Chapter 7
“How are you and the babies?” Megan immediately asked once we sat down.
“Good and good,” I said with a chagrined smile as I settled between Drake and Remy with my food.
My appointment had gone faster than I thought it would. I was so happy that breakfast wasn’t over when we returned. I wanted to sit and eat with my siblings, friends, and guys. Pops, Megan, Hazel, Miranda, and Greg had saved us seats at their table, along with Cora and Mr. Moore. I couldn’t help but notice how Mr. Moore and Cora seemed closer.
I lovingly stroked my belly as Remy palmed my stomach too. The guys seemed to find any excuse to rub my belly, and I loved it. It felt even more real now that we knew we were having a boy and a girl.
I sat between Remy and Drake while Lincoln, Jace, and Troy took the seats directly across from us.
“So, Blake,” Pops started, and he seemed almost discomfited.
I already knew he was going to chastise me for my earlier actions. In retrospect, maybe, just maybe, I could have handled the situation differently. I sighed like a recalcitrant child. “I know. Our gifts shouldn’t be used against each other outside of training.”
With the influx of gifted in the facility, a system of rules had been created. As a result, we were allowed to use our gifts, but not in a malicious way.
“It’s for the protection of everyone,” Greg added with a slight smirk.
“I think they deserved it,” Megan huffed, stabbing her home fries with a fork. “At first, I thought it was the hormones, but after Gavin explained what he overheard, I think I would have handled the situation similarly.”
“Didn’t you suggest that we needed to talk to her?” Pops said with an indulgent smile.
“Well, yes,” Megan said with a shrug, “but that doesn’t mean I disagree with her. We have some ballsy women in here.”
Pops coughed in an attempt to hide a smile, and she cut him a narrow-eyed look.Somehow, I believed Megan was talking from experience. I had to admit Pops was a handsome silver fox, so it wouldn’t shock me if he’d been hit on a time or two.
“I agree!” he protested.
I shot the guys a puzzled look, my curiosity piqued. I couldn’t wait to hear the story behind Megan’s ire and Pop’s amusement.
“A couple of the women were hitting on Pops for a while there,” Noah mischievously informed me.
I was simultaneously amused and exasperated when he confirmed my suspicions. I could understand why it annoyed Megan, but I could also see how it would flatter Pops in a way. Some people liked to know others could be attracted to them even though they would never act on it.
“Women?” Megan scoffed. “That one thot was barely twenty! Just because she had daddy issues doesn’t mean she had the right to hit on him.”
It was the wrong time to drink because it went down the wrong pipe, and I began to choke. Did Megan just call a girl a thot ? She was normally so laid back I never would have expected that term coming from her sweet mouth.
My eyes watered as a laugh burst from me, and Remy and Drake began to pat my back. Jaxson and Noah shared my mirth, but the others shot them looks of vexation. Unfortunately, their chiding looks only made me laugh even harder.
“Are you okay?” Drake asked, concerned, as my other guys jumped up.
I held out my hand, reassuring them that I was okay.
“Thot?” I asked Megan as they all took their seats once more.
“I taught her that,” Jaxson stated proudly as the rest of the table broke into laughter.
Now that they saw I was better, the others shared Noah and Jaxson’s mirth.
“Do you know what that means?” I choked out before taking another sip of my orange juice.
“Yup.” Megan smirked, spearing off a piece of her eggs. “That hoe over there. Looky, looky,” she said with almost smug satisfaction as she looked over my head. “That’s the thot right there.”
When I turned around, a beautiful girl—with an uncanny resemblance to a young Reese Witherspoon—quickly ducked her head. Megan must have put the fear of God in her because the nervous looks she sent our way were evident.
The girl was beautiful, and the guys she was sitting with were clearly interested in her. Pops was an attractive older man. I could admit that; I wasn’t blind. However, with all the attention she seemed to be getting, it bewildered me that she would chase after him instead.
“Wow, twenty?” I inquired, not bothering to be discreet when I took in the girl’s tall, curvy body. The chick looked like she was in her mid-twenties. If I had seen her without knowing her, I never would have imagined that.
