“You all suck!” Ronan said, his mouth stuffed full of pizza.
“Can we get back on track here?” Ten asked. “The kids need their baths and I need my bed.” He yawned. “I haven’t gotten a good night’s sleep in almost a week. I keep having this…” Ten stopped, looking as if he hadn’t meant to say as much as he did.
Ronan wondered why Ten stopped short. It wasn’t like him to keep things from his friends, especially Cope, who was able to read Tennyson in a way that Ten couldn’t do for himself.
“What’s Uncle Ten having?” Wolf asked, with his mouthful of pizza.
“A nightmare,” Everly said. “It’s jumbled and messy like pieces of different puzzles dumped together.”
Ronan had hoped Everly would be able to get to the bottom of what was going on. It was freaking him out that his talented daughter didn’t know what was going on. “Do you think it’s stress from River’s upcoming visit next week?”
“It’s not stress that I’m aware of, but not knowing what’s happening in the dream is freaking me out. It could be a message about River, or you, or the Patriots winning the World Series, but I have no idea what’s going on and based on what little Everly said, she can’t see the answer either.”
“We’ll work on it together,” Ronan said, feeling a shiver of worry slide down his spine. “River’s family is flying in next Friday.”
“Where are they staying?” Jude asked.
“With Kaye,” Ronan said, “although I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of sleepovers in our future.”
“I can’t wait to see Brookie and Baby Delta!” Everly said.
“We get a whole week together!” Aurora agreed.
Jace smiled fondly at his daughter. “Getting back to the circus. It’s being held two weeks from tonight. One performance only, but, like I said, there will be other activities during the week, being able to try the trapeze and getting your face painted like a clown. “The dress rehearsal for the show will be on Thursday, the afternoon before the circus performance. If you all are willing to pitch in, there’s some great jobs available.
“I could be the ring master.” Jude’s eyes glowed. “I’d wear a read sparkly jacket and super tight black pants.” Grabbing the salt shaker and holding it in front of his mouth like a microphone, Jude stood up. “Ladies annnnnnnd gentlemen. Children of alllllllll ages.”
“I love it!” Jace grinned at Jude. “I think we’ve found our ring master.”
“Masterbater, more like,” Ronan grumped.
Jude blew Ronan a kiss. “I think Ronan would be great with the clowns.”
Cope and Tennyson began to sing, “Send in the Clowns.”
“Over my dead body!” Ronan folded his arms over his chest. His heart was pounding. Memories of the black and white clown from the circus when he was a kid played through his memory. Feeling his stomach lurch, Ronan took a deep breath, hoping to keep his five slices of pepperoni pizza right where they were.
“Don’t tell meyou, Ronan O’Mara, the greatest detective since Sherlock Holmes is afraid of clowns?” Jude wore a stunned look, as if he couldn’t believe his friend could be brought down by something so simple.
“The only good clown is a dead clown,” Ronan proclaimed. He stood up from his seat. “Okay, kids, who wants to watch Nemo?”
“Me!” Ezra and Lizbet shouted.
Setting the little kids free from their highchairs Ronan led them into the living room. He grabbed the remote and plopped down on the sofa with the kids piling in beside him. They loved it when he sang along with Mr. Ray’s song about the ocean.
Everly wrapped an arm around Ronan’s shoulder, like he did with her when she was scared. “It’s okay if you’re afraid of clowns, Dad. I’ll protect you.”
“You’ll keep me safe?” Ronan asked.
“With my karate kicks!” Everly hopped off the couch to demonstrate. “See! You’ll be totally safe.”
“You know what? I think you’re right.” Ronan held his arms open for his daughter, who settled in next to him.
Ronan couldn’t help but think he should have signed up to take karate with the kids, instead of sitting in the parents room drinking coffee and trading chicken casserole recipes. Then he’d be able to protect himself and wouldn’t need his six year old to be his champion.
It had been over twenty years since Ronan last came face to face with clowns. Maybe they were gentler and kinder now that he was an adult with a family and job where he carried a gun for a living. He couldn’t possibly still be scared of people dressed in costumes with bright red noses, and tons of grease paint, could he?
Ronan pondered the question for a few seconds and didn’t like his answer one bit. Could he still be scared of clowns after all these years?
