Tai's Story Ch. 04

"No Evie that will be up to you but I warn you, you will have to be gentle with him. He is not your average guy."

She nodded. "Do you think he will freak out?"

I hadn't considered it. "I don't know hon, you never know."

As the night unveiled Pete suggested we go through to the bar where there was a band playing. I smiled as I nodded. This was a first, Pete never suggested we go on. He was usually the first to pull the pin and go home early.

Once we got into the bar Pete dragged Evie up for a dance and they stayed there for most of the night. In the end I left them to it and went back to my room.

It was a sleepless night as I wondered angrily about what to do.

In the morning I got up and showered and went and knocked on Evie's door to see if she wanted breakfast. She answered the door looking very second hand. She opened the door and invited me in. There in bed was Pete looking out sheepishly at me from underneath the covers.

I laughed. "Well, well, well you dirty buggers." I laughed. "You sneaky bugger Pete. You know she is my friend don't you?"

He looked completely uncomfortable. "Sorry Tai, I didn't mean for anything to happen."

Evie walked back in. "Tai stop being a bitch, leave him alone."

I teased her. "I don't think you are standing on firm ground young lady." She pulled a funny face and poked her tongue out at me.

The three of us went out to breakfast. It took a while but the conversation started to flow and I could see the two of them were getting on really well.

We went back to Pete's place and got the bike on a trailer with Pete's dirt bike which he was loaning me so I could go for a ride with Tane.

As we were getting all our shit sorted my phone went and it was Luce, or at least it was her number. Instead of Luce it was Tane. "Dad are you coming to the party?" He sounded like he had been crying.

"No son you enjoy your lunch. I will come and pick you up afterwards and we will go out for dinner."

"Please Dad I want you to Come, Nana and Pop are here."

"No thanks son, we will have time together later."

He burst into tears. "It's because of Mark isn't it?"

I tried to calm him down but he was really worked up. "I told mum not to invite him but she wouldn't listen. I'm sorry Dad."

"Hey it's not your fault son. We will have some fun later I promise." He sounded disappointed but he accepted it. I thought he was hanging up but Luce took it. "Tai I hope you are proud of yourself. You have spoilt his birthday."

I heard Tane in the background yelling at her. "Mum stop ruining it."

She hissed at me. "See what you have done. Now he is upset."

"Sounds like he is upset with you not me. Call me after dinner and I will pick him up. If your boyfriend is there make sure he stays out of my way or he will end up like Greg."

We took Evie out for a drive and showed her the sights. We went down to the beach. The place did have its own beauty even for a windswept bleak place. We went down to a little place on the coast for lunch. It was about an hour after that when Luce called to say Tane was ready to be picked up.

When we arrived Luce came out to meet me. She looked a little peeved. "Where's the bike?"

"Back at Pete's." I mumbled. "It's all wrapped up so we couldn't bring it."

"I thought we were giving him it together."

"It is a joint gift and we can still give it to him together if you come with us."

"Can Mark come with us?"

Evie jumped in. "Hon that's probably not a good idea."

Just then the kids came running out. We hugged and I offered my birthday congratulations. He looked disappointed that I didn't have a gift. "Mate you gift is around at Uncle Pete's we will give it to you then."

His expression changed and he looked a lot happier. I said. "Go and get ready we are leaving in a minute." They both disappeared back inside to get shoes and jumpers.

"Luce we will be giving him his gift in about an hour. You are welcome to come if you and your folks want to come around, just leave your boyfriend at home because he isn't welcome."

She looked like she was about to explode and throw a tantrum. "Well if my partner isn't welcome then I won't come either."

"Fine by me Luce it's your loss." The tension was huge and Luce just stood there hands on hips glaring angrily at me, so when the kids came barrelling out we loaded them in the back of the car and off we went. At Pete's place Evie gave Tane her present and Pete gave him a little gift as well. I stalled for as long as possible giving Luce a chance to change her mind but I guess it wasn't going to happen.

We took the kids out to the shed and there sitting in the middle of the floor was the bike. We had wrapped it in such a way that it wasn't obvious what it was. He tore into it and there was paper flying in all directions. The moment it was unwrapped the look on his face was absolute amazement. He screamed. "OMG Dad it's bloody awesome."

