by SM Olivier
“She said when she saw you, she felt the fire she once had. She found another reason to live again. As much as she loves Miranda, Miranda never had the spirit you do. She knew even back then, before the state took her children away from her that her daughter had a huge heart but she was constantly seeking approval and attention from others.”
“If she was such a great mother herself, how could she let the state take her children away?” I asked bitterly.
Remy sighed. “Grief can do funny things to people. Look at Cora and Beth. If Nadia and Patrick didn’t have Beth, then the state could have taken them away if she wasn’t part of a community. Hazel’s community turned their backs on her when they found out her experiments had failed. Everyone in her community blamed Mr. Moore’s parents, Hazel, and her husband.
“In their own grief they couldn’t feel any sympathy or understanding towards them. All they saw was that they had a promise of a ‘normal’ life and they had it taken away.
“Even the strongest people could succumb to the demons in their heads. She succumbed to her own and was living in the prison she had created. All these years she truly was a shell of herself. She had gotten in so deep, she had no clue how to get out of it.
“She has a mental gift. She has the ability to touch or be near an object and tell you it’s history. For instance, she could go to a pawn shop and find a pocket watch made in the 1800’s and tell you when it was created and all its previous owners.
“She thinks her gift also kept her from being a part of the world. She claims she was aware of her surroundings from time to time, but she could never break free from the shackles of it until last night.”
I looked at him in confusion.
“Mental gifts are tricky and one that the gifted community has tried to understand for centuries,” Drake added from the kitchen as he started to put sausage links onto a platter. “Troy, Remy, and I have physical gifts. Sure, it takes some mental power to use them but it’s our bodies that are doing most of the work. Jaxson, Jace, and yourself have a mental gift. Even in the Non-world the mind and brain are still a mystery.
“Every day new things are discovered. With the gifted community, the mysteries are even more complicated. I truly think that Hazel didn’t willingly check out on her children. I think her gift forced her to check out to protect her. Just as your gift has risen to try to protect you.”
I nodded and grudgingly had to admit that may have been the case and maybe she wasn’t as terrible as I thought she may be. Jace was the one that generally had the best track record for being a good judge of character. With his gift and his analytical ways, I believed that he was giving Hazel the benefit of the doubt.
“Has anyone questioned Greg about the eighth gift that Blake has?” Jaxson asked as he stepped into the living room, followed closely by Noah.
Jace shook his head with a frown. “One thing at a time. I imagine he and Dad have a lot of catching up to do.”
“Where would this eighth gift even be coming from, and why hasn’t it manifested itself?” Noah asked as he sat down at the table.
“Maybe it has,” Drake stated as he placed the French toast platter onto the table.
I wandered over to the table unable to deny my stomach any longer. “I can understand if I were given seven gifts. My gift and then yours. When Greg said he saw those gifts warring in me, did he mean I already had them and the other six were dormant? That when I made the connection with you all, then they truly manifested? That doesn’t even make sense if I have eight. I have my own and then yours.”
“Not if we’ve been reading our mark wrong the whole time. Maybe we never should have counted ourselves in the mark. Maybe the mark meant that our nucleus had seven connections,” Drake spoke carefully.
“Bullshit,” Remy muttered as he angrily stabbed a sausage link.
“What happens if her seventh connection had the ability to make people stronger? Like a catalyst. Like Sierra, but more intricate, like a magnet. She can pull the full potential of someone, especially her connections. It doesn’t go away once the catalyst is taken away,” Drake added vehemently.
“Think about it. We have all grown in our gifts beyond our expectations. Beyond anything a normal nucleus would have been capable of giving us. I can protect buildings now. Whole buildings. Not just a small group of people.
“Jace can feel people from buildings miles away, if he so chose to. He can push his feelings onto an audience.” We all looked over at Jace in surprise.
“It was when we went to the hockey arena,” he said hesitantly. “I had a packed stadium laughing and they had no clue why.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” I asked in a small voice.
