Blood Lines

I’ve been working for Matt and Val for 3 weeks now and I’m enjoying every minute of it. Skylar is the cutest little kid I have ever had the privilege of babysitting. We go to the ice cream shop at least 2 times a week and so far I’ve taken him to the beach with me and to the store to get some things for Val and I’ve taken him to the park where I pushed him on the swings and watched him go down the slide on his own. Now I see what my mother loved about taking care of me. I still don’t understand about my father though but I could care less what he thinks anyways. If he doesn’t care anything about me then I hate him with a burning passion.

Today Skylar and I are at the park again because he had so much fun the last time. I sat on a little bench watching him play around with the other children that were here and he was having an absolute ball. I couldn’t help but smile when he would yell at me telling me to watch him as he climbed up the curved bars to get to the spiral slide.

“You be careful Skylar!” I said watching as he climbed.

“I will Roxy!” I watched as he climbed all the way to the top before sliding down the spiral slide. He ran over to me with a big smile on his face.

“Did you see me!”

“Yes I did buddy! That was really awesome!” I said as he sat down beside me.

“Come on Roxy. I want you to go down the slide with me.”

“Alright.” I said getting up.

“Race ya!” he took off running and I jogged up to where he was already climbing. I climbed up fast getting right beside him and he stepped off first.

“You beat me!” I said smiling and I tickled his sides. His laugh just made me smile even bigger. I sat down at the entrance of the slide and he crawled into my lap.

“You ready?” I asked and he nodded rapidly. I pushed off and held onto him tightly and we went round and round and round until coming to the bottom.

“That was fun! Let’s do it again!”

“Sure thing buddy.” I said standing to me feet.

“It didn’t take you long to get pregnant and have a kid did it you whore?” I turned around and looked into the hateful eyes of my father.

“He’s not mine. I’m babysitting him and why do you care. You never did.” I looked down and seen Skylar looking up at me.

“Sky can you climb up to the top again? I’ll be right behind you.” I asked and he nodded and ran over to the other side.

“I don’t know why anyone would put their child into your hands.”

“That’s not your problem Conner. Now leave me alone.” I said and I started to walk away from him but he grabbed my arm.

“You don’t turn your fucking back on me!”

“Get your hands off me!” I yelled and jerked out of his grasp.

“Don’t you dare hurt Roxy!” I looked down and there was Skylar with his little hands clenched at his side.

“Stay out of it you little brat!”

“You will not speak to him that way.” I said pulling Skylar behind me.

“The best thing you could do is shut your fucking mouth and give me the money your mother should have left to me.”

“Go wait over there Skylar.” I said pointing towards the bench I was sitting on. I watched him look up at me and I nodded and he ran over to the bench sitting down.

“Give me the fucking money!”

“You won’t get shit from me!” I said getting right into his face.

“Have it your way. You’ll pay though.”

“You threaten me one more fucking time and you’ll unleash a whole hell of a lot of trouble that you won’t ever be able to get out of.” I said glaring daggers into the man.

“Oh you’ll pay. Just wait and see.” I watched as he walked away and he joined a woman who had 2 children with her. They walked away casually like nothing was ever said and it made my blood boil even more. I walked over to where Skylar was sitting and I sat down beside him.

“Roxy who was that guy?”

“He’s a very bad man.” I said watching as they left the park and getting into a car.

“A bad man?”

“Yes Skylar. Can I ask a huge favor from you?” I asked and he nodded.

“Please don’t tell anyone what happened today with the man.” I said placing my hand on his shoulder.

“Why not? He could have hurt you.”

“He wasn’t going to hurt me Sky.” I said shaking my head.

“You pink swear?” he held out his little finger and twined mine with him.

“I pinky swear.” I said smiling.

“Can we get ice cream?”

“Of course.” I said nodding and we left the park and headed over to our favorite ice cream shop. When we got there Skylar got some vanilla and chocolate both and I just got some fudge ripple. He didn’t want any toppings but I got a little bit of nuts and some hot fudge to put over mine. We left the shop with our ice cream bowls and walked along the pier. After we finished we went back to the house where Skylar went to the TV and I needed something to take the anger out of my system so I decided to do some really good cleaning. I ran the vacuum over the living room as he watched TV but he didn’t seem to mind it.

I hauled the vacuum upstairs and cleaned every guest bedroom plus Skylar’s within an inch of its life. Everything was dusted off and toys were put in their place. I placed some of Skylar’s books back onto the shelf as I dusted it and when I finished I went back and started Vacuuming the long hallway that was outside of the bedroom doors. When I finished all the cleaning I hauled the vacuum back down the stairs and placed it into the hall closet. I went into the bathroom and cleaned it making sure everything sparkled. My anger was really draining the energy I had out of me.