We gave him his riding gear and as he was giving its first ride around the front lawn as his Nana and Pop turned up. We all hugged and we all looked on in wonder at his big beaming smile. He was happier than a kid in a lolly factory. Luce's mum apologised for Luce not turning up. It seemed she was offside with her as well.

After they had left we packed the bike on the trailer and we took it down to the beach. Tane went for a spin as we were unpacking Pete's bike that I was going to ride. I looked at Talia and she looked a bit sad. "What's the matter baby?"

She looked up at me with her mother's big puppy dog eyes. "Can I have a ride dad?" I hadn't even considered it. "Well it is Tane bike but if he is happy I am happy." So when he got back from racing up and down the beach Talia sprung it on him. He was a bit possessive, it was his brand new toy but he relented. Talia is older but they are about the same size. We got her dressed and the moment she was on the bike she was off and there was no holding her back. She was a bloody natural.

We had to fight to get her off it. Tane got his helmet and gear back on and took off. Pete grabbed me. "Mate I know where there is another one if you are interested she is bloody good."

I gave him the OK and he was straight on the phone. By the time we were ready to go it was a done deal.

After the ride we headed off to the hotel for a big dinner. Later as we were taking the bike off the trailer I took Tane aside. "Mate would you mind if I brought Talia a bike as well?"

He smiled. "Na that's cool dad, at least it will keep her off mine."

"Don't say anything to Talia hopefully when I pick you guys up tomorrow I will have one for her as well. We hugged it out and he thanked me for everything. It was a moment I will always cherish.

We took the bike and all their presents back home and Luce came out and she was pretty impressed with the bike. Thankfully she had calmed down by then. "Thank you Tai." Was all she said.

As we were packing the bike in the shed Talia was excitedly telling Luce all about the ride and how much she had loved it. She was so jubilant that Luce didn't argue she just gave me a nervous stare. As the kids disappeared she grabbed me. "What the hell is that all about Tai?"

"Well if you had been there you would have seen the look on her face. She was having a blast. She loved it Luce. I want to buy her one as well."

She didn't look convinced and she threw her arms in the air and walked away in a huff. More at my dig at her not being there perhaps?

We left the kids and Pete took us around to his mates place and we had a look at the bike. It was in great condition and we agreed price and loaded it up and took it with us. Pete called in a couple of favours and we picked up some brand new riding gear for her as well.

Evie was on her phone the whole time we were picking up the gear.

Later at the hotel as we were relaxing with a few drinks she drew me into conversation. "Tai wouldn't it be a good gesture if you let Luce bring her boyfriend tomorrow."

"No fucking way this is my time to spend with the kids. It's my time not her time, she has the rest of the year to spend with him. No he can stay away."

"Is that fair hon? What harm could it do if he was there as well?"

"I just don't want him there. End of story so stop pissing me off."

The subject was dropped and we finished the evening in a subdued mood. I left them to it and wasn't surprised to find Pete had again spent the night.

They both asked me if I would be happy if they went off riding today while I was with the kids.

I laughed. "No worries just be safe, Pete I don't want you showing off and hurting Evie." He looked a bit taken back. "I am joking mate just remember she has never been on a bike before."

I loaded up the bikes and stopped at subway to pick up some food for lunch.

When I got to Luce's place she was shocked that there was another bike on the trailer. "Tai come on what the hell are you doing."

"That is Talia's bike yesterday she had so much fun riding Tane and she is a natural Luce. She loved it."

Her mood had changed and I could see the concern unfolding across her face. "Shit Tai will she be strong enough? I don't want her getting hurt."

By then the kids were out and jumping all over me. When Talia saw the extra bike she flipped and screamed her lungs out. She jumped into my arms with tears flooding her rosy cheeks.

Luce was left with no room for argument. We loaded Tane's bike in the trailer as well. As we were finishing up I said. "Luce there is room for you as well. I have food and drinks because we could be a while."

We hugged and she asked if her parents could come as well? I agreed and we headed off for the beach. The kids jumped straight on the bikes and I was wasting my time trying to explain everything to Talia she was so excited. She just gunned it and headed out for a ride. Before long they were racing each other and putting up mile long rooster tails as they sped up and down the beach.

