~The Binding~

Chapter 46

Dinner became a festive meal. Once the phone went out the door with Mc, it had seemed as if it had been forgotten about. Kaylin had spent time with her mother and now she wanted her father's undivided attention. Bron smiled occasionally during the meal but rarely spoke. Kevin could tell her wheels were spinning over the entire phone ordeal. He also knew she was kicking herself in the ass, rather silently for a change. Kaylin had been glued to his side since they had sat. She had even asked Uncle Jake if she could sit in his chair so she could sit next to her dad.

After a cheesecake hit the table for dessert, the females ohhhed and ahhhed over it. Nick as well. Kevin chuckled at him. "She's eating for two Nick, not you."

"Dude you sacked on some pounds when Bron was pregnant. Besides it's nice not to make your woman feel like a pig because she's stuffing food in her face all the time." Nick waved his fork full of cheesecake in the air.

Jake suppressed the grin that Kevin couldn't. Suzie's fork dropping from her mouth to her dessert plate sounded more like a bell tolling instead of the dink noise it should have made. Kevin rolled both lips in and bit down. Yeah, Nick's death bell, he thought to himself.

"Hmmpf," Suzie stood up and looked at Bron.

Bron stared only at her plate. "I'll do the dishes if you want to head home and don't slam that chair into my table either."

"I'm not going home." Suzie growled as she focused on Nick's face. "I'm too pissed to drive." She stormed out of the room.

Kevin slid his chair back. His arm draped around the back of Kaylin's chair. His head tilted to the side and he opened his mouth to speak as he twisted one of Kaylin's curls in his fingers.

"Geez, Uncle Nick that wasn't very nice. Didn't Dad tell you about the Bitch fairy yet?" Kaylin dug her fork into her cheesecake.

"Kaylin!" Kevin admonished loudly.

"Well you told me," Kaylin garbled with a mouth full of food as she looked at him innocently.

Kevin knew that look. The halo was a prop to hide the horns. He frowned at her.

"You said-"

Kevin tugged on the curl. "Be quiet and eat."

"Gee I missed that one, why don't you fill me in sweetheart?" Bron sat with her arms folded over her chest as she glared at Kevin.

"Dinner's over," Jake pronounced and excused himself snagging Cooper to get him out of the way and his plate of cheesecake. It was the only thing Andrew needed to hear and he was gone with plate in hand.

"Dammit, just what I need Bitch Fairy. Like whiney fairy, mood swing fairy, and the weepy fairy aren't enough I have to deal with this bitch too." Nick pitched his napkin on his plate. He turned and glared at Kevin.

Kevin shrugged his shoulders. "You did it, go fix it."

"Baby, why don't you take your cheesecake down to the entertainment room? You can watch some movies for a little while. Dad is going to help me do the dishes tonight." Bron slid her chair back very slowly.

Kevin let out a sigh knowing his goose was cooked once again. He stood up and began clearing the table. He stayed out of Bron's strike zone for the first few minutes. Arms wrapped around his waist as he leaned over the dishwasher filling the silverware. "If I move, are you going to hurt me?"

"No silly," Bron tugged on him to stand up. He turned in her arms. His hands full of silverware. "I just wanted some time alone with you to talk about the phone. It seems he gave it to her just after he brought her down here the first time to be with your mother."

Kevin set the silverware down he had been holding and held Bron close. "I didn't know. I mean, I've seen it but I guess I didn't see it. I never made the connection."

Bron squeezed him around the waist. "I didn't see it either so I guess we both sucked on that one."

Kevin couldn't handle the news that all the information for the letters had been garnered from a kid. The fact that Stevie had used Kaylin in such a way was the same thing as being a child predator in his book. He violated the trust of an innocent child who loved him unconditionally and with no reservations. For now Kevin had to stay silent he would get nowhere until the man was actually caught; then and only then would Stevie get what was coming to him. He thought about what happened with the cheesecake and started to laugh as he held Bron in his arms.

"What's so funny?" Bron tried to push him away.

