“You said I was getting just about anything. What is it you think I should ask for too?” He laughed. “I’ve known you a long time, Montgomery. Spill it.”
“Piper, you’ve made me what I am today. I hope you know that. Without you picking me up out of the gutter and giving me a good knocking around, I’d be dead. Or wish I was.” She told him it wasn’t that much. “It was to me and my family. I will never, for as long as I live, forget what you did for me and my family. Ever. In answer to your question, the only thing I can see you might want to ask for is that you don’t give them an answer right away. Perhaps they’ll sweeten the pot for you. So to speak.”
“You sly old devil you. You already told them I was going to be a hard sell, didn’t you? Just to make them think on ways to improve my package.” He told her she’d taught him that. “So I did. I’ll need time to think, as you suggest—about a week. I should be in my home by then and things going in the correct direction for me. I need this move. I need to be with my family.”
“I understand that. The six of you, you’ve been together longer than most housing developments have been. I’m incredibly happy for you and your family.” She nodded and told him she had to get going. “All right. I’ll tell them you need the week. If you need more, which I’d not push if I were you, then that’ll be all right as well.”
Piper felt good as she was making her way back to her apartment. She felt so wonderful, in fact, that she decided to go and see about finding some furniture for her home. According to Duncan, it would be finished in a few days, as well as her studio. Going into the large warehouse they stored their things in when they redecorated, Piper knew just what she was looking for. It was time to have some of her own kind of fun.
~*~
Jude waited in the waiting room for Tracy to be examined by a doctor. She had to have a physical to enter the local school district. Abe was with Duncan seeing another doctor. Tracy was as nervous as Jude was about coming here. Doctors hadn’t played a large part in her life until now. Nervous over what? No clue, Jude thought. Just something she was feeling about her children a great deal lately.
Abe and I are finished. I’m glad you were able to find him a doctor that specialized in trauma patients. He examined him and said he was fit but small for his age. Also, he asked Abe if he wanted to talk to him alone about anything. The kid surprised me and told the doctor that for now, he had a new family, and we were helping him. She felt her heart swell up with the thought of being able to help this child. He’s really smart too. Tomorrow when we take them to be tested for their grade to be put in, I’m going to crow like a rooster when they tell me he’s brilliant.
I hope you’re not disappointed. Duncan told her he could never be disappointed in their children. I’m awfully glad to hear that. By the way, I need to take Tracy shopping. They don’t have too much in the way of clothing. But I did tell her we’d find a place that wasn’t Walmart. It’s not that it’s a bad place to shop, but I want her to have something that is her style. Not something that was on sale and all she could have.
Abe is the same way. I told him he was going to need a heavier coat and some boots. He was thrilled to know he could have them both at the same time, and they’d be new. I hate that these kids, all of them, were treated like they were. I’m not discounting the things that Hanna did to them in this, but they should have had a great deal more than she was providing for them. Jude agreed with him. All right. We’re going to the mall. Maybe we can meet up later and have dinner together. I know it’s New Year’s Eve, but I can’t think of a better group to be bringing the new year in with than my new family.
When Tracy came out to the waiting room with her, Jude didn’t ask her what was said. Instead, she went up to pay for the visit and to set up a second one in six months. As they were going down to the main floor in the elevator, Tracy started laughing. She asked her what was so funny.
“You’re about to bust, aren’t you? In wanting to know what sort of shape I’m in.” Jude felt her face heat up in embarrassment. “You can ask me, Jude. I won’t get all pissy with you. I’m fine, he told me. Undernourished a bit. I told him where we were coming from, and he said he was glad I’ve become a family member of yours. He told me you helped him get through med school.”
“I provided him the money to go to college. What he did with it was whatever he wanted. What kind of food did he recommend for you to eat? By the way, Abe is fine as well. Undernourished, the same as you. We plan on making sure you have anything you want to eat—I guess within reason. You don’t want to get too over nourished, do you? You can if you want. Whatever makes you happy.” Tracy told her she made her happy. “Thank you. I’m so glad to hear that today. It’s been a rough morning for me.”
“Anything I can help you with?” Jude thought about it and decided if she really wanted to help, she’d let her. “I’m game for just about anything. I sort of owe you for saving us.”
“You don’t really think that, do you?” Tracy turned to look at her as they were in the parking garage. “I mean, we didn’t take you in because we wanted you to owe us something. You don’t believe we did it for any other reason than we wanted you two to become our family, do you?”
“Honestly?” Jude nodded, getting herself ready for some sort of horrible thoughts coming from Tracy as to why they’d adopted them. “When you and Duncan first told us what you were doing, I was ready to take Abe and head out. I don’t have any idea where we might have ended up—probably on the wrong end of something bad. But I saw you holding Abe. He was asleep in your arms as if he belonged there.”
“Just me holding him? That got you to stay?” Tracy told her it was because he’d been asleep. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be dense here, but why did that make you want to stick around with us? I’m assuming you trusted us for that reason.”
