Separated
The night before Bravo left for Venezuela, Jason had returned to the apartment he shared with his youngest kid to be home with Clay. Bravo One had spent the previous night on Brock and Katie's couch, leaving Clay with his best caregiver and favorite uncle. Not wanting any nightmare drama or last minute meltdowns before the mission from either kid, Trent took the boss's vacated spot on Brock's couch confident that Jason had Clay handled.
Clay was clearly anxious, but he held it together knowing that he was going to be spending the next couple weeks with Josh. Bravo's youngest had quickly grown attached to Alpha's bomb guy, who like Sonny was a big, southern, mountain of a man, who could and would kick the ass of anyone who threatened his family. But unlike Sonny, who kept his heart guarded and prided himself in being a tough old bastard, Josh was emotionally accessible to his brothers and his family, with a huge soft spot and a calm, gentle way of handling skittish kids like Clay.
Clay's childhood, filled with repeated abuse and abandonment, had taught him to always be on the lookout for a protector in every new, unfamiliar, or potentially dangerous situation he encountered. And he was an excellent judge of character. Clay knew he was safe with Josh within the first few minutes of getting to know him at the infirmary in Mexico where the kid was sick, scared and teetering on a full meltdown.
The boy knew the father of three could be trusted, the same way he immediately accepted Trent as a tough but loving caregiver who would always hold him close, keeping him safe. And after his first trial mission with Bravo, Clay recognized Jason as the father he had desperately needed and yearned for when he was alone, terrified and unwanted, being tossed without care from one terrible situation to the next.
Josh had tracked down the kid early Monday morning, sitting on the hood of Jason's truck, looking like a lost puppy as he watched the plane carrying Bravo take-off without him. The older man approached quietly, leaning casually back against the front of the truck, not saying a word, but reaching out to gently wrap his big, calloused hand around the boy's ankle, silently offering comfort and support.
Clay slowly slid down from the hood of the truck. Watching the plane disappear out of sight, he looked down, eyes watering, trying hard to control his emotions. Leaning against his trusted uncle, the kid grabbed hold of his current guardian's shirt as he often did to ground and settle himself when he felt like he might lose it.
"This is the first time they left me since the Liberia mission," Clay whispered quietly, turning to bury his face in the older man's shirt.
Josh lifted his strong arm, inviting the clearly emotional boy in and holding him close against his side.
"Nobody is leaving you, honey," Josh said, calmly. "Your boss-daddy and grouchy old uncles are just going off to work for a while. And you, shorty, are safe and sound, hanging out here with Uncle Josh, my pretty wife, and our crazy kids."
Kissing the boy's head, Josh pointed him back toward the base, swatting his tail lightly to get him moving and away from the parking lot drama.
"And just in case you were considering some naughty mayhem to get my attention and share your displeasure with the current situation," Josh said lightly, "I'm going to strongly recommend that you reconsider. Reflect back on the Great Liberia Fiasco as it has come to be known and how that ended for you and your wingman Corey."
Josh stopped to let that sink in before continuing, dramatically talking with his hands as he led the now smirking kid back to Alpha's cage room.
"Then add to that your knowledge of cause and effect learned the hard way alongside your current foster brother, my own naughty namesake, through many hairbrained, dumbass adventures including, but not limited to - "
Alpha Four paused before counting off the adventures on his fingers.
"The exploding garbage tote, the drunken beach party with near drowning, the 'borrowing' of Mamaw Gertie's 1988 Plymouth Relient K, and the late-night escape and bus ride to the aptly named 'Slightly Stoopid' concert which, as you may remember, left you and my common sense lacking son on a month long, phone free, game free, TV free, fun free lockdown. Not to mention on the receiving end of the silent treatment from my very sorry, post-spanking, baby girl who lied straight to her mama and daddy's faces to cover for you and her big brother, finding herself on the receiving end of a much dreaded 'daddy bottom blazer'."
"JJ and I felt really bad about Lezlie getting it," Clay said solemnly. "We knew we'd probably get caught, and we never thought she'd lie for us."
