Part Twenty: Little Urchins


When Rahab got into the city late that evening, she was exhausted. All the lights were on in Mike's sprawling Beverly Hills villa, but no one came out to greet her when she got out of the car. The driver unloaded her bags for her, and she carefully extracted the sleeping infant strapped in his carrier, and wearily climbed the steps to the front door. Somebody had opened the gate by remote, and the front door was unlocked... but there was nobody around.

What is this, she thought. "Hey, I'm here, hello-o," she called upstairs.

No answer. She hauled the baby up the staircase, to the nursery. She halted at the doorway. The nursery was in chaos, the furniture was not lined up with the wall, and the crib was nearly in the center of the floor, one side out of alignment with the other, blankets piled haphazard style in its interior. Next to the crib was a comfortable looking rocker, and Mike was half lying in it, with the sprawled form of Devon snoring on his chest. When he saw Rahab, he immediately put a warning finger to his lips.

Rahab nodded, still gazing open-mouthed at the room. She set the infant carrier down and dropped her coat on the blanket rack, arranged the crib blankets, and motioned Mike to put Devon in it. He did so, and covered him with a comforter, with all the precision of disarming a warhead. He picked up Seth's carrier and motioned Rahab to follow him.

"What happened," Rahab breathed, when they were safely out of the room.

Mike shrugged. "Devon didn't want to go to bed," he said in a nonchalant tone. "Here, let's put this little guy in the guest bedroom." He turned on the light, as they went in.

"You've been watching Devon all day?" Rahab undid the restraints to detach Seth from his seat.

"Yeah," Mike drawled, giving her a long look. "And what happened to you?"

Rahab shrugged. "I was delayed by traffic. There was a bad accident on I-14, it was backed up for four hours."

"Oh."

"What's doing with Raphael?"

"Ah, I haven't heard back from him yet." Mike stretched and yawned. "Not since I talked to you. But he's busy, they are doing some stuff with him, he'll probably give me an update in the morning."

"Guess you're gonna call it a day."

Mike laughed suddenly. "A day... more like a month, in my book. That kid... Nah, I'm not turning in just yet. I think I'll have a couple of industrial-strength Margueritas first."

Rahab sighed. "Is Devon that much of a handful?"

Mike snickered, and scratched the top of his head. "Hey, I was thinking of a great idea, thought I'd contact the Department of Defense. If we shipped Devon over to ol' Saddam Hussein, he'd surrender, blubbering for mercy, in less than eight hours. Sure would save a lot in laser guided missiles, uh?"

Rahab laughed. "Come on! He's not that bad, Mike."

Mike stopped and stared at her as though she had sprouted another head. "Huh! Apparently you haven't been around him much lately.Wait till he wakes up, lady. You'll find out. "

"How's Gaele," Rahab said, hoping to change the subject.

"She's all right, though she's not used to Devon's play schedule, he plumb wore her out like an old coat, an' she's been down and heavy since dinnertime. I used to think she swallowed Mexican jumping beans every morning for breakfast, but compared to Devon, she's as mellow as a librarian." He started to laugh, but sobered when he caught Rahab's look. "No offense, Rahab. Devon's okay, he's just uh... active and ah... a born leader, come to think of it. He's gonna be some piece of work when he's grown. Raph keeps predicting that that boy's gonna come back around and whup his ass."

"Mike," Rahab playfully admonished him. "Be good, will you? No need to put ideas in anybody's head."

"Hey, Raph said that, I didn't. I was just-- well, they're asleep anyway, and I'm gonna do the same, shortly," Mike said, yawning again. "Care to join me?"

"I hope you're joking." Rahab folded her arms.

Mike rolled his eyes. "I mean!" He made a show of slapping his forehead. "I mean, in a nightcap."

"I'm nursing, Mike, no thank you."

"Nuts! There I go, batting a thousand, here..." he muttered, shaking his head. "Better quit while I still have a head."

"Don't worry about it, sounds like you've had quite a day," Rahab said, relenting.

"Hmmm. Looks like you'll get a taste of it tomorrow." Mike gave her a teasing smile. "Good night, dear heart."

"Good night, Mike."

The morning sun shone through the white curtains and filtered into her eyes, and she rolled over, not knowing where she was for a moment. She heard Seth sigh in his hammock nearby, but it sounded like he wasn't quite hungry yet. Rahab relaxed and let her eyes slide shut again.

