Zeke

"Zeke!" Her tone was sharp, angry. I quickly turned to my mate, who looked like she wanted to punch me, but she wouldn't do that in front of Kenny. "He's showing you his drawing. Isn't it nice?" the words came out of clenched teeth.

I need to say the right thing. Shaking Chester and Simon from my thoughts, I looked at Kenny. In his hands was a single piece of paper with a small drawing made with markers. There was two blue stick figures, one tall, one small. There was one single pink figure with yellow hair. "It's me, you, and Valley" Kenny told me. His tone was soft.

I knew he must've repeated himself a few times before Valerie got me to pay attention. I instantly felt guilty. Instead of paying attention to him, I was anticipating Simon's arrival. He'll get here when he does. Thinking about it won't make him get here faster. "I love it, Kenny. How 'bout you go draw me another one while I talk to Valley" I suggested. He nodded his head, oblivious to the tension. He went to the living room for his drawing items.

Once the door closed, Valerie's hand swung out and slapped me. "Six times, Zeke. He repeated himself six times" she seethed. I frowned and kept quiet. There was nothing for me to say. "I get it. You have an obligation to this pack. This rogue thing is your job. But you have an obligation to Kenny. He wants to spend time with us. But it means nothing if you're spaced out"

Sighing, I placed my hands on her hips. She slightly relaxed at my touch. "I know. I'll pay attention. I promise" I told her softly. She sighed, resting her hands at the back of my neck. "What if I took you guys out for dinner tonight?" I offered. They won't show up with Simon tonight. I should relax.

Hesitantly, Valerie nodded her head in agreement. "I'll go get Kenny ready" she quickly pecked my lips before moving away from me.

"You have a beautiful family, Beta Kingsley" Doctor Pete told me as he stood in the back doorway. I nodded and thanked him. He would be staying in the packhouse for a week, so the other pack members could get used to him. Then, he would move into his clinic that is a half mile away from the house.

I could feel the doctor's curiosity about my family. "He's adopted" I blurted. Not completely true. We didn't do paperwork to have him adopted and all that stuff. Technically, Kenny is under our temporary care and protection until things are cleared up with Simon. Then we can find Hannah and he will be in her care. Pete wanted to further question me on the subject. I could tell he had no alternative motives. He was genuinely interested. But he didn't have a chance to asked his questions. My mate and Kenny came into the room with their shoes on, ready to go. "We can continue this conversation another day" I offered, looking at the doctor.

He nodded his head, then my small family walked to my car. "What do you guys wanna eat?" I questioned, pulling away from the packhouse. I did a quick scan of the forest, checking for any movement. But there was nothing. Relaxing, I continued to drive out of the territory.

"I want a burger" Valerie told me. I nodded my head and drove to the closest burger restaurant. Valerie glanced at me from the corner of her eye before she turned and spoke to Kenny. "How do you like living with us, Kenny?" she wondered. Random question.

Kenny's head snapped up as he stopped playing with his Ninja Turtle. "I really like it. You guys are nice" he stated, a small smile gracing his lips. Valerie glanced at me again. "Do you like me living with you?" Kenny inquired.

Valerie quickly nodded her head, glancing at me for the third time. "What?" I mind-linked her.

She turned away from Kenny, facing the dashboard again. "He's been here over a month. And I know he should be with Hannah. But maybe we can convince her to stay too" her voice was hesitant. We never really talked about Kenny's living situation. We both knew it wasn't permanent. But we acted as if it was.

I didn't want Kenny to leave. The little bacon-stealing, Ninja Turtle-loving kid had grown on me. He's family. "It's Hannah's choice" I reminded her. A frown formed on her face. Sighing, I reached over, lacing our fingers together. "We can try. But we shouldn't keep our hopes up" I said softly.

Valerie gave me a small nod with the frown still on her face. Giving her hand a small squeeze, I attempted to make her feel better. "When we get home, we can watch some Disney movies in my room. How does that sound, Kenny?" I offered.