"Yeah, well, she did lie for you," Josh said sternly. "She loves you two knuckleheads. And you both should've felt plenty sorry for your part in earning her a good lickin'. Every kid on the block heard her fussing and howling. And you both are old enough to know better and use your heads occasionally."
"Yes, sir," Clay said quietly, looking up at him with the big blue eyes. "I'll be good while Bravo's away. I promise Uncle Josh."
"I know you will, son," Josh said sincerely, wrapping an arm around his kid. "Because you are always a good boy. But what I'm asking is that you bypass fight-mode and come to me if you are feeling scared so that we can figure it out together. And if not me, then Derrick or Melinda or Tim or one of the other many people who love you and will be right here in good old Virginia Beach while Bravo is working."
Josh stopped outside Alpha's cage room. Lifting the boy's chin to make eye-contact, his trusted uncle smiled gently. "You think you can do that for me, honey?" Josh asked.
Clay nodded, wrapping his arms around his trusted uncle's waist and holding him tightly. "I will. I promise," he said. "You know I love you right? And I really appreciate you and Aunt Melinda letting me stay with you. I won't give you a hard time or let you down."
"Hey," Josh said, kissing his head and peeling him off gently to make eye contact again. "You could never let me down. And yes, I know you love me. And I love you more."
Clay was true to his word and on his best behavior for Josh and Melinda. Tuesday afternoon, after one of Bravo's support kids had picked up the kid to deliver him back to Josh's place where JJ and the girls would be arriving home from school, Josh joked with Derrick and Brock that the much anticipated weekend with the fun aunt and uncle was a great motivator for all his babies to be towing the line at home and school.
"I'm telling you, brother," Josh chuckled, shaking his head at Derrick. "I don't know what bag of tricks you have hiding over at your place, but Melinda and I are grateful. No one wants to step out of line and risk getting grounded from your place. There's zero bickering, my babies are doing homework like they are tryin' to get accepted at Harvard, and yesterday I came home to find Clay taking out the garbage and JJ mowing the lawn - on their own. Melinda wasn't even home to tell them to do it."
"I don't know," Derrick said, shrugging. "Apparently you aren't popular with the under twenty crowd like me and my hot wife. You'll have to draw your own conclusions from that."
"Better you than me," Metal scoffed. "I'd do most anything for you Josh, brother. But I draw a hard fucking line at babysitting five kids for the entire weekend. I'd take your dog for the weekend in a pinch - Nacho is chill. And I'd even shell out the money for a qualified sitter. But me trapped with three pain in the ass boys and two drama queen girls in my apartment? Nope. "
"And I'd trust you with most anything, Metal," Josh said sarcastically. "But I draw a hard fucking line at leaving you in charge of my babies. And I wouldn't let you take Nacho either - not even in a pinch. And if I was crazy enough to consider you as an acceptable babysitter, Melinda would have me at the top of Mama's Shit List. So no need for you to fret about entertaining my kids."
"So Clay is doing okay?" Brock asked, trying really hard not to sound anxious and failing miserably. "No nightmares or anything?"
Josh reached over and gave the kid's neck a quick squeeze before tousling his hair lightly. Brock was such a good kid, and all the guys on Alpha could clearly see he was struggling and trying so hard to hold it together after the shit-show in Syria.
"It's only been two days, but so far so good, kiddo," Josh said, making eye contact with Derrick and Metal. "He did wake up last night, just after midnight. It wasn't a nightmare. I think he was just restless. Melinda and the other kids were dead asleep, but you know it doesn't take nothin' but a door creak or bare feet on the carpet to get my attention."
"Was he upset?" Brock asked.
"Naw. He seemed okay. Sorry for waking me up, but you know I told him he never needs to feel bad about needing some company," Josh said lightly. "He misses Bravo. We had some hot chocolate together, and I sat with him until I was sure he was back down for the night in JJ's bottom bunk."
Josh went on, shaking his head and changing the subject. "My kid's room looks like a FEMA disaster site," he said. "Melinda refuses to enter. Says she has enough stress in her life without looking at that mess. If JJ doesn't bring out his dirty clothes on laundry day, his Mama has made it clear he can wash them himself."
