother, and Mace yelling at his sister, "I ain't got nothin' to say to ya!" He appeared before Valerie, helping her with Jeremy. He sighed and said, "What'd I tell ya? Rosie's a bigger handful, even though she's younger an' a girl. Dexter's actually behavin' himself, though. That's a first."
"Shit!" Valerie lamented. "Look at him, Mace, he's bleeding from the back of his head, all down his neck, trickling down his back. And look at these rips. Thank God these are an older sweatshirt and jeans." If this was one of the new clothes Sundown bought for him in Texas, he'd kill me.
Mace was cleaning blood from the wounds, but Valerie decided to take over. "Go ask your mother where the bandages are. And I don't mean Elastoplasts or Band-Aids; we're going to need something big."
Just as he left, she heard some whacking noises, then Rosie screaming and talking back, and more whacking, then Mrs. Howards telling the girl to go downstairs and not turn on the TV or stereo. Valerie smiled. Moments later, the senior woman appeared in the bathroom on Mace's return, a large roll of white bandages in her hand.
"Here you are, Valerie," she said. "And you don't have to worry about Rosie anymore. You probably heard what went on. I spanked her bottom good with my wooden spoon here after Joanne refused to do so."
"Normally, you know I'm not a spanking advocate, but in this case, I'll make an exception," Valerie agreed.
"She said, 'Gee, Mom, I'd love to, but we're talking about a spoiled brat and his permissive mother here,'" Mrs. Howards told her. "I know you probably won't want to, but we'd like you and Mace to stay for dinner. I already told him you two should, and he's agreed to do so."
Valerie thought it over for a little while before Mace whispered lowly in her ear. She said to Mrs. Howards, "All right, I'll stay. But the kids will probably be eating downstairs, right? I think Jeremy should stay upstairs with the adults. I want Rosie to be kept away from him, and you can relay that to Joanne!"
When Jeremy's wounds were all bandaged up, Mace picked him up and said, "Son, I think you an' me should go back outside. I think my nephews wanna finally play with you." Valerie smiled and followed them to the backyard.
They stayed outside until dinner was ready. If family members weren't playing "Ring-Around-the-Rosie" with Jeremy, they were raking the leaves falling in the backyard to make big piles, for the boys to jump into. At around five-thirty, Mrs. Howards called, "Family! Supper's on!"
Valerie could smell the aroma of roast beef when she got inside. She went over to the stovetop. One pot of boiled potatoes, another with corn on the cob. On the counter beside the sink were two plates with wrapped tin foil, one containing scalloped potatoes, another containing baby carrots. Then, a Corningware dish filled with a microwaved can of peas.
"Mrs. Howards, this is heaven," Valerie commented. "I didn't know you could cook so much, so good."
"I had Joanne's help, remember," she reminded her.
Valerie waited until she and the other adults served themselves, then she volunteered to serve Jeremy first. She retrieved a small plate from the cupboards, cut off two pieces of meat, and skipped the corn and boiled potatoes. She put on one spoonful of scalloped potatoes, carrots and peas each.
Except for Mace, all the adults looked dismayed at the small serving she gave Jeremy. Mrs. Howards even asked, "That's all you're going to give him?"
"That's all he can handle," Valerie said. "And this might be a good time to add that he can't eat corn off the cob – he finds that difficult – and he chokes on potato skins!"
"That's bullshit, Valerie!" Joanne shouted. "A kid his age can handle corn on the cob very well! Furthermore, he should be eating potato skins because they're healthy. Choking, my ass!"
"Small stomach or not," Mr. Howards added, "if ya wanna marry our son one day, then yours has gotta learn to appreciate my wife's cookin'." He proceeded to take Jeremy's plate and put his meal on a bigger one. He added another slab of meat, and another spoonful to the vegetables, plus five boiled potatoes with skins and one foot-long corn cob. Mace and Valerie were shocked at the additions.
"Dad!" Mace bellowed. "You really expect him to eat all that!"
"If he don't," his father replied, "he'll get a spankin' an' no dessert."
"Oh, like he'll have any room for dessert when he finishes three-quarters of that!" Valerie protested. She cut his extra meat and said, "Try to finish at least half of that, okay, honey?" She took his corn cob and shucked some kernels off, smashed his boiled potatoes.
"Valerie, what are you doing?" Vivian asked. "Stop that! Make him eat from the cob."
