The course was set up an hour before time to meet. Jake didn’t bother getting up and working out. He knew that Morbus was going to kick his ass that day. He just got up and made a light breakfast and warmed up his muscles as he waited for 0515 to roll around.
He went through the house and started banging on doors at 0430. “If you carry a Y chromosome in your DNA and you’re over the age of 18, drag your lazy ass out of bed and get ready for training!”
Slowly, his brother’s started dragging themselves out of bed and down the stairs. “This is bull shit!” James complained as he poured a cup of coffee.
“Why is it bullshit, Jay?” Jake asked. He was making himself a light lunch for the afternoon.
“The time of morning is bullshit, Jake. I’m supposed to be in bed with my pregnant wife.”
Jake shrugged. “I’m sorry? This is what Dad wants done. You saw all the shit I saw the other day in Marc’s presentation. You know how serious this is.”
James sighed. “I know. I’m just complaining for the pleasure of doing so. I need to complain right now to get it out of my system.”
“Well, James, we don’t always get that privilege of doing so. I’d love to just complain for the sake of complaining, but I can’t.”
“And none of us should”, Jeremiah said as he sipped some coffee and ate a scone.
Jake looked down at his watch. “Well, I’m heading out. Pack a light lunch and eat light so that you’re not puking your guts up in an hour or two. Lord only knows what Morbus is going to ask of us today.” He grabbed the light lunch he made for himself and headed out the door to grab a four wheeler.
As Jake rode up the trail, with Jeremiah on another 4 wheeler behind him, he thought about what Morbus could possibly have in store. He’s going to work us hard today, I’m sure, he thought. I wonder if he’s going to have us doing this stuff Marine Corps. Style; the way Uncle Matt taught him. If so, I’m going to keep in mind that I’m only human and I’m diabetic. I’m sure he’ll keep that in mind as well.
When he crested the hill before the shooting range he saw it. The obstacle course. Great, an obstacle course. Are we doing time trials today? Good thing I’m wearing old soccer practice clothes. Yay, mud!
He spotted Skyler warming up as well. When he arrived, he turned off the four wheeler and looked at Skyler. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
“I have to be here, Jake”, Skyler responded. “I hope you kids can keep up with me.”
Jake chuckled. “I should be able to. I can’t speak for everyone else, though. I don’t know how they all work out and all that mess.”
“But you work out fairly intensely?”
“As intensely as my parents used to.”
“Well, I haven’t been intense, but I’ve tried to stay a little in shape.”
“I just hope you’ll take it easy on my brothers should you breeze past them in that course. Don’t razz them too hard.”
“Like I’m going to be that nice, Jake. You should know me better than that by now. I’m a sarcastic bastard. You and Jeremiah know that.”
“And that’s how you’ve made it through life and kept things fresh and fun”, Jeremiah said with a smile. “You should talk all the shit in the world if you breeze past any of us on this course. It will be a shame if you have the better time and you’re almost 54. Talk all the shit you can. You and Dad should both talk shit about being able to out shoot all of us. I think Morbus set the targets at 500 yards yesterday. There are only a handful of us that can hit that, let alone group head shots so tightly at the distance and I’m not one of them.”
Jake grinned. “I am!”
“But can you group you shots as tightly as your Dad and I did yesterday?” Skyler asked.
Jake shook his head. “Nope, but I’m getting closer every day.”
Skyler nodded. “Keep working at it, Jake. You’ll get there.”
---------------
David and Brie took Ira and Danica back into the main house. “Gramma, can we stop at the shooting range to see what our Daddies are up to?” they asked.
“No, your Daddies are very busy right now and getting under foot would only cause you to get hurt and your Mamas would have fits”, Brie told her grandchildren sweetly.
“Darn it! That sucks!” Danica pouted.
“Danica, stop complaining”, Ira said to his younger cousin. “I know you want to see what your Daddy is up to, but we can’t. If we get hurt out there, them our Mom’s will hit the ceiling. Now, I don’t know about Aunt Kayla, but my mom will go on the war path.”
“My Mama is scary when she gets mad at Daddy”, Danica said. “Sometimes Mama will run us off and Zeke says that Mama waves around a gun to scare Daddy. I don’t believe it through.”
“Don’t let what Zeke says scare you”, David said. “Your Mama knows not to wave around a gun. She was taught better than that.” In the back of his mind, he thought, Maybe Brie or I need to have a talk with Makayla if she’s waving a gun at Kylely.