Suddenly her door slammed open with a heart-stopping bang, and before she could sit up, a pair of little feet trotted resolutely across the floor and leapt on the bed, and a solid little backside sat down hard on her chest. She grunted as all the air was knocked out of her lungs, and instinctively she grabbed at her assailant. Her vision was filled with a pair of bright, golden eyes and a grinning, dimpled face. Firm little hands patted her cheeks.

"Wakka, mumma," a husky baby voice crowed.

"That you, Devon?" Rahab managed to say, after she could draw breath.

"Yamm!" Devon nearly popped her neck out of joint, in a strangling hug.

"Easy on Mommy, baby. Good boy," Rahab said, as she peeled him off of her, and rolled onto her knees. She cuddled him, and realized he was in dire need of a change. "Hey, Devon, let's go have a--" She remembered how he reacted to the word "bath", and caught herself in time. "Let's go get nice and dry, okay? Would you like that?"

Devon gave her a broad grin. "Kujak," he declared. He took a hold of her hand and tried to drag her off the bed. "Go," he said in a commanding tone.

"Good idea, baby." Rahab said, feeling relieved.

Things went smoothly for a while, and Rahab was beginning to feel a bit smug, as she changed Devon after a good washing.

Until Seth woke up and wanted his breakfast.

Devon stared round-eyed as Rahab got Seth out of his sling, and sat in the easy chair to nurse him.

Devon stood quietly by the chair and watched, a look of growing skepticism on his broad little face. One eyebrow went up as he pointed at Rahab's breast. "Wiggy?"

Rahab shook her head. "Devon, you're too big for that now, you'd only take away Seth's breakfast, and then what would he get to eat? You can eat cereal, and all sorts of other things."

Devon tilted his head at his mother, and broke into a charming smile. "Abbadeh? Pea?" He patted her arm.

"No, Devon..." Rahab sighed.

When she saw Devon's face darken, she realized she'd said a Forbidden Word. His little fists balled up. "Ab-BA-deh," he growled.

"Devon, honey, Mommy will be with you in a minute, okay? Then you and I can play, okay?"

He stood in silence, his glowering gaze locked on hers. She met his look, reminding herself she was still in charge. He suddenly turned away, and Rahab though she'd won the first round, until he walked over and shoved the bedside lamp onto the floor. It fell with a loud clatter, and Rahab jumped. Seth wailed in her lap from the noise. Devon stood, fists still clenched, glaring at her. Then he stalked over to his next target.

"Devon, stop that."

He only gave her a sour look, and grabbed one of the curtains, and looked back again.

"Devon, come here," Rahab said.

"NO," Devon spat.

Don't make me get up, little man..." Rahab warned, giving him a scowl.

"NO!"

Rahab immediately got up and lay the whimpering Seth onto the bed. As she went toward Devon, the toddler gave the drapes a mighty yank, and there was a ripping sound, as the material gave way. He danced away from her as she grabbed for him, and galloped across the bed, narrowly missing trampling on his little brother's face, and then flew out the doorway, screeching like a wild animal, with Rahab hot on his heels. She managed to catch him as he skidded on a throw rug in the hall, and lost his balance. He struggled and swung at her, and she wrapped her arms firmly around his middle, pinning his arms at their sides. He shrieked at the top of his lungs until Mike stumbled out of his room, blinking and staring around him.

Rahab said nothing, knowing it was pointless to try to talk over Devon's banshee howls. She grimly hung on, as he struggled to get free. Mike leaned against the wall, his face lit with languid amusement. Rahab glared at him, when she realized he wasn't in a hurry to come to her rescue. She managed to pick up the toddler and carry him to the nursery, drop him into his crib and quickly close the door, muting his cries. She turned the key in the lock just in time before he threw himself against the door.

"That's not going to do much good, y'know, " Mike drawled, giving her a knowing grin. "And he won't let you forget about him."

"I have to feed Seth, can't you help me?"

"Hey, I did my part, it's time to do yours," Mike retorted, and stalked back to his room.

Rahab walked back to her room, ignoring Devon's screams and the loud, angry thumps on the nursery door.

Seth was fussing and hiccupping on the bed, and Rahab picked him up and rubbed his little back to calm him. She sat down with him again, and let him feed, as she tried to ignore the disturbance from the nursery.

After several minutes of this, she heard Mike come out of his room, swearing under his breath. He opened the nursery door, and Devon's crying became louder as he burst out into the hallway. Mike spoke to him, and then the sounds faded as Mike took him downstairs.

