Brian stood behind the counter, going through the inventory his people had given him, and entering the order for what he needed in the computer. He had to go slow, his supplier had just set up this new computerized ordering system, and it was temperamental. Damian would have this done in minutes, but he was doing the books in Brian's office.
The bell over the door dinged and Brian looked up to see a well dressed tigress enter. She looked around, then smiled at him.
"Good afternoon." He returned her smile. She wore a black knee length blouse, with a light orange vest that was slightly frayed at the edges, he noticed.
She walked to the counter, her hips moving in that way he always found attractive in females. "You're looking well," she said.
Brian frowned. "Excuse me? Do I know you?"
She smiled at him, and batted those blue eyes. "Really, Brian? was I really that easy to forget?"
Brian's eyes went wide. "Ariel?" he swallowed and had a desperate need to run away. What was she doing here? after all those years?
"Dad?" came a young voice from his office door.
"And who might that be?" She asked. "Oh my God, is that Damian? It is, isn't it?" She went to the end of the counter, crouched down and opened her arms. "Come to mama."
"No." Brian stated. His need to protect his son overriding the memory of the pain she'd caused him. He extended his hand to his son, who took it and he held him against him. "What are you doing here?" he asked her.
She stood, disappointment on her face. A moment later, she smile was back. "I wanted to see you again. It's been ten years."
"Yes, ten years since you walked out on your family. What makes you think I want to see you."
She ran a finger over his hand, and against his will it sent a shiver up his arm. "Now, now, Brian. You have to remember how good those years together were."
Damn it, that woman still knew how he was wired. He pulled the hand away. "Unless you have car problems, you have no business being here."
"I have a right to see my son."
"He's my son."
"I'm the one who gave birth to him."
"And you left him for me to raise the moment the hospital discharged you." A car drove by the bay window. He recognized it, it was Miss Harminton, here to get her engine tuned up. He wasn't going to be able to get Ariel out of here before she walked in, and he couldn't have this conversation in front of a client. He cursed. "Step in my office." He indicated the open door.
With a satisfied smile she went there.
Damian looked up at him, with his usual unperturbed expression.
"It's going to be okay," Brian told him. and his son nodded. He consulted the duty roster and opened the window to the repair bay. He looked around. "Marcus," he called when he spotted the dalmatian.
"Yes boss?"
"I need you up front. I have to take care of something."
"Sure thing." The canine wiped the oil off his hands before coming in.
"I don't think it'll be that long, but if it is, when Mister Sung arrives for his tire rotation, just find someone to replace you here."
"No worries boss. Not the first time we manage without you. You go fix what's broken."
"Thanks Marcus." He and Damian stepped in his office and he closed the door, then he closed the blinds. Now, no one would know what happened. They could scream to their hearts content and no one would hear. Because of the things he did in here that weren't business related, he'd had the room completely sound proofed.
"You expanded," Ariel said, seated in one of the chair, like she owned the place.
"Business has been good," he stated, sitting in his chair. Damian climbed on his lap. Brian didn't have time to wonder what his son was doing. He normally didn't like sitting there, but he felt better for it. Knowing that Damian preferred him over that woman.
"I'm happy to hear that. How many employees do you have now?"
"Right now, twenty."
"Wow, and to think that ten years ago, you only had six."
"Yeah, well, being forced to provide for five kids by myself forced me to improve the business so I could bring in more money." He didn't even try to keep the anger out of his voice.
She looked away, then down at the floor. "I'm sorry I abandoned you, all of you."
Damian squeezed his hand, and Brian looked at him. He shook his head.
"You have to understand," she continued. "I was raised to believe that girls were important to a family, and after five boys, I kind of freaked out."
He barely listened to her. What had Damian meant? did he not want this conversation to happen? was he saying she wasn't actually sorry? He's always been far more observant about people's behaviors than anyone else.
If she didn't mean it, she was one hell of an actress. Brian was sure she felt contrived. "I can understand that," he hesitated, "but you just left, you never called, you never tried to get in touch. You never even bothered to find out how our kids were doing?"
"How are they?" she asked. "How are the twins? are they still inseparable?"
"Yes, they are."
"Look, I'm sorry I didn't call, but when I left, I was in a bad place. It took me years to get better, but I am better now. and I want us to be a family again. I know it's been ten years, but it's never too late to make amends, right? I could help around the garage, take care of the customers. I could help with our sons. Brian, please give me a chance."
