August (Erikson Brothers #3)

Chapter 4

There were no services for the family but for a graveside at the interment. She thought for sure that the Marshalls, Mary’s parents, were going to take Joey back with them, but they seemed to not want anything to do with the family after they ‘murdered’ their entire family and grandsons. She did allow them to take a couple of pictures home with them that had withstood the fire. There was nothing much left the way that the house had gone up.

Joey was a good baby so far. Jack talked to her every time she had her in her arms. Mostly, it was about her as her aunt and her grandma. She also told her how much she was going to love her and take care of her. She didn’t care what others thought about her rambling. It didn’t bother August, so she was going to do it until Joey told her to stop.

“I don’t think she looks like your brother much. I only saw Mary a handful of times, so I have no opinion of that.” She told August that she looked a great deal like her mother. “That’s good then. Your brother was kind of ugly.”

She’d been able to laugh with August. He’d been keeping an eye on her since they’d been able to bring Joey home. Mom was staying with them for now. She was brokenhearted and blamed herself for what had happened until she sat down and talked to Shipley. She must have said the right things because soon after that, Mom was starting to get out of her slump about the deaths.

“Are you ready? Locke and Alex are here to babysit.” Jacklynn looked at August. She had no idea what he might be talking about. “We have an appointment with the judge concerning us being legal guardian to Joey.”

“I forgot.” She handed Joey to him, who in turn handed the baby off to Locke. For some reason, she would cry when she didn’t hold her, and it seemed as if she was terrified of the dark. Not that anyone could blame her, Shipley said she was in the shed for about four to six hours waiting to be found, and it would have scared her as well.

They were only a few minutes late when they noticed that Linda was there with her kids. Three of them were dressed in jeans and tee shirts that she thought looked out of sorts with today’s weather. It was the tenth of June. Much too warm for how they were dressed in jackets as well.

As soon as they stood up when their names were called, Linda did as well. She had a handful of papers and the kids were dragged to the front of the room as well. Handing off the paperwork, she told them that they could have them.

“Mrs. Blackman, this court hearing is for Josephine Blackman. I’m not sure what it is that you—”

“I don’t want them anymore. They’re tainted by evil blood, and I don’t want them.” The oldest, his name was Richard, too, tried to get away from his mother. That was when she saw the marks on his arms and neck. “They’re evil, and I don’t want them anymore. I don’t want her to take them, but I was an only child, and because of her, my husband is going to prison. So she takes them, or I’ll sell them off.”

“Mrs. Blackman, it’s against the law to sell off your children. Please have a seat, and we’ll get to you in a minute.” Instead of waiting, Linda slapped Richard hard enough that he hit the floor. His mouth was bloodied as well, and he was cowering away from Linda like he was terrified of her. “Mrs. Blackman, you’re going to have to—”

“Will you take them?” Both she and August said yes at the same time. “I don’t want to be associated with them anymore. You should see how people in town treat me. Like I had anything to do with David. I always heard that he was off his meds, but I didn’t know that’s what they meant for real. These kids are nothing but a burden, and you can have them. I’m not selling them to you. I know that’s against the law. But if you could give me some money so I can start someplace else, I’d be grateful to you both.”

“Mrs. Blackman.” Completely ignoring the judge now, August asked her if she’d allow them to adopt her children. At her affirmative answer, the bailiff came around to their side of the dais and asked what was going on. With his hand on his gun, he looked about as lost as they were about what was going on.

“Yes, you can sit them out by the road if you want. I have no desire to raise somebody’s kids that was related to someone who killed off his family. I don’t want them, and I won’t kill them off, but they’ll wish for death. As surely as I’m standing here, I’m going to beat them daily until they are no longer my problem. Well, his brother was a monster. And now my husband is going to prison because he sold you the business. I don’t know all the details, but I do know that I don’t want these kids. They’re dragging me down.”

“How much do you want to start a new life?” The judge didn’t say anything more but to watch what was going on. “This is a one-time help for you, Linda. I won’t be hounded to death over this just because I’m going to be raising your children. Sir, if you’d be so kind as to bring in an attorney so we can get this settled about me giving her a fresh start, I’d appreciate it.”

