We Are the Gunners (A continuation of Secret Baby)

Chapter 1

I always thought the day I sent Mackenzie off to kindergarten was the hardest, but today proved me wrong. I swear, seeing the bus take both Kenzie and Elias to school, I blubbered in the driveway, in my car for ten solid minutes. It still feels like yesterday, I was holding them in my arms, and today they are off to school.

James is not happy that he had to work today. He tried like hell to get the day off, but he was given a choice to work last night and miss this morning or tonight and miss hearing about how their first days went. Kenzie started third grade, and Eli is starting first grade today. It was a hard choice for him, but in the end, I promised to take pictures, and a video for him, and James would be home to get them off the bus. I should be home shortly after them.

I walk into the bank, heading straight for my office. I know I have a few meetings scheduled for this morning, and I need to prepare for my first one in the next thirty minutes. I need to look over a clients’ paperwork and financials to determine if they qualify for a loan and how much. But I also need to weigh the risk factor into lending to this client based on credit score and repayment history. It sounds like a lot, but numbers have always been my thing ever since I was a kid. Kenzie seems to be taking after me in that department.

I only hate this job when someone I know comes to borrow money they badly need, and I have to tell them no. When that happens, I can usually guide them toward where to get money through assets or something of value they own. I hate recommending mortgages, but sometimes, if the bank's risk is more than 45%, it’s the best possible route to go.

“Good morning Mr. Jinkins.” I smile as I rise from my seat, greet my client, and go to my office door. “How are you doing today?”

“I’m going well, Miss Mia; how are you?” The elderly man replies. He’s a tall, slender, frail-looking old man in his late seventies.

“I’m doing okay, thank you,” I reply as I walk to my seat. “What can I help you with today?”

“Well, as I’m sure you’ve heard, Missy passed away last month.” He mumbled as he took a seat in a chair in front of my desk.

“I did hear about that, and you have my sincerest condolences.” I nod. When momma told us about Missy, I was shocked since she was in such good health a month before she passed and I saw her.

“Well, she had a safe deposit box here, and the teller told me the other day that you could help me find it. I believe it contains the deed to the house, and I need to bring it to the lawyer next week to set up my will. My kids are pressing me to get a will, and well, I always thought Missy would outlive me.” He sighed.

“Do you have her key?”

“I believe it’s one of these keys here.” He stated, setting a key ring full of keys on the desk. I took one look and spotted it.

“Here it is,” I replied, pointing to it. Mr. Jenkins carefully removed it from the keyring and put the rest back in his pocket. “Let me just look up her information, and I’ll go get it for you,” I state as I type into the search bar her name. When it comes up, I walk into the safe and return with box number 204. “Here you go. Would you like to open this in private?”

“Oh, no. I’m sure Missy just put paperwork in here she didn’t want us to lose. You know how she was. Always organized and thinking ahead.” He muttered as he unlocked the box and opened it. “Yup, here it is along with all three kids' birth certificates, baptism record, and our marriage license. That woman took care of everything for me.” He smiled with a sigh. Closed and locked the box back up without taking anything out. “I’ll return next week to get the papers. No need to take them now and chance losing them. I’ll be sure to bring them right back too.”

“I’ll make a note in my calendar that you will be coming in,” I respond as I bring the box back to the safe. When I returned, he was on his way out.

“Thank you for your time, Miss Mia. I appreciate your help.” He said with a tip of his hat. I wave goodbye to him and go back into my office to check my calendar. My next client meeting is in three hours, just before lunch.

************************************

After a day with four meetings and two with bad news, I am more than ready to go home to my family. I pull into the driveway and walk up the walkway. As I enter the house, I set my keys on the table near the door in their bowl and pull my shoes off before putting them on the shoe rack. “I’m home,” I call as I make my way into the house.

“Hey, babe. How was work?” James greeted me in the kitchen. He gave me a quick kiss and returned to what he was doing.

“It was long. I had to turn down two loan requests, but I saw Mr. Jinkins.”

“How’s he holding up?”

“Good, I think. He came in looking for something Mrs. Jinkins put in a safe deposit box for safekeeping. He was correct and was very pleased his wife had thought about it.”

“I’m happy to hear,” James replied. “Kids, your apples are ready.” He called to them.

