Apologies again for the delayed updates. Getting new ideas written up has become difficult. Was initially going to run this chapter a bit longer but decided to cut it a bit early.
Hope ya'll enjoy this chapter
Six
With little effort half of the morning went by and Max found himself alone with Spencer and the girls. For an hour or so Max had kept the girls busy while Spencer got some work done on his laptop. Lunch time rolled around and rather than sit around doing nothing, Max helped to set things up in the kitchen. The sisters posed no problems, sitting eagerly in their highchairs waiting for dinner to be ready once Max strapped them in. Charlotte sat quietly at the table, listening to the rattle of pots and pans at the oven behind her.
Max knew his way around the kitchen by now, grabbing the ingredients Spencer needed to rustle up some grub. At first nothing seemed wrong. The girls all behaved themselves while Max set out the table. The dependable blonde did notice Spencer rolling his right shoulder a lot and just being fidgety in general. Max thought nothing of it until the pan almost crashed to the floor. He caught it just in time, moving the cooking apparatus from the heat so its contents didn't burn. Then he got Spencer sitting down, supporting the lumbering giant as he seemed to be in pain.
"Take it easy, Spence." Max soothed, keeping close by as his fellow blonde eased himself into a chair.
With his left hand now free, Spencer moved it to rest on his right bicep while putting on a brave face so the girls didn't worry. It wasn't fooling Max though. He could see through the expertly crafted mask now. Placing a hand to Spencer's arm, he found it was incredibly hot as was the top and middle of the spine area. If Max paid more attention, he would've noticed the heat formed shapes. Spencer resisted against having his shirt removed, almost slamming Max into the ground out of annoyance.
"Don't make this harder than it needs to be, Spencer." Max warned, a stern look on his face.
"I'll be fine." Spencer huffed, trying to focus on keeping his breathing steady. "This happens every once in a while. The pain will pass in a minute."
Max wanted to argue, to say that Spencer needed medical help of some kind but fierce green eyes kept him still and silent. As foretold, Spencer was back at the oven within ten or so minutes as if nothing had happened.
Max spent the rest of the day worrying about what happened at dinner. While Spencer appeared to be perfectly fine on the outside, there was no telling what shape he was in internally. Tala was the first to return home, cornered while changing by a certain concerned blonde. The wolfish redhead had noticed a familiar look on Spencer's face when he'd stepped into the house and now Max stood before him with a worried expression. Despite knowing exactly what was wrong, Tala asked anyway.
"So what happened to put that look on your face?"
"Spencer was acting strange at lunch time. His right bicep and back were burning up pretty badly but he claimed it was nothing. What's going on?"
Heaving a sigh, Tala locked his lavender eyes with Max's worry-filled blue. "How bad was it? Enough for him to stop what he was doing?"
Max nodded, remembering everything clearly. "I got him sitting down at the table it was that bad. Maybe ten minutes later it was like nothing had happened."
Tala's head bobbed to show he'd processed the information given, sitting on the bed to catch his breath.
"There's nothing to worry about, Max. Spencer gets that burning sensation every few months. But I will say it hasn't shown itself for a year or so until today. It's just old wounds from…from that place. Just be patient and don't fuss over him. Spencer hates being babied like that."
"Wait you're not gonna do anything?"
Tala fixed Max with an icy gaze at what the blonde seemed to be thinking. "There's nothing we can do, Max. It's just something Spencer has to live with. I do appreciate you telling me though. If not for that look on Spencer's face I wouldn't have known it happened again. I'll try talking to him tonight. Get him to take it easy on you. You're not used to the turns he takes."
Talking with Tala hadn't helped to ease the weight resting on Max's shoulders as he returned to the living room. Ian had returned during his absence and was getting a cheeky power nap in beside Charlotte. Tala wasn't far behind Max, wrapping his arms around Spencer's waist and tenderly kissing his cheek, muttering something in their native language.
