Ford's Rise - L. Ann Marie Page 0,49
sad. He didn’t want to take Molly from the kids so he left her.”
I pull my phone and text Knight. He’ll bring a dog for Garren and Michael. “Knight will bring one for them in a couple of days.”
Alexia pulls my shoulder so I bend. She kisses my cheek. “He misses Molly. Thank you.”
I nod glad I got a kiss for Knight training a dog for them. Dinner is much quieter without all the Alpha-Bits at the table. I like seeing and hearing the new words the Rs are saying. They still have colored hair but it’s not as dark as it was. It makes me smile. Anton liked the colors of the Bravo Alpha-Bits and colored the Rs and Peyton’s hair. I know who is who.
Freedom talks with Alexia and Télia about training. Me and Ranger talk with the kids keeping an ear open to their conversation. Well, I do. Alexia is happy with the training she’s doing from her old trainer Waters. She wants to do martial arts with the new Alpha-Bits. I think it will help her focus so I’ll talk to her about it later. Télia does martial arts and said it helps like yoga.
Alejandro is excited about the computer class he has. Jacques, Jose and Marco say they’ll help. They make me laugh, Jacques said, “I in.”
Mucimi shows scaring the shit out of Rostya. Rostya yells then smiles at him. “Brothers. I’ll help Alejandro. School tomorrow, Alejandro.”
They all nod like this is normal. Mucimi is gone then back with a plate. “Bear is here.”
I nod. “He runs the kitchen. He was out here earlier. He does a good job.”
He nods. Why is Bear mentioned? He looks right at me. “He’s good here. The Alpha-Bits need Protectors in every position. Security and food are important.”
I look at Ranger seeing he’s paying attention to this. “Is there someone or a position we’re watching?”
Mucimi shakes his head. “Alder had Pres Falcon move Security Teams. Food was next. The greenhouses are good. Bear here is good.” He stops then starts eating.
I look at Ranger again. “Bear moved three days ago.”
He nods.
Jacques gets our attention. “Nager!”
Ranger smiles at him. “We can swim. We brought our suits. The pet store is open until ten.”
The Rs make noise and climb out of their highchairs before we can react. The women are up and chasing the Rs. I look at Mucimi. He’s eating like this isn’t happening. Shrugging, I tell Mateo and Marco, “We’re at the pool for a while. Try to get the Sweden and Finland Alpha-Bits that are here to come down. They’re having trouble believing they’re safe to live their happy. We have ten of them up for training and work at the IT building. Some are still staying hidden unless they’re working.”
They nod with serious looks on. “We see, Web. We bring to swim.”
“Thanks, Brothers. I’m so glad you’re here to teach them.”
With a hug to each, they’re running out. Alexia comes to me with Roman. I kiss both their heads. “Swim lesson time. Do you have a suit in the locker?”
She nods so we’re off.
The pool is surprisingly busy tonight. Wolfgang and Wain are in lifeguard training, so Aris and Allen have them testing on the deep end of the pool. Alexia doesn’t need lessons anymore but is watching and swimming while the other Alpha-Bits test out for one thing or another. Ranger, Freedom and Télia have the Rs, Jacques and Gregor playing with beach balls. I’m watching them all.
I never expected to have all this. I took the As without a clue as to where it would all lead. I don’t think Crow knew how big this would become or just how great Cort would reach and make it. He always said there is greatness in Cort. I miss our talks on the reservation. We’d walk and talk almost daily. He taught me so much about life and the Brotherhood, then life in the Brotherhood. There was a greatness in Crow too. He could pick it out in other men. He always told me to stick with Reed and Cort. Reed told me if anything happened to him, I was to stick with Cort. He said it was life and death important. I didn’t ask how he knew. I could feel he was right and never asked. I look for why with everything, so it’s weird that I didn’t question Reed’s words.
He was right. Crow dying was hard, Reed dying with Jules in the car hit us