"Aww poor Nicky, that kid just keeps openin' his mouth." Kevin's laughter was robust.

Bron grimaced and then she started to crack a smile. She grabbed her dishtowel and slapped in him the chest. "You're awful." Bron began to laugh with him.

Kevin wiped the tears from his eyes. "Even I have enough sense to not comment on how much you are eating."

"You don't have a problem commenting on what I'm eating." Bron's head tilted to the side.

Kevin caught the head tilt and the lack of smile. He was walking into dangerous territory and if he didn't want his own bitch fairy back he had better watch his step. "Well, we know you don't eat as healthy as you make everyone else around here eat."

"I do too." Bron's made a face at him.

"Should we go examine the door of any vehicle that has door pockets that you have driven in the last month?" Kevin raised an eyebrow at her as he leaned back on the dishwasher and crossed his arms over his chest. He watched her face screw up and she didn't answer him. "I didn't think so. You should really ditch the wrappers and then I wouldn't bust on you so bad."

Bron began to finish picking up the garbage. "Come on let's get these done and enjoy our kids. I'm having a tough time dealing with the fact that Stevie used Kaylin that way. I need a distraction so I can break this down. Let's play Monopoly or something."

"Fine, but that doesn't get you out of this. We only have to deal with Stevie and turning to the candy is not good for either one of you. It's not healthy."

"Why isn't it healthy? Cooper doesn't get candy he doesn't have teeth." A squeaky voice came from the dining room door way.

Kevin watched Bron's eyes grow huge as they dilated. Neither of them had heard Kaylin approach. He watched Bron's eyes close and knew what she was dreading. Once was a miracle, twice was asking too much. Even he had fears on the survival of this baby. He would never express them to Bron knowing how she reacted to being pregnant to begin with. This time seemed very different though. After Bron's violent reaction to the news to begin with, which was entirely his fault since he hadn't told her, she seemed at peace with this pregnancy. The last thing he was going to do was get her on the path she had taken before. He hated watching the anxiety and fear grow each day until they had hit the milestone that they needed to be at for a successful birth. Kevin turned his upper body towards Kaylin. "Because once in awhile your Mom still breast feeds Cooper and all of that sugar gets into his system and it's not good for him."

He was pleased with the reaction he got when his wife's eyes opened and she smiled at him. Kevin saw the moisture begin pooling. He turned and picked Kaylin up and she nearly jumped out of his arms and squealed with delight. "Let's play!"

Kevin took off for the entertainment room knowing Bron wouldn't be far behind them. "Mom wants to play Monopoly."

"You don't want to play Monopoly with her. She's not nice. Nobody will play with her anymore." Kaylin slid to the floor from Kevin's arms.

"Well we're gonna." Kevin reached into the cabinet and pulled the game out. "I've never played against her. Who knows I might just whip her butt. And you can tell everyone about it."

Andrew came bounding down into the room. "Game on Jake!" He shouted up the stairs.

Kevin laughed Andrew's over eagerness, "How bad can this get?"

Andrew started high-fiving Jake, "You'll see."

Kevin said nothing when Suzie joined them. She seemed in better spirits now. He watched for Nick to join them but he didn't. Eventually Kevin stopped looking for him assuming he in the studio polishing up the material that they had worked on today.

The game was on and Bron cackled like a crazy woman when she forced Andrew into giving her all of his property.

Suzie spoke up, "You shouldn't do that. It's cold hearted. It's not in the spirit of fair play."

"I don't play fair, like Kevin isn't nice some times. It's the harsh reality of the real corporate world Suz. Survive or be eaten. He'll live." Bron gave her smile as she counted the cash that Andrew had to fork over to her.

"God you're awful when you play this. You're like a different person." Suzie backed away from her and took a seat.

Kevin chuckled and moved off the couch to the wet bar. He poured a round of sodas for everyone. He handed one to Bron and her nose turned up. When her face paled, he pulled the soda away. "Andrew, watch my money and my property. Keep your mother honest."

