Date: Sun, 12 May 2013 02:09:44 -0500
From: Marcus Kost <meetingofcoincidence@gmail.com>
Subject: meeting of coincidence: chapter 55

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************************

Chapter 55

JW crawled into bed early cursing at his phone as he set the alarm
clock. He hated the fact that Katie and Kyle were leaving tomorrow. He
sighed and was at least pleased that he has made some traction in the
positive direction with his family; the last fifteen years have been a
complete disaster. He rolled over onto his stomach, fluffed his pillow and
laid his head down. Leah, Kira and Luke came to his thoughts and he cursed
himself again for missing another day to be with his children. He thought
about the paper flyer Leah had in her hands as she ran up to him earlier
today in the park. He smiled at the thought of Leah playing soccer and knew
that soccer was going to be perfect activity for Leah to finish out the
summer before school starts.

JW switched gears and thought about his new responsibilities coming to him
at work tomorrow, he took his Lieutenants test almost two years ago and he
is finally being recognized for his hard work, but did he get promoted
because of his ability or was it pity?

JW knew there was going to be some people he worked with that were going to
be furious over this, but that is Shane's problem. He felt nervousness
creep into the pit of his stomach and knew he was going to have some kind
of issues; how big of a problem it was going to be will be known
tomorrow. He knew that being gay was going to be the main factor, it was a
while ago when he overheard fellow fire fighters at the station making
jokes about gay men and this was before he was now openly gay. He knew that
he was being judged this second and he was going to have to figure out a
way to get the other men at work on his side. He tossed restlessly in bed
and each passing minute JW was not looking forward to work tomorrow.

JW woke up when Marcus climbed into bed, he looked at his clock and it was
almost 2:00am. JW rolled over and wrapped his arm over Marcus and
whispered, "I know that it was a lot of fun to escape like that butÉ!"

Marcus put his fingers on JW's mouth, "But you don't want to leave your
kids behind?" JW nodded his head and Marcus leaned in for a kiss, "Don't
worry about it. I felt shitty about it and knew you were going to say
something. I won't put you in the position again, but I still want to take
trips though. So we will just take the kids with us next time." Marcus felt
JW's hands grab him tight and JW's arm flex across his chest. Marcus slid
his hand up to JW's and the two locked their hands together. Marcus felt
JW's hand slowly loosen its grip as he fell to sleep.

Marcus lay in bed looking at the ceiling; he was over come by a guilty
feeling of wishing JW didn't have his kids. He was angry with himself for
thinking this way and knew it was stupid to think like that but the truth
was he didn't want to share JW with anyone. Marcus closed his eyes holding
JW and angry at himself for allowing himself to be so jealous. He looked
down at JW who was obviously having a dream, JW was twitching and
whispering something that Marcus could not understand.

Marcus watched JW closely for the next fifteen minutes as JW reacted to a
dream that was obviously getting worse by the second. JW's eyes shot open
and he dug his fingers into Marcus chest. Marcus ran his hands through JW's
hair and whispered, "Everything ok?"

JW didn't respond and Marcus asked again, finally JW shook his head and
sighed, "Work is going to be hell I bet."

Marcus didn't know what to say, he didn't have a clue at what JW even
intended so he said the first thing that came to mind, "You will be
fine. Now just go to sleep or you will be dead tired." Marcus watched JW
close his eyes and finally fall back to sleep.

JW was woken up by his alarm clock beeping on the nightstand; he rolled his
head to the side and turned off the alarm. He felt Marcus's head laying on
his shoulder and he slowly climbed out of bed and walks into the bathroom
to shower. Twenty minutes later he was out of the of shower and got dressed
when Marcus sleepily said, "Morning, I will get the kids ready for school."

JW laughed and told Marcus that it's the summer and the kids don't have
school for several more weeks, Marcus rolled over onto his back, pulls the
sheets over his head and moans, "Good."

JW said good-bye and walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. JW
fixed a quick breakfast, tossed a bag of sandwiches from the fridge into
his workbag and walked into the garage to drive to work. He blinked his
eyes at the rising sun and felt horribly tired, he did not sleep well last
night and the fear of what is to come at work is starting to make him sick
to his stomach. Traffic is light and he is at work a few minutes early. He
climbed out of his car, grabbed his bag and closed the door. He is not even
in the front door of the station when Gary, one of the fire fighters that
works on the same shift as him makes eye contact.

JW knows that it is not a friendly stare and he talks to himself. Just
before JW is about toss his bag into the locker the man staring at him
called out for him to stop.

JW waits patiently as the man walks up to him and quietly says, "So you
became a fag to get promoted? Well just remember that you're working with
other guys who don't appreciate how you work."

