A voice coming in from the back door answered her, “She’s big on permissions and allowing, ain’t she?”
Kaid turned his attention to Maverik, who was dragging ass into the kitchen looking like he’d been kicked to hell and back. “Yes, she is. It’s all she’s ever known. What she was and wasn’t allowed to do. What she had to ask permission for. Every move she made had to be approved.”
Delilah whispered, “Every breath needed permission.”
When Kaid and Maverik looked at her, she was no longer with them. Oh, she was in the room with them, but her eyes were staring, unfocused, and she had completely forgotten where she was. She was back in Lurin’s basement. The hand that held the sandwich started to shake ever so slightly.
Kaid rushed to her side, kneeling in front of her. He took the sandwich from her hand, returning it to the plate on the table. He took her hands in his, then moved them both to his left hand so that he could stroke her face with his right hand. “Baby? Come on, Baby; come back to me. You’re not there anymore. You’re safe now.”
His voice and his touch brought her back to reality, but she was startled, looking around the kitchen as though seeing it for the first time. Then her eyes flashed icy blue. He didn’t move away; he smiled at her Beast. “Hi, there. See?” He indicated with a wave of his hand, “You’re safe. You’re here with us. Look around you, you’re with family, Baby.”
She looked around, remembered the kitchen, then saw Maverik standing there. She swallowed once, then, “Hello, Maverik-Ass.”
To his credit, Maverik only smiled at her, relieved that he hadn’t damaged her more than forcing her to have a flashback.
“Hey there, Pretty Lady,” he told her, a warm smile and a sincere look of concern on his face.
“You ready for bed, Lilah?”
Delilah looked around the room again, took the bread off the top of what was left of her sandwich, and picked the pickles off the top, popping them in her mouth. “Yes, I am ready. You may take me to the bed.” She stood, then paused, looked from Maverik to Kaid, and said, “Yes, I would like to go to bed. Please.” She looked to Maverik who smiled at her and nodded his approval.
Maverik watched Kaid and Delilah disappear down the hall; he felt terrible. He hadn't meant to upset her. He was just making an observation. He was going to have to learn to watch his mouth around the Pretty Lady. She’d had enough shit and she didn't need to be reminded of it by his callous ass. Ass, he snickered, she called him Ass. He kinda liked it. Of course, he’d never admit that to anyone else.
Chapter 11
The morning brought all kinds of activity.
The guys had all gotten up and converged on Bane and Janie’s house, Amos included, to “supervise” in an effort to have it finished before the baby came.
Sadie was content to putter around the main house, straightening, reading, crocheting. She just loved that she had peace and the freedom to pursue whatever whim passed through her mind.
Avaleigh had decided that rather than wait for the men to come back and then head to the grocery, she would go and get everything needed for the barbecue and the bonfire. She ran up the back stairs and into the main house, back screen door slamming behind her, “Janie!!” She opened the refrigerator, taking a quick look to see what they might be short on.
“Hey, Ave. You looking for me?” Janie walked into the kitchen, a paperback in her hand, her fingers between the pages keeping her place. “Yeah, Girl. Want to come with? I decided to go to the store and get some stuff for the barbecue,” she said this as she made her way around the kitchen, opening cabinet and pantry doors.
“Sure, I’ll come. Let me go slip some shoes on.” Janie turned to leave the kitchen and ran directly into Delilah, who reached out to steady her when they collided. Janie dropped her book, and Delilah leaned over to retrieve it for her. “Here are your papers, Janie,” Delilah said, holding the book out to her.
“It’s a book, Delilah. Don’t you like to read?” Janie asked her, taking the book from her outstretched hand.
“I do not know. I do not read. I have never owned a book,” Delilah told her, peeking curiously at the book cover now. “It has a naked male on it.”
Janie snickered, “Yes, it does. It’s a romance. It tells a story about a couple trying to find love and happiness in another world and in another time.”
Delilah just looked at her, eyebrows drawn down in confusion.