The bailiff went into the hall and literally dragged in an attorney. Once he was in the room and explained to what was going on, the judge told him that he was behind him and nothing would come back on him. There wasn’t a thing about this that was legal, she was sure, but she also didn’t want to see her nephews sold off to some stranger because the townspeople had been giving their mother a hard time.

The attorney kept asking Linda if she was sure that she wanted to do this. Each time, her answer was a little more vocal about being yes. She not only didn’t want them but said at one point that she wished she had the balls that David had to do the same thing. Christ, this was a nightmare. After the handwritten paperwork was sent out to be finalized, August asked the attorney, Jimmy Scott, what he owed him. He told them that he just wanted to be out of there when she realized what she’d done.

“I know what I’m doing. I’m getting rid of my brats.” As soon as the contract came back, another attorney with it, Linda signed off on it, as did the judge as a witness, and she and August signed off on it as well. “Now, you give me some money, and I won’t be bothering you again.” She was, of course, arrested and taken away. The judge looked at the two of them.

“I know that we got her signature on that paperwork saying that she was going to be selling her children to you. I thank you for playing along, Mr. and Mrs. Erickson. But I don’t want to separate these little ones, and that’s what will happen if they’re put into the system. Can this court depend on you to—”

“I wasn’t joking, your honor. We’ll raise them along with their cousin so that they can have a healthy upbringing.” She looked at August when he nodded, she looked at her family. “It’s going to be different than what you had with your parents. I won’t put up with your shenanigans like she did.”

Richard looked at his brothers and then back at her. She could see the fear in his eyes and wanted to tell him that everything would be perfect. That they’d be in a good home the way that they’d been before, but she knew that he had something to say.

“She made us act like that when we were around you and Grandma D. She said that if we didn’t, she’d beat us again.” Richard looked at his brother as he continued. “She hated you and Grandma D. I don’t know why, but she did.” He looked at her then. “If you take us home with you, you won’t have a speck of trouble out of us. We’ll even stay in our room all day, so you don’t have to feed or water us.”

“She locked you in your rooms all day? How long has this been going on?” Richard said since he’d been little like Joey was. Then she asked him when was the last time he’d had a good meal. “I don’t remember. None of us are going to cause you a bit of trouble, Aunt Jacky. We just want to not be sold where somebody will want to have sex with us. She said that it would happen at your house, too, but I don’t mind so long as the others are all right.”

“I swear to you, no one is going to harm you again. You have my honest truth on that.” She hugged the boys and looked up at the judge. “Please let me show these children what a good home is like and a good hot meal as well.”

“This will be a lot of responsibility, Mrs. Erickson. I know you have a good heart, but this might be more than you can take. I’m going to ask you again, are you sure you want to take this on?” She nodded her heart in her throat for all these little ones had been going through. “All right then, we’ll allow you to take them home with you today, but we’ll do this by the books. We’ll have a meeting with the board of children’s services as soon as one can be made.”

“You’re honor, if anyone can do this, it’ll be my wife and I. We have the funds to get them help should they need it as well.” The judge blew his nose and said that he knew that. “Thank you, sir. You’ll never hear another bad thing coming from them again.”

It was later that afternoon when they were going home. She was now the mother or aunt, whatever they wanted to call her, to three children. Since they were all family, it would be easier, but she’d never harm them. They were hers and August’s children now, and they’d have the best of care.

Getting them to the emergency department was next on their list. The judge had suggested it, saying that with the marks they could find on them, they’d be better safe than sorry. The youngest two of Richard’s children wouldn’t allow anyone to touch them without her there holding their hand and Richard stayed with August as he claimed that he was a bigger person than anyone that wanted them. It broke her heart to hear everything that she’d thought about the children. Mom met them at the hospital.

No one spoke about what had happened in the courtroom. August said that he’d told her all he could, and she wanted to be here for them all. As Peter was getting x-rays, Richard would stand with him like he had told her. He didn’t want him to cry when they put him on the table.

“I don’t know what’s going on other than they’re going to be my children. They’ll never want for anything either.” Mom told her that she’d help. “Thank you. It might take all of us to do this if even only half of what I’m thinking was going on.”

