The Good and the Bad

An Honest Woman

Chapter Forty-Four

*~*~*~*

"Ssssh, quiet babies." Scout shushed the boys as she moved around the kitchen, finishing up breakfast. Her eyes flickered to the clock over the stove, seeing that it was ten till eight. "We gotta let Toni get some sleep, remember?"

"Is Toni sick?" DJ rested his chin on the back of his chair.

"No," Scout shook her head. "Why do you think he's sick?"

"He's always up first," DJ shrugged. It was true, whenever the Dawson man opted to stay over at Scout's house he usually was the first one up in the morning. Often taking it upon himself to get breakfast going before the others were awake so Scout wouldn't have to worry about it herself.

"Toni's okay, baby. He just had to work last night and didn't get to go to bed until really late." Scout tried to explain to the six-year-old. Though in all actuality, the woman found herself not wanting to even think about her boyfriend's second job. Not having been a big fan of it herself when Antonio had first told her he was going to start picking up some work at Roman's security company. Now the man found himself spending some nights playing bodyguard to diamond broker. "He just needs some sleep and he'll be all good."

"And I'm all good." Antonio's voice filled the room as he greeted the trio with a smile, ruffling DJ's hair while making his way over to the coffee maker.

"You get enough sleep?" Scout raised a brow, noticing the dark circles under his eyes. "You didn't get in until almost five this morning."

"Says the woman that waited up," Antonio countered.

"Hey, I went to sleep after I got the boys down. I just stayed up when I woke around four and noticed you weren't h--back." Scout clarified, having to stop herself from saying 'home'. After all, he had a home of his own, one that wasn't her house-- a house that was originally meant to be a home for her, Isaac, and the boys. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"And I appreciated it." A smile filled his lips as he leaned forward. Choosing to ignore the slip of her tongue in turn for pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

"Ew!" DJ exclaimed, his face scrunching up at the sight of the adults kissing. The couple broke apart, both chuckling at the boy's dramatics.

"What do you mean 'ew'?" Antonio raised a teasing brow, abandoning the coffee he'd poured for himself as he moved towards the table. His hands dropping to the boy's side to tickle him, earning squeals of laughter from the kid.

S-Stop! Stop!" DJ choked out between laughs. The whole time Maclean sat screaming in amusement from his highchair. Scout only smiled as she watched the three from the corner of her eye, busy moving the scrambled eggs from the pan to the plates she'd laid out on the counter. In that moment, the lawsuit being the furthest thing from her mind.

*~*~*~*

"Hey, Dawson!" Roman hurried over to Antonio as he and Scout made their way into the precinct after dropping the boys off at school and daycare for the day. "Heard it went good with Mr. Roslyn last night."

"Yeah, he's got a Thursday night gig he wants me for," Antonio nodded.

"Thursday night-- I know it well. Look, the guy's a piece of work, but you can handle it," Roman warned the detective. "Oh, also, he, uh-- He tips big when he's drunk. So, if he wants to stop at the liquor store, I'd say stop at the liquor store."

"So this Mr. Roslyn sounds like a charming guy." Sarcasm dripped from Scout's words as they continued towards the stairs.

"Just a rich prick. Harmless," Antonio shrugged. "Nothing you need to worry about, promise."