Jace frowned. “When we went Christmas shopping, I told you we took the boys to a hockey game. I guess I didn’t want to believe I did it.”
I nodded although I wasn’t happy that he hadn’t told me. I would think that was important information to share with me.
“So, the moral of the story is we’re all exceeding our expectations,” Drake said as he poured his syrup onto his French toast.
I looked around the table; everyone seemed to be digesting the new theory. “That is preposterous. There’s no way I have another connection out there!”
“There’s no way in hell I’m sharing Blake with an outsider.” Remy growled.
“I agree. Can we not talk about something that may not even come to fruition?” Troy insisted as he took a bite of his French toast.
“I just don’t want us all to be blind sided if Greg supports the current theory,” Drake shrugged before he took a drink from his cup of milk.
“Can we just eat breakfast and then watch our movie?” Noah grumbled.
“Yes, please,” I said staidly.
I really didn’t want to think there was someone else out there that could be my connection. I had six men that I loved, and I already felt our road was a long one. I really didn’t need anything else to complicate my life any further.
We were in our second movie when there was knocking on the door. Noah jumped up from the chair he had been reclining in. The moment he opened the door, I heard a loud squeal.
“Noah!” It was Ella’s distinct voice.
I sat up from Troy’s lap and looked up in time to see Alex and Ella come barreling into the room, followed by a more deliberate pace of Micah and Kade.
“Jaxson!” Alex came running into the room and hurled himself into Jaxson’s lap.
Jaxson let out a big oomph. “Hey buddy! Did you miss me?”
“Yes!” Alex exclaimed before continuing his room around the room. He landed in my lap , and Troy reached over and tousled his curls with a smile.
“We got a surprise,” Ella stated as she made her rounds around the room, welcoming the guys back before climbing up next to me and Jace.
“It’s not a surprise if you tell them,” Kade said with a gentle smile.
I had already texted him earlier to see how he was doing. He seemed to be taking it in stride. He seemed more worried about Micah and Alex and admitted to feeling leery about Miranda (his words, not mine) but he was trying to go into it with an open mind.
“How was the trampoline park?” I asked Alex as I hugged him close.
“It was amazing,” he enthused. “I did a flip into the foam pit.”
Ella made a loud scoffing noise. “More like a belly flop.”
“Nu uh! Micah?!” Alex cried out belligerently.
Micah had found a seat on the floor next to the couch even though there was an open seat and the ottomans open. “More like a half flip,” he said placatingly.
Ella rolled her eyes. “Whatever! It was a belly flop,” she said with a serious look to Jace.
Jace tried to hide a laugh behind his hand but he wasn’t that successful.
“Does no one else want to know what the surprise is?!” Jaxson yelled out in a pain filled voice.
I laughed. “It wouldn’t be a surprise if they told you.”
“When are we getting the surprise?” Jaxson squirmed like a child.
“How is he your brother?” Troy asked Jace with a crooked smile.
“If he didn’t look like me, I would question it,” Jace smiled wryly.
Another knock on the door resounded through the living room. “Come it!” Noah yelled. “It’s open!”
Will’s head popped in the door first. “Oh, good you’re all here. How are you feeling Blake?”
“Like I died. Literally,” I tried to say with a straight face. My way of handling my current situation was with humor. It may be dark humor, but it was still humor.
Noah and Jaxson groaned simultaneously. “That was bad,” Noah said swinging his head around to me. “Don’t quit your day job.”
I smiled wryly. “I’m feeling better. Thanks Pops.”
“Good,” he nodded as his eyes further assessed me. “Well enough to decorate the Christmas tree?” he asked as he before he nodded behind him.
Gavin and Jemmy came in carrying a real-life Christmas tree, followed by Megan and Sierra carrying copious amounts of bags. “We brought the decorations, snacks, eggnog, and Christmas movies!” Jemmy exclaimed happily.
