TURNING BACK
Keeping Count
Chapter 2
Ben and Joe stopped when they reached the swinging door to the kitchen and stood there for a moment, listening to Hop Sing speaking slowly and carefully. No other voices could be heard.
Joe was about to go through the door when his father put out a hand to stop him. "Wait a minute…let's just take a quick look in there so we'll be prepared." Nodding, Joe carefully pushed on the door until it was open just a few inches. Then they both leaned forward to peer in.
Hop Sing was sitting in a chair with a crowd of children sitting on the floor in front of him, their little faces tipped up as they listened enthralled.
Stunned, the two men straightened up and stared at each other blankly for a while until Ben spoke.
"Did you count nine?" he asked and Joe's lips began to twitch as he nodded.
"Yeah…nine," he gasped and clapped a hand over his mouth when almost hysterical laughter started to bubble up.
Ben slowly turned to push on the door and look in again. When he turned back, he met Joe's amused eyes for a brief second and the two suddenly leaned into each other as they shook with silent laughter.
"I can't believe it!" Joe barely choked out. "Adam has NINE children!"
Ben shook his head. "No Joseph, TEN children. You forgot about the one being born!"
The two men stood there, trying to get their mirth under control, but every time they thought they had, their eyes would meet and they'd start laughing again.
"Dear Lord!" Ben finally managed to say, being careful to not look at his youngest son again. "We better get in there and relieve Hop Sing. I have a feeling he's been entertaining that crowd for quite a while now."
"Right," Joe answered, firmly reining in his sense of humor. They both took a deep breath, and then Joe pushed the door open the whole way saying, "After you, Grandpa."
Ben gave him a sharp look as he strode through the door, warning his youngest son to behave. Every head in the room swung to look and Hop Sing smiled in relief.
"You home now Mister Ben?" he said as his bright eyes swept across the small crowd sitting on the floor in front of him. He was about to speak again when one of the smaller children let out a high-pitched shriek of fear.
"Strangers!" the child bellowed and scrambled to throw himself at the largest boy, almost knocking him over.
"Strangers, Aaron, strangers!" the little one babbled and the older boy held on to him tightly and began patting his back.
"Alec, will you stop that please! They're not strangers, they're family," he shot an apologetic glance at Ben and Joe while rolling his eyes in exasperation. Both men smiled widely and Hop Sing muffled a laugh – the boy looked exactly like his father.
"I'm Aaron," he said to them, "and unfortunately for me, I'm the oldest." He looked down at the child in his lap who had stopped babbling and now had his face pressed into his brother's chest, his little body still trembling.
"They're not strangers, they're family," he repeated and Alec leaned back, tipping his tear-stained face up, his lower lip quivered. "I want Ma!" he demanded and the older boy sighed as laughter swept through the other children.
"You can't have Ma right now, she's having a baby," he was trying to be patient.
"Then I want Pa!" the smaller child insisted stubbornly and Aaron shook his head.
"You can't have Pa either; he's helping her, that's his job."
The little boy sniffed and his eyes narrowed with ill temper as he opened his mouth to yell, but Aaron stopped him with his hand.
"Alec, you've got to stop this now. Pa is going to be very cross with you and you'll end up going over his knee. Is that what you want?" Alec shook his head vigorously.
"Are you going to behave now?" The little one in his lap nodded his dark gray eyes wide and solemn.
"All right then," Aaron said and slowly took his hand away, prepared to silence him again if necessary.
Quick as a wink, Alec craned his head forward, bit the older boy's hand, scrambled out of his lap, and ran for Ben.
"Ouch! You little brat!" Aaron yelled while the rest of the children burst out laughing and Alec wrapped his arms around Ben's leg from behind.
"Aaron's mean!" he yelled, poking his head out to glare at his older brother, and then quickly hid again as Aaron got to his feet. His face was bright red and his hazel eyes flashed furiously as he surveyed the rest of his siblings who were rolling around on the floor, laughing helplessly.
Joe opened his mouth, no doubt to silence them, but stopped when Ben put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. He was staring at the oldest boy intently, watching him take several deep breaths as the red began to fade from his face.
"That's it! I've had enough of all of you!" he said loudly in a tightly controlled voice that cut through the noise. The other children immediately stopped laughing and sat up, startled. They had never heard that tone from their older brother before.
"I'm warning you," Aaron continued, "Pa gave me permission a long time ago to smack any one of you if you wouldn't behave. But I've never even thought of doing that…until now!" His narrow-eyed gaze swept over them, stopping briefly on each face.