I spread out the blanket and pulled out the food. After we had some food I got Pete's bike down and went for a ride with the kids. As we pulled up back at the car Talia yelled at her mum to come with us. She didn't look all that impressed but she jumped on the back with me and we rode around for a while. It turned out to be an awesome day. It ended with Tane asking if he could ride at the motocross in the weekend. A couple of his mates were going to be there riding.

Luce was absolutely against it and wasn't going to be moved. No way no how. Not as long as her arse pointed to the ground. Tane looked crestfallen. I knew there was no point arguing with Luce. I didn't see the harm but I wasn't going to argue not when she was this wound up.

I went back to the hotel. Evie wasn't there so I caught up on some emails. There were several messages from Alex. I sent her a fairly long message catching her up on our adventures.

It was late when Evie rocked up. I heard the Ducati pull up into the carpark.

She rushed in with a huge grin on her face. "Wow, just fucking wow. That was amazing. Holy shit I loved it." We hugged and kissed as she told me all about their ride. She was that excited she was squeezing her legs together like she was dying to pee.

She rushed off to shower and change for dinner. One of the good things about being a guy is it takes literally two minutes to get ready to go out. If I was dressing as Amy this would take me an hour at least. Granted I would love it but sometimes this was easy...

Pete turned up early and snuck into my room for a chat before dinner. He looked anxious and uncertain. "Tai you probably think I am a weirdo or gay or something but I really like Evie."

I laughed. "Pete I think you are a lucky bastard. Evie is apart from you my best friend and I like her as well." I swallowed. "Not in the same way you do but I like her a lot. As far as being gay who fucking cares. If you like her that's all that matters. She acts tough but she is pretty fragile so tread careful my friend."

He opened a couple of beers. "Mate how hard is it to get work in Aussie?"

I choked on my beer. "Holy fuck mate that's a big call."

He looked at me like a lost lonely dog. "Tai I have waited my whole life for someone to love. I am not losing it now. Do you think she likes me?"

"All I can say my friend is I have never seen her so happy. So I guess the answer is yes I think she does but she has never said anything to me, so go slow buddy go slow.

As we finished our beers Evie barged her way into my room with a big smile on her face looking gorgeous and sexy. "Fuck steady on bitch, next time knock." I spat teasingly. "I might have had a girl in here."

She slapped me on the shoulder. "You are a dickhead as if you could get a girl."

We went off to dinner and we had an awesome night laughing and joking. I was supposed to be taking Evie out sightseeing but my role had been usurped by Pete. They were going off riding again.

I took the time to visit the kid's school and see how they were going. At lunchtime Tane pleaded with me to talk to her about the motocross thing. Talia argued that if Tane could she wanted to as well. Fuck that was going to make it hard, very, very hard. Luce was worried enough about Tane she was going to go ape shit about Talia.

That night I talked to Pete. Turns out he is involved with the club. He got the paperwork for them both to join. We filled it out and they would now be members so they could ride if I could convince Luce.

Evie asked me that night if I would mind if she went with Pete on an overnighter. They were heading over to Rotorua. I gave her a kiss and said. "Hon I don't mind. Enjoy it but I am begging you don't break his heart."

She slumped a little. "Is that what you think of me? Do you think I would hurt him."

"Evie you are wise in the ways of the world. Pete is naïve and I know he really likes you, I mean really likes you." I emphasised the likes so she knew what I meant.

She dropped her gaze. "Tai I really like him as well. He accepts me the way I am and doesn't care. He is so loving and kind. I have never met anyone like him...."

I hugged her. "He feels the same way he told me so."

The next day I took a drive over to talk to Luce to see if she would change her mind. The visit started off OK as she told me about how the kids had been hassling her to let them ride at the weekend. Things had not been pleasant at home because the kids were blaming her for me not being around and they had ganged up on her about the motocross.

I tried to convince her that it was safe and heaps of kids do it every weekend.

The conversation drifted onto her relationship with Mark. "Tai this might be hard to hear for you but I like him and we are serious about wanting a relationship."

