Marco! Polo!

"Oh, you think you're quite clever, don't you, Johnny?" Cecil snarled when he realized John was speaking of him.

"Cecil? Hot dog? Hamburger, or brisket?" John politely asked.

"I'll have none of your God damned food, thank you very much," Cecil snarled bitterly.

"John, every now and then? A bad kid needs a good ass-warming," Owen said, pulling himself to his full height.

"And to have his mouth washed out with soap," DJ suggested. "Cindy, I got you some brisket and some of John's beans. I think he puts crack in them; they're addictive I swear."

"Well, the lot of you can just kiss my arse, cheeky bastards," Cecil spat. "April, car. Now. Get your kids; we're not staying where we're not welcome."

"You're not getting into any car with that drunk," John said forcefully to April. "And he's damned sure not leaving here with those girls.

"Now see here," Cecil said, shoving John.

Don't. Don't try that again," Owen said, shoving Cecil backward. "You be a good little boy and go sit down while the grown-ups have their meal."

"Fuck you, you bloody bastard," Cecil snarled.

"This? Is called a half nelson," Andy said, grabbing Cecil from behind.

"I say!" Cecil cried out, surprised.

"This, this is a full nelson," Andy said, immobilizing Cecil.

"Damn it, man! Release me! Release me this very instance!" Cecil cried out.

"And, this?" Andy said, grinding his hips against the struggling man's backside. "Is a Father Nelson. Hey, DJ? Grab his legs, huh?"

Still laughing over Andy's 'Father Nelson' joke, DJ grabbed Cecil's thrashing legs and the two men held Cecil steady.

"Cindy? Grab his car keys, huh?" Andy said as he and DJ held the screaming, cursing man suspended between them.

"Okay, got them," Cindy said, fishing the man's keys out of his baggy shorts' left pocket.

"Now, go sit down while we eat. Then, either I or DJ will drive your sorry ass on home," Andy said, nodding to DJ to release his grip on Cecil's legs.

"Father Nelson," DJ chuckled. "Andy, you, you're just wrong for that, hear?"

"Oh my God, John, what, what's in these beans?" Cindy demanded.

"I told you. Crack," DJ said. "Good, ain't they?"

"Thank you," Nina said, squeezing onto the bench next to John.

"Hmm?" John asked as Nina snuggled against him.

"For getting me the burnt ends," Nina said.

"Uh? Hey? Uh, I'm the one trimmed them off for you," David protested.

"Yes, yes, I'd like to report I am being held against my will," Cecil said into his cell phone.

"No you ain't. You can walk your sorry ass on out of here any time," Andy called out. "You just ain't driving, that's all."

"Thank you," April whispered to John.

She whispered a sincere thanks to DJ and to Andy as well. Lisa patted the bench next to her and April sat down with her plate of food.

"Yes ma'am, Twelve ten Brown Road," Cecil continued. "Thank you."

"He is going to be sorry," DJ whispered to John.

"Hmm? I know I am," John shrugged.

Nina smiled when John's arm dropped and wrapped loosely around her waist. She snuggled closer, then moved slightly away when Owen gave a slight throat clearing.

"Nina and Daddy, sitting in a tree..." Annalise sang out.

"Annalise in her room punished for a hundred years," John sang out and Annalise giggled.

"Daddy-daddy-daddy you wouldn't dare," Annalise said. "I ain't done nothing wrong."

"Ain't ain't a word," David said.

"Oh, let me, let me," DJ said when they heard a hard knock at the front door.

"No, no, let me," Andy demanded.

"That would be for me," Cecil smirked, striding to the sliding glass door.

"Yes, it would be for you," John agreed, trailing DJ and Andy into the home.

"Yes, officer, thank you for coming," Cecil smirked as an Oakleaf Police Officer stood on the porch. "I was manhandled by these two and they removed my car keys, without my consent I might add and..."

"Sir, have you been drinking?" the police officer asked, hard look to his face.

"Told you he was going to be sorry," DJ whispered to John.

"I might have had one or two, but I assure you, I'm in full control of my faculties," Cecil snapped. "Now, about these two..."

"Sir, step out onto the porch," the police officer ordered.

Cecil did not help his case by stumbling as he stepped from plush living room carpet onto the wooden slats of the porch.

John, DJ, Andy and April watched a field sobriety test being administered. Cecil was unhappy, but had the presence of mind to shut up when he was made to sit in the rear of the police cruiser.

"Okay, now, your side of the story?" the officer asked when John admitted to being the homeowner.

