Lyon
Chapter 96

Caitlin’s fever was all the way down by the time I got back to the house but she was still a little fussy. I put everything else aside and focused on my wife and kid.

“How is she?” I picked my girl up out of her playpen for a hug.

“Hey baby how’s daddy’s big girl?” She laid her little head on my shoulder and hugged. Best f*****g feeling in the world I don’t care if it makes me a sap.

“Better, her fever is down and she’s not as fussy; how did it go at the hospital any change? Does she remember anything?”

“Nope, your girls are on it though.” I gave her a look for being sneaky but she didn’t even have the decency to look embarrassed.

She seemed happy enough with the fact that her posse was going to see about the victim though so that was one less worry for me; until she found something else to harass my a*s about.

“I’m making fettuccini and chicken Alfredo for dinner sounds good?”

“Sounds great, I’ll help you.” She was busy sitting on the floor wrapping gifts. She looked relaxed and happy, all that wild as f**k hair tumbling down her back, clad in jeans and one of my sweaters with thick socks on her feet. Sexy.

I sat with my daughter while her mom finished wrapping gifts, shit we had a shit load of gifts to hand out. My crew had about fifty kids between them. My idea was to do what I always did, give their parents gift cards to the toyshop but Kat about had a hissy fit when I told her. Apparently that was too impersonal.

“Why didn’t you get the girls to come help you with that? That’s a lot of gifts I’m sure they wouldn’t mind.”

“Colt they have their own stuff to take care of. Stacey and Em are busy at their shop and Carol is off somewhere and the sisters are all busy with their own families.”

“What about Jared’s new honey? She doesn’t have any kids why don’t you ask her?” She didn’t answer me right away but I heard her mumble something under her breath.

“What was that?”

“I don’t think she likes me very much.”

“Why’s that?”

“I think she’s jealous of my relationship with Jared.”

“That doesn’t make any sense babe she knows you guys are like brother and sister.” She was back to mumbling under her breath.

“Speak up babe I can’t hear you, something going on I should know about?”

“No, Jared just kinda let it slip that she thinks we’re too close. She wants him to spend the holiday alone with her since her family lives out of state.”

“Didn’t he invite her to Elena’s thing?”

“I guess but she doesn’t want to come.” She shrugged her shoulders but I could tell she was upset. Jared changes women like he does his shirts so I wouldn’t be too worried about it.

We have a code in the crew if someone didn’t fit in they were out. I know from my lapse in judgment with Jennifer that that shit’s a headache you do not want.

“What does Jared say?” I’m surprised he hadn’t said anything to me about it but then again he probably didn’t see it as a big deal. Women always over exaggerated everything.

I know what Jared means to Angel, I myself had a few rough moments in the beginning with their close bond but I’m glad she has her pseudo brother he helps take some of the pressure off me when she gets to be too much.

Plus it’s good having another pair of eyes on her when I’m not around. Though come to think of it he usually encourages her in bullshit and then I have to get after both of them.

“He said not to sweat it he’ll handle it.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it babe if she hangs around here long enough she’ll come to accept your relationship.” F**k now I sound like one of those talk show quacks.

“But it’s Caitie’s first Xmas and I want her uncle Jared to be there.” Oops, this Heather bitch is upsetting my Angel gotta nip that shit in the bud. I don’t get involved in these things why the f**k would I?

But if the shit was making my girl unhappy that’s a job for the Colt man. My life has become one strange occurrence after another; who would’ve ever thought I would become this person? Getting involved in female squabbles. Women make men stupid.

We made dinner together while the baby slept and I kept the conversation away from the chick in the hospital and focused on what was important; our first Xmas together as a family. I wasn’t much into the holiday scene until Kat came along.

I’d outgrown that shit since I was a teen but women loved it. I have to admit it was growing on me a little for the sheer fact that my little girl seemed overly excited by all the hoorah.

I spent a quiet evening with my family. Sitting in front of the fireplace with my little pyromaniac who fell asleep to the movement of the flames. I tackled Kat in the hallway after we put our girl down for a quick fast back shot which left her laid out for all of five minutes before she started her shit with me again.

“Colt, I think maybe we should think about doing something for that girl for Xmas it’s only a few days away and I don’t feel right just leaving her there, this is all my fault.”

“Kat what exactly would you like me to do? If she’s really sick then she’s in the best place if it turns out that she doesn’t have any insurance then I’ll cover the bill but other than that I don’t see what we can do. I’m trying to replace out who she is if she has any family around here or wherever the f**k she comes from, other than that there’s nothing else for us to do.”

“Maybe, maybe we can have her here for the day if no one claims her by then.” She said that shit fast and on the move. My wife is stark raving nuts.

“Kat that’s never going to happen so get it out of your head, we don’t know who this person is and quite frankly I don’t give a f**k she’s not coming in this house. Now it’s Caitie bear’s first Xmas I suggest you concentrate on making that shit perfect for her and stop trying to make me crazy.”

“Colton you have got to stop obsessing about this Xmas thing, you’ve been making everybody crazy for months with this. Caitlin is going to be fine she has a mountain of gifts at three different houses, every adult in a six mile radius fawns over her trust me she doesn’t need much more than that to make her happy.”

“Listen you we’re her parents it’s our job to make sure that these things are as perfect as we can make them unless you want to end up in some quack’s office fifteen years from now explaining why she’s cutting herself or some shit.”

“Oh for the loveyou are totally nuts hon, I love ya but you’re not playing with a full deck.”

“Whatever but that female is not coming to this house and the only thing you have to deal with right now is our kid and me. I suggest you go bake cookies or some shit and stop making me nuts. The f**k.” I went about my business because as far as I was concerned the conversation was over. She’s never happy unless she’s doing something to make me crazy.

She found something to occupy her time and I looked after my baby when she got fussy again in her crib. I turned on some Xmas music because she seems to like that and the twinkling lights on the tree kept her mesmerized for a while.

When she started fussing I relit the fireplace and she was my happy baby again. Kat came back to her damn senses and got caught up in the spirit like she had been before all this shit happened. We sat around as a family playing with our girl and reading her stories while she ate her toes and everything else she could get her mouth on.

“Colt, we need to put my belly ring back in.”

“Yeah I forgot about that.” Her ring had actually popped out of her navel when her belly started growing, guess I should’ve known that shit would happen.

“We’ll do it tonight if you like maybe we’ll get lucky and the holes are still open.”

We sat in silence with my arms around the two of them as I replayed the events of the day in my head. Oh well we’ve had a quiet past few months since the baby was born I guess we were due for some fuckery. Heaven knows my life wouldn’t be the same without some shit going on. F*****g Kat.