Pops and Greg began whispering something, then a loud oomph left their lips as Megan and Miranda simultaneously hit them. I couldn’t help but giggle, leaning my head on Drake's shoulder.
“The old men have been flattered when the young thots hit on them.” Miranda sniffed before glaring at Greg.
Greg laughed and pulled her into an embrace.“You know you are my one and only.”
“As are you.” Pops laughed, kissing Megan on the cheek.
Megan and Miranda snorted. “Keep that in mind because last I checked, you could barely keep up with me, let alone a woman younger than your oldest son.”
I laughed so hard I was in danger of peeing myself. Pops was the definition of a silver fox, so I’d witnessed many women throwing themselves at him. I’d also seen him shoot down just as many. Until Megan, I had never even seen him interested in anyone else.
It warmed my heart to see how far their relationship had progressed. Pops and Megan were openly affectionate and so cute together. I was happy they were getting their second chance without Jaxson and Jace’s bitch of a mom coming in between them.
“They make pills for that, you know,” Jaxson mischievously informed Pops.
Pops growled as the rest of the table erupted in laughter. “I have no problem keeping up with you.” He reached over, and his hands disappeared behind Megan’s back.
She jumped and squealed with laughter, so I assumed he had pinched her backside. She had freely divulged Pop’s infatuation with her ass. Unlike Jemmy and me, Dawn and Rachel had been amused.
Noah chuckled. “I can get you a prescription for that little blue pill.”
“Please do.” Megan giggled as Pops growled once more.
Pops narrowed his gaze on the boys before he smiled.“Are you guys really trying to help me get an erection?”
Half the table groaned while the other half let out more peals of laughter.“I’m gonna pee myself,” I gasped.
“Can we switch topics?” Lincoln shuddered dramatically. “I don’t really need the mental image of Pops having problems with launching his rocket.”
I couldn’t help but smile when he referred to Will as Pops. It just further showed me how invested he was in us. Our little family was more than unconventional, but we made it work.
“The kids are eavesdropping again.” Miranda laughed before she shot the younger ones a look.
Sure enough, Ella, Nadia, and Patrick quickly returned to their food. They were sitting at the table beside us, and it seemed the three or so feet separating our tables weren’t enough to keep them from overhearing our conversation.
“Good idea.” Megan smiled.“Let’s change the subject.I see you have pickles on your omelet, Blake.Interesting choice.”
“It sounded good at the time,” I said with a rueful shrug.
“Are pickles going on everything now?” Troy made a face as I took a large bite of my omelet. It was no secret he hated pickles.
This morning, I wanted a pickle, ham, mushrooms, broccoli, and cheese omelet. I also had a large parfait with strawberries, blueberries, and granola.
“Up until a few days ago, I could barely eat anything and didn’t really have any cravings at all, but now,” I said with a self-mocking smile Troy's way, “these pickles are on point. I’m so horribly clichéd.” I chuckled.
“You eat what you want and when you want, baby,” Remy rumbled, throwing a dirty look at Troy.
Jaxson and Noah laughed, clearly stirring the pot, and as crazy as it sounded, I’d missed this too.
“Don’t look at me like that, big guy.” Chuckling, Troy held his hands up in surrender. “If I have to, I’ll run into town and get all different flavors of pickles for her to consume. I’m just hoping it’s a brief phase, with something else taking its place as a favorite.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “Maybe, maybe not.”
“Randy loved pickles when she carried you, Alex, and Harry.” Greg smiled as he kissed the back of her hand. “She hated even the smell of them with Micah, Bridgette, and Kade.”
I stiffened for a moment, my contented smile slipping before I remembered I’d decided to get rid of my anger toward her. She was a changed woman, and I had to give her a chance. I didn’t need to welcome her with open arms, but I no longer had to be hostile toward her.
I looked around and noticed Harry was sitting in between Alex and Micah. He was animatedly talking to them and pointing at stuff. I knew he was doing so much better, but seeing it felt incredible. From the reports I’d read, Micah held no malice toward Harry. He didn’t let his dislike of Miranda affect his feelings for the gregarious three-year-old.
