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“Come on Sissy! It’s going to be so cool,” Bubba begged.

“I said no. Now get your backpack you’re going to be late for school.”

“Please, I won’t ask for anything else all year! I promise!”

“Bubba!”

I kneeled down to his level.

“When I say no, I mean no. Not maybe, not yes, not even I’ll think about it. Do you understand?”

“But all of our friends are going!”

“Damon come on! I gotta get you guys to school!”

Damon scurried down the steps totting around his backpack that was a little too big for him. Though Bubba was trying to pout I ignored him. He’s not going to beg me to change my mind, when I say no, no means no.

Heading down the street, I checked my watch and I was going to be late for work.

“Just my luck.”

I picked up Damon and hoisted him up on my back, then grabbed Bubba’s hand and started to run towards their school. Bubba tried to fight, but I was stronger. When the school gates were in sight, I skidded to a stop to let Damon down and kiss his head to send him off. When I went to kiss Bubba he turned away pouting.

“Look Bubs, I have my reasons for not letting you go. I’m just trying to keep you safe.”

“But everyone, even the teachers, are going.”

“Enough Bubs, I have to get to work.”

I snatched him up and kissed his cheek while he squirmed.

“Now hurry to class.”

He ran inside the gates then I hauled ass to the shipyard. On the way I was apologizing and saying ‘excuse me’ to everyone just so I could get to the yard in time. When I saw the gates in sight I felt a slight relief until Paulie came running out in a rush crashing into me so hard that I was unable to catch my footing, and I fell into the stream.

“Ahh!”

I tried to get up to the surface but once I broke the surface a bull hit me broadside and took me under the water. I tried to grab onto something to pull me up to the surface but the weight of the bull and the force of the stream were keeping me under. Water began filling up my lungs as I was unable to break the surface.

Suddenly, something grabbed the back of my shirt and yanked me towards the side. When I was able to break the water I was hauled up to the street and laid down. My eyes were seeing spots, and I couldn’t take a breath. Something warm was placed over my mouth and then a heavy pressure was placed on my chest. It wasn’t long before a burning sensation pushed through my lungs and I lurched to the side to cough up water.

“(Y/N) are you alright?!” Paulie’s voice echoed.

Looking up, I saw Paulie running up from the side, while Lucci was above me rubbing my shoulder. I mustered up a glare at Paulie before I coughed up the rest of the water.

“Paulie,” I heaved. “You had better have a damn good reason for knocking me into the stream!”

“I’m so sorry! I was running from Jerry and I didn’t see you! It was an accident!”

Suddenly, Lucci grabbed Paulie by the collar pulling him close to intimidate him; if looks could kill, Paulie would be dead in a second.

“What’s your deal?!”

“Lucci don’t. It was an accident,” I voiced.

“Purupuru! If he hadn’t been such an idiot with his gambling debt, he wouldn’t be running from debt collectors, and this situation wouldn’t have happened.”

Paulie shoved Lucci back to free himself and take up a defensive position against Lucci. Reacting quickly I rose to my feet and got in between them to prevent a fight from breaking out.

“Guys stop! It was an accident! Now forget fighting and let’s get to work please! I’m already late!”

Both men stood down but continued their glaring match. Sighing heavily I left to go inside to my locker to put my stuff down and then get straight to work. I was probably already in trouble for being late and I didn’t want to get into more trouble by not getting to work.

Today, I was assigned to work beside Lucci with repairing the exterior of the ships coming through that had barnacle damage. It was a nice change because we both were people who focus on the work at hand and I was trying to see how his reactions were around me since the kiss we shared.

Though we acted normal, I was able to catch him a few times staring at me and it made me blush a bit. I was hoping that maybe we could talk when we got a chance but I knew he wouldn’t talk to me using his usual voice unless we were alone and it’s hard to be alone with all these shipwrights around.

When lunch came around I tried to catch up to Lucci when someone was calling me over from the gates. The woman waving me over was one of the school teacher’s from the boys school. I ran over expecting something bad to have happened.

“Mrs. Blaire, is everything alright?” I asked in haste.

“Yes yes, I was just hoping I could speak with you about the boys, but I fear that around these people it’s quite difficult.”

She was referring to the crowd of fans watching the shipwrights work. Motioning for her to follow around, I led her to the door that would allow her in and I walked with her to the break room. She followed me in and we both sat at a table to discuss whatever it is she came here for.

“Did Bubba or Damon get into trouble for something?”

“Oh no no, not at all!” she shook her head. “I was just coming to ask you about the Sea Train trip we were going to take with the classes. Now I know you have some concerns, but I just wanted to let you know that we have teachers and chaperones to supervise the children.”

“Listen, I know that the boys want to go and it’s not you guys, I just don’t feel comfortable letting them go on the train.”