"I'm honest," Bron shot him a sharp look.

"That would be why Jake is the banker," Kevin snickered and ran up the stairs. It didn't take him long and he was back with a glass of cold milk. He handed it to Bron. "This will taste better to you, I'm sure."

"Thanks," Bron gulped the milk and continued to play. "Kaylin baby. How about a friendly merger?"

Kevin's eyes swept the board in front of Bron. She was going down. "Tell her no Kaylin; she's running low on cash."

"Shut up Kevin," Bron barked at him.

Kaylin grabbed her money and handed it to Jake. "No, I'm just going to quit.'

"Quit! You can't quit in the middle of the game." Bron sat straight up.

Kaylin yawned and Bron frowned. "Fine, her property goes up for auction then."

Suzie gasped and then looked at Kevin. Kevin grinned, "I'm not nice some times either."

"Good lord you people are sick." Suzie curled up in the chair next to Kaylin's place.

Many hours later, Kaylin had crashed out in one of the theater seats. Suzie was sleeping in the seat next to her. Jake, Bron, and Kevin we're still playing. Bron screamed as she knocked Jake out of the game. "Get real. Like you even had a shot at me," Bron's laugh could be equated to the devil that had just gotten a pure soul.

"Kevin is still in; you haven't won yet Spark." Jake winked at Kevin. The game went on for another half hour. Jake woke Andy up as the game between the husband and wife became heated.

Andrew was somewhat dazed when his mother pounded her feet into the stairs calling Kevin every name in the book on her way up the stairs. "Hey, I'll let you keep playing. Let's talk," Kevin laughed so loud it could probably be heard miles away.

Andrew rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Holy shit you beat her. I don't think she's ever been beaten."

Andrew just stared at him. Kevin smiled, "Yeah I did. Now I get to go collect." His grin became wider and wider. Andrew had enough sense to drop his head when his cheeks began to burn. "But first, I have to get your sister to bed. Wake Suzie up Jake and help her upstairs."

"I'll take her up." Nick stood at the bottom of the stairs.

"Ya fix it?" Kevin asked as he pulled himself from the floor and picked Kaylin up.

"Sort of. I'm taking her to the Cheesecake Factory tomorrow for dinner. I told her I would eat until I puked." Nick snickered. "What did you do? I think I just passed your Bitch fairy in the hallway."

Kevin winked at Nick, "I kicked her ass in Monopoly. She's just a sore loser."

"From what I passed in the hall, you're the one who's going to be sore." Nick was shaking Suzie to wake her. She stood up automatically and leaned on him.

"Bron will live, don't worry about it." Kevin went up the two flights of stairs and headed to Kaylin's room. He called Jussy to join them. He watched the dog crawl on the bed. "You know you're not supposed to up there."

The huge animal thumped his tail and then nudged Kaylin's arm until she wrapped it around his huge head. "Fine, but only for tonight." Kevin walked away shaking his head. Cooper had been asleep ages ago. The baby monitor was now hooked on Kevin's back pocket after he retrieved along with Kaylin.

Kevin looked into the room and Brit thumped her tail on the floor. Her place was always on the floor in front of his crib. "Good girl," whispered to her.

He had stalled as long as he could before he went into his bedroom. He scratched the back of his head and then turned to the side until his neck cracked. Bron was sound asleep already. "You can rest now darlin', he doesn't have the access he had before. Things will change now. I don't know if it's for the better or not."

Ditching his clothes Kevin crawled into bed and slipped under the covers. He had enjoyed this night tremendously and hoped it was the first of many. A grin grew on his face as thoughts spiraled in his head on how to get Bron to play against him again and what he could get out of it if he trounced her. He still couldn't grasp the cell phone incident and really didn't want to. Like Bron he needed to work it out and then deal with. There wasn't much they could do about it unless Mc was able to get something off of it anyway.

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This is a work of fiction.
The characters and events portrayed are fictitious.
Any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental.

Used with Permission
No part of this text may be copied or reprinted
without the author's permission.

~The Binding~

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