Unconditionally (Operation FALLS Trilogy - Book 1)

Chapter 6

Vince woke up to the sensation of being watched, he gritted his teeth to keep his body from flinching or acting on instinct. You're at home, he reminded himself as he slowly rolled onto his back. He was greeted by a smiling Juliet and two large dogs by her side.

"Oh, good! You're up!" Juliet screeched when she saw Vince's open eyes. The little girl launched herself onto the bed, calling for the dogs to follow her up.

"No dogs," Vince mumbled as Juliet settled into the crook of his large arm.

"They have to, Dad," Juliet told him with a shrug.

"They don't."

Juliet sighed, rolling her eyes in a way that reminded him of Ty, "You wouldn't get it."

Vince chuckled and kissed the top of her head.

"Juliet!" Charlie screamed from somewhere in the house, "Is Pops up yet?"

"Please don't-"

"YESSS!!" The little girl screeched at the top of her lungs. It was right next to Vince's ear and by the end of it, he thought he was seeing stars.

The thundering sound of feet on the floor above and down the stairs echoed in the house at different rhymes. First, came Charlie bounding onto the bed and somehow squeezing past the dogs into a spot next to his sister. Moments later, Kilo rolled in with a goofy smile on his face, sitting on the giant wooden at the end of the king-size bed. Right behind him was Echo, hiding in the shadow of his brother as he took a seat in the recliner by the window.

"Is there a family meeting happening?" Vince joked moving to sit up in the bed.

"Obviously not," Juliet informed him.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, Ty's not here, Pops," Kilo called out, earning him a chuckle from Echo.

Vince raised an eyebrow at that comment but otherwise chose to ignore whatever it was. Instead, he looked down at Juliet who was whispering something to Charlie. God, he had missed this. "Don't y'all have school or somethin'?"

Charlie and Juliet erupted into a fit of giggles, making Vince's eyebrows pull together. He shot a questioning look to his older two.

"You didn't take us," Echo replied not looking up from his phone.

"But your-"

"You didn't take us before you left," Echo cut him off, flicking his cold brown eyes up to meet Vince's. The boy stood and shoved his hands in his pockets with a shrug. "Somethings are more important, right Pops?"

Vince wanted to flinch at the words that were thrown back in his face. He knew what Echo was referring to. He had promised to take both Echo and Kilo to take their driver's test before he had left for the assignment. However, there were some assignments that his hands were tied on, this last one had been one of those. Vince had told the boys before he left, that some things were more important than driver's tests, he hadn't elaborated more because he couldn't, but he regretted the words the moment they had left his lips.

There was nothing more important than his family.

"Really?! Echo!" Kilo yelled after his brother as the other left the room. He huffed shaking his head as he looked over his shoulder at Vince, "It's cool, Pops! He's just grouchy, stayed up too late on Fortnite probably." The young man smiled as he nodded his head slightly.