Bombs & Bullets | Cricky [C]

94 | Scream

| Chris' POV |

It's still a little weird to have a "normal" person sleep schedule. I'm slowly getting used to it but it makes me feel old. Well, I am getting old. I swear I found a grey hair the other day. Ricky tells me I'm just paranoid. I've always had a habit of overreacting when it comes to health related things. That's mostly because I have a husband that's HIV positive and if he's not careful, it could easily become AIDS. So, yeah, even the little things scare me.

I was laying awake, staring at the ceiling. Ricky had fallen asleep with his head on my chest and one of his legs wrapped around mine. He was so much smaller than me and no matter how long we've been together, I cherish that. It's been a few weeks since we started fostering Sylvia and Corbie. They, so far, have behaved. I'm a little scared about when the day comes that I do have to punish one of them. Being the dominant of the relationship, I know I'm the one that has to be the enforcer. I just don't know if I have it in me.

Glancing over at the clock, I saw it was just past midnight. I gently kissed Ricky's forehead and tried to pry him off of me so I could go to the bathroom. He whined and pulled himself closer to me. I sighed and ran my hand over his hair. He wrapped his arms around my neck and wouldn't let go. He's tiny, but he has the grip of a cobra. I accepted my fate that I was not going to be getting up.

That was, until I heard a scream from down the hall. It was female, meaning it had to have been Sylvia. Ricky woke up almost instantly and sat straight up.

"Stay here." I told him as I got up.

"Chris-"

"Stay here." I repeated myself in an overprotective manor.

As I walked out of our bedroom, I grabbed the baseball bat that was leaned against the TV stand. A million thoughts were rushing through my head, but the more prominent one was to protect my family. None of the windows in the living room were open. Both the back door and front door were closed and locked. I reached Sylvia's bedroom and pushed the door open, preparing to have to bash someone's head in. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

The light was already on when I rushed in. Sylvia was yelling at her brother in a hushed tone. The window was open and she was dressed with makeup on. When, she should be in bed. I don't know what Corbie was doing up here either because he should be in bed too. Someone better do some fucking explaining here.

"Babe," I called down the hall, "Everything's fine." I leaned against the doorway and muttered, "Well, I don't know about that."

Ricky walked up and examined the scene in front of us. "What happened?" He asked.

"This creep was in my room going through my clothes!" Sylvia replied as she pointed at her brother.

"You normally aren't home this early!" He mumbled to her.

"Corbie, please go back to bed. We'll talk about this in the morning." I told him and he moped out of the room. I sighed as I looked at his sister, "How long have you been sneaking out?"

"I wasn't-!"

"Sylvia, look at me." I gestured down myself, "I've been an undead shit starter since middle school. I wrote the book on trouble making. I'm not the person to try to lie to about it, okay? Just tell me the truth."

She gazed away from me as she crossed her arms, "Since about a week after we got here."

"How often?" Ricky asked.

"Almost every night." She muttered.

He sighed in disappointment and looked at me. Yeah, I knew that look. He wanted me to deal with the punishment.

"Phone. Now." I demanded.

She stomped her foot, "No way!"

"Yes, way. That's what happens when you sneak out in this household." I held out my hand and she reluctantly gave me her phone. "I'll decide when you get this back. Tomorrow I'm doing something I should've done a long time ago anyways. I'm going to call someone to come out and put an alarm system on all the windows and doors. Get some sleep. I'm sure you need it after being out all night."

I closed the door on her. I'm sure she hates me right now, but I guess that's the hard part about parenting. You're going to be the bad guy a lot. Ricky and I walked back to our bedroom. I put her phone in the medicine cabinet, which was locked. Then I went back to the bed, where my baby was waiting for me.

"Thank you for stepping up. I could've never dealt with it that well." He said.

"If history has gone to prove anything, it's that I have no problem being the bad guy." I replied as I slipped under the sheets.

As I laid down, Ricky put his hand and head on my chest. He snuggled up to me and giggled sleepily, "That gives me flashbacks to the Angel Eyes video."

"Okay, I promise I won't be that vicious." I chuckled, "At least, not to my family. I will be as vicious as I have to be to anyone that hurts my family though. I will not let anyone touch a hair on your head."

"That's why I love you." He responded, following it up with a yawn.

"I love you, too. Go back to sleep." I gently kissed the top of his head.