by SM Olivier
Most of the table laughed at them.
A phone started to ring at the table, and almost everyone looked down at their phones. I didn’t bother because I hadn’t brought mine.
Lincoln looked down at his phone and frowned. “Can you guys excuse me?”
We all nodded even though we really didn’t care. He rarely was on it. For someone that was famous, he continued to blow my preconceived notions out of the water. He was almost as bad as me when it came to carrying around his phone. He didn’t seem to care if he missed calls from his agent, and I’d already gotten several texts from Anna telling Lincoln to call her or to find out how he was doing.
“So obviously the connection was made,” Jemmy stated as Lincoln left the private area we were shown to. “But why is there still awkwardness?”
Will had called ahead to make arrangements for us. He knew Lincoln may draw a lot of unwanted attention. After the week we’d had, Pops wanted to make sure we could all enjoy our dinner in much-needed peace. Luckily, Paul knew the owners and eagerly got us a private room.
“Jemmy,” Gavin sighed.
“What?” she grinned, the ghost of who she used to be showing through. “I’m just curious. So is everyone else, but they don’t have the balls to ask.”
“Girls don’t have balls,” Alex piped up.
Will shot Jemmy a pointed look while the rest of the table tried to refrain from laughing.
“I mean,” Jemmy shrugged a bit sheepishly. “You guys are obviously better, but there feels like there’s a disconnect between Lincoln and you.”
“Well, technically, they did just meet,” Remy said dryly.
I looked over at him and realized he refused to meet my eyes. Come to think of it, he had only spoken directly to me during our mission. Before then and since then, he hadn’t spoken to me except after I had my anxiety attack.
I reached out to him, and for once his barriers were down. He was hurt and angry. My eyebrows knitted, and I was confused. I thought he had understood our predicament and supported our decision. So why was he so hurt and angry?
“Are you hoping to wheedle your way back into Lincoln’s good graces?” Jaxson quipped.
“Not fair,” Jemmy stated as her eyes filled with tears. “I know I was a bitch, and I need to still talk privately with Blake, but I really am sorry for the way I’ve been behaving since Christmas. My egg donor contacted me,” she said quietly as she looked over at Drake. I felt Drake stiffen beside me. I reached out and grabbed one of his hands, gently squeezing it. “She wanted me to go visit her and play the role of her daughter.
“Apparently, there’s a huge mother/ daughter retreat coming up for her company. Someone asked her if she was bringing me.” She paused and looked over at Drake again. “I did a little bit of snooping. Did you know she still claims to have contact with us? That she’s been downloading pictures of us from Knightstown Academy, our Instagrams, and Facebook, and claiming she sent us to a prestigious boarding school?”
From the look on Gavin and Sierra’s faces, it was news to them too. Nevertheless, Gavin still leaned over and put his arm on the back of her chair in a silent show of support. Sierra took the empty seat next to Jemmy and grabbed one of her hands.
“Her news feed is covered with lies. She even created a fake account for us, and we’ve been posting on her wall for years. Proclaiming that she is the greatest mom in the world,” Jemmy continued with a tremulous smile at Gavin and Sierra.
I would be lying to myself if I said I wasn’t still upset because I was, but now I knew where the anger and need for attention were coming from.
“Do you want to talk about this at home?” I asked her as I looked at the kids.
“She wants the raise,” Ella stated as she dipped her California roll into her soy sauce. “She’s trying to find you.”
Jemmy and Drake’s mother was an ambitious business woman and always blamed her children for her lack of advancement, which meant now she realizing the error of her ways. And not in the way she should. If she was rising up in the ranks, family values would be a selling point to the CEOs. I knew there were plenty of businesses that believed a healthy family relationship was an unspoken requirement.
“What?” Megan and Jemmy asked simultaneously in surprise.
“She tried to tell you,” Kade quickly spoke up. He leaned over Ella, and if the situation weren’t so somber, I would have been touched by his protective stance.
