by Mikayla Lane
At Grai’s hesitant nod, Lara continued. “In other realms, your son is the man you wish him to be. One day, when the energy on this planet shifts, he will master this realm as he has the others. When he does, he and those who are like him will be a force to be reckoned with. Do not fear for the girl, she will one day be grateful for the man he will become.”
“You should be thankful that you continue to teach him, even when you believe he doesn’t understand. He takes those lessons to heart and will one-day show you just how much he has learned. Until then, show patience and understanding as you have and enjoy these moments.”
Lara stood and sent more calming energy to the man before leaving him to his own thoughts. Viper met her at the edge of the patio and swung her into his arms.
“If you are done tending to the others in this town, then I think it’s my turn now mate.” Viper snarled teasingly as he nuzzled her neck.
*****
Reven was so busy looking around for more weapons that he was startled when Melina dropped her spoon in her bowl loudly and yelled. “Chew that first! She can’t chew!”
Looking over to Jax, he saw that she was poised to give the baby a hefty spoon of rocky road ice cream, and he took it out of her hand.
“Hey!” Jax said with surprise.
“The nuts, Bayla can’t chew the nuts or the chocolate pieces. We don’t want her to choke.” Reven said by way of explanation as he took the baby’s bowl and dumped all but the vanilla into Melina’s bowl.
“Oh…” Jax said looking down at the now scrunched up face of the baby.
“Wait… wait don’t cry. We still have vanilla, and I will buy you some plain chocolate and strawberry tomorrow so you can have different flavors too.” Jax said as she scooped up the last of the vanilla for Bayla.
“Ok, now for the bedroom assignments! Melina, you and Reven finish the ice cream and put the bowls in the sink while Bayla and I check out the furniture they brought for you!” Jax said trying to interject some excitement into her voice.
She had no damn idea what she was doing. To call her a parent was an insult to parents. The children had been in the door only moments before they’d almost gotten hurt on her weapons, and she’d almost choked Bayla to death with ice cream!
She’d assumed since the baby had teeth, food was pretty much fair game. How the hell, was she supposed to know those two teeth are basically ornamentation right now and wouldn’t chew nuts or chocolate?
If she’d been thinking clearly at all, she’d have remembered the chewed up burger and fries that Melina had set aside for the baby. But with the kids in the house, her place seemed to shrink around her, and it felt like the walls were closing in on her.
On the other hand, maybe it was Reven; she thought as she glanced over at the huge man taking up the entire side of the coffee table while she, and the girls shared the other side. There was something so intimate and strange about sharing a table with him, even if it was just a coffee table and a bowl of ice cream.
For some reason, it made her wonder what it would have been like if she’d ever joined him for dinner as he’d wanted dozens of times. She could picture in her mind, putting her best candles on the coffee table. The red ones with the purple swirls streaked throughout.
She’d put on her best music. Oh! She thought, that one song that seemed to sum up her entire non-existent relationship with Reven to begin with. Nada!
Bayla giggled and patted her cheeks with her cold, sticky hands. Shaking off her crazy thoughts and hoping to get the girls to bed so she could have a moment to herself to think, Jax stood with Bayla and headed down the hallway and away from Reven’s piercing blue gaze.
Opening up the door to her second guest bedroom, Jax sucked in a sharp breath. She looked around in stunned disbelief, unsure if it was a bad joke, or if she was really seeing this. It has to be a bad joke she thought as she went to the other guest bedroom and opened the door.
Looking around, everything looked like it normally did. The queen bed was covered in her lime-green comforter with the pink stars and moons and the matching lavender sheets. There was nothing on the floor, and the tops of the night stands and dresser were clear.
Jax shook her head and went back to the other room as she listened absently to Melina and Reven quietly talking as they rinsed the ice cream bowls in the kitchen.
This time Jax went into the room, as best as she could, and looked around in stunned amazement. She weaved in and out of the new items in the room, not really seeing or understanding it. Until she saw the note.
Snatching it off the box, Jax opened the single page and could feel her anger and panic rising with every breath. “Reven!!!” Jax shrieked, shaking the note in her hand.
Reven heard Jax cry out and nearly dropped the bowl in the sink before turning and running down the short hall. He stood in the doorway and looked around the room with confusion as Jax shook a piece of paper at him.
“What is this?” Reven asked with confusion as he tried to step into the crowded room.
Jax looked at him incredulously. “This? This is a fuc… freaking joke!” Jax corrected as she looked down at the giggling Bayla in her arms. Damn if she didn’t need to start paying more attention to her bad language, she thought.
“I don’t understand. If I’m looking at this correctly, it isn’t funny.” Reven said with seriousness as he looked at the pictures on each of the boxes that he could see.
“Oh! Someone thinks it’s pretty daaa… darn funny!” Jax said as she shook the note at him.
