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Karianne sat on one of the hard chairs outside of the music room. Her butt hurt and she was tired of sitting so straight. Everything hurt at the moment. She had burnt dinner the night before and after her punishment she had to put both twins to bed and Junior decided to kick her in the ribs and make her change him into his PJ's.

He's almost six, Andrew! I shouldn't have to change him!
Don't you dare upset the boy, because Heaven knows if you do, I'll make it hard for you to think, Karianne!

Karianne watched her son, playing with his colouring book beside her on the floor. He sat on a blanket (to keep his khaki's from getting dirty!) and seemed content to carefully shade each outlined picture in the book, one by one. He was meticulous with his drawing and he had such skill with it that it made Karianne wonder if he could be a prodigy with it. Maybe one day he would grow up to make beautiful paintings that would bring people to their knees and reaffirm their relationship with God.

No, she thought bitterly, he'll be a doctor. The Fifth in a long line of doctors, the second in the line of Andrew Michaels. He'll be a brilliant surgeon, and bring puff his father's chest with pride.

"Your sisters lesson will be over soon. Please clean up your pencil crayons, Andrew Michael." She spoke softly, trying not to be too firm, in case he reported to his father that she was being a "bitch" to him again. It was the same with asking him to clean his room. It might just be easier to do it herself.

Beau shuffled into the waiting area, first knocking his head into the door frame, which required him to stoop, then almost tearing the door frame out before he turned sideways to keep his shoulders from splitting anything. Dressed in black cargo pants that fit him like shorts, a blue t-shirt that visibly strained at the seams, and what had to be the largest pair of sandals ever made.
Finally in the waiting room, the giant took one look at the pitifully small chairs and decided to lean against the wall. At least until the drywall cracked and he quickly stood away from anything else he might break. With a smile, he nodded to the woman and her son, his voice surprisingly soft and shy as he greeted them. "Hi, there."

Karianne smiled at the stranger, "Hello." She looked down at her son, looking at the mop of beautiful golden hair, completely unlike her own. She looked at how tall the stranger was, patting the boy on the shoulder lightly, to try and get him to start picking up the art supplies.

"You clean them up." His voice was full of venom and scorn. He looked up at her with his clear blue eyes, his face red with anger.

Kari didn't know what do to. Instead of fighting with him, she dropped to her knees on the blanket, keeping her designer plaid skirt clean as she arranged the pencils to go back into the box. She closed the book on his drawing, for the first time her life thinking about hitting a child.

She knew, though. She knew what would come of it if she did.

When she looked up, Junior was looking down at her like the devil spawn he obviously was.

Beau watched the exchange between the woman and the boy curiously, though he tried to be discreet about it. After a few moment, he began to wonder why the boy acted the way he did, and why the woman, whom he assumed was the boy's mother, seemed to cave so easily.
It's none of your business, meathead. Shaking his head to clear it slightly, the big guy looked around for a moment, then pulled a high school textbook out of one of his pockets, the mathematical tome looking like a paperback in his hands. Flipping to the page he was on, the big guy started reading to himself, his lips moving slowly and a puzzled expression coming to his face as he read something about a radius.
With a glance back to the woman and the boy, Beau frown slightly, wanting to say something but knowing that it would be better if he didn't. He was a big, scary guy, and people weren't friendly towards big scary guys.

Karianne pushed a stray lock of hair over her shoulder, smiling up at Junior, "Can you sit for me, dear?" She looked relieved as he did sit down, though his arms were crossed.

She glanced at Beau and decided she needed a distraction, "What does your child play? My daughter is doing her cello lesson right now." She undid the bun of hair, quickly letting the wavy locks cascade down her shoulders. Her hair was long, almost to her butt. She gathered it up, putting it in a bun in three quick movements - it looked completely effortless to get it up there.

Her brown eyes were not unlike that of a doe. Soft and yet constantly fearful. Waiting for the sound of a predator to come out from the shadows. Her face was made up with powders and creams. If one looked closely they might even see the shadow of a bruise. They would have to be looking for it, though and be close.

Her face, overall had a classic structure to it. While no one in the street would stop her to compliment her - she wouldn't look altogether out of place in a painting done by a renaissance master. Her eyes were the right space apart, her lips were a shapely bow, her nose dainty without being too small. Even her ears seemed to fit on her head just right.

she wasn't a short woman, nor was she tall. She had nothing special about her body. No exaggerated hour-glass figure, no overly large breasts, no junk in the trunk. She was a modest size six - and from the look of her arms, she worked hard to keep herself there.