Jemmy wiped her eyes away. “I’m sorry,” Jemmy stated. “Ella is right though. My egg donor tried to lure me home with the promises of designer clothing, credit cards, and a new car. Now that she’s up for another promotion and raise, she wants to use me to get to know her boss’s children. She wants me to become friends with them and give her another angle.”
I shook my head in astonishment. That woman was a real piece of work. I’m glad she attempted to contact Jemmy first, because she was strong enough to face her mother. Drake, on the other hand, probably would have capitulated to her and give in to some of her requests.
Ella shrugged. “It’s okay. Dr. Wong says that sometimes if we’re afraid or hurt we often lash out at those who matter the most to us. I’m sorry for the way I’ve been acting, too.”
Jemmy gave her a crooked smile. “That’s what he told me, too.”
“Want to talk later?” Drake asked Jemmy.
She nodded eagerly.
Lincoln came back into the room. “Sorry, that was my agent.”
“Everything okay?” Will asked. “We know it was a huge sacrifice to come here, and you’ve really been an asset around the base.”
Lincoln nodded. “I might have to leave next weekend,” Lincoln stated.
A part of me felt slightly angry and upset. I knew he was going to leave the moment our connection was made, but I didn’t expect it to be so soon. I didn’t know what it felt like to be a one-night stand, but I imagined this is how it would feel. Then I was upset at myself for even caring. I was happy with my men, but I would be lying if I didn’t admit that there was chemistry between the two of us.
“I got nominated for a couple of awards, and my agent insists I be there,” Lincoln explained before he looked over at me. “Want to come? We can catch the red-eye and be back by Monday morning.”
I was stunned, to say the least. I looked down at my fingers, not knowing how to respond. Was it okay to leave with him with all my responsibilities here?
“You should go,” Jace said quietly as he gently took my chin and raised it up to meet his eyes.
“You’re all supposed to go,” Ella stated.
My head whipped around to look at her. “What do you mean Ella?”
She shrugged before taking a sip of her drink. “I don’t know. I can’t see it clearly, but I feel it. You all need to go…with Micah and Kade.”
Lincoln seemed displeased by the notion, but then he nodded.
“Then I’ll book a flight for ten,” Lincoln commented.
For someone who was just immersed into our lives days ago, after years of not knowing how in-depth our community was, he was taking it amazingly well. I’m sure in normal circumstances he would have insisted that he wasn’t going to take me along with eight other people across the country on the whim of a seven-year-old.
“No need to,” Will cleared his throat. “I’ll call my pilot tonight.”
“No,” Ella shook her head as she looked over at Troy. “Troy needs to tell that man you want the bigger helicopter.”
We all looked at Troy.
“Leo messaged me this morning. He has a buddy that’s selling a helicopter. It seats sixteen,” Troy said with a dumbfounded expression. You would think we would be accustomed to Ella’s bombs by now. “I was thinking about it, but I didn’t know if I wanted to invest that kind of money yet.”
“So I will,” Will stated before sitting back in his seat.
“Pops,” Troy said in a long-suffering sigh. “I appreciate it. I have the money, I just…” He shrugged as h
is voice trailed off. “I guess I’m buying a helicopter.”
⸟
When we returned to base, I had utterly forgotten that Jace had told Greg that we were going to try to work with Harry. My footsteps stuttered as I saw Hazel, Greg, and Miranda standing outside our apartment door.
“I know you already had dinner, but we brought dessert.” Miranda held up a decadent looking chocolate cake. “Don’t worry, I didn’t bake it,” Miranda said self-deprecatingly.
“It came from that amazing bakery in town,” Hazel added.
“We also brought some coffee,” Greg added as he held up a bag of coffee grounds.
I peered down at Harry who was sleeping in his father’s arms. Even in sleep, he couldn’t find rest. He twitched, and his little lips pursed in pain.
I looked down at my watch and realized it wasn’t even seven o’clock yet.
“We let him sleep when he can,” Greg said a bit ruefully.
“Well, come on in,” Jace stated, unlocking our apartment.
