by SM Olivier
“Are you serious?” Noah asked slowly.
“I am,” Will grinned at us. “Think of this as a punishment and a reward. Adams will be one of the operatives hunting. She doesn’t think you guys will last a day in the field. I would have had all of you on one team, but I think Blake and team need a challenge. No use embarrassing the Nons too much.” And with that, he turned and went to leave.
“Can Micah come?” Jaxson yelled at his retreating back.
He stopped with his hand on the door. “Still no, but I would like for you guys to pick me up some bedding and some slippers while you’re out tomorrow.”
I sat on one of the folding tables waiting for our load of laundry to dry. Jace, Troy, and Remy went into planning mode immediately. They were going to load our rucksacks up for an indeterminable period. Anything we couldn’t get issued to us would be purchased tomorrow in town.
That left Noah, Jaxson, and I to do all of our laundry. Since Beth was helping Drake out, we had picked up Nadia and Patrick’s clothing to wash, as well. Cora had been in bed when we got there. It broke my heart seeing her like that. I knew Will and Beth were concerned as well, but no one knew what to do. Paul had offered to call a therapist in, but we didn’t know how that would work with a Non—our new nick name for nongifted people—therapist. They may be able to help her with her grief, but they couldn’t understand the true depth of it all.
Jaxson had brought a deck of cards with him, so we could play cards while we waited. We had already learned our lesson once. If we left our clothing unattended, they may walk. Troy and Jemmy had lost an entire load of laundry, and we were only issued so much clothing. If we needed more, we had to purchase it. They had enough money to replace them, but it was the principal of it all.
I was surprised that there were so many machines open. Friday was generally a busy night for washing. All the single people were known to do their laundry on Fridays so they could go out immediately afterwards and not return until Sunday night.
If they weren’t on duty or on call, they could sign out for the weekend. They liked to go to the closest town that had a few dive bars in it, drink, hook up, and stay at the hotels there. All the guys had been invited numerous times, especially Troy, Remy, Noah, and Jace, but they had always politely declined.
“Uno,” Jaxson called gleefully as he laid down a yellow three.
I laid down a blue three hoping he didn’t have a blue card in his hand. I didn’t think Jaxson would ever grow up. He brought out the light-hearted side in me. Having him around made me feel young at heart again. Carefree.
He groaned, and I knew he didn’t have a blue card. I laughed, clapping my hands.
“Do you think Jemmy, Gavin, and Sierra will work things out?” I asked hesitantly as Noah put down a wild draw-four card.
“Green,” he smiled as Jaxson groaned once more. “I’m sure they will. Jemmy needs someone like Gavin in her life. She doesn’t need a pushover as her nucleus. He’s strong and steady. However, Gavin needs Jemmy in his life to remind him to stop being so serious. Sierra will act like a good mediator between the two and help them both see the world with different eyes.”
“I can’t believe we never put two and two together about their trident. A double connection makes sense,” Jaxson said as he gave me a sneaky smile and laid down a green draw-two.
I smiled sweetly at Noah and put down a red draw-two.
“You’re kidding me right?” he exclaimed as he picked up four cards. “Well, we know Jemmy wouldn’t have been the nucleus.”
“Why not?” I asked as I stood up to grab the first load out.
When they went to help me, I held up my hand. “You guys are cool, plus I really don’t feel like folding everything twice,” I teased them.
“There’s nothing wrong with the way I fold clothes,” Jaxson protested loudly.
“I suck at it,” Noah agreed with a nonchalant shrug. “No, Jemmy could never be a nucleus because she’s not strong enough. Think about it; Pops, Steven,” he frowned momentarily at the mention of him. We all missed him. His loss still was a raw wound. “You. You’re all strong alphas.”
I frowned as I mulled over his words and started to fold the first load, separating them by who they belonged to. All the clothing had a laundry mark, even the children’s khakis, black slacks, red polos, and white polos. The girls also had uniform jumpers and skirts. “By your theory, Jace should have been a nucleus or even Remy.” I stated.
Noah gave me a patient smile. “True they could have been, but they aren’t. The connections to the nucleus aren’t necessarily inferior or non-alphas. However, the nucleus is never weak. Jemmy is stubborn and willful but she isn’t strong enough.”
“Is there any other female nucleus’?” I asked. It was a question that crossed my mind all the time but never asked.
“I think dad said he knew of one out west, in one of the communities,” Jaxson said after a moment.
“Hmm, I wonder why it’s not as common,” I thought aloud before I leaned up and kissed Noah’s cheek. “Thanks for thinking I’m strong.”
“Hey, I think you’re strong too!” Jaxson loudly protested.
I giggled as I kissed his cheek too. “That’s a pity kiss,” I said tartly.
Noah guffawed at Jaxson’s mock crestfallen look. “There’s no thinking about it, love. You are. You have been through so much and still continue embracing life and keeping your head held high.”
I looked over at Jaxson. He was the only one that I couldn’t hide from when it came to my demons. I was able to get through the days when the sun was up. It was at night when I slept that the demons came out. I had been splitting my time with all the guys. Some nights even their presence couldn’t keep them away. In those moments, Jaxson almost always woke up and talked me through it.
“Never doubt how strong you are,” Jaxson said sincerely, all his normal laughter gone, and in his pale grey eyes, I could see he actually believed it.
