Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
MacGyver looked around the dinner table and marveled anew at the direction his life had taken. Never in a million years would he have believed someone if they’d told him two months ago that he’d be sitting around his table with four kids and a wife. It was chaos, and he couldn’t imagine going back to the way things used to be.
“I no like spelling,” Artem pronounced firmly.
“You don’t like spelling,” Addison corrected gently. “Why not?”
“It is hard,” Artem told them.
“It is,” she agreed. “I was terrible at it when I was your age. And I can understand why you don’t like it. English is a hard language to learn, even as a native speaker. But you’re doing so well, Artem. I’m so impressed with how smart you are. Just do your best with that spelling. That’s all we can ask.”
MacGyver watched the little boy sit up straighter in his chair at Addison’s praise.
“I best in class at math,” Borysko bragged, obviously wanting to be recognized as well.
“I’m not surprised,” Addison said with a small smile. “When I helped you with your math homework, you got every question right.”
“Red!” Yana said, pointing at the plastic placemat under her plate.
“Yes, good!” Addison said. “What color is this?” she asked, pointing to her shirt.
“Blue!”
“And this?” she quizzed, pointing at the milk in the cup in front of the little girl.
“White!”
MacGyver smiled as his wife took turns talking with each of the children, praising them, challenging them, mothering them. He’d made the right decision to ask her to marry him, he knew that down to his very core. And not only because of how good she was with the kids. She balanced his life. Before Addison, he’d stay at work as long as possible, then come home and tinker with some contraption before working out and going to bed.
Now he hurried home as soon as possible so he could help her with dinner, and so he could spend time with the kids…and Addison. She was easy to be around. Easy to talk to. She never raised her voice to the children, never got upset when something was spilled or if the many toys he’d bought the kids were strewn all over the living room.
The more he was around her, the more he wanted to be around her. It was a novel feeling for MacGyver. In the past when he’d dated someone, the longer they went out, the more he learned about each woman, the less he wanted to hang out with them. But not Addison. If he could, he’d spend all day by her side. He was fascinated by how talented she was with her cakes. She should be working in some fancy hotel or bakery. Not working out of his house. But he was lucky she was. They all were.
Looking over at Ellory, he saw her smiling slightly at her new siblings…but she was pushing the grilled chicken her mom had made especially for her around her plate, not really eating. It was clear something was on her mind, and it was time to see if he could do or say anything to help her.
“Ellory, you want to come out to the garage and help me with something?”
“Sure,” she said eagerly.
MacGyver pushed his chair back and picked up his plate. He leaned over and kissed the top of Addison’s head, unable to keep his hands…or rather, his lips…off her. “Thank you for the amazing lasagna. You cook as well as you bake and decorate.”
She blushed a little, and he vowed to compliment her more often.
“Me too?” Artem asked, standing up next to his chair.
“Next time, buddy,” MacGyver told him gently. “You have homework, and after that, Addison was going to let you all watch an episode or two of The Magic School Bus .”
“Yay! All right!”
MacGyver and Ellory brought their plates into the kitchen and put them into the dishwasher, then headed for the garage.
“If you don’t feel up to doing anything, we can just sit in the backyard,” he told her.
“I’m okay. The nap this afternoon helped,” Ellory said.
MacGyver nodded. The girl knew her body and how she was feeling better than he did. He trusted her to let him know when and if she’d had enough.
He opened the garage door and winced when he turned on the light. He really needed to work on cleaning the space so they could put their cars inside, but it was filled to the gills with the stuff he’d moved out of the house to make room for everyone. There were wires and plastic piping, old batteries, more tools than any one man could ever need in a lifetime, wood scraps, and things he’d found in junkyards that he thought one day he might be able to do something with. In short, it was a tinkerer’s paradise.
“Hmmmm, where to start,” he mused.
Ellory chuckled. “I have no idea how you find anything in here.”
MacGyver shrugged. “Honestly? Me either.”
They both laughed. It was nice to see the girl smiling. He went over to one of the two chairs in the middle of the chaos and sat, gesturing to the other one with a tilt of his head. “Sit. You know, most people would look around this room and think it’s a bunch of junk. And individually, I guess it is. But there’s more to it than meets the eye. Kinda like what I do.”
“Being a SEAL?”
“Yeah. Many people think being a SEAL is about strapping a bunch of guns to our bodies and shooting first and asking questions later. Or that we go around stabbing people and blowing crap up. And yes, we sometimes have to do that stuff, but more often than not it’s about using our brains to figure out different situations. To decide how to infiltrate enemy lines without being seen or heard. To rescue hostages without any casualties. To figure out how to get out of tricky situations with a minimum of fuss.”