Gavin, Jemmy, and Sierra went back to their apartment. Jemmy had pulled me to the side after dinner and asked if we could talk tomorrow. I readily agreed, missing my friend.
We all piled into the apartment, and Troy immediately grabbed the coffee from Greg. “Thanks. Does everyone want coffee?”
All the adults requested a cup as they took their seats. I went into the kitchen to find some disposable plates for the cake. I really didn’t want to wash the dishes tonight.
“Can I go back to my room?” Micah asked. “Patrick and Victoria wanted to show me their new comics.”
Megan smiled softly at him. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay for a slice of cake?”
Micah looked longingly at the cake.
I’ll save you a piece and bring it to you, I told Micah silently.
He gave me a little smile. “No, thanks, I’m still kind of full from dinner.”
I saw Miranda look away as Greg gently squeezed her hand. Greg really was a sweet man, even if I couldn’t understand why he was with her.
“More for me!” Alex commented as he greedily licked his lips and clamored up to the table in front of the cake.
We all laughed at his eagerness.
“I would feel more comfortable if you guys hung out in the living room, not your room,” Megan commented to Micah before he left.
“Come on, Ma,” Micah groaned before a look of surprise crossed his face. “I mean, Aunt Megan,” he mumbled. “We’re just friends.”
“You guys loooove her,” Alex sung as he wiggled in his seat with anticipation.
“Shu—” Micah caught himself before looking at Megan and Will. “Be quiet, Alex. Or I’ll tell Shannon Bush you have a crush on her.”
“Go ahead,” Alex said smugly with a smile. “I’m in love, and one day she’s going to marry me.”
We all laughed at his conviction as Micah shook his head before leaving.
“Shannon Bush is twelve,” Kade explained. “I think she’s too old for you.”
“So,” Alex said nonchalantly. “Love is blind.”
“I thought you didn’t like girls,” Jaxson gently teased Alex, laughing.
“I don’t. I like women,” Alex smirked as he made curvy motions with his hands.
He really was a Jaxson Junior, and he was going to be a handful one day. As it was, he was always chasing the laughs like Jaxson did.
“Can Nadia come over for a sleepover?” Ella asked suddenly.
Megan looked over at Will, who nodded before she smiled. “That’s fine by me.”
“No,” Ella said. “I mean over here. I want a sleepover with Blake.”
I was surprised by her request. It had been some time since she even acted like she wanted to spend time with me. This place probably wasn’t the most conducive place to raise a child, but they were never alone, that was for sure.
I looked over at my guys.
“That’s fine,” Remy stated. “Want me to text Beth and Cora now?”
I noticed Lincoln stiffen slightly from the other side of the table. I knew he had met Steven’s family, but I'm sure it hadn’t gotten easier on him. It couldn’t be easy for either party in this instance. Like right now.
I was trying to be civil, plus trying to ignore the fact that Miranda was here. I knew she was working really hard, and so far, she hadn’t done anything to indicate she was the same person she once was. I just couldn’t let go of the past, not yet. My anger at her came not at what I had been through, but what Alex and Micah had gone through. And if I were reaching, I would include Kade as well. He had a loving family, but because his mother was Miranda Cornwall, he’d lost them.
“Don’t forget Lincoln, Jace, Alex and I are going to try and help Harry out tonight, too, Ella,” I reminded her gently.
Ella shrugged. “That’s fine. Do we have enough cake?” Ella asked.
Miranda laughed as she began to cut up the cake. “There will be plenty.”
“Okay,” Ella stated. “Rem, can you text them?”
Remy nodded and pulled out his phone.
“I hear someone’s birthday is coming up,” Greg stated as he passed a piece of cake down the table.
“Mine!” Alex said excitedly.
“And what would you like for your birthday?” Greg smiled.
“I don’t want any gifts, but can we go to an indoor arcade?” Alex asked hopefully.
His birthday was the day before we were scheduled to leave for California. We hadn’t talked about it yet, so I didn’t know when we were going to celebrate it. Now that we were departing next weekend, we would have to celebrate it the Friday before we planned to leave.
