Father Figure

Sidney choked on his food. "What?" he demanded. 

I frowned. "Did he talk to you guys?" I asked warily. I could feel the protectiveness coming forward. 

Beau rolled his eyes. "He was being a stupid head," he announced. 

"What happened?" I pressed. I dropped my fork into my bowl and watched the boys intently. 

"I was looking at the cereal at the end of the isle and he came up and asked where you were. He said mean things about Daddy and you and all of us," Gab said. 

"But we didn't kick him, I promise!" Kris quickly interrupted. 

Sidney shook his head. "I didn't see him there..." he mumbled softly. 

"He was hiding on the other side of the isle," Beau informed his father. "He didn't want you to see him because he said you wouldn't let him talk to us."

"Obviously not," Sidney muttered. 

"Did he say anything bad? Like he was going to do something?" I asked carefully. 

"He called us a bad word. Then he called you a lot of bad words and Daddy a lot of bad words. He said he was glad we weren't in his life anymore," Gab told me as he picked though his food. 

I frowned, unsure of what to tell them. They didn't seem to care, but I couldn't read them. "Daddy, are we bad to have in your life?" Beau asked softly. His wide brown eyes stared up at his father, a small thread of fear in them. 

Sidney frowned even more. "Of course not. I'm glad you are all in my life. I wouldn't give you away for anything," he assured them. "I love you."

Beau nodded his head before looking down at his food. Kris nudged Gab, who in turn nudged him back. The nudging went back and forth until Kris almost fell off his seat. He huffed and finally looked up at Sidney. "But what about when we make you mad? Like when we got in a fight with that stupid sixth grader?" The two of them stared across the table at Sidney. 

"Not even then. Never," Sid answered. 

The boys seemed to be okay with his answers for the time being and went back to picking through their food. I pushed my plate away from me and sat back, my appetite gone. Their news hurt me. Not only that Joseph would purposely pick them out to tell them insults, but that it made them worry about their father. He had instilled a seed of worry in them that didn't need to be there. Ever. 

"Want me to take your plate?" Sidney asked softly as he stood up, his own plate in his hand. He hadn't eaten anything, either. 

I simply nodded my head. I watched him take the dishes to the sink and begin rinsing them off to put them in the dishwasher. His shoulders were tense, as was his stance. 

I stood up from my seat and walked up behind him. My finger slowly trailed up his shoulder blades to his shoulders. I gently massaged them making his muscles relaxed ever so slightly. 

"Why would he say that to them? Why?" Sidney muttered angrily as he rinsed off my plate. 

"Because he's mad. He's a vindictive person who hates that I didn't end up in some crappy place after we broke up. He's mad that in the end, I've ended up with someone so much better than him and my life is amazing," I whispered back. 

The only response I got was a grunt. I let out a sigh. "They didn't deserve to hear those mean things. They're five years old, for God's sake! And why would anyone ever instill that kind of worry in someone's mind? I would never give them up or leave them... They're my family and they are a massive part of my life now. I'm not changing that," he ranted softly so the boys wouldn't hear. 

"He's probably just bitter that they adore you while they hated him. He's an asshole. We shouldn't let him ruin anything or cause any problems."

He turned the water off and simply leaned against the counter. His eyes focused on the darkness outside. 

I slipped around him to stand to his side facing him. "They will realize you aren't leaving them. You are their father. You're family is theirs. You all look exactly alike," I added as a small joke. The corner of his lips twitched up at that. "And I'm positive that the trip to Nova Scotia this summer with prove to them that you aren't leaving even more."

Now his lips pulled up into a real smile, one I couldn't help but grin at. He stood there silently for a few minutes. 

"Can we be excused?" Beau called out. 

"Did you finish your dinner?" I asked. They all nodded their heads. "Yes, you can be excused." They carried their plates over to the counter and set them next to the sink. They all broke out into a run to get to the living room, declaring that there was a game on that they needed to watch. I looked back over at Sidney. "Remind you of anyone?" I asked. 

He let out a small chuckle. "Nope. Not at all," he replied before straightening up and working on the new dishes. 

I laughed. "You used to do that almost every night. And you would drag me into the living room with you, already going on about the teams playing. My parents were convinced you'd have me out on the ice, too," I told him. 

His chocolate colored eyes fell down to meet me. "I did get you to play goalie a few times," he mumbled. 

I laughed at the memory of that. I'd been trying to stand up the entire game and ended up deflecting all of the pucks. When I was younger, I could never skate to save my life. I'd received many bruises from my days of being shoved into the goalie uniform. We stood in silence for a few minutes. The only sound now was from the TV in the other room. 

"I have a feeling if my neck keeps improving this quickly, I'll be back before April," he whispered, as if speaking the words too loudly would curse him. 

I leaned into his side. "I bet you will be."