JW knew this was all his fears rolled into one huge nightmare and he hates
confrontational people, he felt the urge to run but if he was even going to
have a chance and he had to make a stand right this second.

JW stepped off the steps and looked right back in to Gary's eyes, "Gary I
know you don't want to but give me one minute of your time." Gary started
to shake his head when JW pointed over to a near by engine and walked over
to a compartment door.

Gary hesitantly walked over to JW and whispered, "Already begging to suck
my cock? Well there is no promotion involved."

JW furrowed his eyebrows and bit his lower lip, Gary started to laugh at JW
and was about to walk away when JW blurted out, "I know you hate me, even
though you have absolutely no reason to. I have dealt with that my entire
life but I am telling you now, no matter what you do me, no matter what you
say to me, no matter how you treat me, I will always be there for you and
anyone else here at this station."

JW paused and Gary had an evil smile. He did not make the impression he
needed to make, "If you ever put a hand on me and its not related to our
work I will fucking kick your ass here in the station, on scene or in the
parking lot. I will make sure everyone is there to see it." He watched Gary
change his expression and continued, "I will fucking beat you so hard that
any time you see a gay man your nose will start to bleed. And don't even
try and act like you could take me because I am three times stronger than,
so if you do anything that appears threatening to me I will fucking crush
you and everyone else in this station will know a cock sucker beat your
ass." Another fire fighter from JW's shift walks up to Gary jokingly and
asks what is going on.

JW smiles and pats Gary on the arm, "Oh nothing Steve, Gary was just asking
me to go over the engines and check out the batteries on the flash lights
because he had a problem with one on the last shift."

Steven laughs and shakes JW's hand, "Not any more Mr. Station
Lieutenant. Congrats dude and you better watch out because all these guys
are going to be gunning for you now." Steve laughed and JW looked at Gary
with a smile.

JW reached out and shook Steve's hand and patted Gary on the shoulder,
"Thanks man. But I will take care of those flashlights." JW turned and
walked away to head up the stairs to his locker. JW laughed to himself as
he heard Steve talk to Gary and mention how good JW would be as a
Lieutenant.

* * *

Marcus rolled out of bed and looked around the room. Marcus sleepily walked
to the bathroom and turned on the shower. While the shower starts to steam,
he finished brushing his teeth and he looks at the floor where JW tossed
his shorts before he showered. He grins and walks into the shower. He
spends almost an hour in the shower before reaching down and turning the
water off. When he walks out of the shower drying his hair off and walking
out into the bedroom he looks down at the bed and sees all three of JW's
kids in their bed. He wonders if the kids were there when he woke up or did
they just come in?

Marcus shrugs, slips into a clean pair of gym shorts and is about to walk
out when Kira holds her head off the bed and quiet asks if it is time to
wake up. He shakes his head, climbs back into bed and Kira climbs over Leah
and Luke and cuddles up next to him. He takes Kira next to his side and she
quickly falls asleep.

The next time Marcus wakes up Luke is laying across his chest and Leah has
her head on his thigh. He carefully reaches for his iPad and looks at the
time, it's almost 1:00pm. He could easily go back to sleep but knows that
he needs to get the kids up. Slowly he wakes up the girls and pushes them
off into their bathroom to shower. While the girls are showering he takes
Luke into his bathroom and gives Luke a shower. He pulled Luke out of the
shower, dried him off and puts Luke on the floor while searching for his
cloths. He finished drying his hair and saw Luke had a roll of toilet paper
in his hands and he was trying to chew on it. He scooped up Luke and walked
off to the kitchen.

Marcus cooked eggs, ham and a huge bowl of cut fruit. He made scrabbled
eggs for Luke and wished that they fed Luke with a feed bag because only
about a third of the food made it into his mouth, but Luke did love the
fruit and ate every piece he got his little hands on. By the time Leah and
Kira got out of the shower Luke was finished eating and was playing with
toys in his high chair. The girls sat down and ate so fast that Marcus
joked that they were eating their last meal. The girls begged for something
else to eat but Marcus pointed to the big bowl of fruit and the girls
finally started nibbling on it and soon half of the bowl was gone before
the girls said their stomachs were full. Marcus told the girls to go watch
TV for awhile and then they could head out latter to check on soccer
registration for Leah and then head to the park, gym or both; but Marcus
had to do some work for a few hours.

Marcus walked into his office and got started immediately. As he checked
and sent off emails he was able to finish a few other side items that he
should have addressed several days ago. He made a few phone calls and poked
his head out to check on the girls and watched Luke crawl around his
office. Just as he made his last phone call for the day, he called out for
Leah and Kira to get ready for the gym. Marcus heard the girls scream in
excitement and jump off the couch and into their bedrooms.

