Consumed Pt. 11

As Liam watched them, his thoughts turned to Jack. Jack had been his first real lover. He'd had a boyfriend or two during high school and college, but nothing nearly as serious as Jack. Liam remembered the first time he laid eyes on Jack. He was tall and handsome and looked so sophisticated in his custom tailored suit. He was unlike any other man that Liam had ever met. Jack's entire life was organized and planned out. He was bold, self-assured and very ambitious. It was his strong nature that attracted Liam. Later, Liam realized that all of those traits actually spelled out 'obsessive-compulsive personality disorder'. Because of this, Liam now understood that Jack would never have been able to live with the kids. He never would have been able to let the mayhem that comes with kids into his life.

Rick however, was like a breath of fresh air. Liam felt like he had been holding his breath for the last five years and only now was he able to finally release it. Tension had built up inside him that he hadn't even realized was there, that is, until it was gone.

"Liam, are you okay?" Rick asked, bringing Liam out of his thoughts.

Liam brought his gaze back over to Rick, lying there on the floor with the kids. "Yeah, sorry, I was just thinking," he replied. "I actually need to make a couple more phone calls and then we can head out."

"Okay, no problem, take your time," Rick replied, before he turned his attention back to the TV.

Mitch was of the same mind as his parents. He actually felt that it would be a good idea to not let on that Robert may be a suspect. It was Mitch's plan to approach the investigation of Robert and the firm as if he were trying to rule out everyone. He figured this way it would be easier to get Robert's continued support in the investigation. That being said, Liam then called Robert's office and told him that he would take the house. Robert was very pleased with Liam's decision and told him that he would start the paperwork for the sale as soon as Adam and Julie's estate was completely settled.

Once done with his phone calls, Liam turned his attention back to Rick and the kids. "Well, I think I'm ready, how about you guys?"

After a receiving a resounding "yes" from everyone, they all headed out to Liam's car. Rick stopped to talk with the policemen stationed out front. He gave them their itinerary and confirmed that the police would be escorting them.

The rest of the morning and afternoon ended up being a lot of fun. They shopped for nonsense camping gear, to which Liam couldn't help but comment that they were only camping out in the back yard, and they wouldn't need most of the stuff Rick had picked out, but Rick decided that this was their first time camping out, so they had to do it right.

Each of the kids got their own little battery powered lantern. All of them got their own plate and utensil kit, complete with plate, cup, bowl, and double-sided spoon and fork. Rick also added an excess of freeze dried food that also included freeze dried ice cream. And, don't even get Liam started on the backpack for the dog or the camper's ice cream ball, which is supposed to make ice cream by rolling it around. 'How much ice cream do we need?' Liam thought to himself, as they finally headed to the check out.

While they were waiting in line, Liam leaned into Rick and whispered in his ear. "Man, these kids have you wrapped around their little fingers. You're such a sucker," He said, laughing slightly.

The only response Liam received was a 'guilty-as-charged' grin from Rick.

'Well, the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem,' Liam thought, as they finally reached the check out counter.

After they loaded up the car with their purchases, they headed out for lunch. Rick said it was too nice a day to eat indoors. They ended up going through a drive thru and taking lunch out to a local park. At Rick's suggestion, they also picked up lunch for the two officers that were assigned to follow them. They sat under the trees in the grass and ate, or actually, Liam and Rick ate, Chris and Cassie scarfed, as they were anxious to go play in the playground. The officers were parked in their car, watching from a short distance.

Once Chris and Cassie were 'finally' released, as Chris put it, they were all over the playground.

"This is so much better than sitting in one of those fast food joints with the indoor playgrounds. At least here, you don't have a bunch of kids running around and screaming in a confined space. Plus, those places stink. Can't stand them," Rick said, as they sat and watched Chris pushing Cassie on the swings.

"Yeah, but you still have the kids running around and screaming," Liam replied, as he watched Chris say something to Cassie and then turn to walk over in their direction.

"I know, but at least now it's just my kids doing the screaming." Rick said, causing Liam's head to snap up to Rick to see if he realized what he'd just said. It was obvious he didn't, as his eyes were focused on the kids.

"Uncle Liam, can you push Cassie? I want to play on the monkey bars," Chris asked.

Nodding his assent, Liam got up from the grass and then turned to Rick, who was also in the process of standing up.

"Come on, we can take turns pushing her," Rick said, as he headed in Cassie's direction.

Instead of taking turns, Liam took up the front, pushing Cassie's feet, and Rick took up the rear, pushing her from the back. She didn't get a lot of height this way, but Cassie didn't seem to care.

Once the kids had worn themselves out and worked off lunch, they left for the grocery store, this time to get the required ingredients for the s'mores. In addition to the s'more fixings, Rick also decided they needed to get Jiffy Pop to cook over the open fire. Forget the fact that the stuff is probably the worst popcorn ever. "It's a camping tradition. Everyone does it. It's a staple of camping. Besides, everything tastes better cooked over an open fire," Rick said.

"Yeah, just like ice cream?" Liam asked, the sarcasm obvious in his voice.

"Okay, you got me there, but maybe we can start our own tradition with that one," Rick responded.

"We could do that, Liam said, the two smiling at each other like a couple of love struck buffoons.

As they were walking back to their car with the groceries, Liam happened to see the police cruiser parked in the loading/unloading zone of the store. It was a location that would provide good visibility of the parking lot and the front of the store.

"It's giving me the heebie-jeebies having those officers following us around. I keeping getting the 'being watched' feeling, Liam said.

"That's probably because you are being watched, Rick said, moving out of the way just in time to avoid Liam's backhand.

"Stop being a smart..." Liam said, but was interrupted by Rick.

"Hey, watch your language. There are kids present."

"What I was going to say, before you so rudely interrupted me, was stop being a smart butt and load the groceries in the trunk. I'll put the kids in the car," Liam said before he turned his attention to Cassie, sitting quietly in the cart. "Come on sweetie, let's get you in the car."

To be continued (that's a promise)…