Max awoke the following morning to find Charlotte gone. Spencer had approached him before bed and apologised for his behaviour at lunch time. Max still couldn't help but wonder what kind of injury would continue to burn years after healing. Shrugging the nagging questions to one side, Max got ready for the day. Spencer planned to take him and the girls out to the park before it got too cold.
Charlotte was found at the table laughing at Ian who pulled silly faces. That was until Bryan stalked in and bonked him on the head, making Charlotte laugh harder. Max didn't even notice Tala at the table until the redhead coughed. Spencer saw Tala off at the door after breakfast, making sure he looked presentable. The buff giant really was just one big mother hen, Max mused as he watched Tala get scolded not doing his coat up. Bryan and Ian both appeared to have the day off work.
A little after 10am the quartet of men ventured out into the cold, the girls all wrapped up warm. Snow fluttered gently to the ground from looming grey clouds as the small group made their way to a nearby park. Other children were already there playing happily by the time they arrived, adults watching not far away. Max found it odd for the kids to not be at school, that was until Spencer told him these youngsters were from an orphanage, possibly out on a mood boosting trip.
Charlotte was nervous of the other children, huddled close to Max for extra warmth. Bryan stayed with them as Spencer and Ian moved over to the swings. One of the children, a little girl, approached Charlotte with a beaming smile. Max's little sister cowered behind him when the other child spoke in a language she couldn't understand. Luckily Bryan was on hand to translate.
"She wants to know if Charlotte would like to go and play with her and the other children."
Max was grateful to have Bryan close by, turning to Charlotte with a smile. "Well Charlie? It's ok with me if you want to go play."
Charlotte didn't mull it over for too long, hopping from her seat on the bench and following the little girl over to her friends. Bryan took his eyes off of Charlotte briefly to look at his brothers, finding they were having fun with the twins. Seeing them so happy aroused a yearning the falcon master didn't know he had. To have a family of his own one day. But would fate be cruel and rip Max away from him? Bryan could only hope for a bright future to come his way.
A mass of frightened screaming drew Bryan's eyes back towards the middle of the park. Charlotte had been helping the other kids to build a snowman and they'd done a good job for their age. Now the girls all sat in the snow, cowering in the shadow of a bigger, older boy. Max alighted from his seat to run to his baby sister, a grey blur dashing passed him.
Spencer and Ian stopped what they were doing in time to see Bryan dropping the boy with one hell of a roundhouse kick to the face, running over to where Charlotte sat whimpering, Alkanet and Yasha tucked close to their chests.
"Max what happened?!"
Questioned blonde was glowering at the downed teen when Spencer addressed him, slightly surprising the giant with his menacing stare.
"Charlotte says she and the girls were minding their own business building a snowman when that other boy came along, knocking them and their snowman over."
"Is she hurt?"
"No, just scared is all. Damn brat is lucky Bryan got to him first. Otherwise I would've beaten the crap out of him."
Spencer wasn't so sure that Bryan reaching the bully first was a good thing, considering how bad he looked. Bruises covered the boy's face and it looked like several teeth had been knocked out. Spencer knew Bryan loathed bullies of all kinds, but to beat a teenager black and blue was a bit excessive.
Passing Alkanet to Max, Spencer went to calm his brother down before he truly went too far. No doubt the bully wouldn't be picking on smaller children for a while after the beating Bryan gave him. A close eye was kept on all the children for the remainder of the outing. Spencer called it a day after an hour so the girls didn't get sick.
As they were about to leave, one of the orphaned children approached them, a little boy with turquoise hair and big chestnut brown eyes. He extended a flower to Charlotte, his face turned away as if shy. This particular child had kept a watchful eye on Charlotte specifically after the incident earlier. Charlotte looked up at Max, receiving a nod from him, her fingers brushing the boy's hand as she took the flower. Spencer whispered the Russian word for thank you to her and she did her best to repeat it to the boy.
