“That was a bit of a letdown,” John remarked as he closed the door behind the last parent. “We didn’t even get around to the cake before they all started to fall asleep.”
Jean shrugged and smiled. “It’s how these things go when the kids are so young. I think they did great.” She smiled and patted her daughter’s back. “You too, Lilly. These things are a royal PITA to do for under-fives.”
Lillian chuckled. “You’re not wrong.” Merry stirred in her arms. “Looks like my Twinkle is waking up.
Merry opened her eyes and blinked at everyone surrounding her. “Is it still my party?”
Lillian dropped a kiss on Merry’s forehead. “It’s the part that’s just us and Grandma and Granddad and your aunts and uncles now.”
Merry squirmed to be put down. “Can I eat? I’m hungry!”
Lillian lowered her daughter to the floor. “Of course you can, sweetie. Your plate that Aunt Tabitha fixed for you is here, see?” She picked up the plate and placed it on the table for Merry. “Tuck in, Twinkle. When you’re done eating, we can open your gifts. Does that sound good?”
Merry half-grinned and half-yawned. “Sounds perfect, Mommy!” She sat at the table and began tearing into her food.
Peter came up behind Tabitha and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head on her shoulder. “She’s a cutie. Trouble, but cute.”
Tabitha sighed. “I hope she will cope with the move when it happens.”
“What move?” Lillian asked. “Who’s moving?”
Jean’s eyes widened. “Oh, um…”
“Looks like the cat’s out of the bag,” John told her. “You didn’t expect it to stay secret for long, did you?”
Lillian rounded on her parents. “What haven’t you told me?” she hissed.
Jean put a finger to her lips when Merry looked up. “Keep your voice down, Lillian.” Her eyes unfocused for a brief second. “There, Meredith is filtering for us. Don’t get your panties in a twist, daughter mine. There are changes coming. Big ones.”
“What kinds of changes?” Lillian demanded. “And who is moving?”
John spoke softly to offset Jean’s irritation at their daughter’s overreaction. “Bethany Anne will be stepping down as Empress as soon as she finds a way to do so without causing upheaval. She plans to leave the Empire behind, and we’re going with her.”
Lillian looked to all of them before she sighed and collapsed into a chair. “You’re leaving?”
John nodded. “We are. You too, if it’s what you want.”
“Of course I want to come with you! Why the hell would I want to be without my family?” Lillian buried her face in her hands. “But…I can’t. What about the business? I’m having some success at last. If we move it to wherever Aunt Bethany Anne decides to settle, I’ll have to start over from scratch. And Merry’s schooling? If I take her away from here, she’s going to miss out on so much.” Her head turned towards the door the kids just left through. “Her friends…”
Tabitha frowned. “I don’t envy you your position, but I get it. You have to do what’s best for Merry.” She glanced at her niece, who was crunching her way through her apple slices without a care in the world. “I’m going to miss you both, especially Merry.”
The child in question was done with her food. She pushed her plate away and ran over to the adults. She jumped up and down, clinging to Lillian’s leg. “Can I open my gifts now, Mommy? Pleeeease?”
Lillian smiled at her daughter and held out a hand. “I suppose now would be a great time to get started.”
There was a timid knock on the door. Tabitha turned to see Tiera hovering near the entrance looking a lot less nervous than she had the last time Tabitha had seen her. “I’ll be back in a minute,” she told the others.
Tabitha walked over to Tiera with a wide grin that she couldn’t suppress even if she wanted to. She had thought to reveal the news later, but she decided she couldn’t wait to share it after all.
Tiera held out a small gift wrapped package. “Hi, Tabitha. I know we were due to meet later, but I wanted to drop this off. It’s an addition to your gift for Merry.”
Tabitha took the package. “What is it?”
Tiera winked. “A surprise, of course.”
Tabitha grinned as she accepted the package. “I have a surprise for you as well. Have you talked to Ashley in the last few days?”
Tiera shook her head ruefully. “I haven’t spoken to anyone except drunks and thieves for days.” She made a face. “I think I’m coming around to the idea of letting you help.”