Marcus picked up Luke and started to walk out of his office when his phone
started to ring, he rolled his eyes and looked down at the phone on his
desk and looked at the caller ID. He frowned and picked up the phone with
one hand, "Good afternoon sir, can you give me one second to put something
down?"

It was Marcus's boss and he told Marcus to go ahead and take as long as he
needed. Marcus called out to Leah and she popped her head out of her
bedroom door, "Yes?" He asked Leah to take Luke and get him ready because
he had to take a very important call, after the phone call they could go to
the gym and then the park. Leah walked up and grabbed Luke by the hand and
walked with him into her room. He turned around and picked up the phone,
"Sorry about that, go ahead."

Marcus hung-up the phone and his hands were shaking. He took his hands to
his head and face and covered them and started to laugh. He stood up and
sighed heavily and threw his hands from his head and yelled, "Fuck ya babe!
Got that mother fucker wrapped up finally." Marcus walked out of the office
and yelled out again, this time both girls nervously looked out of their
bedrooms at him. Kira hesitantly and quietly asked, "Is something wrong
Marc?"

Marcus heard Luke in Leah's room saying, "Marc," over and over.

Marcus smiled, "No girls nothing is wrong at all, in fact things are going
really well. I got a really important job promotion that I have wanted for
a long time."

Kira asks what a promotion is and he explained the best that he could but
gave up quickly to get the girls out of the house. With Luke under his arm,
a gym bag filled with change of clothes and the girls diving into his
Infiniti Marcus hit the road.

* * *

The moment for JW to prove if he was worth a shit was here and he was so
nervous he was about to throw up. He was hoping that he could ease into his
new role as a Lieutenant with a simple fire call. But that was not the case
and as JW sat in the fire engine flying down the road listening to
dispatchers give them updates. He heard Mack yelling at him and then start
to laugh, Mack shook his head and reached over to slap JW in the arm,
"You'll be fine god damn it."

JW tried to give a faint smile but finished putting his gear on instead. As
Mack pulled the engine up to the burning building it was obvious this was
going to be a shit start to the day. He jumped out of the officer seat on
the engine and hit the ground with no thought but his job at hand. After a
minute JW met the rest of his crew at the front entry of the three story
apartment building with a fire on the third story. He looked over his
shoulder; double checked his crew and then waved the four other men with
him inside. They went to the third floor first and JW put two men on the
hose and ordered them to start working to put the fire out in the apartment
corner. JW stayed with the two men with the hose and sent the other two
search all the rooms of the apartment and make sure everyone was safe and
outside the house. As the two men worked to extinguish the fire, JW
searched the apartment that was on fire. Thankfully no one was inside and
JW broke a window and called for a fan to start pushing smoke out of the
apartment. With in seconds the fire was out and JW was on the radio calling
for a mop up tools and asking if anyone else was still in the building?

It didn't take long and the fans pushed the smoke and steam out of the
small apartment. With the fire extinguished, the smoke was clear of the
apartment, JW walked around the burned remains of the kitchen. The hose
crew finished spraying water on the few remaining hot spots and JW used an
axe to cut into the walls and ceiling to make sure the spread of fire had
stopped.

After the crew that was searching the house reappeared in the apartment JW
did something stupid and asked one of the men senior to him, "Well what do
you want me to do next?"

The second JW said it he realized he fucked up and started to laugh, "Ok I
am retarded. You guys finish up anything you find in here and when you're
done come down to the engine." He made his way to the engine and Mack
greeted him with a cold battle of water, "What the hell took you so long?"

JW frowned and said that it did not take that long to put the fire out and
Mack interrupted, "Not the fire jackass, why were you up in there for so
long?"

JW frowned, "I was doing what needed to be done, the Captain was down here
taking care of everything else." JW pointed over to the second engine at
Shane who was talking with their Battalion Chief Jim.

Mack shook his head and laughed, "Once the fire is out you need to get down
here."

JW smiled wryly and shook his head, "Lead by example and not by pointing."

Mack rolled his eyes, "We will see about that, you will be like everyone
else. With in a month you won't be doing a god damn thing and telling
everyone else what to do."

JW was about to argue with Mack but decided against it. He finished his
bottle of water and turned to walk back inside. Mack called out and asked
what JW was doing and JW point above his head at the third floor of the
building and walked back into the apartment complex. JW cleared the stairs
and entered into the apartment. JW stood there for just a second and
watched his crew working and joking around. JW walked in and asked if they
found anything else? They all fell silent and just stared at him. JW
thought about this scenario a hundred times last night and figured he would
just get it off his chest, "Is me being a fag going to be that big of a
problem?"