“I had an unnatural obsession with them for years,” I ruefully informed them. “I could eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Dad used to buy large jars of them for me, but then,” I shrugged, “I stopped eating them for a while.”
A memory I’d long forgotten came back, and I shuddered. One of Heidi’s boyfriends had taken my jar of pickles and dug his dirty, grubby, greasy fingers into the container before putting it back in the refrigerator. Heidi had backhanded me when I whined about it, snarling that they weren’t my pickles. Nothing in the house was mine. After that, she proceeded to strip my room of everything, save my bare mattress. For a long time, they were tainted by that experience. No matter how irrational it seemed, I associated one of my first punishments at her hands with a jar of pickles.
“We found out what we’re having,” Jaxson quickly piped up as if he’d realized my thoughts had drifted off.
I shot him a thankful smile. I couldn’t help but notice Miranda and Greg seemed pleased that I had actively engaged in a conversation that Greg had started. The guys had told me that Greg had been the driving force behind mending Miranda’s relationships with the others—save Micah. He still refused to give her any forgiveness.
“And?” Pops prodded with a smile on his face. He seemed to have realized the subject change as well. “What are my first grandbabies?”
Tears sprang to my eyes. Growing up, I’d never had grandparents. Recently, I’d connected with Hazel, but as a child, I always longed for a “normal” family. A grandparent or two would have been fantastic. Seeing the excitement in Pop’s eyes was so heartwarming.
My babies were going to have grandparents that spoiled them. I mean, they already treated my siblings like their own. I loved the idea of giving them an opportunity I never had. I loved giving them a family that would protect them against the struggles I’d endured.
“I want a gender reveal party,” Jaxson insisted, “so we’re not telling. Yet.”
“Ooh,” Noah piped up. “We can do smoke bombs and hire a photographer for the reveal!”
“I know the perfect spot for that, and there are some amazing local photographers,” Troy chimed in. “I can call them after breakfast to see if any are available this weekend.”
“I know a guy or two,” Lincoln added. “They would have no problem doing me a favor and coming out. That way, we don’t have to worry about the pics getting leaked to the media,” he ruefully concluded.
It was so easy to forget that he was famous sometimes since he was highly down-to-earth. Plus, I had been cut off from the outside world, so it slipped my mind. While I was gone, we’d only had one conversation about his life outside of here.
“Guys…” I laughed, shaking my head even though their excitement touched me. “Doesn’t that seem like a touch overkill?”
Jaxson continued speaking as if I hadn’t spoken. “Do you think Anna can dress us? I know she’s a designer, but she has an amazing eye for fashion. Troy, can you give her an idea where you want the shots to be done? I’ll ask her to hook us up.”
“I have to admit,” Megan said with a grin, “when gender reveal parties first became a thing, I thought it was unnecessary and slightly narcissistic, but they’ve grown on me. We can have a nice luncheon after the reveal and pictures. Drake, can you list everyone you guys would want to be there? I’ll make the invites! We can have it next Saturday. Gives us a little more time to prepare.”
“Miranda and I can place an order through a caterer once we get the final count,” Hazel gleefully added as she clapped her hands. “My first great grandbabies!” Tears sprang to her eyes.
“Shouldn’t Blake be on board with this?” Pops fondly chuckled, inserting himself into the excited chatter.
“Of course, she’ll have the final say.” Remy lovingly caressed my belly. “But this will be our first professional family photos of all of us. We can keep it intimate with our closest family and friends instead of all the complications like food and invitations.”
I couldn’t help but cry now. Damn pregnancy hormones! If it were up to just me, I would tell everyone now, but I understood why the guys were excited. They eagerly anticipated our children, and even if I was slightly reluctant to do so, I couldn’t deny them. This was an easy decision to make them happy.
“I would love to have family pictures of this occasion,” Lincoln softly stated from across the table.
And just like that, more tears spilled. We hadn’t been in that place to take selfies before my abduction. Now, we had a future Lincoln seemed all for, and I wanted the physical memories to hold on to for years to come.
