First Person POV (Kaira)
I was pacing the bathroom, nervous as hell. I had the door shut. Eliot had no idea what I was doing. He was changing. I had told him I was gonna get cleaned up before we went down to the brewpub for the morning.
The truth was, I was still in my pajamas, hair long again, pacing the bathroom because I was waiting for the results of the pregnancy test I took. I was late for two days now. Maybe I was jumping the gun. I was anxious. Part of me was hoping I was expecting, cause we had been trying now for a while. And part of me was nervous I wasn't and what it could mean.
I heard knocking on the door.
"You okay, Sweetheart?" Eliot asked through the door.
Shit!
"I-I'm okay, babe. Just washing my face." I said back.
I kept pacing. It felt like forever by the time the timer on my phone rang.
"Sweetheart, what was that?" Eliot asked through the door.
Dammit!
"Just forgot to turn off the alarm on my phone." I gritted through my teeth.
I turned off the timer on my phone and picked up the test and looked at it. Negative. And a flood of emotions flooded my mind. I just collapsed beside the sink, trying to hold back sobs. I then heard another knock at the door.
"Hey, Kaira, you okay?" Eliot asked.
I couldn't hold back the sobs anymore. I heard the door open, hitting against the wall. I could barely look at him. He knelt down in front of me.
"Hey, Kaira, what's going on?" Eliot asked me, holding my face.
I just handed Eliot the test.
"I'm sorry." Was the only thing I could say.
Eliot looked at the test. I sensed he was sad as well. He put the test on the sink and helped me to stand up.
"There's nothing to be sorry about, Kaira." Eliot pulled me into a hug.
I just grabbed onto him and held him tight, trying to stop myself from sobbing. Eliot just kept shushing, calming me down. I was calmed enough to let go of Eliot but held his arms. Eliot let go with one arm and held my cheek.
"Hey, it's okay, babygirl. I'm not mad at you." Eliot assured me, rubbing my cheek.
That caused me to start crying again. The only thing I felt was hurt.
"It hurts." I sobbed out, hugging Eliot again.
Eliot started shushing and rubbing my back.
"I know it does." Eliot said, I can hear the pain in his voice.
I managed to stop crying and let go again.
"What if I'm broken? What if-" I started ranting again, causing Eliot to shush me to calm me down.
"Hey, Kaira, listen to me, okay?" Eliot lifted up my chin and had me look him in the eye, and I could see the pained look on his face.
"You are not broken, Kaira Spencer. You are the most perfect thing in the world to me. No matter what happens, I'm not going anywhere. We're in this for the long haul. Forever and always, alright?" Eliot promised me.
I just held him close again.
"We'll keep trying, okay?" Eliot kept rubbing my back to calm me down.
"I love you so much, Kaira. Nothing will ever change that." Eliot said.
I let go and calmed myself down. Again.
"I love you too, Eliot. Thank you." I said.
He held my face with his hands and wiped the tears under my eyes. I let out a small chuckle and smile.
"There's my girl." Eliot gave me a soft smile, causing me to smile harder. I leaned in and kissed him softly.
"God, I'm a mess." I let out a half-hearted chuckle.
"Still the most beautiful girl in the world." Eliot said.
I chuckle again. I then heard Eliot's phone go off.
"Dammit." Eliot cursed as he answered the phone.
"What? Again? Dammit Hardison! Alright, I'll be down." Eliot hung up the phone.
"What was that about?" I asked Eliot.
"Hardison got more of his eco-friendly crap, and he wants me to install it." Eliot explained, grabbing my waist.
"Alright." I said, wrapping my arms around Eliot's neck.
"You gonna be alright, mama?" Eliot asked me.
I took a breath.
"Yeah. I'll join you, I just need a moment." I told Eliot.
He nodded, understanding. We kissed and Eliot left.
I took another breath and looked at myself in the mirror.
"Jesus, I'm a mess." I said quietly to myself.
My eyes were red and soaked with tears, and there were bags under my eyes from the little sleep I got last night out of worry. I soaked a towel and wiped my face, the cold water waking me up and calming me down. When I put the towel on the sink, I saw the test. Eliot's words echoed in my head. He was right. When it happens, it happens. And I'd probably start crying.
Yeah, sometimes it sucks trying so hard for something you want when it shouldn't be hard to get. And maybe I deserved it. I mean, I've had to fight for every other damn thing in my life, so why should this be any different?
Before I start spiraling again, I threw the test in the trash. The box had one more test in it, so I put it in the cabinet below the sink so I wouldn't see it for a while. And it did help to calm me down, oddly. Like I was letting this bad thing go temporarily. I took another look at the mirror and let out a breath.
