His Daddy's Car

She released the knot from her own wrist and rolled back to her side of the bed.

When Bobby returned she pulled him on top of her and whispered in his ear, "Let's make a baby."

She loved his immediate and enthusiastic compliance to her request.

When Patty eventually rolled off Bobby, she captured the belt still tethered to his wrist, and pulled on it until he was once again spooning against her.

"I could get used to keeping you on a short leash, especially when in our bedroom," she sighed.

Bobby nuzzled the back of her neck, "It would eliminate the need for the physical attachment surgery you were contemplating on Friday."

"Oh I haven't given up on that idea yet," she cooed.

Patty rolled over to face Bobby. "Based upon some of the stories we read last night I learned something new about you."

"What did you learn about me, or should I ask?"

She reached down between their bodies and let her hand indicate the subject matter of her recent education. "You buster are obviously better endowed than the average man."

Enjoying her touch, Bobby reminded her, "The same stories often had all the women with 36DDD breasts, so you need to take the perception of 'average' with a grain of salt."

Patty smiled, "Well, I have no real-life experience to compare you too, but the average man was almost always described as being around seven inches long. You've got that beat by quite a bit. I'm just glad that you're mine."

Leaning down and capturing one of her nipples with his lips, Bobby was still able to voice his response, "I'm glad you're mine too PattyKat."

"Okay, we need to stop now," she said as she started untying the belt from Bobby's wrist. "JR needs to get in the shower before school and I need to feed my men a hearty breakfast."

"I need to limit myself to coffee this morning," Bobby told her. "I have a session scheduled with one of the Physical Training instructors at the base and you definitely want an empty stomach when you have Air Force PT."

Patty replaced the belt on her robe and finished tying it. "Okay, you go ahead and start your shower while I get JR up and coffee going. Be back in a minute."

Bobby admired her movements as she left the bedroom before he pulled himself out of bed and headed to the shower.

Patty's parents were already in the kitchen drinking coffee when she led JR's sleepy body in to join them.

"What would you like for breakfast JR?" asked his grandma.

"Sleep," moaned JR.

Patty mussed his hair, "You'll survive. You're only waking up fifteen minutes earlier than normal for a school day, and the shower you'll take after breakfast will make you feel much better. Why don't you have some cereal and fruit? That will be quick and easy."

JR went to the pantry to get cereal. "Where's dad? He doesn't get to sleep in does he?"

Patty poured a cup of coffee for Bobby. "No, he's already taking his shower, but after the wonderful day he showed both of us yesterday, would you really begrudge him if he did decide to sleep in this morning?"

A look of embarrassment came over JR's face, "I'm sorry, of course not. I just miss him."

Patty picked up the coffee she had poured and started back towards the stairs. "I miss him to. I'll take some coffee to him and hurry him along. Don't wait for him though. Go ahead and finish your breakfast and then head for your own shower. You'll see your dad before he leaves. I promise."

JR prepared his breakfast as Patty left the kitchen. When he sat down with his grandparents he remembered that he had something to ask them. "Grandpa, grandma, would it be okay if Joey and I built a tree house out back? Dad said he would help us, and Uncle Jason would probably help too."

His grandpa chuckled, "Tell you what. After school, why don't you and Joey come get me and we'll scope out some trees that might be good for a tree house. As long as we pick one that isn't diseased or too weak to support your construction, I think we can say yes."

Bobby was out of the shower and shaving when Patty brought him his coffee.

She kissed the back of his neck. "JR is playing at being sleep deprived this morning, but he's eating his breakfast right now."

Bobby smiled at her in the mirror. "Threaten him with having to take a nap later and see if he changes his tune."

She giggled, "Have you been reading "Dad for Dummies" or some other how-to book for fathers?"

Rinsing his razor, Bobby told her, "Just because you didn't know me when I was nine doesn't mean I wasn't that age once myself. I also had the best dad in the world to emulate."

Taking her robe off and turning on the shower, "Well dad, your son is already claiming to be missing you and wondering where you were, so why don't you go hustle him through breakfast and into the shower while I get ready myself?"