The brothers were going to spend the night so that they could get other tests run tonight. Setting up the rooms with Shipley’s help, they all took turns staying with the kids so that they were never alone. The doctor came by a little after nine. The kids were all asleep, and he told them what he had so far.

“They’ve not been sexually abused, but there are other forms of it that I can’t see on an x-ray. They’re malnourished and dehydrated badly, and I don’t believe they have had a good bath in some time. I will tell you that they’re exhausted and are going to need some help dealing with the things that have been done to them. Today alone seems to have broken the youngest one. I believe that he’s resigned to the fact that his mother is going to come and get them and beat them all to death. I had no idea either, but Mary was treating her children the same way, according to the oldest, Davey.”

“I’m beginning to think that we’re all going to need some help before this is all over.” He simply nodded. “What can we do to start here? There has to be something that we can do to make sure they know that they’re safe.”

“Love them. Hug them. Most importantly, make sure they understand that you’re going to be there for them from now on.” She and August both said that they’d be there for them forever.

It was nearly midnight when she finally closed her eyes. The youngest, his name was Peter of all things, said that he didn’t want to sleep without his blanket. It didn’t take them long to figure out that it wasn’t a blanket at all but a small, very small piece of one that their mother didn’t know that he had. She would have beaten all of them had she understood how much it meant for them to have anything to sleep with. Jack wanted to find their parents and show them what it was like to have nothing and be treated like nothing as well.

One of the nurses found Peter a blanket from the nursery and gave it to him. Once she made it clear that it was his, he pulled both the piece and the blanket up to his face and closed his eyes. It was all she could do not to sob until she was empty of tears. But she had a family now, and she wasn’t going to let them down because she was hurting. It wouldn’t be fair to them if she were to give in.

~*~

August was happy to be home with the kids. They had spent three days and two nights in the children’s department at the hospital and it was just enough to give his family plenty of time to get beds set up along with some clothing that would fit them. Shipley helped with the staff; they were going to have all-around care for the first few months to make sure that if they wanted anything in the middle of the night, there was someone to help them with that. Or whatever they needed from now on.

He’d never been so exhausted as he was right now. And thought perhaps he could sleep for a month. But mostly, he wanted to make love to his wife. The two of them had been staying at the hospital since the day of their court hearing. And he’d do it again, but he wanted Jacklynn in any way that he could get her.

He found her in their room. She wasn’t wearing much, one of his old tee shirts, a pair of his boxer briefs, and some of his worn-out socks. The socks were a new addition to his clothing that she’d been wearing and it made him smile whenever he thought about her wearing his things.

“The kids are all asleep, and the nurses are staying with them. I brilliantly put them down the long hall so that we could have sex. Loud sex. Or not, it’s up to you. Do you want me, August?”

“Yes,” he hissed at her, and that was all it took for him to claim her. He loved her so much that there would be no time that he didn’t want her like this.

She was panting now as he slipped his long fingers into her panties and worked them down over her hips. When he got to her hips, he got down on his knees and made himself go slowly with her. She was wet.

The entire time August was undressing her, he was watching her in the mirror that was right across from the bed. While he wasn’t sure if he’d put it there for this purpose, he loved it.

When the boxer shorts were at her feet, he held his hand out so that she could steady herself while he slipped them over her feet. When he had them off, he ran his hands up and down her legs until he thought he’d scream. When he pulled her legs apart and moved in front of her, her legs trembled just for him.

“I’m going to taste you, baby. I want to drink from you and have you come in my mouth. I’m so glad that you had been brilliant in putting the kids’ rooms down the long hall so you’d let me hear you come, Jacklynn. I want you to scream out your release for me. All right?”

“Yes. Yes, please. August, I want you ever so badly. I…You’re the only person I’ve thought of making love to me since that night at the open house. It was so wonderful that…well, it was so fast that I don’t remember much of it. I’m thinking that you could go over the points that I missed tonight just to make sure that we’re doing it right to have a baby. You still want one, don’t you, Love?”

“Jacklynn. Shut up.” He lowered his head to her mound and inhaled just as she laughed. He tasted it when she gushed more of her juices into his mouth and tried to pull back from him. He cupped her ass cheeks and pulled her back with a growl that sent shivers down her body and into her pussy, so much so that he could feel it. His tongue entered her soft folds. Then his hands pulled her tight against his mouth again.

