“Hey Nick…phone for you.”

Nick pulled his head out of the dryer, bringing along the last of the laundry with him. Just in time too; he was starving. “Here? For me?”

“Yeah, it’s your girlfriend.” Jack snickered as he handed the sticky phone to Nick and ran back up the wobbly steps, hardly even noticing how unsteady they were. Nick almost sweat a gallon going up and down the stupid things.

Looking at the phone wondering who the hell could be calling him here, he tentatively answered, slinging the broken laundry basket on his hip as he ventured up the stairs.

“Hello? This is Nick.”

“Hey…it’s Solana. How you managing?”

“OH! Hi…yeah, we’re doing okay.” Sticking his tongue out at Jack for the ‘girlfriend’ comment, he hopped up on solid ground, grateful he didn’t have to make anymore trips down. “Just did a load of laundry. Gonna take everyone out to dinner.”

“No problems?”

“No…should there be?”

“Not necessarily. Ben’s not giving you grief? He’s still there and all?”

“Yep…he bathed the baby, helped with laundry. We’re good. Why? Don’t you trust me?”

How the hell could this man put a pout into his voice? She could see it on his face. “You’re sad…and no, I don’t. Not yet. You’ve not earned it yet.”

“Well, shit. How do I do that!?”

“Time, Nick…time.”

“Ah, well…oof. Hang on.” Snapping his fingers to get Ben’s attention, he thrust the basket in his hands and covered the receiver. “Separate these and pass out the clothes. We need to leave.”

“I won’t keep you, Nick…you’re busy.”

“We’re good…thanks for calling though.”

“It’s okay. No sign of Kitty or Mom?”

“Nothing…”

“What are you going to do tonight, Mr. Savior…when it’s bedtime and still there’s no adult around?”

Damn. He hadn’t thought that far ahead. “Uh…I have no idea.” Looking up and seeing Liz’s shirt on inside out and backwards, he laughed. Really laughed. It felt good. “Liz, honey…come here. You’re a mess.”

“You’re such a pro; you could spend the night.”

“NO!” Oops. That came out too quickly. Giggling at Liz’s crossed eyes as her face popped through the neck of her now right-side out, front ways facing shirt, he checked Jack’s tag and chuckled again when he found one in the front. “Backwards, Bozo…tag goes in back.”

She could only imagine the scene at the house and was truly impressed with the calmness in which he handled the kids. There was no way she could be impressed with this idiot, could there? “You’re just bein’ a chicken shit now.”

“So be it. I’m not doin’ that, Solana. No way.”

“That’s alright, Nick. They’ll be okay. Ben feels great responsibility for Amy. If nothing else, she’ll make him stay…they’ve done it before.”

Sneaking back into the hallway for a bit more privacy, he finally asked what had been running through his mind since he saw the kids playing at the center. “Yeah, but damn…how can a mom just do that?”

“She’s an addict, Nick. She probably doesn’t even realize she has kids right now.”

“Doesn’t child protection services take these kinds of kids away from their mothers? It doesn’t seem right.”

“Yep, and they might again. Honestly, there are worse situations out there, so we focus on those. Ben’s okay and when Kitty’s home, she does okay too. Some families have 3 and 4 yr. olds left alone. We have to help them first.”

“You need more funds.”

“It’s a start, but not an answer. Money doesn’t answer everything, Nick.”

‘Neek.’ ‘Cheekin sheet.’ Okay, so he preferred the accent. He also preferred it when she was a bitch. There had to be something unethical about drooling over your ‘little brothers’ social worker. Sighing at his continual horn dog status and the truth in her comment, he decided to direct the conversation elsewhere.

“Did Barry tell you why I stopped by today?”

“Yeah, and that’s the other reason I wanted to talk to you…I appreciate that you told him. It’s major.”

“Just seemed to be.” Looking around the corner to see Jack swatting at Liz’s newly formed ponytail, he excused himself. “JACK! Outside. Shoot hoops until you make 5 in a row.” After the boy made his way outside, Nick added, “And don’t get dirty!” Going back to his conversation he had to laugh. “God, I sound like my dad.”

“Fun, huh? When you’re a real dad it’ll get worse.”

“Great…just so I’m there for my kids. This is nuts.”

“Yes, but it’s obvious you’re making an impact…so, maybe I owe you an apology.”

“What for?”

“I had absolutely no faith in you.”

“Eh, I didn’t give you any reason to. And you know…it’s still early in the game. God knows what I might fuck up.” Catching his language, especially when Liz snuck down the hall, shaking a finger in his direction, he smacked is hand over his mouth. “Dang…sorry, Liz.”

All he could hear was cackling on the other end. She was no help.

“Hey! Cut me some slack; I’m new at this.”

“You’re pathetic.”

“Yeah, well…hey…how did the muppet dinner go?”

“Okay until Piggy slugged Kermit for kissing Barbie. Then we had some problems.”

“Oh no…hell hath no fury like a pig scorned.”

“You’re not kidding. Hey, Rosalie’s totally covered the floor with water. Time for me to get her out of the tub. You’re doing good, Nick.”

“Thanks. Thanks a lot.”

Making his way back into the room, he clicked off the phone and tossed it on the couch, wincing when dust flew up as it hit the cushion. “Is everybody ready?”

“Yep!”

Jack had just come in and they were all standing waiting for him to take them out. Perfect. As he opened the screen door, he felt a gentle tugging on the hem of his shirt. Looking down, he saw Princess Liz. “You look awful pretty tonight.”

“Thank you…we don’t have a car seat. What about Amy?”

