Dangerous

All eyes turned and looked at the new arrival. The rain had made most of the people not even bothering to come to the second annual Alone unValentine event as the guys at the building were calling it. The group of fifteen or so men all looked her over and were surprised she had ventured out in the rain to come. It was out of her office, which she seemed more apt to hide in than socialize with them.

"I can't believe she is here." one of the guys said softly, just loud enough for the group as a whole could hear over the music. They all had their drinks, and though it was supposed to be an event for the specialized teams, it seemed more of a Friday night get-together. Everyone had stayed in their own groups that were made up of people they worked with or knew for years. There were a few younger ones who tried to mix in though they often left the group within a short amount of time.

The woman who had just walked in and looked around was the top researcher they had. She was normally the quietest member in any room as she sat with her glasses perched on her face and her eyes in a binder taking notes. She spent almost every second on the job in her office, hiding behind her screen. No one really knew her that well. They had all written her bookish ways off as not interesting enough to hold their collective attention for longer than a conversation.

The group of men moved closer to the bar where she was headed if only to see what she really wanted there. It no doubt had something to do with work, and she wasn't there to be a part of the gathering. The main boss of their building was sitting on the bar and had waved her over. Though he was quite a bit older than everyone else, he was still known as a lady's man and was probably working on his newest divorce.

"Good to see you, kid," he said as he stood up and looked around them to see if anyone else was interested in her. He locked eyes with the group of men inching their way over, and he smiled a knowing smile. "Glad to see you could get a sitter."

"Wasn't that hard," she replied. Sitter, they all looked around, trying to figure out the word. None of them knew anything about her enough to know what that meant.

"Well, you rarely make time for anything but work." the main boss stated.

"Friday's are soccer days." she laughed. "Not to mention Saturdays are for dance."

"I forgot what it is like with kids." the main boss said as he laughed.

"Hectic is what it is like." she smiled.

"Well, you have some good ones there, so you must be doing something right." He said as the bartender asked what she would have. She placed her order which was non-alcoholic, much to everyone's surprise.

"I still have to drive," she said with a smile. Everyone who was looking at her wouldn't know she was the nerd in the office with her head in manuals at that second, as she had her glasses off and a smile on her face. Though she seemed smaller than any one of them remembered her to be, they were still moving forward towards her but as a group.

She turned and saw them as she chuckled at the movement. When she got her drink, she looked the room over and thought it was like a junior high school dance but with older people and more issues present. The thought almost had her laughing to herself. She didn't know why she even bothered coming to something like this, but in all honesty, it was the fact her two oldest daughters were on dates tonight, and she would be stuck at home watching the other two fighting over what game to play. Going out and being in an adult setting might make her feel human again. She knew how everyone in the building thought of her. It didn't change the fact that she was still a person and wanted to be treated as one though she was really good at her job.

"So, um, you're the lead scientific researcher?" one of the guys asked as they were close enough to speak without yelling. She looked up and saw they were all looking her over as if they had never seen her before.

"Yeah," she replied.

"You needed to get a sitter?" another one asked. She knew then no one even knew she had kids. She smiled and let out a chuckle.

"Yeah, For my kids," she said.

"You have kids?" one of the guys asked. He was the tallest of the bunch and probably one of the older ones as well. Though she had seen him before, and he was the one who flirted with every female, well, every female but her.

"Four," she said.

"You have four kids?" the Green team leader asked in disbelief.

"Yup," she said.

"Where is your husband?" one of the younger ones asked and then got hit upsides the head.

"Never had one," she said as she continued to drink and look around.

"So you have four kids, but you haven't married the father?" one of the guys she did sort of knowledge as the lead of the research team she worked with the science officers of the other team, not closely but enough to know them by sight.

"I would have never married their father. That I think is illegal in most states regardless," she said and laughed with the knowledge she knew, and they didn't.

"Explain." one said.

"Excuse me?" she countered.

"Could you explain that statement? Lori is what he meant to say. He doesn't really know how to talk to people." one of the men stepped forward and bowed to her hand. She knew of this one. She had heard the other women talk about him and his antics.

"I adopted them ten years ago. They are my brother's biological kids," she said with a smile.

"That is wonderful!" one said as he moved forward, and she saw he truly meant that.