“No. It was because Abe trusted you. Enough so that he was able to fall asleep without me there to keep him safe. He trusted that you’d not hurt him. Not make him feel like he had to have someone protecting him while he was resting. He trusted you. And in turn, I did as well.” Jude looked at Tracy. “Do you understand now?”
“Yes. I do. And I want to thank you for telling me. I don’t know what I’d do if I were to find either of you gone from the house. I would move heaven and earth to keep you both safe.” Jude thought about what she was saying. “I know you and Abe have only been with us for about a week now, but I feel as if you’ve opened up a part of my heart that I hadn’t realized was closed off. Duncan moved in there too but in a different sort of way. I’ve fallen in love with both of you. You mean more than anything to me.”
Tracy hugged her. Not just a quick hug where her arms barely touched her before she moved away, but a full out, entire body hug that warmed her all the way to her heart. Hugging her back, telling her how much she loved her, she was a little sad when Tracy pulled back and looked up at her. The tears in her eyes brought Jude’s to the point of falling down her cheeks.
“Thank you, Mom.” Jude burst into tears when Tracy called her mom. It was more than she had hoped for when taking these kids to her heart. “We should get going. I don’t know about you, but all this emotional crap is making me hungry.”
It took her a couple of minutes to gather herself enough to drive. While she was sitting there in the car, she had a sudden thought. Looking at Tracy, she wondered why she’d not said anything about driving. Asking her why she didn’t drive had the girl laughing again.
“Because there wasn’t a car around for me to practice in mostly. Not to mention, it’s doubtful that Hanna would have allowed me to drive her car.” Jude asked her if she’d had the permit test. “No. It didn’t occur to me until just now that I could be driving. I have driven before—not legally, but I have driven. Are you going to buy me a car if I say I’d like to drive?”
Sure she was joking, Jude told her she would buy her a good stable car. “I don
’t want you out someplace where you can’t get home. You and Abe, you both need cell phones as well. I know we told you about how we can communicate with you since we’ve taken you into our hearts, but you need to have a phone for other things too.” Jude pulled out of the doctor’s parking lot and onto the road. “I’ve never been big on driving. I guess you could say my way of getting around pleases me where driving doesn’t. I don’t like traffic. People, for the most part, are all right, but I don’t like them in traffic.”
“I think it’s a given that if there is traffic, you can bet there will be people in the cars.” Jude grinned at her. She had such a good sense of humor. “But I don’t expect you to give me whatever I want. That’s not the way it’s supposed to work.”
“It’s how I work. I won’t give either of you everything, but I will indulge you in some things. Having a reliable car isn’t an indulgence, however. It’s a necessity. For both of us—my peace of mind, and your ability to go from point A to B without getting into a terrible accident.” Tracy said she could understand her wanting her to be safe. “Good. Because I didn’t mention this to you before, but you’re an immortal. You’ll age until you’re about twenty-five, then you’ll just stay the way you are. You won’t be able to gain weight after that, either. Just to let you know.”
“Duncan told me this morning before I left home. He also mentioned that I’m a princess. I thought he was just calling me a nickname, but I’ve been thinking about it, and he literally called me a princess. Princess Tracy of the Dante Castle. How flipped out is that?” Tracy laughed a little. “I think Abe took his being a prince to his head. He was making me call him that before they left for Abe’s appointment.”
“If you think that is flipped out, try having people call you queen.” They were both laughing when they pulled up in front of the boutique she’d been telling Tracy about. “I know the people who have this shop. They’re both a part of the families Dante moved to New Town before it was destroyed. They’re both fae, so I want you to be prepared for anything. There are only dresses and other things in their shop for any humans that come around. You’re no longer human, so you’ll be able to see what they want you to see.”
“What do you mean, I’m no longer human? Not to mention, there are faeries around too?” Jude got out of the car and made her way to the front of the store while Tracy hammered her with questions. “Mom? Are they going to turn me into something?”
“Not unless you piss them off.” Opening the door, Jude inhaled deeply. It was different for every person that came inside this particular shop. The scent was meant to calm a person. A stressed person couldn’t shop well, she’d been told. “What do you smell, Tracy?”
“Almonds. Toasted and buttery. Also, I smell fresh vanilla. Why can I smell this?” Jude told her that was her calming tool. That the smells she had were associated with a good calm memory for her. “My grandma. She made toasted almonds to put over vanilla ice cream as a treat for me. I miss her.”
Jude hated to shop and had always used the magic she had to dress herself whenever she needed to go someplace. But hanging out with Tracy, having her try different things on, was the most fun she’d had in an exceptionally long time. As she stood in front of the mirror with a pair of dress slacks and a large sweater that was, surprisingly enough, a bright pink in color, Tracy looked at her in the reflection.
“I would never have liked this outfit if you hadn’t made me try it on. I love the color so much now that all I want are pink tops.” Jude said it looked great on her too. “I love this. The jeans too. Can I get the pink tennis shoes to go with this? I know it’s winter, but this is so beautiful.”