I walked down to see Eliot turning something on the faucet of the kitchen sink in the bar. Hardison was at the bar, looking at his tablet. Eliot had a black denim jacket on, dark jeans, and a dark shirt, and he grew out his hair to his shoulders. Hardison had an orange shirt, jeans, and an orange cap.
"Hardison, you've gone too far this time." Eliot bitched to Hardison.
"Hey, man, we're in Portland. Got to do as the hippies do." Hardison pointed out.
I can't help but chuckle a bit as Eliot slammed the wrench on the sink.
"I have no problem going green, all right? I put in your tankless water heater and your low-flow faucet and all your solar-powered crap. But composting dude? Seriously, it stinks in here." Eliot complained, looking at Hardison.
"It kinda is a little stinky, Hardison." I shrugged my shoulders.
"That, my friends, is the sweet smell of sustainability. Now let's see what's next." Hardison looked at his list.
I could see something grab Eliot's attention.
"Oh, we got some recycling bins. You got to put those in. There's a cardboard crusher - very effective-" Hardison said, realizing Eliot and I weren't paying attention really.
There was a redheaded woman sitting alone at one of our tables, upset. Eliot and I nodded past him to get him to notice. Eliot and I walked around the bar and I got her a cup of coffee. I pulled up a chair and sat beside Eliot as we got the girl's story.
We learned her name was Tabitha. She owned a store in a small town nearby, Apple Springs, and told us her store was struggling cause a big box store, Value!More drove business away. She was also convinced the city was in on it.
"Since we lost dad, I've been running things on my own. I know it's a small store, but he built it. You know, it reminds me of him. I just don't know how much longer I can keep it going. Value! More opens tomorrow. There's three already in spitting distance. All those neighborhoods became a ghost town within a year. Mom-and-pop stores closed up, and the folks just left." Tabitha explained, still a little upset.
"Why do you think the city's in on it?" Eliot asked her.
"Because Value!More got the property rezoned without even a public hearing. We found out too late they had already bought the building." Tabitha explained.
"That's gonna make it harder to stop them. Can't stop the sale, and if the city's in on it, legal avenues are gonna be a joke." I pointed out.
"Well, now stores like mine are getting hit with trumped-up city fines. Somebody's definitely getting their palm greased." Tabitha pointed out.
"What they're doing is, they're pushing people around. They want you to take notice." Eliot explained.
"They're trying to force your hand." I explained.
"Some people are excited about it. They have no idea what it's gonna do to our town. Little towns like ours - there's something special about them. Once that's gone, I just don't think we can get it back." Tabitha said.
Eliot and I both agreed with her. We were both from small towns. I tell people I grew up in New York, they assume I lived in the city. In reality, I lived in a small border town in New York, close to the border of Pennsylvania. Yeah, there's some medium cities around there, but the small town I lived in, it was a lot like Apple Springs.
I knew everyone who ran a business by first name and their birthdays, spouses, and they knew my family. There was always respect between everyone. And the more I think about it, Eliot never really told me much about his childhood. I just knew he grew up in Oklahoma. I also knew he never mentioned his parents, and only once I've heard of his sibling and a nephew he had. I knew he was a football player. That's about all the background I knew of my husband. I never wanted to push because sometimes, there are things you can't say out loud.
We went back up to the office and talked with Parker and Hardison. That evolved into Eliot and Hardison bitching about the job, and I was getting pissed. Nate and Sophie walked in. Eliot was at the screen, Parker and I were sitting at the table, and Hardison was sitting at a workshop table in the back.
"I'm talking about saving a small town." I finally hear Eliot get a word in.
"From what?" Hardison asked.
Nate and Sophie were by the wall.
"What's-what's going on?" Nate asked.
"Eliot found us a client, but Hardison doesn't think it's a client." Parker explained.
"Aka Eliot and Hardison haven't stopped bitching since we spoke to the client, and it's pissing me off." I added.
"It's not a client." Hardison argued.
"See what I mean." I groaned at Hardison.
"Look." Eliot pulled up some images of Value!More.
"A big-box store is gonna destroy a small town, and I want to save it - is that not what we do?" Eliot had his arms crossed.
"Value!More? It's-it's a huge brand. They started with one store, and they grew like a weed. It's an American dream." Sophie pointed out.
"Each store is ginormous. I mean, they probably supply hundreds of jobs." Parker added.
"And thanks to their low prices, my nana was able to feed all us kids when money was tight, and money was always tight. So what are you saying about the people who shop there?" Hardison walked up to the table, defensive.
I just shook my head, cause they were right. But they were also missing a point.
"I'm saying they were lied to, all right? This family-friendly act is all bull-" Eliot got cut off by Nate.
"No, he's-he's right. I've had Value!More on my radar for a while. What they do is, they bribe local governments for tax and real-estate subsidies." Nate explained, causing us all to look at him.
