Failing to Hold On

At the trailer, they found that much of the children's' clothing and toys were still in the boxes that Ford had packed them in when he'd dropped them off while their mother was running around in New Orleans. Ford made certain to pack the Tonka truck and Nicole's Lite Brite, along with the scattered pegs.

"Make sure look under the beds," the Sheriff's Deputy advised. "Got two my own. Looking for shit? Going be either under the bed or behind the dresser."

"Here's someone's Batman underwear, ew! They got poop in them!" Birdie said. "Where's Miss Plastic's bedroom?"

"Birdie, please don't. Please? When they evaluate this in ninety days, I don't want them bringing that up, okay?" Ford begged.

"You're no fun," Birdie grumbled.

The family spent another night at Donna's trailer. As flighty, as self-centered as Donna had always seemed to Ford, the emaciated looking dancer was instantly the best friend to Randy and Nicole and Carrie. She dragged her dining room chairs into the living room, draped a blanket over them, and made a tent for the children. She read them a story by flashlight underneath their tent. She filled her tub with dishwashing liquid to create a bubble bath and bathed Randy and Nicole and put them into their pajamas. Then she told them a made up story while Birdie bathed Carrie.

"Thank God I don't have any kids," Donna whispered to Birdie as Randy and Nicole slept underneath their tent. "Damn! Wore me out!"

"You're joking, right?" Ford asked.

Donna didn't answer, just went to her bedroom. A moment later, the tell-tale scent of marijuana smoke wafted underneath the door.

In the morning, Donna made pancakes for breakfast and hugged and kissed the children several times as they packed the truck. Then she again made the claim she was glad she had no children of her own.

"Calling 'bull hockey' on that," Ford said as they watched Donna's eyes get shiny.

The trip took almost two hours longer on the return; several potty breaks had to be made, several food stops had to be made. But the three children were good road warriors. They did not get too fussy on the long journey.

Dr. Elliot Leroux was an excellent pediatrician; Edgar Carroll recommended him. Dr. Leroux had been Annabelle's pediatrician.

Ed also recommended Dr. Millicent Brown to be the children's' dentist. She had been Annabelle's dentist. Truthfully, the woman was still Annabelle's dentist. Ed was loathe to fully let his baby grow up.

"And pre-school? Randy's four, fixing be five? Need get him in at Fellowship right there," Ed said.

"Not Sam Houston?" Ford asked, pointing in the general direction of the public school.

"Fourth grade teacher was arrested last month, touching some of the kids," Ed snapped. "Want Randy or Nicole around that? Last year? Ten year old brought a twenty two hand gun in class. Wouldn't let my dog go there."

"We got a dog?" Lisette asked.

"Be quiet; know what I'm saying," Ed smiled.

Birdie had been a beautiful, loving, sweet girlfriend. She blossomed into a beautiful, loving, sweet, devoted mother. Their refrigerator quickly became festooned with drawings and Randy's tests from Fellowship Nondenominational School.

Nicole slipped and called Birdie 'Mommy' instead of 'Miss Birdie' as they were all at the dining table, talking about the bird that was building a next behind their apartment building. Nicole told Ford that 'Mommy' had taken them back there and they sat and were real quiet, watching the bird carry the sticks to make the nest.

"And then Mommy said she's going put her eggs in there," Nicole concluded her story.

"Throw them condoms out," Birdie ordered Ford as they readied for bed that night.

"Oh?" Ford said, amused.

The only blight on their idyllic life was the Ninety Day mark. Neither Ford nor Birdie would say anything, but they were both watching the calendar, watching for August fifth.

On August First, Ford was sitting at his desk, using the GPS system to track one of their rigs. The driver had called in; heavy rains had caused a section of the Interstate to become a river. Ford had rapidly pulled up the alternative route and so far, it seemed that the truck was still on schedule. His cell phone rang and Ford reached for it.

"Yes?" Ford answered, not looking first to see the identification of the caller.

"You win," Chelsea slurred into the phone.

"Huh? Who, is this Chelsea?" Ford asked, now seeing that the call had come from Loretta's phone.

"You win. Hope you happy," Chelsea said bitterly.

And suddenly, Ford's ear rang from a loud bang. For a moment, he sat, stunned. Then he screamed in horror.

"Chelsea! No!" he screamed.

He screamed Chelsea's name again. Then he saw that the call had dropped.

"Problem, Mr. Udell?" Annabelle asked, eyes wide with panic.

"Oh my God, oh my God," Ford said and tried to call Loretta's cell phone.

The call went straight to voice mail. Ford tried again with the same results.

Ten minutes after Ford received the horrific phone call, a police car screamed to a stop in front of Loretta's trailer. The Lowen County officer banged on the door, calling out.

Just before the police officer used his iron bar to pry the trailer's door open, Loretta arrived home from her shift at the bag factory. She hurriedly unlocked the door and she and the officer rushed into the trailer.

They found Chelsea, sitting at the kitchen table, .357 and mother's cell phone sitting on the table in front of her. Chelsea laughed uproariously as she recounted the trick she'd played on Ford.

"My roof!" Loretta screamed, seeing where Chelsea had pointed the gun when she fired it. "Are you insane? Look at my roof!"

David Upjohn did let Ford know Chelsea had not committed suicide. He also let Ford know that Judge Rosenbaum extended his ruling for one year, instead of ninety days. Judge Rosenbaum had also ordered a psychological evaluation be done on Chelsea Adams.

"So we get keep our babies?" Birdie asked as Ford ended the conversation with David.

"Yeah, Baby, we get to keep our babies," Ford said.

THE END

**Author's Note: I write these stories for my pleasure; I post them here for your enjoyment. I thank you sincerely for reading my stories.

I especially thank those that take the time to leave comments, good and bad. I thank those that take the time to rate my stories as well.

I do not read emails. I delete them without reading them. Many of the emails that I have read were so hateful, some even threatening that I delete them without even opening them.

Edgar Carroll, Lisette and Annabelle are all characters from 'Under Tornado Warning' in the Loving Wives category. Theresa White, the attorney is also from that story.

David Upjohn, the Arkansas lawyer is a character from 'Girl Inside' in the Transsexuals & Crossdressers category.

Like Ralph O'Reilly, the owner of the Armada says, a queer is somebody don't want onions on they burger. So, get you a burger, put you some grilled onions on that thing, sit back and pass you a good time.