“You can’t wear tennis shoes in the snow, no. But you have to have something on your feet when you’re in school. And if you don’t get the pink shoes that go well with that, then I’m going to be upset. It really looks amazing.” Tracy squealed in delight. The rush to get the shoes had her laughing too. “You might want to pick up a few colors of shoes, Tracy. Pink doesn’t go with everything.”
The man in the shop with them wasn’t anyone she knew. Making sure there was nothing between him and her, Jude kept an eye on him. But when Daisy came out of the backroom and hugged him tightly, Jude did let down her guard. She had to shake the tenseness off—she’d been so ready to kill him if he’d tried anything stupid.
“Jude, I’d like for you to meet my son. This is Grant. He has adopted, as we all have, the last name of Coby. Grant, this is the new queen. Duncan and Jude are getting married as soon as the weather warms up again.” She shook his hand when it was offered, and felt the blast of power up her arm. He wasn’t just fae, she realized.
“I’m a little of everything, my lady. When I was born, there was a terrible storm brewing. Once I took my first breath, it was obvious I wasn’t going to make it.” Jude said he felt to her like he was brownie and faerie too. “That’s right. Also, a little wolf added in, just in case. I was able to survive simply because I was given all their magic. My mother said it’s also what makes me a stubborn ass.”
They were both laughing when Tracy joined them. After introducing her to the man, Tracy went to try on another set of clothing. Grant and his mother headed to the backroom to talk. It was then that Piper contacted her to tell her what was going on.
You’re bringing Tracy to dinner tonight, aren’t you? She’d forgotten about it but knew that Duncan would understand. That kid, she’s going to fit right in with us. I’ve been talking to her about the things she might want to study at college. I think it only hit her then that she was going to be able to go. You’ve done a great thing for them, Jude. We all think so.
They’ve done a great thing for me too. She told her how she’d called her mom for the first time. Right now, we’re getting her some clothing. When I mentioned to her she could just change her outfits, she hadn’t any idea what she would like. This is helping her be able to make choices. We’re going to purchase some of them too. I can’t imagine the things they put up with at that home.
I’ve been doing some research for Duncan about the place. Some of the shit those kids had to endure is beyond what any person in a jail cell would have had happen to them. I’m so awfully glad, the more I find out that the kids are no longer there. Oh, Mary called me today. She said to tell you that all the children are adapting well and are having a good time. Some of them have been terrified they might be sent back if they misbehave. That’s what they’re working with now, I guess. Making sure they understand they’re in their forever homes. Jude gave Tracy a thumbs up when she came out in a cute skirt with another baggy sweater. I’ll see you tonight. I can almost taste your enjoyment you’re having there.
After telling Duncan she had plans for this evening, he sounded happy. Apparently, he and Abe were going to see who could eat the most pizza. The other men were joining them as well. Jude was happy, very much so. She couldn’t wait for the next bird to find a mate. Jude didn’t care who it was either.
Chapter 7
Hanna didn’t know what all the fuss was about. Sure, she’d done some terrible things in the name of taking care of children. But what the hell did they think she was going to live in with the stipend they paid her monthly? It was barely enough for her to buy food each month. There was never enough money left over each payday for her to have a social life. Not that she had one of those anymore either.
Hanna hated people, but not the money they provided her with. That was golden. And as far as she could understand from these idiots that had arrested her, they’d not been able to open her safe and couldn’t find the other money. Porn, it seemed, was a huge moneymaker. Baby porn was even more profitable.
Two people sat in the chairs behind hers. She didn’t pay all that much attention to faces. Hanna had always been a clothing snob. Not that she wore the latest fashions or the most hip wear. She tended to wear things she’d purchased until they were little more than strings and rags. Even t
hen, she’d turn them into something serviceable. She didn’t get to be wealthy by being stupid with her funds.
She’d known someday she’d be caught. What had surprised Hanna now was that it had taken them this long to figure it out. That was another reason she hated people. They were stupid as donkeys. Turning back in her seat to face the front when no one else came in, she tried to figure out what to say to these people to make her have a lighter sentence. Nothing much came to mind. Hanna knew she was going to serve some jail time.
It might be nice, she thought, to not have to listen to whiney brats all day. Not have to figure out if someone buying her product was really a nasty person or the cops. Either way, she was due for a little rest and relaxation time. Mostly, she thought, she’d be able to not have to put up with her brothers. Harland and George were the only family she had left. They also depended on her for every little thing they needed.
Harland was mentally challenged. That was the fancy term they’d put on him when he’d failed preschool all those years ago. Since their parents died, she’d been responsible for him. It was tough going at times, but he had his usefulness too. Like when he had to dig a hole. He’d dig to China if she didn’t go out and tell him to stop, it was deep enough.
George was plain stupid. He never got jokes. Even if you took the time to explain them to him, he would still stare at you as if you had three heads, for Christ’s sake. He didn’t care for fun. And worst of all, he hated to be dirty. He showered several times a day without fail. Also, his hands were raw because he would use hand sanitizer until it literally ate away at his skin.
When the bailiff came to tell everyone to stand, she didn’t on principle. No one stood up when she entered the room, and to her, it was a waste of time to get up and down like she was some sort of jack in the box.
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