Harley and the Mole

Part Six

He had been prepared for change when Elizabeth and her two sons, their two sons, had entered his life on a permanent basis. Hell, he had even welcomed it. The energy they brought to his existence made his previously dull and colorless life full of vibrancy and actual joy, two things he had been missing without even realizing it. His home had always been simply a place, somewhere he went to sleep a few hours every night, take a shower, grab some clean clothes, and check in with whomever it was at the time that was occupying his penthouse with him - be it a girlfriend, a fiancée, a wife, pretend or otherwise, or even just a slightly neurotic computer hacker he had taken under his wing.

Now, though, he didn't live in a cold and impenetrable fortress high above in a bullet proof tower; instead, he lived in the suburbs, in a house with a yard for children to play and shudders simply for decoration, in a real home. And, with that home, came change. He could no longer come and go as he pleased, showing total disregard for the people he shared his living space with. He could no longer stock his fridge with beer and only beer, no matter how much the idea still appealed to him sometimes... especially when his wife had, apparently, decided the middle of the night was a good time to clean out the fridge. And he could no longer expect quiet and peace after a long day on the job.

Normally, the confusion of his family brought a smile to his otherwise stoic face. Jason liked listening to his wife's excited rambling, her good spirits and laughter almost infectious but not quite. The children could always make him thankful for their presence in his life, even when they were sick or grumpy or crying and upset as they seemed to be that night, and, sharing little things like bedtime stories or snuggling in front of the TV as they enjoyed one of the movies the boys watched continually, made him grateful that his life was no longer silent and still. However, this - mad chaos, was not charming or endearing. In fact, it was simply annoying.

Elizabeth was just a step shy of completely losing control. Although, at a later date, he knew he would be able to have some fun with the fact that she was that fearful of rodents, at the present moment, he simply wanted the mouse or rat or whatever the hell the four legged creature was gone so they could go to bed. She was yelling things, things he couldn't quite follow and was slightly thankful for that fact, about diseases and her lack of ability to keep a clean house. Then, there were Cam and Jake... and Harley. When he had first walked in, the boys had been scared, but it seemed as if his peer presence alone had alleviated their uneasiness, and, instead of worrying about their mother, they were currently bickering over something unimportant while the cat struggled, scratched, and generally fought in an attempt to escape her surrogate owner's clutches. And, of course, he couldn't forget about Milo - his friend, coworker, and one of the men he trusted his family's safety to, and what was he doing? Absolutely fucking nothing. Standing back, his arms crossed over his chest with an amused smirk dancing upon his face, he simply watched the chaos surrounding them, leaving it to Jason to clean up the mess his family had made.

"Alright, first of all, Jake, before you end up missing an eye and we have to make an emergency trip to the hospital, put that damn cat down. Now!"

"Uh, boss," the young brunette guard spoke up, wrinkling his smooth face in disagreement. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

By the time Milo answered him, it was already too late. Harley was down, the rodent was on the run, and the cat was just one step behind its every move, planning and plotting its attack. They moved with absolutely no regard to anything or anyone in the room, knocking over chairs and running between legs, starting the boys and infuriating Jason. Despite the fact that he could clearly see for himself the mistake it was to allow Harley her freedom, his employee decided it was a good idea to explain anyway.

"Well, you see, the cat's going to give chase, and she won't stop until the thing is dead. If Harley was a boy cat, then he'd merely sit back and do nothing. They're lazy SOB's," Milo informed him.

"What's an SOB?"

Jake was ignored, and the bodyguard kept talking. "But a girl cat, it's their instinct to kill. It's the mother in them. And, I know," he stopped his boss before he could be interrupted, "I know that Harley has never had kittens, but that doesn't erase the urge. The good news is she'll take care of the little, harmless guy; the bad news is she'll make a mess doing so."

"See I told you we should have gotten a boy pet," Cameron spoke up, glaring at his little brother. "But you had to be allergic to my dog."

At the same time, his wife exploded. "Harmless? Little? Milo, that rat is huge."

And, of course, Jake had to have his say as well. "Shut up, Cammy," he taunted his brother, sticking out his tongue. "Your dog was ugly and stupid... just like you."

"Uh, Mrs. Morgan," Milo chuckled at the wide eyed, almost crazed woman. "You don't know much about nature, do you?"

"Alright, that's enough," Jason yelled, startling all those around him and ceasing their endless chatter. "Milo, if you have something to say, say it, and then get back to your post. When was the last time you did a perimeter check?"

"Right, boss," the younger man quickly agreed, nodding his head. "It's just... that's not a rat."

"Of course it's not a rat," the enforcer rolled his snapping, glacial orbs of blue. "I've seen rats before down by the docks. They would eat that mouse in a matter of seconds and still be hungry."

