Unconditionally (Operation FALLS Trilogy - Book 1)

Chapter 2

Present day...

"If you are not in the car within the next minute, I'm leaving without you!" Ty hollered through the open front door to his best friend's children. One would think that the kids would be bouncing off the walls with excitement to go and pick up their father after he had been away for months but with three out of the four being teenagers... Well, nothing with teens works out how you think.

Sometimes it was hard for Ty to wrap his mind around how much his life had changed ever since that tower of a man had walked into his bar a little over fifteen years ago. He'd made good on his promise and gotten Vince a job interview with his dad's old best friend, Henry. Vince had been hired before the interview had technically ended, although that same day when he told Ty about it, he'd been all mopey, saying that he wasn't sure he got it. That had confused Ty, who had gotten a call from Henry already raving about Vince. Once a more formal invitation for the job was sent, Vince accepted the position. He only had a couple of months left on his contract with the Navy and the switch was surprisingly seamless. After that, Vince spent his days at work and his nights either at home or at The Fox Hole. He tended to just sit at the corner of the bar drinking whiskey and waiting until closing, where he'd then do a shitty job of sweeping. Ty would never understand how the man with so many OCD tendencies could do amazing at any other type of cleaning but sweeping just seemed to go right over his head.

The two of them had become inseparable almost overnight. They didn't go a day without speaking to each other. Well, except for the occasional assignment that Vince would get at the security firm. As the years passed, those types of jobs had become few and far between. Especially, after he'd adopted his kids. Now, the man was gone, out of touch, maybe once a year and never for more than a month.

He couldn't be away from his family that long.

That was another thing that Ty couldn't wrap his mind around. His best friend had adopted his oldest, Echo, ten years ago. Vince had gotten the clearance to be a foster home, but he'd been hesitant, Ty had suggested he volunteer at a home somewhere else before if he was nervous. Vince had jumped on the idea. In the end, he got Echo.

Ty had been shocked by the news; he'd been waiting at Vince's house after the man had called to tell him. He hadn't expected the little boy to walk in with Vince, let alone be gripping his large hand for dear life. Seeing the way that the young Echo had looked at Vince and the terror that radiated off the kid, Ty then within a second completely understood. 

"Ty! Echo won't stop connecting his shit music to my hearing aids!" Kilo, Vince's second eldest, yelled as he stomped down the stairs.

Nikilo, or rather Kilo, was the most recent addition to the family, having been adopted by Vince four years ago at the age of 12. He and Echo were the same age, they got along swimmingly the first year and a half, but then puberty took the two on different journeys. Kilo grew much taller, had heaps of confidence, and excelled at sports. Echo was the exact opposite. Kilo had been assumed to be "unreachable" due to complete hearing loss. Vince hadn't believed that diagnosis when he had heard it. Before the ink on the adoption papers had even dried, Vince had taken Kilo to get his hearing checked. Turned out it was a misdiagnosis; Ty had a feeling it was a negligent oversight because the care was too expensive. In the end, Kilo had sensorineural hearing loss, which they were able to combat with hearing aids for the most part.

"Ty! Are you listening to me!" Kilo hollered once again, now at the bottom of the stairs with his hearing aids sitting in the palm of his hand. He was glaring at Ty.

"Put those back in your ears," Ty stated sternly and slowly as he signed the same sentiment. He watched as the sixteen-year-old rolled his eyes before hooking the hearing aids back into his ears. "Great. Now, get in the car."

"But, Ty-"

"You can tell your father all about this issue with Echo on the ride home."

Kilo's eyes lit up for a moment before he started grumbling again. However, he did begin moving towards the front door.

One down, three to go...

"Echo!" Ty yelled up the stairs, "You better go apologize to your brother in the car! Sounded like he was planning on telling your father all the shit he had to put up with since he left."

Ty could hear the thundering of feet down the upstairs hallway and to the top of the stairs. Echo's dark head of hair popped over the banister, "I didn't do shit, Ty!"

"Then you better go convince Kilo of that," Ty said with a shrug.

"Seriously," Echo whined as he slunk down the stairs. He was dressed head to toe in all black, including the signature hoodie he never took off. Ty had a fear that the hoodie had never seen the inside of the washing machine.

"I know, life is tough kiddo!" Ty yelled after him as the teenager slammed the front door behind him.

Two down, two to go...

"Juliet says she's not coming," Charlie, Vince's third son, stated as he casually walked by Ty and out the door.

"Really, Charlie? Jesus!" Ty grumbled. He was thankful for the ease with which Charlie went out to the car but was also slightly annoyed that he hadn't informed Ty sooner about whatever was going on with his sister.

Charlie and Juliet were the only biological siblings out of the bunch. If Ty remembered correctly, they had been adopted together about five years ago. Charlie had been an angry nine-year-old who was having trouble adjusting to the violent death of his parents. Coupled with the fact that the foster system was trying to separate him from his five-year-old sister, Juliet, Charlie's behavioral issues had been getting out of control. Their case manager had ended up contacting Vince, remembering how loving and patient he'd been with Echo. The case manager had only hoped that Vince would foster them while Charlie adjusted, but instead, Vince had adopted them. Ty had once again been shocked.

It hadn't been an easy adjustment for Charlie. All he'd known in his life at that time was that adults were mean and violent, and they lied. He was hypervigilant over Juliet and wouldn't leave her side for the longest time. Slowly, Vince gained his trust and Charlie began to settle in. Once, Charlie had felt safe and stable, he'd transformed into almost a regular kid his age.

Juliet, on the other hand, had settled in automatically. If she wasn't clinging to Charlie, she had been clinging to Vince. For months, she would only sleep if he was in the room. That had been a rough stint of Vince sleeping on the floor of her and Charlie's room in weird positions. It was no surprise to anyone that she had turned into a huge daddy's girl. Being the youngest and the only girl she tended to get her way. Even to this day when he was home, Juliet wasn't far away. She was also usually the first one in the car whenever her father returned from any assignment.

Ty took the stairs two at a time, finding the ten-year-old in her room, crying into the fur of the family's two loyal dogs. "Hey, Princess, what's this I hear about you not coming to pick up your dad?"

"Ajax and Rusty are going to be lonely," She wailed. When she brought her head up, Ty's heart clenched at her red-rimmed, puffy eyes and wet cheeks.

However, he did have to start counting backward from ten to keep his cool. He glanced at Ajax, a large black German Shepherd, and Rusty, a red Doberman. He narrowed his eyes at the two animals that were happily wagging their tails.

Ty sighed heavily, "I have no idea where we'll fit your father."

Juliet began to squeal in delight.

"They can come, but let's go! We're late!" Ty watched as she rushed out of the room with two dogs that were already leashed up.

He'd gotten played.

Vince was going to get a laugh out of this one.

Fuck, he missed his best friend...