The Friend I Needed

Four.

Four.

“Alright kids, we’re here so please listen to me and follow my exact rules or my dear friend and parent of the group, Odette, will make you run 20 laps around the school building.”

Sally was standing in front of the small hallway of the bus and gesture to her friend who was standing beside her raising an eyebrow. She spoke with such a serious face and voice that even Oddie felt shivers all over her body.

“Why do you use me as a punishment weapon against your kids?” She asked as they both got down the bus first.

Sally was wearing an outfit like Oddie’s except that her long sleeved shirt was white and she had a light pink sweater jacket on top and her jeans were a light blue color and some brown flat ankle boots, she looked cute nonetheless and Mr. Peterson was the first to notice the two beauties in casual clothes exiting the bus beside his.

“Because they know that you will do it indeed if they annoy you, Gabriel always says that every time he misbehaves with you or pushes your buttons too far he pays it with running a lot of laps.” Oddie looked at the mentioned kid who just smiled a toothy smile to her bringing a twitch to her eye. “Relax, it’ll do them good to run around and do some exercise.”

“I think I’ll be making you do the laps instead of them.” Sally gulped smiling sweetly at her friend, after a few seconds both cracked in laughter.

“Alright, you really are creepy.”

She then looked at her kids who were all standing before them both in silence while Mr. Peterson’s class was being a little too nosy to both ladies liking.

“Listen up, Oddie and I will be one in the front and the other in the back of you so try to stay together and please listen to either our orders or the firefighters’, understood?” One of them raised his hand asking for permission to speak. “Yes, dear?”

“What about Mr. Peterson? What if he gives us an order?” Sally and Oddie frowned, they were not going to let them get near that perv of a man.

“Only follow the people I just mentioned, clear?”

“Yes, Ms. Mitchell.”

“Alright, I know there will be a time for you all to explore the firehouse by yourselves so I want you to grab a partner.” Oddie started calmly and they all immediately grabbed a partner, Gabriel glued himself to Oddie’s side in a second earning a sigh. “Pumpkin, not with me.”

“There’s no one left, witch.”

“I’m here.”

A very short boy with brown reddish hair and pale blue eyes spoke in a very shy voice, his slightly tan skin looked as soft as cotton and his cheeks were covered in cute freckles.

“I’m Elliot.” He looked extremely cute in that huge black hoodie with Batman’s symbol on the chest, gray jeans and dirty muddy sneakers that were obviously way too worn out.

“Ok.” Gabriel took a hold of Elliot’s tiny hand in his with a small smile. “I’m ready.”

Both ladies looked at each other for a moment then smiled at how sweet Gabriel was, Sally looked at her kids and called out happily.

“Very well, let’s get to the front door.”

“Ah, Ms. Mitchel. Ms. Beaulieu.” Mr. Peterson got near them with his class being a complete disaster that got fixed with a mere look of Oddie, they mimicked Sally’s class and stayed quiet. “I can see that you have amazing abilities to make others do whatever you want, Odette.”

He ogled at her from head to toe making her frown clearly disturbed by his suggestion.

“Is Ms. Beaulieu for you, Mr. Peterson.” She looked at the other parent standing next to the now ordered class giving them both a dirty look as her lover flirted with them. “Pay attention to your class, please.”

“Right of course, let’s get inside Amanda.” He called out for the parent who followed him as a lost puppy, Sally allowed his class and himself to enter first standing in front of her own kids with a frown.

“He’s so revolting.” Oddie mentioned trying not to gag initiating giggles from the kids behind her to who she winked amused. “I can’t believe the principal still allows him to work with so many kids if he’s a degenerate.”

“Apparently, there’s not prof of him being like that to female teachers and school girls.” Sally sighed trying to think of the positive side of this all and ignoring the fact that Emmett was with them in this. “Let’s go inside kids.” they all followed Sally as Oddie stayed behind counting 9 pairs before entering.

“Good morning, kids.” A tall dark-skinned man stood before them, his bald head reflecting the light from the roof and his smile as bright as the sun itself. “My name is William Jones; I am the Fire Chief so you may call me Chief Jones.”

Sally’s class greeted him excited as they were with the very head of the whole department and that meant a lot, she stood forward shaking hands with him.

“Good morning, Chief Jones.” She said kindly letting go of him with a bright smile. “My name is Ms. Sally Mitchell and this is Ms. Odette Beaulieu, she’s a parent from my class and these are all my kids.”

He shakes hands with Oddie who smiled at him after a small good morning and he looked at their kids who looked way too adorable.