After cleaning the remaining shaving cream from his face, Bobby told her, "I'm on it. Once I get him in the shower I'll come back. We have a few things to talk about for today and I'm going to have to head out pretty soon."

Patty had her head under the water and simply nodded in response.

Bobby finished getting dressed and went to find JR in the kitchen. JR had just finished putting his cereal bowl into the dishwasher when Bobby came up behind him and squeezed his shoulder. "Good morning JR. How'd you sleep?"

Turning to hug his father, JR said, "I was really tired, but it was the best tired I ever felt. Dad, grandpa says he'll help me and Joey find a good tree for a tree house."

"Excellent," said Bobby. "Once you have the tree selected, then we can start drawing up plans. In the meantime, let me get your mom some coffee and then I'll escort you to your shower so you don't get lost along the way."

"Taking separate showers might be more productive, but it sure isn't as much fun," Bobby said as he walked up behind Patty and put her cup of coffee on the bathroom counter.

Turning her to face him, he saw that she hadn't retied her robe. He put his arms inside the robe as he pulled her body to his and kissed her lips.

Breaking the kiss but keeping contact between their lips she moaned, "You're preaching to the choir. I almost don't feel 'clean' unless I can get 'dirty' with you in the process."

After a squeeze of her behind, Bobby released her and took a seat on the edge of the tub, "Do you still have the credit card that I gave you on Friday?"

"Okay," she said as she turned back to the mirror and began drying her hair. "One change of subject on wheat coming right up. Yes, it is inside one of my tennis shoes in the bedroom. Why?"

Speaking up to be heard over the blow dryer, Bobby said, "I doubt that you'll need it now with Gail Bennet and her team watching you, but why don't you go ahead and keep it with the rest of your credit cards for a few more days at least."

Catching his eyes in the mirror she replied, "So it is some sort of tracking device as I suspected?"

Bobby nodded, "Yes. I wanted you to have something when you left the nursing home with your parents in case the Marshals tried to hide you from me before I had made other arrangements to prevent that from happening."

He continued, "I will need to be in my office today until at least early afternoon, then I can swing by the rental house in Leon Valley, pick up some more clothes and stuff, and then be back here by around 4 p.m. Will your schedule for the day allow for you to meet with the lawyers this afternoon here at the house? Probably around 3 p.m."

Patty turned to face him as she continued drying her hair, "Sure. After taking JR to school I only have a little shopping planned for this morning, and then one or two telephone calls with clients to firm up appointments later in the week. I may have to drop some proofs off to one of them, but even then I should be home by 2:30 p.m. at the latest."

"Is there anything I can do for you while I am in town that would make things easier for you?" Bobby asked.

She gave him a lascivious grin and just shook her head "No."

Bobby cocked an eyebrow at her, but let her flirtation pass as he said, "With the lawyers, please focus on the personal aspects of your identity before worrying about the financial. Regardless of the name you go by, all of your assets are securely yours. I want JR to see that we are taking steps to make sure that everyone knows he belongs to you and me."

Nodding she said, "I agree with you, and I had already planned on stopping into the school office with JR when I take him so he could hear and see me getting you added to his records as his father, with full authorization as his legal parent. Plus, I have no doubt that OUR assets are secure."

"That brings up another subject that my lawyer is going to broach during your discussions," he said as he watched to gauge her attention to him. "A pre-nuptial agreement."

"I have no problem with that," said Patty.

"My lawyer is the one who has the problem," replied Bobby. "He may try to get you to take his side in convincing me to not have one."

Her expression of puzzlement made her response redundant, "I don't understand."

Bobby stood, turned off the blow dryer and then took both of her hands into his as he looked into her eyes, "Since I applied for and was granted my first patent almost nine years ago, I have shared everything I own with you. While it has been in name only to this point, it has always been my belief that I am only half of the whole without you, thus I only deserved half of my success if I couldn't share it with you. From the beginning, my lawyer would tell me that there existed a very real possibility that I would someday make another man's wife very wealthy. I didn't care."

Patty squeezed his hands in hers, but let him continue uninterrupted.