Eliot looked at Parker.
"Look, and you're right. A new store will make new jobs, okay? But it also kills all the mom-and-pop shops, and that hurts the town double. Not to mention all the factory jobs that are outsourced to-to foreign sweatshops." Eliot explained.
"Now, full time workers should get health insurance, right? Well, to get around that, Value!More - they don't even offer full-time jobs." Nate explained.
"Wait. If they're so bad, why haven't we hit them yet?" Parker asked.
"Cause they're too big." Nate explained.
I cocked my head at him.
"Nathan, we took over the goddamn government of a damn country! What do you mean, too big?" I questioned Nate.
"A small foreign country. Look, Value!More, what they earn in a year - it trumps the GDP of most first-world nations." Nate explained.
"And they're gonna have an army of executives." Sophie added.
"Exactly. So there's no single weak spot to target. I mean, you can't just take down the entire company." Nate said.
I saw Eliot looking at the screen, seeing at the locations of Value!More's everywhere. I stood up and walked up to Eliot, grabbing his shoulder. We were gonna save this town. And maybe one day we'd take on the whole company, with more time and resources. But right now, we had to compromise. I looked at Eliot, nodding to him apologetically, sorry we couldn't take the whole company. Eliot nodded back, accepting my apology. He turned back around to face the team.
"All right, then one store. This store." Eliot compromised.
"Please." I begged.
Nate thought about it.
"You'd-you'd have to… you'd have to nip it in the bud, though. I mean, you know, you'd have to close the store before it even opened." Nate explained.
Eliot and I looked at Nate, realizing the issue.
"And when is it opening?" Nate asked.
Eliot and I looked at each other.
"Tomorrow." Eliot and I answered.
Parker had a smile and Hardison I could tell knew this was a challenge.
"Tomorrow?" Nate questioned.
He put his hands on the table, agreeing to the job.
"Okay. Better move fast." Nate told us.
A smile crept on my face.
Third Person POV
The team made a plan. Eliot and Kaira were undercover as delivery people and caught a woman who was introduced as Ms. Cowan, and she was a bit of a bitch. Eliot pointed her out and Hardison ran facial recognition and figured out she was from Corporate, and her name was Caroline Cowan, the regional team leader. She moves from store to store and got them up and running. Sophie said she was one to look out for. Hardison said they'd get surveillance on her.
Nate and Parker went to a hotel room that Caroline was staying in. Nate pointed out there were only three stores that have ever closed. The first one was over a land dispute, so that was the first thing they'd try. Parker put a bug in her apartment. Parker then laid on the bed, smelled it, and realized thanks to Nate, that they didn't wash the sheets. Nate and Parker left.
Hardison gave Sophie her alias, Dr. Ellie Sattler, an ex-pat environmental activist. Sophie wasn't happy with the words she'd have to learn.
Later that evening, Sophie went to the store and got soil and played her role. Sophie told Cowan that the store contained poisoned soil. Sophie explained the soil contained Cadmium, a byproduct of silver mining, and was toxic. Sophie said the symptoms were fever, stuffy nose, rash, loss of taste, saying the symptoms were called the Cadmium Blues. Caroline told Sophie to get off her property. Sophie left a card and left. Sophie left.
Later, at a presentation at the city council, the mayor went to present Sophie but introduced Caroline first, and Caroline blew Sophie's cover, having published false articles that said Sophie's alias was an eco-terrorist.
Hardison and Parker were at the office, Parker had her arm wrapped around Hardisons neck. Sophie knew she outstayed her welcome. Hardison pulled the fire alarm. The team were able to get Sophie out under the crowd.
Since they were safe, Hardison told the team about the fake online articles. Parker pointed out it was their trick. Eliot wondered how far Caroline was gonna go to protect the store. Nate said they'd find out, reminding the team three stores closed. The second one was because of a union scare. Sophie realized that it's set a legal precedent, and all the stores would be unionized.
Kaira pointed out that Caroline wouldn't risk having to unionize all the stores, so she'd sacrifice her own store.
First Person POV (Kaira)
So new plan. Hardison made aliases for me and Eliot as workers. Hardison was outside in the van. Eliot and I were both wearing khakis and a green polo. Not my most flattering color. So we stood at the back of the large group of workers, all gathered around Caroline preaching, starting a chant. Eliot and I refused to do the chant, our arms crossed. And we were both groaning. Finally, the chant ended.
"This reminds me of North Korea." Eliot muttered in his comm.
"I hate this." I groaned.
"Come on, Eliot, Kaira, shake it. Give me some soul!" Hardison was way too pumped up.
"Are you dancing? I hate you." Eliot whispered.
"Hell no! My ass shaking is for Eliot only. Even then, I gotta be wasted." I whispered.
I could see the smirk on Eliot's face as we left with the group.
