Moments: A BWWM Short Story Collection

XXX. Loser (Pt. 5 of 5)

Three Years Later

I yawned as I opened the front door, closing it softly behind me before treading the damp path to the driveway. I scratched my beard as I reached down to pick up the paper, flicking errant drops of rain from it as I pulled it out of the plastic wrapping. Pages spun by as I flicked to the sports section, only to pause at the article on page 6.

Shock quickly turned to elation, and I rushed back inside, pausing only to wipe my feet on the mat. I pelted past the living room, only to stumble over a pair of cleats as I rounded the corner. I cursed to myself as I flung them up against the door across the hall, wondering when my boys would learn to clean up after themselves.

I burst into the back bedroom, only to find it empty. It took a moment for my pre-coffee brain to remember it was 6:54, which meant I'd find my wife in the baby's room.

"There's a good girl, drink it down, nice and slow. You make momma so proud!"

Even in my sleepiness, I felt a smile cross my face as I teased open the star-painted door to Shayera's room. Diana was in her usual chair, rocking back and forth as she breastfed our youngest child with a look of warm contentment on her face. Her eyes turned up to me, and she put her a free finger to her lips as I tiptoed across the carpet.

"Great news; they found him!" I whispered. Diana's brows shot up.

"Brian?! You mean they caught him?!" she whispered back.

I nodded, unfurling page six to show Brian's mugshot under the heading, "Mafia Elite Captured." There was a wet popping sound as Shayera stopped feeding, and Diana handed her to me as she covered herself up and took the paper.

"Nailed you, didn't they?" Diana said, plump lips curling as she glared down at her former tormentor. "I hope they give you life, Warren; death's too good for you."

Shayera started fussing, and I bounced up and down until her gurgles were replaced with giggles. Diana looked up at the two of us, folding the paper with an unfathomable expression as she did. She hadn't shown any fear since the day she'd testified, but I knew worry had lurked in the back of her mind until this morning.

"Going out with a bang instead of whimper, huh?" I said, stroking Shayera's wavy hair. "Brian never was a brave man whenever he lacked backup."

"Well, someone in the mob must've still owed him, because it says they found him holed up in a safehouse like an animal." Diana said, smoothing her puffy mane with a hand. "Serves him right for what he did to me and our boys."

Diana rolled up the paper, throwing a smile my way as she took to her feet. She was already starting to show with our fourth child, a fact that made her all the more beautiful in my eyes; and all the more terrifying to our teenage sons.

"Speaking of which..." Diana said, expression souring as she pushed the door open. "They should've been up fifteen minutes ago. They want breakfast, they'd better get their butts out of bed sometime before the bus gets here!"

I smiled at Diana as she marched past me, enjoying the juxtaposition of her fluffy maternity pajamas against her temper. She was cute when she was angry, and after a week of our boys tossing their stuff everywhere, she was very put out.

"Bruce! John! You have exactly one minute to get dressed and sit down at the table before you go to school on an empty stomach! I am not driving you two again!"

There was a sudden series of knocks and thumps, and Diana set her hands on her increasingly generous hips as she silently mouthed seconds in the hall. She'd just reached forty-two when John flung open his door, followed by Bruce a second later.