R.L. Mathewson Chronicles

And So It Begins…. Part 17

“Where were we?” Uncle Jared asked as he dropped down across the table and helped himself to one of his fries while Trevor sat there, savoring the moment as he watched his son narrow his eyes dangerously on him.

He shouldn’t have overplayed his hand, Trevor mused with a heartfelt sigh as he finished off his burger and focused his attention on the plate piled high with fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and cornbread. He’d learn, Trevor thought as he watched Sebastian take everything in, the way that his eyes narrowed as his jaw clenched as that insanely large brain of his worked double-time trying to figure out a way to fix this.

 

And So It Begins…Part 16

She really was too adorable for words, Sebastian thought while he stood there, watching as Mikey tried to glare him down. They both knew that she was going back in there, the question was, what was it going to cost him?

“I’ll do your homework for the rest of the year,” Sebastian said, deciding to test the waters.

“There’s only a month left in school. Besides, I don’t need you to do my homework,” Mikey said as she turned around and-

“I’ll play catch with you so that you can test out your new pitch,” Sebastian said, reaching over and plucked the baseball cap off her head before she could leave.

And So It Begins… Part 15

She wasn’t going back in there, Mikey told herself with a firm nod as she stood there, arms crossed over her chest as she continued to glare at the front door, determined to wait him out.

That was quickly followed by jumping out of the way when Cole shoved the door open a few seconds later so that he could drag Chloe out of the restaurant as he struggled to keep Katie from diving off his shoulder and making a run for it. For a moment, Mikey considered asking him what was going on, but…

It didn’t matter because she was not going back in there no matter how curious she was to finally find out what Bradfords did to get banned. Okay, so that wasn’t entirely true. She was curious, very curious, but she also wanted to live and since her parents had made it painfully obvious that they would wring her neck if she ever willingly came between a Bradford and food, she was staying right where she was.

And So It Begins… XIII

“I wanna see!” Katie, his next-door neighbor and his personal tormentor, said as she moved to get a closer look only to sigh heavily when Cole picked her up and handed her off to her older sister, who didn’t seem to appreciate what he was trying to do here.

“So, let me get this straight,” Chloe said, pausing to throw her little sister over her shoulder before she continued, “you charged your family to go into a restaurant that you don’t own?”

Sighing heavily, Cole couldn’t help but wonder what was so difficult to understand about this. “No, I charged them a finder’s fee,” he said as he continued counting the money in his hand.

And So It Begins…

This couldn’t be happening.

Not now, not when they were so close to getting through this without anyone getting thrown out and getting them all banned, Trevor thought, trying not to panic but it…

Oh, god, where the hell was he?

Swallowing hard, Trevor glanced back beneath the table to make sure that Dustin hadn’t doubled-back before he glanced up and-

Realized that he’d come between his uncle and food.

And So It Begins… Part XI

“How did you see this playing out?” Trevor asked as he glanced from his son, who hadn’t stopped glaring at him since Mikey made a run for it, to take in the rest of the large restaurant, making sure that the rest of the men in his family were behaving.

He had to admit that this was going a lot better than he thought it would. So far, the rest of the men in his family were keeping their distance, waiting their turns to go up, and restricting themselves to two plates an hour. It had to be a record, Trevor thought absently as he glanced back to find Sebastian watching him as he said, “Just like this.”

And So It Begins X…

“I see that you managed to run Jason off,” Trevor murmured as he watched Jason pause by the door, looking torn between staying and making a run for it.

“Mikey has a new fast ball,” Sebastian said, making Trevor wince in sympathy as he glanced from Jason, who was now glaring at Sebastian, to Mikey, who was adding another scoopful of mashed potatoes on a plate with the saddest expression that he’d ever seen.

And So It Begins… Part VIII

“That’s not going to end well,” Sebastian said with a heartfelt sigh and a sad shake of his head as Jason sat there, watching as Reese noticeably struggled to figure out a way to appease his seriously pissed off wife.

“It’s really not,” Jason had to agree as he reached for Mikey’s untouched plate only to find it suddenly gone and-

“I want in,” Jonathan said as he dropped down on the end of the bench seat next to Mikey as he grabbed a fork and dug in as Mikey sat there, her shoulders slumped in defeat as she mumbled, “I’d really like to go home now.”

 

And So it Begins… Part VII

“I’d really like to go home now,” came the softly whispered words that had Reese looking up from his food to find the bench across from him empty.

Frowning, he stood up only to find Mikey curled up in the fetal position on the other bench. When he opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong, she slowly raised a damning finger and pointed to his right. Curious, Reese followed the gesture to find Sebastian sitting on the other side of the restaurant, slowly rolling what looked like one of Mikey’s baseballs between his hands as he kept his gaze locked on Mikey.

And So It Begins… Part VI An R.L. Mathewson Chronicle

“One hundred dollars,” came the quietly mumbled words that had Mikey frowning as she dropped another piece of fried chicken on her plate.

“Two hundred,” came the follow-up before she got a chance to look over her shoulder to find Uncle Jared standing behind her.

“For…” Mikey prompted since she’d learned her lesson in agreeing to anything before finding out the details to avoid situations like this one.