"How bad can it possibly be?" Metal scoffed, easily going along with his longtime brother's attempt at changing the topic from any night time distress that would likely get Brock worked up as well. "When I was a kid, our room was definitely a mess. But I bunked with three brothers. JJ's just one kid with part-time visitation by the blond menace."
Josh laughed. "My boy's room has the vibe of a Target that's been ransacked by looters," he said. "Clothes, school work, electronics, plastic dishes crusted with God knows what. I recovered at least ten empty Mountain Dew cans and a half drawer worth of silverware Melinda's been looking for."
"He slept the rest of the night okay?" Brock asked, clearly knowing what his big brothers were trying to do, but not willing to let it drop without reassuring himself that his baby brother was not a wreck without him.
"He did," Josh reassured him gently. "And speaking of sleeping through the night, how are you doing in that department?"
Brock shrugged, the worn out, anxious look in his big, brown eyes not going unnoticed by any of the guys sitting around the table in Alpha' cage room.
"I'm trying," Bravo's second youngest said honestly. "Katie's gotta get up for work early, and I feel bad keeping her up. She wants me to be in the bedroom with her, but most nights after she's asleep, I end up on the couch watching TV. The background noise and watching random reruns of crap I've seen dozens of times helps me settle."
Metal got up and brought the kid a granola bar and bottle of water, catching Derrick's eye over the boy's head, and silently letting his medic know he was concerned.
"How about you cop a squat on that cot over there that we put out for your little brother?" Metal said, standing behind Bravo's young dog handler and resting his strong hand on the kid's head. "You clearly could do with a nap."
"I'm okay, guys," Brock said despite looking like he might drop at any time. "I slept a while on the couch last night. Really."
"That wasn't actually a suggestion, son," Alpha One said, meaning business and pulling rank. "You're going to eat your snack, drink your water, and take your skinny little ass over to sack out on the cot for the rest of the afternoon. We'll wake you when it's time to head out."
"He's right, Brock," Derrick said calmly. "Clay isn't the only kid Hayes left in our care. And badass as he might be, not even the boss over there wants to deal with Uncle Trent if he comes home and the first scraggly baby he adopted isn't looking better than he did when the grumpy old prick left."
"Trent's not a prick," Brock argued defensively, coming immediately to his most loved big brother's defense. "He just worries about everyone, and it comes off kind of pricky sometimes. Trent is the best."
"Relax there tiger," Josh said lightly, raising his hands in surrender. "Everybody in this room knows that there is no better man, or better step-mama, than grouchy ol' Trent. We have been his brothers for a very long time, and we know how much he loves you and Clay. And how much you both love him."
"And we sure as shit know that Trent is counting on us to keep you and the chief troublemaker sorted while they're on this mission," Metal said sternly. "So you dog-boy are going to do exactly as I say and get your tail on that cot, and under the runt's favorite blanket. Are we clear?"
"Yes, sir," Brock said quietly, standing and slowly moving toward the cot. "Thanks for looking out for us. We love you guys."
"For fuck's sake," Metal sighed, throwing up his arms in defeat. "Another one of Bravo's brats unleashes the love fest on me. Is this the fucking Navy or a damn nursery?"
"Ignore him and get some rest, honey," Josh said, shaking his head. "You need it. It's only been a short time since we got back home, and you and the runt went through the wringer."
"Daddy Josh is right, tough guy," Derrick agreed. "And don't let Metal the Grouch fool you for a second. He most definitely loves both you and the baby. We suspect he was raised by wolves, and being a bastard is how he shows affection."
Once he crashed on the cot, the boy was sleeping like the dead in less than five minutes. Brock was safe and protected by his much older brothers. who he knew also had Clay's back 24/7, allowing the kid to sleep soundly like he hadn't since Jason and Trent had taken turns bunking on his couch.
