Saved By The Firefighter
Chapter 68

Ben's Point of View.

Standing up from their seats Jason and his colleague, Sgt Brown, shook my hand, as I made my way back out of the office. Informing them of what Samantha had said, and the recent issues we had with her, felt a little strange.

I thought I would gain some relief, but all I could think of was Kirstie and Dante, how would they react if their mother was the one setting the fires. When they started school would the kids find out? If they did, would the pair of them be subjected to bullying? How would they cope knowing their mother was in prison, for a long time? For all I knew I had done the right thing, and if it is Samantha, she needs to be stopped before anyone else gets seriously hurt or killed, but for some weird reason I felt guilty, not because of her, but because of those two little innocent kids, who had not had the best start in life, through no fault of their own. Cal was doing a great job, but their home was run down, and they had lived with a mother who, quite frankly, didn't give a s**t about anything or anyone other than herself.

Walking back to the common room, I let out a sigh as I heavily slumped down on the couch.

"f**k sake Ben, seriously you nearly catapulted me across the room with your big a*s," Davey groaned.

A small smirk adorned my lips at his comment, finally some one had broken the silence, and begun with the crazy banter, and it was more than welcome, making the day, or should I say night, feel a little more normal than when I first walked in.

"Not my fault you are a skinny bastard." I grinned at Davey, as he shook his head, chuckling to himself, clearly as relieved as I was to have some normalcy back.

"Did you crack the case?" Josie asked with a sad smile on her face, trying to join in with the banter.

I looked up at her, taking a breath.

"s**t Ben, what is it?" Josie asked, sitting down on the edge of the coffee table to face both me and Davey.

"Altercation with Cal's ex. We went to his tonight when I picked Lucy up. She was outside the door screaming and shouting, demanding money from him, kicking at the door. Kids were inside, apparently, she has been doing this for a while, turning up in the middle of the night as well. Then when she turned to leave, she said something about me not being such a hero, and that I would burn," I told them.

Davey dropped his beloved newspaper to the floor, and sat staring at me. Josie gasped, placing her hands over her mouth in shock.

"Did you tell the flat-foots?" Davey asked.

"Yeah, just now." I sighed.

"But why would she set fire to a school full of kids?" Josie pondered.

"I have no f*****g clue. I am not saying it is her, but if you saw how deranged she looked, I wouldn't put anything past her," I sighed out.

"Oh god, the poor bairns," Josie added.

"Yeah, seriously they were both sobbing. I took the kids and Cal to mine to stay for a couple of nights, so that she cannot get to them. He needs a new place to live, but the social housing list is long, and that place is all he can afford right now." I sighed. Davey picked up his newspaper from the floor, shaking it out, and began to read again. Suddenly he stilled, then turned and looked at me.

"I am not staying at mine at the moment. Helping Kathline with Andy. To be honest, I need to talk with her, but I am hoping she lets me move in permanently. If that happens Cal and the kids can live at mine, for the same rent as he pays now. I was going to do something similar for Liv, but since she is determined to stay with that f*****g bozo Keith, I am not going to offer her any help." Davey shrugged.

I turned to look at Davey, that was the thing with this guy, for all he tried to hide it under a gruff exterior, giving the impression that he didn't give a s**t about anything, he had a heart of gold.

"Seriously?" I asked.

Davey nodded his head.

"I need to have the conversation with Kathline. But yeah, why not. Kids will have a garden to play in as well. Although it is a f*****g jungle out the back, not had time to cut it. But yeah, I will leave the furniture I don't need as well." Davey shrugged, as if it was no big deal, not wanting to show just how much of a nice guy he was.

"Cheers mate, however, do not force a decision like that before you are ready. They are staying with us for now," I informed him.

Nodding his head, he looked back down at his newspaper.

"s**t Davey, you do have a heart." Josie smiled at him and winked.

"f**k off," Davey retaliated, flipping her his middle finger, as she laughed.

"Y'all seen the cops?" Wayne asked, as he sat down on the armchair opposite us.

"I have," I told him with a nod.

"Yeah, Headache has as well." Josie smiled at the young lad.

"Aye, but was that for the arson, or were they doing a f*****g investigation on missing f*****g paracetamol," Davey quipped, making us all chuckle slightly.

"What weird concoction are you making for us to eat tonight?" Davey then asked.

"Mince and dumplings." Wayne smiled with pride.

I nodded, as Davey let out an audible groan, and Josie rolled her lips together.

"I made some cakes, and biscuits when I couldn't sleep today." She smiled at us both.

"Thank f**k for that," Davey muttered under his breath, as Wayne shook his head at him.