She wore a plaid skirt that reached just below her knees, black stockings and of course a black blouse. Overall, she looked like a pretty house-wife, enjoying an exciting day out with her children. She was well kept, well spoken and besides the fact that her son seemed to be ordering her about, she looked like she would have the perfect family.

Looking up from his textbook, Beau looked puzzled for a moment, trying to think for a long moment before he shrugged. "I don't know... This is my first time picking up Larissa. Something with strings, I think..."
The very nearly the complete opposite of the woman, the giant's eyes were dull and bearlike, doing nothing to dispel the look of a slow but dangerous behemoth. As shabbily dressed as he was, the man did in fact blink twice as the woman let down her hair, his homely mug opening up slightly before another beautiful woman came into the room, this one holding a violin case and only about thirteen years old, and also very clearly surprised to see Barton.
"Beau? What are you doing here? Where's mom?" The young lady had subtle features in common with the big man: his dark skin, his cheeks, and his eyes, though the girl's were filled with intelligence instead.
Glancing over, the Larissa saw the woman, her a-hole son, and gave her a smile. "Hey, Mrs. White. Harper's almost done."

Karianne smiled at Larissa when she came out, "Hello, love. How was your lesson, Larissa?" She glanced at Beau, taking in his lumbering appearance. She pulled her son into her lap, showcasing their differences.

She wondered, briefly, while watching Beau what his relation to the young woman was. Clearly related.

"Is this your father, Larissa? I've heard a number of things about you, Mr. Barton." It was true, but few of those things were nice. It wasn't often that Karianne listened to other people talk behind people's backs though. She smiled and offered her hand, slipping Andrew Micheal off of her lap, "I'm Karianne White."

Larissa grinned to the well-coiffed woman and lifted her violin for emphasis. "Going as gets, I guess. Mr. Lombardo thinks I'm doing pretty well, and he told me that he's thinking of me for first chair for the recital."
Resisting the urge to sneer at the boy, the teen turned her attention back to the giant, who stared dumbly for a moment, the gears of his mind almost visible as they turned with lethargy as he figured out what was just said. Soon enough, he brightened, then tamped it down as he gave the girl a cautious smile. "Your mom said I could pick you up, because I got a job handling freight at the docks."
As the woman spoke to him, Beau looked at her, almost startled by the attention. When she offered her hand, the behemoth straightened, his head ominously close the the ceiling. With a strange bit of formality, he stepped over and took her hand in his giant, calloused paw as carefully as he could and shook it. "Pleased to meet you, Mrs. White. I'm Beau." The man's voice betrayed a bit of nervousness, and he glanced quickly at his daughter, who stood with the sort of nervousness that comes from when introducing an embarrassing family member.

Karianne looked impressed, "Wow, Larissa! That is amazing!" She thought, briefly about bragging about Harper, but decided against it. There was no point in sullying the girl's moment - it really was impressive. When you didn't play four instruments already A small voice in Kari's head supplied for her.

As she shook Beau's hand she looked up at his eyes. They didn't look impressive, but they looked... soft. She gave him a generous smile, showing off her perfect white teeth, "You can call me Kari, if you'd like, Beau." she spoke kindly, plainly. She pulled a card out of her wallet, "Maybe you'd like to come for dinner sometime?"

As she started to write her number on the card, Andrew Micheal grabbed her wrist, "Pick me up, Mother."

Without a word, she scooped him up, struggling to hold him while she wrote down her number, "You and Larissa could come together."

When Kari invited them to dinner, Both Beau and Larissa's faces took on identical looks of surprise and worry, Beau looking at his daughter with a look of actual worry. He wasn't good with people, slow as he was, and smart,funny, and beautiful people didn't normally get along with him so well.
Taking the card, the giant was doe eyed as he stammered out a reply. "I-I'll have to check my work schedule, Mrs. White, but thank you..."
(Sorry it took so long and is crappy, it's been a rough week at work)

Karianne smiled openly, "It'll be nice to have someone over." She could barely hold her son, struggling to keep him up in her arms, "Let me know about next Sunday. We'll be going to church, of course, but it'll be nice. I can make a ham."

Andrew Micheal put his hand in her hair, yanking it hard. Hair snapped, falling out, making Karianne yelp in pain. She closed her eyes and carefully put Andrew Micheal down, "Please don't do that, honey."