Twenty dollars and 15 minutes later, they had a “borrowed” car seat from the neighbor. Nick decided to forget what Mr. Emerson was actually going to do with that twenty dollars, and he watched as Ben swiftly buckled Amy in and made sure the other 2 kids were fastened in tight. They couldn’t bathe themselves, but they were careful about auto safety. He'd never get it.

“Where you taking us, Nick?” Liz was so excited to be going anywhere, she’d already taken 3 potty breaks since Solana first called. Hopefully she was done with that mess. Nick did not want her going into a men’s room.

“Chuck E. Cheese.”

Ben shot a glare across the truck, none too happy with the announcement. “You made us dress up for Chuck E. Cheese?”

“No, I made you wear clean clothes and have half way clean bodies for Chuck E. Cheese. You’re gonna be climbing around stuff with other kids; you should be clean.” Dammit, he did sound like his dad. That just sucked.

“I’m not climbin’ on nuttin’…that’s for babies.”

“Fine. You can watch Amy then.” Softening Ben’s glare with a cheesy grin, Nick focused on driving. It amazed him how having kids in the car suddenly made you more cautious. He never had been the greatest of drivers, but now…now he felt like it mattered. There were lives in his hands. It was strange.

“Do I have to watch her all night?”

“What else you gonna do? Play in the ball pit, Son?”

Another cheesy grin, bringing back their initial meeting, and Ben had been had. For now. He’d get this pain in his ass back somehow. Tonight. He had to. Disgusted with the way Nick was wheedling into their lives and…dare he consider…hearts, Ben leaned up and flipped on the CD player, grateful for the raucous music that blared from the speakers. He didn’t even know what it was, but it drowned out his clashing emotions at this whole situation.

Finally, they’d arrived and Nick took over keeping an eye on Liz while Ben had Amy. Jack…well, he was just everywhere. Nick never thought he’d say, “Come, sit down” so many times in one meal again. And how many pizzas did they go through? Nick was a big enough eater, but by god, Liz rivaled him. The boys far surpassed him. And Amy just daintily picked up small bits of cheese and dough from her tray, banging on it when it was empty. Nick was finally stuffed, but the kids kept going. “Dang, guys…slow down. When’s the last time you ate?”

“Monday.”

“Monday!? Guys…it’s Thursday. How long has your mom been gone?”

“Since this morning. She was home when I left for school.” Jack smacked Liz’s hand as they reached for the last piece at the same time.

“Hey! That’s mine!”

“Hang on, hang on…Ben, you done?”

“Done.” Burp. “Well, now I’ve got room for more.”

“Nice. You’re done. Gimme that knife.” Nick cut the last piece in half, giving the pieces to Liz and Jack. “So, you didn’t get breakfast?”

“Nope.”

“What about dinner last night?”

“I had some potato chips.” Liz licked her fingers as she stuff almost half of the thin piece in mouth. Nick couldn’t watch anymore. He was getting queasy.

“Mmm…what about lunch at school?”

“School lunches suck. We get ‘em but nothing’s edible on there.”

“You haven’t eaten since Monday AND you’re bein’ picky at the school lunch your mom’s payin’ for?”

Ben started cackling. “No, you moron. Mom’s not payin’ for our lunches. YOU are…government assist, man. You’ve been payin’ our groceries, our doctor bills, for our house. Mom doesn’t pay for shit.”

Nick sat back totally speechless. He really didn’t feel like he’d led a sheltered life, but yet, suddenly it felt like he was being exposed to the sun for the first time. Or should he say the damaging ultra violet rays…this wasn’t pleasurable like normal sunshine. This just sucked. “Okay, time to clean up. Jack and Ben, you go clean up and we’ll wait. I’ll take Liz in.”

“We can take her.”

“No. I’ve got her…go on.” He didn’t feel comfortable with them in there as it was, but with a young girl too? No. Too many freaks. He knew it well. The guys used to tease him when they first started when he wouldn’t go into public restrooms alone, but dammit…some of the men in there were creepy. There was power in numbers.

Liz helped Amy finish up the last bits of food on her tray and even wiped it clean. Had the mother done such a good job at making these kids somewhat responsible or were they responsible out of a natural urge to survive? It was a strange thing. But, if they could be responsible for each other, couldn’t they be taught to be responsible for their home, their belongings, their bodies?

“Okay, I’m gonna go play in the tubes. Do we have tokens?” Jack held out his hand like a little street urchin begging for a freebie. Nick wouldn’t have it.

Raising his eyebrow and ignoring Ben’s laughter at getting caught being impudent, Nick finally asked, “How many shots did you have to make to get 5 in a row?”

“Seven.”

Reaching into his pocket for some tokens, Nick smiled and winked. “Impressive. Here’s…” he let the drop one by one as Liz counted them out loud. “Eight. You have to earn more.”

“How?”

“I dunno yet…but you will in time. Ben, stay here with Amy ‘til I get Liz cleaned up, okay?”

“Yeah…” Ben was speechless. He hated how comfortable he felt in Nick’s presence. He hated how Liz was constantly fawning all over him and now, hell…even Amy was. Kitty was going to be a nuisance if she spent any time with him. He was supposed to be Ben’s big brother, not everyone else’s. But yet…he was. Without even trying. Pissed him off.

Standing up, Nick took Liz’s greasy hand in his. “You do NOT let go of my hand without asking me, got it?”

“Yep. I’m not lettin’ go, Nick.” She leaned her head on his hip as they walked. She really liked him. He was soft and cute and funny. “What if I gotta pee though?”

“Then you can let go, Liz…then you can let go.”