At first JW thought that he made the situation worse but then they started
to laugh. JW heard several comments through the laughing that at least gave
him some relief. It was not until they walked up to him and patted him on
the shoulder and said they could care less about him being gay. JW smiled,
looked around the room, saw their work was done and turned back to say, "We
are done here let's get the fuck out of here."

Once outside the crew off the second engine was already starting the clean
up work. JW started to roll up a hose when Shane called JW over and
eventually told JW to stop because he needed to talk to him now. JW shed
his bunker jacket and walked over to Shane who met him with another bottle
of cold water and Shane asked for a debrief of what happened.

JW explained the fire scene, what he told the crew to do and what his
thought process of attacking the fire was. Shane stood there nodding his
head and watched JW look past Shane and kept staring at something behind
him. But JW continued to explain the events as they occurred.

Shane could not help but realize as JW was talking he was distracted by
something behind Shane. Shane turned and looked over his shoulder and saw
someone staring at them. Shane focused on Gary leaning on the engine and
watching everyone else doing work. Shane turned back to JW and finished
listening until JW.

Shane smiled and knew he had made the right decisions with JW and hopefully
JW will become a true leader who sets the example with action and not by
talking about it. Shane asked JW what he was looking at earlier and JW says
he was not sure if he got all the tools from inside the apartment. Shane
knew that was lie and something was going on between JW and Gary.

* * *

Marcus changed into his swim trunks and had to chase Luke around the locker
room before he could change Luke also. Finally Luke was in his Sponge Bob
Square Pants trunks and in Marcus arms. The girls were waiting anxiously
for Marcus and the second they made eye contact they jumped into the pool
with a scream. Marcus bent down and dropped Luke into the arms of Leah and
he lowered himself into the cool pool water. Leah pushed Luke back to
Marcus and asked, "Why do you guys workout?"

Marcus smiled, "Because it makes us feel good. It's kind of like play time
for adults."

Leah was unconvinced but Kira drew the conversation away while she was
trying to get Marcus to look at what she doing. Soon both girls were
begging, "Watch me!" and "Watch what I can do!"

Marcus laughed and soon had Luke mimicking what the girls were doing and
with no objections other than the occasional face full of water and a
cough. Marcus would hold Luke by the waist and let him flail his arms at
the water, bob him up and down and occasionally lower him far enough into
the water to cover his shoulders. Marcus could never understand how JW
could take the cold water for so long and soon he had to get out and get
into the hot tub. The girls were not excited to leave the pool but since
the hot tub was open and with no one sitting in it this would be a perfect
time for Marcus to move over there with the kids.

Marcus sat down in the hot water and sighed in relief, the girls sat on the
edge with their feet in the water while holding onto Luke. Marcus ran his
hands full of water over his face and asked, "I want to do something really
special for your dad and I want your opinions. But before you answer, is
there something that your dad really likes? Or is there something that he
really likes to do?"

The girls thought about it for a few seconds and Kira summed it up with her
statement, "No, when he is not working he is always with us."

Leah chimed in, "He apologized for leaving us while you two were on a
trip."

Marcus nodded his head, "Your dad was really mad at me for not brining you
guys along. So we won't be leaving you behind if we go anywhere again."
Both girls looked at each other and smiled. He ran his hands under the
water, "So I want you two to think of something special to do for your
dad?"

Kira looked confused and Leah leaned to Kira and whispered into her ear,
Kira's eyes opened wide and she looked at Marcus. Marcus gave a wry smile
and asked, "So what are you two thinking?"

Leah and Kira started to laugh and it took several attempts before Kira
said, "Disneyland!" Marcus nodded his head and gave big smile. "That's
perfect."

* * *

JW was riding in the officer seat in the engine and they were finally
heading back to the station when the dispatch radio started to sound
off. They were being toned to a car accident at a major intersection. Mack
called out, "That's only two blocks from us." Mack reached up, turned the
lights and sirens on and slammed the accelerator into the floor.

Mack pulled the engine up onto the accident scene and JW looked at the
metal carnage and wondered how the hell six vehicles could have hit each
other like that?

He pointed to the vehicles and had his crew start checking the drivers and
passengers for injuries while he was going get the crash kit. JW watched
Shane pull up behind him in another engine and called out he would get a
line on the ground. JW nodded his head, threw the crash kit over his
shoulder and went to nearest car. As bad as the accident was at least no
one was seriously injured and it appeared to JW someone was not paying
attention and rear ended one car at a high rate of speed and caused a
domino effect which push the car at the stop light into traffic and from
there cars just went flying.

