Chapter 13
"You're not going back there, are you?" Montana asked the next day.
"Not until at least the window is fixed," Mariah answered.
"And you get a very, very large and vicious dog," Paul added.
"Right, man; I spent good money on an alarm system and I'm going to get a dog that will tear the shit out of anything that moves with twins on the way." Brian shook his head.
"Besides, a dog might eat Squishy," Leif said, picking up the cat.
"He'd make a good doggie snack. Nice and plump," Paul teased.
"Papi!" Kira admonished him.
"I was joking, baby. You don't actually think I'd actually feed our fuzzy buddy here to a dog, would you?"
"Better not," Leif said, "or we'd have issues."
"By the way, did you scoop his box yet?" Brian asked.
"Yep, and he has food too," Leif nodded.
"I'm just glad you guys put that alarm in," Kira said. "I'd hate to think what would happen otherwise if it wasn't there."
"Yes, thank God. You can thank my husband over here for that stroke of genius," Mariah nodded.
"Did the police give you any idea of who may have broken into the house?" Montana wondered.
"There's a general idea, but they want to go through the house first to make sure," Mariah answered. "I don't care about damage; I'm just glad the kids got out all right."
"Makes two of us," Paul agreed. "And shorty here keeping her head helped a lot too."
"I didn't do anything a good sitter wouldn't do, Papi," Kira replied. "Cut it out."
"Kira should sit with us all the time," Leif grinned. "She's the best!"
Brian gave him a look. "Since when do you endorse babysitters? Usually when your mother and I get one, you're having a fit. 'Do I have to have someone stay with me? I'm not a little kid!' We go through that all the time."
"Kira's different," Leif answered. "And I'm kind of glad she was there when the house got broken in. I think Mikey was too."
"Aha. You like Kira because she brings Mikey."
"That and he likes looking at Kira," Michael snickered.
Kira began to laugh.
"Shut up!" Leif playfully smacked his friend. "I do not!"
"Oh right. You're crushing on Nomi."
"You're really pushing it, Mikey."
"What about me?" Naomi asked, coming in to get a soda.
"Ewwwwwwwwwwww, girl!" Leif called.
"Ewwwwwwwww, boy with yellow hair!" she responded.
"Naomi!" Montana scolded.
"Think nothing of it, Mon; we go through this when they see each other," Paul said. "I don't see why they just don't go upstairs and make out already."
"Eww, Papi! Stop! You are so gross." Naomi made a face.
"Papi, don't tease her," Kira said.
"Why not? It's fun."
"Girls are weird anyway," Michael added.
"Hey, watch it, little man, or I'll let them grab you next time," Kira warned playfully.
"Except you and Mami." Michael caught himself.
"Nice save," Montana chuckled. "He's already learning from his father."
"How the hell did I get pulled into this?" Paul asked.
"PL's the king of saving himself," Brian joked. "Mike's got a good teacher."
"Like you never backtracked after shoving your foot in your mouth, Spanky," Paul countered.
"Let me count the ways," Mariah nodded.
"Hey, Mimi, no one asked anything from the El Prego section," Brian said.
"You got it whether you asked or not," Mariah quipped. "Anyway, we should really look into temporary hotel quarters until the window's fixed and they're done in the house. They've probably made a mess looking for…..whatever they're looking for."
"Nothing doing," Paul spoke up. "You're keeping your asses right here."
"Going to be kind of crowded, man," Brian reminded him.
"We can deal with that," Montana said. "No one is wasting money on hotels when there's room here. And it's only for a few days."
"How long does it take to put in a security window anyway?" Paul asked.
"And I can clean the mess up if there is any," Kira offered.
"Me too!" Naomi nodded eagerly.
"And me," Michael chimed in.
"Looks like you're outnumbered," Montana smiled. "Consider your temporary quarters already settled."