Remy, Drake, and Noah jumped up to help carry in the rest of the bags and tree stand.
I sat up once again with a huge smile. Christmas decorating with my dad was a small pre-lit artificial tree. I loved our little Charlie Brown Christmas tree, but I always dreamed about a large, real tree.
“Did you bring The Santa Clause? Any of them?” I asked hopefully.
The Santa Claus movies had been a tradition for Dad and me. We always played them as we decorated our Christmas tree, then let me stay up to late to watch all three of them. I rarely made it to the third one but he had continued to watch them. He laughed at all the funny parts, despite watching it numerous times. He always laughed easily. I loved that about him. I missed hearing his infectious laughter.
Megan laughed. “Of course. Along with It’s a Wonder Life, The Christmas Story, Miracle on 34th Street, White Christmas, Four Christmases, Jingle all the Way, Home Alone 1 and 2, because let’s be real, the other ones weren’t as good, and−” she started to continue before Jace cut her off.
“So, every Christmas movie known to man?” Jace teased.
Megan rolled her eyes at him. “We are so behind on the festivities. We should have started watching them the day after Thanksgiving.”
“Are we going to have Christmas movie marathons starting tonight?” Jemmy bounced around clapping her hands.
“That’s up to Blake and the boys,” Will said with a smile as he started pouring some eggnog in some glasses.
“Did we get the rum?” Megan asked as she leaned forward to kiss Will before she placed some of the bags on the counter.
I looked over at Jace with a raised brow as Jaxson looked at them in astonishment. “Is this a thing again?”
“You boys couldn’t be the only happy ones,” Will stated dryly but a smile lurked around his lips.
“Do you prefer Ma, Aunt Megan, or Megan?” Jemmy asked as she stood up from putting the trunk of the tree into the tree stand.
Megan blushed. She wasn’t use to Jemmy’s boldness yet. “Megan or Aunt Megan would work,” she finally murmured.
“Hey, Ma,” Jemmy said with a sly smile. “Can I get some rum in my nog too?”
“Jemmy,” Will said in a warning tone before he gave Megan a look of apology. “I tried,” I heard him whisper loudly to Megan. We all laughed except for Jemmy because we knew he intentionally meant to be heard. Then he said in a louder voice he said. “I allow Jemmy, Blake, and Jaxson the occasional glass of wine with dinner.”
Megan smiled up at him. “Like our parents allowed us to, knowing good and well that we snuck into the liquor cabinet when they went away.”
I was surprised by this new information. I wasn’t aware that they ‘grew up’ with each other. I knew Will and Alison had been about the same age, and Megan four years younger than them. I hadn’t realized that their parents had known each other as well.
Will gave her an indulgent smile before he kissed the top of her head. “We never did that.”
We all laughed.
“Likely story, Pops.” Noah sidled up to Megan. “I’m sure you have great stories to tell us about Pops. All the stories he tells us involve a studious, athletic, driven, well behaved boy.”
Megan started laughing before she gave Will a mischievous smile. “He was all those things and then some.”
Jace must have seen my surprised expression because he telepathically said, “They grew up together; Alison, Dad, and Megan. My grandparents had been best friends. Alison and Dad dated even before they knew they were connected. They found out they were connected in high school. By then they were already halfway in lust. Megan always harbored a crush on Dad. She was ecstatic when she found out she was connected to him, too. Alison was happy, too… for a little while.”
I nodded, interested to hear their history. I started to pay attention to the conversation still going on around us.
Noah groaned. “I will find out more!” he declared earnestly.
“Maybe, maybe not,” Megan laughed once more.
Will started to hand out glasses of egg nog with the help of Sierra.
“Mmm it already smells like Christmas,” Jemmy smiled as she sniffed her eggnog.
I had to agree. The pine smell from the tree and the smell of the eggnog was everything Christmas. We just needed a fire place and gingerbread cookies cooking in the oven.