JW had finished working the car accident with his crew and was standing
with everyone else just talking about what ever random topic came up when
the screeching sound of locked up brakes and tires sliding across the
pavement came from somewhere behind them.

JW's head jerked to the right and he saw a woman in an SUV, wide eyed, one
hand clutched to the steering wheel and the other to a cell phone to her
ear. Her car was bouncing off the vehicles in front of her and it was
obvious the woman was going to hit what ever was in front of her and out of
the corner of his eye he saw two fire fighters in front of him.

When everyone around JW scattered, he took one giant step forward, reached
his arms out and grabbed one of them by the arm and the other by the collar
of their jacket. He jerked back as hard as he could and the two fire
fighters looked at him stupidly and did not understand what was going
on. JW pulled them into his body as he fell back into the engine. He made
eye contact with the woman as she went flying by then everything was put on
fast forward as the car smashed into the accident site.

JW released both of the people he just saved and look at them; he rolled
his eyes because they were Gary and Steve. Both looked confused at first as
they looked over their right and left shoulder and put things
together. Steve had a huge smile and jumped up into the air and fist pumped
the air. Steve turned and slapped Gary on the back, "Told you this mother
fucker was amazing." Steve stuck his hand out for JW to shake it. JW took
it and tried to think of something awesome to say, "You would have done
that for me."

Gary quietly said, "No I wouldn't."

Steven looked at Gary confused, "What?"

Gary shook his head, "Not till now at least!"

Steve looked at JW and then back to Gary a couple of times and then put it
together and said, "Man that's fucked up. What did he ever do to you?"

Gary looked at Steve with fire coming out of his eyes, "Fuck you both. He
comes in here and makes the rest of us look bad and!"

Shane walked up behind Steve and Gary, he was standing behind an engine and
over heard their conversation. Shane coldly said, "And what?"

Gary jumped, turned and quietly said, "And nothing."

JW thought that he saw Shane angry a year ago on a fire scene where someone
had gotten injured but the look on his face at this time was on a whole new
level of loathing hate. Shane walked up, pushed Steven to the side, got in
Gary's face and gritted his teeth, "You lazy mother fucker. The reason you
did not get the Lieutenant position is exactly because of this. Your
attitude is fucking horrible and you think you deserve the position. JW is
ten times the fire fighter you are and has been here half as long. JW just
fucking saved your goddamn life and instead of saying a simple thank
you. You're angry because you still hate him and you know you shouldn't."

Shane turned and walked into the new accident scene and yelled over his
shoulder, "Get your god damn asses over here because we need to check on
this idiot."

* * *

Marcus was sitting on a park bench watching the girls run around with a
soccer ball. A few other kids had joined with them and they were running
around park kicking the ball up and down a makeshift field. Marcus felt
someone sit down on the park bench next to him and he looked over and said,
"Hello."

It was a woman, mid 20's and she was very cute. She quietly said, "Hello,"
and Marcus went back to watching the girls play.

A few seconds later the woman asked, "Which one is yours?"

Marcus pointed at Leah and Kira, "The two blonds, one wearing purple and
the other pink."

The woman smiled and said, "My kid is the confused one!"

Marcus saw one kind laying on his back clawing at the air and in the middle
of the other kids chasing the soccer ball. Marcus smiled, laughed and the
two started a conversation that carried on for several minutes until Kira
ran up panting and asked for something to drink. Marcus pulled out a water
bottle and handed it to Kira and the Woman sat there with a confused look
on her face and waited until Kira ran off to ask, "Why did she call you
Marcus? Are you not their father?"

Marcus didn't want to tell her the truth but also curiosity got the best of
him, "No, I am not their father."

The woman's face relaxed, "Oh, you're their stepfather then?"

Marcus laughed to himself and nodded his head, "That's one way to look at
it. By the way I did not catch your name?"

The woman blushed, "Oh, I am sorry I am Mindy."

Leah ran up next asking for water and Marcus tossed her the bottle, Leah
caught in took several deep breaths and then finished off the
bottle. Before Leah left she asked, "Do you think we can come here tomorrow
with dad?"

Mindy frowned as she tried to work it out and Marcus blushed this time and
nodded his head, "Of course you know he will do what ever you want."

Leah ran away smiled and called over her shoulder, "Or what ever you want."
Mindy gasped and Marcus slapped his hand on his forehead.