The night rolled on, thankfully other than a false alarm call, it was quiet, and we managed to get almost a full night's sleep. As our second night shift ended, each of us headed out of the station, handing over to Yellow Watch, and made our way home. Pulling up outside the house, at 6:30 am, the lights were already on, and the sound of the kids giggling echoed through the hallway as I walked in.

"Uncle Ben, can we play in the garden PLEASE?" Kirstie asked me with a smile as Lucy rounded the corner, a smile on her face, looking sexy as hell in a simple pair of grey PJ bottoms and spaghetti strap vest top.

"Hey, how was your night," she asked, giving me a quick peck on the lips, as the kids giggled at us.

"Good, it was a quiet one, thank God." I grinned at her.

"I told Cal to have a lie in for a bit, he can take over when I go to work." Lucy smiled down at the kids.

I could not stop my mind from wandering, wondering what it would be like to come home from work every day to not just Lucy, but a couple of our own rug rats. I cannot deny that thought felt more than a little appealing, I already knew she would be a fantastic mother, and I wanted kids, at least a couple, being an only child could be lonely at times, so I wanted a house full. It was far to soon to plan that yet, but one day I hope it would happen.

"You need to ask Aunty Lucy if you can go out. She is the boss." I grinned down at Kirstie, ruffling her long hair.

"She said not this morning." Kirsty put out a pet-lip and huffed slightly.

"Then the answer is, not this morning." I smiled at the little girl, backing up Lucy.

"I made a full English breakfast for you." Lucy smiled at me.

My stomach rumbled, after the mince that was burnt, with the dumplings that didn't rise and were quite frankly inedible, I was starving.

"Oh, wow, you say all the right things." I grinned at Lucy, grabbing her waist and placing another kiss on her soft lips, just because I could.

"Go sit down, and I will fetch it for you." Lucy smiled, as she took Kirstie and Dante to the table, and placed a plate with some bacon, a cut up sausage and toast that had been left to cool in front of them.

Heading out to the kitchen, she arrived shortly after with the largest plate in the house, filled with bacon, sausages, fried eggs, hash browns, black pudding, mushrooms, tomatoes, baked beans and four slices of toast in front of me. Damn if I didn't already love this woman, I would now.

"Uncle Ben you eat a lot!" Kirstie exclaimed.

"I am still growing." I grinned at the little girl.

"Daddy doesn't eat breakfast with us," Kirsty said with a sigh.

"He said he eats when we go to nursery, but I don't think he does," she declared; her eyes wide, clearly worried about her dad.

The truth was, he probably did skip meals, to makes sure he had enough for his kids, but if he was going to train as a firefighter, he needed good food inside him.

Just then, Cal walked through the living room door, as Lucy grinned at him, placing a plate of breakfast in front of him.

"Oh, wow sis, thanks." Cal looked at the plate, nodding his head in thanks.

"I told you to have a lie-in this morning," Lucy admonished him.

"Yeah, once I hear the kids are up and about, I cannot sleep anyway. But thanks." Cal smiled.

"Oh, I have filled in the paperwork you gave me," Cal stated.

"Cool, I will go through it before I take Lucy to work, then drop it off at the mothers, she is going into the office this afternoon for a couple of hours I believe." I nodded at him.

"Thanks mate, for everything." Cal looked at me with such gratitude, his eyes filling with emotion, that he quickly blinked away, before digging into his breakfast.

I checked Cals application, as Lucy went to get ready for work, and it was damn well perfect.

"Well, is it okay?" he nervously asked.

"Yeah, it is perfect." I smiled at him.

"You need to work on your fitness though, Kirstie said this morning, that you don't eat breakfast. Listen mate, don't take this the wrong way, but if you need me to buy the food for you guys to make sure you get enough to eat so you can correctly work on your fitness, I really do not mind." I told him, hoping he did not take offence.

Cal looked down at his feet, clearly embarrassed.

"I will manage," he muttered.

"Cal, there is no shame in putting your kids first. You should be proud of what you are doing, there is not many men who give up everything to look after their children. One thing you need to know about being part of the fire brigade, we all help each other out. You are my family now, not just because of Lucy, but because, when HQ sees this application, and you pass the fitness test, you will be a firefighter," I tell him, hoping he understands he has nothing to feel ashamed of.

"Cheers Ben, I can never repay you," Cal sighed.

"Yes, you can, by letting me help you with food, and taking you to the gym with me, so you can build a better life for yourself and those kids." I grin up at him.

Cal nodded in silence, and I understood that the conversation was over, for now.

Lucy walked downstairs, looking gorgeous in a black pant suit with white button up blouse tucked in. her long hair, clipped up at the back. "Ready?" I asked her.

"Yes." She smiled, then kissed the kids goodbye, before giving her brother a hug.

Still holding onto Cal's application, we walked out the door, and I just hope today will be the day that changes Cals life for the better.