Page 1 of Pierre
CHAPTER ONE
Pierre Robicheaux didn’t start out with a wonderful life, living in a house with a white picket fence, a sibling, a dog, and a cat. He had no special relatives, no real friends, and in his mind, no future. Even a child knew that to be true.
In fact, he was fairly certain his life would end before he turned ten. His native country, Haiti, was in the midst of one of its many crises. It seemed there was always a crisis in Haiti.
Gangs, drugs, volcanoes, hurricanes, starvation, political overthrow. It never ended.
While Jak Robicheaux was in Haiti with his team trying to solve a mystery, he met the love of his life, Mattie. Mattie Smythe, the daughter of an English aristocrat, was teaching at a school that had a number of orphans, and Pierre was one of them. When the team asked questions about the children and a strange man who tried to hurt Mattie, Pierre had the luck of sitting beside one very large, very handsome, very brave, and very, very Robicheaux man.
“What’s your name?” asked Jak.
“Pierre,” said the little boy with a huge smile of insanely white teeth.
“Mon père, c’est Pierre,” said Frank.My father is Pierre.
The boy’s face lit up with a huge smile. His coffee-colored skin shone in the warm light, his huge dark eyes smiling at the man beside him. Suddenly, he decided to open up. He began chattering away with Frank, Remy, and Robbie in French.
“Pierre is very bright for his age,” said Francoise, one of the locals they were helping. “He is only six and already knows how to spell, read, and write. He’s also learning math and is quite good at it.”
Dom, Remy, Robbie, Garrett, and Jak stared at Frank. He and Lane were unable to have children of their own but always wanted a family. They knew what Frank was rolling around in his head. It couldn’t be coincidence that the boy’s name was Pierre.
“Frank, what are you thinking?” asked Garrett.
“I’m thinking I need to call my wife later,” he said, frowning. The boy laughed at his serious face, and Frank shook his head. “I’m so screwed.”
When things quieted down for the evening, Frank found a place where he could sit and have a very important conversation with his wife, Lane.
“Listen, I know this will seem really odd, but the kid’s name is Pierre, and he’s the cutest damn thing ever. He’s smart and sweet, and he’s alone. We said we wanted a family, baby. I just feel like this is a sign,” said Frank.
Lane stared at the screen, tears in her eyes as her sweet, big, tough husband gushed about the little boy.
“I’m not sure what you thought I’d say, but it’s obvious he was meant for us,” she grinned. “Should I come there and meet him?”
“No. Not right now. I’ll bring him back with me if Francoise agrees. If he doesn’t like it, we’ll find somewhere for him.”
“I think it’s great, brother,” smiled Eric.
“Do you think it’s weird? I mean, I know nothing about raising a black child,” said Frank.
“Brother, it’s not much different than raising a white child. Love them, feed them, nurture them. The rest we can figure out as a family. There are things you should teach him about his culture and how to manage his hair,” laughed Eric, “but we’ll help with all of that.”
“He’s just so damn cute. He latched onto me right away,” said Frank. The others all smiled, laughing at him. “Hey, don’t tell Mom and Dad yet. I want to surprise them.”
“I’ll start making his room in the spare bedroom. Find out all the things he loves. Cars, planes, bicycles, everything!” smiled Lane. “Frank? I love you.”
“I love you, too, baby.” Frank ended the call and turned to face the others. “Well, I guess I’m about to be a father.”
After that conversation with Lane, he began to make arrangements to bring the child home where he belonged. They thought it could be a difficult transition for the boy, but his exceptional intelligence made it easy for him.
His intelligence and his desire to be loved and wanted by a family who loved and wanted him as much as he wanted them.
For Lane, it was love at first sight. Fluent in English and French, Pierre fit right in with all those around him.
After being rescued and taken to Belle Fleur with other children, he spotted his beloved teacher, Mattie, telling her all of his adventures and his first-ever plane ride.
Lane looked up to see Miller and Titus walking in. Frank’s father and her father. Always the first to greet new children, to make them feel more comfortable with all the big men, they wanted to meet this special group that had arrived. They kneeled beside the boy and smiled.
“Who do we have here?” asked Miller.
