Chapter Forty Two

Stephen

We decided to sleep in this morning, and around nine o’clock, we headed down to meet Clint, Mia, and Willie for breakfast. As we walked into the hotel restaurant, we saw them waiting for us. Clint was sitting there with a grin that reminded me of the Cheshire Cat.

Stephen - “Hahahahaha, really? You’re such a muppet, Clint. Hahahaha.”

Trinity - “Oh my God, Clint, could you be any more obvious? Hahaha.”

Clint - “What? I had a great night. I don’t know about you guys.”

Mia - “Well, my night was more Barney Rubble than ‘Bedrock.’”

Stephen - “AHAHAHAHAHA! Holy shit, burn! Ahahahahahahahaha.”

Trinity - “BAHAHAHA! That’s the best thing I’ve heard in a long time.”

We were laughing so hard that tears were rolling down Trinity’s face.

Trinity - “Oh my God, I’m going to pee myself.”

Clint - “Hahahahaha, that’s karma.”

Stephen - “Hahaha, please don’t, baby.”

Trinity - “Quick, babe, stand behind me so I can cross my legs for a minute. I need to ease it up so I can get to the bathroom. Hahaha, oh my God, I’m gonna pee.”

Mia - “Bahahahaha, you honestly couldn’t make this shit up.”

I grabbed the kids in their stroller and walked over behind my wife so she could lean against me and cross her legs. After a few minutes, she was able to get herself to the bathroom. When she finally returned, I asked her if she was okay.

Trinity - “Better now. If I had to wait any longer, though, we might have been pretending my water broke and making an emergency dash out of here to save face.”

Stephen - “Aww, I’m sorry for laughing, doll, but it was a little amusing, right?”

Trinity - “If you say so, dear.”

Clint - “Hahahaha.”

Stephen - “Shut up, Barney.”

Everyone burst out laughing again.

We enjoyed a long, leisurely breakfast, laughing and relaxing before we went for a stroll around the city. And, of course, our wives dragged us along shopping.

After having lunch while out, we strolled back to the hotel and decided to put the kids down for a rest before tonight.

Trinity was laying with them, getting them settled in the big bed when I came back with my coffee and tea. I noticed my wife was also nearly asleep. I put her cup of tea down on her bedside table and walked around, putting my coffee down and hopping up in bed with her.

Stephen - “You alright, momma?”

Trinity - “Exhausted, baby. You wore me out.”

Stephen - “Rest then, too, baby. Come here.”

We moved the kids over to the other side of her, side by side under the blanket, and I brought her into my side as she moved into my body, rubbing my chest.

We lay like that for a while, me watching the baseball game on TV. After a while, she stopped stroking my chest. I looked down to see her fast asleep. I reached my opposite arm down and rubbed her belly softly as I went back to the game.

The game was into the final innings when I saw my son sit up and start looking around.

Stephen - “Hey, buddy, daddy’s here.”

He looked up and started climbing over his mother.

Stephen - “Careful, buddy, let me help you.”

I picked him up, and he lay in the crook of my other arm as I stroked his arm gently. My son and I just lay there, watching the end of the game. Then I looked down at him.

Stephen - “What do you say, little man? Should we wake the queen and princess now? You get momma bear. Go on.”

My son crawled across my chest to his momma, grabbing her cheeks with both hands. He started to lean closer to her...

Trinity - “Boo!”

My wife popped her eyes open and grabbed our little man, covering him in kisses. The sound of his giggles with hers made my heart burst.

I saw my princess start to stir, so I reached over.

Stephen - “Livy, baby.”

It took a few times before she finally sat up and looked around, finally spotting me.

Stephen - “Hi, baby.”

She reached out to me, so I scooped my little girl up. I love the hugs I get from her when she first wakes up. She’s like a little koala bear.

I noticed the time eventually and decided we better get up and get ready to head back out to Phil and Marci’s.

We rushed around getting sorted, then headed across to get the other three so we could head off. It wasn’t long before we arrived and greeted everyone.

We sat down for another wonderful meal by Marci. It was soul-soothing to be able to sit down and enjoy time with the people who became family.

I remember my doll once telling me on our honeymoon that even though I never had the family I was born into—not the stereotypical mother and father, grandparents, or wider associated relatives—I had my own family. The one I had built for myself. I had parental figures in Marci, Philippe, Eddie, and Sergio who had guided me growing up. I had brothers in Clint, Dave, and Benji—even if he was a cocky suit—and more recently Luke, who had become like a brother to me. A sister in Mia, a nephew, and most importantly, my own children and wife.

Now all I really needed was to put an end to this shit with the CPD once and for all. With any luck, tonight will help to find a solution on that, and then we have to trust that Chad isn’t stupid enough to fool us twice and this locker has what we need to fight back.

Philippe - “Kid, I can see how deep in thought you are. Why don’t we all get a drink, and I’ll have a tea made for you, Trinity, and we can all go sit and relax and rehash the events of last night and see if we can’t formulate a plan.”

Sergio - “Get it out of the way, son, so you can enjoy your next few days before you go back.”

We all nodded and agreed, taking our drinks through to the lounge to sit down.

Stephen - “Right, so let’s talk about bringing down the house of cards.”