He grinned, vigorously nodding his head as I pulled into the parking lot of some burger place. We all got out of the car, Kenny expertly took off his seatbelt. But we had to open the door for him since the child lock was on. "Let's go!" Kenny chirped, hopping out.

"Hey. Leave your Ninja Turtle" Valerie demanded. Kenny frowned, but threw the toy in the backseat before closing the door. With Kenny in the middle, the three of us held hands and walked towards the building. "One. Two. Three!" Valerie and I held Kenny up and swung him forward, causing him to burst into giggles. "Hi. Table for three, please" Valerie told the hostess.

The woman nodded at us, a smile plastered onto her face. "Follow me" I let go of Kenny's hand as we began to walk. The hostess seated us at a booth. Kenny sat next to Valerie, while I sat opposite of them. "Here you go" she handed us menus. Kenny got a kid's menu with crayons again. "A server will be with you shortly" After flashing us another smile, she walked away.

"What do you wanna eat?" Valerie asked Kenny, pointing out the different things on the kids' menu. Eventually, he chose chicken strips with fries. "What about a drink?"

His face instantly lit up. "Can I have soda?" Kenny questioned, giving her the puppy dog face.

She was about to refuse. "Only one. And if you finish it, you have to drink water" I compromised. Valerie smiled at me and nodded in agreement. Kenny sighed, but also agreed. A waitress by the name of Maggie came to our table. We ordered our drinks, then she scurried off. "What are you coloring?" I wondered, peeking at Kenny's paper menu.

He lifted it up to show me. "It's a bird!" he chirped- no pun intended. I nodded and our table became silent as Kenny continued to color. A few minutes later, he just stopped and looked between Valerie and I. "Am I gonna live with you guys forever and ever?" Kenny asked, his eyes shining with innocence.

I shared a look with my mate. Hopefulness was written all over her face, but she was also slightly disappointed. We both knew he would have to leave. We just had this discussion in the car. "No. Not forever" I told him softly.

Kenny's face fell. "Oh. It would be cool if I could though" he stated before he went back to coloring. We want him here; he wants to stay here. The choice should be simple. If only it was our choice to make.

Valerie looked up at me with pleading eyes. "It's not our choice" I mind-linked her.

"Do you not want him anymore? Is that it?" she questioned angrily.

Sighing, I shook my head at her. "I do want him here. I love you and the kid. I love our little family. But it's not up to us. If it was, he would live with us forever" I assured her. Valerie frowned and excused herself to the bathroom.

Kenny watched her walk away. "Valley is coming back, right?" he inquired. I quickly nodded my head as Maggie came back with our drinks.

I ordered our food, including Valerie's. "Thank you" I told the waitress. She nodded and walked off. I watched Kenny as he continued drawing all over his menu. My phone suddenly rang. "Sorry" I apologized to the lady that was glaring at me at a nearby table. Taking out the device, I saw Nick's name. "Hello?" I answered the call. Without even greeting me, Nick asked if I had Kenny with me. "Yeah. Why?"

"Keep him out for a little longer" Nick demanded. I questioned him about his reasoning. "Hannah is here" My breathing hitched. Speaking of the devil. If Nick wants to keep Kenny away from her, then that means something bad must've happened. "I have to go. Stay out of the territory for at least another hour" He barely got the words out before he hung up.

I slowly put my phone away, trying to think of what could be going on. Hannah must be dangerous. Or she's hurt. Or Simon is with her. There's so many possibilities. "What happened?" Valerie inquired as she slid back into the booth. Shaking my head, I told her we'll talk about it later. She narrowed her eyes at me, but didn't push it. It wasn't something that we should talk about in front of Kenny. Especially since it seemed like Nick didn't want him to know. "Did you order already?" my mate changed the subject.

I nodded my head in confirmation. "We're gonna go to the store after this. We can buy some new Disney movies" I decided. My mate looked at me suspiciously; but still didn't question me. "Nick told me to keep Kenny out the territory. Something happened with Hannah" I informed her. Valerie's eyes widened before she slowly nodded her head and asked if Hannah was alright. "I have no idea" I admitted.