Both kids came into the kitchen. “Mommy!” They both called out as they came running in to hug me. I love their hugs when I get home from work.

“So, tell me all about your first day at school. Eli can go first while we sit and have your snacks.” I suggest. “How was your first day of kindergarten?”

“It was good.” He muttered, taking a bite of his apples.

“That’s it?” James chuckled as he took a seat at the table with us. “How was your teacher? Did you learn anything new today? Make any new friends?”

“Mr. Frost is really nice. He showed us this really fun science trick where two rocks can have a magnetic field and won’t let you touch them, but I forget the name of the rocks. It was a neat trick. He even passed out a couple for each table group to take turns trying.” Eli recalled. “I sit next to a girl named Scarlet, but there are four of us at our table group. So, I sit next to Scarlet and across from Gianna. Henry sits across from Scarlet but next to Gianna. They were nervous today like I was.”

Eli always needs more direct questions and will tell you all kinds of stories with the right question. He’s been like that since he learned to talk. “What about your day, Kenzie?” I asked, knowing she’d give me more without having to pull it out of her.

“It was good. Mrs. Rain seems nice, but we do have one boy in the class named Dylan who kept interrupting her when she was speaking. I’m glad I’m not sitting near him, or I would have trouble concentrating.” Kenzie replied so sincerely. I love her expressions and dialect that go with them as she speaks. “Sofia is in my class, but she doesn’t sit next to me; instead, I sit next to Landon and Claire. But I did get to play with Sofia and Allie outside at recess today. Oh, and Mrs. Rain said, we are going to start learning fractions this year after we do a review of everything we learned last year.”

“Are you excited about that?” James asked.

“She showed us an example of what a fraction looked like, and I have no idea what she was talking about,” Kenzie replied. “We have library tomorrow for your specialist class.”

“Remember, no more than two books,” I state. Kenzie tends to try and bring home half a dozen books to read within a week. She’s a strong reader, but it’s a bit much for her to conquer in a week, especially when she usually gets through a book and a half in that time.

“I know, but that reminds me. We need to bring my books back to the other library that we borrowed two weeks ago.” Kenzie states. “I finished my last one last night.”

“Have you read them all?” James asked, surprised.

“I have six more of the Magic Tree House series, then there is a whole second series called the Merlin Missions that I hope to read. I think there are like thirty of those.” She replied. “I know it’s a lot, but I really like reading.”

“There is nothing wrong with reading.” I smile. “Don’t forget you have gymnastics practice on Friday right after school, so I’ll be picking you up.”

“And Eli has soccer shortly after he gets home himself, so I will be here to get him off the bus,” James replied. We put it on the calendar so that we know each other’s schedules on the days of the kids’ activities and sometimes need to call in the family for assistance to maintain their activities.

“Both kids also have dentist appointments tomorrow at 3pm, so they will need to be an early dismissal,” I recall.

“I got that.” James smiled. “Now, let’s get going on this homework.”

Both kids get out of their chairs and put the dirty bowls in the sink before getting their backpacks. “You are doing the dentist, then coming home for dinner before heading to work?” I double-check.

“Yes, ma’am.” James smiled. “How are you feeling today?”

“I’m okay, slightly tired, but nothing I can’t handle,” I mutter as the kids return. We still haven’t told them about the pregnancy just yet. A few more weeks, when we get the all-clear from the doctor, the baby is healthy. My due date is early May, so we have time.

The kids pull out their folders, hand me the packets of information both teachers sent home, then their homework. It’s easy enough, more of a review for them, but it still needs to get finished. Once they complete their homework, we send them out in the yard to play while I begin to cook dinner. “I started some laundry when I got home,” James informed me. “I figured a little would help.”

“Thank you.” I smile, leaning over to kiss him as I close the refrigerator door.

“I’m going to go switch them over. What else would you like me to help with while you cook?” He asked.

“I see you did the dishes already for me, so that’s a huge help. The kids can clean up their toys and whatnot after dinner. Could you go through the paperwork from school to see what came?” I reply.

“Will do.” He nodded before disappearing down the hall to the laundry room. He really is a good man, and I cannot be more blessed to have him in my life and my children’s lives. Since I met James, I knew he would be part of my life; I just wasn’t completely sure how until a year later. Seeing Ryan the other week while having lunch with Sarah reminded me more of how lucky I was to finally cut ties with that man.