Phoenix: Ride With Me Series

1. Phoenix

I’d never seenmy Pops this anxious.

Pissed off. Ready to kill anyone in his way. Yes. But seeing him anxious—nope, never. It was a little discerning.

Walking over to stand beside him, I clapped him on the shoulder. “She’s going to be okay. You know that right?”

“Why isn’t she back in the room yet? This is infuriating.”

Chuckling, I shook my head. “They take the babies to be given a full check-up. They’ll do bloodwork, double check weight and measurements. They’ll even get her prints and give her a little sponge bath. You’ve been through this before, ya know?”

“Yes, wise ass, I know. This time is no better.”

“I had the same reaction when my sweet little munchkin came into the world. That was the toughest couple of hours.”

“Then you let that fucking bitch take her from you—us.”

“I didn’t let her take her. The judge is the one who gave her full custody because ‘you’re not home enough to have a stable environment for a growing child.’” I took a minute to get my sudden wash of emotions under control. “I’d have been a bad dad in the beginning anyway. I was a kid myself.”

“You were twenty-four. You were working full-time for Uncle Sam, wearing a uniform, putting your life on the line, and going to school.”

“All that aside, what in the hell did I know about raising a little girl? For that matter, I still don’t have a fucking clue, man.”

“Yeah, well, your mom and I were only nineteen when you came along. We did what we needed to do, and you grew up just fine. A pain in my ass at times but all right.”

“You two fought like cats and dogs anytime you came around. Which, let’s face it, was the highlight of my week sometimes. But you, too, had a job to do. You earned every stripe and ribbon that adorned your uniform. Don’t forget that. It did suck that I couldn’t tell people you were an assassin.”

“I wasn’t—okay, yeah, that wasn’t kid-appropriate. Special Forces was an intense time in my life. The PTSD alone has me still wondering if being around—” he nods at Casey where she lay in the hospital bed—“is a good idea. She and the girls depend on me to be present.”

“Then fucking be present. You’re a grown ass man now. Be different. Do different.” I shrugged.

“I hope to be a better dad for the girls. I don’t want to fail them too.”

“You failed no one, old man. I am who I am because of you.” I gave his shoulders a hard squeeze. “You’re already the best dad to your kids. Penny loves you, something fierce.” He raised a brow. “I mean, I love you and all, but you’re a dick sometimes.”

His booming laughter filled the room. Casey stirred in the bed, where she had been sleeping after having the youngest of the Cavanagh clan. She deserved the sleep after nineteen hours in labor.

“Shit. Sorry, sweetheart.” Pops walked to the bed and leaned in to kiss her lips.

“What’s so funny?” she asked groggily.

“Your step-son is just being his father’s son.”

I snorted out a laugh.

“Is that a nice way of saying I’m being an ass now?”

“See what I mean?” He grinned down at her.

I looked out the big picture windows, giving them some privacy to laugh at my expense. I didn’t mind.

Today I got to meet my little sister. I would never have played this outcome on a bingo card, let alone be able to say ‘little sister’ when addressing two separate people. Penny—oh my, that little girl has me wrapped around her finger already.

Casey, my step-mom, now that was a surprise kick in the pants! But in the best possible way. She might only be eight or so years older than I was, but that didn’t make this situation awkward at all. She didn’t try to take over Pops’ life. She loved her space as much as she loved when he was around. She didn’t demand he give her extra money to run the house. She didn’t use us against him. The woman was kind, genuine, and all-around amazing.

“Is she back yet?”

“No, sweetheart, not yet. You should try to sleep some more.”

She ran her hands over her face. “Maybe in a few.”

“How’s ya feeling?” I asked, turning back toward the bed.

“I’m alright? In pain—maybe about a five on the scale. Nothing compares to what your father did earlier this week.”

She watched Pops’ face. I chuckled when he scowled.

“I’d disagree because ya just pushed an entire being out of your body. All he did was get a little snip-snip.”

“I hate to agree with the boy, but he’s right. My pain is nothing compared to what you just did.”

“With all the groaning and moping, I thought it was bad.”

“Okay, on that note, I’m out of here. I’ll be back in a little bit,” I interjected.

“Where are you going?”

“To change and get cleaned up a bit. I came straight from the station this morning. Plus?—”

“He’s going to hijack Penny,” Pops remarked, throwing me under the bus.

“Maybe I am…”

“No ice cream for breakfast. I mean it.”

“Let him do it. He’s the one who will have her all day. Might serve him right.”

I rolled my eyes. “That happened once.”

“Once was enough,” Casey responded, laughing softly. Her wince had Pops gripping her hand.

“What is it?”

“Please relax, it’s just soreness. My body is gonna be out of sorts for a few days.” She frowns. “You’re gonna give yourself an ulcer.”

“Yeah, old man, relax.” I clapped him on the shoulder and leaned over to kiss Casey on the head. “Later, gator. Don’t worry, Pen and I have a fun day planned. Breakfast, the park with the others, and after her nap this afternoon, I’ll bring her up so she can meet any Paisley.”

“Thank you. If you need help, Scooter is only a call away.”

“Hey, I’ve got this. Not my first rodeo, ya know.”

“Be careful.”

“Always. Love you guys. See you later.”

Operation ‘spoil my sister’ was about to commence.

“Don’t ya dare put that in your mouth, you little monkey.”

My warning did nothing. The little turd stuck a handful of sand right in her mouth.

“Come on, you don’t know what’s in that.”

To be fair, she spit it out and sputtered for a solid minute.

