By the Horns

Nadine didn't answer her. She sipped her Mai Thai and said nothing. Stephanie saw it and wasn't about to let it go.

"I mean Jesus Nadine, is he still whining about his leg?" she accused.

"No. Stef, how can you say that? You know he was ready for the pros. It wasn't his fault..." Nadine said and stopped as Stefanie cut her off.

"I know sweetie. I was there! I watched him carted off the field and saw him put in the ambulance," Stephanie replied. She went on after sipping her tea to clear her mouth, "Wow this is good!" she exclaimed as she hadn't expected it to be so good.

Nadine popped her head up and laughed, "Yeah it is isn't it."

"Wow! It's not too sweet, but very refreshing," Stephanie said then turned back to her friend.

"Baby girl I care about you. I see you're miserable at times and it seems like he is just taking advantage of you to make himself feel better," Stephanie said plainly.

"He just needs some time to get over it then he'll be better. Besides he has been working hard and doing well at his job, that may help him out," Nadine said optimistically.

"I don't know baby, I just worry about you. You're my friend and I don't want to see you hurt," she said softly taking Nadine's hand.

Nadine appreciated the gesture and laid her head down on her friends hand. If it wasn't for the people around she may have even had tears come from her eyes, but Mike and Devon approached and she got it together before they sat down. As Mike sat down Stephanie had a look pass through her eyes of recognition, but she couldn't put her finger on it. As Mike sat down next to Nadine he looked at the sun and saw it was going down. He blew out a sigh and stood back up.

"Sorry, got to feed the dogs," he said as he walked to the side of the house.

Nadine and Stephanie watched him go to the side and get the bowls for the dogs. As he did they noticed that one of the kids ran to him. Together they loaded the bowls with a mix of kibble and wet food. As they did they heard the dogs run by the group of people and start whimpering excitedly by them. The dogs sat and their forepaws began to pad in nervous fashion as their meal was prepared for them. Not once did they bark, only let out some pleading whimpers and groans. Mike turned to them and had a huge grin on his face seeing the dogs sitting before him. He set the bowls down as did the boy. The dogs didn't rush the bowls, instead sat perfectly still until Mike snapped his fingers and the dogs rushed forwards to their bowls to ravage their meal. Mike pat each one on the head eliciting a playful lick by the dogs who promptly went back to it's bowl.

Stefanie and Nadine watched the show and were impressed. Mike talked to the young man who looked to be about fourteen or so and the boy nodded his head as Mike talked to him. Mike patted the young man on the neck and the boy ran off to do something in the house. As he walked back "Stereo Love" began playing from the DJ stand. As if on cue the people began to dance on the floor and it got a little more risque. The remaining women were down to just their bikini bottoms for the most part and they got their freak on the floor. Mike was corralled by Melina who had also shed her jean shorts and was dancing with him, if one could call swaying and rubbing her body along his dancing. Nadine watched just how raw and passionate Melina was as she ground and swayed her hips to the upbeat song. Stephanie had her eyes wide as they watched the show and seeing him put his hands on her waist made something in her mind go ninety miles an hour. She had seen him somewhere, but for the life of her she couldn't place it.

The song came to an end and the crowd continued on. The good times had by all soon came to a winding close. It was dark and a lot of the people had cleared out. Mike and Melina had made a decent impression on the block for the most part and as the crowds began to die down the task of cleaning up came about. The party goers had left a lot of clutter and Mike and his kids got out trash bags to begin the clean up. Melina had taken the younger kids inside and it was when she did that Nadine had noticed something about the children. While the younger two looked like her and Mike, the older ones didn't look like her at all. The boy looked like Mike, and the girl had some similar features, but they were not Hispanic. She was at a loss when Mike saw her still sitting at the table and a smirk came to his face.

"Hey now, you made the mess," he said chuckling and handed her a bag.

Nadine pointed at herself and Mike crossed his arms.

"Yes, you! Now help out and I'll make you another drink," he offered.

Nadine got to her feet and helped out. Between the four of them, the caterers, and DJ the mess was cleaned up and soon the backyard was cleared except for Mike and the family. Nadine had looked across the street to see Trevor's car was still gone. She pondered going home, but she saw that the couple was still awake and Mike promised her another drink so she decided to stay. Nadine saw Mike walk into the house and take the kids upstairs. He was up there for a long time, then he came back down alone. Melina had gone upstairs as well and she looked tired.

When Mike came back down to the patio Nadine had just walked Stephanie and Devon to their cars. She had sat down at the bench he had used at the get together. Sitting on the bench Thor walked up to Nadine and sat in front of her. He looked her in the eyes with his own and pawed at her with his fore paw. She smiled and began to pet him making him duck his head and pant happily.