"You're right, they would eat thatmouseexcept for the fact that Harley isn't chasing around a mouse. What the hell did you do as a kid? Didn't you ever play in the woods or go exploring in the yard? Can't you tell the difference between a mouse and mole?"

"I don't know what I did as a kid, Milo. Remember - AJ, a tree, me, and the fact that my brain got scrambled?"

"Oh, yeah," the security expert blanched considerably, backing up a few steps away from his already enraged boss who was quickly becoming unglued. "Shit," he swore under his breath. "Sorry."

"Milo," Elizabeth yelled at him, stomping her foot down as harshly as she could on the cool, marble counter top. "You know better than to swear in front of the boys."

"You're not supposed to be listening," the young man whined. "You're supposed to be indisposed at the moment with fear." Pointing and pretending to be startled, he attempted to distract her. "Oh my god, look at the giant rat."

Jason pinched the bridge of his nose, recognizing that his wife was about to lose control of her temper as well. "Milo, go outside, do your job, and quit antagonizing Elizabeth... and me."

"Sure thing, boss," the bodyguard rapidly agreed. "But, just so you know, mole's are blind, so that's why he's just sort of running around without a clear path. They're harmless though."

"And dirty and disgusting," the mother of his children added. "I'm going to have to clean this entire kitchen from top to bottom tomorrow, not to mention take care of the kids, make dinner, and find time to go to work and do some laundry as well. Do you really want to mock me some more, Milo? Or maybe you'd like to volunteer for cleaning duty?"

The only sound the twenty-something brunette made was a loud squeak, similar to the sound a mouse might make, how fitting, before scurrying out the of the kitchen with both his tail between his legs and his head bowed in surrender. For the first time since he walked through the back door, Jason felt like laughing. His friend and employee had been caught, snagged, and reeled in. Whether he wanted to or not, Elizabeth would have him cleaning the next day right along side of her. Speaking of cleaning, though, his mind quickly realized, the mouse... or mole, whatever the hell it was, falling aside in his mind as its level of importance was usurped, his wife had been doing a lot of that recently, and, as he glanced around the nearly destroyed kitchen, he also picked up on the fact that she hadn't been organizing their fridge but planning on having herself a monolith of a midnight snack.

Getting a brainstorm, he opened the back door, snow swirling, cold enough to steal your breath winter air seeping into the otherwise warm house before the cat chased the blind mole outside. With that taken care of, Jason turned back to his family, folded his arms across his chest, and then glowered at them - all of them. If he wasn't so tired and annoyed, he would have been amused by the fact that the three of them began fidgeting and shuffling their feet in what he guessed was a combination of embarrassment, apology, and avoidance.

"Who wants to go first?"

No one said a word.

"Fine, if you want to do this the hard way, everyone," he met each of their gazes individually, "take a seat." Obediently, his wife and children took their seats at the breakfast table. "Now, who wants to tell me what happened?"

"I heard Mom scream, and I was worried," Cameron confessed, his deep, chocolate eyes full of honesty and warmth. "I got out of bed and ran downstairs to check on her. That's all."

"And Jake," the father of two prompted his youngest son.

"Harley got scared when Mommy yelled," the three and half year old replied. "But I wasn't scared. I brought Harley downstairs so Mom could calm her down."

"You're a liar," his oldest child accused his youngest, pinching Jake who only returned the gesture, starting an all out battle between the two siblings. "I saw you crying, you big baby."

"At least I don't have a girly name, Cammy!"

"That's enough," Jason yelled, pinning both of his children with a fierce, disappointed stare. "Do you know how sick I am of the two of you fighting? You, Cameron," he looked at the almost eight year old little boy, "you are mean to your little brother. You ignore him, call him a baby, and you refuse to play with him." Just as the younger son was about to snicker at his older brother's expense, the enforcer turned his glare towards Jake. "And, you," he accused the blonde little boy, "you tease your brother until the point where he's practically forced to be mean to you. And what have I told you about calling him Cammy? You know he hates it, Jacob Martin." He only used his son's full name when he was in trouble.

"I'm sorry, Daddy," the child who looked so much like him apologized. But it was too little, too late, and the father and husband knew it was insincere, that, as soon as his back was turned, Jake would be calling his older brother that again.

"Do you know who you're named after?" The toddler shook his head no. "You're named after a friend of mine and your mother's. HER name was Jake, too."

Cameron's eyes got wide with glee and amusement. "Did you say HER?"

"Yes," Jason answered, his expression never wavering. "I did. So, now, it seems as if your names cancel each other out. If you call your brother Cammy again, Jake, he can just taunt you about being named after a girl, and, if Cameron says anything about where you got your name, you can call him Cammy, so what's the point of teasing each other anymore."