"Now, all of you line up like Pa told you to do," he snapped and the children scurried to obey, even Alec. When they were standing in a line from the oldest to youngest he shook his head at them.
"You ungrateful little beasts!" he said in a softly furious voice. "Don't you ever stop to think that when you get in trouble I get in trouble for letting you get in trouble!" he paused to take a deep breath. "Pa's going to be furious and who's going to get in the most trouble? Me, that's who – and not one you cares."
Aaron paused again and Joe leaned toward his father to whisper, "Geez, you'd think Adam would remember more about being the oldest and not be so hard on him."
Ben gave him a quick glance. "You'd have to be a father to really understand it, Joe," he said low, but not unkindly. The two men turned back to the children to see Aaron slant them an embarrassed look.
"I'm sorry for losing my temper, but I've been cooped up with them for almost two months now and I just can't stand it anymore!" Aaron gave them one more apologetic glance, and then turned back to the other children.
"Now remember your manners and introduce yourselves the way Pa told you to," he told them and stayed standing to the side, watching them with his arms folded across his chest and his mouth in a grim line.
The first child in line was a tall girl with dark red hair and Adam's hazel eyes. She took one step forward. "I'm Adelaide and I'm nine," she said and stepped back, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly.
"I'm Andrew and I'm eight," the next one said as he stepped forward. He closely resembled Adelaide but was slightly taller, his hazel eyes sparkled with sly humor and he smiled widely at Joe and Ben.
The next child was another girl, with wavy black hair and light gray eyes. Her face flushed slightly and she smiled at Joe and Ben shyly. "I'm Amelia," she said in a soft voice as she took a step forward then stepped back in almost one motion. The next child was about move forward when she quickly looked up. "Oh! And I'm seven," she said and her blush deepened at having forgotten to give her age.
The next in line was a sturdy-looking boy with dark-red hair and light gray eyes. "I'm six, and my name is Abram," he said solemnly, but forgot to step forward. He gave his grandfather and uncle a quick nod, then ducked his head as he nervously clasped his hands behind his back.
Two children stepped forward together this time. "I'm Anthony and this is Arthur," the first one said and it was plain to see they were identical twins. Their hair was lighter, almost chestnut in color, and their eyes were a very dark gray. "We're five," the second one said and they stepped back in unison.
"I'm Alec!" the next child almost bellowed and tugged the last child, a very small girl forward with him. "I'm four and this is Amber, she's three and she don't talk much," his piping voice declared. Alec had his father's dark hair while Amber's was an even lighter chestnut than the twins. Her eyes were a greenish hazel and she popped her thumb out of her rosebud mouth as she stared at the two men.
She shook her hand to get Alec to let go and astonished her siblings by trotting across the floor to stand in front of Ben. He couldn't help but smile down at her dimpled face and immediately responded when she held her little arms out and demanded, "Up!"
Alec stared in surprise and his mouth dropped open. He took a deep breath and yelled, "Hey!" while the rest of the children whispered and giggled to each other.
Ben decided it was time to take control. His brows snapped together and he loudly said, "Quiet!"
The noise was immediately cut off and he noticed Aaron put a hand to his mouth to hide a smile. Amber popped her thumb back in her mouth, but didn't seem at all bothered. Ben turned to Hop Sing who was still sitting in his chair, biting his lip to keep from laughing.
"Thank you for taking care of them," he said to the Chinese man, and then turned back to the children. "All right, all of you out, I think Hop Sing deserves a little peace and quiet now," he said firmly and gave his youngest son a pointed look.
Joe hurried to push the kitchen door open held it as the children hurried to obey and filed through the door, still in line. Aaron was the last and he only paused long enough to give his grandfather a grateful look and to mouth, "Thank you."
Ben met Joe's amused gaze for a second then looked down at the tiny girl in his arms when she reached up to touch his cheek with one tiny finger.
"Are you my grandpa?" she asked and the two men glanced at each other again.
"Yes I am child," Ben answered and she smiled an angelic little smile.
"Oh good! Now I gots two!" she giggled and rested her head sideways on his shoulder while Ben and Joe laughed.
"I wonder how things are going upstairs?" Joe said as his father carried the child through the door and they moved toward the great room where the other children were all crowded onto the sofa.
"I imagine as well as can be expected," Ben answered as they hurried toward the group of children, their small faces watched them warily.