Safe Part I
January was feeling sick to her stomach as her daughter was obviously pretending to be okay, but her eyes kept darting to the men who continued following them from exhibit to exhibit.
“I want to kill them,” she growled to Gulliver who was trying not to laugh as he kept turning January’s head back, so she was looking forward instead of over her shoulder. “Can I kill them? I can be a mafia queen and just,” she ran her finger along her throat like she was slitting it.
His laugh echoed around them and Kaylee looked at him with a big smile, “what’s so funny, Dad?”
“Your mom is cracking me up. She’s very funny. I forgot over the years how much she could make me laugh.”
“She is funny. I like her laugh,” Kaylee said with a smile. “She can tell the best jokes too! She also likes to dance and sing with me, and she makes me happy when I’m feeling sad.”
“Me too!” Darwin said with wide eyes. “When I come to their house to play, January always makes me laugh and she never tells us we are too loud or too messy. Once she helped us make valentines for the kids in our class and we had so much glitter everywhere when we got home, my dad took off my shirt to put me in the tub, and it was all over me.” Darwin rubbed is belly and chest exaggeratedly.
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“That sounds like a lot of fun!”
“It was a mess and I was picking glitter out of his hair for a month,” Ernst grinned at January, “but his smile lasted longer as you can see.”
“What you’re saying, Kaylee and Darwin,” Gulliver teased, “is in the new house we need a room designated for crafts that we can seal off like in Ernst’s labs at the hospital so that things like glitter and confetti can’t escape the vacuum of the space.”
Ernst chuckled lowly, “if you can do that I might ask for one at my place.”
“Our place is too small for special rooms, Dad!” Darwin said matter–of–factly. “We don’t have a big house because it’s just us and I do my sleepovers at my Nan’s house. We have enough room in my back yard for my swings but the one at Nan’s house is bigger.”
“It suits our needs,” Ernst cleared his throat uncomfortably.
“You provided a home for your son where he feels safe while you were keeping him sheltered,” Glenn commented with admiration in his voice, “size doesn’t matter,” he paused before tossing out wickedly, “unless it does.”
January choked at Glenn’s innuendo while Thisbe made a
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gagging noise, and Gulliver simply shook his head. Movement behind them as the two agents leaned on a fence where the flamingos were housed made her clench her teeth, the moment of levity lost at their sight.
Glenn moved to block her view, “sister, you should take a breath. Let’s not repeat the scene I’ve watched on repeat from the restaurant a couple weeks back.”
“What scene?” Ernst asked.
“When she kicked that bald fucker over there in the balls after
she threw water on him. Gulliver literally held her back and she flailed out so far she caught him in the nuts. I have it on video if you want to see it.”
“Why?” Ernst appeared appalled at her actions.
“He’s the guy who was going to the school to interrogate the kids,” Glenn commented with a smirk as he dug his phone out and scrolled to find the video. “I think I watched it at least thirty times.”
Ernst was looking over Glenn’s shoulder at the phone and he commented quietly, “that’s a lot of photos of Mitsos.”
“He’s the best thing to ever happen to me.” Glenn said honestly. “His mother showing up with him and telling me he was mine was the best day of my life. There isn’t a day which 3/7
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goes by where I don’t look at him and want to give him the entire world yet know it will never be enough.”
Ernst’s lips tugged at the comment, “I’m the same with Darwin. I’m a pretty quiet guy but there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for him. He’s my world.”
“Dad,” Darwin tugged on Ernst’s sleeve, “Kaylee said her dad will keep us safe. Is that true because those police officers over there are bad guys. Kaylee told me they are. I’m a little scared.”
Glenn immediately squatted down to look at Darwin, “hey buddy, look at me a minute. I’m going to show you something. You’re smart like your dad right?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. I want you to look at all the people around us that I point at and count them. Can you do that?” He motioned to Kaylee and Mitsos, “come. All three of you can do this.”
The three kids stood in front of him and Glenn turned them
and started with a group of four men standing only a few feet away. “How many?”
“Four.” Kaylee exclaimed loudly.
“Now, look over there by the tree. There are how many
standing there.”
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“Two.”
“Two and four makes?”
“Six!”
“Now, look over there at the very end of the enclosure. There’s a line of guys all in a row along the wooden fence leaning over it looking at the animals there.”
“Five.”
“Six and five?”
Darwin spoke fastest, “eleven.”
Glenn tapped his nose. “You are smart. Eleven!” he pointed towards a cluster of trees nearly hidden, “can you see the men behind the cage over there just within sight?”
“Three.” Darwin said nodding his head emphatically.
“Which makes?”
“Fourteen.” Glenn grinned up at Ernst, “he is smart. Tuition is going to be a bitch when he wants Cambridge or Oxford. Good thing I’m a billionaire.”
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Ernst’s cheeks turned rosy.
“Now one last test,” Glenn said, “I’m going to point out individuals and I want you to count them fast.” He pointed to specific people and the kids counted up to eight really fast. “Eight and fourteen?”
“Twenty–two.” Darwin yelled and then cupped his hands over his mouth as he realized how loud he got.
“That’s right. Twenty–two. Want to know a secret?”
“What?”
“Those twenty–two people that we can see right around us are all part of our security team. They are here to keep us safe. My grandfather,” he pointed to the older man, “and my brother make sure whenever we do anything in public, we are always safe with lots of bodyguards around to make sure nobody can hurt us. Now, if I tell you that a number is doubled do you know what it means?”
“It means there is two times as much,” Darwin nodded excitedly.
“Well, for all the people we can see, there are twice as many out there we can’t. So those police officers who may have a couple of friends around to spy on us at the zoo, can’t hurt us at all because my family takes care of us very carefully and they 6/7
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don’t take our safety lightly.”
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