"Looks like you made a friend," Mike said as he saw the spectacle before him.

Nadine looked up, but continued to pat the big dog.

"He's a sweetie," she replied as the dog had a happy look on his face.

"He is something. Though he normally doesn't take to people so quickly. I think he's a softy though sometimes," Mike grinned as he said that.

"I dunno," Nadine said happily as Thor put his head on her lap and looked up at her.

The big dog seemed content as he looked at Nadine while she scratched behind his ear. Mike chuckled as he filled two cups with tea. Walking back to the table he sat down and set a cup before Nadine. She went to get it, but Thor wasn't done getting his affection yet. She lifted her hand from his head and he sat up and put his paws in her lap and moaned dejectedly. She laughed as he put his head on her and whimpered. Mike laughed at the spectacle. Nadine was laughing happily at the cute thing the dog was doing, but Mike knew he was misbehaving.

"Thor, Kommen!" he commanded.

Thor got from her lap and trotted back to Mike's side. He sat down and Mike patted him on the head a few times.

"He gets playful at times and..." Mike started to say as he looked to Nadine.

When his eyes met Nadine what they hadn't foreseen was that Thor's big paw would have gotten her top. Her left nipple was showing for all the world to see. Mike shook his head then turned it as he pointed at her. Nadine saw the way he pointed at her and looked down. When she saw she was showing she shrunk under the table almost. Mike kept his head turned while she adjusted her top back to right.

"Just met you and you're already showin' off the goods," Mike teased as he looked back.

"No!" Nadine squeaked and blushed.

Mike chuckled at that but dropped the issue. He sat back and sent Thor off to go play. Thor trotted off and into the yard. He found a comfortable spot and collapsed on the grass. He laid his head between his paws and sighed in content. Mike and Nadine looked at Thor and grinned.

"He's a good boy," Nadine said as she picked up her tea.

"He is that. Loyal, friendly, smart, hell even Melina loves him," Mike said chuckling.

"She doesn't like dogs?" Nadine asked.

"No, not at first, but it was living with them that got her used to them. She was the one who picked out the smaller one Fenris," Mike said.

"Fenris, Thor, let me guess the last one is named Loki?" Nadine jokingly guessed.

"No, his name is Geri," Mike said.

"Odin's wolf?" she asked.

"The one and the same. I got him from a good breeder in Germany five years ago. Thor is seven, and Fenris is six. We got Fenris because she was excited about how the dogs began to like her and she responded to them. We're thinking of getting another one, but not right now," Mike said as he sipped his tea.

"So how long have you and Melina been together?" Nadine asked.

"Seven years," Mike said and smiled.

"So those other kids are not hers?" Nadine asked.

"No, they are from my second wife," he said.

"You were married?" she asked.

"Yeah, twice," Mike said and looked at his cup. "The first time was when I was very young. We got married and she couldn't handle my life in the navy. I got married to number two when I was twenty two. We had five years of happiness and was discharged shortly after the incident. We had our kids while I was in, then she turned to drugs and got really weird."

Nadine heard that and her eyes questioned him.

"I tried to help her, but in the end she chose the drugs over her family. To me she's dead, to her kids, well...." Mike said and looked at the window.

"They feel like she didn't love them," Mike said somberly.

"That's terrible," Nadine said and put her hand on his.

Mike felt the gesture and smiled at her.

"We don't talk about her anymore. They moved on. Besides, you know kids," Mike said and grinned.

"They're tough," she ended the saying for him.

Mike raised his glass to the remark to toast it and sipped it. Nadine sipped hers and they sat quietly for a while. She looked up after some time and studied his face. He was handsome in a rugged way she noted. His body showed he was a hard worker in the gym, but there was something under the surface she noted. Something dangerous lurked behind his eyes. It was like she was seeing a hard person that was utterly wild beneath the calm exterior. It was hard for her to explain the feeling she got as she studied his face, but she put it away.

"So you're from here?" Mike asked.

"No, I was born in Brooklyn. My mom and dad left to come here because they got good jobs. I was raised in Modesto," Nadine explained.

"Wow, a New Yorker in So Cal," Mike said chuckling.

"Yeah, so where are you from?" she asked.

"Not here," Mike said chuckling. "I'm from Montana, born and raised."

Nadine looked at him incredulously. Her eyes twinkled as she decided to pick on him a little.

"So a bumpkin in So Cal huh?" she laughed.

Mike grinned at her and chuckled softly.

"Touche," he chuckled back and got up from the table.

