“Eeww,” Andrea shivered, seeing Kong carry something off that looked bigger than him. “Sorry,” Andrea mumbled turning to Arthur and then asked. “I know you love and care for all of us, but Nicole is special. Can I ask why?”
Looking down at Nicole chewing her fist, Arthur smiled at her. “Nicole saved my life,” Arthur answered bluntly. “I had given up and was looking for a fight. Rudy came along and any other time would’ve gotten the drop on me, but not that day. I went down in the valley and in my heart, knew I wasn’t coming back to this house. Even though my wife’s dying wish was for me to stay alive and keep the farm ready for our son to come home.”
Hearing the sorrow in Arthur’s voice, Andrea wiped tears off her face and then saw Shawn do the same.
Still looking down at Nicole, “Then I reached Tammy and Ted’s and felt even more guilt because I’d never checked on them,” Arthur said, smiling as Nicole closed her eyes slowly. “That’s when I heard her crying out weakly. She had held on long enough for me to find her. Picking Nicole up that day, I knew I had a purpose. I had met Nicole on the day she was born and even then, knew she would always be special to me.”
“Wow,” Shawn sniffled. “Nicole saved all of us.”
Arthur looked up from Nicole and over at Shawn. “Nicole saved you, so you could save all of us,” Shawn explained, dragging his forearm across his nose.
“Never thought about it that way,” Arthur nodded. “But Andrea is right; I care for all of you the same,” Arthur said with a wide grin.
Hearing the back door open, they all turned and the grin fell off Arthur’s face. “Robin, will you please wear some clothes?” Arthur whined just like a kid, even stomping his foot.
“No,” Robin said, stomping her pink cowboy boot on the patio.
“Can you say anything besides ‘NO’?” Andrea chuckled, walking over.
“No,” Robin said, stomping her foot again.
When Arthur had brought Vicki and them to the house that first night, he’d checked all the kids over. Being a nurse, Arthur had plotted all of them on growth charts and had made sheets up for each one. Vicki’s group had been easy because he had gone back to the daycare and gotten the files on them. Kirk and his brothers were harder, but he had the birthdays and found a medical emergency card in the mother’s purse that gave basic health information. Shawn, he had asked and Andrea’s group was old enough to answer.
Giving Robin her physical, Arthur had found out she was thirty-two inches tall which was perfect for her age, but only weighed twenty-four pounds. That gave her a lanky appearance which made her look smaller and younger than she was. The one thing that put him at ease was in the daycare file, it had clearly said that Robin didn’t like clothes.
Andrea picked Robin up and brushed Robin’s light brown hair out of her face. “Are we working out today?” Shawn asked as Andrea walked back over.
“No, everyone’s too sore from the work and working out would do more harm than good,” Arthur answered.
“Are we going out to get more loads?” Shawn asked with a grin, ready to drive the huge truck and trailer again.
“Not today,” Arthur said and then drained his cup. “Today, we are working on the southern road that leads into the valley.”
“Okay,” Shawn said, remembering Arthur talking about that. “How in the hell do you hide a road?”
Grinning, Arthur glanced at Shawn, “Easy, if you’re a sneaky motherfucker.”
“Arthur, keep on with the language and I’m sure Robin, Pam, Lucas and Nicole will pick it up,” Andrea sighed.
“Joseph’s first word was ‘Fucker’,” Arthur chuckled and then stopped. “Holy shit, I didn’t know Wendy could punch that hard.”
Bending over and slapping his thighs as he laughed, “What happened?” Shawn asked.
“Someone cut me off in traffic and I rolled down the window and called him a Fucker. Sitting in the backseat in his car seat, I heard one-year-old Joseph say, ‘Fucker’,” Arthur said, then sighed. “Wendy didn’t think it was that funny. When we got back to the apartment, she walked around the car as I got out and decked me. For a second, I’d thought she’d broken my jaw.”
“You earned that,” Andrea chuckled.
Nodding, “Yep, but I don’t watch my mouth. I curtail it at times for fledgling ears, but I’m not limiting my vocabulary because others take offense to certain linguistic vitiations. They are only words; words that express unambiguous connotation and can relieve pent-up stress for the speaker which makes others that are around said speaker much happier because speaker isn’t acting like a asshole,” Arthur said and Shawn stopped laughing.
“Huh?” Shawn asked.
“Exactly,” Arthur said.
“How can you go to church and talk like you do?” Andrea asked. “I hardly ever went, so I’m just asking.”
“Andrea, language just conveys meaning. If it’s the interpretation of that language that offends, don’t interpret those words,” Arthur said. “Am I religious? That depends. Do I believe in God? No, I know there is a God. I’ve seen too much in my life to even entertain that thought. Do I believe in the religions that are taught? No, what I believe is God is so much more than man’s feeble mind can comprehend.”
“But you went to church?” Shawn mumbled, trying to understand what Arthur was saying.
“Damn straight,” Arthur nodded. “Church teaches something more than the Bible. It teaches morals and guess who goes there? Other people who believe in right and wrong, so we get along. But I’m selective on my churches. Wendy was raised Catholic but I’m sorry, they are a bit uptight for me.