I kind of felt guilty for not asking him what he wanted to do, not to mention nearly forgetting about it. I made a mental note to remedy that.
“We’ll have to see if we can find one, but I don’t see a problem with that,” Jaxson smiled. “Other than our family, did you want to invite a couple of your friends?”
“Yes please.” Alex grinned. “I never had a birthday party before.”
The smile on my face died even though I knew he wasn’t saying that to guilt us or garner pity, more like he was making a statement.
“Now you will,” Remy said gruffly. “Who would you like to invite?”
“Shannon.” We all began to laugh, and Alex looked at us in confusion. “Patrick, Nadia, Victoria, and Nick.”
I knew Nick was one of the younger boys that had a father here that was an operative. They had just started to hang out more often.
“We can make some invitations tomorrow,” I told Alex.
“Are you guys coming?” Alex looked over at Miranda, Greg, and Hazel.
“Do you want us to?” Miranda asked in a soft voice.
Alex looked at them with contemplation for a few moments before he finally nodded. “Yeah.”
“Yes,” Megan gently reminded him.
He grinned at her apologetically. “Yes, please.”
Megan almost had the same hang-ups as Pops did when it came to raising children. She didn’t like us cursing. She hated the word ‘yeah’ and ‘nope.’ She wanted the children to say their pleases and thank yous, their sirs and ma’ams. She had a firm hand on them with indulgence mixed in, just as much as Pops did.
I could see the happiness in Miranda’s eyes as she continued to cut up more cake.
“I’ll look into the closest arcade,” Jace stated. “Maybe they’ll have a party room we can rent.”
“Nadia will be here in about five minutes,” Remy stated as he looked up from his phone.
“Yay!” Ella did a happy little jig before digging into her cake.
Note to self. Birthday party planning would be added to the list of things to do tomorrow.
A blackness so heavy embraced me, immediately making my lungs close. Only a small candle in the corner of the room emitted light, but it wasn’t enough for me. The darkness continued to close in on me, and I frantically looked around the room.
> I felt a warmth trying to envelop me, but I ran from it. I didn’t know why; all I knew was I didn’t feel safe, and I wanted to find the light.
“Blake,” I heard two plaintive voices call. I turned, and in the dim light of a door, I could see Alex and Harry standing in the doorway.
I suddenly remembered why I was here. “Alex, Harry?” I asked hesitantly.
Alex nodded as he walked Harry towards me. I remembered now where we were, what we were doing. Alex had opened the door into Harry’s head, and we were currently in here trying to figure out the demons that plagued him.
“Where are we?” I asked.
I looked around and noticed that we stood in a house that looked like it had seen better days. The carpet below my feet was stained, and there was an awful stench emanating from it. The walls had something on them that resembled feces and other unidentifiable stains. Twin size mattresses littered the floor with no sheets, stains on them as well.
“Not nice place,” Harry whimpered.
I was shocked to hear his little voice. He had never been verbal, as long as I’d known him. I kneeled towards him. “Where, Harry?”
He reached out and traced my face with small pudgy fingers. His eyes were so trusting yet so frightened. “Show you?”
I nodded as I bent down and scooped him up. I took a long deep breath. I tried to slow my still racing heart. “Yeah, little man, show me,” I said quietly.
“It’s scary in there,” Alex said in a small voice.
I braced myself once more and tried to put a brave smile on. “I’m sure it is, but I think we need to find out what’s scaring Harry, right? This is what you wanted, right?”
I tried to remind Alex of the purpose of this exercise. He seemed to embolden himself and took a deep breath in as well.
“Show you?” Harry asked again.
“Show me,” I confirmed, feeling at peace and encouraged all of a sudden. I smiled to myself knowing it was Jace. “Linc?” I said in a small voice. “Are you here too?” I asked.
“Yeah,” his deep voice answered from one of the shadows. He advanced forward, and I looked at him in surprise. “How?” I looked at him and then down at Harry. “I thought you were partially jumping Harry.”