"Hey my corniness is for your benefit mister. Couldn't have my jokes overshadowing yours now could we?"
Dixie smirked before Tad reciprocated the kiss. And God help her if she didn't want to push him back against the pillows and have her way with him right then and there. But she managed to keep it together and resigned herself to cuddling against his chest.
"Mmm....g'nite."
The next morning, after wriggling away from Tad quiet so as not to wake him, she went through the whole typical morning routine, get the twins changed and clothed, get Kathy up., get herself cleaned up She had to be at the hospital earlier in order to be back home to meet Chip, so she was in quick breakfast mode.
Something Kathy picked up on when she came in the kitchen and saw her trying to feed the twins cheerios and sip her coffee at the same time.
"Momma need some help?"
The girl asked. Both the twins were acting up earlier, climbed out of their cribs and made their way to outside her room. And it seemed they were still just as feisty now.
"I think I got it under control sweetie, just get yourself some cereal, alright?"
Dixie said, munching on some cheerios herself before giving some to Nolan, while Kathy obeyed and got some frosted flakes for herself.
"So Kath are you sure Tess' mom is gonna be able to pick you up from cheer?"
"Yeah I double checked last night. She even said she would take us out to dinner after if it's okay with you and Daddy."
"I...well I guess I don't see any harm in it."
Dixie shrugged, taking another sip of coffee right as Tad came to the front. Picked up on by Tara who started flailing around, clearly wanting out of her booster seat.
"Alright alright Tinkerbell..here.."
She chuckled, and set Tara down on the rug before she giggled and ran clumsily over towards a waiting Tad.
Meanwhile Nolan, wanting attention, started tossing cheerios onto the floor.
"Nolan c'mon..this isn't cute!"
Kathy grumbled, and went to get up but Dixie stopped her.
"I got this..you finish eating otherwise you're taking the bus this morning."
"No way!"
The girl yelped, and scarfed down her cereal before running to the back. As Dixie sighed looking to the cheerio mess on the floor and then to both her boys, shaking her head.
"You know
your son is being quite the troublemaker this morning, Thaddeus."
She smirked, going to clean up the floor.
***
When Chip awoke he was disoriented and confused, also achy. After glancing at the rope surrounding him though he remembered his predicament.
"Hey...HEY!!"
He barked at the thug sleeping across the way, who woke up and shot him a glare.
"Wouldn't have done that if I were you.."
"Whatever...so can you let me go long enough to get cleaned before my lunch date? Dixie's gonna get pretty suspicious if she opens her door and sees my face beaten to a pulp."
"Just tell her you fell down. And unless she shows at Stardust it's gonna be a recurring thing."
"I'm not gonna tell her about any of this. She can't know about what you did to Paul or to me. And so help me..if you do anything to her..."
"The only person you gotta worry about is you..and anyone else who gets in blondie's way of coming back here. She brings some money into this rathole, we back off."
Jon shrugged, untying Chip. And after handing him a change of clothes, hauled him into and locked him in a nearby bathroom, standing guard by the door.
"Clean up nice for your date, man. And don't worry we'll send a buddy of ours to escort you there personally."
"Great..just great..."
Chip groaned, trying his best to clean up his face.