When they walked in, Delilah called Ira to the table. “Come on, son, it’s time to eat”, she said.
“But Mama, I already ate with Gramma and Grampa this morning”, Ira said.
Delilah looked at her in laws. “Is that true?”
“Yep”, Brie said. “We fed them as soon as they woke up.”
“Alrighty then.” She went about setting plates in front of the other three children so that they could eat. “Did you two stop at the range to check in things?” she asked as nonchalantly as she could manage.
“Not yet”, David said. “When we go, we’ll make sure that Jake’s not pushing it too hard and that Morbus is being kind enough to remember that Jake is diabetic.”
She gave an embarrassed smile. “Am I that transparent?” she asked.
“Yeah”, Brie said. “You’re try for nonchalant and pretending you don’t care when you’re worried. I used to do that over David when he would go to the studio or on tour right after the Occupation ended. I worried about him endlessly because I had ten kids at home to care for and I couldn’t do it alone.”
“How long was it before you guys went into the studio after the War?” Delilah asked her father in law.
“Oh, Goodness. I think it was two years. We recorded, then toured for a year and I’d come home in between legs. She was a wreck for the first couple of weeks during that first tour after the War. After that, she was trying to run me out of the house every couple of years”, David replied.
“Is that true, Mom?”
“Oh yeah”, Brie laughed. “There were times I looked forward to him going on tour because that meant he was out of my hair.”
“But when I would call from the bus once I was settled in, she would be near tears telling me how much she missed me and she wished she could be with me.”
“Did you ever take the kids out on the road with you?” Delilah asked.
“A couple of times during summer vacation before they were all in different camps and other activities that required they be home. When that happened, I would take Sampson and Delilah with me. We didn’t record every two years after the war was over, though. We might have recorded every three to five years. I was home as often as I could be. We didn’t do a lot of touring when I was in my 50’s and 60’s. We were all getting too old.”
“Did you say you were getting old, Dad?”
“Don’t you dare tell my sons I admitted to that, Delilah. Swear it.”
She smiled. “I swear, Dad, that I won’t tell a soul. Not even Jacob.”
“Thank you. You’ve just saved me a lifetime of heartache.”
“You’re very welcome, Dad.” Delilah looked at her mother in law. “Oh, Mom. Yesterday, Jordan was looking for you yesterday around dinner time.”
“Why?”Brie asked.
“She wanted to bitch about the men having to go out for training. She thinks Dad is trying to drive her insane.”
“I’m not trying to drive her insane. I’m trying to protect her from herself. She’s an adult. If she wants to defy me, then there’s really nothing I can do about it. She’s a 35 year old woman. It would behoove her, however, to listen to what I’m telling her do to rather than fighting against everything I’m asking of her”, David said calmly. “I’ve done what I can. If she wants to do her own thing, then that’s what she’s going to do. I can’t stop her anymore than I could stop Jacob or Malachai, or any of my other children for that matter.”
“Are you saying that if she decided to leave without Davina or someone with her, you’d be okay with that?”
“No, I wouldn’t be, but she’s an adult. Eventually, she’ll realize that by being stubborn like this she’s putting others in danger, namely her brothers and cousins. Is there anything I can do about it? I wish, but as my wife has pointed out many times Jordan’s bull headed like me.”
“When do you think she’ll see the error of her ways?”
“Probably not until it’s far too late.”
---------------
“Wow!” Morbus said. He was standing at the end of the obstacle course he’d built with a stop watch in hand. “The old man and the diabetic doctor are in better shape than all of you!” He laughed. “And the younger drummer comes in third”, he said as Jeremiah crossed the finish line.
“Holy shit!” Jeremiah laughed as he tried to catch his breath. “I have never felt so abused!”
“You should have gone to soccer camp with me”, Jake laughed. “They put us through some shit in soccer camp.” He was panting and trying to catch his breath.
“Football players come in fourth”, Morbus said as James and Logan crossed the finish line. “With Mr. Centerfield on their heels to take fifth. God Damn. I would have thought that the basketball players would have been here already!” The last was directed at Malachai and Kylely.
“Holy shit! Football was not this abusive”, James gasped.
“No shit”, Logan laughed. “And let’s not forget that I’m in my 40’s.”
“I’m in my 50’s Moyer”, Skyler said as his breathing slowed. “You have no excuse.”
Jake was taking his pulse. “Man, this course is brutal!” He called out to Morbus. “Who’s idea was this?”