I shook off the tiredness and went into the kitchen and grabbed a cake mix I had brought and I mixed everything together according to the directions. I placed the cake in the oven and set my phone to go off when the time was up. I sat down at the table drinking a glass of tea and the words of the man I called my father replayed over and over in my head. How could he just come up to me after being gone all these years and expect me to give into him. I wasn’t going to do that because of the things my mother told me about him in her Will. I’m not as stupid as I look.

My timer went off on my phone and I went over to the oven getting the cake out and setting it on the stove. I took out a toothpick and picked around on it making sure it all came out clean and thankfully it did. I set it there and went into the living room and sat beside Skylar as he watched TV. He leaned into my side and draped an arm around him using my other arm to prop myself up. I couldn’t help but close my eyes from being exhausted. I opened them quickly and looked down at Skylar as he slept soundly. I gently picked him up and stretched my legs out and placed the little boy beside me keeping my arm around him. I propped my head on the arm rest and closed my eyes back and drifting off to sleep.

I could hear 2 voices as I started to wake up so I kept my eyes closed so I could see who was looking at my sleeping form.

“I hate to have to wake them up.”

“I know Val. They look so peaceful. Skylar must have ran her to death today.” Matt said and I could just picture them smiling at themselves as they looked down at us. I decided it would be a great time to finally say something.

“You know you don’t have to whisper.” I said opening my eyes.

“I’m sorry we didn’t mean to wake you.”
“It’s okay. I need to wake up anyways.” I said smiling as I gently sat up with Skylar in my arms. He stirred and then opened his little eyes looking up at me.

“Look who’s home buddy.” I said smiling and he turned his head and looked over at Matt and Val. He got up and jumped right into the arms of his mom.

“I missed you too son.” She said hugging him tightly. I rubbed my hands down my face and yawned quietly and stood to my feet.

“Can I talk to you for a moment in the kitchen Roxy?”

“Sure.” I said standing up and walking into the kitchen with Matt. I saw my cake still sitting there and I went over getting the icing out and put the cake on a cake plate before I started with the icing.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” I asked as I smeared the icing on the cake.

“I have some friends coming over and they keep asking to meet you. Would you like to stay over a little while and meet them and get to know them?”

“Sure.” I said nodding as I spread the icing over the cake evening it out.

“Is there anything wrong?”

“No. Why do you ask?” I said lying once again.

“I was just wondering. You look like you go a lot on your mind.”

“I was just thinking about my mom.” I said which was only the half the truth. I do think about her all the time.

“If you ever need to talk about anything. It doesn’t matter the problem, just know that Val and I are always willing to listen.”

“I’ll remember that and thank you for caring.” I said smiling as I put the glass top on the cake.

“I didn’t get time to run by the store so do you think you could go and get about 8 thick T-bones and something for Skylar?”

“Sure. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” I said grabbing my car keys from the counter. I turned around and Matt held out some money.

“I can buy those steaks Matt.”

“I know you can but I asked you to go buy them for me. I’m paying.” He said and he placed the money in my hand. I nodded and left the house and getting into my car. I backed out of their driveway and drove down the road to the store. I parked my car fairly close to the store and I got out hitting my security system and walking into the store. I grabbed a little basket and went over to the meat department and looked through the meat picking out the thickest cut of T-bones I could find. I went over to the express checkout and paid for the steaks. I went back to my car with the bag of steaks and headed back to Matt’s.

I pulled into the driveway minutes later and went back into the house and into the kitchen. I pulled out the change and gave it back to Matt and he took the meat out to the backyard. Val was at the stove cooking something.

"Who does Matt want me to meet?" I asked Val as I leaned on the counter beside her.

"A few of his friends and mine. We'll the guys are more like his brothers than friends and their girlfriends are coming over too."

"Cool." I said smiling.

"I do have to warn you about one of the guy's girlfriend. They've been having some troubles and shit like that."

"Wow. You won't have to worry Val, I can handle myself pretty well." I scratching my arm.

"Good. Will you take this plate out and give it to Matt?" I nod taking the plate from here and walking out of the kitchen. I go out the slding glass door and over to Matt where he's flipping the steaks.

"Val told me to bring this to you." I said handing him the plate.

"Thanks. You can sit and relax for a while if you want."

"No I think I'll go and see if Val needs any help with anything." I said leaving him by the grill. I walked back through the house and into the kitchen. Val had me cooking what I had gotten Skylar at the store while she was fixing some kind of pasta stuff. I heard the door open and Val shook her head.

"Those guys don't even know how to knock. Take Skylar's food out to him and feed him for me please."

"Okay." I said picking up the plate of food and going back outside. I sat it on the patio table and Skylar seen me and immediately ran over.

"You hungry buddy?" I asked smiling.

"Yeah." I picked him and sat him in the chair and helped him eat. After he finished I took the plate back into the house with him following me the whole way.

"Roxy?"

