Brothers In Arms

Chapter 13

"Did you get the boy some towels?" Kinsey asked as she was putting the last touches on some kind of bean dish.

"Yes dear." Quinn replied with a bland smile. He passed one of the younger boys a platter with meat on it and it went out the door to the next room. I was cowering in the doorway watching, not sure if I should help out or not.

"What about an extra blanket?" She was grabbing spoons out. Someone had already grabbed the dish of beans to take into the next room when she reached for it with the spoon so she flailed for a second.

"Yes ma'am. It looks very comfortable, thank you." I offered with a smile. She smiled back at me and offered me all the spoons, so I took them and followed the others into the dining room.

"I'm glad you like it sweetheart. Remember you can call me Mom." She patted my back as I took a seat next to Vincent.

"Thank you, er Mom." I replied shyly. Ian snorted and gave a mock glare at his mum.

"How come you don't call me sweetheart?" He complained. Alan rolled his eyes next to him and Sydney snorted as he sat down next to me on the other side.

"Because you aren't one, Invariably." She quipped back. I tilted my head, giving a side glance to Vincent who was chuckling at Ian's offended face.

"Well I never." He replied with a weird posh tone.

"Yeah, exactly." Riley piped up next to him. He got a cheap shot in the side and their father had to tell them to stop horsing around.

"So tell me Alex, how are you liking the school so far?" His mum changed the topic after a quickly said 'grace,' and I looked over at the same time as Sydney passed me some roasted potatoes.

"Actually I like it a lot. It is much nicer than my last school. I've made some new friends there as well." I admitted with a smile.

"That's lovely sweetheart. Seldom, put half those beans back. You know you aren't going to eat them all." She took the potatoes that Vincent had passed her and I glanced over to my right to see Sydney sheepishly putting some back in the dish.

"Sorry mum." He muttered as he passed the dish back to the empty spot on the table.

"So, are you boys using protection then?" She turned to Vincent with a bland smile. I choked on the sip of water I had been right in the middle of taking and felt my face flush to my ears as I dabbed the water off my face with a napkin.

"Mum. We haven't been dating that long." Vincent mumbled with his ears a bit red also. The other boys were all either laughing at our expense or staring to see what our answers were going to be.

"That's no excuse. You should still be careful dear." She replied back with a shake of her head.

"Can you even get condoms in the dorms?" Riley grilled him with a grin.

"No, he means we haven't done that sort of thing yet... er Mom." I managed to say to his mum after clearing my throat. I gave him a side glance and his look was rather thankful.

"Well, what are you waiting for? He is cute. You have to seduce him quick or someone else is going to come along." His eldest brother said to him with a wink in my direction. I thought I was already pretty red, but my face grew hot again with another stronger blush. I ducked my head and tried to focus on eating.

"Shut up. I like him. We will go at our own pace." Vincent tossed back across the table, along with a chunk of breadstick. The other boys all made kissing noises and chuckled at the two of them.

"Ignore them. I can tell you lots of embarrassing stories about them so you don't feel so put on the spot." Their father piped up from the end of the table with a big grin in my direction. The boys all complained and turned quiet at his glare after the pronouncement.

"How is your new position, Always?" Their mother asked after the commotion was all done.

"It is pretty good. I will be on call over the holidays though. The other Sergeant has kids so I volunteered to be first on call." Alan replied with an apologetic look at his mum.

"That's good of you dear. I am very proud of you." She patted his hand and then turned to the next person at the table. "What about you, Rarely? How is your job going?"

"I hate it. My foreman is a bully. My last job was hot. I want to be a surfer instead." He replied to her with a frown.

"You'll get over it. He was probably a bully because you are a hot head dear. What about you Seldom?" She ignored the looks that her son was shooting her and stared down the next one at the table.

"Ah, it's fine I guess. Just lots of numbers you know." He mumbled under her stare.

"That's good dear." She ignored them and ate for a while, with a silence descending as everyone just chewed and swallowed.

"May I be excused Mom?" Riley was the first to finish and looked at her expectantly.

"No. Wait for everyone else to finish. It's rude." Their father butted in before their mum could answer. Riley sighed and sat back in his seat.

"Why don't you tell us about your new girlfriend dear?" Their mum mentioned slyly. Riley looked frightened for a split second and then pretended to be nonchalant.

"Oh you mean Paige? I mean, I guess we're sort of dating now. She is a pretty cool girl." He said casually.

"Honey, you don't have to hide her from me. You went on for like an hour just yesterday about how pretty her eyes were." Kinsey was just digging him a hole to bury himself in. I snickered a little when the other boys started making kissy noises at him now.

"Dad. Come on." He turned looking for support and their father just looked at him.

"You reap what you sow, son."

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