For the first time since they sat down, Elizabeth spoke up. "I thought we agreed that we wouldn't say anything about Jake's name until the boys were older?"

"If they think they're old enough to fight with each other, then they're old enough to know all the facts," he returned, meeting his wife's disapproving gaze. He knew that look. She was upset with him, disagreed with his decision to confess the origin of their youngest son's name, especially since they hadn't discussed the decision together beforehand. "Besides," he added, smirking at her. "I don't think you really want to say anything to me right now. You're not exactly my favorite person at the moment."

"The feeling's mutual," Elizabeth snipped, kicking him under the table, a gesture designed to show her annoyance with him and get him to stop talking until the boys left, but he was past the point of restraint. All he wanted to do was get all their cards out on the table, settle things then and there, and go to bed, forgetting about his long, unfruitful day of sitting at a stakeout and about coming home to find his family in the midst of a meltdown. "Anyway," she kept talking, her tone changing from antagonistic to emotional, the tears she was suddenly close to shedding just simmering below the surface. "After the night I've had, I'd think you'd be a little nicer to me. That mole scared me half to death, and I..."

"You what?" As if she realized what she was about to say, her mouth clamped down tighter than he'd ever seen it, and he knew she'd never reveal her aborted comment at that point. "And you feel guilty for it getting into the house in the first place," he finished for her when it became apparent she wouldn't do it for herself. "Maybe if you wouldn't leave your candy lying around the house all the time, wild animals wouldn't sneak in thinking they could find some food."

"Oh, no," the mother of his children scoffed, disbelief tinging her words. "You did not just say that to me."

"I did," Jason confirmed, standing up and pushing himself away from the table. "And I have a right to, because what I said was the truth. If you want further proof, look around this kitchen. It's a disaster. Why the hell is all that food on the counter?"

Whispering her response, his wife admitted, "I was kind of hungry, so I came downstairs to make myself something to eat. I couldn't figure out what I wanted, so I got a few things out..."

Interrupting her, he gestured wildly to the large pile of perishables on the island. "You call that a few things?"

"... and before I could eat any of it," Elizabeth finished, almost sounding remorseful and not for the fact that the mole had disrupted their entire family's night but because she was still hungry, "I saw the rodent and became upset."

"You freaked out, Mom," Cameron supplied, breaking into the adults' conversation.

"Why are you still up," she snapped, pivoting around in her seat to question her son. "You should be in bed. Go upstairs, now." Without another word, she stood, moved to Jake's chair, and took his hand in hers, leading the younger boy towards the living room and the stairs that would take them to their rooms. "And you," she addressed her husband, anger dripping from her every word. "You can just sleep on the couch tonight. I really don't want to see you for a while.

As she and Jake disappeared, leaving him and Cameron in the kitchen alone, Jason had to laugh. That was something else he had been expecting once he got married - stupid fights that would banish him to the couch at night, but this had been the first time he and Elizabeth had been unable to solve and forget their differences before they went to bed, and, frustratingly, it was over something as asinine as a mole. He had a feeling, though, that there was more to the story than Elizabeth was admitting. Glancing towards the food splayed counter top, he shook his head. Much, much more.

"Alright, kid," he waved towards his oldest son, requesting that he stand up from the table. "Now it's time for you to return the favor. I told you about Jake's name, so, now, you have to help me clean up this kitchen."

"And you can stay in my room, too, tonight," the almost eight year old child offered. "You're too big to sleep on the couch, Jason, and my bed's big enough for the both of us."

"Thanks, Cameron."

"No problem," the curly haired little boy commented, grinning up at his stepfather. As they worked together to put away the food, he remarked, "Mom sure has been acting strange lately."

Simultaneously, they blurted out, "girls," sharing a knowing chuckle before returning to their work, cleaning in silence.

Finally, the kitchen was at least passable, so, while Cam turned off the lights, Jason let Harley back inside, locked the door, and followed his oldest son towards the stairs. He had a lot to think about before he could fall asleep. Everyone was right; Elizabeth was acting strange, but not strange enough that he couldn't make sense of her odd behavior. He just had to weigh the information he already had, look for more signs, and, eventually, confront her with his suspicions. However, the night had not been a total waste of time.

Despite the chaos, despite the fact that his wife was so irked with him that he had been banished from their bedroom, and despite the fact that he knew his youngest son would be mad at him come morning, too, two positive things had come from the whole mole experience. One, he felt as if he and Cameron were one step closer to becoming a true father and son pair, and, two, he now knew what Elizabeth was going to be getting for Valentine's Day. He just hoped he had enough time to get everything done that he needed to in the next few days. It would be tight, but, if nothing else, he worked well under pressure, and what was more nerve wracking than managing to surprising your wife, especially when you needed to do something great for her to get back into her good graces and the bed you shared together?

In his opinion, nothing.