Tabitha smirked. “Funny you should say that.”
Tiera narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “Why?”
Tabitha looked away guiltily. “Because…I might have already done something to help.”
Tiera’s eyebrows drew in. “Like what?”
“Like I got in touch with the right people and landed Ashley the biggest commission I could find. She has enough work now to employ a whole staff, not just you. You should go and speak to her. She’ll be at her new premises.”
“Really? That’s… I…” Tiera’s face worked through all the emotions that hit her, starting with anger and ending with relief. She took a couple of deep breaths to steady herself and then flung her arms around Tabitha. “Thank you. You’re a true friend, Tabitha.”
Tabitha returned the hug with feeling. “You’re welcome. I’m so pleased for you and Sebastian!”
Tiera smirked. “I’m pleased I can hand that uniform back in and thank my bosses for giving me a chance.”
“I think Rickie will be pleased to hear it,” Tabitha teased. “He worried you weren’t tough enough for the job. Pretty sure you set him straight, though.”
“Damn right I did,” Tiera shot back. “But I’m due home, so I’d better get going. Thank you for helping, despite my pride.”
Tabitha turned the package Tiera had given her over in her hands. The shape of the contents was familiar enough to bring a smile to Tabitha’s face.
“Aunt Tabbie! Aunt Tabbie!”
Tabitha turned to Merry, who was brandishing a new set of toy Jean Dukes pistols. “Cool beans! What do they hold?”
Merry pulled the triggers, and Tabitha learned that this set fired sticky darts. She tugged the darts from her stomach and chest and grinned. “Look at you! You’re gonna be the most fearsome Ranger when you grow up.”
Merry squealed with delight. “Just like you, Aunt Tabbie!”
Tabitha caught her and swung her around in a circle. “Just like me. Oh, I almost forgot! Your gift, Merry.” She went over to the table and hunted down Peter’s gift.
She took the shiny gift-wrapped box out and gave it to Merry. “Happy birthday, Merry-love.”
“Thank you, Aunt Tabbie!” Merry sat down cross-legged and fumbled at the wrapping paper until she managed to get a corner loose. “What is it?” she asked breathlessly.
“Open it and find out!” Tabitha urged.
Merry lost her patience and tore into the paper. She opened the box and flung handfuls of the protective tissue everywhere in her hurry to get a glimpse of her surprise.
Suddenly, Merry jumped up and let out a high-pitched scream.
Lillian jumped up. “What is it, baby? Are you hurt?”
Merry continued to jump up and down. “Mommy, Mommy! Ranger…coat!”
Tabitha let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “So, you like it?”
“Yeah!” Merry was busy trying to get her arms into the coat. Her struggle with the floor-length duster was mostly to do with the fact that she was still bouncing around like a frog on acid and kept missing the sleeves.
“Let me help,” Tabitha told her. She took the coat and held it out so Merry could slide her arms in.
Merry ran to get her new pistols from the table where she’d left them. She ran back over to Tabitha via the other adults, whom she peppered with sticky darts, and looked up with wide, earnest eyes. “Aunt Tabbie? Am I a Ranger now?�
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Tabitha put a finger to her lips while she pretended to consider. “Hmmm. I think you’re still missing something.” She passed Merry the package that Tiera had dropped off. “Here, let’s see if this is what you need.”
Merry tore into the wrapping paper and tugged out the badge. “I have a Ranger badge?” She held the toy badge up to inspect it. “I have a Ranger badge! I’m a real Ranger now! What does it say?”
Tabitha pointed each word out as she read it. “Empress’ Ranger at the top there, see? That’s your name in the middle. M-E-R-R-Y. And at the bottom, it says Ad Aeternitatem.”
“What’s ‘and a-turney-tatum?’” Merry asked.
“Ad Aeternitatem,” Tabitha repeated. “It’s a special promise. It means ‘For eternity,’ which means all the time that there will ever be.”