“I wish you would have given me a heads up,” Drake joked. “I would have run to get the ingredients for some gingerbread men.”
I had to laugh. “I was thinking the same thing.”
“Blake and I used to make them when Heidi wasn’t around,” Ella gave me a wide smile. “We even had the little cookie cutters.”
To me, the statement was a bit sad. The only way we made them was if Heidi wasn’t around. I saw that as Ella’s memory being tainted, but I could see from her smile that it hadn’t bothered her. She had been content that we made them and got to gorge ourselves on them when we were finished.
“I cheated though,” I piped up as I took a sip of my eggnog. I closed my eyes in contentment as the taste hit my tongue. “Mine came from a tube in the refrigerated section of the grocery store.” I finally added with a smile.
Jemmy laughed as she started to unpack one of the grocery store bags. “Well, you don’t know what you were missing until you try Drakes. Ta da!” she flourished her hands as she pushed several ingredients forward. “I had to look recipes up and they all seemed to have similarities, so I grabbed all the ingredients.” Gavin cleared his throat. She gave him a look of annoyance before she sighed. “Fine. Sierra had to help me. That spice aisle is redonkulous!”
Drake laughed before he gave Sierra a grateful smile. “Thanks! I couldn’t imagine what she would have brought back once she got tired of looking.”
“Hey!” Jemmy loudly protested. “It’s not my fault your selfish butt took all of our cooking gene. You could have left me a little.”
We all laughed at her. I laughed because I seriously think that she believes that it was possible. It wasn’t the first time she had said it, and I think with time, she actually started believing it.
“We should decorate the tree before Drake becomes a slave in the kitchen,” I smiled as I tried to get up.
My right leg wouldn’t support my weight, and I nearly fell on top of Micah. “Blake!” Troy exclaimed as he quickly reached for me.
“Are you okay?” Jace asked in worry as he leaned forward.
I feigned a laugh as I walked towards the bags of decorations near the tree. “Yeah, my foot must have fell asleep. Let’s get to this! Ella and I never had a tree this big, huh, pumpkin head?”
The truth was, something was still wrong. It wasn’t the first time I felt the residual effects of last night. I had stood up from the toilet earlier and the wor
ld had spun. When I went to take a drink earlier my hand wouldn’t close around the glass. It was a few moments before my hand responded. Not to mention the headache that had come and gone all day long. I didn’t want to tell the guys. I didn’t want to worry them. I’ll feel better with enough rest.
“Nope!” Ella chirped. “Aunt Megan and Aunt Beth let us pick out our own ornaments too! Mine had my name on it! They said we can get one every year!”
I smiled as I tugged gently on her pony tail. “That sounds like a great plan! It’s time we started new traditions.”
“I agree,” Will stated as he placed a warm kiss on Megan’s lips.
I looked around the room. I was glad I wasn’t the only one surprised at this other side of Will. I never imagined him being the openly affectionate type. I also never thought I would see him this happy. They looked good together. They looked so natural.
“Can I put on the angel?” Alex asked hopefully.
“I wanted to,” Ella whined.
“Alex asked first,” I said firmly. “You can do it next year.”
Ella began to pout.
“Hey, Ella Bella, you can help me make cookies when we get done decorating if you like,” Drake gently cajoled her.
Ella immediately brightened up. “Are we going to decorate them?” she asked hopefully.
“We did get icing and M& M’s,” Sierra said cheerily.
“Yes!” Ella fist pumped the air.
We all laughed at her antics.
“Which Santa Claus movie?” Jaxson asked as he ejected our last movie. “My personal favorite is The Christmas Story.” He held up the movie with a suggestive wag of his brows. It was his not so subtle way to try and convince me to change my mind. I shook my head with a smile. It wasn’t happening. I rarely asserted my preferences and generally didn’t care.
“That’s a Christmas Day movie,” Noah insisted.
“The first one please,” I said with a smile.