* * *

JW sat in the cab of the engine and sighed, he was hungry, tired and
sore. JW could only sigh with disgust. The car accident should not have
taken longer than an hour before it turned into a completely nightmare with
an extra car crash. Now there was a ton of work to do onto of having to
check all the tools from the fire earlier. JW's big toe had not even hit
the ground when he heard Shane yell for everyone to line up, JW hung his
head and knew the ass chewing had not even started and Shane was about to
blow up. JW fell in line with everyone else and waiting for Shane to start
yelling, but Shane was silent and held his hand to his fore head. Shane
finally looked up and met eyes with JW and pointed at the ground next to
him, JW was now horribly embarrassed because he was suppose to be standing
next to Shane. JW took five fast steps, stood next to Shane, folded his
hands behind his back, turned beat red and glanced towards Shane who was
struggling not to laugh but briefly relaxed once the moment passed and then
Shane detonated.

Shane went to each person in line and embarrassed the hell out of them and
then went on to scream at everyone for thirty minutes about how no one can
work together and they were going to have a team building exercise. Shane
turned to face JW and then went in front of Gary, "I want this God Damn
station spotless and so help-you-god if this mother fucker isn't clean and
I am not happy with it. If I find a flake of dust anywhere you will start
over and if you work through this shift you will start over then. I will
check everything from the rafters to under the water drains so you better
fucking scrub this mother fucker like you never have scrubbed anything in
your goddamn life. Because all of you learn one thing from today, you will
learn to have respect for everyone in this fucking department. I will clear
your fucking conscious with pine sol and a boot so far up your fucking
asses you will know what kind of dog shit I stepped in because you will
taste it."

Shane turned to JW and put his finger in JW's chest, "You! Get your fucking
stupid ass in my office." JW spun on his heels and went into Shane's office
and Shane turned to Mack, "Start with the trucks, then do the station and
finish with the floors please." Mack nodded his head. Shane turned and
walked into his office slamming the door behind him and shattering the
glass.

Mack heard someone say, "Fuck that we have to do all this work and JW is
going to just get bitched at."

Mack looked at the man, "Shit buddy, you just wait. The show just started
and JW is about to get annihilated. I wouldn't want to be in that office
for all the whiskey in Ireland right now."

JW jumped as he heard the door slam closed and the glass break, at least it
was safety glass and it's not on the floor right now. Shane walks up beside
JW, throws open the fire cabinet but he is talking quietly, "Don't worry
you did a great job today. This is all for show and it seems odd but I have
a plan for all this bullshit I am about to do. Just go with the flow and
know it's all a show and that nothing I am about to do is serious." Shane
glanced at JW and asked, "You understand that?"

JW looked at Shane and nodded his head; Shane smiled like the devil and
went into action. Shane took a file from the cabinet, threw it down onto
his desk and then proceeded to scream, yell, cuss and over-exaggerate
everything he did for the next four hours. JW was getting tired from
standing in the same position for so long but Shane kept it interesting as
he slowly destroyed his office in front of him. Every now and then Shane
would look out into the bays and turn around laughing, "They are scared
shitless now. Just keep it up." Then Shane would grab something else in his
office and throw it across the room. Just when JW thought he was done there
was a knocking on the door and it was the Battalion Chief Jim, "ShaneÉ
what! What the fuckÉ! Shane I need to talk to you."

JW watched Shane closely and he was blushing, it was obvious he did not
plan on Jim coming back so soon. Shane stepped outside of his office and
quickly returned with Jim; JW watched the mustache of Jim closely and could
tell he was trying to hold back a laugh and Jim nodded his head towards him
and gave a quick wink of the eye and then Jim flew off the handle. JW stood
there wide-eyed watching Jim string together the word fuck into context he
had never thought of. Jim did exactly what Shane did for thirty minutes;
except this time it was Shane and JW both trying to not laugh and stand
there serious and act that this was the ass chewing of a life time. Before
Jim left he walked up beside JW and whispered, "I heard you did really well
today, nice job on saving two lives today! Keep up the good work." Jim
winked again and walked out of the office straightening his shirt and tie.

When Jim left Shane went back to freaking the fuck out and JW stood there
exhausted he needed to change the way he was standing. He glanced up at the
clock and could not believe he had been standing legs together, knees lock
and hands behind his back for almost six hours. Shane looked at JW and knew
that he had to be tired and walked over to the shattered glass window in
the door and looked out into the bays, cracked the door open and yelled,
"You better be able to perform surgery out there now. That mother fucker
better be clean."