When Seth was sated and quiet again, she changed him and put him into his carrier and took him down to the kitchen. She found the gruesome remains of breakfast scattered over the counters and a good portion of the floor, and she cleaned it up, as she got herself something to eat.

Later, after she put Seth in his hammock for a nap, she went out to the rear garden, and followed a path that led to the pool. It was deserted, the waters still and undisturbed. She could hear the squeals and shouts of children playing, and she followed the sounds to a play yard, surrounded by a high wall of solid wood, and a broad gate with a heavy latch. The ground looked freshly dug, and the fixtures were bright and new. Mike was standing off to the side, talking with a man dressed in coveralls who was holding a clipboard. They talked a while, and Rahab waited until the conversation was ended and the man left.

Mike approached the gate and unlatched it. "After you," he said, gesturing her inside.

"When was this thing built?"

"Yesterday afternoon," Mike said slowly, "After I had to chase Devon down the driveway one too many times."

"Oh."

"Uh huh." Mike gave her a wry look.

She could see Devon and Gaele sitting in a big, round sandbox, dumping shovels full of sand on each other and shrieking with glee. Gaele wiped her eyes and saw Rahab, and dashed up to give her a gargantuan hug.

"Mommee," she said, leaning her face into her mother's leg and closing her eyes in bliss. Rahab noticed Mike was watching their daughter, one side of his mouth curled a little in amusement.

"How's my girl," Rahab asked, bending down to see her eye to eye.

"Good," Gaele chirped happily. "Devon and me's been playing! We played and played yesterday, an' Daddy told Devon something that I'm not s'posed to hear, but that's all right, I put my hands over my ears."

Rahab glanced up at Mike, who suddenly seemed to be interested in something else.

"Mommy," Gaele tapped her mother's arm to get her attention. "Are you gonna stay with us?"

"Yes, honey, for a while." Rahab petted her daughter's pale blue-white hair.

Gaele danced. "Oh, goody! Goody!" She broke away to run toward the sandbox where Devon was still sitting, scooping sand up with his bright plastic shovel, and pouring it over his head. "Devon, Mommy's gonna stay with us!"

"I hope Mommy's gonna stay with us, because I have to go downtown in a few," Mike said.

Rahab got to her feet and looked at him. He stared back, without emotion. "Wait a minute, I thought you--" She folded her arms. "Going to duck out on me, eh? You're mad at me about what happened earlier, aren't you?"

"Well... what happened earlier didn't help much, but that's not why I'm going, Raph asked me to go pick him up."

"I see." Rahab looked up to see Devon was now directing the sand into his wide open mouth. "Oh, yuck! Hold on a minute." She walked as fast as she could toward the sandbox.

"Devon," Rahab called in her sweetest voice. "What are you doing, baby?"

Devon looked up in surprise, and quickly swallowed the mouthful of sand, and got another, before she could lift him out of reach. "Pffftblbbbhhh," he said, spitting bits of sand all over Rahab.

"Is that good," Rahab asked in mild sarcasm, wiping her face on her shoulder.

"Gull," he grunted.

Mike laughed. "Wait a while, it'll all come back up."

Rahab mumbled a reply, and carried Devon back to the house.

Devon touched down back in the kitchen and raced around and around the central counter and Gaele hounded her father to get her a drink. Rahab filled a bottle for Devon, who grabbed it and immediately slung himself backward onto the floor to pull on it in contentment.

"Are you sure you have to leave now?" Rahab looked imploringly at Mike who was putting on his coat and picking up his car keys.

"Yes I do," he answered, in the same tone Rahab used. "Lady, I'm sure you'll get by for an hour or two."

"It won't take that long, will it?" Rahab said in protest. "I really do need your help, Mike."

"Well, thing is, Rahab," Mike said, leaning toward her and lowering his voice, "I shouldn't hang around with you alone too long, it really wouldn't look good. I don't want to invoke the wrath of your husband." He enunciated the last phrase carefully, to drive the point home.

"Oh, come off it, Mike!"

He shrugged expansively, and by that time, Gaele and Devon had finished their drinks.

"Bye, Daddy," Gaele called cheerfully. Devon flapped his hand in imitation of his half-sister.

Mike blew kisses to them, and winked at Rahab, and was gone.

In the momentary silence, Rahab eyed her children, who watched her expectantly. Devon was on his feet, looking a little uncertain about something. Rahab cringed inside, but Devon gave out a sudden, loud belch, then rolled contentedly on the floor again, humming to himself. Rahab relaxed.