“If you read a book, you can take journeys, learn things, experience things, all without ever leaving your home,” Janie explained.
Delilah put her hand out, “May I look at your book, please?” she smiled brightly, pleased with herself that she asked rather than stated that she would see Janie’s book.
“Of course, here,” Janie handed it back to her.
Delilah opened the book, flipped a few of the pages, then looked at Janie again. “There are no pictures. How do you see these places?”
“The words, you read the words, and the pictures are painted in your mind. Your imagination fills in the details.”
Delilah looked back at the pages sadly, “I can not learn these things and take these journeys. I do not read words. I only hear them,” she handed the book back to Janie and turned to leave the room.
Avaleigh and Janie exchanged a quick glance, “Wait! Delilah!” Janie ran down the hall after her, “I can teach you to read. If you want to learn, I mean. You don’t have to, but if you want to, I’d like to teach you.”
“You would do this?” Delilah asked, hesitantly.
“Of course, we can read a little each day, and before you know it, you’ll be reading all by yourself.”
Delilah stood there, eyes focused on the book clutched in Janie’s hand where it hung at her side. She swallowed deeply, then raised her eyes to Janie’s, “What if I cannot learn? What if I am not smart enough to learn the reading?”
“You will learn. You are a very smart woman. You will do it.”
Delilah wasn't convinced; her eyes drifted back to the book in Janie’s hand.
Janie startled her when she snapped the book back up to open it to a random page and hold it out for Delilah to see, “See this? This letter here?”
“No, I see shapes and squiggles.”
Janie stepped closer and held the book flat in one hand, the forefinger of the other hand pointing to one letter in particular, “Okay, see this shape?” she pointed to an A.
“Yes, I see it.”
“It’s the letter A. It is the first letter in the alphabet. The alphabet is the group of letters we use to read, write and speak. It is the basis of our language.”
Delilah looked at the design on the page again, she nodded her head once, emphatically.
Janie closed the book. Then she handed it to Delilah, who hesitantly took it from her hand.
“Now open the book, and find me that design again.”
Delilah looked at the book, then at Avaleigh who stood silently watching. Avaleigh nodded at her, smiling her encouragement. Delilah opened the book, flipped a page or two, found the same design and held the book out uncertainly, but showed it to Janie, “Here is the design,” she said softly.
Janie beamed a huge grin at her, “Yes, it is Delilah. Do you remember what I called it?”
“It is an A. It is the first letter of the alphabet, and we need the alphabet for language.”
Janie grinned at her again, “You just read an A.”
Delilah’s quick intake of breath was not her only emotional tell; she wrapped Janie up in a big huge hug, Janie’s feet dangling above the floor, her cheeks wet with tears. “I read an A!” Delilah’s voice croaked at her.
“Yes, you did. And we are going to teach you to read all of them,” Janie told her.
“Come with us to the store, Delilah. We’ll get you some books and papers to help you learn the rest of the letters,” Avaleigh told her.
“Yes, I will come. But I will not choose these books and papers. You and Janie will choose them so t
hat they are the best ones.”
“Absolutely! Get with it Ladies, I’m ready!” Avaleigh shouted at them as she headed back out the kitchen door to get in Bam’s truck.
The store with Delilah was an experience in and of itself. She’d never been to a store with so many different foods and smells and sights before. They took two baskets at the front of the store and made their way around, choosing ribs, steaks, and Andouille sausage for the grill. Avaleigh also got some whole cloves of garlic and onions and potatoes for the grill. Janie picked up some graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate bars for smores for the bonfire later. Just as they were leaving the produce section, Janie spied some fresh green beans and got a bunch of those and some mushrooms, too. She loved to sear the beans in a skillet with olive oil, soy sauce, garlic and fresh mushrooms.