"Yeah buddy?" I said putting his plate into the sink and beginning to wash it.

"I want to meet my uncles."

"Okay just as soon as I get this washed." I said and he nodded. I washed it thoroughly before rinsing and placing it into the drainer. He grabbed my hand and led me back outside and over to a group of men.

"Uncle Jimmy! This is Roxy!"

"Sweet! You and I are going to be the best of friends!" Jimmy yelled as he stood up and lifted me off my feet and spinning me around.

"Jimmy put her down!" Matt said shaking his head. Jimmy put me back on my feet and Skylar introduced me to the rest of the guys. Zacky had emerald-green eyes and jet black hair. His tattooes shown in the sunlight. Johnny was the shortest of all the men and he had a black and blonde mohawk but he didn't have many tats. Jimmy was the tallest among the group and absolutely the craziest. He had a few tats on his arms and a tattoo of handcuffs on his neck. I thought they were really awesome. The last person Skylar introduced me to was Brian. His hair was also jet black but it was long and hung freely down to his shoulders and he sported a Fedora on his head. He was pretty cute.

"Come on Roxy!" Skylar said pulling on my shirt.

"Where to Sky?"

"Over to the pool!" He said pulling me along. I flashed an apologetic look towards the 4 men and I stopped as we got to the steps.

"I can't get in the pool Skylar." I said holding his hand.

"Why not?"

"I don't have a swin suit and you haven't been changed into yours." I said and he looked down at himself and gave me an oh-I-forgot look.

"Come on I'll take you in and get you dressed." I said picking him up and going back into the house for the 50th time and went into the kitchen where Val is.

"Val can I ask you something?"

"Sure anything." she said grabbing some plates from the cabinet.

"Skylar wants me to go swimming with him but I don't have a swim suit."

"You can borrow mine. They're in the bottom drawer of the dresser. Pick any one you want and get Skylar changed."

"Thank you." I said smiling and I took 2 steps at a time as I went up to Skylar's room. I opened his door and set him down and he went over to his little dresser and grabbed one of his little swimming trunks.

"Do you know how to put that on?" I asked and he nodded.

"Alright. I'm going to change in your mother's room and I want you to change and stay right here." I said going to the door.

"Okay." I left his room and went into Val's getting a bikini out of the bottom drawer and going into their bathroom and changing quickly. I brought my clothes out with me and I went back into Skylar's room where he was all dressed and ready. I set my clothes on his bed and picked him up in my arms. We left his room and I grabbed 2 towels and headed back outside. We went over to the pool steps and I got in first and he same really good over to me and held onto my neck. I held him tightly as the water came up to my waist. He took his hand and splashed water on me and I splashed him right back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BRIAN'S POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I looked back over to the door as Roxy came out in a black string bikini and it took a lot for me not to get riled up by the sight of her body but Michelle is standing in my way. I watched as she swam around in the water with Skylar. She's so good with him and I've just met her today.

"Cannon Ball!" I looked over and seen Jimmy jump into the pool making a big splash and it splashed right on Roxy and Skylar.

"Jimmy you're a nut!"

"Are you just now figuring that out?" he said smiling as he leaned on the side of the pool.

"No I've known for a while." Jimmy waved off Matt and he swam over to Roxy and took Skylar from her. She swam to the side and lifting herself up and out of the water. She went over to the patio and sat down wrapping herself into a towel. I got up from my spot taking a beer from the cooler and going over to where she sat. I sat down in a chair in front of her.

"Would you like a beer?" I asked setting it on the table.

"No thanks. I don't drink."

"Oh. I guess I'll drink it." I said smiling and popping the top off.

"So you're Skylar's baby sitter?"

"Yes sir. He's a sweet little kid." she sid smiling and her smile was so beautiful.

"Does he give you a hard time?"

"Skylar? Hell no. He's the bes kid I've ever babysat." she said laughing and shaking her head.

"That's good. So I was thinking..."

"Brian! What do you think you're doing!" I looked over and seen Michelle as she stomped over.

"Hey Michelle." I said smiling.

"What the hell do you think you're doing talking to this trash?"

"She's not trash! She's Skylar's babysitter." I said wondering what's up her ass.

"You stay away from my man or you'll be sorry."

"I was just talking to him. There's been no harm done." Roxy said skaing her head.

"I don't a shit you whore. You fucking stay away from him or I'll beat your ass."

"Don't make threats you can't follow through with." She said with a comeback and standing to her feet.

"Oh I will follow through. Maybe I should just teach you a lesson so you'll knwo to stay away from him." Michelle pushed Roxy back but she stood her ground.

"This is not an appropriate place. There is a child around."

"Who cares!" Michelle brought her hand up and slapped Roxy right in the face. I stood to my feet and pulled Michelle away. Roxy held her face in her hands and looked at Michelle with a look that would kill her. Oh man I have a feeling this won't be the end of it.