Over and over, his tongue entered her, and when he sucked her clit into his mouth and bit gently at it, she came. His body spiraled out of control as she screamed out his name. While her body was still trembling from the force of her first climax, August stood and picked her up. His mouth and chin were covered in her juices, and she leaned up to kiss him. Never would he have thought something like her on his mouth would taste so good. He kissed her back, his tongue sweeping into her mouth and dueling with her own tongue.

When he laid her on the bed, he started to unbutton his shirt. She leaned up on her elbows to watch him. Her body was beautiful, lying there open and bare to him. As she sat up to touch him, her hands running up his chest and under his shirt, he guided her hands to his chest, then his ribs. Up and down his torso until she seemed to gain confidence. Once she had, he moved his hands to his side. He didn’t touch her but watched, watched her as she explored his body.

“Take off your shirt for me. I want to see you, please. I want to touch you everywhere.” Her voice was husky and deep; his cock tightened more, straining against his zipper. He pulled the shirt off and let it slide to the floor. She pushed slightly against him, and he took a step back as she stood up before him. Tentatively, she kissed his ribs, then his chest. When she moved up and licked at his puckered nipple, he moaned. She pulled back slightly, and he cupped her head and brought her back to his nipple. When she licked him again, he tightened his grip in her hair.

“Please, Jacklynn. Don’t stop, baby. Please, you’re killing me.” His own voice was heavy with need. He wanted to toss her to the bed and take her hard and fast. Never had he wanted a woman so fiercely. Sliding her hands down his abdomen, she stopped at the top of his pants and looked up at him. He nodded to her and put his hands over hers. Without taking his eyes off of hers, he moved them down his body to his cock.

Slowly, he showed her what he wanted, how to touch him. Her moan made him ache with need. Her fingers cupped him slightly then when he rocked against her hand, she wrapped her fingers around him and pressed back. His moan was deep; he felt it start at his toes and move out of his mouth. Lifting her chin up to kiss her, he watched, mesmerized when she licked her lips and then leaned in to lick his.

The snap on his pants came undone then he felt the zipper move down. The release of pressure on his cock felt good, but the feeling was short-lived. Now, it wanted relief more than ever. He wanted to be buried deep within her heat.

“Jacklynn…Christ, woman, if you don’t touch me, I’m going to expire. I want to have this luscious body touching me. I want to feel your heat, your skin touching mine. Now, baby, I need you now.” Her hot hands were suddenly at the waistband of his briefs. He could feel the dampness of his pre-cum at the tip of his cock, and when she wrapped her hand around him, he knew he was lost.

Rocking hard into her fist, he cupped her breast and brought it to his mouth. Her nipple was hard and tight. Taking the nubbin into his mouth, he suckled it. When she pulled away and dropped back on the bed, he whimpered. Before he could protest, she was pulling his pants and briefs down. When she had them to his knees, she licked the drop of cum off him and then took him into her mouth.

“Christ!” He cupped her head. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to pull her away or anchor her there. When she cupped his balls and rolled them in her palm, he felt his eyes roll to the back of his head. Stopping now was not an option. She was his and he would shout it to the world if need be.

He came enough to have his cum on her pussy. Lifting her legs up so that they were on either side of his shoulder, he slammed his cock forward and into her. Even though she was tight around him, he moved back and took her again. He was nearly at the point where he didn’t care if she came or not, but he slowed himself. Just as he was thinking that he couldn’t take anything more, she bowed up from the bed and screamed out his name.

August couldn’t tell if he had passed out or fainted. Not that he cared, as he was only out for a few seconds, enough time for him to pull her body to his and hold her. Rolling to his back, taking her limp body with him, August tried to get a handle on his breathing and didn’t feel like he was having a stroke. Christ, his body felt turned inside out and backward the same way. But in the most delicious way ever.

“Are you all right?” He told her that he wasn’t sure. At her laughter, he pulled the blanket up and over their sweat-soaked bodies. “I feel fantastic. By the way, while at the hospital, they ran a pregnancy test on me, and we’re going to have a baby.”

