Galina looked at the long faces of the men surrounding the table and shook her head. "If we depended on men for the survival of the human race, we'd have been extinct in two generations." she muttered.
"Hey!" two men exclaimed.
"What does she mean?" Jon asked.
"She's insulting us for not getting Tayler's number. Or finding out from either of the boys how to get in touch with them. She's not being very nice or supportive right now." Joe said with a glower. "Especially since she didn't get the number, either." Galina smiled at him. "So, unless the Missus has a idea, she needs to sit there and look pretty so the men can come up with a plan." Her smile grew even wider as she turned to play with her daughter.
"So, we could try getting in touch with rental car companies." "Check the rental properties in the area." "What about sending her a message when we are on Raw on Monday? We know they are fans and they'd see it?" "Use Twitter, she might see it sooner. Both of you have accounts." "Stakeout the other historic places tomorrow."
Galina pulled out her phone and texted as she watched JoJo eat. "I know U are busy w/ family & things seem crazy right now, but will be ok. Need 2 talk. My guys are needing 2 see U 2 know U are ok. All 3 are worried." She sent the text and ate some of her now-cold food. A reply came through very quickly. "We are ok. Not ready to talk about the past. Not ready to talk to them, either." Galina understood. While she knew these three men, they could be intimidating to people who didn't. Even though the small family had spent the day with them, they hadn't spent it with the guys in these circumstances and that changed everything. She tapped out a quick message letting Tayler know she understood and told her to keep her faith. "Remember, I am here for you to talk to. No pressure. Just a listening ear." As she went to drop her phone into her purse, it signaled an incoming message. "I will take you up on that. Later." Galina dropped her phone into her purse.
"Who was that, hon?" Joe asked.
His wife looked him in the eye and said, "Your mother."
Devin and Colton sat cross-legged on one queen-sized bed while Tayler sat the other bed. They balanced their dinners carefully in their laps. They ate together in silence for a while before Colton spoke. "Just so you know, Colby saw us at the restaurant. He caught up with me at the door." His mother and brother looked at him expectantly. "Jon was the one yelling. Apparently the others said something that upset him. I asked if this was something that he usually had a problem with, because we don't need that in our lives."
"COLTON!" Tayler was horrified.
"It's true, Mom. After everything that Dad's put us through, we don't need someone with temper issues in our lives." he said defensively.
"And we don't need our dirty laundry broadcast to strangers. Our business is private." She shook her head at her son. "There are some things I shouldn't have to explain to you." Disappointment hung heavy in her tone.
"He saw us run out of the restaurant. I had our dinners in my hands. And I'm not making excuses for Dad or if I am defensive of you or Devin. No one is going to mess with either of you again." Colton was trying to man-up, squaring his shoulders as he looked at his mother.
"You are just about to get your license. The time will come for you to be the man of the house, of a house anyway. And then you can thump your chest and become a he-man, but until then you need to learn to be the best young man you can and enjoy your childhood. It is a fleeting time. Don't grow up too fast." Tayler looked at her phone and replied to a text while her boys started arguing over who would be the man of the house first. "HEY! I said you would need to be the man of your own house, not mine! So stop your fighting!" She untangled her feet and threw her trash away. "What do we want to do tomorrow?"
"I say Busch Gardens. Let's do some roller coasters!" Colton suggested.
"I saw Water Country. Water rides all day long!" Devin crowed.
"Come on, we can do some awesome coasters! Apollo's Chariot, Verbolten, Griffon, Alpengeist… They are all so much fun!" Colton tried again.
Devin retorted, "So are Nitro Racer, Aquazoid, Big Daddy Falls, Hubba-Hubba Highway, Rampage, and Malibu Pipeline. But Water Country is full of WATER so it is COOLER and tomorrow is supposed to be HOT. See, mine is BETTER!"
Tayler held up her hands. "BOYS! We can do both. We can do Water Country in the morning, and then go to Busch Gardens for the evening to watch the fireworks. Colt, you'll get to ride a coaster or two, okay?"
"As long as I can ride one of the BIG ones, I'll be happy." he agreed.
"Thank goodness." Tayler sighed. "Now can we get cleaned up? I am done." She watched her kids 'clean up' their dinners and then she finished picking up the area. They got their showers and crawled around the beds for a while before finally settling down. Then Tayler had a few minutes to herself to get ready for bed. Before turning off her phone, she sent Galina another message. "Sorry for the late reply. The boys are finally settled. Understand Jon was upset earlier. Hope everything is okay now." She received an immediate reply that everything was fine and that the men wanted to check in with her family soon. "We are fine. Planning a fun day tomorrow, so the boys will be very happy."
"You don't understand." Galina texted back. "These three are going to be looking for you and the boys. Think Secret Recon Mission and Three Stooges. Listening to them has me ROTFLOL. I am also a little scared. Not the brightest."
Tayler smiled. "You and J free tomorrow? The five of us could play."
"Sounds like a plan." Galina agreed. "TTYL."