"Don't get any ideas, Eliot." I scolded him.
He just chuckled. Caroline opened the store, and Eliot and I were working.
And towards the end of our shift, Eliot and I got our first paychecks. That was a joke. Eliot and I were walking down the home improvement aisle, with the paint and toolboxes and such. There was a sweet older man in stacking paint cans. Eliot and I looked at our paychecks, not happy.
"You got to be kidding me." Eliot said out loud.
"I know." I looked at Eliot.
"First paycheck, huh?" The older man asked us, and I saw his name tag said, Martin.
"They think we can live off of this?" Eliot questioned.
"It seems most folks are working here just till they can find something better." Martin said.
Eliot and I looked at each other, putting our paychecks in our pockets.
"Tell you what - there's a meeting tonight. This guy says he can change things." Eliot said as I handed Martin a card.
"You in?" I asked Martin.
"I'd sure like to hear what he has to say." Martin agreed.
"Alright." I gave a slight smile to Eliot.
"All right, good deal." Eliot patted Martin on the shoulder.
"Okay." Martin said.
He then groaned in pain, hunched over. Eliot and I stopped and turned to make sure he was okay.
"You all right?" Eliot asked.
"These didn't used to be so heavy." Martin said.
Eliot and I chuckled a bit, then we started helping, grabbing paint cans.
"You wouldn't think it, but I actually used to own a hardware store." Martin told us.
"You're kidding me." Eliot had a smile on his face.
"Yeah." Martin told Eliot.
"You and my old man." Eliot said.
I perked up a bit. This is the first time I've heard Eliot mention his dad, well ever.
"Really?" Martin questioned Eliot.
"Yeah. He could tell you where everything was before you walked in the store, tell you exactly what you needed. He knew where every bolt, nut, and washer was in that place." Eliot said.
We put the paint cans on the stack.
"Why'd you lose your store?" I asked Martin.
"Oh, I shut her down. No use trying to compete with Value!More. It's-It's a young man's game. With the diabetes, I'm not as quick on my feet as I used to be. You two new in town? I could have sworn I knew everyone around here." Martin asked us.
I felt bad for the guy. Eliot gave a soft smile.
"We're just passing through, actually." Eliot said.
I chuckled a bit. Martin pointed to Eliot's nametag.
"Archer." Martin read off the name tag.
"Right." Eliot introduced himself.
Eliot then gestured to me.
"This is my wife, Betty." Eliot introduced me.
"Martin." Martin introduced himself, shaking Eliot's hand, then mine.
"Nice to meet you." Martin said.
"Good to meet you too." I said.
"Good to meet you, man. Let us help you with these." Eliot said.
We started stacking paint cans.
After we finished helping Martin, we decided to put up the sign in the break room that told everyone about the union meeting. Eliot put it up on the fridge, and we noticed Martin was eating.
"What do you got?" Eliot asked Martin.
"Oh, got to keep my blood sugar up, my wife's secret recipe. You want some?" Martin offered it to us.
Eliot and I declined.
"Thanks, but we're good. You enjoy." I gave Martin a smile and turned to the soda dispenser to get us a soda, and I went to get us some chips, but that's when another guy came in, and he had one of those punchable faces and went to the fridge to open it.
"Hey, Martin, those 12-packs of fabric softener are just flying off the shelves. Look, can you grab some more from the stock room ASAP?" I recognized the guy as Bryan.
"I-I would, but I'm on my break." Martin said.
"It's a busy day, big guy. Could really use you to take one for the team." Bryan told Martin.
Martin went to get up, but I put my hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
"It's okay, Martin. Archer and I got this." I said as Eliot went to punch himself in.
"Hey, uh, let's keep this off the clock, okay? And tuck your shirts in." Bryan told us.
He left, and I may have cursed under my breath. Eliot and I left, not pleased.
We went to the stock room. We found the fabric softener, up on the shelf. I could tell by Eliot's blank look that something was bothering him. I leaned against the shelf, and Eliot put back the box and leaned against the opposite shelf. I gestured for him to take his comm out as I took mine out. He took out his.
"You know, my mom and dad used to own a bakery, back in New York." I told Eliot.
He had a look like he was intrigued.
"Did they?" Eliot questioned.
"Yeah. It was mainly for the family business, but they prided themselves in that bakery. I loved that place. The smell of cakes, pies, everything." I told Eliot.
"What happened to it?" Eliot asked me.
"It was the first thing they sold to help pay for Kasey's medical bills once the money ran out." I explained.
"I'm sorry." Eliot looked at me.
I took a breath.
"Look, I don't expect you to tell me about your childhood or your parents, Eliot. I know this is personal. It's personal to me too. I get it. What's bothering you?" I looked at Eliot.
