Page 4 of Trick or Treat

“Good. I got a new Barbie since the last time I saw you. See.” Reagan held the red-haired doll close enough to Jackson’s face, it almost made the man’s eyes cross. He was able to pull it far enough away to get a look at it and smiled back at her. “I see. Nice Barbie, but she’s still not as pretty as you.” He dug his fingers into her sides, causing her to squeal with laughter as they walked to the front door.

“Princess Reagan!” Calliope greeted his girl. She was coming from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel. Ryker followed behind her eating a carrot stick. Not a baby carrot, but a full-sized carrot. It was the funniest thing Trick had seen in a long time.

“Hey, Keegan. Did you grow some more since the last time I saw you?” Calliope ruffled his hair playfully.

His boy’s cheeks turned a light pink and he ducked his head, trying to hide his smile. Did his boy have a crush on Jackson’s woman? He pushed his son farther into the room so he could shut the door behind him.

“Hey, Trick.” Calliope included him in her greetings.

“Hey, Calliope. Smells good in here.”

“Thanks. Come on in. You want a beer?” she tossed over her shoulder on her way back into the kitchen.

“Yeah, that’d be great, but I’ll get it myself.” Trick went to the refrigerator and pulled out a long neck.

“Grab one for me while you’re in there,” Jackson said, following the kids toward the back door. He turned them loose in the backyard to play until dinner was ready. He came back with a grin on his face.

“What?” Trick asked.

“Nothing. Just love the fact that Keegan isn’t too old to play with Ryker.” His son might be eight and Ryker four, but boys liked to play with boys. Jackson pulled out a chair and joined Trick at the table while Calliope continued to move around the kitchen getting dinner ready.

“What’s Reagan doing?” Trick asked before tipping his bottle back. Unlike his ex, he knew to only have one beer around his kids and that was it. After that, no more alcohol. Just water, tea, soda, juice or coffee. Really anything that didn’t have alcohol in it.

“She found a spot under the shade tree to set up and play with her Barbies.”

“She’s so adorable.” Calliope was watching the kids through the window above the sink, overlooking the backyard. Trick completely agreed. He wasn’t a fool, though. His little girl was so damn cute now, that he dreaded seeing how much prettier she would be as a teenager. It completely scared the bejeezus out of him.

“This your weekend to have the kids?” Jackson asked. He was kicked back in his chair, his long legs off to the side and crossed at his ankles.

“Yeah. And I just found out from Keegan that I missed Open House. Fucking Michelle didn’t even give me a heads up.” The more he thought about it, the more pissed he got again. “And to make matters worse for Keegan, she embarrassed him in front of his new teacher and some of his classmates.”

“Embarrassed him how?” Calliope asked, half turned toward the table.

“He said she wore a dress that was too short and her tits were hanging out.”

“He said tits?” Calliope’s brows rose to her hairline.

Trick chuckled. “No, I said tits. He said boobs.”

“Oh. Okay.” Calliope turned back around and pulled something off the stove and brought it to the sink to drain. Looked like the potatoes she was going to mash up.

“Things getting any better between the two of you? Do you still have the same attorney?” Calliope asked.

“No, things are not better between us and I don’t ever see things getting better as long as her sister, Patty, is in the picture. I also just found out that she left my kids home alone after the Open House so she and Patty could go out.” Trick could feel the steam coming off his head. If it didn’t explode, it would be a miracle.

“Are you fucking kidding me? She left them alone?” Surprisingly, that came from Calliope.

“Yeah. She left them alone.”

“What the fuck?” Jackson frowned, his eyes intense as they focused on Trick.

“I know. It fucking kills me they were left alone and I had no idea. My God, just thinking of all the things that could have gone wrong makes me want to throw up.” Trick fell back in his chair, his hands fisting on his legs.

“What are you going to do?” Jackson leaned forward.

“First, I’m going to buy Keegan a phone. I already talked to him about it. If she ever leaves them alone again, does something stupid while she’s drunk or if they just need to reach out to me, I want them to be able to call. She didn’t even leave her phone for them. What if there’d been an emergency? What if something happened to one of them and they had no way to call for help?” He rubbed his hands over his face and groaned as the possibilities flashed before his eyes.

“Dad-dy!” Reagan yelled down the hall. She came running around the corner, coming to a skidding halt right next to him. “I can’t get her clothes back on. Help me, pleeeasse.” Yep. His girl knew how to work him. He was fucked when she got older.

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