Shane went back to JW and talked quietly, "Ok here in a little bit we are
going to out there and get this shit between you and Gary taken care once
and for all. It will also give you a great footing with the guys because
your going to show that you did not back down even after six hours of
getting your ass chewed out." Shane frowned when he looked down at his
watch, "Jesus we have been in here that long. I am sorry JW but you will
understand what I am doing in a second. Now I don't give a shit what the
real story is, I just need the bullshit line on what is going on and we
will go get this shit sorted out for once and for all."

* * *

Marcus looked at Mindy who just sat there blankly and finally she said,
"Well it figures because you're down right gorgeous and it would figure
that you're gay." Marcus shrugged and smiled as Leah and Kira walked up
together. The girls were ready to go and let Marcus know they were thirsty,
tired and hungry. Leah and Kira grabbed Marcus hands and started to pull
him down the sidewalk and back to Marcus's car. Marcus said good-bye to
Mindy and gave a quick wink and smile before he turned back to the girls
and asked them where they wanted to go eat?

As Marcus backed his car out of the parking lot Leah called out, "Hold on
that's my friend Jessica." Marcus hit the breaks and Leah went flying out
of the car to his objections. He told Kira to stay put and jumped out of
the car and chased Leah across the parking lot. Just before he caught up to
her, Leah was standing with another little girl her age and they were
talking.

Marcus walked up behind Leah, "Damn it don't do that you scared the crap
out of me."

Another parent walked up, "Oh its Leah, I couldn't figure out what all that
was about."

Marcus walked up and shook hands and introduced himself to the woman and
she told Marcus her name was Jennifer. Marcus said that he was going to go
get his car and walked off to his vehicle. Marcus drove up beside the car
where Leah was standing and put the car in park.

Leah walked up and opened the door, "Marcus I have a question?" Marcus was
reaching for his bottle of water when Leah asked, "Can Jessica come over to
the house and spend the night?" At first the impact of the question did not
hit Marcus and he took the bottle to his lips and thought it over and then
realized the predicament that he was in.

Marcus hesitated, "Ummm! Well! Leah I don't know!"

Leah begged, "Pleaseeee?" Marcus looked back to Kira who just shrugged and
then gave a thumbs up.

Marcus climbed out of his car and walked around to where Leah was at and
waved her over and turned to Jennifer, "Give me just one second ok?"

Jennifer nodded her head, "Take your time."

Marcus squatted down, "Leah that's a decision that your dad has to make. I
love you so much but that is something you and your dad has to talk about,
it's not my place. I know you understand that?"

Leah nodded her head and ran back to her friend and said, "I can't do it
tonight but maybe tomorrow when my dad is back from work."

Jessica cheered and Jennifer looked up to Marcus, "You're not her father?"

Marcus shook his head, "No, he is working right now in the Metroplex. Did
you know he was a fire fighter?"

Marcus tried desperately to change the subject and Jennifer did not take
the bate, "Firefighter? No I didn't know that. So you have you have the
kids becauseÉ?"

Marcus rolled his eyes, stood up tall and looked down at Jennifer and
didn't say a word. Jennifer fidgeted under Marcus gaze and then lifted her
eyebrows, "Oh!"

Marcus sighed, "Look there is no reason to punish Leah, I don't know you
and I would never let Leah just go over to your house without knowing you a
little better and at least seeing where you live. So I offer this, bring
your daughter over for a few hours or a few minutes even. Meet JW who is
Leah's father and then you can see our house. So what do you think?"

Jennifer looked at Marcus hesitantly and it looked like she wanted to run
away but Marcus held his ground. Marcus reached into his pocket, pulled out
a business card of his and handed it to Jennifer, "There is my card. Call
me any time you like. But just to make this a little easier, how about we
meet up tomorrow some time?"

Marcus stuck a knife in Jennifer's back when he looked down to Leah and
Jessica, "Jessica you should talk your mom into coming over tomorrow so you
guys can play together." Marcus looked up to Jennifer with a smile and she
looked pissed off. Marcus walked up to shake her hand, "I know we are scary
if you don't know anyone who is!" Marcus looked down at the girls, "Well
you know what I am saying. Anyways, I am begging you to come by and give
Leah a chance." Marcus looked down to Leah and Jennifer.

* * *

JW finally had a chance to move his legs and he thought he was going to
fall over as his thighs cramped up. JW looked up at the clock and shook his
head; he had been standing in Shane's office for almost seven hours. JW is
standing next to Shane again when Shane calls Gary to come forward. Shane
looks at Gary, "So I don't know what the fuck is going on but for the last
few hours JW will not change his story. Gary did you or did you not tell JW
to change the flash light batteries?"

