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“My brother Micah is eldest at twenty-seven and is a mechanic for Rage’s brother MC, Hellfire. Micah is now called Fanatic and is a car nut. He designs and builds some amazing stuff. Then there’s me. I’m twenty-six and play ball. Tye is the same ageas me, and he plays Ice Hockey. Jodie, the first of the girls, is twenty-five and an actress, and Serenity is twenty-four and a model.
“Next up is Harley; he’s twenty-three and a blacksmith and has a shop on Rage. Cody is twenty-two and learning how to run The Trusts to ease some of the burden on Mom. Christian is twenty and working alongside Cody. Jared is eighteen, attends college and is heavily into kickboxing. Aaron is seventeen and in his final year at school, but he plays football. Eddie and Tony, the twins, are twelve.
“The next set of twins, Timmy and Scout, are eight, and then Jake and Garrett, who are also twins and aged eight. Finally, we come to Dante, he is a little shit, and he’s seven, and Peyton is six and adorable,” Carmine said.
My eyes widened in surprise. “How the hell do you keep them all straight?”
“Practise. Mom had Micah, Jodie, Christian, Jared, and Aaron when she moved here. As you can tell, she’s English. So are those five. Once here, she discovered me, Tye, Serenity, and Harley living on the streets and took us in together. Mom never once baulked at having four more kids because we came as a package. Next, we found Cody, and Mom snatched him up.
“It’s legendary amongst us that Mom was delivering Christmas gifts to a care home, and Eddie marched her little tush up to Mom and declared Mom hers. So along came Eddie and Tony. Then Mom got a call about Timmy and Scout and that they needed specialist aid to help them live, and my mother made it happen and took them on. Months later, she claimed Jake and Garrett.
“Mom next gave birth to Dante and Peyton, Drake’s their biological dad. And that’s where Drake really proved blood doesn’t matter to him. We are all his kids. Drake didn’t make us adopted kids go the route of candidate. Although Tye and I arehaving to do a four-year prospect term because we’re away so much,” Carmine explained.
“Holy shit.”
“Yes, it’s overwhelming,” Aurora agreed.
“I can name all the cousins,” Carmine proudly stated, “and their ages as well.”
“Cousins?” I asked, feeling faint.
“Oh yeah, once Dad found Mom and they fell in love, all the brothers began falling too. In the space of eight years, all but Slate, Ghost, Tye, Harley, and I have got their soul mates. Which means Rage went from zero children to sixty-nine, and we’ve got more to come; there’s four old ladies pregnant at the moment.” Carmine grinned at my shocked look.
“In eight years, you’ve gained all those kids?” I demanded.
“Yeah, and about half are adopted,” Klutz explained.
“That’s insane.”
“Get-togethers can be Hell on Earth. The good thing is I’m no longer one of the older teens, and I don’t have to watch the brats anymore. When the Legacies and Princesses get going, there’s often bloodshed.” Carmine chuckled.
“Huh?”
“Okay, the children, as a whole, are called Hellions if they are under…” Carmine glanced at Klutz, “Say sixteen.” Klutz nodded. “And then they separate into Legacies, the sons who may join the club like their father. Princesses are the girls, and they’re treated as precious. But they war. Eddie leads the girls, and despite Dante only being seven, he heads the boys. And they fight.”
“Let’s be honest. The girls kick the boy’s asses every time, but they don’t learn,” Klutz admitted.
Aurora laughed. “That’s an understatement. Dante will start shit, and the Princesses end it. We’ve had homemade cattle prods, improvised cells, they’ve been tied to trees and frozen in plaster.”
“What?” I asked as my mind boggled.
“Plaster of Paris. The princesses filled an old pool with it and pretended it was theirs. Naturally, Dante decided to interfere, and all the boys ended up in various positions solid as a rock because Eddie added a fast-setting agent to it,” Aurora explained.
“Holy shit!”
“Eddie will either be president one day, or she’ll be a master criminal. We can’t make up our minds. If she is paired with Davy, Aria, and Alyssa, it’s even worse because the four of them just, well, let’s say they’re pure evil. Eddie comes up with an idea,” Carmine laughed, “and the other three develop it.”
“And Eddie’s twelve?” I asked, recalling Carmine’s words.
“Yeah. Eddie won’t make sixteen if she keeps pushing Dad’s buttons. But Dad spoiled her for eight years, so it’s on his head. Mom warned him, and Dad didn’t listen. Now, Mom refuses to get involved and leaves discipline down to Dad. I mean, Dad really tried, but he’s made a rod for his own back. Eddie can argue the toss with anyone,” Carmine replied.
“Wow. And she is not punished for arguing?”
“It depends. If she’s arguing, fine, if Eddie’s being disrespectful, then no. Sometimes, Eddie’s pushed too hard and ended up in real trouble. Like when she dyed the brother’s hair because they told her no. Eddie found herself in deep shit over that, and rightfully so. My parents believe in letting kids find and reach their full potential, but they make sure boundaries are in place. Disrespect, dishonour, rudeness, greed, and so on are not tolerated within our family.
“And even if Mom and Dad didn’t chastise, my uncles would. We all discipline each other’s children because there’s so many of them, we can’t have an eye on our own kids all the time. But nobody uses physical punishment. We find more creative ways,like cutting the lawn with a pair of scissors to a certain height or raking up leaves every day for a month,” Carmine explained.
“Do you have your own family? You said our own kids,” I asked.