"This one is definitely in worse shape than Clay," Josh said solemnly, pointing over at the sleeping kid. "Fingers crossed, and knock on wood, but Trouble has settled in for the most part. He still needs a lot of reassurance, especially at night. And he's missing and asking about Brock, but we all know that's to be expected after what they went through together. But this kid pulling away from his new wife and needing his brothers to be able to even close his eyes is a definite red flag situation."
"I agree," Derrick said. "And according to my wife, the junior marriage counselor, Katie is overwhelmed and doing her own pulling away, which feeds back into Brock not wanting to freak her out. And we all know that can be the beginning of the end of a marriage in our world. And Catherine and I both would hate to see that happen because they really love each other, and I think Katie has it in her to be the wife of an operator."
"I think you are right all the way around, brother," Josh said seriously. "And as someone who was lucky enough to find a girl strong enough to live this life with me, and deal with my babies without me on a regular basis, I'd hate to see Brock lose Katie when I agree she's a keeper. They are just so damn young for this shit."
"That is most definitely a problem," Derrick sighed. "Catherine was in the Navy herself when we got the apartment together. We were thirty before we actually got married. And we obviously opted against adding kids to the equation."
"You know I started seeing Melinda in my mid-twenties," Josh said. "But like Katie, she had her own career with friends and family to keep her busy. And we were both close to thirty when we finally tied the knot and had been together a long time. Melinda was thirty, and I was almost thirty-two when JJ was born. And it was still a struggle those first years, adjusting to being married, my job, having three kids in four years. And not everyone knows this, but Melinda had a miscarriage between JJ and Lorie, alone on a base when we were stationed in Coronado and I was deployed. Her sister flew out to be with her and help with JJ."
Josh paused, shaking his head and reeling in his emotions.
"It still kills me knowing she was on her own when it happened," Josh said sadly. "She had to go through the procedure to have everything taken care of all alone in a base hospital in California with doctors she didn't know. Then go home to a baby who couldn't even walk yet, and take care of him by herself until her sister could get there. That's the reason we transferred back here to Virginia, so Melinda could be near her family. She eventually forgave me, but believe me it wasn't easy. I'll never forgive myself. And we were both in our thirties."
"I think we can all agree that twenty-four is crazy young to be a tier-one operator and newlywed at the same time," Metal sighed. "But that's the situation. So the question is, what can we do to help the kid get through this first of what we know will be many hard times?"
Alpha's dog-handler was relatively new to the team. In his early thirties, Noah was a decade and a half younger than his older brothers. He had been with Alpha for two years and had come to know the guys on Bravo fairly well. He was the only man on Alpha even in the vicinity of Brocks' age, and he had gotten to know him as a fellow dog guy.
The first man to go into the cave back in Syria, Noah saw the condition of his younger brothers after several days evading capture in the brutal desert with only each other for support. He would never forget the sight of Clay barely conscious and wrapped around his older brother as if Brock was the only thing standing between him and Hell. Noah liked and respected Brock, and like all his brothers, he wanted to help out if he could.
He had been sitting quietly, listening to the older men talk.
"What about suggesting that Brock take Cerb home for a few days?" Noah spoke up, turning to look at Metal. "He's been in the vet clinic recovering, but when I went to get Hunter from the kennel for training this week, I saw that Cerb is back with the trainers. I know Brock isn't cleared for full duty yet. But, boss, if you reach out to the vet in charge at the kennel, I'm pretty sure you could work something out."
"That's actually a great idea, kid," Derrick said. "Cerb could be the best option for helping Brock relax and get some sleep at home in his bed without having one of us camped out on his couch. Katie loves the dog, and it's not unusual for Cerb to stay with them occasionally."
"Cerb has got to be less awkward for a twenty three-year-old girl to have sleeping in her living room than a Navy SEAL old enough to be her father," Alpha's 2IC laughed.
"Hey," Metal growled. "I know you aren't calling me 'awkward'. The twenty three-year-old girls at Foxys would love to have yours truly spending the night."
"You pay the girls at Foxys to love having you," Josh chuckled. "And I agree that Cerb is an excellent option to help with the sleeping situation. And you, Metal, are just the perfect hardass to convince the kennel vet to let Brock take him home for the rest of the week."