I could tell Eliot was debating in his head about telling me. I grabbed his hand.
"Please? Tell me." I comforted Eliot.
He took a breath.
"I never really thought about this until I started thinking about my old man." Eliot squeezed my hand.
"When you showed me that test, my heart was racing. Cause for that split second, I thought-" Eliot paused and gave me a look.
I nodded that it was okay.
"And the thought of me being a father scared me. I mean, my dad, he was a deadbeat, and not a nice person. How can I be a dad when my own dad wasn't one?" Eliot started getting emotional.
I grabbed his other hand and pulled him into a hug. Eliot was holding me hard.
"You break the cycle. You be the father he wasn't." I told Eliot.
We stood there for a few seconds, holding each other.
"Someday, you'll be a dad. And when that time comes, you will be the best father our children will know." I let go of Eliot and held his hands.
"You'll cook breakfast every morning as I get them dressed before sending our children off to school. You'll chase them around the house, driving us crazy with the kids screaming in delight as you roar at them. When they're sick, you'll make them chicken noodle soup while I rub Vix on their chest. We'll tell them stories at bedtime, ending the story on a cliffhanger so they'd go to bed. You'd try your best to help with their homework. You'd get snacks for family movie night. After being up all day, you'd check on our kids in the nursery so I could sleep. You'd do that face that scares people at potential suiters one day." Eliot and I both chuckled at that.
"No I wouldn't." Eliot brushed it off.
"Oh, yeah, you would. I see it now, our kid dressed up for prom, their date at the door, I'm taking pictures, and you're threatening their date." I chuckled.
Eliot just smiled at me.
"How did I get so lucky?" Eliot asked me.
I smiled back.
"I'm the lucky one." I said back.
I leaned into Eliot and we shared a kiss. Eliot cupped my face.
"I'm sorry. I'm just-" Eliot stumbled.
"Anxious about being a parent?" I questioned.
"Yeah." Eliot answered.
"Me too. But we'll figure it out together. Like we always do." I comforted Eliot.
We kissed one more time and grabbed our stuff and left.
Third Person POV
Hardison reported a bit later that there were new camera feeds in the break room. No doubt, Caroline was trying to figure out who the union mole was. Eliot then went into the break room and out back up the sign for the union meeting.
Then Eliot faked a phone call and left. Eliot then faked a meeting with Nate, playing a union rep, in an RV, knowing Caroline was following. Nate left and then came back to meet with Caroline. She threatened Nate to stop.
First Person POV (Kaira)
Eliot, Hardison, and I were now in the van, watching Nate's meeting with Caroline. I was sitting in between the boys. Hardison turned down the volume on the monitor and looked at Eliot.
"Hey, man, that, uh, stuff about your pop owning the hardware shop, man - is that real or is that just an alias riff?" Hardison asked Eliot.
Eliot was blanked face and Hardison realized he wasn't gonna talk.
"Okay." Hardison started typing.
I could see Eliot's lip quiver before he spoke.
"It was more like a hole-in-the-wall… tools stacked up to the ceiling. There was method in his madness, though. He knew that place like the back of his hand." Eliot told the story.
I gave Eliot a soft smile.
"Did you two work it together?" Hardison asked.
"Yeah, he wanted me to run the damn joint. But I wanted to get out, change the world, needed to get out of there. I joined the service when I was 18, and, well, that was it." Eliot said.
"When was the last time you were there?" I asked Eliot.
By the look on Eliot's face, he didn't like the memory.
"We had a fight the night before I left. So…" Eliot started turning up the volume.
"This town-this town's a lot like that. It's small. It's-" Eliot started scratching his face and pointing to the monitor.
I squeezed Eliot's thigh to let him know I was there.
Caroline threatened Nate again, then left.
The rest of the day I was thinking about what Eliot said. We weren't scared in a fear way, but a worry kind of way. What if we mess it up? How are we gonna keep our kids safe? It was a lot. But Eliot and I were ready to take it on when the time came. I think.
Third Person POV
The meeting place for the union meeting was the brewpub. Nate was talking to employees and Eliot was conversing with Kaira. Nate asked Eliot where he found all the people. Eliot said free beer.
Then Caroline showed up. Nate kept everyone calm and went on with his speech. But then Caroline got people back on her side, saying she was gonna have a barbecue and that they were a family.
Then everyone left. Kaira may have threatened Caroline to leave.
First Person POV (Kaira)
Eliot and I went to meet with Sophie and Nate once we got the bar cleaned up.
"Well, that went to shit." I muttered.
"Our track record's not looking so hot now, thanks to Caroline, huh?" Eliot pointed out.
"Yeah. She's, uh… unbelievable." Nate said.
"Unbelievable? She just used a basic brainwashing technique, no panache." Sophie explained.
"Eh, she's…" Nate tried speaking but stopped.
