Chapter 17

Early Christmas Morning:

Mathew:

I lay there in bed watching my girls sleep. Looking at the clock, I saw it was five-twelve in the morning. Slipping Beth off of me, I slid out of bed and went to the bathroom while the girls cuddled closer together. After taking a piss, I walked to the bedroom door and looked at my girls, sleeping. Reaching down, I picked up my shotgun, opened the door and slid out. Cyclone followed me, and we went down the hall to a spare bedroom. I changed to warmer clothes and then went downstairs. The fire was cackling in the fireplace, and Cyclone went and plopped down on the bearskin rug in front of it.

Going to the living room window, I looked out at the snow falling. I slipped my feet into my boots and stepped outside onto the porch. Standing there, I inhaled the fresh clean mountain air and felt revitalized from the breaths. With the shotgun in my left hand, I walked to the barn. I pulled the door open, and slipped inside.

Going upstairs, I went to the back of the loft, where I moved six large bales of hay and pulled out my duffel bag that I'd hidden there, months ago. I checked the lock I had put on the bag, and hoisted it onto my shoulder. I then pulled the remaining two bags out. I carried them all to the house. Setting them down on the couch, I listened and didn't hear anyone moving around. I removed my jacket and boots. With those taken care of I unlocked all three bags and started placing the packages around the tree.

I was just finishing up when I heard a chuckle behind me. Turning, I saw Norman standing there with four large zipped bags.

"Morning, sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Norman said as he walked over and set his bags down.

"That's ok, looks like we're not the first ones down here," I said.

"Guess not, I haven't seen this many gifts since my girls were under nine and we took them to their grandmother's house. Seems the entire clan had been invited," he replied as he unzipped the bags and started handing me the gifts to place.

Out of one of the bags, Norman pulled dozens of stockings and he started hanging them on the mantel or on the wall near the fireplace. Each had a name glittered on the white band and was stuffed full.

"Damn, I guess you were prepared," I said.

"Actually, I did the stockings," Natalie Reese said as she came in with a tray of hot chocolate and passed the cups to us.

"Well, thank you. I wasn't expecting anything like a stocking, and haven't had one in years," I said as I pulled the last of the gifts and placed them under the tree.

Taking the bags, I walked down the hall and tossed them into the closet and as I was coming back, Anastasia came down the stairs with a bag in her hands.

"Morning beautiful, I didn't mean to wake you," I said as I took the bag from her hands.

"You didn't. Your son woke me," she replied as she pressed her hand to her swollen belly.

"It's a girl, and she will be as beautiful as her mother," I said as I kissed her.

We walked into the living room and I set the bag down on the coffee table so Ana could open it.

"Thank you, Mathew, and it's a boy," Ana said as she started pulling small packages out and placed them under the tree.

"Girl," Natalie said.

"Why do you all keep saying that?" Ana asked as she looked at her friend.

"Experience, I have three, remember. You're carrying yours the way I did mine, so get used to it," Natalie replied and then hugged Ana.

I listened to the two women chat, and noticed the packages Ana was holding were wrapped in silver paper, and seemed to have a handmade bow on each of them. Each gift was of various sizes.

"What are they?" I asked as I passed the next box to her.

"You will have to wait and see, but I will say it's something homemade for all of you," Ana replied as she placed the packages under the tree. She then pulled out some more packages of various sizes. When she was finished she came over to the couch and sat down beside me. We sat there drinking our cocoa and chatting.

"Love you," Ana said as she cuddled into me.

"Love you too," I replied.

Turning my head, I kissed her on the top of hers and I pulled her close to me. Natalie got up, walked over to the CD player, and put on Bing Crosby singing Irving Berlin's 'White Christmas'.

"Looks like we're going to have one too, all this snow reminds me of Moscow," Ana stated as she took a sip of her drink.

"Ahh," I said as I turned and looked out the window. I was watching as the snow came down and started wondering about the meeting yesterday with the Sheriff. Something about the deputy had me concerned.

"Matt, what's the matter," Norman asked.

"That damn deputy has me worried. Why, I don't know," I replied.

"He did seem pushy to me, but let's forget him for now ... Uh oh, look out," Norman said as the rest of the family came downstairs.

Four kids ran by and knelt looking at all the gifts, their eyes wide as saucers.

"Mom, this has my name on it. Can I open it?" Rita Whittler asked as the seven year old held up the package.

"No, you may not. Now put it down. First it's breakfast, and then we'll open the gifts after our chores are done. That goes for you, too, Norma," Hanna Whittler said to her twin children. She was twenty-seven years old and a single mom. Her husband had left her three years before for his secretary. As far as she knew, they were dead, but it was not known, because when the states started clamping down on interstate travel, they were stuck in Miami on a cruise ship. I thought he was a fucking fool to leave someone like that with two sweet girls.