“Good morning Chief, my name is Mr. Emmett Peterson.” The professor spoke later shaking hands with him and to the amusement of both women, Chief Jones gave him a strong squeeze making him flinch in pain. “Now I see why you the Chief, strong hold.”

“I wasn’t even trying.” Chief Jones smiled winking at Sally’s class and then greeting the other class and parent. “Very well kids, come with me so you can meet my team and the place.”

They all agreed following him to the front of the reception where the small firehouse museum was located along with the lobby, at the far end there was a door from where some noises could be heard.

“As you can see this is our Museum we hold, here you’ll find trophies, medals, achievements, old newspaper with our best moments and also some with sad stories about how we’ve lost teammates on duty.”

He walked a little to the left and all the kids followed him with curious eyes while the teachers and parents stood on the side watching and listening to every word.

“This wall right here, is very special. Can any of you guess why?” Gabriel and Elliot both raised their free hands without noticing that both had done the same thing, at the sight Chief Jones’ smirked, he crossed his arms on top of his chest nodding his head for them to answer.

“This is the wall of honor for the best firefighters who have worked and continue to work at the station, there we can find individual or team photos of them and below a legend that talks about the achievements of each one of them.” Gabriel spoke, excitement and knowledge evident on him as he was a true fan of them all and apparently, Elliot was too as he was the second one to speak.

“Also, this wall honors the firemen who’ve lost their lives to save someone else’s, they’re remembered for their courage, bravery and sacrifice shown in action.”

His voice was so tiny that it melted Oddie’s heart completely, he reminded her of Gabriel when he was younger, and his voice was cuter. Chief Jones wore a proud smile on his face just as Sally and Oddie did, he chuckled amazed by those two little boys

“Wonderful, kids.”

He smiled wider fixing his firefighter jacket on his waist, his navy blue t-shirt visible with the firehouse symbol on the right side of his chest and his fireproof pants with red suspenders on his shoulders.

“Now this is very important to us all, it reminds us the main goal of our job that it is not just putting out a fire or helping someone in need.” He looked at them with a serious expression. “We sacrifice our safety and our lives to safe another one, we’re not just people with uniforms, we’re the ones who dare to do what others don’t as we don’t fear death, our one fear is to not be there on time to save a life.”

Oddie’s eyes watered as she had heard those words before from Oliver’s lips, he was a military man and he was risking his life to keep her and his son safe as well as the country.

“Hey, Chief! It’s almost breakfast time, what shall I cook for today’s menu?”

A young black-haired woman with olive tanned skin and green eyes wearing the same outfit as her boss walked into the lobby just to stop and stare in awe at the bunch of kids who looked at her as if she was a goddess.

“Uh, am I missing something?” She looked at her boss confused as he just laughed.

“Today’s the day of the school trip, Alissa.” He stood next to her as she nodded remembering today’s events that were talked about in the conference room weeks prior. “Kids, professors, parents, this is Lieutenant Firefighter Alissa Reynolds.”

“Good morning kids, a pleasure to meet you all.” She smiled and most kids looked like they were about to tackle her with hugs and questions. “Would you like to see the fire trucks? They just got cleaned and you’ll be able to see the rest of the team.”

They all agreed and followed the woman with both teachers and parents following suit. It was already 10:30am and all the kids were walking around the firehouse asking questions to some firefighters and some of the men and women played with them, after a few minutes they all started to exclaim that they were hungry, so the Chief took them to the training room where they all sat in the blue cushioned floor mat and ate together with the firefighters as they sat with them on the mat sharing lunches.

 Sally and Oddie were resting their backs in one of the back walls eating the breakfast that Chief and Alissa had offered them, they had forgotten their own lunch, which caused Gabriel to send an irritated look at Oddie.

Both Gabriel and Elliot had been together as if stuck with glue and were sitting to the right side of the girls not too far neither too close to the rest.

“Pumpkin, that gaze is turning scary, stop it.” Oddie drank her coffee enjoying the delicious flavor and aroma, her other hand busy holding a breakfast croissant that she peacefully ate.

“I can’t believe you’re so reckless, I told you to have everything ready.” He scolded her to which she rolled her eyes; typical Gabriel, just like his father always scolding her. “Don’t you roll your eyes at me, you know you did wrong.”

“Hey, at least I packed you enough lunch to share with Elliot.” Gabriel had been an angel sharing his food with the small kid who was enjoying it as if he had never had a good breakfast before.

“That is not the point here, you never worry enough about yourself.”

“Seriously? You’re scolding me on your very first field trip to the fire station? Be happy I’m eating something, I’m not starving.” A few firefighters that were near found the situation extremely amusing, a 9-year-old boy was scolding a 26-year-old woman for not bringing her lunch. Sally of course laughed hard at them both. “Stop it, it’s not even funny, Sally.”