"Oh, look - he likes her." Sophie teased Nate.
I groaned.
"No, I like the player, not the person." Nate pointed out.
"Nathan, you told us three stores closed down. We've tried two out the three. What's number three?" I asked Nate.
"Just a string of bad luck. A bunch of little things that added up to taking down their profits. But, I mean, it's not like we can make bad luck." Nate said.
Eliot and I looked at each other.
"Can't we?" Eliot asked.
Third Person POV
The next day, the new plan was made. Thanks to some coupons on TVs Hardison sent out, a whole lot of people were there. And then Sophie sent her theater students in to act as workers, acting like rude employees. It was chaos inside the store, and eventually, people left. And Hardison rigged up a cart to be remotely controlled for the Hell of it.
Bryan once again told Eliot and Kaira to tuck their shirts in. Kaira groaned and went back to work. Bryan then told Martin to pick up the slack, or he'd be working through lunch again.
Martin then started grunting and collapsed on the stack on totes. Kaira and Eliot ran over to help. Kaira called 911 and soon, an ambulance took Martin to the hospital.
Eliot and Kaira both assured Martin he'd be okay and Eliot told the paramedic to make sure to call Martin's wife. Eliot and Kaira stood, anger on their faces.
Nate told the couple to stay on plan, but Eliot and Kaira had other ideas. Like Nate was gonna stop two pissed-off hitters.
First Person POV (Kaira)
It was no secret who caused Martin to collapse. And he was in the break room. Eliot and I saw Bryan get a soda from the soda machine. He went to get his soda and came right up and we were right beside him, arms crossed. He looked at us. Bryan had a smug look on his face and chuckled.
"Seriously? Not gonna tuck in your shirt?" Bryan asked us.
"You made him work through his break again, didn't you?" Eliot asked him.
"What? The old-timer? He'll be fine." Bryan then had the audacity to laugh.
"We got a problem here, buddy?" Bryan asked, getting in our faces, that smug look on his face that reminded me of, I think it's obvious who.
It took all my control not to throttle him. Eliot had to all but hold me back. Eliot and I moved to face the soda machine.
"Bryan, you're a bully. You know how much we'd love to tear your arm off and feed it to you right now?" Eliot got up in Bryan's space.
"But that would make us bully's too. See our dilemma?" I told Bryan.
Bryan went to grab Eliot, but I grabbed his arm, pinned his face against the soda machine, and pinned his arm back. Bryan was gasping.
"Listen good, you piece of shit. Cause I ain't in the mood to repeat myself." I hissed at Bryan.
"I can't feel my arm." Bryan bitched.
"That's the point. The only reason I'm not breaking your neck against the soda machine, or snapping your arm right now is because Martin, and my husband, wouldn't want me to." I said.
"You see, Martin is a good neighbor. You? You're not." Eliot said.
I let go of Bryan, giving him a shove against the machine. I was kinda amused because Bryan looked like he had shit his pants.
"You crazy bastard. You and your crazy bitch are fired." Bryan was scared.
Eliot and I gave him a glare before leaving.
Third Person POV
So apparently, Plan Bad Luck didn't go as planned. Nate and Sophie watched on the camera feed Caroline find out there were record-breaking sales, and that the CEO was flying in the next day for the barbecue. Sophie was confused. Nate pointed out that they didn't expect the customers to buy other things. Sophie said she wasn't sure if they could destroy the store. Nate then realized Caroline could destroy the store.
So, Hardison, Eliot, and Kaira broke into her hotel room. Eliot changed out the lightbulbs for ones that flickered. Kaira put a liquid in her makeup, Hardison sprayed her mask with irritants, Eliot messed with the thermostat, and Hardison put gum on the inside of the shower head. Kaira took her brushes, and Hardison added a beeper to the hotel room phone.
All of these things were designed to drive Caroline crazy. And drive her crazy it did. Caroline was a mess in the morning. And thanks to Parker pretending to be sick while quitting, Caroline was convinced she had the Cadmium Blues. And since Eliot, Hardison, and Kaira put dust and food coloring in her drink.
First Person POV (Kaira)
A lot of people were at this barbecue at the store. Eliot and I found Martin, and we were both glad he was okay. We walked up to him.
"Martin." Eliot smiled and walked up to him.
"Hey, Martin. You look a lot better than we last saw you." I said, happy.
Eliot and I shook his hand.
"The doc thinks I'll make it." Martin joked a bit.
We all laughed.
"I just wanted to thank you two. I heard what you two said to Bryan, and as much as I'd like to see that boy get what's coming to him, I am awful sorry you lost your jobs." Martin said, feeling bad.
"Oh, don't worry about that. Like I said, we're just passing through." Eliot told Martin.
"No way to run a business, if you ask me." Martin said.
