Page 38 of Higher Notes

“My band schedule will work around both your appointments. This is far more important to me and to us.”

Fuck, I loved that man just as much as I loved Snipe.

Our lives had finally come full circle and now Snipe and I had everything we wanted and more.

There wasn’t much here food wise, having cleared the fridge out before we left for Seattle, and it was time to feed my hungry guys.

“All right, we’ve got a busy night ahead of us. I’ll order lunch then we can get to it.” More like an early dinner but it worked just the same.

Snipe and Jason got to work pulling things from the closets and cupboards while I ran to the hardware store and picked up a bundle of boxes and a couple rolls of tape. It was nice to know we didn’t have to deal with any of the big shit. When I got back, the three of us ate then dove into boxing everything up and marked the ones for donation that went with the furniture such as our towels and bedsheets. No reason to bring those. Besides, they were threadbare.

“In the morning we’ll load up what we’re taking with us. Between the three of us it shouldn’t take much time.”

“I’ll clean while you guys load if that works?” Jason offered. “Tag team this shit.”

“Perfect. Then we can turn in the keys after they take the furniture.” I pulled our old duffle bags out of the balcony storage room to stuff our clothes into. This place never really felt like home, not that any place ever had. I held hope that the new life we were embarking upon would change all of that. Those kids had really won me over as had Jason. And poor Dana more than deserved a break. Never knew I was a natural caretaker before the military. Joining was all about getting out of a shitty situation.

First tour in Afghanistan taught me better. Just managed to exchange one shitty situation for another.

I learned so much about myself over those years.

I took it upon myself to watch out for my squad mates and became the mother hen. When the first one died, hit by rogue fire, it gutted me. After that, I was a changed man and taught them everything I could and protected them with my life. That was how I met Snipe. The attraction was instant but damnit if that man didn’t have a deadly aim. We were the perfect pair, and the squad leaders kept us together because of that.

“Anyone want a beer? Might as well finish them off.” They both raised their hands and fell back onto the couch. I grabbedthree bottles then tapped mine to theirs as I handed them off. “To new beginnings.”

“To new beginnings!” Jason and Snipe repeated as I joined them on the couch. Jason had his head on Snipe’s shoulder and dropped his legs onto my lap. “I want a nice huge sectional in the new place that we can all sit on and have movie nights.”

“I love that idea.” Jason snuggled up. “Instant family, just add a new boyfriend.”

I nearly shot beer out of my nose. “Funny guy, but yeah, something like that.” And what a wonderful feeling it was. Not the beer part, that is.

“I’m worried about Gabe, though. He’s really disconnected. I hate that we’re leaving right after we get moved in and we’re gone for a long six-month tour. I’m afraid he’s really gonna rebel and put Mom through hell.”

I could see that happening. “I sense a lot of anger in him.”

“Yes, anger he has much of,” freaking Snipe said in a horrific Yoda voice.

“Smart ass.”

“Yes, but he’s our smart ass,” Jason sang. I swore, I could listen to him sing the damn phone book for hours on end. Wait, were phone books still around? His voice drew me in and if I wasn’t careful I lost track of what went on around me. Not good when on the clock for sure. Fizzbo would have my ass if anything happened to our principals. As would I. Failure wasn’t an option in this dojo.

As I glanced around, curled up on the couch with my men, I realized we’d never hung a single anything on the walls. We’d been here for a few years and hadn’t made it ours. Huh, that was telling. It was crazy how one day our eyes suddenly opened and we were like, what the hell, how had this been our life?

Guess it was more of an existence than a life.

Before long, the three of us were relaxed and yawning. I’d just fired off the planned stops along the way to Fizzbo. He’d book the hotels, and we’d keep him up to date throughout the trip. It was important he knew not only where Jason was but his guards as well.

“Let’s get some shut eye. Tomorrow’s gonna be a long day. Jordan messaged he was able to get the truck to come early. Would be great to be on the road before noon.”

Three quick showers later, we were in bed and Jason and Snipe were out in a matter of moments. My mind ran through an endless laundry list of shit I had to do. My biggest fear was that Snipe’s night terrors would hit, and I’d have to get Jason out of the line of fire.

I rolled over to cuddle Jason who turned at the same time to hold Snipe. With Jason between us and my hand on Snipe’s waist, I hoped the connection would be enough to soothe him.

I thought wrong.

First came the twitches and indecipherable murmurs.

At times, it would stop there. Sadly, tonight wasn’t one of those nights.

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