Everyone was glad to be back in the warmth, shedding their heavy coats once in the house. Spencer went straight into the kitchen as it was gone lunch time. Max resisted the urge to laugh at the look on Bryan's face when Yasha was handed to him. He just sat there holding her up by the torso with something akin to terror in his eyes. To save Yasha's armpits, Max positioned her to sit in Bryan's lap, moving one of his arms to support her back.
"There, that way she'll be more comfortable. Seriously Bryan, Yasha isn't going to bite your head off."
Ian couldn't help but snigger at the face Bryan gave Max, one that held mock murderous intent. Before the midget of the family could make a snide remark the house phone went off. It stopped after half a minute and Spencer could be heard talking in the kitchen. For the rest of the day, Spencer and Ian taught Charlotte how to speak Russian. Max joined in too, more out of Charlotte insisting it was fun.
Tala returned home to see Ian on the floor with Charlotte and the twins, reading a book to them. Spencer, Max and Bryan were nowhere to be seen. Unsurprisingly Spencer was found in the kitchen, several cups on the side in front of him.
"There you are you sexy beast."
Tala purred as he wrapped his arms around Spencer's waist, distracting him from the task at hand. Spencer returned the embrace, a tired look in his eyes. Tala noticed the sleepy glint but knew better than to make a fuss of it.
"Rough day Spencer?"
Questioned giant shrugged with a grunt and returned to making the drinks. Tala took that as a yes, moving over to the fridge to grab the milk. Thinking it might help him to feel better; Tala wrapped his arms around Spencer's neck and kissed him. Doing so got the lavender eyed redhead groped and half slammed into the side. Only the opening and closing of the front door spared Tala from being bent over the table.
Bryan strode into the kitchen with Max not far behind, both of them weighed down by bags and heavy coats. Tala wasn't blind to the familiar shine in Bryan's eyes, one that told him the lavender haired male had almost fallen victim to his inner beast. Without a word he took the bags from Max's hands and set about putting everything away. Max was given no chance to protest, shooed out of the room by Bryan. Shrugging, he took off his coat and lifted Charlotte off the floor for a cuddle.
Later, in the dark of night everyone was tucked up in bed. Bryan was the only one struggling to drift off to sleep, plagued by unpleasant memories when he closed his eyes. It was somewhere around midnight when Bryan decided to get out of bed and get a drink of water. Milliseconds after sliding into his slippers and dressing gown, a shrill scream tore through the air.
Without a second to waste Bryan sprinted up the hall and burst into the room occupied by the twins. By Alkanet's bed was a cloaked individual but what caught Bryan's attention was the needle in their hand. With trained efficiency Bryan disarmed the intruder, putting himself between them and Alkanet. Thundering footfalls told of Spencer's coming and the attempted kidnapper alighted out the window. Bryan wasn't letting them get away so easily, vaulting out the window after them while Spencer checked the girls over for any sign of injury.
It was no surprise that all the noise woke Max, Tala and Ian from their slumber, Charlotte too. Spencer explained what he knew of the situation, Alkanet clutched protectively to his chest. Ian chose to go after Bryan but not without putting some clothes on first. Max went with him just in case Bryan needed carrying home and Ian was still too short for his own good. They returned with a dithering Bryan somewhere around half an hour later, no sign of the hooded assailant. Once he'd warmed up a little, Bryan was asked if he'd caught what the intruder looked like; telling his brothers all he saw was traces of pale peachy cream hair and copper bronze eyes. Spencer paled at the possibility of the intruder being Alkanet and Yasha's biological father. He didn't believe in coincidences. Bryan reasoned that it was dark and he could've made a mistake to put Spencer at ease if anything. Yet he couldn't deny the possibility either.
One by one the guys all meandered back to bed, everyone except Spencer. He couldn't bear to leave the girls alone after someone tried to snatch them away, sitting in view of the window, a gun in his lap. If anybody dared to try kidnapping his daughters again, they'd get a very nasty surprise.
The following morning everyone was tense. Spencer looked ready to strangle anyone who went near the sisters. Dark circles under his eyes told that he'd gotten no sleep overnight. Tala and the others discussed in the kitchen whether or not to inform the police about the break in. That was until Kai let himself into the house and hunted them down.