Beau and Larissa both started when the boy yanked out his mother's hair, the father putting out a hand towards his daughter, whom he knew had a bit of a temper. At Karianne's reaction, or that of reaction, Beau looked at her a bit oddly, sensing something wrong about it, even if he didn't know what it was.
"Next Sunday? I'll can try, but I might not be able to bring Larissa. Jen, her mom, tells me when I can spend time with her."
Larissa, whose anger at the little boy had calmed enough to look at her father and see the wheels ever so slowly grinding in his head furrowed her brow for a bare second, then smiled, much faster on her mental feet. "I'll talk to Mom, Beau, and to Llywellyn. I might even be able to get a cell phone out of the whole deal."

Karianne smiled, "It'll be a lovely meal. I promise you. Ham is one of my husband's favourite meals and he says I make it almost as good as his mother!" She looked like an over eager 1950's housewife looking for approval.

"Oh, Larissa, love, I'm sure you'll have a great time. I know Harper and Junior are younger than you, but I'm sure you can find a fun game for all of you to play! Maybe when you're a little older you can babysit for us!" she flashed another perfect smile, her excitement bubbling up in her.

Harper stepped out then, looking at her mother and brother. Her blue eyes flashed to Beau and she took up her mother's skirt, "Mommy?"

Larissa's eyes widened slightly at Karianne's response, the sarcastic teenager in her prompting her to say something snide and a little mean. "Well I hate to ruin this Stepford moment, but Beau, we need to bounce."
Both father an daughter turned as one to look at the little girl, with Larissa speaking first. "Harper, this is my bio-dad, Beau. Beau, Harper, Mrs. White's little girl."
The giant stared dumbly for a moment, then in a sort of 'aw shucks' moment, shyly extended his hand to Harper. "Hi, I'm Beau."

Karianne looked hurt, her brow knitting together for a moment. She wasn't immune to the hurt of the comments of teens. She kept smiling though, trying not to let her face fall. She knew better than to look and act hurt. She even managed to let out a little laugh, "I suppose I do try too hard sometimes."

Harper blinked her eyes at Beau for a moment and took his hand and gave it a little shake. She herself was shaking like a leaf looking at the tall, male stranger. She looked terrified, wincing, like he might hit her, "Hi, Mr. Beau."

Watching Harper shake as she did concerned and confused the big man, adding further fuel to the feeling of unease that he had after watching the boy yank out his mother's hair. "Pleased to meet you, Harper. I've got to go now, but hopefully I'll see you again?"
Beau smiled to the White family as Larissa shoved her violin towards him, the giant making the instrument look like a toy as he took his daughter's other bag as well.
"See you in a few days, Harper!" The teen called over her shoulder as she pushed her father out of the room, Beau glancing over his shoulder with a shy sort of smile a moment before his head knocked against the door frame and he focused on what was in front of him.

Harper and Andrew Micheal both waved while they walked away, looking very much angelic to anyone around them. Only time would tell if they could live up to that expectation.

***

Karianne didn't work, instead staying home cleaning, working out and occasionally sneaking a chapter of a book here while she smoked a cigarette. She kept the cordless phone in her apron as she worked, hoping that Beau would call. She needed a distraction from her normal life and dinner would be the perfect one.

There was no way that Andrew could say no, when he'd been invited already, and it was perfect because Larissa was also a music student. It meant that she could come over whenever Harper was practising, which was always.

As she dusted the ceiling, getting a cobweb from the corner she thought out the menu. Ham, baked potatoes, glazed carrots and probably green beans. Junior didn't like them, but her husband liked a little colour with each meal.

A meal with a new person would be wonderful!

It was a day or two later when Karianne would get a call, the area code being one from the shadier end of the city, the string of numbers indicating that it was from a payphone. Beau's voice was on the other end of the line, a little brassier from the phone, but still very recognizable. "Mrs. White? It's Beau Barton. It looks like Larissa and I will be able to join you for dinner next Sunday."

Karianne smiled when the phone rang - she always smiled when she answered the phone. It was the only way to truly sound happy, "Oh! Hello Beau! That's wonderful news. Do you have a pen and paper handy?" The number did frighten her, just a little - that part of town was not very nice, but Beau was a kind man from what she could tell.

She fancied herself a good judge of character. She didn't know how laughable that was.

"Umm... Urf... Hold on..."
There was a pause, then the sounds of a very large man trying to move around within the confines of a phone booth and failing terribly. There was a brief sound of breaking glass followed by a surprisingly PG curse. A clattering racket would echo through the earpiece as Beau accidentally dropped the receiver as he squeezed out of the booth and dug around in his pockets, finding a sharpie before he picked the phone back up again and spoke, his voice remarkably timid for someone who had done battle on national television with some of the most powerful Supers out there. "I'm ready."