A few minutes later, the waitress came back and placed our food in front of us. "Would you guys like anything else? Refills?" she offered. Valerie and I nodded our heads and thanked her before she walked off to get us more drinks. "Here you go" Maggie said with a smile.

We thanked her again. "You want some ketchup?" Valerie asked Kenny. He nodded his head before my mate reached over for the bottle. We ate in silence for the next half hour. It wasn't awkward or uncomfortable. But I knew Valerie was thinking about Hannah just like I was. "You ready?" Valerie wondered, looking between Kenny and I.

Nodding, I put some bills on the table and the three of us walked out with full stomachs. "Bubba, why can't I stay with you guys forever?" Kenny asked as I opened the door for him to get in the car.

Valerie frowned, hearing the sadness in his voice. "Your sissy might come back. And then you'll go live with her" I told him softly.

"Why can't we all live together?"

Biting my lip, I let out a small sigh and squatted down so we were at eye-level with each other. "I wish we could, Kenny. But we have to ask your sister first. If she says yes, then we would be very happy that you're staying with us. But if she says no, then you have to be a big boy and listen to her. Okay?" I explained. Kenny frowned and nodded his head before climbing into the car.

I gave my mate a sad smile before we both got into the car. As I drove, I laced our fingers together, giving her hand a small squeeze. "I love you" I said softly.

A small smile appeared on her face. "I love you too" She brought our hands up to her mouth and kissed my knuckles.

"I love you guys too!" Kenny piped in from the backseat.

Valerie grinned and turned around to look at him. "We love you too, Kenny" she said with a laugh. "What movie do you wanna get?" she inquired, changing the subject. Kenny started blurting out the names of Disney movies ranging from Cars to Lilo and Stitch. I'm surprised he knew so many movies. "Where'd you hear all of those movies from?" Valerie questioned, taking the words right out of my head.

Kenny shrugged. "Sam talks about movies. He really likes Frozen. He said Elsa is very pretty" I chuckled, now having something to blackmail Sam with. "Can I get another toy?" Kenny asked as we pulled into the parking lot of the same store we got all of his clothes from.

Before I could say anything, Valerie shook her head. "We're gonna get you a book! So you can read like a big kid!" she faked excitement. Surprisingly, it worked. Kenny smiled and nodded his head in agreement. We walked into the store with Valerie holding Kenny's hand. "Let's get the book first"

We walked over to the children's shelf in the book section. "Oh! I remember this!" I exclaimed, grabbing The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister off the shelf. "This will be your first book" I declared, looking at Kenny. He nodded in head, taking it from my hands.

Valerie was shaking her head in amusement. "Let's get one more for after you finish that one" she suggested. We browsed at all the books until Kenny pointed out a Dr. Seuss book, Green Eggs and Ham. "Now we can get a movie" Valerie decided.

We walked over to the movie section. "Becky! Look!" Upon hearing the familiar little voice, I turned around. The little girl was pointing at me as she tugged on her sister's shirt. "It's that guy!" Piper exclaimed, still pointing.

I laughed, motioning them over. "Hi, Piper" I greeted the little girl with a smile. She grinned at me, showing me the small gap where a tooth must've fallen out. "Wow! You lost a tooth! Such a big girl!" I praised.

She grinned and nodded in confirmation. "Zeke, right?" Becky asked hesitantly. I nodded my head and she let out a breath a relief. "It would've been weird to get your name wrong" she pointed out with a laugh. Chuckling, I nodded in agreement. Valerie cleared her throat next to me and raised her eyebrows.

I think I'm in trouble.  

_______________

"You have to stand up for some things in this world"

-Marjory Stoneman Douglas

I'm going camping today. Three days without a shower, electronics, coffee, or my bed. I don't know what I'm more sad about- not being able to shower or not being about to write.

Kayyyzzz Byeeezzz

~A.J.