Page 22 of Seized By Solo

So far, I have seen that they are good kids; still a little guarded, but what can you expect when they have seen what they have. No kid should see their father hitting on their mum, but if there’s anything I have learned in my lifetime, it’s that not everyone can escape. They get cut off and made to feel like they have nothing.

People think it’s easy to leave, but they know fuck all about what other people go through.

Pulling open the fridge, and then the freezer, I look through the mass of foods to see what they might want. Realising I know fuck all about what kids like to eat, I look to them.

“What do you want to eat? Anything you really like?”

“I like jacket potato with cheese and beans.” Ricky shrugs.

“I like noodles,” Ruthie informs me.

I watch them for a second before nodding.

“Okay, let me see what I can do.”

I rummage through the cupboard for the packets of noodles that I’m sure I saw before, because Kink loves that shit too. Once I’ve found some, I hold them up to the little girl and she nods with a smile. I grab a tin of beans while I’m there.

Once I’ve added them to a pot of water on the stove, I check out the freezer for some jacket potatoes, because yes, we are lazy arseholes who like convenient foods. I toss the frozen potatoes onto a plate and into the microwave.

The food is cooking, so I get them a drink each, knowing they like these small cartons that Nadine buys.

“Mum makes good jacket potatoes. She cooks them in the oven, but they take ages to cook.”

“Mums always cook food better.”

“Is Nadine your mum? You don’t call her mum,” Ruthie asks.

I stir her noodles, then lean against the counter to answer her question.

“Nadine isn’t my real mum. My real mother passed away years ago. Nadine is like a second mum to me, Dutch and Kink. We love her just the same as you do your mum,” I explain.

“I’m sorry you lost your mum, Solo. It would hurt to lose Mummy.” Ruthie tears up, making my hardened heart hurt.

Shuffling towards her, I see that Ricky is holding her hand under the table. I love seeing that he is protective of his sister.

“Nothing will happen to your mum or you two, okay? I will never let anything happen, and neither will the club.” I make a point to look them both in the eyes when I say this.

They need to know that I will die to protect them.

They look at each other and then back to me, nodding.

“Okay, Solo, we trust you,” Ricky states firmly.

I push to my feet and check on their food, making sure that I’m not burning shit, because I tend to do that shit. They chatter to each other about school and friends they will miss. It causes a knot in my gut to know that I am taking them from their friends.

“Solo?”

“You can call me Kane. That is my birth name,” I tell them.

“Okay, Kane. Are you our mum’s boyfriend?” Ruthie grins at me, so does Ricky.

“Do I look like a boy to you?” I joke and they giggle. “I get what you are asking, and yes, I am your mum’s boyfriend, if that is what you want to call me, but to me and the club, I am her man. Soon to be ol’ man. And she will be my ol’ lady,” I explain.

“Like Adele and Kink,” Ricky points out.

“Exactly, little man.”

“Do I look like a little man to you?” Ricky jokes.

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