"He was already pretty buzzed when he got here, grabbed himself a beer and hadn't stopped drinking; they got here 'bout five," John said.

"So, about how many beers is that?" the officer asked, glancing down at his watch.

"About three of them, I think. These are the sixteen ounce Barley Terlings," John said.

"So, forty eight ounces in, hmm, an hour and a half?" the policeman interrupted again.

"Yes sir, and when he said he was leaving and told his wife and his two daughters to get in the car; well, we wasn't about let that happen," Andy jumped in.

"We told him, he was free to leave but he wasn't driving," DJ added.

"So, how long were you planning to hold him here," the policeman asked.

"Until we finished eating. Then either I or my brother here was going to drive them home; that's their minivan over there," Andy pointed toward the Dodge Caravan on the curb.

"Sir? You're damned lucky they stopped you," the officer said, opening the rear door of the cruiser. "Now, you let one of them drive you and your family home and do not get behind the wheel of that car until you've sobered up. Hear me?"

"My wife is perfectly capable of driving us home," Cecil snapped.

"Your wife, and your daughters have had enough," April snapped, stuffing the car keys into her bottomless purse. "You can walk home for all I care. But we're not coming with you."

"I haven't had anything to drink; I been manning the grill," John said. "I'll give him a ride home."

John stepped out onto the back deck and told his guests good-bye, should they leave before he returned. Annalise and Nina both reminded him that there was dessert; they weren't going anywhere anytime soon.

Nina blushed and Owen's eyebrow raised when John leaned over and gave Nina a quick kiss on her cheek. She beamed over her shoulder at John and laughed when Annalise again began singing her little ditty. John shook his head as Agatha and Evelyn joined in the singing.

"Thank you," April said to John, still glaring at a slightly chastened Cecil.

"Hmm?" John asked as he unlocked his sedan.

The first few moments were spent in angry silence. Cecil spoke up when John turned onto Manning Road instead of continuing straight on Roberts Drive.

"It's a shortcut; comes up behind the high school," John said easily.

"I suppose you're quite proud of yourself," Cecil snarled as they slowed for a red light.

"Hmm?" John asked, wincing as the car next to them boomed and thudded.

"Yes, believe you've finally shown me up in front of my wife and children," Cecil snapped.

"Cecil, I don't give a fuck about any of that, Jesus Christ turn that shit off you punk ass dick head," John said then yelled at the smirking kid in the car next to theirs.

"Yes, yes, must truly stick in your craw, losing your beautiful wife to a better man," Cecil said as the light turned green

"Mm hmm," John said, then sighed in relief as the booming thudding car pulled off the road into a gas station.

"So, nothing to say, Johnny Boy?" Cecil taunted as John pulled to a stop in front of Cecil's trailer.

"Hmm? Oh, no, no, I believe you've said it all," John smiled.

"But, look around, CeeCee boy," John said as Cecil opened the car door. "The better man? Is going into a trailer, alone. Oh, shit, hope you have a spare key to the trailer; your loving wife has the keys. So, better man? Have a good night there."

"I, hmm, well now, I am in a pickle," Cecil admitted to himself as he shut the door to John's car.

"Marco!" John heard when he stepped onto the back porch.

"Where's April?" John asked, glancing around.

"And Owen?" Andy hinted.

"Humph!" was Lisa's response as she continued with the clean-up.

"Marco!" Nina called out again.

"Polo!" Annalise, Evelyn and Agatha called out in response.

"Minute y'all left? Two of them was making goo-goo eyes at each other," David whispered as he scraped the grill clean.

"You're going give me the recipe for them beans," Cindy said, carrying two mugs of coffee onto the back deck. "Sweetheart, you wanted the seven-up cake?"

"Yeah," DJ agreed.

"Dessert?" Annalise called out from the pool and screeched when Nina tagged her.

"Dessert," John agreed.

"I don't think you and her husband were even out of the driveway and she was dragging Owen across the street to his house," Lisa whispered bitterly. "I swear, that woman! And right in front of her children too!"

"So, who wants what?" Nina asked as the three girls wiggled onto the bench seats.

"What you want?" John asked and Nina smiled happily at him.

"You are giving me that recipe," Cindy repeated as she got into DJ's car after dessert had been consumed.

"God, I, I'm driving a minivan? A minivan?" DJ complained as he started Cecil's car. "And don't be getting no ideas, Cindy."

"It's burning oil," Andy observed as he got into the rear seat of their parents' car.

"Yeah it is," John agreed.

"Mr. John, we spend the night?" Evelyn asked when John stepped into the living room.