"Community property laws in many States might not respect my desire to insure you receive half of everything I owned prior to us getting married, so the pre-nuptial agreement I want will guarantee that. It will be unconditional and binding in all fifty States. You can exclude anything of yours that you want, but please respect my wishes to share with you everything that would have been yours naturally if circumstances hadn't gotten in our way."

Smiling up at him with misty eyes that radiated her love for him Patty sighed, "Bobby, my promise to fulfill all your desires isn't limited to the physical. Anything that you desire, and which is mine to give will always be done so willingly and without reservation or regret. Now my business on the other hand is another matter."

Now it was Bobby's turn to share a puzzled look at her, "In what way?"

Patty placed her hands on his face and smiled up at him as she said, "I don't want it. I only do it to justify my professional existence as an artist, but things you brought up on our flight home gave me a chance to consider 'options'. We obviously won't need the money from my few business clients, and I would rather devote my time and energy to something I am much more passionate about."

"What would that be?" he asked.

"My husband and my son," she whispered. "I would like your opinion on home schooling JR. You and I could do at least as good a job as the local public schools, plus it would afford us the opportunity to travel with him and open the world up as his classroom."

Bobby pulled her into his arms and said, "I would support that. I could stand to delegate much more of my work to others, and I like the idea of spending more time with you and JR. We have a lot of catching up to do."

He released her so she could resume drying her hair, and then added, "One more thing to consider with the lawyers is where your parents are concerned. In all likelihood, the threats that necessitated you all entering the witness protection program will cease to exist later this morning. I'm not sure how this will impact the continued support of your parents and their ability to remain in this house. While the deed is registered in their names, it technically belongs to the U.S. Marshall Service, and they may want to retain it. I'm sure there will be some financial compensation offered to you and your parents, but make sure that they understand that their future plans are not limited by what the government offers them. They do have a very wealthy daughter after all."

"Are all the men from your planet as wonderful as you?" she giggled at his reflection in the mirror.

He patted her behind and said, "Nope, only those exposed to the rare Earth element 'PattyKat'. I need to run. I'm going to drive the truck so that I can fit more from the house in a single trip. Do you want me to leave you my keys to the Corvair?"

Patty smiled, shut off the blow dryer and walked into the bedroom. Bobby watched her go to her jewelry box and search for something.

She turned to him holding her quest for him to see and said, "No need. I have my own key."

Chuckling, Bobby gave her a hug and a kiss as he said, "Have a good day and call me if you need anything. Make sure that Kirby knows your plans so that Gail Bennet and her team are positioned accordingly."

She kissed him back and said, "I will. Why don't you call me before you head back from San Antonio in case I think of something that you could pick up at the store on the way home?"

"I'll do that," he said as he walked out into the hallway. Instead of going downstairs he turned and headed for JR's room to see how he was progressing.

JR had just finished making his bed when Bobby stuck his head in the door of his bedroom.

"Hey JR, I'm heading into work and wanted to wish you a good day at school," he said. "Do me a favor, okay?"

JR went to his dad and hugged him, "Anything dad."

Bobby hugged his son back and said, "Your mom will probably drive you to school in the Corvair this morning. Please don't give her a hard time about sitting in the backseat instead of her seat up front. Okay?"

JR looked up at his dad, smiling as he said, "I have my own seat dad. The backseat is JR's and I'll make sure everybody knows it."

"You're the best." Bobby knelt down in front of JR and continued, "I am so proud to have you as my son."

"And I'm proud to have you as my dad. I can't wait to tell the kids at school about you," JR grinned.

Rising, Bobby squeezed JR's shoulder and said, "Just be careful. Don't be boastful or insensitive. There may be kids who either don't have dads, or they don't live with them. Think about how you used to feel when you were in their shoes."

JR got a contemplative look on his face and said, "Thanks dad, I hadn't thought of that. I sure wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. I'll be careful."

Bobby patted JR's shoulder as he was leaving the room saying, "I'm sure you will. I trust you. See you this afternoon."

As he was walking towards the stairs, Patty opened her bedroom door and pulled him back inside.

