And So It Begins…

Part XVII

An R.L. Mathewson Chronicle

“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.

“We weren’t anywhere,” Trevor said, taking a bite of chicken.

“Do you really think that was a good idea?” Uncle Jared asked, gesturing lazily over his shoulder towards Mikey and Sebastian, who were currently being shown to the door by management.

“I think it was a great idea,” Trevor said, grabbing a slice of cornbread as he shifted his attention back to his food.

“Reese isn’t going to be happy to find out that you got his little girl banned,” Uncle Trevor pointed out, helping himself to a piece of chicken.

“It’s for her own good,” Trevor pointed out since they all knew that they were going to have to get her out of here before things went south anyway. This way, they had one less thing to worry about, Trevor thought as he pulled his phone out and sent a text to Reese to let him know that Mikey was ready to go home.

“True,” Uncle Jared murmured in agreement, “but Sebastian isn’t going to see it that way.”

“He knew better,” Trevor said only to add, “At least, he knows better now.”

“It was a good idea to bring Mikey along,” Uncle Trevor said, shifting his attention to the plate of baked goods that Trevor hadn’t had a chance to devour yet.

“Yes, it was,” Trevor murmured in agreement as he shifted his attention to Mikey to find her standing in the foyer with the saddest little pout that he ever saw as her shoulders dropped in defeat.

He’d have to remember to bring her along the next time he found a buffet, Trevor thought, shifting his attention back to his food. She definitely made it easier to load up on food without drawing unwanted attention from the staff. For a moment, he wondered if his baby girl Jessica could pull it off, but then he remembered the incident last year when her twin brother decided to help himself to her fries and decided against it. No, this plan definitely worked better with someone without a drop of Bradford blood, Trevor decided as he was forced to pull his plate of chicken out of his uncle’s reach.

“You should have got Sebastian banned too,” his uncle pointed out, helping himself to Trevor’s drink.

Shaking his head, Trevor admitted, “I thought about it, but it was easier this way.”

“Remember the time when you came between Sebastian and his teddy bear?” Uncle Jared asked as he helped himself to a cupcake.

“He was three and the teddy bear fell in the toilet,” Trevor pointed out.

“True,” Uncle Jared murmured, nodding in agreement, “but he didn’t care and if memory serves me correctly, it didn’t end well.”

No, it didn’t.

Sometimes late at night, Trevor found himself thinking about that day and-

He wasn’t ready to think about what happened, Trevor reminded himself as he took a deep breath like the doctor at the emergency room showed him. One day, he’d be able to think about what happened when Sebastian found out that he threw his teddy bear away without panicking, but today wasn’t that day. Slowly exhaling, he shifted his attention back to his chicken.

“He’ll get over it,” Trevor pointed out, reaching for his drink only to realize that it was empty.

“You involved Mikey,” Uncle Jared pointed out. “He’s not going to forget.”

Trevor opened his mouth only to frown when the manager that he’d been forced to involve in this came to a stop in front of their table. “I’m afraid that you’re going to have to leave,” she announced, making them both bite back a curse only to make them frown in confusion when she added, “Your daughter has been asked to leave,” as she looked directly at Uncle Jared.

“My daughter?” Uncle Jared asked, frowning in confusion as she followed the manager’s glare to find her looking at Mikey, who was waving at them with a huge smile on her face.

“She was bullying other customers,” the manager said with a sympathetic smile for Trevor as he sat there, realizing what just happened right around the time that Uncle Jared’s eyes narrowed on him.

Oh, hell no…

“You got me banned?” Uncle Jared demanded through clenched teeth as Trevor sat there, knowing that things were about to get a lot worse.