“Oh, believe me when I say this, it is way funnier than you think.”

“I dislike you sometimes.”

“You always say that.” At that they both laughed, Gabriel just huffed annoyed, ignoring her to keep talking with Elliot who looked like a cute bunny with his cheeks filled with food, he only nodded yes or no to whatever Gabe said.

“So, Odette.” Mr. Peterson’s voice ruined the happy moment for both woman, Oddie looked at him unamused watching him walk towards her, she had already finished her food and was about to throw the disposable plate and cup into the trash can. “I can see you’ve been working out.”

“I think I already told you that you may call me Ms. Beaulieu.” She was sure that in any moment she was going to snap at him, he was testing her patience.

“Seriously Emmett, there are children here and her own child is right here next to her.” Sally scolded in a hushed yet angered voice. “Have some self-respect you perv.”

“Don’t worry, I know a woman like her.” He put emphasis on the last word giving Oddie a dirty grin. “She will, sooner or later come to me. After all, she’s been alone for three years as the father of the kid hasn’t come back and any woman like her has her needs, ones that I’d gladly satisfy if she does me a little… favor.”

Both ladies gasped, how could he disrespect her so much and without a care about it, in front of other people, including children, was beyond Oddie’s knowledge. But she was furious and even more when he gawked at her prominent chest licking his lips.

“Can happen anytime you want, I’ve been asking Sally here to play with me but, I don’t think she’s as needy as you are.” Before any of them could say a thing, a rough and strong hand placed itself on Emmett’s shoulder turning him around. “Hey, I’m having a conversation here.”

“I’m afraid you’re disturbing and insulting the ladies, so I suggest you apologize and stay away from them before I kick you out of here.” For some reason the man seemed oddly familiar to Oddie and Gabe, both had seen him before but couldn’t think of where. “It’s not a question, Mr. Peterson.”

His voice had to be the sexiest either Sally and Oddie had ever heard before, Chief Jones and other men had come close by to the scene that was about to happen as the rest of the firefighters gathered the kids a little further away from them; except Gabriel and Elliot who both were standing behind Oddie’s legs as if she was the perfect shield.

“And who are you? I didn’t see you here in the morning.” The young man’s hair was chocolate brown, but in certain lights looked almost honey like and right when it hit Oddie who he was, Gabriel snapped his fingers as if it had hit him right in the face who this man was his other hand grasping Elliot’s smaller one in a protective way.

“I know who you are!” The young man, Mr. Peterson and Oddie looked at him confused but the kid kept talking. “You’re the bear man from Maple Mug Café! We saw you a few days ago, Nick said you were new in Vancouver.”

The man smirked amused at how the kid called him and Oddie had to say, damn he was handsome.

He had sexy stubble on his jaw that she was sure if he let it grow it’d be thick and bushy, his beautiful clear blue eyes that bore deep in Odette’s honey ones, his lips were not very thick but they looked so kissable they made her blush at the mere thought of it, he was taller than her for a good foot and a half, not even with high heels could she reach half his face.

And his muscles, they were to die for specially with all the tattoos he had on his thick arms, the navy blue shirt was tight but still a little lose so he could move perfectly. He was a dream.

“I was never called bear man before” He winked at the amazed child before turning back to Mr. Peterson, gifting him a hard look. “Apologize. Now.”

He said slowly, his grip on the professor’s shoulder a little tighter making him flinch once more.

“Alright, alright.” He looked at both women with an infuriated expression. “I apologize for my words.” Oddie smiled sickly sweet and got closer to him catching bear man’s attention, she put her hand on his other shoulder before speaking.

“Apology… not accepted.” She kneed him in the groin, he fell on his knees in pain; bear man looked proud, crossing his strong arms over his toned chest. “Depraved i***t,” she said with disgust evident on her face, she looked at Sally and at Chief Jones sheepishly scratching the back of her head. “I’m sorry for that.”

“Don’t be, I’ll file a report to the Principal of your school.” Chief Jones looked angered, but he controlled himself for the sake of the children before him. “He’ll know about the behavior of this man.”

Sally smiled gratefully at him walking over to speak about the subject while other two firefighters helped Mr. Peterson to stand up, not as if they wanted to.

“Thank you,” Oddie spoke to bear man, tilting her head a little so she could see his face. “For defending us.” He smirked again but now starring directly into her eyes.

“No problem,” he extended his right hand in front of him towards her with a twinkle in his eyes. “Name’s Nathan Roux.” She took a hold of his hand, her being a little smaller than his but not tiny like.

“Odette Beaulieu.” He chuckled at that confusing her.