“Well, you are welcome to accompany them during the trip so you can make sure that they are safe.”

“Unfortunately, I can’t. I have work to do here.”

“(Y/N) look,” she placed a hand over mine. “It’s been fifteen years since your father was taken on the Sea Train to Enies Lobby. I understand your fears but believe me the boys will be safe with us. I will personally watch over them and make sure they are safe.”

“Why are you pushing so bad?”

“They need to have fun (Y/N). You’ve been working so hard to raise them by yourself and this could be a small break for you too.”

“Mrs. Blaire, thank you for coming to discuss this but I still don’t feel comfortable letting them go. I’m just…I’m just afraid that they won’t come back.”

“Think it over. If it helps, I’ll get a den-den mushi for you to contact them. It’s just a weekend trip to explore the cities and they can get souvenirs to bring home.”

I sighed heavily, I didn’t want to take away their fun but I also didn’t want to lose them either. Maybe… maybe I should let them go. They’ll have each other to look out for and Mrs. Blaire would keep me updated. Suddenly, Mrs. Blaire pat my hand, set down some permission forms, and stood up from the table.

“I must get back to the school. Let me know by Thursday so that I can get the tickets for them.”

“Right, I will.”

Mrs. Blaire left the break room, and I noticed that I still had time to eat something; that’s when I remembered that I forgot my lunch on the counter and my bag was drenched from earlier. All my money was probably wet.

“Dammit. Alright back to work.”

A hand was placed on my shoulder stopping me from getting up then a bowl of food was placed in front of me. I looked up to see that Lucci sat down next to me.

“What is this?”

“Lunch purupuru!” Hattori answered.

“But this is yours, I don’t want to take your lunch.”

“I already ate, you need to eat,” Lucci spoke.

I looked down at the bowl in front of me and I felt happy for some reason. I picked up the fork and started to eat the food. I was trying to figure out how was it that I was able to easily listen to Lucci and almost open up to him?

“You know,” I started, “we really need to stop meeting each other when I’m in trouble. It’s becoming a regular thing now.”

“If you don’t get into trouble, how will we meet up again?”

His face didn’t change though I could tell that he was being playful. I think he was keeping up his tough guy facade and that’s alright.

“Whenever you want to hang out I guess, that’s when we can meet up.”

“How about again this Friday, I’ll take you and the boys out.”

“That sounds nice, but I’ll pay for us. You don’t need to pay for me and the boys.”

“I insist.”

“How about I let you know? Especially since they’ve been begging me to go on this field trip with the school on the Sea Train.”

“Are you going to let them go?”

I finished the plate and tilted my head to the side in thought while picking up the permission forms on the table, pondering the thought. Lucci watched me carefully as if searching my features for an answer before I could make it verbal. Looking back at him, I shook my head.

“I don’t know, I’ll think about it.”

“You're quite protective of those two,” he said while cleaning up the plate.

“Is that a bad thing?”

He halted his actions to think of a quick answer.

“Not at all. I’ll see you out there.”

Smiling at him as he walked away, I began to feel butterflies in my stomach. I was excited to have another, almost, date with Lucci. Even though I was trying to avoid dating it was hard when there’s a handsome man, who actually accepted that I had two brothers to raise and they like him. Why is this so confusing?

The lunch bell rang and we all began cleaning up and heading back out to the yard. Even through our lunch hour these fans are still cheering for the shipwrights. I went directly back to work on fixing the barnacle damage for the ship in port.

For the next few hours Lucci and I both tackled the exterior damage. The extra scrubbing was starting to turn my hands raw. Backing away for a moment to wipe the sweat from my brow, I shook my hands to relax and loosen them up for a moment.

“(Y/N)!” Kaku called.

“Yeah?”

“Can you check the base of the ship from the inside, I need to know if it needs sealant!”

“You got it!”

I turned to face Lucci who was still scraping away at the barnacle residue, his skin glistened with sweat from the scorching sun. Shaking my head to keep from drooling, I grabbed my towel from the scaffolding.

“Are you going to be alright while I go help Kaku?”

“Purupuru, it’s almost done. Go on ahead.”

“Thanks Hattori,” I smiled.

Climbing onto deck, I made my way to the lower deck to inspect the bindings to make sure we didn’t need to do interior work. Making my way through the halls, I measured across the ceilings to make sure they were not separating. So far the ship was pretty decent, the only damage it sustained was exterior.

Making it to the back of the ship, I noticed that the ship designer actually put the captain’s cabin at the base of the ship towards the back. Strange, but none the less it was a sizable cabin. The room was properly sealed so I was going to make my way back when I heard scuttling across the floor.

Turning around, there was something hiding under the shadow of the desk. It moved slightly into the light and the sight of it’s eight eyes made my heart beat faster.