"Consider it done," Metal said, shooting a glare at a smirking Alpha Two.
"That should hopefully help the kid get some good sleep. Because he is most definitely exhausted," Alpha Two said, looking over at Brock passed out on the cot across the room.
"You know," Josh said. "I haven't really thought about it, because Clay has been doing okay, but before he left, Trent gave me the number of the counselor the runt has been seeing. Dr. Jeff his name is."
"Trent and Jason like the guy," Derrick added. "And they trust him. Which is saying a lot, because we all know they don't trust just anyone with their baby. And Jason is most definitely not a fan of shrinks in most situations."
"What are you thinking, Josh?" Metal asked. "I thought you just said Trouble was walking the line for you."
"Clay is trying hard to behave. He's doing what I asked and coming to me or Melinda when he's feeling anxious," Josh said. "But he went through an experience that would shake up a grown man, which we all know he is not. Talking it out with someone he trusts, who is trained to deal with kids would be good for Clay."
"And I'm guessing that you're thinking maybe Brock could tag along on this visit to the doc," Derrick said.
"You think that is something we could work out?" Metal asked.
"I think that's doable," Derrick shrugged. "I know this doctor was a Marine back in the day, and according to Trent, like everyone the kid has under his spell, Dr. Jeff is a fan of the puppet master and willing to work outside the box to keep him sorted."
"And as you may remember," Josh added, shaking his head. "The doc already knows Brock from when Clay had that full meltdown not long ago. When he got it in his head that Ellis was trying to off him."
"Wait. What?" Noah laughed. "The kid thought Ellis - CIA liaison Amanda Ellis - was trying to kill him?"
"Yep," Metal chuckled. "He sure did. And I can't decide if the brat telling a mandated reporter that an adult he works with is trying to kill him is my favorite adventure, or if it's the little pervert in training sending a sex doll to the local priest that's his best attempt at pushing Hayes over the edge. Both chapters in my future page-turner 'Bravo Adopts A Blond Menace' will make excellent reading."
"Bravo's Baby most certainly does not allow for a dull moment," Josh nodded at his boss. "And if the kid hasn't managed to scare this Dr. Jeff away yet, I feel like the guy will be able to handle a little couple's therapy with Brock and Clay."
"I agree, brother," Derrick said. "Trent says the doc told Clay he can keep seeing him even after he's eighteen because he also works with kids in their late teens and early twenties. Brock already knows and likes him, so I don't think it will stress him out to see Dr. Jeff with Clay. Especially if we present it as something to help the kid process and get past this whole Syria shit-show."
"Who's gonna run this idea past the doc and bring him up to speed on our concerns about both Clay and Brock?" Metal asked. "And I'm out. Because as we all know, I don't do shrinks of any kind under any circumstances. Not even retired Marines. I keep my crazy locked up tight in a box, and I don't need any nosey doctors poking around in my head. I already have a job scaring the prissy vet into letting Brock take Cerb home to be his therapy dog."
"Clay has an appointment on Thursday afternoon," Josh said, turning to face Derrick. "Melinda was going to bring him. Can you take the kid and meet the doc? Trent says he talks to him or Jason alone after he's done with the runt so they can touch base about how the kid is doing. You know more about this kind of thing than me. Can you talk to Dr. Jeff and see if he's willing to talk with Brock?"
"Copy that," Derrick said. "I'm on it. I'll take Shorty out for burgers at lunchtime on Thursday, and then we'll go to the appointment. And if you and Melinda could use a night of uninterrupted sleep, I know Catherine would be happy to have an evening of pizza and movies on the couch with her favorite kid. I can take him home to spend the night and bring him into work with me in the morning."
"Sounds like a plan," Josh smiled. "I'm feeling positive about us hopefully getting their boys settled and at least started on the way to sorted out before Bravo rolls back into town."
"I think so too, brother," Metal said, nodding towards the kid passed out on the cot. "If we can at least get him sleeping through the night in his own bed, that will be something. And we all know that things always seem easier to tackle when you're not falling asleep on your feet."
"Amen to that, boss," Alpha all agreed.