John smirked; he could see Agatha and Annalise peering around the corner. Apparently, they'd taken a vote and elected Evelyn to be the spokesperson.

"Well, Baba, you got your jammies here?" John asked.

"Um, no," Evelyn admitted.

"How 'bout your toothbrush?" John asked. "You and Agatha got your toothbrushes here?"

"Um, no sir," Evelyn admitted.

"Then, yeah, I guess you can spend the night; let me clear it with your momma," John said and gave Evelyn a light swat to her backside. "Where's Miss Nina?"

"Kitchen," Nina called out. "You want any more of this chocolate pie?"

"Yes!" Annalise cried out.

"Your name Mr. John?" Nina called back and smiled as John stepped into the kitchen.

"Yes!" Annalise agreed, giggling.

"Hi Sweetheart," John said, digging his cell phone out. "Let me text their momma and then I'll help you."

April did not answer John's text. Owen did not answer Nina's text either. So, John found an age-appropriate movie for Annalise, Agatha and Evelyn. He then made parmesan popcorn for the girls.

While John was selecting the movie, DJ pulled up in front of Cecil's trailer. He smirked, seeing Cecil sitting on his rickety porch, head hanging low. Cecil looked up, eyes tired as DJ came to a shuddering halt.

"Van's burning oil," DJ commented, handing Cecil his keys.

Cecil peered into the van and did not see his wife or his daughters. He stared dejectedly as DJ got into the passenger seat of his own car. DJ and Cindy backed out of the trailer park while Cecil tiredly entered his home.

After the movie, John constructed a blanket fort in the living room. The girls eagerly crawled into the fort and set about giggling and whispering and giggling and squealing.

"Sending Nina home," John texted.

"I'm eighteen; you don't have to make sure I get home," Nina huffed as John stepped out onto the porch.

"Hey, uh, now that we dating? Yeah I do," John said and gave her a hug.

"Bye, love you," Nina said, stepping up on tip toes to kiss him.

"Love you too," John said and waved to Owen.

April did not leave Owen's house. John slept on the couch in the living room while Annalise, Agatha and Evelyn eventually tired themselves out and fell asleep in their fort.

"Hey," Nina roused John in the morning and quietly, with some touches and kisses, they made a crumble cake for the girls' breakfast.

"And we get coffee?" Evelyn whooped when they were given mugs of weak coffee with a generous amount of milk in it.

"Mm hmm; think it's against the law to eat coffee cake and not have coffee; I could get in serious trouble," John said and the girls, including Nina laughed.

The girls helped John clear away the mild wreckage of the living room. They locked themselves in Annalise's room to play board games. Nina had already cleaned up everything from their breakfast and was patting her hands dry when there was a hard pounding on the front door.

A glimpse through the peephole showed an enraged, wobbling Cecil. Nina fearfully crowded behind John as Cecil again slammed his fist repeatedly into the door.

"Good God, what? What the hell is wrong with you?" John demanded, jerking the door open.

"Tell April and her kids come on," Cecil slurred angrily, trying to push his way into John's house.

"April is not here; are you, you're drunk? It, Cecil, it's not even ten o'clock in the morning," John said, pushing Cecil backward.

"Oh, likely story," Cecil snarled, again trying to push past John. "If she isn't here, then where..."

Nina wiggled out through the open door. She cautiously circled around John and Cecil then scurried toward her own home.

"And even if she was, I damned sure wouldn't let her or those girls get into...Cecil, what? What happened to your front bumper?" John said, noticing that the front bumper was no longer attached to the front of Cecil's idling van.

"Hmm? I, how would I know?" Cecil said, then glared at John.

Cecil jammed his finger into John's chest. John resisted the urge to break the drunken man's finger, resisted the urge to break the drunken man's nose.

"You, your brother, your brother DD ferried it back to my place yesterday; probably ran into something," Cecil accused.

"Very unlikely," John said.

"I've no time for...April, come...NOW!" Cecil thundered.

"No. I will not," April said from behind Cecil.

"I, oh, quite clever, quite clever in deed," Cecil whirled and glared at April.

"You, you're drunk," April declared.

"Now, come on; get your brats; we're leaving," Cecil demanded, gripping April's upper arm in a forceful grip.

"I am not..." April protested, trying to jerk her arm out of his grip. "Cecil, let go of me; you're hurting me!"

At that moment, a police cruiser screeched to a halt just behind Cecil's minivan. Cecil turned and glared hatefully at John. He released April's arm as she again tried to jerk free and she wound up staggering to the ground.

"Really? You really called on the police?" Cecil snarled and took a wild swing at John.