Gaele pulled at Rahab's hand. "Mommy, can you play a game with me?"

"What, honey?" Rahab watched Devon continue to roll on the floor.

"We can play Nintent-- Niten- nindendo," Gaele said, pointing into the TV room. "There's this new one Daddy got, it's called Death Race two, um, something, it's really gross, you drive this car really fast through old buildings and stuff, and you get lots of points if you run over people, and make them splat all over the- the car!" She dissolved in a giggle.

"Yuck!" Rahab stared at her. "That's hardly a game for a young lady."

"But Daddy lets me play it with him! He lets me get the old people an' stuff."

"Gaele, stop," Rahab protested. "I can't believe he'd have video games like that! Hitting old ladies... what a sick little puppy."

"Can I get a puppy, Mom?" Gaele asked, brightening.

"Uh, no, sweetheart, I was sort of talking to myself-- Devon!"

Devon had disappeared. She went into the TV room, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"But I want a puppy, Mommy! Please?"

"Gaele, wait a minute, where's your brother?"

"Can we get one in a minute?"

"Devon, where are you, baby?"

"Mom, how long's a minute?"

"Just a minute, Gaele! Devon!"

Devon wandered out into the middle of the room, looking momentarily subdued.

"Devon, what have you been up to?"

"Up bum," Devon said, in small voice. He stuck his tongue out and coughed.

Rahab peered into his gaping mouth, but there was nothing in it. She then sighed gustily. "Hmm, you want to go upstairs and play with some boats?"

"Boat," Devon said, reaching up for her.

"Can we get the puppy now?" Gaele tugged at her shirt hem.

"No, Gaele, we are not going to get a puppy."

Gaele's face fell. "But you said!"

"I didn't say that, Gaele, you did." Rahab bent to pick up Devon who seemed twice as heavy as usual. She hoped fervently Devon would bring up that sand in the bathroom...

"I want a puppy." Gaele's face curled up in a scowl.

"Gaele, stop it." Rahab climbed the stairs, carrying Devon.

Gaele stopped at the bottom of the stairs, and when Rahab glanced down on her, she saw a facial expression identical to Mikes, a sort of mischievous grin. "Devon, guess what?" she said sweetly.

Devon peeked over his mother's shoulder. "Wat!"

"Momma's gonna give you a bath."

Devon squirmed. "No BAT!" He glared at Rahab.

"We are going to play with boats, Devon. You like boats," Rahab said cajolingly, though judging by Devon's suspicious frown, she realized she wasn't fully convincing him.

"Devon's gonna take a ba-ath," Gaele sang, in an all too familiar playground tune.

"Gaele, stop that," Rahab snapped, as she hung grimly onto Devon's flailing limbs. Devon grabbed her hair and gave it a vicious yank.

"Ouch!" She lost her grip on Devon, who was in danger of falling over the banister. She managed to wrestle the both of them into the bathroom, and close the door.

"I don't wanna take a bath," Gaele whined, and stamped her foot.

"NO BAT!" Devon outshouted her.

Rahab sat against the door in a heap. "Bat? Who said anyone was gonna get a bat," she said, without thinking. "I don't see any bats in here. What, a black flying bat, a baseball bat?"

Devon stopped and stared at her, mouth ajar, looking so much like Raphael, Rahab couldn't help laughing.

"No, Mom!" Gaele spoke up, after recovering from her puzzlement. "Devon was saying bath."

"Well, for your information, nobody is going to take a bath today," Rahab said firmly.

"No bat," Devon said.

"No bat for you, today." Rahab nodded in agreement. "We are going to play with boats."

Rahab was just finishing up with the bathtub, wiping the sand out of the bottom where Devon had finally vomited it up. He ended up having a bath after all, because the warm, soapy water enticed him to go in for a wallow, among his great flotilla of bath toys. She had to remove his hundred-pound diaper afterward, and peel off Gaele's clothes soaked from splashing, but once she toweled down the both of them, they were as clean as could be. Mellowed by their bath, they nibbled on finger food for lunch, and Devon fell asleep under the kitchen table with his bottle. Rahab hefted him up to bed, and let Gaele lie on her bed and watch a DVD. She had promptly fallen asleep, and then Rahab could get back to the bathroom to clean up.

"Hey, washerwoman, what's doing," she heard Mike ask. She got off her knees and saw Mike draped across the doorway, grinning at her.