"That's OK Luce it's your life you live it how you want."

"Tai don't you see that if you would just come round and we showed the kids a united front, and that you are OK with Mark it would make my life so much easier. At the moment I am the bad guy. They blame me for us being apart."

"Luce I told you I wanted us to be together. I told you that so many times. I wanted us to be a family again. So excuse me if I don't feel happy about your boyfriend and I am certainly not making it easy for him. I haven't changed my mind Luce, I still want you and it is hard enough listening to you talk about him, I definitely don't want to watch it as well."

"Baby I was ready and prepared to move to Australia to be with you. All I asked from you was a promise. You are the one who wouldn't commit.

"Luce I promised that it would never get in the ay of our relationship. I promised the kids would never know. Jesus it's not like I fucking live in a dress. Fuck you tell me you are worried about the kids but you couldn't wait two minutes for me to be out the door before you moved fucking Greg in. Jesus why do you think the kids blame you. You kicked me out."

She broke into a crying fit. "I have apologised for that. It was wrong and I will always regret that. I did a stupid thing. Don't you think my parents have told me so a million times?" Everybody has been picking on me."

"I'm not trying to make you feel bad Luce. I didn't come over here to fight with you. I just want you to know that I still love you."

She hugged me and we cuddled. "I'm sorry Tai everything is fucked up. I know it's wrong of me but I can't live with you if you are going to be dressing up as a woman. After asking you to do it for me I know it's not fair of me to throw it back in your face, but I just can't do it."

That night I went down by the beach. I used to come down here when I was younger to get high. It always had a calming effect on me and tonight was no exception. The sky was full of stars and for a change the waves were lapping rather than crashing. It was like I was the only person on the planet.

I lay back on the warm car bonnet and stared skywards as the heavens hovered high overhead. It was after midnight before I got back.

The next couple of days drifted by quickly. Every night I went around and visited with the kids. Each night we went out on the bikes and put plenty of Km's on them Talia was a real surprise she has natural balance and had absolutely no fear. She threw the bike around like it was a bmx bike. Tane was struggling to keep up with her, but Tane being Tane well he tried harder until of course he fell off. No harm done he jumped straight back on and went harder. When we got home I helped them with homework and just spent time with them. Luce always invited me for dinner but I always left them to it.

Friday night and Luce called me. "Tai I was wondering, can we perhaps make a deal?"

She had my attention. "No promises Luce tell me what's on your mind."

"OK when we talked about this motocross thing you seem to think it will be OK for the kids to race this weekend."

I interrupted. "Luce these are young kids. These bikes aren't exactly rocket ships. They will all ride around the track together but it's not going to be balls to the walls stuff. They are kids and all they will be doing is having fun."

"Yeah maybe but I am worried they will get hurt."

"Get to the point Luce, what's your deal?"

"OK well if I agree to them going can Mark come as well?"

I laughed so hard it took me a while to catch my breath. "So if your boyfriend can come you're OK with it? If he comes along suddenly they are going to be safe aye?"

"No it's not like that I just want Mark to be able to come as well without there being any trouble."

"Well Luce are they allowed to race or not?"

"Yes." She answered hesitantly.

I sucked in a breath. "That's good now let's talk about your boyfriend. As far as I am concerned if he turns up there will be trouble OK. This weekend is mine I only see the kids occasionally and I don't want to share it with him. So if he turns up I will be very angry."

"What would the harm be in Mark being there as well?"

Because I don't want him there that's why. This isn't a negotiation."

I got a text message from Tane later saying 'thanks mum was going to let them race.'

In the morning we picked up the kids and bikes in Pete's trailer. We set of for the track and the kids were bouncing off the walls they were so happy. Tane was incredibly pumped.

Because they were novices they had to start at the back of the grid. Well hell that didn't slow them down they were into it and were soon dicing with the best of them. Talia wasn't so good at the overtaking bit but Tane was in amongst it. He was fighting and didn't care.

They both finished close to the front. Luce was just as excited as they were. She was jumping up and down screaming at the top of her voice. Pop was no better he was hoarse at the end of the day he had screamed so loudly. By the end of the day both kids had won at least one race.