"No so fast buster, I need to check something." She pushed her hand down the back of his jeans as she smiled up at him. Upon confirming her suspicions she said, "I'm sure your mom told you to make sure you wear clean underwear, not that you shouldn't wear any underwear. Am I going to have to start dressing you?"

"Men from my planet require greater ventilation than mere mortals," Bobby tried to say with a straight face.

"Men from your planet just like to tease us defenseless Earth women," she giggled as she kissed him and let him go.

Bobby searched out Kirby in the RV on his way to his truck. Finding him at the table in the RV, Bobby sat down and joined him.

"Good morning Kirby," began Bobby. "Any concerns for today?"

Kirby took a sip of his coffee and replied, "None so far. I spoke with Acosta about an hour ago and he seems to have all identified potential risks wrapped up and in transit to one place or another."

Bobby nodded and said, "The Attorney General will be holding a press conference at 11 a.m. our time. I would like for you to watch it. I then would like you to listen in on a conference call that I am going to have an hour later. I'll text you the details."

"Not a problem," said Kirby. "See you this evening?"

As he stood to leave, Bobby answered, "Definitely. I think we'll have a lot to discuss about the current situation as well as your future."

Kirby nodded. "I'll be waiting. Have a good day."

Bobby paired his cell phone with the hands free Bluetooth in his truck and made his first call before he had driven through the gate to the house.

"Acosta," was the clipped response when the call was answered.

"Good morning Rick," Bobby replied. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Hey Bobby. I got enough to hold me. You want an update on anything in particular, or just generalities?"

Bobby thought for a minute before responding, "Specifics on the 'Circle of Brothers', generalities on everything else."

Acosta began, "Ginzburg thought he would be clever and get himself arrested for DUI as a means of insuring he was safely out of reach. When he used the moist paper towel to wipe the finger print ink from his hands during his booking, the neurotoxin was applied. It was quick work from that point to get him transferred to our custody for medical treatment and then transported to the trawler. Ivankov tried hiding out in a lead-lined Cold War era bomb shelter beneath a bungalow on Catalina Island. Our team got him, along with four more of his guards. They are all on the trawler as well. The guards are 'messenger' material, but Ivankov and Ginzburg are awaiting your directions. Butorin and Mikhailov were confident that their assault teams would find and deal with Ivankov and Ginzburg, so they took no extraordinary precautions and were easy pickings. Both are in transit to Guantanamo and should be arriving by the time of the AG's press conference."

"Good work," Bobby told him. "How many 'messengers' do we have in total?"

"Fifteen," said Acosta.

"I'll e-mail you delivery details for them in about an hour. Are Ivankov and Ginzburg ready to play their roles?"

"They are physically ready right now. I have a few more incentives left to provide them to insure that they are mentally prepared," Acosta replied.

"Good," Bobby said. "Let me know when you're ready with them. Is everything still on schedule for Odessa?"

"Everything is still a go."

Bobby tried to think if there was anything else he needed to know right then. "Okay Rick, I guess that's it for now. Check back with me after the press conference if you can. Bye."

***

Ivankov and Ginzburg were lying on the deck of a ship, each on opposite sides of an open hatch. They had been placed there, on their stomachs while paralyzed and forced to watch the scenes below them as men they knew and didn't know were systematically tortured and disfigured. What they saw was merely a heap of moaning bodies.

Their paralysis had subsided hours ago, but they were bound to the deck in a manner that left them just as immobile as if they were still drugged. All their captures wore ski masks, and the ones working on the men below wore heavy rubber-coated aprons to keep the blood off their clothes.

They heard men approaching on the deck, but could not turn their heads to watch. As their bonds to the deck were released, each was dragged to his feet and led down steps into the body of the ship. They were led into a room with two wooden chairs and what appeared to be an operating table. As each was secured to one of the wooden chairs, they noticed a chainsaw sitting on the floor next to the door they had entered through. Two of the men left, but another man entered and took their place. There were now three men in the room besides Ivankov and Ginzburg. Once the door was closed and latched, the latest man spoke.

"How are my two favorite cowards this morning?" he asked.

Ivankov and Ginzburg just stared.

The new man looked to the other two guards and asked, "They still have their tongues don't they?"