"No it isn't." I gave a knowing look to Eliot.
"You know, I-I wish I still had that old hardware store kicking around. You two'd be good to have handy." Martin told us.
He left to mingle with the employees. Eliot stood there, thinking. I held his hand. He gave me a smile, lifted up my hand, kissed my knuckles, and we both chuckled and went to meet the team.
We saw Caroline meet up with the CEO. She was not looking good at all, but she kept up her energy. We saw the team sat around a table, watching the security feed in the break room on Hardison's tablet, where the CEO was asking Caroline if she was okay.
We walked over as the team was placing bets on how long it was gonna take. Eliot sat down and I sat on his lap. Nate bet seven minutes, Sophie bet five minutes, Hardison bet three minutes, and Parker was under two minutes.
The CEO offered Caroline a job at headquarters. Caroline was excited, but the CEO told Caroline she'd have to stick around for six months. Caroline didn't like that, and that's when Caroline said the store was poisoned. Parker got the money since she won the bet. I just kinda chuckled. I turned to Hardison.
"What do you say we ruine this bitch's evening more and broadcast thing, Hardison?" I gave him a smile.
"I'd say let's do it." Hardison said.
Hardison did broadcast the confession throughout the store. And everyone left. So we stood up and waited for Caroline to come out. We watched as she faced us. I was smiling. We turned to leave.
"Man, I love gloating." I said as we left.
Two weeks later, the store was shut down and all the local shops had reopened. And the town was bustling again.
Third Person POV
Eliot, Hardison, Parker, and Kaira went to a coffee shop to get some coffee to celebrate. They were waiting in line to get their coffee. They ordered and were waiting back by the wall. Kaira and Parker walked up to the pickup counter, waiting for the coffee. Beside them was a little boy, holding his dad's hand. The little boy was smiling at Kaira, and Kaira had a big smile. She did peak a boo with the boy, causing the boy to giggle like crazy. Eliot watched from the wall, a smile on his face that soon turned bittersweet. Hardison noticed.
"Hey, man, what's going on with you and Kaira? The past two weeks, you've been off." Hardison asked Eliot.
Eliot stopped looking at Kaira and turned to face Hardison.
"We're okay." Eliot tried brushing it off, not sure if he should tell Hardison.
Hardison showed he wasn't buying it.
"Two weeks ago, Kaira took a pregnancy test that was negative. It brought up some things in both of us. Fears about being parents." Eliot explained hesitantly.
Hardison gave an understanding nod.
"I wouldn't sweat it, man. You and Kaira are the most caring people I know. And if my nana taught me anything, being caring, compassionate, and loving are the most important things to being a parent. You and Kaira care about others, maybe too much at times." Eliot shot Hardison a look.
"Don't look at me like that man, you know what I mean." Hardison said.
He got back on track.
"Compassionate: check. Loving: Definitely check. You'd be good parents." Hardison assured Eliot.
"You think so?" Eliot asked.
"Damn straight." Hardison said.
Eliot flashed a quick, thankful smile. Kaira came back with the coffees, giving Eliot a peck on the lips when she gave him his. Eliot and Kaira walked out of the coffee shop hand in hand, Hardison and Parker behind them.
First Person POV (Kaira)
Eliot and I met with Nate and Sophie. Parker and Hardison walked up behind us.
"The local shops have reopened. Everybody that got laid off has a job." Eliot told the team.
Nate and Sophie walked around us, then Parker and Hardison walked around us, Hardison with his arm around Parker.
"What about the building?" Parker asked.
"I heard an anonymous donor put in a bid for it. He said he's gonna turn it into a theater for the local high school." Hardison said.
I see Sophie turn bac around, smiling.
"The arts are vastly underfunded in this country, don't you think?" Nate asked.
That son of a bitch bought it for Sophie.
"You sly old dog." Sophie teased Nate.
"Oh, babe, the Candy shoppe's open. You in?" Hardison asked Parker, pointing to the shop.
"Sounds good." Parker said.
Nate and Sophie kept walking as Parker and Hardison walked to the shop. Eliot and I stopped, just smiling.
Eliot and I saw Tabitha and Martin talking. We all said hi to each other.
"How you doing?" Eliot asked Tabitha.
"I'm good." Tabitha said.
"How's Martin working out?" I asked.
"Oh, you know, he's fitting right in." Tabitha said.
We all chuckled.
"So, thank you for everything that you did. It's starting to feel like home again around here." Tabitha said.
"Of course. You take care of him for us, okay?" I said to Tabitha.
"All right." Tabitha said.
I gave her a hug and she went back inside the store. Eliot and I started walking, sipping our coffee.
"Hey, babe, do you want to do date night tonight? Movie and popcorn." I suggested, giving Eliot a smile.