"What are you Tala, deaf?" Kai barked. "I've been sat out there honking for the past twenty minutes. Why the hell aren't you dressed yet? And what in the blazes is Max doing here?"
Nobody was in the mood for Kai's attitude, least of all a certain buff blonde who towered over him. Kai visibly shrunk in Spencer's shadow, eyes wavering. Alkanet and Yasha were set down in their high chairs but Alkanet refused to let go of Spencer's hand. Max took it upon himself to explain what had happened, but not in the kitchen.
"Well blondie, what's going on?"
"First of all, I'm here on a short vacation with Charlotte. She wanted to come and see the girls again and I needed a break from work. As for why Tala isn't ready to go…somebody broke in last night and tried to kidnap Alkanet. We've been debating whether or not to inform the authorities to try and track the bastard down. Bryan's the only one who got a vague look at him."
Having a reason for Tala's ignorance calmed Kai down a little, his anger now directed at the attempted kidnapping situation. Tala emerged from the kitchen, a weary look on his face. Kai watched him trudge tiredly up the stairs, choosing to follow after. Max prayed that Tala wouldn't be in too much trouble for being late, returning to the kitchen. Ian was distracting Alkanet so Spencer could get breakfast sorted. When Tala returned, he was in a loose jumper and sweatpants, Kai not far behind.
The silence was so thick it only broke by Alkanet screaming, waking Yasha who had nodded off in the chair beside her. Try as he might, Ian couldn't get Alkanet to calm down as he cradled her protectively. Max had his hands full gently bouncing Yasha on his knee and Bryan didn't dare get close. Tala tried taking Alkanet from Ian only to be swung at by chubby hands.
Spencer turned from the oven in time to witness a sight he never expected to see. Alkanet had twisted in Ian's hold; reaching out for the uncle she saw so little of, eyes rife with fear. Everyone sat gobsmacked as Kai relieved Ian of the screaming tot. In the safety of his arms, she calmed.
Days passed after Alkanet was almost kidnapped. Kai had distanced himself and outright refused to even touch the girls as if to protect his wounded pride. He'd informed the police of the break-in and the others provided witness statements. They had little hope of the perpetrator being caught within the next few weeks. By Saturday things calmed down. Max and Charlotte's final day with the Blitzkrieg Boys was spent just relaxing at the house. To make it special, Spencer baked a whole lot of sweet treats to go with a fancy supper. Mariam stopped by to see them before they had to leave, relieved to see the sisters safe. Bryan was disheartened to know it would be many months before Max could come back, wondering if he should plan a holiday of his own.
Kai surprised everyone by taking them all to the airport to see Max and Charlotte off on Sunday afternoon. He however waited in the limo which wasn't a surprise. Charlotte hugged her foreign uncles goodbye with tears stinging the corners of her eyes. To the shock of his brothers, Bryan actually lifted Max's baby sister off the floor and held her tight, even kissed her rosy cheek. From the corner of his eye, Bryan saw Ian preparing a snide remark, slamming him into the ground making Charlotte laugh. Max rolled his eyes; taking Charlotte so they could get onto the plane that would take them home. Nobody moved until the aircraft vanished into the distance.
Spencer disappeared immediately into the kitchen once home, leaving Alkanet in Mariam's capable hands as she insisted on staying for a bit. After all, she didn't see her brothers in law very often due to the work they all did. When innocently asked by Ian when she and Kai planned to have their first child, Mariam could only say she hoped to start trying within the next couple of years. Having cousins of somewhat similar age would be good for her child and the girls too since Charlotte wouldn't be able to come see them frequently. Spencer and Tala likely wouldn't be looking to adopt more children for years yet either, their hands full with the twins as it was. Mariam went home early in the evening with plans to have words with Kai.
With any luck I might have the next chapter up in time for Christmas. Kinda depends on what mood I'm in really.
Until then folks, take care.