#After (On Hiatus with possible random slow updates)

Montree In Distress

Yo stared. The girl was roughly 13 years old or so. She was holding on to a boy who was about 8 and a toddler. The first two looked like Mica a lot. They also looked like Montree. The baby looked a bit like Forth. It was weird but it made sense. Their father was Forth's cousin after all.

"Why are they here?" Yo asked as calmly as he could. He could tell Montree wasn't thinking much at all. Just panicking.

"I have a note. Mica died just after the baby was born. There seems to be someone pursuing Ike. He sent them here through a Lawyer. I was contacted and when I went I got them. Yo, I haven't told Rend! I don't know what to do!"

"When did you collect them?" He felt like he was talking about bags but they were children and he was pretty sure the eldest one could understand him even though her face hadn't changed once.

"This morning. They said I was the closest relative, being their brother but if I refused, they would contact other family members. I thought about Mica's side of the family and this will be too much for them. All their children are grown. They're old people and their kids are scattered all over the place and they wouldn't want to take them either. Then I thought of Ike's side of the family. Forth might be willing to help but I wouldn't be able to look Beam in the eye. He has a lot of family but they are as wild as Beam's relatives and even more scattered than mine."

That made a lot of sense. Forth did have a lot of relatives. Ike's own father was still alive and his brothers were all over the place. But that was the issue. They were all over the place. None of them were married. They were also the closest relatives to the children. Montree didn't have it in him to just throw them on someone else. That wasn't his style. 

"You have to tell Rend. No, you have too. This is the kind of secret that will fuck up your new marriage if you keep it for that long."

As if he heard his name, Montree's phone rang. The ringtone was Oneus' A Song Written Easily. Mon had assigned that tone to Rend years ago and he was still using it.

"Fuck!"

"Answer."

"No! Yo. I'm scared."

Yo snatched the phone and answered. "Hey. How are you Rend?"

"I'm good Yo. I've been looking for Mon. I didn't realize he was with you."

"Yes. He came suddenly. He needs to speak with you. Can you come over?" Yo danced away from Montree's grabbing hands.

"What! Yo!" Mon panic screamed as the kids looked on in utter confusion. Win barely spared them a glance, used to Montree being loud. He offered the other toddler a toy car and the girl set him down to play.

"Sure. Was that him?" Rend asked, hearing the panic sounds in the background. What the fuck was going on? 

"Yes. But he's busy. Quickly come over thanks. Bye!" Yo cut the call and hid the phone. He looked over at Montree who was just stunned.

"Look at the children Montree. They don't think too hard, they just love and play. If Rend acts like an ass about this after all you have been through then maybe you need to rethink getting married right now. Maybe you need a little more growth time."

"Maybe you also need to stop panicking about everything." Raisa commented as she brought snacks. "I think you have a serious problem with perfectionism and this wasn't part of the plan."

"No it wasn't. It really wasn't. Thank you Cayan." The littlest had handed him a cookie and he smiled even thought he felt all twisted up inside.

"But it happened right so do what you have to do. This is just a little better than Rend coming up with a secret love child."