“So you have to be super stealthy,” Ellory said.
“Yeah. For example, years ago, SEALs didn’t have any kind of way to communicate silently, and thanks to an astute consultant, he realized that American Sign Language was a perfect way for us to talk to our fellow SEALs without saying a word. Such a simple solution, but genius at the same time. From that moment on, every class of SEALs learned signs that would be appropriate to our job.”
“Smart,” Ellory said with a nod.
“Yup.” MacGyver leaned over and picked up a paperclip that was lying on the ground. “See this?”
“Uh-huh. It’s a paperclip.”
“Right. But it’s also a key. A lock pick. A lightweight pulley. An electrode that can be used to make an audio signal with a phone. You can unclog a bottle of dangerous chemicals with it. Make a light with pennies and this paperclip. It can be a magnetic compass. Or just twist it into a fun shape to entertain a toddler who might be crying hysterically.”
Ellory looked skeptical.
“Anything around you can be used in an emergency. The trick is recognizing the junk as the tools they can be.”
“This is why your friends call you MacGyver, isn’t it? Because of that old show with the weird guy who magically gets out of impossible situations with things like that stupid paperclip.”
MacGyver chuckled. “Teenagers are so hard to impress these days,” he said.
“We’re realists,” Ellory countered. “Besides, everyone has phones. We can just call for help.”
“That’s all well and good…when you have your phone. But what if you don’t? What if you forget it and you go for a walk and fall into a deep hole in the ground?”
“First of all, I never forget my phone. It’s surgically attached to my hip,” Ellory sassed. “And if I fell into a hole, I’d just shimmy my way up.”
“Ah, the chimney-climbing technique. Yeah, that’s one way, but that’s harder than you think,” MacGyver told her. “Especially if you’re injured. You could also move dirt from the sides of the hole to the bottom, and eventually raise the level of the bottom itself. That would take a long time though. And the risk of getting dehydrated and weak is huge.
“But take stock of what you have. Your clothes, shoelaces, shoes themselves. Anything can be used to help you dig, or give you traction, or even to make some sort of flag that you can throw up and out of the hole to let others know you’re there. Or to trap water if it rains. There are a lot of things you can use or do to help yourself.”
“That makes sense.”
“The important thing is not to sit there and feel sorry for yourself. Use your brain. Nine times out of ten, there’s something around you that can help in whatever situation you find yourself in.”
“Will you teach me how to make a bomb out of nails, a battery, and that paperclip?” Ellory asked.
He burst out laughing. “No. But we can start with how to change a tire, how’s that?”
Ellory rolled her eyes, but nodded.
MacGyver got up and opened the garage door. “I’m thinking we should use your mom’s Bug as a test subject, since that’s the car you’ll most likely be in that gets a flat tire.”
“Your car is immune?” Ellory asked with a smile.
“Smartass. No. But if we get a flat tire while we’re in my car, there’s no way I’d make you change it.”
“Because you’re the big bad Navy SEAL, and a guy, and you don’t think a girl can do it?”
“No. Because the day I sit around and watch someone I care about do work that I’m perfectly capable of doing myself, is the day my human decency card is taken away.”
Ellory stared at him but didn’t say a word.
“But if you’re with me when I get a flat, I would certainly welcome your help in fixing it.”
“You wouldn’t want me to just sit in the car and wait for you to do it?”
“Only if that’s what you want to do. The thing is, Ellory, I’m not the kind of man who likes to sit on the sidelines. Whether it’s watching your mom cook us dinner, or doing dishes, or laundry, I want to help. Or if I see one of my teammates struggling with something, or their girlfriends or wives, ten times out of ten I’ll try to help find a solution for whatever’s happening. Be it if my team’s held captive in a foreign country by terrorists, or I’m at the grocery store and see someone haranguing one of the cashiers for no good reason. I’ll always speak up. Always do what I can to help.”
He could see the wheels spinning in the girl’s head, but he didn’t give her time to respond. “Come on, let’s get the jack out of the trunk. I’ll show you where it is, how to get the spare out, and how to change the tire.”
MacGyver didn’t actually show Ellory anything, he made her do it all. In his experience, that was the only way to learn something. At one point, Addison stood in the front door, shaking her head at the sight of her perfectly good tire sitting on the driveway as Ellory tightened the lug nuts on the spare she’d put on in its place. Then she smiled at MacGyver and went back inside.
