Page 13 of Trick or Treat

“I was standing in the living room when I saw you pull up. Don’t get your panties in a wad.” He was busy pouring milk in glasses for all the kids.

Trick punched his brother in the arm as he passed him so he could kiss his sister-in-law on the cheek. “Good morning, Bridgette.”

“Good morning, Trick.” She smiled at him before turning back to the French toast she was cooking.

“How were the kids?” he asked as he snatched a strip of crispy bacon. Perfect, just the way he liked it.

Owen reached out to nab a piece and got his hand swatted by his wife. “Hey, woman. How come he gets a piece and when I try to get one, you slap my hand?” His complaining didn’t stop him from getting a piece of bacon, however.

“Because this isn’t the first piece you’ve stolen this morning. If you keep this up there won’t be any to go with the rest of breakfast.” She turned her head up and accepted the kiss Owen gave her. She also got her ass grabbed, causing her to squeak and blush prettily.

Bridgette cleared her throat and responded to Trick’s question. “Your kids were amazing as usual. Me and Reagan had a girls’ night. We painted each other’s fingernails.” She held her hands out for him to see. He chuckled at the semi-decent job his girl had done. There was red polish on Bridgette’s nails, but there was a good amount on the area surrounding her nails, too. “And we baked cookies. I’d offer you one but the kids polished them off last night.”

Owen handed a cup of coffee to him and motioned for him to take a seat at the table. “While the kids are outside, I wanted to see if Keegan had talked to you about Michelle leaving them at home alone one night.”

Trick’s mouth turned down. “Yes. He did. Fucking pissed me off. How did you find out?”

“Reagan was telling Bridgette about it and Keegan confirmed it.”

“Damn it. I plan on buying Keegan a phone when I take him school shopping when we leave here. I told him he has to keep it a secret from his mom. Normally, I wouldn’t ask him to keep something from his mom, but I don’t trust her with the kids anymore.” Trick took a drink of his coffee.

“Can’t your lawyer do anything?” Bridgette asked.

“No. That’s why me and Jackson paid him a visit. I took my file and fired him. I’ve got an appointment to see that one you told me about on Monday at 8:00. Hopefully, he won’t be trying to milk every dime he can get out of me for doing absolutely nothing.” He accepted the plate of French toast, scrambled eggs and bacon she placed in front of him.

“Thanks, Bridge.”

She placed a similar plate in front of Owen, then went to the door and yelled for the kids to come in and eat.

“Daddy!” Reagan squealed as soon as she cleared the door. He pushed his chair back from the table so he could catch her as she ran straight at him. She jumped at the last minute and he had to catch her under her arms. He showered her with kisses all over her face and neck until he had her laughing. When he was through, he settled her on his lap, handed her a fork and let her eat from his plate with him. “Missed you, my little princess. You have fun with Aunt Bridgette?”

“Yes. We had lots of fun. I got to paint her fingernails. See,” she pointed at Bridgette’s hands. Her aunt wiggled her fingers for all to see. “Aren’t they pretty?”

“Yes, they are very pretty.” He turned his focus to his son, sitting across the table. “Good morning, Keegan. You have a good time?”

“Yes.” His son smiled wide. “We got to play Neil’s’ new video game. It was awesome!”

“I’m glad you had a good time, son.” Trick reached around Reagan and picked up his mug. He took a drink and placed it out of her way so she couldn’t accidentally knock it over. Reagan sometimes tended to get excited about something and things tended to get broken, wet or torn. The problem was he never knew when that would be. She reached for her glass of milk and would have knocked it over if Trick hadn’t been ready for it. He steadied the glass and helped her get a drink so they didn’t both end up soaked.

She finished it off then smiled up at Trick. She had a white milk mustache that was absolutely adorable. He wiped her mouth with his napkin, then kissed the tip of her nose. She giggled and squirmed in his lap.

He could see Keegan was finished eating breakfast so he told the kids to go gather their things because they needed to go shopping for school. Hugs and kisses were handed out to all involved and they were on their way.

The trip to the store wasn’t as bad as it could have been. He made quick work of getting the school supplies, Keegan tossing them into the cart as Trick called them out. Reagan of course had to have something, too. After he picked out six pairs of jeans, several shirts, two pairs of tennis shoes and a backpack, half of which would stay with Trick and the other half he’d take to his mom’s, he went to the girl’s section and let Reagan pick out a sparkly pink purse. She was thrilled.

The electronic section was his last stop before they checked everything out. He picked out a simple to use phone and added it to his plan. It had text messaging and calling capabilities only. There was no need for Keegan to have access to the internet just yet. It was a phone for emergencies and the occasional call to check in.

Back at home, he let Keegan pick which clothes he wanted to take home and which he wanted to leave there. Trick swore if he didn’t buy his kids clothes, they’d run around half naked all the time.

While Keegan was putting everything away in their room, he texted Michelle that he would take Keegan to school in the morning and drop Reagan off at daycare. As expected, she was okay with that. He still didn’t understand the point of sending their daughter to daycare when Michelle didn’t have a job and didn’t do anything all day long.

Yes, Trick understood that Michelle’s youth was spent being a mother, having gotten pregnant at nineteen. She’d been fine with it until she saw how much fun she was missing out on when her sister pointed out the differences in their lives. Patty was single with no kids, so partying all the time wasn’t an issue. Michelle was married with a kid at home. Going out and having a good time wasn’t as easy for her. And, of course, she blamed him for it all. She could have gone out and done things if he wasn’t prospecting for that biker gang all the time. Man, they’d gotten into some hellacious fights about the club. And things only got worse after the divorce when he’d knocked her up with Reagan.

After dinner was finished, he sat Keegan down and showed him how to use the phone. He’d programmed his own number on speed dial, as well as Owen and Jackson. He had Keegan send him a few text messages to make sure he got it, then had him call him. Happy with his ability to get a hold of him at any time, he turned to Reagan.

“Reagan, I need you to do something for me.”

“Okay, Daddy.” She sat in her chair, swinging her little legs, looking at him expectantly.

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