He didn’t move when she didn’t. Finally, unsure how she was feeling about the news, he looked up at her and smiled. She was out. Like she’d needed to tell him the news and pass out. Reaching down for more blanket, he pulled it up to her chin and put his ear on her tight abdomen. His child was nestled there, and he couldn’t have been happier.

Jacklynn spoke to him sometime in the darkness. “You do know that we’re going to have four children under the age of eight, don’t you? With two of them in diapers.” He told her that they’d make it work. “I hope so. When I think about what we did today, I’m not afraid but happy that you had the means to take me on, as well as the rest of the kids. I don’t have any idea what I’d do without you. And, of course, your money.”

“I see how you are. It’s just my money that you want to get your greedy hands on. That’s all right. You can have all our money if you have sex with me like we just had a few times a month. Maybe not that often, but enough that we can be as worn out as we are right now.” Jacklynn told him that he had a deal. “Good. I love when we can bargain things around to help us both.”

August dozed off and on. Mostly he would wake up when Jacklynn would move or get up. Several times, she went to the bathroom, and the others were to check on the kids. It was their first time in the house, she told him, and was afraid they’d wake up crying. It must have been all right, she was never gone long enough for him to fall asleep too deeply.

The next morning, he was awake in time to hear some voices outside their room. Sitting up and then lying back down, he was happy to know that the kids wanted to eat and that he was making pancakes. He loved them and called his brothers, all five of them, to come and join them.

“We have more family to get to know, and you should be here.” Locke asked him if he knew what time it was, and he laughed. “My kids are up. Get your asses over here so that we can have a good time. I might be persuaded to make bacon and sausage if you get here in record time. He was thrilled that he only had to beg his older brother once to come over. He knew that he couldn’t resist orange juice and bacon for his meal.

August was happy that Jacklynn was moving as tenderly as he was. The bottoms of his feet hurt the most, and he was positive that he had pulled all the muscles in his legs. Just the thought of going down the stairs was making him wince, but he was determined to do it even if it had to kill him.

The boys were a little shy around his brothers. Joey seemed to have gotten them to do whatever his brothers would do for her. He watched them carefully to see if they were in any pain, too. Richard was protective of his brother, and he hoped that someday they’d come around to loving them as much as he did them.

They decided to keep the baby news a secret for now. There was a great deal going on, and he honestly didn’t want the kids to know just yet. They were still tender about things and this might make them feel like they weren’t going to be as welcome if they had their own child coming along. He didn’t care how many kids they had; they were all theirs, and they were going to love them no differently than he and Jacklynn did right at this moment. Christ, he was a dad to three kids with one more on the way, and he couldn’t have been happier than anything.

After the food was finished up and the kids were outside, Dusty asked if he could talk to them all for a moment. He looked so sad that he wanted to tell him to tell them whatever it was some other time. There was too much happiness in the house right now, and he didn’t want things to be crashing down right now.

“I was notified that Mom is dead.” No one moved and he continued washing the pans that he’d used. “I’ve been keeping an eye on her since we started making some good money of our own. She never seemed to care about us or what we were doing. But I didn’t want to be blindsided by her just showing up one say. But as of last Tuesday, she died in her sleep. She was just shy of her sixty-second birthday.”

“Does anyone else not care?” He turned and looked at Locke. “I’ve thought her to be really selfish over the last few years. I think that we’ll all agree that Martha was our real mom. I know that I didn’t love her as much as I did Martha. She was selfish and cruel for leaving us with him when she should have been caring for us all.”

“I agree with Locke. I’ve been thinking about that myself.” They all agreed, and it was then that Knox admitted that he knew where she was a while ago. He’d been keeping an eye on her for the same reasons. As it turned out, they all knew where she was and how she was faring, but none of them ever reached out to her. “Dad died about ten years after we left. The city wanted to know if we wanted anything from the land that the house was on. I told them that they could have it and settled up with them about the time that Martha died. I think we all didn’t want the memories that were associated with it.”

They all agreed and told him that should it come up again, which no one saw a reason for it to, that they would put a headstone together for him and have it say his name and birthdate and date of death and nothing more. They decided to do the same for their mother.

No loving wife or mother. Nothing about him being an abusive prick who drank too much. Nor would they go to their respective graves to make sure they were gone. They were both dead, and that’s all they needed to know.