“More French than that would be impossible.” She got the hint and chuckled as well, still neither of them letting their hands go.

“French father and grandmother,” they both smiled brightly at each other.

“French father and Canadian mother, she always wanted a son named Nathan.”

“That’s not so French at all,” She mocked jokingly until Gabriel cleared his throat trying to get her attention, at this they both let go their hands. “This is Gabriel and tiny ghost here, is Elliot.” The little one just nodded agreeing that he had no last name.

“Yours?” Nathan asked out of curiosity, but she just pointed at Gabriel. “Nice meeting you kids, I’m Nathan.”

“Bear man.” Gabriel corrected, in his point of view that was his real name.

“Mr. Bear.” Elliot’s small voice spoke, at this two new nicknames Nathan couldn’t help but smile, only God knows how much he wanted to be a father, but his dear ex-wife decided it was good to leave him for a ‘Sugar Daddy’ after 3 years of marriage.

“Kids, he has a name and it has nothing to do with bears,” Oddie scolded but Nathan grabbed her hand nodding at her meaning he was ok with it, she smiled at his nice gesture.

After a while everything was back to normal and she was sitting next to him on the steps of one of the fire trucks while the kids played around with the Dalmatian and Labrador fire dogs they had.

“So you are working for Nikko now, uh?”

“Nikko?” He side-looked at her keeping most of his attention on both little kids who were having the time of their lives.

“Never call him that or you’ll see a very ugly side of him, I’m the only one allowed to address him as Nikko.”

“Why is that?”

“He lost a bet.”

“I just moved here a few weeks ago and when I first met him he told me to meet up with Chief Jones as I’ve been previously a firefighter and he also told me that I could work for him at the café part time or whenever I could,” he started looking at his hands that were resting on his knees. “And well, Tommy helped me out with the apartment thing so now I live in the same complex as he does. I’ve been friends with Nick’s cousin Tommy for a few years now, we both were on the same hockey team in college before I moved out of town.”

“They’re good people, aren’t they?” He only nodded with a smile on his face.

They kept talking for a good hour until it was time for them to go. As Sally and Mr. Peterson, who had shame written all over his face for what had happened earlier, were talking with Chief Jones about bringing the kids again and a possibility of having some of the firefighters to visit the school, Oddie was counting their kids as they got inside the bus in pairs.

“Are they all, Ms. Oddie?” Jesse asked from his seat with a smile, she got inside and stood before all the seats counting again just to make sure and then she smiled at the bus driver.

“Yes Jesse, they’re all.”

She sighed resting her hands inside her hoodie’s pockets and looked outside the door where Nathan was standing with yet another smirk on his face, she walked out standing on the last step of the bus stairs looking slightly taller than him in that position.

“Sorry, only kids and teachers allowed.” She joked with a smile.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure this won’t be the last time we’ll see each other.” He wore his uniform the same way as Chief Jones except that his suspenders were hanging from each side of his hips making him look oddly more attractive. “Can I have your phone number?”

“You’re not worried that I might be married to a soldier who’s not home?” She asked a little serious trying to see how he’d react and to her surprise, he gave her a real smile.

“I’m handsome, not stupid.” He put his hands inside his pants pockets smiling sheepishly at her. “You don’t have to tell me your backstory to know the truth about this all, and you’re not wearing a ring.”

She smiled at that, he had managed to do what other men couldn’t and that was to figure out the truth before jumping to conclusions.

“So, phone number?” She extended her hand to him, grabbing his now unlocked phone she typed her number before giving it back.

“Call me, I’ll know the number is yours.”

“How could you know?”

“I have my ways.”

He was not going to pressure her on a date or anything like that, but he was willing to get to know her better and maybe, just maybe he could be what she needed as she could be what he needed.

…

Back at the school grounds, Oddie was waiting for Sally to come out the building, the young teacher had asked her earlier if she could give her a ride so of course she said yes, both planning on going visit Nick for lunch.

“Why did you gave him your phone number?” Gabriel asked crossing his arms over his chest, he was sitting in the hood of Oddie’s car with Elliot by his side holding a small stuffed bunny on his lap.

Apparently, Elliot’s parents never picked him up at school so Sally was in charge of taking him with her. She had told Oddie that sometimes she would bring him in late and his parents didn’t even notice, and if they did they’d be ignoring the situation not really caring if the boy was ok or not.

Oddie was standing beside them, resting her lower back on the hood feeling the slightly cold breeze hit her rosy cheeks, she hid her hands on her hoodie’s pockets trying to keep them warm.

“Aren’t you guys cold? I’m going to order you some hot chocolate when we get to Maple,” she tried to avoid his question to what he huffed irritated giving her a hard look, she frowned slightly. “What?”