"His mouth is a bit small to handle it!" Valerie insisted. "He can handle small spoonfuls of kernel corn and creamed corn, but not this!" She set the rest of the cob aside for herself. Only Rocky and Mrs. Howards seemed to accept that.
Jeremy started off on his meat and vegetables very well, though he was eating slowly. This prompted more strange looks from the family except Mace.
"And what's your problem with this?" Valerie sneered. "Jeremy's stomach can only digest small bits of solid food at a time! This isn't like when you fed us soup, Mrs. Howards!"
"Well, he can certainly eat a little faster than that!" Joanne criticized.
Mr. Howards concurred by slamming his hand on the table and bellowing at Jeremy. "C'mon, kid, eat faster. It's gonna get stone cold!"
"Dad, quit yellin' at him like that!" Mace objected. "It ain't gonna make him behave any better!"
"Mr. Howards, it would really help for you to learn a little patience," Valerie advised. "You're not dealing with a child who has top-notch physical and learning capabilities."
"Dammit!" Mr. Howards yelled. "I've had years experience in raisin' kids! Quit tellin' me how to discipline!"
"Well, I'm just sick of people criticizing me for having special discipline styles for Jeremy!" She thought of what went on at her work. "Two weeks ago, we actually fired some people from the agency I work at for this." She began to tell her long story about the Shaken Baby Syndrome commercial, the confrontation meeting they had after the presentation, and the difficult, yet memorable interviews she was currently helping with. However, she felt a little better when she talked about Marilyn Hobbes.
By the time she was finished talking, she noticed Jeremy's plate was more than thirty percent finished. Rocky looked at his parents and said, "You have to give this kid credit. He's actually showing better table manners than most of our kids do. Notice how he's just taking his time."
"See, someone thinks I'm doing the right thing with Jeremy," Valerie said. "Thank you, Rocky!"
Then, Jeremy started to put one baked potato in his mouth. He chewed and chewed, and managed to get the potato part down. But he kept chewing on the skin. Vivian prompted him, "Jeremy, try to swallow the skin, okay?"
Valerie smiled and said, "Now that's something I like to hear when you speak to Jeremy. Thank you, Vivian!"
He slided the skin across his tongue to the back of his throat. The next thing Valerie knew, he started making choking and gagging noises. His face quickly turned red, and Mace quickly got up. He took Jeremy from his chair, grabbed the boy's chest, and made pumping movements.
"What the hell is wrong now?" Joanne barked.
"It's the potato skins!" Valerie insisted. "I told you he chokes on them. They're difficult for him to digest!" Just then, Jeremy was spitting all saliva-induced bits of brown skin out.
"Some of the bits he chewed must've got lodged in the back of his throat," Mace observed as he cleaned up. Valerie glared at her critics, and took the skins from the rest of the potatoes.
Fifteen minutes later, Jeremy plate was two-fifths finished, and he started to feel full. "Ooh," he said. "I don't… think… I… can… eat… much… more."
Valerie looked disgusted at Mace's parents. "See what happens when you put so much food in front of him?" She saw he still had bits of roast beef, and instructed him, "See if you can finish all that meat, then maybe some scalloped potatoes and peas, then you can be excused from the table."
"No, Valerie, he's tellin' a lie!" Mr. Howards insisted. "Jeremy, you eat every scrap from that plate!"
Jeremy finished what his mother told him to eat, then he could really feel himself getting full. He said, "I… can't eat… any more!"
"Finish yer supper!" Mr. Howards barked. "One more peep outta you before that, and ya won't sit down fer a damn month!"
Instead of eating, Jeremy screamed so loud, "NO! IF I… EAT… ALL… THIS… I WILL… EXPLODE! I CAN'T… HANDLE… THE… REST… OF THIS!"
Infuriated, Mr. Howards leapt from his chair, removed and folded his belt. Valerie tried to shield Jeremy from him, but it was no use. Mr. Howards used his strong grip to tear Jeremy away from his mother, then force him into the living room. The other adults watched as he positioned the boy on the coffee table. Valerie and Mace were soon horrified as his father began belting Jeremy's rear end.
He was screaming so loud, it attracted the other children from the basement. But Mr. Howards ignored it and screamed, "Shaddup, ya brat! This'll teach ya to listen to me!"
Meanwhile, Valerie was screaming and begging for him to stop, but Vivian and Joanne tried to silence her. When she attempted to go over and stop it herself, she found the sisters grabbing onto her, trying to barricade her.