It felt good that she was checking on them, and that she trusted him with both her daughter and her vehicle. MacGyver knew how much Addison loved her little VW Bug. It wasn’t the best car to have when you had four kids, but he’d never encourage her to get rid of something she loved so much. If push came to shove, MacGyver would buy her an SUV or minivan.
“Like this?” Ellory asked, bringing his attention back to what she was doing.
“Yes, exactly like that,” he praised. Then he took a deep breath and brought up what he’d wanted to talk about all evening. “Your mom said you had a tough day at school today.”
He thought there was a fifty-fifty chance that she’d blow him off. Or get mad that he’d even brought it up. But to his relief, Ellory sighed. She didn’t stop what she was doing, which was part of the reason he decided to teach her how to change a tire tonight, he wanted her hands to be busy, a distraction.
“People are jerks.”
“Yup,” MacGyver said easily, hoping if he didn’t fill the silence, she would.
And it was a good bet. Ellory kept talking.
“As if I can help it that I have Crohn’s. Or that my hair is red. Or that I’m short. Just because Chrys has boobs already and flaunts them all the time by wearing tight shirts, and I don’t, it doesn’t mean that I don’t like boys.”
MacGyver felt way out of his element, but he forged ahead. “So Chrys is picking on you.”
Ellory turned away from the tire and sat back on her heels. “Yeah. And she’s gotten Hilary, Mariah, and Nikki to do it too. Nikki and I used to be friends in elementary school, but now she does whatever Chrys tells her to. It’s as if all the good times we had mean nothing. And she told them some of the stuff I go through because of my Crohn’s, so now whenever I walk by, they make fart noises and pretend that I stink.”
MacGyver’s hands curled into fists. Kids could be horrible to each other. Yes, some people insisted it was just part of growing up, but he disagreed.
“I don’t know what to do to make them stop,” Ellory said, looking down at her hands. “I know stuff about Nikki. About her parents’ divorce. She told me about it when we were still friends. I’ve thought about getting even, telling everyone all about how her mom worked at a strip club and her dad was screwing around with his secretary. But that feels…mean.”
“She’s being mean to you ,” MacGyver said as nonchalantly as he could.
Ellory looked up at him. “I know. But Mom has always said to take the high road. That stooping to someone else’s level of meanness makes me just as bad as them.”
MacGyver’s heart warmed. He already thought Addison was amazing, but her daughter’s words just solidified that a little more. “She’s right. So what else could you do? Let’s brainstorm here. Could you go to a teacher or principal?”
Ellory snorted. “And be a snitch? That would make it worse.”
“Try to talk to Nikki and let her know how much she’s hurting your feelings?”
Ellory shrugged. “Maybe. But I think she’s probably enjoying being part of the popular crowd too much to change.”
“Change schools? Homeschool? Beat up this Chrys person? Get a boyfriend, someone who’s big and tall and can protect you? Or a girlfriend to do the same? Surround yourself with your other friends? Avoid them?” MacGyver threw out as many suggestions as he could. Honestly, he wasn’t sure what was the right thing to do in this situation, and he struggled to find a way to help this little girl on the cusp of womanhood.
“Beating Chrysanthemum up would feel amazing,” Ellory murmured.
“Wait, wait, wait…Chrys’s full name is Chrysanthemum? Seriously? And she’s making fun of you ?” MacGyver asked incredulously.
Ellory giggled. “Right?”
“Seriously, what were her parents thinking?”
“Ricky?”
“Yeah, hon?”
“Next week we have Career Day at school. I heard my homeroom teacher talking with the gym teacher about how they were having a hard time coming up with new and interesting people to come in and talk to the students. Do you think…would you…You probably don’t have time and it’s stupid, but?—”
“Yes.”
“Yes?” Ellory asked.
“If you’re asking if I’d be willing to come in and talk to your classmates about being in the Navy, about being a SEAL, the answer is yes. And not only that, but I can get the rest of my team to come in as well.”
“Really?”
“Really. And if this Chrysanthemum chick dares to even look at you sideways, I’ll make sure she knows that would be a very bad choice on her part.”
“Thank you!” Ellory said with more enthusiasm than she’d shown all night. She jumped to her feet and hugged MacGyver hard. “This is gonna be great! Chrys was bragging all about her cousin who worked on a submarine and how amazing he was, but I’ve seen his picture. He’s short, fat, and kind of ugly. You and your friends are hot, and everyone is gonna be so jealous that I have a DILF!”
