It seems like every time I update these days I have some kind of excuse as to why it's taken me so long... This time, I invite you to guess who's sixteen-year-old-about-to-finish-highschool sister just announced to the family that she is six months pregnant to her five-years-younger-than-mum boyfriend. Just to put things in perspective, our mother will be 52 this Saturday. That makes the age difference between said sister and boyfriend the same as between me and my dad. Anyway, so that kinda rocked our world a little... And then there was the fact that I've been engrossed in novel after novel that just would not allow me to delve my creative mind into my own stories. But enough about my drama. Here's a new chapter.

Chapter 14

"Mom," Edi whined from somewhere behind me as we entered the conference room that afternoon. By the time we'd finished at Pino's Carlos had not only interrogated Brodie subtly, yet extensively, but we'd also given him all the answers we had on the crossword, and it was already time to pick up the kids; which meant I hadn't had a chance to pick Carlos's brains on the Brodie issue with his new information. I'd just have to wait until we had a chance to discuss it with all the guys. He did seem a little more relaxed about Brodie by the time we left him after lunch, but that meant little in the world of Carlos Manoso.

"Mom," Mat said.

I groaned. I knew exactly what was next to come out of their mouths. It was always the same. The moment we got anywhere, especially Rangeman, they complained about being hungry. It was downright embarrassing at times. You'd think I never fed them with the way they complained. I ignored their pleas for my attention for the moment, waiting until I reached my spot at the table before I'd give them what they wanted.

"Mommy," they said together, louder than before. They were right beside my chair as I came to a stop.

"We're hungry," the Merry Men chorused around us.

Rolling my eyes, I pointed to nearest Merry Man. "Snack time," I informed him. "Bring me three sliced apples, a tub of Philadelphia spreadable cream cheese, the caramel ice cream topping from behind the cans of soup in the cupboard, a packet of gram crackers, a bowl, a spoon and a hammer."

He stared at me for a long moment and I couldn't tell if he was trying to remember all the items I'd just rattled off or attempting to figure out what they were all for. Finally, he asked, "A hammer?"

"You're right," I agreed, grinning. I loved playing with their heads. "Your gun will work just fine. Bring me the rest and when you get back I'll borrow your gun."

"Don't you have your own gun, Bomber?" Lester asked, spinning the chair Edi was attempting to climb onto. Edi stumbled and ran around the chair trying to reach the seat and hop on while it was still moving. When Lester did the same to Mat's chair, the boy stumbled a little but managed to stay upright as he followed his brother's lead.

I sent Les an amused look. "Of course I do," I assured him. What I didn't mention was that it was in under the passenger seat of my car.

As the boys rolled their chairs into the open space between me to spin around on, Lester asked, "What do you need a gun for anyway?"

Bobby joined us at that moment from somewhere beyond my line of vision. "Apples and caramel cheesecake dip," he said matter-of-factly. "Duh." And with that, he swiftly left the room, giving the Merry Man I'd pointed to with instruction originally a healthy slap upside the head for not following instructions without question. It always surprised me how confused the newer men could get when faced with me full on. It was like they'd never encountered a slightly insane, 'Burg raised, mother of twin boys who was used to having men ask how high when she told them jump. Surely they had training for that nowadays. I thought Bobby had started including a section on child safety and specific needs for the boys into his basic first aid initiation speech about three months before they were even born. And Tank did some role plays with the new recruits of crazy situations they could encounter working at Rangeman so that the men could get a chance to work through how to handle them, I assumed they were based on past experiences with me.

Lester dumped the boys into their respective chairs and dragged them back over to the table where Hal had just set out two pages of scrap paper with different coloured circles on them, to sets of child friendly chop sticks – the ones that are connected at one end so they're more like tongs – and a small bucket of multi coloured pom poms. As I watched curiously, Hal showed them what they needed to do, picking up an individual pom pom with the chopsticks and placing it in a circle of the same colour.

It seemed like a very big coincidence if Hal and Lester just happened to set up this activity on the day we find out that Mat is struggling with his motor skills and may need glasses. I had a feeling my husband was behind this. Sure enough, when I raised my eyes from the boys I found Carlos at the other end of the table, carefully examining Mat's movements over the top of a file. He locked gazes with me after a moment and I struggled to understand the look he was giving me, but it may have been pain and guilt. Obviously, he still felt he should have picked up on Mat's difficulties. I sent him a reassuring smile that everything would be alright and he nodded before setting the file aside before coming around the table to my side.

"How are your spidey senses where Brody is concerned?" he asked quietly, slipping into a chair and positioning it between Matias and myself.

I hadn't been expecting this question. Yes, I knew he valued my opinions and trusted my gut reactions, but I thought he'd made up his own mind about Brody. "They're pretty quiet," I informed him honestly. "There's something about him that he's either not telling us or he isn't aware of himself, but I don't think he's a threat." I smiled at Bobby as he returned with the apples and caramel cheese cake dip as well as two sealed paper bags and two small rubber mallets, setting them in front of the boys after moving the pom pom activity out of the way. The boys immediately began smashing the biscuits within, creating a great racket in the formerly quiet conference room, but the joy on their faces was worth it. "It feels like there's a connection between us."

Carlos nodded, as Bobby took the mallets back and poured the biscuit crumbs into the small dish beside the dip and apples. The boys immediately grabbed apple slices and dipped them first into the cream cheese and caramel topping mixture then into the biscuit crumbs while Carlos stated, "I don't think he's a threat either, but this crossword still has me on edge."

"Where do we go from here?" I asked

Bobby plonked down beside me on my other side. "Well, first of all," he began, "You enjoy a snack with Mat and Edi. Then you come down to the gym with me for some PT while Mat and Edi wreak havoc on the men with the special Pom Pom Poppers I made for them this afternoon. And then we'll all gather up on the seventh floor for family dinner. You'll go home, put the boys to bed, spend a lovely evening with your husband and in the morning, the lab guys will hopefully have the results of the DNA testing they're currently running on the saliva sample we got off his glass at Pinos." As I stared at him, trying to process what he'd just rattled off, he snatched up a piece of apple, dipped it twice and shoved it in my open mouth. "I expect you down there in half an hour," he added, walking away.

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