Remington and I were busy getting things ready, so instead of stopping to make sure they both understood “the importance of sharing” and all that bullshit, we sent them up to their bedrooms to think about things on their own. Normally, they would’ve just gone up to their room, and after pouting for a bit, they’d be back at it again. I was just about to go check on them when there was a knock at the door. Knowing the brothers were here, Remington looked over to me with wide eyes and said, “They’re early!”
“It’s all good. We have everything ready.”
“But I just put the beans in. It’ll be at least forty-five minutes before they’re done.”
“Don’t have to worry about that. There’s plenty of beer in the cooler. That’ll keep them entertained until everything’s ready.”
I walked through the foyer and opened the door to find Rafe and Country standing on the porch, each with an additional twelve-pack in their hands. “Looks like y’all are ready for some football.”
“Hell yeah, we are, but first...” Rafe gave me an odd look as he asked, “You got any idea where your boys are?”
“Yeah, they’re upstairs in their rooms. Why?”
“Ummm...You might want to come outside.”
“Oh, fuck,” I groaned. “What is it now?”
Rafe chuckled. “Just come out here, brother. Trust me, you’re gonna wanna see this for yourself.”
When I stepped outside, I found Viper, Axel, and Widow standing in the front yard. Each of them were snickering back and forth as they looked up at my roof. I knew then I wasn’t going to like what I was about to see. With great apprehension, I stepped out into the yard next to my brothers, and when I looked up on the roof, I spotted Colt racing from his bedroom window over to his brother’s. He had no idea we were all out there watching him skirt across the shingles like a tiny ninja. Nor did he seem to know how dangerous it was for him to be up there. Fearing he might fall, I decided not to draw his attention down to us. Instead, I raced inside.
As I started up the stairs, I shouted, “Remington!”
“What?”
“Gonna need you upstairs!”
“Why?” she asked as she started up the stairs behind me. “What did they do now?”
Instead of answering, I opened Tyler’s door and motioned my hand inside. Remington’s face grew pale when she saw our small son trying to climb through the window into his brother’s room. “Oh my God! Colt! What are you doing?”
She raced over to the window and pulled him inside, cradling him protectively in her arms. As terrifying as it was to see my son doing something so dangerous, I knew her well enough to know she would blame herself for their actions, but I, on the other hand, was well aware my boys knew better than to pull this shit. I walked over and knelt down next to Tyler, looking into a pair of blue eyes that were just like my own and asked, “You wanna tell me what you two were just doing?”
“We was just playin’.”
“And what did your mother tell you?”
“To ‘tay in our rooms.”
“Um-hmm, but instead of doing what you were told, you two decided that climbing on the roof was a good idea?” A guilty looked marked his little, round face as I told him, “You could’ve fallen and really hurt yourself.”
“I sorry.”
I looked up at Colt as I asked, “And what about you? What do you have to say for yourself?”
“I sorry too, Daddy.”
“Well, no more climbing out windows or your mom will have your hide.” I could tell by the look on Remington’s face she was still pretty wound up and wasn’t ready to close the door on the conversation. Knowing we had guests waiting downstairs, I said, “I’ll go down and check on things with the guys.”
“Okay, I’ll be down in a minute.”
I trusted she’d get the boys lined up, so I stood up and headed for the door. I’d just started down the stairs when I heard the guys talking in the kitchen. From the sounds of it, they were pretty pumped about the first Tennessee game of the season. When I walked in, Rafe and Jax were sitting at the counter with Hawk and Axel, while Delilah and Krissy were busy putting out the food they’d brought over. I walked around and grabbed a beer from the cooler as I asked, “Where are the others?”
“Outside checkin’ the ribs with Viper.”
Until Rafe had mentioned it, I’d forgotten about all the meat I’d put on the grill. Worried that I might’ve fucked up, I rushed out to see if everything was okay. I should’ve known that Viper would’ve had it all handled. He and Ransom usually did all the grilling at the club parties, so I wasn’t surprised when they started giving me hell the second I walked up. Ransom shook his head as he said, “Don’t know what’s worse. The fact you almost burned up our dinner or that you had your four-year-old twins up on the fucking roof.”
“Definitely the twins on the roof,” Remington answered as she walked up next to us. She let out a frustrated sigh as she glared over at me. “You know, I blame you for this.”
“Me? How is this my fault?”
She smiled and said, “I don’t really know, but it’s still your fault.”
“Yeah, that’s not gonna stick. Those two are just as much yours as they are mine.”
“Well, I never fell off a roof when I was kid. Just saying.”
Before I could counter back, Madeline’s car pulled up in the driveway. As soon as she and Thomas got out of their car, Remington rushed over to say hello. She hugged them both, then led them over to us. Viper was the first to extend his hand to Thomas and say, “Hey, brother. Good to see ya.”
Normally, the brothers wouldn’t have been very keen on the idea of having a cop around, but on a day like today, there was no reason for any of us to be on guard. We were just grilling out and watching a football game, so there was no problem with him being there. Besides, he was married to Remington’s best friend, and a good guy too. As he shook Viper’s hand, he replied, “Thanks, man. Good to be here.”
“Hope you’re hungry.”
“I am.” Thomas leaned over to check out the meat on the grill. “Looks like quite the spread.”
Ransom jabbed me with his elbow as he snickered. “It will be if we can keep Shotgun from burning it all up.”
“You’re not gonna let that go, are ya, brother?”
“Not a chance.”
Remington took hold of Madeline’s arm as she said, “Come on inside. The food’s almost ready, and I need to check on the boys.”
With that, the girls disappeared into the house, and as soon as the ribs and brisket were done, we went inside with them. Country had already turned on the game and claimed his spot in my recliner. I thought for sure that I’d get it back when Viper announced that the food was ready, but Country didn’t budge. Instead, he called out to Krissy and asked, “Hey, darlin’, they’re about to kick off. You mind fixing me a plate?”
“Sure, no problem.”
If it had been anybody else, Jax might’ve had a problem with Krissy tending to another man, but after her experience with Rafe, Krissy had made it clear she was done with bikers. She made his plate and made another for Jax and herself while Remington fixed a small plate for Tyler and Colt. Once they were done, the rest of us followed suit. We all piled up in the living room and watched the game. It was no surprise our Vols lost. They’d had a pretty rough go of it the year before, and it looked like this year would be more of the same. It didn’t matter to us. We had our beers in hand to help ease the scorn of their loss. By the time the guys started rolling out, most of the food was long gone and there was little left to clean up. The girls helped Remington get the dishes put away, and then they were on their way, leaving Remington and me alone to catch our breaths.