“A what?”
“Oh, um…never mind. Tomorrow, I’ll talk to my homeroom teacher and see if she thinks it would work. I hope it does! And I’ll let you know what time they’d want you there and everything. I don’t think you’ll be allowed to bring any of your guns or knives though.”
“Wasn’t planning on it,” MacGyver said with a small smile.
“Okay. Oh, I can’t wait to rub this is Chrys’s face! And Hilary, Mariah, and Nikki’s too. I’m gonna text Sara and let her know my stepdad and his SEAL friends will be coming!” The girl spun around and headed for the house. She already had her phone in her hand, her fingers flying over the screen.
Looking at the carnage on the driveway, MacGyver could only snort-laugh. Looked like it would be up to him to take the spare tire off Addison’s car and put things back to rights.
He’d just taken the spare off and was picking up the regular tire when Addison walked out of the house.
“Everything okay inside?” he asked with a furrow of his brow.
“It’s fine. Homework is done and everyone is watching The Magic School Bus . Everyone except for my daughter, who just came into the house looking happier than she has all day. What happened?”
As he worked on putting the tire back on her car, he asked, “Did you know one of the girls at school is named Chrysanthemum? Who names their kid that?”
Addison chuckled. “That’s what I thought the first time I heard it. Interesting names are all the rage. Apparently they were twelve years ago, as well.”
“Well, the flower bitch has been bullying Ellory. And getting her bitch followers to do the same. Flashing her boobs and making fun of Ellory for not having any yet. And worse, picking on her for things she can’t control. She and her posse are making farting noises as Ellory walks by them in the hall.”
“I don’t think you can call twelve-year-olds bitches,” Addison said.
“I can when that’s what they are,” MacGyver told her. He tightened the lug nuts, making sure they were snug and secure before standing to face Addison.
“I knew she was being bullied, but I have no idea how to help or what to do to stop it.”
“I’m not sure anything can stop it. Kids normally learn from their parents, and Chrysanthemum’s parents are obviously twatwaffles of the highest order. They’re probably stingy with tips, and the type who yell at clerks in stores and blame all their problems on others,” MacGyver said.
“Right. So why was Ellory smiling so huge when she came in?”
“Because her big bad stepdad and his Navy SEAL friends are going to come in and talk to her classmates next week for Career Day.”
Addison blinked. “You are?”
“Yup. And I’m going to have Ellory point out this Chrysanthemum bitch, and I’ll make sure she knows that if she continues to bully my daughter, she’s going to have to deal with seven pissed-off SEALs…and their girlfriends. Oh, maybe I can have Wolf and his crew join us. If there are a dozen of us glaring at her and making it clear we aren’t impressed by anything she says or does, while gushing over Ellory and her friends, maybe she’ll get a damn clue.”
Addison laughed.
“What? I’m not kidding.”
She stepped into his space, and MacGyver held out his grease-covered hands so as not to get her dirty. Addison put her hands on his shoulders and leaned into him. “I know you aren’t. And I can’t think of anything I would’ve liked more when I was Ellory’s age than to have you and your friends stand up for me and flex in front of my entire school.”
“I’m not going to flex…much,” MacGyver said.
Addison laughed again. “So you aren’t going to give a sample of the PT you and the others do? Burpees, sit-ups, pushups?”
MacGyver grinned. “Good idea. I do have a question though.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“What’s a DILF?”
Addison’s eyes widened, and she almost choked on a laugh. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. Ellory said everyone was going to be jealous that she had a DILF. I know a lot of military acronyms, but that one I’ve never heard of.”
“Right. Um, well…there’s no good way to say it, so I’ll just tell you straight up. It means ‘Dad I’d like to fuck’.”
MacGyver blinked. Then he smiled. Huge.
“I can’t believe you aren’t freaking out,” Addison said. “Why aren’t you freaking out? I think I’m freaking out a little.”
“Dad,” he said reverently. “I mean, I know we entered this marriage thing as a business relationship, and I’m not really her dad, but?—”
“You’re more of a dad than she’s ever had. Even when her bio-father was around for the short time after she was born, he wasn’t ever much of a dad. In the month we’ve been married, you’ve more than earned that moniker.”
“What happened with her dad?”
Addison sighed. “I loved him. Thought he loved me. Thought that we would end up getting married after Ellory was born. But he pulled away, couldn’t be bothered with dirty diapers and crying. He left, and when I tried to find him, I couldn’t.”
“I know someone who could track him down in a heartbeat…if that’s what you want.”