"How old are they?" one of the last men asked.

"Sixteen, Fourteen, Eleven, and Nine," she said.

"Wow, you have your hands full." someone said.

"The three oldest are girls, so I do indeed have my hands full," she replied with a laugh.

"Now it makes sense why you never came out with everyone." one person called out.

"Yeah, they keep me pretty busy," she said as her phone went off, and she looked at the incoming text. "And they keep me running around." Her face fell as she was finally able to talk with people, but she knew she had to go. "Sorry, I gotta run."

"Sitter not working out?" one of the guys prompted.

"Boyfriend trouble," she replied.

"Oh." one of the guys said.

"She never listened to me, but now she is finding out," she said with a smile as she set the drink on the bar and gathered her coat which she had placed there.

"Not you but one of your kids." one of the guys said.

"Yeah. I don't have one," she said with a laugh. "No guy wants a woman who has four kids."

She put her jacket on and smiled one last time as she turned to leave, and the guys went back to the area they had been in the first place. The last words echoed through someone their minds, and they realized for the most part that the last statement was true. No sane man wants to go out with a woman with four kids. One man, though, thought she was dead wrong as he watched her back as she walked out the door. He also placed his drink on the bar and walked out after her.

"Need some help?" he asked as he closed the distance between them in the parking lot.

"With?" she asked.

"The boyfriend," he said with a lopsided grin. "Sorry to say most teenage boys will not back down because of a mom. However, they will back down if another man is involved."

"Experience?" she asked with a laugh.

"Sort of, more observations, You know what I am good at," he replied.

"Sure, a little help would be nice," she said as she walked over to her car, and he got in the passenger side as she unlocked it.

"I was thinking minivan," he said with a chuckle.

"That goes with the workaholic soccer mom stereotype, I am afraid," she said.

"Vincent," he said as he put out his hand.

"Lori." she placed hers in his.

"Really, your name is Lori?" he asked.

"After fifteen kids, my parents couldn't think of any more good names," she said with a shrug.

"So you're the youngest?" he asked.

"Yes." she replied, "Though you would never know that fact, by the way, my brothers and sisters act. It should say a lot that I was given these monsters when I was barely eighteen over all the rest of them."

"That does say a lot," he replied as he thought of how hard everything must have been for her at the time. "It says a lot about you too."

"How so?" she asked as she was driving.

"You were nothing but a child as well, and then you had to raise four more. How old were they when they came to you?" he asked.

"Six, Four, one, and three days old," she said.

"So you had to grow up fast," he said.

"I was already grown up," she said. "Years of conditioning made me able to just accept four kids and keep going."

"That doesn't sound easy," he said softly.

"It wasn't," she said as she smiled.

"I had already done the college thing and was in my second year of med school," she said. "So not only did I have to work a full-time job, I had to go to school then go home and be a parent."

"How did you manage?" he asked.

"I just did." she said." I wouldn't wish it on anyone, but it was also the best experience of my life. They keep me busy, but I know if they were with someone else, they might not be able to do the things they can now."

"But you gave up your life for them," he said, and then he instantly regretted it. "That came out wrong."

"I know what you meant. I did. I did so willingly, though. I knew what I was getting myself into. I knew what it would take and what I was giving up." she said. "It isn't like people go 'oh she is a beauty' when they look at me. I accepted it years ago."

"You're wrong," he said.

"How so?" she asked.

"People do say you are a beauty when they look at you," he said.

"Well.... I ...... Urm." she said.

"Did that fluster you?" he asked with his grin spreading.

"I am a stunted eighteen-year-old with a few extra years. So yeah, fluster is the right word," she said as they pulled into the mall parking lot, and she turned off the car.

"My dear, Mouse, I only spoke the truth," he said.

"Mouse, really?" she asked as she got out of the car, and he moved his cell phone to his other pocket.

"Someone calling you?" she asked.

"It is just the guys trying to figure out where I disappeared too," he said as he put out his arm, to which she looked out him confused. He then took her arm and wound his around hers. "You may be a stunted eighteen-year-old with a few extra years, mouse, but I think it is time you knew your worth in a broader sense."

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"One thing at a time," he replied. "Now we have a young man to surprise."