“Why are you crying, Blake?” Ella frowned as she approached the table with Nadia, Alex, and other friends.
“They’re happy tears.” I sniffled, and Drake immediately wrapped his arms around me.
“We don’t have to blow this out of proportion,” he quietly murmured.
“No, no,” I hastily reassured before turning to Ella. “The babies make me super weepy at times,” I explained to her with a snuffle as Remy gently wiped my tears away and handed me a napkin.“We just found out what the babies are,” I continued. “They were talking about the party we were throwing, and it made me really happy.”
Jaxson and Noah fist bumped each other, and a smile spread across Lincoln’s face.The rest of the guys seemed just as excited.
Ella and Nadia looked at each other and pulled a face like I was behaving strangely before they shrugged simultaneously.
“Okay,” Ella said slowly.“So… a party for the babies before they’re even born?”
“To find out if they're boys or girls,” Troy gently explained before he pulled her into a hug. “Maybe you girls can help me pick out decorations this weekend.”
Ella and Nadia exchanged looks once more before eagerly nodding.“Yes!” they exclaimed.
“Can we help?” Micah hesitantly asked as Kade, Patrick, and Victoria came up.
“Of course!” I said with a smile.
I had to realize that this was yet another change in their lives. They had already been so resilient. Sure, they occasionally had issues to work through, but I was so damn proud of their progress.For their benefit, I needed to continually reassure them that nothing had to change just because I was pregnant. My relationship with them would always be important. They were more than just my siblings, and I never wanted them to think otherwise.
“Well, we have to go to school,” Kade said with a smile. “Just let us know how we can help, and we’ll be there. Ella, Nadia, come along.”
“Linc…” Nadia pouted.“Can you take me today?”
In my absence, their relationship had grown. Cora and Beth held no animosity toward him. Instead, they realized Lincoln was innocent of Stephen’s sins. It hadn’t been an easy road, but they were navigating it to the best of their ability. They had accepted him as Nadia’s half-brother, and it was clear Nadia was fond of him despite their significant age gap.
Lincoln looked torn until I gave him a nod. None of them wanted to leave my side, but I had to learn how to navigate my new situation and figure out my place again. Plus, the guys still had to work and perform their duties.
Victoria leaned toward Kade, and he gave her a concise nod. He seemed stiff, and I briefly wondered what was going on. Victoria seemed to realize my scrutiny because discomfort crossed her features when she looked at me, and her cheeks reddened.
“I’m so happy you’re back, Blake,” she tremulously stated.“The boys tried to act tough, but I knew they missed you.”
Patrick and Micah immediately blushed. Were they still harboring a crush on her? I couldn’t help but smile and silently laugh. Being a teen was such a confusing and chaotic time. I didn’t envy them as they navigated the treacherous path of discovering who they were as their hormones raged.
“Well, she is my sister,” Micah grumbled.
“We should get going,” Kade gently reminded them.
“Um,” Lincoln cleared his throat.“Should I—” He seemed uncharacteristically unsure of himself as he gazed at a table in the corner.
With my chaotic morning, I completely forgot about Gavin, Sierra, Jemmy, Bentley, and Mercedes. They were all sitting together in a quiet section of the cafeteria with Lexus.
Jace seemed to understand Lincoln’s train of thought. “We can give them a tour. I’m not sure how comfortable they’ll be with dropping Lexus off at the learning facility, but they should know the option is there.”
“They can always start her next week after Easter break,” Megan replied.
Lincoln nodded.“That would give them time to settle.”
I felt like I was already failing him. I was so tired when the apartment was clear of our guests that I hadn’t had a chance to see how he was doing. None of this could be easy for him, either. His life had been turned upside down. He knew he had been gifted but didn’t know about the mark he had received until I had come along. He’d grown up thinking he was the only child of a single mom.
Then he found out about his half-sister, his father, and that his mom had other children he had never known. It had to be a lot to take in. He had been caring for me and worrying more about me than his own feelings, but I needed him to realize I could be there for him too.
“I’ll come with you,” I volunteered.“We can talk about Mercedes and Bentley’s plans and hopefully make them feel more welcome.”
