Page 53 of Hammer

“Will do.Who else you calling in?”

“Prophet, Sticks, Warden.”

“Solid choices.I’ll coordinate with Prophet on surveillance points.”

After hanging up, I called Sticks and Warden, then Prophet.

“Already talked to Viking,” Prophet said after I laid out the plan.“I’ll ask Wire to tap into the fair’s security cameras.Got a guy who owes me working their system.”

“Need eye-level surveillance too,” I told him.“Blind spots.”

“On it.Going as a family man these days, huh?”The observation held no judgment, just mild curiosity.

I grunted noncommittally and ended the call.Then I looked at my phone, scrolling to a photo Aura had sent me last week -- her arm thrown around Amelia’s shoulders, Chase looking uncomfortable but not angry for once, Levi with a small smile.My family.Not by blood or choice, but by fate and necessity.And now, increasingly, by my own desire.I’d already had kids.One by blood, one adopted.So, why was it only now I was starting to truly feel like a father?

I stared at their faces, my weathered thumb hovering over the screen.What Dice had said echoed in my head: “Don’t waste this chance at happiness just because you’re scared, old man.”Maybe he was right.Maybe I’d been holding back because I was afraid of how much I was beginning to care.

I tucked the phone away and grabbed my keys.Time to go home.Not to my house, but to them.

* * *

I pulled into the driveway, killing the engine of my Harley but sitting there for a moment, gathering myself.Light spilled from the kitchen windows, casting golden rectangles onto the gravel.Through the glass, I could see movement -- Amelia at the stove, Aura laughing as she stacked plates on the counter, the boys bent over books spread across the kitchen table.The scene hit me like a sucker punch to the gut.My house hadn’t looked like this -- hadn’t felt like this -- ever before.It was the kind of normal I’d convinced myself I didn’t want, didn’t need.The kind of normal that now scared me more than any prospect of violence ever could.

I forced myself off the bike, my knees protesting after a long day at the garage in town.The scent of garlic and tomatoes greeted me before I even opened the door -- Amelia’s spaghetti.She’d figured out it was my favorite after just one time of making it.Made it every Wednesday now, like clockwork.

Inside, the house was warm and alive in a way my solitary existence had never achieved.When I’d adopted Aura, things had changed, but this was on another level.It wasn’t just the two of us anymore.We’d added three people to our family.Aura’s jacket thrown over a chair, Levi’s laptop humming on the side table, Chase’s boots lined up neatly by the door.Little signs of lives intersecting with mine.The radio played something soft in the background, barely audible beneath the sounds of cooking and conversation.

Amelia noticed me first, looking up from the stove with a smile that hit me square in the chest.“You’re home,” she said, like my arrival was something worth noting.Something that mattered.

I grunted, shrugging out of my cut and hanging it by the door.The patch -- my identity for four decades -- seemed different somehow.No longer just a symbol of the brotherhood, but of what these people expected from me.Protection.Stability.Things I wasn’t sure I knew how to provide beyond physical safety.

“Dinner’s almost ready,” Amelia continued.“Aura helped with the garlic bread.”

“Helped is generous.”Aura laughed.“I watched while giving unhelpful commentary.”

The boys glanced up from their homework.Chase’s nod was brief but not hostile -- progress, considering where we’d started.Levi actually smiled slightly, pushing his glasses up his nose with one finger.

I cleared my throat, suddenly aware they were all looking at me, waiting for something.Words.Conversation.Normal family shit that I’d never been good at.

“About Saturday,” I said, my voice rougher than I’d intended.“Thought we could go to that county fair that’s in town.”

The reaction was immediate -- Aura squealed like I’d offered her a new Harley, practically bouncing across the kitchen to throw her arms around me.“Seriously?The one with the Ferris wheel?”she asked, looking up at me with the same excited expression she’d had when I’d taught her to ride.

I placed an arm awkwardly around her shoulders.“That’s the one.”

“Dad, that’s awesome!”She turned to Amelia.“They have the best funnel cakes.And last year they had this guy who carved wooden sculptures with a chainsaw.”

Amelia’s smile widened.“It sounds wonderful.”She glanced at her sons.“What do you boys think?”

Chase and Levi exchanged one of those looks that communicated volumes between them.Chase, always the spokesman, straightened his shoulders.“Sounds cool,” he said, trying to sound casual though I caught the hint of excitement he couldn’t quite suppress.“Will there be rides other than the Ferris wheel?”

“Yes, and games,” I confirmed.“Shooting gallery, ring toss.All that carnival crap.”

“I’m terrible at those games,” Levi admitted quietly.

“Me too,” said Aura, nudging him with her elbow.“But it’s still fun to try.”

I caught Amelia watching me, something soft in her expression that made me uncomfortable yet pleased.Like I’d done something impressive instead of just suggesting a day at the fair.Like this small gesture actually mattered.

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