Reven took the note and quickly scanned it while Melina looked at the pictures on the boxes with wide eyes.
“There is nothing more important than building a solid foundation for your family. To do that, you must have a foundation between the two of you. Working together, for the sake of the children will become a daily necessity for their well-being and growth. There is much to learn by starting that foundation in this way. G”
Reven finished reading the note aloud and stood there for a moment looking at the dozens of boxes littering what he assumed had been an empty guest room.
“Is this for me?” Melina asked Reven with hopeful eyes as she stood near what looked to be a white, four-poster bed with a frilly pink canopy. At least, that was what it was supposed to be if the picture she was standing near on the box was an indication.
Reven was just beginning to understand the situation when Jax set Bayla on the floor and erupted. “Can you believe this!” She growled out between clenched teeth.
Reven looked between Melina’s hopeful face and Jax’s angry one and made a decision. He clapped his hands together to get everyone’s attention.
“Ok! Jax and I have some talking and work to do! You two need to be cleaned up and put to bed so tomorrow night you can sleep in your new beds! Yay!” Reven said, trying to sound excited for the sake of the girls who also screamed ‘Yay!’ when he did.
Jax felt like an ass when she saw Melina’s excitement. They still didn’t know where she came from or what had happened to the poor child. For all they knew, this would be the first real bed either child had ever had.
Jax shot a determined look at Reven, whose expression matched her own. Yeah, they could do this; she thought to herself. For those little girls, they would do this. She also wouldn’t mind doing it just to shove it in Grai’s face that they did. Jax grinned as she turned to the girls.
“Ok! Clean up time! You guys come with me, and we’ll get you in the bath. Melina, you can help me get Bayla bathed, then take a shower yourself. Is that ok?” Jax asked the older girl, knowing she would feel better if she could stay with her sister.
“I don’t get to bathe?” Melina asked, her face showing her sadness.
What? Jax thought before Reven stepped in and kneeled in front of the girl. “Yes, little one, you get to bathe. Jax was referring to the adult way of having a bath. We take showers, not a bath.” Reven explained softly to the girl.
“Hey! Sometimes we still take b
aths, but we take showers, for the most part. It’s quicker. If you want to take a bath with Bayla instead we can do that.” Jax said with a gentle smile.
When the child still looked upset, Reven added. “How about you let Jax show you and Bayla how the shower works before you give Bayla a bath. If you would like to try it, then you can. If not, then you can have a bath. Ok?” Reven asked, hoping the little girl would pick the shower. If only to give her some time alone and away from Bayla. He knew she would have to stop being the baby’s surrogate mother in order to be the child she never got to be.
Jax and Reven breathed out a sigh of relief when Melina nodded her head. Jax didn’t give her time to change her mind either.
“Let’s go! Reven, can you hand me that bag of clothes?” Jax said as she pointed to the large shopping bag in the back corner of the room.
She watched as he picked his way through the flat pack boxes of furniture and almost drooled when he bent down to pick up the bag. That annoying man had the nicest ass she’d ever seen, she thought as she tried to wipe the appreciative look from her face when he turned to hand her the bag.
“Thanks.” Jax said before turning around and heading into the bathroom right across the hall.
*****
Pale blue eyes quickly scanned the new room, noting the various bottles, tubes and containers. All of which could easily be used to kill the man and woman.
“If necessary. Always vigilant, little one. Always.” The voice whispered through her mind.
Melina nodded to herself, knowing the voice was right. It had saved her life so many times she no longer counted the instances, and it had helped keep her and Bayla in food and shelter until Reven and Jax had found them.
They were nice; she thought. She really liked the couple and wanted so much to trust them. She didn’t want to kill them, but she would do whatever she had to do in order to protect Bayla; she thought sadly. Although, she hoped it would never come to that.
She’d seen other kids, other families and dreamed of having a life like that one day. She dreamed of people who at least cared enough to help, so she could go to school. That was what she really wanted. To go to school. To learn something other than how to kill, hide and scavenge to survive. She wanted better for Bayla than what she’d had to go through.
Even as her mind was occupied studying the placement of every item in the bathroom, how to kill and maim with each, part of her mind still listened as Jax explained to her about the shower and how it worked.
Reaching out her hand, she felt the falling water as it came from the above faucet and smiled at the feel of it. “It’s like rain.” She said with wonder, ignoring the gentle smile that Jax gave her.
“Yes it is!”
Melina could hear the slight strain in Jax’s voice. She knew the woman wanted her to choose the shower over a bath, but until she knew they were finally safe; she would remain vigilant. Like the voice told her to do.