“Mine. My boys had to do it, I had to do it; I’m sure your father had to do something similar when he was a spy for the Agency, you Uncle had to do it when he was a Marine. It will not kill you. I’m just testing how physically fit you are right this moment. After that, the real hell begins. You think your father was a bastard when he was teaching you boys to shoot? Malachai, Logan, Justin, do you think Matt was a bastard when he was teaching you how to shoot? Believe me. What you boys learned when you were younger will have nothing on what I’m going to teach you. I’m teaching your things that your uncle taught me.” He looked up in time for the rest of the boys to cross the line. “Oh, I forgot to mention that the three that cross the line first have the privilege of learning about explosives. You know, how to make them, how to disarm them. If they so choose, that is.”
Jake grinned. “No, Morbus, I think I’ll pass. It goes against my oath.”
“I’ll do it!” Jeremiah said with a grin.
James and Logan exchanged a look. “Since Jake’s not going to, the open spot goes to the one that finished next, right?” Logan asked.
“I can only open Jake’s spot though unless Skyler’s not interested as well”, Morbus said.
“Nah, Morbus. I think I’m with Jake on this. I’m fine”, Skyler said with a grin.
Logan and James both smiled. “We’re in”, they said in unison.
“Alrighty then. Now, it’s time to start the real work. We’re doing to start with weapon’s training, then we’ll start working on tactics. We’ll take a lunch break in between.” He looked at Jake. “Will you be ok until then?”
Jake nodded. “I’ll be fine. I have a little beef jerky in my pocket if I need it. It will help a little until we eat lunch.”
“Are we going to be able to go back to the house to eat?” James asked.
“No”, Morbus said. “It’s training. That means your ass belongs to me until I say you can go home.”
“Damn.”
“I told you to pack a light lunch, Jay. You should listen more often”, Jake said.
Morbus had to get the lesson back on track. “Guys, focus. First, we’re going to work with handguns. We’re going to figure out which one fits your hand better and which on you’re most comfortable with. Tactics this afternoon will include clearing a building with said hand gun. Tomorrow, we’ll run the course again and work with rifles. The best shots with their rifle will learn some sniper tricks that the Master Guns taught me. Any questions?” When he got no response, he nodded. “Alright then. Let’s get started shall we?”
---------------
That evening, the men all came dragging in from the course. They were all flopping down in chairs and down on couches. “Ow!” they all whined.
“What’s the matter?” Delilah asked Jake as she cleaned a little bit of dirt from his face with a wash cloth.
“It all hurts”, he whined.
“Come on, let me make you an ice bath to soak in.”
“But, I don’t want to move. I have used muscles today that I didn’t know could be overused. My quads are screaming, my hamstrings are screaming. My glutes are screaming. My GLUTES for crying out loud. I work my glutes out. I know I do. But DAMN! And breathing, that hurts like a bitch too. It hurts in my back, my chest, my abdomen; my ribs. Lilah, baby, Daddy’s in pain! What do you suggest?”
“What I suggest involves you bringing your stiff, hurt ass up the stairs here shortly so that I can put you in an ice bath. You’ll soak for about five minutes in there, then we’ll move you to a hot shower. We’ll do that for about 5 minutes, then back in the ice bath, then to the shower again. We’ll do this a couple of time, then I’ll rub you down with a homemade icy hot I made.”
“Promise I’ll feel better in the morning?”
“You should feel better in the morning. You might not be back to 100% but, you’ll be at about 85% rather than the 15 I’m seeing now.”
“Colton, Jeremiah, Skyler, and I are the luckiest bastards in the house right now”, Jake laughed. “do we have enough ice for an ice bath?”
“Mom and I went out and bought several bags of ice today while you were in the field. Let me go run this and I’ll be in to get you.”
“Actually”, Maddie said, “it might be best if we took that several tons of ice you and Mom went and bought today in the pool, then we’ll put all of these bitchy ass men in the hot tub. That way they all get a change to soak.”
Delilah nodded. “I like it. How’d you come up with that?”
“It seemed like something my mom would do.”
“Mom is creative like that. Shall all of the ladies retire to the back yard to turn the pool into an ice tub?” The women all stood and headed out side. “Ok, Maddie, how should we do this?”
“Conveyor belt style. If you’re pregnant, you really don’t need to be out here”, Maddie said. “Jona, take your waddling self back inside.”
“No, but I’ll supervise”, Jona said with a laugh.
“Sounds good. Let’s get the men’s ice tub ready, then we can make fun of them while they soak.”
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