“Do not ignore me, why would you give your number to a stranger?”

“I thought you liked him considering you gave him a nickname the moment you crossed words with him,” she fired back with a smile making his frown go deeper. “Chill Gabe, you’ll get wrinkles on your face by the age of 20 if you keep frowning like that.”

“Oh please, it was obvious you liked him,” her smile went bigger, and Elliot just watched confused, wondering why Gabriel was so bothered by this.

“By any chance, are you being a jellybean?” At this question, Gabriel’s cheeks turned deep red completely mortified.

“Yeah, right.” His eyes then turned sad and cold, recalling something painful to him. “I just don’t want you to cry again.”

“Pumpkin, it’s been 5 years since that happened,” she took a hold of his chin making him look at her, she could see enraged tears trying to escape his pretty blue eyes. “Don’t you think it’s time for me to move on?”

“Yes, but… I still remember how he hurt you and what he did afterwards was and still is unacceptable,” Oddie sighed knowing this argument was a lost battle.

“What happened 5 years ago?” Elliot suddenly asked and before Oddie could answer him, Gabriel spoke.

“A very bad and horrible man caused a lot of pain to Oddie and he made her cry and feel alone.”

At this Elliot’s eyes went wide and he looked at Oddie who was just staring at both kids in silence, Elliot got down from the car with a little struggle as he was so short and ran to Oddie’s legs to give her a hug.

“I won’t let that man or any other make you cry again, Miss Oddie.” Gabriel then joined in the hug by her side as he was still sitting in the hood.

“Me neither, next time I’ll see him I’ll stick my tongue out at him.”

“Me too,” Oddie laughed at this, it was funny how overprotected she was being in that moment by two almost 10-year-olds boys and one of them wasn’t even hers to care about.

“Come on, Gabe.” She put both her hands-on top of the kids’ heads. “You know you’ll have to see him sooner or later, after all he became part of the family.”

“Well, he is unwanted family.”

“Dear lord, it’s hugging Oddie time and no one told me?” Sally exclaimed with her hands on her hips looking at the scene before her with amusement on her eyes. “Care to share the love?”

Both kids smiled and ran to hug her too making her smile wide at them, then she looked at Oddie with a knowing smile, they both knew they had each other’s backs.

“I don’t know about you guys, but the weather is delightful, I have a free day and I want pumpkin pie and hot chocolate to enjoy in like… now.” Oddie grabbed her car keys from her pocket as her bag was inside the car and smirked at the three people in front of her. “Kids in the back, blonde in the front and me driving us to a delightfully sweet heaven.”

Sally laughed allowing the kids to run inside the car and joining them all. After a few minutes they were parking outside Maple Mug Café and entered hearing the small bell on top of the front door, the amazing scent of coffee, cinnamon and pumpkin hitting them right on the face.

Another reason why October was Oddie’s favorite month even though her birthday was on November. When Nick saw who had arrived he smiled wide almost shouting in happiness.

“Oddie, baby! You got another child and you didn’t tell me? Sally, what kind of disrespect towards me is this? I’m already Gabriel’s god-father so I should be this little one’s too.”

He wrapped her with his strong arms hugging her tight and then going to his knees to hug Gabriel, he starred at a curious Elliot who appeared to be in cloud 9 by now. “By the way, ¿what’s your name, little one?”

The young boy hid behind Oddie blushing for the attention holding her hand tightly with his smaller one.

“Elliot,” he mumbled causing Nick to laugh loud rejoicing at this.

“Elliot! Wonderful, Nora! Tommy! New kid in the family, his name is Elliot!” Both guys in the kitchen peeked outside to see the tomato lookalike kid who was hiding deeper into the older woman, Sally put a hand on her mouth trying to hide a smile as Oddie scratched the back of her head trying to not kill her friend.

“Man, what kind of boss are you if you shout like crazy and have so much energy in you?”

A familiar voice said, both girls looked up recognizing the handsome firefighter now wearing a white button-up dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, dark blue jeans and black sneakers, his black apron hanging on his hips with the icon of the café and a name tag on the side of the chest.

“Hey, Ms. Mitchell, Ms. Beaulieu.”

“Hello,” they both answered walking with the kids to go sit on a booth next to a window with Nick and Nathan following suit.

“Nathan here will be serving you,” Nick said smiling and Oddie couldn’t help but joke around with him a little.

“If he’s the one attending us, then why are you still standing here?”

“That’s insulting,” that brought laughter to the table, Nathan smirking amused as he was sure he had made the right decision in coming to Vancouver instead of staying back in Montreal.