Brian couldn't answer. these last ten years without her had been difficult. His family had helped as best as as they could, but with four of his five son sexually active, they were a handful. Could he be another exception, like his grandparents. Could it be that his sons could have a mother too?
"No," Damian said.
"What?" She looked at him, confused. Brian's thoughts had been interrupted, but he couldn't say anything.
"You don't want us to be a family."
"Of course I do, Damian. Don't be silly."
"I'm not silly. You're after something."
"Of course not. I missed you all during those years." She looked at Brian. "Maybe we should have this conversation alone? He's too young for this." She gave him her heart melting smile. the one that could make him agree to anything, just because it promised so much fun in bed. He actually considered telling Damian to leave the room, but when he looked down at his son, he was looking back up at him, with a serious expression.
Brian remembered who his son was. He remembered he rarely spoke, and when he did so it was never lightly. He knew something.
"No, Damian can stay. he's much more mature than you give him credit for. You'd know that, if you'd been here to help raise him."
"But I'm here now. I want to get to know him. we can be a family again."
"What are their names?" Damian asked.
"What?" Ariel seemed thrown by the question.
"What are my brother's names?"
"Donald, Dietrich, Dominic and Daniel," She replied, a touch of smugness to her tone.
"Which ones are the twins?" Damian asked.
She opened her mouth, but didn't say anything.
"You don't know?" Brian asked, not believing it, but now that he was paying attention he could see the confusion on her face. he was no where as good at reading expression as his son was, but he'd read enough psychology manuals, trying to understand him, to know what those eye movements meant.
"It's been ten years, give me a break."
"When did you remarry?" Damian asked, before Brian could tell her what he thought of her not remember who was whom.
She covered her left hand, but not before Brian noticed the band of short new fur on her ring finger. It reminded him of his own, when he'd throw away his wedding band after the left. It had taken a few month for the fur to grew enough for it to vanish.
It couldn't be their wedding band. She'd left that behind.
"You remarried?"
"I was confused, he was nice to me," She said quickly, "it didn't mean anything?"
"That's a lie," Damian said, and his father believed him.
"Are you accusing me of being a liar?" She was outraged.
"Yes."
"How dare you! I'm you're mother, you're going to treat me with respect."
"No. You are a liar and a user."
She laughed. "What would you know of those things?"
"I know you're lying, because I can see it on your face, and in your eyes. You covered you ring finger. that is a reflexive gesture because you want to hide you wore a ring. It's a gesture that only happens after years of wearing it. I don't know when you took it off, but you didn't want dad to know about it."
"Less than a month ago, I'd say," Brian offered, "The fur hasn't grown enough to be much longer than that."
"You can't marry two man at the same time. You never divorced dad, so you lied to the other man you married."
"How the hell do you know that?" She asked. Brian was also curious, he'd never mentioned her or his marriage to Damian.
"I found your marriage certificate in a box in the attic. I made phone calls and found out it was still valid. That means no divorce."
"Damian, You're not suppose to go through my things."
Damian looked up at him. "You said I couldn't go through your things in your room. That was in the attic."
Brian wanted to scold his son for nitpicking, but he knew that's how he was.
"So you were married for years. And it ended recently. He threw you out."
He shocked expression told Brian Damian was correct.
"If you'd left of your own volition, you wouldn't have shown up here in a less than good clothes. You've been out for about as long as you've taken off the ring. without a change of clothing. you didn't steal any because you're used to good quality, you couldn't find that by stealing. You're here because you want money."
Brian was stunned.
"That's ridiculous. okay, you right. I don't know how you figured that out, but yeah, I got married again. He found out I wasn't who I'd said and he kicked me out."
"He found out you stole money form him," Damian stated.
She rocked back, but continued. "But it just reminded me of how we were. We were so good together Brian. We can be again."
"No," Damian said.
Brian was both shocked, and amused at the battle of wit between his son and his ex wife. Technically, she was still his wife, wasn't she? he's have to rectify that.
"Don't listen to him," she crooned. "You remember what we had. We can have that again."
Brian smiled at her. "Actually, I've gotten into the habit of listening to Damian, he's way smarter than I am. He's a great judge of character. So, no, I have to agree with him, we're not getting back together. I don't think you're the right mother for my sons."
"Fine," she snarled. "I'd hoped to do this nicely, in a way that wouldn't have been too painful for you, but the brat's right. we're still married, so I'm entitled to half of what you have." She gave him a predatory smile. "I'm going to sue you for all your worth."