"Let our father do his thing!" Joanne insisted. "He's only trying to teach that boy a badly-needed lesson."
Finally, Mace had enough. He grabbed Valerie, brushed past his sisters, then the couple managed to get Jeremy away before Mr. Howards could finish belting. Jeremy was crying so loud, Valerie swore they could hear him back in Empire City. She and Mace got busy comforting him.
Joanne looked sickened. "What the fuck was that for, Valerie!" she yelled. "Dad was only trying to instill some discipline! Whip that kid into shape! Why'd you interfere?"
"Well, what the fuck were you all thinking, belting Jeremy like that to get him to behave?" Valerie screamed. "What was THAT going to accomplish, huh!"
Even Vivian was against her now. "He refused to finish his dinner, and you wanted to let him get away with that?" she cried. "I think Jeremy had it coming. If only you'd told him to eat everything from his plate, rather than let Dad tell him for you, this could've come out a whole lot differently! If all our kids behaved the same way your son did–"
"Oh, save it!" Mace boomed. "Jeremy ain't, an' will never be, like the rest of yer kids! You should've understood that!"
"Colton!" his mother barked angrily. "Don't you shout at your sister!" She shot narrow eyes towards Valerie. "It's disgraceful that you don't feed your child enough! What kind of mother are you?"
"The kind of mother who knows the limits of a mentally retarded child!" Valerie snapped back. "I commend Rocky for at least learning some of them at dinner, but I don't think the rest of you know anything about the lifelong consequences of Shaken Baby Syndrome! These kids end up with more limits than normal children. You should be ashamed of yourselves for expecting mine to surpass those limits!"
She was focused on the whole family as she prepared herself and Jeremy to leave. "I suggest that each one of you educate yourselves on this dreaded syndrome, so you don't act so ignorant towards other parents like me. Even you, Rocky, I'm sure you'll find some interesting sites after a quick Internet search." She looked over at Alexia again, and remembered what the teen told her at lunch. "Or maybe you should ask Alexia over there for her biology report." She slammed the door hard on her way out, en route to Mace's car.
The member of SWAT just glared harder at his family. "Y'all happy now!" he roared. "I love Valerie with all my heart an' soul, but she might not wanna date me anymore 'cuz of this!"
"Just as well, son!" his father replied. "Right now, Mace, I'd be a lot happier if ya went back to Nightshade tomorrow! That Valerie woman was worse than she ever was! At least Nightshade would take time to discipline her kids without guilt or self-limitations!"
"Damn right!" Joanne concurred. "What the hell did you ever see in her, Mace? She's not firm enough with her son, and he's spoiled rotten!"
"I disagree with you going back to Nightshade," Mrs. Howards said. "Mace, I think you could a lot better than either of them."
"I don't know who was worse at the dinner table, her or Jeremy," Vivian said. "It's one thing if a kid eats slower than a snail moves. It's quite another if his mother takes authority of how much and what her child can and cannot eat in someone else's house. That's just rude!"
"I concur, daughter," Mrs. Howards said.
Mace said one final speech to his family as he prepared to leave. "Rocky, I thank you for havin' the decency to be polite to Valerie, an' showin' her some respect fer her child-rearin'. So glad ya like her, brother. Mom an' Vivian, I dunno. If I recover from this disaster, maybe I can forgive you two. An' as fer Dad an' Joanne, if Valerie ends up choosin' one of my colleagues from C.O.P.S. 'cuz of what happened today, I swear to God, I'll never talk to either one of ya again! Hell, it may be a good long time before I ever set foot in this house again!" He slammed the door on his way out, not as hard as Valerie though.
In his car, he found Valerie still sobbing in the passenger's seat. Jeremy had his head off to one side, looking like he was sleeping. Mace held her close to him and shushed her to stop crying. He said, "It's okay, sweetheart. I'm sorry fer all that happened today. I sure hope this won't affect our future together. I really do love ya, babe, I mean it."
"Oh, Mace, you've been so wonderful to me," she replied through her tears. "Thank you for all you've done." But she'd already made her decision. She'd tell him when it was time, but where a long-term relationship was concerned, Sgt. Mace now had no chance.
A/N: Only one more chapter to go. Yippee! Who will Valerie choose? It's worth sticking around. See you next – last – chapter! ; )