JW glared at Gary who looked like a he had just been upper cut, it took
Gary a few seconds to mumble something and Shane yelled at Gary to speak
up. Gary swallowed hard, "I!" JW narrowed his vision towards Gary and
mouthed the words flashlight to Gary. Gary stiffened up, "I was telling JW
to check the flashlights on the trucks."

Shane barked, "I want to see the flashlights to make sure you are not
trying to bullshit me also."

Mack stepped forward, "Already changed the flashlight batteries
Captain. They are all working perfectly now."

Shane narrowed his eyes towards Mack and looked back to everyone else,
"Fine then. So it was flashlight batteries. This will be the only time I
say this again so listen up because if I ever have to explain myself again
someone's head will roll. JW is not only my Lieutenant, he is not only the
station Lieutenant, he is not only the Fire Departments Lieutenant, JW is
your Lieutenant and he already proved himself twice today. One by eating a
bullet for Gary by lying for him and two he saved two of your asses from
being smeared on the ground."

Shane looked at JW, "All that bullshit and I still know the truth." Shane
turned towards JW, winked and walked away angrily.

The second Shane walked away JW's eyes darted towards the group in front of
him. Mack walks up and slaps JW on the back, "Took it like a champ! I would
expect nothing less than that from a Lieutenant!" Mack laughed hard and
pushed JW towards the other firefighters.

Everyone was smiling and asking a lot of questions except Gary who was
standing off to the side. Someone said, "Holy fuck I have never seen
anything like that before," and, "Jesus I felt so sorry for you." JW tried
to hide his smile and Mack pushed JW up the stairs as everyone else
followed. Gary followed everyone sullenly and grabbed JW at the door and
nodded his head to follow him just outside of their bunk room.

JW closed the door behind him and Gary said while looking down at the
floor, "Sorry, but its just going to take some time. And I am only saying
that because of what you did at the car accident."

JW nodded his head, "No problem dude."

JW turned and pushed open the door and walked in to sit down when Mack
looked at him and said, "By the way Lieutenant can you get me a water
bottle?"

JW looked at him and frowned and then started to laugh, "God damn it! Yes
and before anyone else asks I will get everyone something." Walking back
down the stairs to the fridge that is filled with everyone's water bottles
JW pulled out his phone and started to text Marcus "Wild ass day. More to
talk about later"

* * *

Marcus pulled into the garage, turned off his Infinti and the girls jumped
out. Before Leah could run inside Marcus called out, "Leah get everything
unpacked and your swimsuits in the washing machine and then meet me in the
kitchen. Don't worry you are not in trouble." Leah nodded her head and ran
inside after Kira.

Marcus grabbed Luke out of his car seat and grabbed their bags out of the
back. Marcus walked inside, tossed their swimsuits into the washing machine
and put Luke on the floor. Luke immediately went wandering around the house
calling, "Dad!Dad!"

Marcus smiled and walked into the kitchen to get all the kids water to
drink and poured himself a large glass of water. Marcus's phone started to
ring in his pocket and he pulled it out and looked at the number he did not
recognize. Marcus answered the phone and quickly had already forgotten who
Jennifer was. After an embarrassing moment Marcus remembered that he had
given her his card only a few minutes ago. Marcus laughed, "I am so sorry
about that. I am extremely embarrassed right now but enough of me, what can
I do for you?"

Jennifer said that she thought about Marcus's offer and agreed with him and
that if possible she would like to stop by around 10:00am? Marcus agreed
and said that time would be perfect, knowing full well that it was going to
be hell for JW. Marcus hung up the phone and Leah was standing there
watching him, Marcus asked if she was finished and Leah nodded her head.

Marcus asked Leah to sit down in the kitchen chair and Marcus started to
ask Leah some pretty hard questions when he realized two things; Kira
needed to be with them while having this conversation and JW really needs
to be here while they have this conversation. But Marcus rolled the dice
and decided to make his first real parenting decision and called Kira into
the kitchen as well. Marcus hesitated when his phone started to go off
again and he saw the text message from JW.

Marcus smiled and looked at the girls, "Ok so I am going to have a real
serious conversation with you two and I want you guys to ask as many
questions as you want."

The girls nodded their head and Marcus continued, "So you two both
understand that we are gay,but there is something really hard you need to
understand. There are a lot of people that absolutely hate people like your
dad and me. Those same people will judge you simple because you live with
your dad and because I live with you guys. What I am trying to tell you is
that you have to be very careful just telling people about us. I want you
to know that people are going to say things and they might be really mean
to you just because your dad is gay. But anytime you are in the position
like today in the park, just tell your friends and your friend's parents
that you have to ask your dad?" Marcus looked at hopefully Leah who looked
confused and Kira who was completely lost. Marcus sighed, hung his head and
started over.