John easily backed away from the ineffectual swing. The police officer quickly got out of his cruiser and scurried toward the two combatants.

"Sir, stop!" the police officer barked at Cecil.

"Morning officer, fancy meeting you again," John smirked, recognizing the police officer that had visited the home the previous evening.

The mystery of the missing bumper was solved; Cecil had lost it when he'd rear-ended a pickup truck on Whiting Road. Cecil failed the field sobriety test, and this time, the police officer put the handcuffs onto him and unceremoniously marched him to the police cruiser.

"Girls are in Annalise's room," John told April.

"Mind watching them a bit longer?" April asked, looking toward Owen's front door.

"Guess not," John agreed. "There's a couple burgers left; I can make lunch for them."

"Thanks. Oh, hey, your lawyer, what was his name?" April asked.

"Andrew Walker; I'll get his number for you," John said, turning off Cecil's minivan and pulling the key from the ignition.

"Yeah, Cecil, you're the better man," John said, watching the police cruiser pull away from the curb, a somewhat chastened man in the rear seat. "You just keep telling yourself that, huh?"

=-=-=

Michael Strickler's condition had not improved by the time Owen and April married. So, John found himself in the odd position of walking his ex-wife down the aisle. He smiled as he and April followed Evelyn, Agatha, and Annalise toward the altar where Brandon Wright, Nina and Owen waited.

"Boy, that pre-nup? Man, did she do some bitching," Owen confided to John as they posed for pictures in the reception hall. "But I told her, she was known to 'trade up' and consequences be damned. So, no signature? No wedding."

"Hawaii! They're going to Hawaii!" Nina complained as she and John waited in line for some over-priced drinks.

"Yeah, and they're leaving the girls with us," John agreed. "Is there no justice?"

"Baby, you take me to Hawaii?" Nina asked, batting her eyelashes at him.

"Baby, I will take you anywhere you want to go," John agreed, nodding his thanks as the bartender slid a St. Elizabeth's Lager across the bar.

"But, we get married in December? We can go to Benhurst; they got skiing and..." Nina mused aloud as she held onto John's arm.

John didn't remember asking Nina to marry him, but didn't argue the point with her. She had happily, willingly sacrificed her virginity to him, smiling up at him with complete devotion. Nothing was withheld from him; he was her man.

John smiled down at the blonde teenager; he would be a fool to let this one escape. There was a good jewelry store on the ground floor of 2 Alliance Square; he resolved to run over there on his lunch break on Monday.

Giving her a quick kiss on the lips, John hurried over to where Owen stood, enjoying a glass of champagne. The large man eyed John with an amused tilt to his head.

"You fixing ask me what I think you fixing ask me, the answer is, you better," Owen said. "That girl's been in love with you ever since y'all moved in across the street from us."

"All I needed to hear," John laughed and the two men exchanged a heartfelt hug.

X

"And when I get married..." Annalise gushed as she posed for a photograph with her father.

"When you're a hundred years old?" John suggested.

"Daddy!" Annalise protested.

X

"Mister John, I get married you going walk me down the aisle?" Evelyn asked as John helped her with her plate of food.

"But Baba, you have a Daddy. And Mr. Owen's your new step-daddy," John said, putting her plate onto a table next to Agatha's plate. "Don't you think one of them should be the one to...?"

"But Daddy don't know how to build a fort," Evelyn explained. "And Mr. Owen don't got a swimming pool."

"Oh, well then, yes, I will walk you down the aisle," John agreed, smiling at the girl's reasoning.

X

"I, John? I, I, thank you," April said quietly as they danced together.

The music stopped and April pulled out of John's loose embrace before he could answer her. April passed Nina who was approaching John, beatific smile on her face.

"Treat him, treat him right," April told her new step-daughter.

The End

**..**..**..*

**Author's Notes: 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 also thank those that take the time to rate my work, those that 'Favorite' my words.

The Reverend Brandon Wright and the Fellowship Non-Denominational church are introduced in the 'Just a Nice Boy' series in the Incest/Taboo category.

Clyde Meadows, John's immediate supervisor is a primary character introduced in 'Writing It Down' in the Anal category.

John's attorney, Andrew Walker is a primary character in '1 Alliance Square' in the Group Sex category.

Judge David Glasspool is a minor character in 'XYZ' in the Mature category. In that tale, he is a partner in a law firm and not a judge.

Peter Ortega, the man John overhears as he is trying to get Dr. Pruitt to invest in foreclosures, as well as Dr. Pruitt are introduced in 'Paint It Black' in the Incest/Taboo category.