“You’re not done eating,” Remy grumbled.
I smiled before I leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “I can eat and walk,” I reassured him as I stuck a plastic spoon in my parfait.
Drake stood as well. “I’ll come with. I’ll make sure she gets a snack in an hour or so.” He murmured the latter to Remy, who had looked concerned.
Remy seemed appeased by this, and I laughed at how Drake and Remy were teaming up against me. In the past, I might have been miffed, but ultimately, this was about our children. Their health had to come first. If I had Drake and Remy to remind me to eat, I could steadily gain weight like I needed to.
Noah frowned. “I have to go to the clinic.”
“You can take time off,” Pops said.
Looking torn, Noah sighed. “We have a patient being induced today. Sammy needs another IV because she is dehydrated and still can’t keep anything down, and Pamela was in active labor this morning.”
“We can call the Knights and have them send a few more doctors,” Megan suggested.
“Go to work,” I bade him. Sure, I wanted my men by my side. Honestly, I didn’t want to miss another second with them, but I understood I needed some semblance of normalcy.
“Are you sure?” Noah’s frown grew deeper.
I nodded. “Jaxson’s going to school. Remy, Jace, and Troy will go to training. I’ll go with Drake and Lincoln and see how much work I must catch up on.” I sighed.The idea was daunting, but I was determined to finish high school and have a few college credits under my belt by the time our twins were born.“Then we can have the weekend to figure out all the other stuff. I’ll see you at lunch. Maybe?”
Noah immediately nodded. “Yes, lunch.”
“I don’t need to go to school,” Jaxson protested.
“You do,” Jace and Pops immediately said in unison.
“This is your last day.” Megan chuckled.“You already took yesterday off.Plus, you’ll have ten days for Spring Break.”
A low bell sounded, and I paused, confused by the new feature. In some ways, all the changes made me angry because I didn’t like to feel like I had to catch up in so many areas. My men had told me a few changes in our discussions, but it was apparent I hadn’t been completely updated.
“We’re going to be late,” Kade reminded us again.
“They installed bells to warn the kids that school would start and remind them of the first shift. They should be enroute to their assigned location,” Jace informed me before embracing me. He gently tilted my chin up and brushed his lips against mine. I sighed and allowed him to coax my mouth open, and just like that, I was horny again. I trailed my hands across his pecs before grasping his shoulders.
A throat cleared nearby, and Troy chuckled.“There are kids around.”
“Like that’d stop you,” Jace grumbled against my lips.
Laughter broke out around us. A part of me was touched by chagrin, but the other part didn’t give a damn who saw how affectionate I was with the guys. Jace wasn’t generally known for his public displays of affection, so I would bask in this new development.
I chased his lips with mine, and Ella made a loud retching noise.“I just ate!”
I couldn’t help but laugh, and Jace laughed in my neck.“To be continued?”
“For sure.” I sighed, feeling high on dopamine.
We reluctantly parted as another bell sounded, and Lincoln and Drake immediately grasped one of my hands in each of theirs. “Let’s go.” Drake smiled down at me.
“You are shitting me!” Jemmy thundered, her voice echoing off the nearly empty cafeteria walls.
My footsteps faltered.Drake immediately hastened our steps, concern in his eyes. Even from the distance we were at, I could see the complete hopelessness in Gavin’s eyes. Jemmy looked extremely upset and pissed off. Mercedes was staring down at her joined hands, and Sierra was openly crying, total devastation on her face. Bentley was heading toward us with a frightened-looking Lexus, her head buried in her uncle’s shoulder.
At this rate, the poor little girl was going to be scarred for life. Everyone’s emotions were running high, and she was stuck in the middle of it all. We needed to become better people and attempt to shield her from it all.
“Shit, Jemmy knows,” Jaxson and Troy said nearly simultaneously.
I closed my eyes and sighed.There were so many fires and not enough hoses to put them out!
“Knows what?” Megan asked in confusion.
I was going to let the guys fill them in. First, I had to figure out how we could fix this. If we could, that was.