Merry put the badge around her neck and held her arms out for Tabitha to pick her up. “Like how long I love you for, Aunt Tabbie?”
Tabitha touched her nose to Merry’s. “Exactly that long, my precious girl.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Open Space, Aboard the Penitent Granddaughter, Nickie’s Training Room, the Next Day
Nickie heard the grunts coming from her repurposed cargo hold and couldn’t resist investigating.
She quietly slipped inside the door and stood in the shadows while she watched Keen and Grim hard at work training Addie and Durq in fighting techniques. Someone had procured a few mats from somewhere and laid them out in the middle of the hold. She was pleased to see that Grim was participating. He spent too much time hiding in the galley these days.
It was a little strange to watch him teaching Durq, suspiciously in much the same way her grandfather had trained her; the same way her Aunt Bethany Anne trained everyone. It was a hard way to learn, but the little Skaine didn’t complain once when he was taken down again and again by the highly-trained Yollin.
Keen paused the set he was running Addie through to watch a particularly intricate throw that Grim was struggling to remember.
“I haven’t done this for a while,” he apologized.
Nickie grinned and stepped out of the doorway. “Let me remind you.”
Grim sighed. “Oh, shit. This is going to hurt, isn’t it?”
Nickie came over to the mat. “You can bet it will, Grimmie. How else are you supposed to remember the lesson?”
Adelaide smiled nervously. “You don’t mind that we’re in here, do you?”
“Not even a little bit,” Nickie replied brightly. “In fact, I love what you’ve done with the place. It feels homey.”
Durq frowned. “You find the training area homey?”
Nickie and Grim snickered.
“If you’d grown up anywhere near my family, you’d know that it’s the place I feel most at home,” Nickie told him. She bowed to Grim. “Ready?”
Grim nodded resignedly. “Yes, but you will be helping me make dinner if you break me too badly. Let’s just get it over with.”
Nickie spent the next hour running through various techniques she knew for the benefit of the crew. After that, she and Grim left the others to practice while she helped him to the galley.
“That last lock was murder on my poor back,” Grim complained as she led him to a stool at the counter.
“Quit your bitching,” Nickie told him. “We should talk about how you know all my grandfather’s moves, cook o’ mine.”
Grim winced as he shrugged and irritated his newly-set shoulder. “I’ve lived a long life, Nickie. Once I fought, and now I cook. There’s nothing else to it.” He indicated a cupboard. “You can start in there. You need…” He got up with a groan when Nickie began piling ingredients on the counter. “Noooo, all my organization!”
Nickie stepped away and held up her hands. “You can make dinner by yourself if you like?”
Grim sat down again gingerly. “No, you earned it.”
Nickie’s mouth twitched.
Soon enough she had a pan of something that didn’t smell like it would kill them simmering, and the two of them sat at the counter with a glass of cooking sherry each.
Nickie took a sip and made a face. “Ugh, what the fuck is this? It’s so sweet!” She pushed the glass away and went to the pantry to search for the wine she knew he kept for cooking instead.
Grim knocked his back in one, then snagged hers and polished that off as well. “Pain relief,” he told Nickie. “You dented me a little.”
Nickie came back with her objective in hand and stopped to look him over. “I can’t see any damage to your carapace. Besides, I went easy on you.”
Grim snorted, spraying sherry everywhere. “You wouldn’t appreciate me telling you that you sounded just like your grandfather just then, but I remember him saying exactly the same thing to me.”
Nickie narrowed her eyes at her friend. “So you were trained by him. I fucking knew it!”
Grim grimaced. “Yeah, well. Adolescent me was all fight and no brain. I was lucky that John didn’t kill me on the spot the first time we met.”
“You kept this quiet, Grim.”
“Would you have believed that I joined you because I wanted to if I’d told you the whole truth back then?”
Nickie shrugged. “We were a bit busy stealing a ship. I probably would have shot you, if I’m honest.”
Grim reached for the sherry bottle but stopped and wrapped his arm around his middle with a groan. “So you agree it would have been detrimental to my continued ability to breathe?”