"Good morning, Hanna, kids, please let's get the chores done and then we'll eat," I said as I turned the two seven year olds towards the stairs.

The kids were off like rabbits to change into outdoor clothes, their ten and nine year old cousins right behind them.

I watched as the kids ran up the stairs shrieking in laughter.

I turned to their parents and said, "I'm glad you three made it from Boise last month. Those kids sure have livened up the house."

"Thanks, it was plain luck we made it through. I was worried when we had to go cross-country, but I was determined to get my sister, my wife and our kids here. I just wish Mom and Dad had come with us, but they were determined to sit the plague out in their cabin up above Boise," Jimmy Whittler said as he sat down on the couch.

"Don't you dare think about sitting on your butt. We need the cows milked, the eggs gathered, the animals fed and the dogs taken for a walk!" Vanessa Whittler said to her husband as she tapped her left foot as her nose flared.

Vanessa wasn't anything like her sister in law. One, she was black as the ace of spades, and had a fiery temper. Two, she took shit off no one, and was determined to tell anyone what she thought. She was also a damn good shot being ex-air force and she was very proud of her tour in Iraq. She never went anywhere without her nine mil on her hip and her M-16 within reach.

"Yes, dear," Jimmy said as he sighed and stood up. Handing his wife his coffee cup he went upstairs.

"Well?" she said as she looked at Norman and me.

"We're going," I replied as I gathered up Ana's bags and carried them down the hall and then slipped into the kitchen for another cup of coffee.

Norman and Jimmy came in a few minutes later, and we filled up our travel mugs and then went and put on our boots.

We headed out to the barn, and I started the small bulldozer that the family owned. I quickly had the corrals scraped clean. Then we then used the backhoe with the spike to lift a round bale out and dropped it into the hay rings. While I was locking the gate, Jimmy and Norman let the horses out so they could graze in the pasture. Parking the backhoe, I went inside and let the cows out as we finished milking them.

The kids finished gathering the eggs from the chicken house, and quickly fed them their grain. We watched them go inside with the eggs and pails of milk. We then started mucking out the stalls. We finished around seven-thirty and went inside to get cleaned up for breakfast.

Breakfast was not rushed because the women wouldn't let it be rushed. We ate at the large kitchen table and had pancakes with homemade syrup, scrambled eggs, toast and a ton of bacon with frozen orange juice, fresh milk and lots of coffee. The kids wanted to gobble their food down but one look from Vanessa had them eating normally.

I started to snicker. She glanced at me, and gave me a look that would curdle milk! I started coughing as I tried not to laugh, and then I grinned.

Looking at the kids, I saw they were finished and said, "Kids, go into the living room and sit on the couch. Us adults will be in, in a few minutes."

I watched the kids leave and then turned to Vanessa and said, "Vanessa, that look won't work with me. I met drill instructors that were worse than you when I was in the Special Forces. So let's just agree to get along and you can treat your kids the way you want. You let Hanna raise her kids her way, and I'll raise mine when they get here the way we want to."

"Mathew, I helped raise eight brothers a sister, and five nieces. I know how to raise kids..."

"And three of your brothers joined the gangs after you went into the Air Force. You have no idea if the rest of your family is alive because they lived in LA. Now, we all know what happened to that city because of the plague and the gangs. As far as you know, they're dead, I'm really sorry about that, but this is our house too and we all decided on how our kids will be raised. We don't mind doing the chores, but leave our families to us. If you see a problem, bring it to us, don't just go and discipline them like they are in the US Marine Corps and you're their drill instructor. Leave that to the families and get rid of the attitude that we owe you. It's a new slate on the wall, a new world coming. Even the sheriff said that every government but a few isolated ones have fallen. The government here in the US is being run by the military and they've divided the country up in to enclaves to help as many people as possible. I don't see an election coming soon, so we have to survive until the government is up and running..."

"But that could take years, we need to do something now," she said interrupting me.

"And we will, but until Victor Konstantinov and his gang are taken care of, we're not safe..."

"Why not give him what he wants, it's not like you don't have enough..."

I stood up and slapped her hard and she hit the floor as she went backwards and landed on her ass. I was standing there with my hands clenched and my nostrils flaring as I tried to get my anger under control.

Jimmy went to his wife and helped her up and she stood there glaring at me in anger.

Shaking my head to get rid of the anger, I looked up at her and said, "Ana is my wife, and even if she wasn't I would no more turn her over to that scum then I would your own daughter. Now, I'm sorry I hit you. I'm going for a walk and will be back later. You all go open your presents while I cool off."

Turning, I walked to the front door and slipped my boots on. I was reaching for my rifle when the girls came up and pulled me into a hug.

"Don't go. She had no right to say what she did, but we understand why she said it. She's scared ... scared for her kids, her husband and herself," Judy said as she released me.

"Ya, I know. And I need to deal with Victor. If I just knew where the son of a bitch was hiding," I replied as the girls pulled me into the living room.