"I would love that, sweets. But I'm gonna be out of town for a couple of days. I won't be back till Saturday." Eliot said, something off.
"I could go with you." I suggested.
"Sweetheart, I-I'm going back home to visit my dad." Eliot told me.
"So? I could still go with you." I offered, not sure exactly what the problem was.
"Sweetheart, I don't know if my old man would like you. And I don't want you-" I cut Eliot off.
"Hey, don't give me that, babe. If your old man doesn't like me, that's on him. It won't bother me. And you can use me as an icebreaker." I offered.
"What?" Eliot asked me.
"You know, use me to start a conversation that's other than the inevitable talk that's gonna happen about you leaving. And if you went by yourself, and he saw your ring, he's gonna ask about me anyway." I told Eliot.
Eliot mostly gave in.
"Yeah, you're right. You know what else he's gonna ask us, right?" Eliot said.
"When we're giving him grandkids. I know, babe. And we'll deal with it." I told Eliot, facing him, holding his hand.
"He is very... traditional, you know. And we're not…" Eliot tried explaining.
"Traditional. I get it, babe. I promise I'll behave." I teased Eliot slightly.
We chuckled and kept walking.
A couple of days later, Eliot drove us in his pickup truck to his hometown in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. We were just outside the city. Eliot picked up a six-pack of beer to also help break the ice, which was currently on my lap.
The house was nice. Two bay garage, one story. Eliot put the truck in park and turned off the ignition. He sat there for a minute. I grabbed his hand.
"It'll be okay, babe. I got your back, now, then, forever and always, and for better or worse." I rubbed his hand.
Eliot gave me a smile and kissed my hand. He got out and opened the passenger door, helping me out and grabbing the beer. It was almost dark outside. We walked up to the gate. Eliot opened it and we walked up to his door. Eliot was reluctant but knocked on the screen door. No answer. He knocked again.
"Dad?" Eliot called through the door.
I started knocking. No answer. Eliot put the six-pack down on the step. He looked away from the door and was quivering. I grabbed his shoulder and leaned in. I could see his blue eyes get teary. I was sad, but then that turned to anger. Eliot's dad couldn't even open the door. But the optimistic part of me figured he may have moved or wasn't home.
"Maybe he's-" Eliot cut me off.
"Kaira, don't. Please. It's dark on a Thursday." Eliot begged.
He tried to not get weepy, but he wasn't doing a good job.
"Come here." I pulled him into a hug, and Eliot buried his face in the crook of my neck, letting out the tears.
"I'm sorry, babe." I tried not to cry myself.
What father doesn't answer the door for his own son? The anger came back up.
"Maybe this is better." I told Eliot.
He had calmed a bit and let go slightly.
"How?" Eliot asked me, underneath his eyes wet.
"Because now you know he doesn't give a damn about you. And he doesn't need to be in your life, babe. You got me, and you got the team. And someday, we'll have kids, but that's all you need. The only thing that your dad's gonna bring now is a load of bullshit that you and I don't need. And he sure as hell won't see his grandkids. And that's all on him. You reached out. He didn't reach back. That's on him. Do you understand me?" I explained to Eliot, helping to calm him down.
He just pulled me in for a hard hug.
"You're right. Thank you." Eliot said, cocking up a bit.
"What do you say we head back to the hotel? We'll have a little fun, get some sleep, and we'll make our way down to Portland." I told Eliot.
He nodded in agreement, and we walked back to his truck.
Eliot helped me up, and he got in and turned the truck over. He put the truck in reverse.
"You know, sweetheart, every time you mention us starting a family, you always use kids and children, not child and kid." Eliot pointed out as he got the truck in drive and pulled out of the driveway.
I chuckled a bit.
"I guess I do." I realized.
"So how many kids are you thinking you wanna have?" Eliot asked me.
"Two. Maybe three. How many do you want?" I asked Eliot.
He kinda chuckled.
"Well, sweetheart, that's not up to me. You're the one who's gonna be doing the hard part." Eliot pointed out.
I smiled and let out a chuckle.
"Come on. Your opinion does matter. So, how many kids do you want?" I asked again.
"You get final say, deal?" Eliot offered, grabbing my hand.
"Deal." I answered.
I lifted up our entangled hands and kissed Eliot's hand, then he kissed mine.
"I suppose if I had to give an answer, two or three kids does sound perfect. That way, we can have both a son and a daughter, both like you cause God help us if there's another me out there." Eliot said.
I chuckled again.
"That does sound perfect. And the world could use more Eliot Spencers." I gave Eliot a smile.
He kissed my hand again, causing me to start laughing.
Yeah, this job was a bit more personal than it should've been. Maybe I got too close. But tomorrow was a new day. Another chance to start our family. And another day to do what we do best. Help people.