They headed over to the school supply section, and Avaleigh immediately found exactly what she was looking for. There were primer workbooks with wide lines, the ones with the dotted line down the middle, where Delilah could practice writing her letters. She grabbed a few of those and then picked a couple of children's books so that Delilah could practice reading those. She turned to put them into the basket that Delilah was pushing and was startled to find a basket full of bread n butter pickles, “Um, Delilah? Do you like bread n butter pickles, Hon?”
“Yes. They are good.”
“Well, are you sure you need this many?”
“Yes. But these are for Kaid. He said that you keep them for him. Now I will keep them for him. I am Baby now,” Delilah smiled at her, truly no menace or threat, just stating what she saw as fact.
“Ahh, I see. Yes, he does like them, very much. But we can come back to the store at any time. You don’t need,” she paused to count the jars, “38 jars of bread n butter pickles.”
Janie couldn't help it; she’d been standing there trying to control her giggles. She burst out into a full belly laugh, which made Avaleigh lose it and start laughing. Delilah didn’t see what was funny. She was buying all the pickles they had for her male. It was simple enough to her. But the girls’ laughter was infectious. She ended up giggling a little, then laughing out loud herself. But then when Avaleigh tried to reach for some of her pickles, all the laughing stopped. “Do not remove my pickles!” she snapped at Avaleigh, yanking the basket out of her reach.
“But, Delilah, you don’t need 38 jars. There are other things he likes, too. I’ll show you what they are, and you can get him some of those, too.”
“Fine, you may show me, but I want 38 jars of pickles. Leave my pickles alone.”
Apparently, they were in the middle of a standoff, and Janie was trying to come up with a way to defuse it. “Delilah! Have you seen the bakery? They make pies there!”
Avaleigh snapped her attention to Janie, “Really? You had to go there? We aren’t going to be able sit inside the truck by the time she’s finished buying pickles and pies!”
Too late though, Delilah had seized on the idea of pies, “You will take me to this pie place. I will choose pies.” Avaleigh stood in front of Delilah’s basket, her hands on her hips.
“Please, take me to the pies, Sister Avaleigh.”
Avaleigh continued to stand there.
“I will give up some of my pickles to make room for pies,” Delilah grinned at Avaleigh, seemed like a perfectly good trade off to her.
“How many?” Avaleigh asked her.
“You may have these,” she reached into the basket and handed Avaleigh four jars.
Avaleigh took them from her and handed them to Janie. “That’s it? Four?”
“That is it.”
“Nope, you have to give up more than four,” Avaleigh made a show of tapping her foot on the floor and examining her fingernails as she waited.
Delilah sneered at her, started to hiss, but Avaleigh simply raised her eyebrows in question.
Delilah reached over and snatched up four more jars, “You may have these, too.”
Avaleigh took them from her and handed them to Janie, who had already deposited the other four on the shelf behind them. When Avaleigh turned back to Delilah, she saw the stubborn expression on her face and decided that was about as far as she was going to be able to push her that day. Small battles, baby steps she told herself. “Okay, that’s good for now. Let’s go see how many pies we can find that you have to have today.”
“I need them all!” Delilah immediately responded.
“No, you do not. We can always come back and get more. You do not need as many pies as you have pickles.”
“How many pickles do I have now?” Delilah asked, gazing concernedly into her shopping basket.
It was at this time that they realized that she couldn't count either.
“How many do you think you have, Hon?” Avaleigh asked her.
Delilah peered at the jars concentrating, “I have one, two, three, four, five, seven, twelve…”
Janie came forward, “Here, let me help you. You have one, two, three…” and Janie counted all the way to thirty. “You have thirty jars of pickles. That’s a lot of pickles. So how ‘bout we just get maybe half as many pies. Or you may find something else you want to try more.”
Delilah looked at her suspiciously, “Because we can always come back?”
“Yes, we can always come back.”
“Okay. And you will teach me to tell how many’s, too?”
“Yes, I will,” she walked over to the rack with the children's learning workbooks, reached out and took a few of the arithmetic ones and placed them in Delilah’s basket as well.
Delilah smiled at her, “Let us go choose pies now!”