“Yuts!” She wiped at her mouth.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the antics. “That’ll learn ya, dern ya.” I looked around. “Whoa, that’s something Pops would have said. Yikes.”

Penny waddled to the slide and patted it. “Up. Up!”

“Come on, you have to use the stairs. Come on.” I took her hand and walked her to the stairs that allowed the littles to climb up and go over the rope bridge, to the slides or to the fire pole that they could slide down. She got two stairs up and turned back to me.

“You tums.” Her little hand curled toward me.

“Pen, bubba is too big for this thing.”

“Tums wifs me. Peas!”

And that was the kick to the balls right here. I could not say no to that face! I was in trouble. I looked around and with a grunt, climbed up the stairs. I followed her into the tube that led to the slides. I had to sit and slide ‘cause I was way too tall. Obviously. What I hadn’t anticipated was the tiny amount of room inside the tube and when I got to the end. The platform before the slides was like two feet wide. I wiggled and groaned.

“Penny, bubba is stuck.”

I swore to God if I had to call the fucking fire dept and EMT’s out here… Penny started to cry and pushed at my back. If only that helped.

“Hey, it’s okay. Can you—” What? There wasn’t any space for her as it was. “Slide, Penny. That’ll give me room to get out, then I’ll slide. Okay?”

She shook her head and clutched my shirt. I was hoping to be down before anyone else got here, but it was too late. I heard car doors slamming and the cacophony of littles rushing this way.

“Phoenix? What are you doing up there?” Kris asked.

I hung my head, let a breath of frustration free, then called out, “Trying to help Penny slide, and now I’m stuck. Can you let her slide to you so I can get free?”

“Of course. Hey, Penny, come on, I’ll catch you. Then you can play with the girls. Ryan will help you.”

“Go on, Pen, it’s okay.” I kissed her head and let the arm I had around her fall. “Kris will catch you. Show her how good you are at sliding.”

It took a little encouragement, and now that the crowd had grown, she had more people to slide to. Finally, she decided it was a good plan.

“I’ve got her,” Kris called out. “Great job, Penny.”

“How are you getting down?” someone else asked as I tried to wiggle myself out of the tight space. There was no need to answer because one last scoot had me coming loose and well, they all got a good show. I put a hand behind me to brace on the floor that was no longer there. Yep, you guessed it. I went over the slide backwards, bouncing halfway before I landed on the ground with a thud.

The air was knocked out of me for a solid thirty seconds.

“Phoenix. Holy crap. Are you okay? Shelby!”

I waved her off, swearing out a breath when I heard Penny start to cry. Kris knelt beside me. I took Penny, whispering, “I’m okay. I’m okay.”

Was I? Hell no. I think I knocked loose a rib or two; possibly a few other things.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Shelby looked down at me, wide-eyed. “Seriously? Are you alright?”

“I’ll let you know in a minute,” I chuckled.

“What were you doing up there?” Dani Lynn asked.

Me, being my father’s son, said, “Trying to get my wings.”

“I think you forgot the Red Bull, dummy.”

We chuckled, and I sat up. I could breathe, nothing hurt too bad. I’d be okay.

“Hey, Penny, bubba will not be going back on the slides, but you can. Go play. I’ll be right here.”

“Otays?”

“Yes, I’m okay.” I leaned in to blow a raspberry on her cheek. My scruff tickled her face, and she started to giggle and push away from me. Happened every time. I’d do anything to hear that happy laughter from her.

Being around her made me miss my daughter, Maddie, more than anything. I needed to call her mother Jasmine.That woman was a right bitch, but I had to go through her to see my kid. Or talk to her on the phone. It fucking sucked. One day soon, I was going to take her back to court to get more visitation, or to fight for full custody.

I know mothers are the usual guardian chosen, but I had rights too. My life was a lot different than it used to be. I was settled and had a home of my own. Two jobs, both of which paid well, so there was money in the bank. I was not dependent on anyone but myself.

I got up from the ground and wiped myself off. I wasn’t even embarrassed by what happened. We would all make fools of ourselves to make the littles happy. You couldn’t tell me any different.

“You sure you’re okay? Did you hit your head?” Shelby asked, her brows pinched.

“Yes, Doctor McKenna, nothing hurts too bad. I didn’t hit my head. It’s like a rock, so it would have been fine anyway.” I chuckled. “I may have a bruised ass, but nothing can be done about that.”

She huffed out a laugh. “Well, we’ve all been there.”

“Hey, how’s Casey doing?” Dani Lynn asked. “I was planning to go by later and see her.”

“She’s fine. I left them a couple hours ago. Nineteen hours of labor was rough. Pops about went insane. It was hard to watch.”

“I checked on her a few hours ago,” Shelby said. “All of her levels were good, including her sugar. Having the baby was all she needed to get right again. I’ll go back and check on her in a few more hours.”

“Is there anything we can do? Do y’all need anything?”

“We’re good. I’ll keep Penny until they come home. Maybe a little after that. I’m a little out of practice, so if something comes up, I’ll call Scooter. He’s my backup.”

Everyone chuckled.

“I’m sure you’ve got this big brother thing down.”

“Hey, Ma!” We turned to see Derek coming our way, Noelle on his hip. “Someone saw her Nana and wanted to come play.”

“Of course, I told Lana last night we’d be here if y’all were up and moving early.” Dani Lynn took the wiggling bundle from him and covered her chubby little face in kisses.

“Morning, sugar pie.” A few minutes passed before she put her down. The others scooped her into their group and then they were off.

Watching the crowd of kids play, this felt right. I was glad I got to be a part of an ever-expanding family.