Chapter 41 Bruno
brUNO
Bruno woke to the sound of pounding on the door. “I HAVE TO GO POTTY!”
Clarice startled in his arms and they broke apart in guilty confusion. “What time is it?” she asked.
“It’s POTTY TIME!” Gil answered from the door.
“Did he just say…”
“POTTY TIME! Let’s ROCK AND ROLL!”
“Parents will do literally anything to make toilet training palatable,” Bruno said, not exactly as an apology.
“At one point, I had a disco ball in the bathroom. I even had a disco ball keychain, in case we had to use a public bathroom.” He raised his voice to answer Gil.
“The bathroom’s right down the hall, buddy! ”
“TARA’S IN THERE!” Gil shouted back. “I HAVE TO GO!”
“Can you use the bathroom in the master bedroom? Knock and ask teacher Addy.”
“SOMEONE CLOGGED IT!”
Bruno rose to pull on his pants and Clarice rolled off of the opposite side of the bed to get dressed. They met at the door for a swift kiss and Bruno opened the door to find Gil holding himself dramatically and dancing around.
The rest of the house was rousing, and Gil wasn’t first in line for the bathroom.
“We didn’t really plan a safe house for ten kids—eleven if you count little Zach—and their families,” Juliette said. She was waiting behind Lucy, who was bouncing as theatrically as Gil. “Roderick is unclogging the other toilet. Who knows what got flushed.”
Juliette waved Gil in front of her as the door opened and Vivian came out with Shane and Tara, who was protesting that her hands were still wet. “Sorry,” the nurse said. “I hurried her the best I could.”
Lucy darted in behind them and slammed the door. “Sowwy!” she cried.
“Just hurry, sweetie,” Juliette said. “I don’t know how long Gil can hold it.”
“We’ll be out of your hair soon,” Logan said, coming out of the romp room with Franzi and a pink My Little Pony backpack.
“I don’t want Tabby alone at the farm, and she won’t leave the horses.
We’re hiring a guy from Grizzly Guardians to come out for a few days until this is all over.
It’s a shifter-friendly security company with branches all over the state.
Jennifer’s parents have agreed to stay with us. ”
Tara sobbed about being left behind and Franzi tried unsuccessfully to comfort her.
“We’re leaving too,” Chloe said, holding a penguin upside down in her arms. “We’ll be fine out at the Belle Lake Lodge until this is all settled. No one is going to mess with Clay and his four brothers.”
Franzi joined the line behind Juliette and frowned at Gil. “You’ll jiggle it out if you keep doing that,” she warned.
“NO I WON’T!” Gil protested, clutching his pants as he wriggled and bounced. “THIS KEEPS IT IN.”
“I’m going to go see if I can help in the kitchen,” Clarice said.
She paused for an awkward moment while Bruno wondered if he ought to kiss her, then vanished down the hallway.
Bruno spent a few moments in line listening to Lucy wash her hands, then decided he could hold it a little longer (and didn’t really have a choice), so he followed Clarice.
“There’s coffee,” Ian said. “Cream and sugar. We’re out of clean mugs, but there are some paper cups. Careful, it’s hot.” He was holding his own paper cup without showing any discomfort, though his coffee was steaming.
Clarice was already busy cooking with Addison, who was wearing Zach in a sling. “I think most of them will eat scrambled eggs,” Addison said. “And we can make toast on cookie sheets in the oven.”
“There are plenty of condiments to disguise the eggs,” Clarice observed from the fridge. “I remember that I loved pickle relish on my eggs as a kid. I’m far too grown up for that now, of course.”
Addison laughed. “I’ll have to try it! I didn’t go through a pickle phase with this little one, but I’m intrigued.”
Bruno made his way past Vivian, who was setting the table and trying to keep Shane from grabbing napkins off as fast as she could put them down. “We’ll have to sit in shifts,” she said. “There aren’t enough chairs for everyone at once.”
Somehow, breakfast was served and everyone rotated in and out of the two bathrooms before any bladders exploded.
Showers were kept brief and utilitarian, but Bruno, as one of the last to go, still had a lukewarm wash, ankle-deep in a tub that was draining a little bit too slowly.
There were no clean bath towels left, so he used a hand towel to dry off.
After breakfast, Darius grudgingly took the kids back to the romp room to tidy it up and Juliette called another meeting, having consulted extensively with her superiors.
“Clarice’s phone has gone dead, but we had time to track it to a decommissioned military installment outside of Anders Canyon, about two hours out from here, and we’ve confirmed activity there.
The vehicles match the descriptions from the Bluffs incident, but we don’t know how long they’ll be in one place, so we want to go now.
We’ll debrief on the way, but I need you people to stay on task.
No heroics, no improvisation. If something goes sideways, civilians stand aside and let the agents take the risks.
Fully qualified agents, Kendra. We’re using all of you for the first wave because we’re closer than any of the next available teams and because your particular talents might be useful, but you have specific jobs, and I expect you to do them.
If you stick to the script, this will be fast and bloodless.
If you think you know better than your team lead, tell me now, because that’s how people get hurt, and I will ground you faster than Jackson can fill up a diaper and it will smell twice as bad. Got it?”
There was a murmur of assent.
“We only need to hold things down until Monday morning, when the cavalry will be able to come in and mop up. If things go according to plan, we’ll all be back to our own beds by Monday night, but I don’t want anyone going back to their homes until then and I want you to keep radio silence with anyone outside of the safe house until that time.
Darius, that goes for you, too. No texts to your friends, no gaming chats. ”
Daruis, startled, looked up from his phone. “I know, Mom.” He managed a perfect mix of offended and disgusted that teens were so good at. “I’ve got it in airplane mode.”
“We’re taking Becket, Ian, Olivia, Alan, and Kendra. Roderick, I appreciate your offer, but I need to leave some teeth behind. This house has some built-in protections, but I’d feel better if you were here.”
Bruno felt a moment of chagrin. Armadillos weren’t fighters. Their survival lay in protecting themselves.
“Is there something I can do?” Clarice asked anxiously from his side.
Juliette gave her a wry smile. “You can help babysit.”