"No." Brian and Damian said at the same time. Damian's 'no' was calm, while Brian slightly nervous. He wasn't familiar with the law enough to know how valid her claim was.
"You abandoned your children," Damian continued. "I don't expect any judge will look favorably on that."
She kept smiling. "He forced me to leave. He was abusing me. I didn't want to leave my children with a man like him, but I didn't have a choice. I had to get out before he did anything so bad to me I'd die. I always wanted to come back to save my children, but I didn't have the courage until now."
Damian thought about it for a moment. "You can't prove dad did that."
"You can't prove he didn't. And if there's one thing juries love, is a battered woman rebuilding her life and coming to her children's rescue."
"You wont get any of us to say a bad thing against our dad."
Brian squeezed Damian's leg in fear, causing his son to look up at him. Damian wasn't sexually active yet, and while Brian was sure he knew what he and his brothers did, he hadn't explained to him how society's view on that differed from their own. If any of his son's were questioned on the stand, their sexual games would come out, and they would take them away.
He did his best not to show his fear, and while he didn't know if Ariel had picked up on it, he knew Damian had.
"And when we bring the man who threw you out, the judge will find out just what you were up."
She chuckled. "You'll never find him."
Damian smiled. "He's wealthy, but no so wealthy people talk about him, and old money. He's a tiger, another species wouldn't have married you, because old money wants pure breed children. But you didn't give him any. He wouldn't have been able to kick you out if you had, that would have tied you to him. It worked with dad, because he wasn't rich. If somehow he'd chased you, he wouldn't have had the resources to do much. and you hadn't thought it through with him. Dad was the first man you used like that." Damian stopped talking. "Sorry, that isn't relevant. An old money tiger, who wanted children, but didn't get any. I don't expect there are that many of them. In fact, I can probably get his name with a few phone calls. Two tigers getting married between five to ten years ago, that gives me a short list to start from. then I get their records from the IRS to weed out the not so wealthy ones. I doubt I'll have more than a hand full in all of the US after that. Then I just call them until I find the one you hurt. I tell him who you are, where you are, and if I'm lucky, he'll just make you disappear, and we don't have to worry about you ever again."
"Why you little freak!" She reached over the desk, but Brian smacked her hand down on it hard.
"Don't you ever lay a finger on my son." His claws were digging in her hands.
"Father, is she a bad person?"
At that moment, Brian very much wanted to say yes. She'd hurt him and now would have tried to hurt Damian. But he had to be careful for the rules he'd set for Damian. He would use this as another example with which to judge others. She had hurt him, yes, but had she meant to, all those years ago? He didn't know. She'd hurt someone else, maybe? but that was based almost entirely on Damian's reasoning. he couldn't use that. it had to be based on known quantities, otherwise Damian could fall back on his judgment when making the determination.
"I don't know," Brian finally said.
"Are you sure?" was there a hint of disappointment in his son's voice?
"Yes."
Damian got off his lap and waled to the door, opening it. "Get out," he told Ariel.
"Do what he said," Brian added, releasing her hand.
She glared at Brian and stood. As she walked by Damian she threw him a look of pure hate. he looked up at her unperturbed.
"If you ever approach my family again," he said, "I'll decide you're a bad person."
"And what are you doing to do?" she snorted.
"I will punish you," he stated. When she left the garage Damian came back to his father and climbed back on his lap.
Brian finished cleaning the blood off his claws and hugged his son. "I love you."
"I know." Damian pointed to the computer. "I finished doing the books for last month. You had a six point seven percent increase in revenue."
Brian didn't say anything. He was looking at the opened door, and praying she wouldn't show up again. Damian had warned her, and he wouldn't be able to stop him if she tried to hurt them again. He had seen some of the small things Damian had done to the bullies in the neighborhoods. Damian always stayed within the agreed upon rules, but she was an adult. They hadn't covered what the rules were for that, and Brian didn't even know if he should. If an adult tried to hurt his son, did he have any right to limit his response to that, and put his life at risk?
He could only hope he wouldn't be put in a position to find out for a very long time.
"Dad? After work can we get pizza?"
"Pizza is on Sunday, you know that."
"I know, I just don't feel like having lasagna tonight."
Brian looked at the door again. Things were changing. Things had changed. "We'll see what your brothers thinks about it when we get home, okay?"
"Thank dad."
