Page 80 of Bleeding Hearts

Not everyone is built to be the spouse of a first responder. It takes a strong person to send their loved one out in the middle of a dangerous situation and act like it’s normal.

Bethany is a strong person, hands down. But she’s also avoided relationships most of her life. Relied on herself and a handful of close friends. The moment the reality of life with a firefighter sank in—the ever-present danger, the irregular shifts, the emotional strain—I was sure she’d break things off.

Instead, it’s strengthened the bond between us. Our two families have melded together so completely that we now feel like a single, happy family of six, a unity we cherish.

Which explains why I’m under the hood of this piece of junk Davis bought the twins to fix up with him and drive. Excepthe can’t seem to find the time to help them fix it up, or pay for the parts it needs, or teach them to drive like he promised he would months ago. I’ve now taken on that responsibility, and it’s taught me so much about the boys.

Good kids. A little ornery, but aren’t we all?

“Go crank the key,” I tell Felix.

He skips around the open door and turns it. Nothing.

I’m about to have this piece of shit towed and junked. We’ve spent the last two months replacing parts, tweaking the wires. Cleaning the connections. And the motherfucker still won’t turn over.

Felix comes back to where I’m scowling at the engine and sighs. “Mind if I try something?”

It’s not like I’ve not let him work on it. I have. I figure he and Finn can’t fuck it up any worse than it already is it. “Go for it. What do we have to lose at this point?”

He scratches the top of his head, stares at the engine block, then snaps his fingers. I watch as he leans over, moves a few wires around, tightens something, steps back and looks at it again, then is back at it. He does that about five times before he rubs the back of his hand over his forehead and says, “Go crank the key.”

I grunt to hold back my chuckle—because he’s clearly the man—and do as I’m told. Falling into the old, cracked leather seat, I pump the gas a few times, then crank the key and it sputters. It doesn’t turn over fully, but fucking sputters.

“Hold on!” he yells over the hood. “Let me try one more thing.”

He tinkers with something, then cautiously peeks at me from around the hood. “Try it now.”

“Try it now,” I mock because I know he’s watching, and thinks he’s big shit.

And fuck me if this time it doesn’t turn over and roar to life. It’s loud as all hell. I’m not sure the car can be trusted to run or is even safe, but there’s no way I’m not taking this piece of shit for a run around the block. No fucking way.

I jump out. “Put the tools in the box and let’s see if she can make it around the block once.”

We clean up enough, so when Bethany comes home in a few, she won’t bitch about the mess.

“Can I drive?” Felix looks hopeful.

“Let’s make sure it makes it around once. Then if it does, sure.” I hop into the driver’s seat and say a prayer as I throw it in reverse and press the gas.

Three laps later, we come around to find the girls and Finn standing on the lawn waiting for us.

Finn is around the front, standing by the driver’s door, when Felix stops. “Get out, my turn.”

Putting it in park, he opens the door. “She’s a little rough, but I think after we drive her, she’ll smooth out. If not, I’m gonna see if my buddy Kendrick can look at her. He’s a mechanical engineer and I’m not so sure I’d have her running if he hadn’t shown me a few things with the car he’s fixing up for his senior project.”

I’ve heard all about this a hundred times now. Seems Felix has been spending time with the engineering team during his hours at the university. Exploring his options and soaking in as much information as he can, so that when it comes time to pick his major, he makes the right choice.

The girls hop in the back, and we do at least six more laps before Bethany waves us down, telling us it’s time to put the car up for the night and clean up for dinner.

As we cleanup the dishes and the kids finish their homework, Bethany asks, “Do you think it’s safe to be driving that monster on the streets?”

“I’m not sure. I have my doubts that it’ll ever pass inspection.” After drying the pan, she passes me, I return it to the cabinet by the stove. “But that’s a battle for another day. At least it’s running. Which means I can drive it to a mechanic and let them tell me if it’s worth our time and money. If it’s too much, maybe you can talk to the engineering department and see if they’d like to use it as a project.”

“That’s not a bad idea.” Bethany hands me another pan.

“It was Felix’s idea.” I’m not taking credit for something he came up with.

Kellie walks in carrying her backpack. “Can I go home? I wanna shower before I read.”

---