He went to the fridge and got his jug of tea. He walked back over and poured them another glass. As he sat down Nadine sipped hers and after she sipped it she looked at him puzzled.

"Where did you learn to make this tea?" she asked.

"My great grandfather's recipe. See the one side of my family is from there, but my great grandfather is from Copenhagen. He emigrated to the US after the First World War and settled in Montana. He met my great grandmother and the rest is history," Mike said.

"So he made it for you growing up?" she asked.

"Yeah, I had a good time growing up. I got to know hi ma bit growing up, but he died when I was a kid. We lived in a small town outside of Billings. My dad was a Forest Ranger and a Deputy of the town we lived in. My mom worked at the hardware store in town," he said softly reminiscing on his childhood.

Nadine saw the look on his face and tilted her head, "So you had a good childhood?" she asked.

"Oh yeah," Mike said in an upbeat tone, "I grew up in every boy's dream. Mountains, lakes, rivers, trees, lots of great places to play in. We had everything that boy scouts dream of being in," Mike said chuckling.

"You were one?" she guessed and he nodded his head.

"Yup. Good times too, but in high school I decided to do something crazy," he said thinking back.

"That's when you wanted to join the navy?" she asked.

Mike nodded his head. He went on to explain that he joined the navy because he saw the movie Navy SEALs and thought they were cool. He devoted the rest of his time in high school to getting himself ready for it and went on to explain he scared his parents by how single minded he was about it. Nadine listened as he told her that his dad and him had a long talk about it, and though his dad was fine with him doing what he wanted he just hoped he was sure about it. Mike sighed as he told her when he went to the recruiter and signed up. His dad signed the papers with him and that was that.

Nadine listened to him tell her about his time in the navy and it was not what he expected. He was assigned to an intelligence unit while he waited for his chance to be accepted into BUDS.

"What's BUDS?" she asked.

"Basic Underwater Demolitions School," he explained.

"Was it hard?" she asked.

"They have an attrition rate of about sixty to sixty five percent. My class had a higher rate as we got the hardest instructors. We started with forty nine and only six made it. I was the third in the class behind two others," Mike said.

"So what did they teach you to do?" she asked.

"Everything. We did a lot of underwater work, and that was the hardest part I thought," Mike said and he chuckled as he sipped down his tea. He poured another and went on.

"They teach you how to be a combat diver and it's not easy. You go through weeks of training and it's very harsh and demanding. One of the hardest things was drown proofing," he said,

"What's that?" she asked.

"You go into the water in your shorts and are bound hand and foot in Velcro restraints. You can't break the restraints at any time or you fail automatically. You have to bob in the water for five minutes, then go to the bottom and retrieve a mask on the bottom of the pool with your teeth. After that you have to swim one hundred meters still bound then you pass," Mike said and her eyes got big.

"Let's just say all my kids can swim, I made sure of that," he said chuckling.

"I bet, that sounds insane," she said looking at him in a new light.

"It gets worse before it gets better. After I was all done with my training I was assigned to a unit and well, I can't tell you much else," Mike said.

"Why?" she asked.

"It's classified and I signed waivers when I got in and out forbidding me of talking about my time in," he explained.

"Oh, well that's amazing Mike," Nadine said and sipped her tea.

Mike leaned back ad blew out a breath. He looked up to the window and saw that the lights went out in his room. He knew Melina would likely be asleep, so he decided to call it a night.

"Well Nadine, I gotta get to bed. We got some stuff to get done tomorrow," he said as he gulped his tea and got up.

"OK, well thanks Mike! I had a great time," she said happily.

"No problem sweetie. Tell you what, if you feel up to it or are just bored go ahead and swing by if we are here," Mike offered.

"OK, thanks," Nadine said and smiled at him.

They got up from the table and Mike walked her to the door. As they went out front Mike walked with her to the front of her lawn to make sure she got home safely. Nadine was thankful for the gesture and as she walked to her house she saw he was still there until she entered the front door. Once she shut her door and peeked out the eye hole she saw him walking back to his house. Nadine giggled a bit at the simple gesture, but inside it made her feel odd. She shook it off and went to her bedroom to get ready for bed. Tonight she was going to sleep in her own bed and if Trevor wanted to be out late then so be it. As she got into her pj's Nadine looked across the way to his house one more time. She saw the light in his bedroom was on, but it went out after a minute and she suspected he had gone to bed with Melina.

Nadine curled into her bed and pulled the blankets over her. Her new neighbors seemed like really nice people, and for some reason she actually wanted to hang out with them more. As she curled into slumber she made a mental note to wash the bikini and take it back to Melina the next day. Her eyes close and the dreams she had were filled with good times and friendly faces.