Still, she was unwilling to hurt the woman’s feelings. Jax had tried very hard to be nice even though Melina could easily feel her nervousness around her and Bayla. The few times that she had accidentally almost harmed Bayla had been innocent mistakes due to her lack of knowledge, not maliciousness.
Which was good because it had kept her from driving the spoon into Jax’s skull before she could feed it to the baby. It had been her first inclination before she’d realized it was unintentional.
She looked shyly at Jax, not quite sure how to deal with people who seemed genuinely nice. “Can I please just take a bath with Bayla tonight? Maybe I can try the shower another time?”
Jax tried to hide her disappointment, but Melina could feel it. She also could feel the woman’s compassion and patience and that really surprised her.
Melina kept Bayla busy on the bright yellow rug while the tub filled with warm water. Putting her hand on the side of the tub, her body translated the heat of the water inside, ensuring it wasn’t too hot for her sister's delicate skin.
She didn’t know if other people could do the things she did, or if they had the thoughts that she had. Melina had wondered about it over the years as she wandered alone from city to city. She had no memories of a life before the streets.
It was as if she hadn’t existed before she had woken that first morning in a dumpster. The homeless woman, Mary, who had found her as she dug through the trash had no idea where she had come from or how she had gotten there.
She had learned much from Mary before she had been killed by another of the homeless for her coat and shoes. Mary had been a truly kind soul. One of the few that she had ever encountered. It was those few who gave her hope that one day she would find where she belonged. A small part of her couldn’t help but wish that she had finally found that place.
“You have. I promise you that I would let no one harm you or anyone you care for.” A strange voice echoed through Melina’s mind. The voice held no anger or malice that she could detect, but she knew to be cautious.
“Who are you?” Melina asked quietly in her mind as she pulled the energy around her like a blanket before releasing it back out with a different agenda.
Melina looked up at Jax and gave her a shy smile. “I don’t feel right being… naked in front of anyone.”
“Oh! Of course! I’m sorry; I only thought to help Bayla with her bath. Just let me know when you’re done, or if you need help.” Jax said before exiting the bathroom.
Melina nodded her head absently and gave Jax a small smile before she shut the door. The moment the door was shut, she raced to the small window. Instead of opening it, she placed her hands on both sides of the wall around the window.
Closing her eyes, she opened her mind and sent out a wave of energy around the house. Within moments, it came back to her with her answer. The shimmering energy re-formed around Melina like a map, showing the location of the trees and other objects outside of the house.
“Who are you and why are you here?” Melina demanded of the voice that had spoken as she saw where he was standing outside of the house, hiding behind some trees.
“Please don’t get mad. Or scared. I swear I would never hurt you. I am a friend. My name is Traze T’Alq.” The voice said softly in Melina’s mind.
“Friends don’t usually hide in the shadows outside, do they?” Melina asked as she put a giggling Bayla in the bath and quickly stripped off her clothes to join her.
She gave a half smile when she heard the voice in her head again. “Yeah, I tend to do things sometimes that get me in trouble. Hanging out here is one of those things. But, I had to know you are all right and safe.”
Melina had no doubt about the sincerity in his voice, and she couldn’t help but wonder why these people seemed to care so much about her and Bayla. Although she’d seen some amazing acts of kindness in her travels on the streets, she’d never been the recipient before, and it was a little unnerving and overwhelming.
“What do all of you want of us?” Melina asked with a hard, compelling edge to her voice.
“Your happiness. I know that must be hard to believe. You probably haven’t known much happiness in your life, and you probably don’t know who to trust. I don’t blame you. But, we aren’t like that and Jax and Reven are good people.” Traze said to her as he slid down the tree he was hiding behind and sat on the ground.
Just being close to her soothed something in his mind that he’d never known needed soothing before. Instead of the restless energy that always coursed through his body, he was now calm and more rational than he’d ever been. He prayed that she wouldn’t be afraid of him and stop talking to him.
“If they are good people, then why are you outside spying on them?” Melina asked as she shielded her and Bayla in the bath, just to make sure the boy couldn’t see them in the water as she quickly cleaned them both.
She was surprised at the small chuckle that echoed through her mind before he replied. “Honestly, I just needed to be near you. To know for sure that you are ok. I would trust them with
my life, but I trust no one with yours.”
The vehemence in which he said it stunned Melina. Her whole body and the energy around her pulsed with his words and the truth in them. It made no sense to her, but she trusted her instincts and the energy around her. They were the only things that had never lied to her.
“Why? I don’t understand…” Melina said as she pulled Bayla out of the water and quickly dried and dressed her in some colorful, cartoon pajamas.
“We’re different. All of us. Just like you and Bayla. But you’re special. We were meant to be friends. As your friend, I will always be here for you. If you have questions, need help, or just need someone to talk to, I am here for you.” Traze said with his heart in his words. He wanted her to have no doubt that he meant everything that he said.