“No. I mean, we’re doing okay. And why would I want someone who turned his back on us without a second thought?”
MacGyver was proud of this woman. When she struggled with money, with Ellory’s health scares, she could’ve hired a private detective to find her deadbeat ex and at least make him help monetarily. But she hadn’t. “Well, for the record, she’s an amazing young woman. You’ve done an exceptional job raising her on your own to be kind, smart, and friendly.”
“Thanks,” Addison said with a shy smile. Then her smile slowly faded as she looked up at him.
“What? What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I just…you’re so good with her. We’re so lucky to have you in our lives. I don’t know how it happened, but I’m grateful.”
“I don’t want your gratitude,” MacGyver growled.
She blinked in surprise at his harsh tone and took a step back.
MacGyver snatched up the shop towel he’d grabbed in the garage before changing the tire and quickly wiped his hands clean. Then, without pause, he wrapped an arm around Addison, pressing his hand to the small of her back and pulling her close. He buried his other hand in her hair, holding her against him with a firm grip. If she made the slightest move to step away from him, or if she struggled in the smallest way, he would’ve let go. But instead, she seemed to melt into him. Her hands clutched his shirt at his waist and she licked her lips as she stared into his eyes.
It was all MacGyver could do not to kiss the hell out of her right then and there. They were standing face-to-face, and he wanted to bend her backward and take her lips with his own. But he forced himself to stand still.
“I know this marriage wasn’t what you wanted,” he told her. “But that doesn’t mean that I don’t care about you and your daughter. That I don’t want what’s best for you both. Someone bullying Ellory is as much my problem as it is yours and hers. I’ll bend over backward to make things right for her, and for you. And it’s not because I’m grateful you helped me out of a tight spot with the kids. It’s because I care about you, Addy. I wouldn’t have married you if I didn’t. And because this is what people who are married do. They look after their spouse and kids. They help with the shopping and chores. They wipe runny noses, clean up puke, and talk to the kids when they’re struggling. The last thing I want for any of it is your gratitude. All right?”
“All right. But can I say something?” Addison asked.
“Of course.”
“You might not want my gratitude, but you have it anyway. You have no idea how many nights I sat up worrying about how in the world I was going to be able to give Ellory the medical assistance she needed. How I was going to afford her medications. The tests she needed. I would’ve given up anything, done just about anything, to give my daughter what she needed to thrive. Then I met you. And you became my friend. You were supportive even before you met Artem, Borysko, and Yana. Just being around you made me feel more positive. Hopeful that things would work out. And I didn’t marry you just because of Ellory. I would’ve figured something out. Somehow.
“But it wasn’t a hard decision to say yes to you. I saw the kind of man you were—the kind of man I want around my daughter. Teaching her. Volunteering to go to her school to talk to a bunch of preteens about your job, not because you think they want to know, but because you want to show her bullies that she has some of the baddest Navy SEALs at her back. That’s priceless to me. You don’t want my gratitude? Tough. You’re getting it.”
MacGyver’s hand tightened in her hair, and he had to consciously force himself to relax.
“Okay.”
Addison grinned. “Just like that? No other comments?”
“Nope.”
“You’re a pushover,” she said, still smiling.
“Just with you,” he said, not lying in the least.
“I have a question.”
“Shoot.”
“My car’s gonna be all right to drive in the morning, right?”
MacGyver chuckled. “Of course.”
“Okay. Then I should get back in and check on the kids.”
“Right.” But MacGyver was having a hard time letting go.
They stared at each other for a beat, then his heart sped up as she leaned in. She kissed him, brushing her lips against his. When she pulled back, her cheeks pink, she smiled.
“Don’t be too long out here, because I made some cookies today and we’re going to have them with frozen yogurt when the kids’ show is over.”
“I’ll be in soon,” MacGyver said as he forced himself to let go of her.
She smiled at him once more, then headed through the garage to go back inside.
Despite his attempts to clean his hands before touching her, there was a faint black handprint on her shirt at the small of her back, and MacGyver couldn’t stop the satisfied smile from widening his lips at the sight of his mark on her. He’d tell her when he got inside so she could put the shirt in the wash before it stained.
Turning to the car, he lifted the spare to put it back in the trunk. He wasn’t sure he’d done much of anything tonight, but he’d enjoyed spending time with Ellory…and of course the kiss from Addison had shown him that she wasn’t exactly immune to him. He loved spending time with her, and maybe, just maybe, she felt a fraction of the same way about him. A man could dream.