"Well," she said, "I hate to leave a mess like that for the housekeeper." She dropped the wet towels into the laundry chute.

"How'd it go?" He moved aside to let her go out through the doorway.

"Oh, they were just fine, Mike," she said, smiling at him. "I didn't expect you back quite so soon."

Mike laughed aloud, until Rahab gestured for him to be quiet. Mike clapped a hand over his mouth, as he followed her down the stairs. "Come on, Rahab," he said, when they were able to talk. "How were they, really?"

"I told you, they were fine. I let them go up to take a bath, and they did, for about an hour or so, and finally they got out and I took them downstairs to have lunch, and they fell asleep."

As she spoke, she could see Mike squint at her in disbelief. "You didn't drug them or anything, did you?"

"No," Rahab said in mock annoyance. "Actually, Gaele started hounding me to buy her a puppy, and Devon seemed to be looking for a place to toss his breakfast, but other than that... actually, I just played a little reverse psychology on them, told them I didn't plan to give them a bath, I wanted to play boats with them. They fell for it!" She laughed.

Mike pulled off his bandana and scratched his head. "Isn't that something," he said, half under his breath. He looked at her sharply. "Uh, you didn't promise to get her a puppy, did you?"

"No sir," Rahab said, smiling. "She really gave it to me for saying no to her, though. She has your wiles, that's for certain."

"Why, what did she do?"

"Just made a mild attempt at blackmailing, that's all. Which reminds me, have you refused to get her something lately?"

"Quite likely, why?"

"Hmm." Rahab cocked her head at him, and folded her arms. "She said you let her play one of those awful blood and guts video games that you're so fond of, and you heard her say earlier about how you cussed Devon out yesterday."

Mike's jaw dropped, then he closed it firmly. "That little turkey... thing is, she came in while I was taking a break from playing the game and must have taken it off pause. Heh! She got another hundred points or so, by the time I came back and caught her at it. Really, Rahab, I didn't want her to play it. And she heard me call Devon a little fungoid. Heck, that wasn't much, compared to what I wanted to say, considering I had to play goalie every second of the day. What else did she tell you?"

Rahab resisted the urge to smile, but pretended to be indignant. "She didn't say much else, but she just about had me on the warpath against you."

Mike stared at her, with one eyebrow raised, then broke into laughter. "Oho," he said when he recovered. "She's good!"

"So, what happened to Raphael?"

Mike's jovial expression faded. "Uh... well, he kinda had to stay."

"Why?" Rahab felt a surge of anxiety.

"He had another one of his uh, seizures."

"Oh, no..."

"Oh, it's not as bad as you think. They gave him some sort of injection, and he came out of it pretty well, so they said. So they decided to keep him another day, and see how he does on his new meds."

"Great... so now what do I do?"

"You can stay here, Rahab, it's okay with me."

"You sure? I don't want to be a pest..."

Mike gave her a sober look. "Never," he said. "Besides, you have some kinda magic touch with those kids, to get them to take a bath, and a nap, of all things! I couldn't do it."

"It was a happy accident, that's all."

Mike grinned. "Heh! That's because you're their mama."

Rahab smiled a little, then she felt a sudden sadness wash over her. She lowered her head and started to walk away from him.

"Something I said?"

She turned to look at him and tried to act nonchalant. "Oh, no, it's not you, Mike." She self consciously examined a claw. "I just- well, it's so hard, sometimes... you know, to deal with all of this. Three kids, three fathers, I think it will confuse them." She tried to say more, but her voice caught in her throat.

Mike lowered his eyes, and pressed his mouth together in a grim line. "I don't know what else to say, Rahab," he said after a pause. "Except that I'm sorry for you. It shouldn't be this way, but these guys are here, now, and there's no turning back, is there? You just have to keep on keeping on."

"Thing is, I don't know what Leo's going to do. He is a little confused right now, about things..." The look on Mike's face stopped her.

"Look, Rahab, confused or not, I have zero sympathy for that guy right now. He had no business messing around with you, in any way, shape or form. All I know is, he's not welcome here, right now. I'll hold nothing against you or that little innocent one for what's happened. I know how you are, and I believe you. I think Raph does, too, in a way, but I won't speak any more on his behalf. He can speak for himself."

He turned away from her, but not before she saw his pained expression.

"Mike," she called after him.

He stopped his exit, but didn't turn around. "What?"

"I..." Rahab sighed wearily. "I have to go feed Seth," she said, and slowly made her way upstairs.

Next section... Rahab 21