Stepping into the front door the kids came rushing up. "Dad!" they yelled in enthusiastic unison. "Look what we did!"
Cass shoved a tablet at Zavier and before he could figure out what he was looking at they both started pointing at different parts of the screen and talking over each other.
"Cass had a really cool idea to…"
"... get some wireless cameras…"
"... and we hung them up all over outside…"
"... and I set them up on the wifi to show all the angles of the house…"
"... so now we can look at what's going on out there…"
"... without needing to go outside or near a window!"
They both looked at him, out of breath.
"Holy shit kids… this is amazing!" Zavier looked at both of them with pride. "This was such a good idea!" He handed the tablet back to Cass and ruffled both of their hair. They sprinted off and ran to the couch, leaning against each other, both pecking at different views of the display.
Zavier shook his head with a smile and walked up to Tess, her smile matching his. "They were so excited to show you that," she said.
"That was really cool. We have some smart kids."
"Of course, with me as their mom," she smirked and gave him a kiss. Taking his hand she walked him to the kitchen table where piles of ammo boxes were stacked. "I figured we'd probably need these. Plus they had a couple of these," she pointed to two riot shields leaning against the table. When held they would cover most of a person's body but had clear plexiglass tops so the bearer could see what was on the other side.
"Woooaaahhh… cool Tess!" he picked one up and slid his arm in the straps.
"I figured Cass would probably want something like that. You know he's not going to do well with what's coming."
Zavier met her worried gaze and nodded. "Yeah, we had a talk at the hardware store," he said, then relayed their conversation. Her expression went through all the emotions he'd had at the time.
"I appreciate you talking with him, but I'm worried about how you told him he'd have to fight. Don't you think that was a little harsh?"
"I know, Honey," Zavier said, "but it had to be said. He needs to be prepared for what's coming."
Her expression was still pensive. "I know and he knows, I'm just worried about the way you said it. That's a lot of pressure to put on him, and you know he doesn't handle that well. I'm afraid he's going to freeze up when he thinks he's disappointing you."
"I get that, and maybe I was a little harsh, but what we're about to face is going to be harsh. I worry that this new world is going to force him to grow up faster than we wanted for him. He's going to suffer for it if we don't prepare him."
Tess took a deep breath then let it out in a sigh. "You're right. I know that, and I think he does too. I just worry that all of our careful preparations on how to raise a son like him in a world that isn't gentle is now going to be moot, and we're starting from scratch. He needs to feel safe and I don't know if we can give him that now."
Zavier wrapped her in his arms and she folded into his chest. The thumping of his heart always calmed her. "We'll protect them even more now. Whatever this world needs us to become to protect these kids, we'll do it. I'll be goddamned if this world breaks what we have worked so hard to build. This family comes first and I will kill every damned squirrel in the Midwest if I have to."
Tess laughed and pushed his chest playfully, then touched his face gently. "Really? It's the eve of the apocalypse and you're making jokes?" She turned back to load the empty magazines sitting on the table.
Zavier handed out plates with fresh Montecristo sandwiches covered in powdered sugar next to small cups of maple syrup. Everyone ate in silence, the comfort of the food fighting against the nerves building up in their stomachs. Finally Tess stood up and dumped her half eaten sandwich in the trash. Zavier saw the kids were just picking at theirs so he collected their plates too.
"Alrighty everyone, family meeting around the table." They all took seats and he reached out, taking Cass's hand on his left, Tess's on his right. Everyone else joined hands too.
"We don't know what's coming or what we need to do, but we're going to absolutely kill it," he saw the expressions when he said that and realized his choice of words. "What I mean is, this family is strong. We have faced every challenge that has ever come at us and we have absolutely dominated. Nothing has ever stopped us. So what I want us to do now is acknowledge our fears and move on. I'll go first."
He took a deep breath then looked at them with steady eyes. "I'm scared of you guys getting hurt. I'm scared that I don't know what's coming and that I don't know how to prepare for it," he stopped and looked at all of them.
After a brief pause he heard Tess. "But," she said, "we never really know what is coming and every time something has surprised us we've always been able to handle it. You are very good at coming up with quick plans and you'll do that for whatever comes next."
He looked at her with supreme relief and gratitude. How had he ever gotten this lucky?
Then it was Tess's turn. "You two are my babies," then she turned to look at Zavier, "and you're my biggest baby." The laughs around the table broke some of the tension. "I worry I won't be able to protect all of you."
Zavier was about to respond when Cass suddenly spoke up. "Mom, that's silly. You always protect us. You and dad have always made everything safe."
Tess wiped the sudden tears from her eyes and Zavier squeezed Cass's hand. "Well," Cass said, "I guess since I'm already talking… I'm afraid that I'm going to freeze up. That someone will get hurt because of me. I don't want to disappoint you guys." His head hung low. The emotion that started with a hitch in his voice turned into silent tears. Luna leaned over and hugged him just as Tess and Zavier came around the table to envelope him in a group hug.
"Oh Honey," Zavier said, "never in a million years could you disappoint us. Never." They felt Cass's light heaves as he cried. A few minutes later he sniffled and shrugged his shoulders in his way of letting them know he was all touched-out and needed space.
Sitting down again they looked at Luna. She looked at them with wide, beautiful eyes, shining with unshed tears. "I'm scared that Sephora will be closed forever and I am almost out of my face cream!"
The laughter across the table cleaned out the last of the anxiety, Luna coming around the table to put her arms around her parents' shoulders.