<> <> <> <> <>
The boys had gotten back to the house shortly after lunch time to find only Sadie at home. Kaid had just about blown a gasket, “What the hell do you mean they went to town without us?! They know better than that! What if something happens? Delilah is not used to being around so many people. What if someone hurts her?! I will fucking kill something if she’s hurt! She’s been hurt enou…”
Daniel interrupted him, “Dude! Chill! She’s with Avaleigh. They just went to the grocery.”
Kaid gaped at Daniel, sputtering, “Have you lost your mind? Avaleigh’s human! She can’t protect Delilah!”
“Kaid, Delilah don’t need protecting. She’s bad ass. If she wanted to, she could kick your ass,” Bam told him smiling at him over the top of the fridge. “There is never anything sweet in here anymore!” he complained.
Kaid, still trying to process what Bam had told him, “My Mate has a sweet tooth, she likes to eat sweets at night,” he told him with a smile on his face. Then “What the fuck do you mean she could kick my ass? What the hell is she? And No! She could not kick my ass! She is my Mate. I am her Mate, but I am also her Alpha! She would never!” he started rambling.
Bam just kept digging in the fridge, stopping only long enough to peek over the top of the door again, “Just one sweet tooth? You sure about that?”
Kaid threw his hands in the air, “How the fuck should I know? No fucking body will tell me what she is! How would I know how many teeth she has?”
“Kaid, Son, she’s your female; that’s all you need to know. The rest is just details. You want a long, happy life? Don’t sweat the details,” Amos told him.
“Dude, I don’t know what she is, but if she’s that bad ass, I suggest you get a hold now! Damn! I’m jealous! A female that strong! Dude, she can defend you! You don’t need to defend her. How fucking cool is that?” Maverik told him, grinning ear-to-ear.
Daniel placed a hand on his shoulder, “She’ll tell you when she’s ready. She’s got a lot to come to terms with. Give her some time.”
“Do you know what she is?”
“No. I have my suspicions, but I should be able to scent her if I was right. I can’t scent her. So, no,” Daniel told him.
“Doesn’t matter,” Kaid said, shaking his head, “I don’t care what she is. I just want her home and safe where I can be sure nob
ody will hurt her or take advantage of her. I can’t believe Avaleigh took her to the store without one of us,” he mumbled, running his hands through his hair.
Suddenly he turned on Bane, “And you, why the fuck aren’t you freaking out? Your Janie is with them!”
“I’ve felt the power your female has inside her. I was intimidated at first, but no more. She fed my Janie her sandwich last night. Janie is perfectly safe with your Mate protecting her. I’m going to get a shower before they get back. Try not to panic too much,” he winked at Kaid as he went by.
“Ditto! Heading to take my own shower,” Daniel threw at them as he headed off to his own house.
Not too much longer and the girls made it back home. Kaid was in the shower when they brought their food into the kitchen. Delilah immediately dropped to her knees in front of the refrigerator and started arranging her pickles in perfect rows inside. She was very proud of her pickles and what they meant to her.
Then she arranged her pies in stacks on the counter top.
“Are those pies just for you?” Janie asked her.
Delilah looked at the pies, rearranged them, taking two off the top. “No, these are for me. Those are for anyone else in our family that will want one.”
With the two that Delilah was now currently looking for a place to hide, she’d bought 15 in all. And yes, the two she was trying to find a hiding spot for were pecan.
Daniel and Bam had seen the girls driving in and came in to help them put the food away.
“How was your shopping excursion, Love?” Daniel purred at Avaleigh as he embraced her from behind. She stood at the counter getting out different pans and dishes to prepare the food for this afternoon.
She leaned back against him, exposing her throat and neck for his kisses, “It was interesting. And fun. We had fun, didn’t we, Ladies?”
“Yes, we did,” Janie answered, now wrapped in her own personal Bear blanket, Bane having heard them in the kitchen, his kisses to her face and throat many and non-stop.
Kaid's Queen Page 9