Nickie poured him a shot to save him the pain from his sore ribs. “When you put it that way…”
“I am putting it that way,” Grim told her. “Although if today were the first day we met, I would tell you everything.”
“Really?” Nickie was surprised.
“Really,” Grim assured her. “You were completely fucking terrifying when we met, but I recognized you as a kindred spirit.” He swallowed his drink. “Deep down, at least.”
“Love you too, Grim,” Nickie teased.
“I don’t doubt it,” Grim agreed. “So…High Tortuga. Want to tell me why we’re going back there now that the mission is complete?”
She sat and sipped her wine. “I’m coming to the end of my thinking time. I have a decision to make about whether to go back or not.”
Grim gave her a sympathetic look. “It looks like you’ve already made it.”
Nickie shrugged. “Not really. I’m not sure I’m ready. I mean, this mission was a little fucked up, but it felt good to do something for others.”
“It always does.”
“Yeah, but…”
“But what?”
“I dunno, just… It’s hard to go back and face all the pain I caused everyone.”
Grim shifted in his seat. “Gott Verdammt, that hurts. I suppose the bigger question is not whether you are ready but whether you believe you will be welcomed back into the fold when you return.”
Nickie thought about that for a minute. “I think I will be. I know that my uncle, at least, does more than tolerate me.”
“Well, Barnabas has always marched to the beat of his own drum. He probably sees a kindred spirit in you as well. But Nickie, you do realize that you are much more than just tolerable?”
Nickie shrugged. “No, but I never cared what anyone thought before. I just decided, fuck them if they didn’t like it. This is different. It’s not a comfortable thing to know that all my issues with my mom weren’t what I thought and that most of it was my fault.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t either of your faults,” Grim assured her.
Nickie shrugged. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I don’t know if we can fix things between us.”
Grim considered that. “Do you want to go home?”
Another shrug. “Maybe. I’m not sure if it’s the right thing to do. Some broken things can’t be mended.”
Grim waved a finger at the sherry for a refill. “Sounds like you need to look at the bigger picture. What do you want from y
our life? Do you want to keep doing what we’re doing?”
Nickie nodded. “I liked the gray area we worked in for this last mission. I am glad that John solved the problem, but I would have been okay with it if I’d had to take Cynthia out. The vigilante thing is maybe something I could get used to.”
“So that’s why we’re going back to High Tortuga.” Grim eased himself off his stool and went to check on the pan. He stirred it and tasted Nickie’s sauce. “This isn’t half bad! Needs a little something, though.”
Nickie mock-scowled at her friend. “Well, you put the fighter in the kitchen, and this is what you get.”
He added a pinch of something to the sauce. “It’s a great first attempt.”
“I have cooked, Grim. I just don’t want to waste time when I can grab whatever is around. It’s only fuel, at the end of the day.”
Grim clutched a hand to his heart. “How can you say that about my food?”
Nickie laughed. “Not your food, Grim. Your dinners are the best.”
Nickie hadn’t known that Yollins could blush.
Chapter Twenty-Four
High Tortuga, Northern Continent, Space Fleet Base
The Penitent Granddaughter returned to High Tortuga, where the crew was met once again by Barnabas.
They piled down the ramp, Durq included this time.
Barnabas nodded to them all. “No Prince PITA?” he asked Nickie with a slight smirk.
Nickie tilted her head. “Uncle Barnabas, why ask when you already know the answer?”
“Politeness, dear Nickie. Besides, I want to hear your report. Did you succeed in ensuring a smooth succession to the Vietanian throne?”
Nickie smirked. “You could say that. It did get a bit fucked up, though.”
“These things often do.” Barnabas smiled. “Walk with me. You can tell me about it when we get to the Pit for a proper debrief. Your crew may take some well-deserved leisure time while we take care of business.”
Adelaide chuckled nervously. “The Pit?”
Deuces Wild Boxed Set: Books 1-4: Beyond the Frontiers, Rampage, Labyrinth, Birthright Page 81