“E-easy there. J-just stay right where you are…”

I felt sweat drip from my temple as I kept my eye on the creature while I took steps back towards the door. A small screeching sound escaped the creature and my fight of flight mechanism kicked in and I fled.

Screaming as the large arachnid chased me, I tried to evade it by dodging behind crates and trying to reach the ladder so that I could get out of here and lock it below deck. I saw the ladder ahead and just as I jumped for it, the arachnid’s fuzzy legs grabbed my ankle to pull me back. Now feeling anger along with my fear, I kicked back and nailed the arachnid between the eyes allowing it to release me and I hurried up the ladder to the top deck and slammed the door shut.

“Are you alright?!” Kaku called from the mast.

“Fine! Whoa!”

I put my weight against the door as the arachnid was pushing up towards the door to get out.

“What is that?!” Paulie called as he hurried over to help me keep the door shut.

“Spider…b-big spider…”

“The hell!”

We pushed harder on the door until it clicked and we heard the arachnid scurry away. I collapsed against the deck breathing heavily from exhaustion and shaking.

“Kaku that wasn’t funny!” I yelled.

“I didn’t know there was anything down there,” he said while walking up.

“Uhuh, s-sure,” I stuttered while standing up.

“You gotta admit your face was priceless,” Kaku laughed.

“Ha ha ha, laugh it up, laugh it up.”

“You gonna be alright?” Paulie asked.

“Y-yeah, the shakes will go away in a little bit.”

The bell rang signaling for the end of the day so I climbed down the side of the ship and then made my way to the lockers to grab my stuff and head out. When I approached the exit in the back of the company, I noticed Lucci was leaning against the building.

“Hey, waiting for someone?” I asked.

In a flash, Lucci grabbed my hand then pulled me into his embrace and I was pressed against his chest. His hand came up to caress my cheek and his lips covered mine in a rough kiss. Though it was sudden, I didn’t hesitate to wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer. This kiss was different, it was more hungry and it felt exciting.

Lucci’s hands massaged my hips pulling me closer into him. He seemed to engulf me in his arms, due to his larger size. We slowly separated and he pressed his forehead to mine like before.

“I’ve waited all day to do that,” he muttered.

“The feeling’s mutual,” I breathed. “That pretty much answered all of my questions.”

“Good.”

A calloused hand encircled mine then began leading me out to the street and down the sidewalk.

“Would you mind if I accompany you to pickup the boys?”

“I’d like that,” I smiled.

His stone cold expression didn’t change, but I could tell that he was satisfied with my answer. We both walked in silence towards the school, hand in hand, and though I was standoffish at first, Lucci’s really changed my view.

We made it to the front of the entrance, and Hattori flew from Lucci’s shoulder overhead of the oncoming students. He was able to find the boys and interact with them as they approached us. Off in the distance I noticed Mrs. Blaire smiling at me from her classroom door, and that’s when I knew what I needed to do.

“Mr. Lucci what are you doing here?” Bubba asked.

“Hi Mr. Lucci!” Damon greeted.

“Purupuru! We wanted to see you all,” Hattori answered.

“Hey, before we go,” I started.

I took out the permission forms and a pen from my bag, and I signed the permission forms for the boys. I kneeled down to hand them to Bubba.

“Give this to Mrs. Blaire.”

“You mean it sis?!”

I nodded my head then smiled.

“You can go, only if you promise me that you will call me on a den-den mushi every day you are there. I need to know that you both are safe.”

“I promise!”

“Me too, thank you thank you!” Damon exclaimed.

Both boys hugged me tightly before running back to the school to turn in their forms. I stood up and Lucci took my hand in his, then placed a kiss on my cheek.

“As I said,” he whispered in my ear, “you’re doing great with them.”

“Thank you.”

We leaned in for another kiss when we were interrupted.

“Eeeeewwwww!” Damon cringed.

“Hey hey hey!” Bubba interrupted. “I said you could date her, not kiss her around me!”

“Excuse me?” I question them. “Since when did you think that you could give me permission Bubba?”

“Your my sister, and I get a say-so!”

I rolled my eyes. “Alright that’s enough, time to go home.”

“And I thought you had some ‘pocket full of crazy’?” Lucci smirked.

“I do!”

“Bubba stop or we won’t get dessert tonight,” Damon scolded.

Both boys turned and didn’t say another word.

“Wow,” I whispered in Lucci’s ear, “funny thing is, I have no sweets at home right now.”

“Let’s not tell them until later,” he suggested.

“You’ll fit in just fine.”

Lucci’s POV

I was enjoying the time I was spending with (Y/N) and her brothers. However, even though I liked this small relief from my real job, I noticed Kalifa out of the corner of my eye watching me with a look of disappointment. She glared at (Y/N) as if she was a threat to this mission, and I felt myself tighten my hold on (Y/N) to protect her. No one was going to touch her or her brothers, not while I’m breathing.