When we were done with all the laundry, we went to drop Patrick and Nadia’s clothing off first. I was getting ready to open their door when it was yanked open.
“Hey, Jax, Noah, and Blake,” Beth smiled. Her light had dimmed after Steven’s death, too. She used to have the ability to change her hair and eye color at whim. She was like a human kaleidoscope. Since Steven’s death, her hair always remained a pale blond, and her eye color only varied from brown to blue.
“Hey,” I responded back with a smile of my own. “Since you went with Drake, I figured I’d get the kids clothing washed for you.”
She clasped her hands to her heart as tears entered her eyes. “Thanks, you have no idea how much that means to me. I was glad I got to get the chance to go with Drake. I could help him and get a chance to stop by the house and get some mementos, clothing, and such. I’m still not sure what we should do with that house,” she trailed off lost in memories.
“It was no problem,” I quickly told her, uncertain if she really wanted my opinion or if she had just been talking out loud. “We’re going to head into town tomorrow, if you have any requests; bedding, snacks, or anything else you can think of, let me know. We planned on taking the kids, if you’re okay with that.”
She nodded. “That’ll be great. I think I’m set, but I’ll send you a card for the kids. They need to get out some. Paul and Will have me working on communicating with some of the other gifted communities. I think we have some representatives from Illinois coming in tomorrow, and they’ve appointed me as the liaison.”
“That should be interesting,” I laughed. “I don’t envy you that task.”
“I don’t mind it. It keeps me busy. I never realized how many communities we had out there. Steven use to come home and talk about them, but I kind of tuned him out.” Tears entered her eyes. “Anyways, you guys run off. Thank you so much for doing their laundry. I can get my one load done rather quickly now.”
Noah and Jaxson gave her a quick hug before we turned to go to our room a few doors down.<
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“I never know what to say or do,” I said awkwardly as we neared our door.
“You don’t have to say anything,” Noah stated. “Just be there for her like you have been.”
When we got back to the room, there were several rucksacks laid out on the floor, and Drake was lying on the couch as he watched Remy, Jace, and Troy go through them. I went over to him and waited for him to scoot over before I squeezed in next to him.
“How was it?” I asked quietly. “I’m sorry, again, for not having my phone with me.”
He pulled me in close and rubbed my back. “It’s a girl,” he said in an expressionless voice.
“And she still won’t take a DNA test,” I sighed.
“Nope,” he sighed. “Honestly, I want to stop going to these things. Expecting a child should be fun and exciting, but she’s sucking the joy out of it. Every appointment revolves around money and why she isn’t getting any. I don’t even think she cares about this baby. This baby is just a tool to her.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
I didn’t know what to say. There was no guarantee he would get to experience it either. When or if I ever decided to have children, there was no guarantee I could have more than two. My mother had been capable to have five of us. Did I want a huge family? Did I even want more than two if I could have them? What happens if they all wanted a child? I tried to push the thoughts away. I had years before I should even be stressing about having children.
He shrugged and pulled me closer.
Chapter 4
The children were in high spirits at breakfast when they found out we were going into town for the day. I guess they were getting as stir-crazy as we had been. Beth had given us a card, despite our protest. She had been reluctant to admit she wanted some things, but Jace insisted she give us a list of what she’d like.
We had every intention of being out for most of the day. Jemmy was still reeling from her news, but she still managed to do her research and found a city an hour west of us that had a lot of retail shops and a huge three-story mall. It looked like we would be able to find everything we were looking for.
The guys had a list of things we needed for the rucksacks. Terrance and Marcel were being secretive in their preparations. They already warned us that they weren’t going to take it easy on us, and I didn’t expect them to. I was actually getting excited, myself. I hadn’t used my gifts, except for yesterday, in weeks.
After breakfast, we all loaded up into the three Tahoe’s to take all eighteen of us and took the hour drive into the city.
“It’s amazing. I didn’t realize how cut off we are until we came here,” I said as I watched the tall buildings pass us.
Troy draped his arm behind my seat and kissed my cheek. “I miss the city.”
Troy was originally from New York City and made it known to me, before, that his goal was to live in the city once more. He wanted a penthouse. He thrived in the hustle and bustle of city living.
“We should find a Koreatown. I miss Sue’s cooking,” Rachel stated.
Sue was the housekeeper and family friend we had. She had cleaned the house for us and sometimes treated us to her amazing Korean cooking. I had experienced Chinese food and sushi when on daddy-daughter dates with my dad—whom I later found out was my uncle—before meeting my connections. After experiencing Korean food, I believed an Asian child lived within me, because I loved everything Asian.
“I miss Sue,” Ella piped up from the back.
“Dad got her a job with another family, but I hear she misses us too,” Jaxson tried to sound buoyant as he looked back at Ella.
“Koreatown is five blocks from this shopping center,” Jemmy said cheerfully.
That was enough to get everyone out of the funk that we had been in. We all missed Sue.
****
“Seriously, $180 for a set of sheets?” I gaped at the price tag on the shelf.
Jace shrugged. “That’s what we slept on at home.”
“Well, I did like our sheets at home,” I said a bit reluctantly as I added some additional sets into the cart for Will, Beth, Sierra, Gavin, and Cora.
Jace came up behind me and kissed the side of my neck. “Are you going to share my sheets with me tonight?” he asked as goosebumps erupted on my skin.
“Mmm,” I groaned. “I’ll think about it. I slept with you last night, and I don’t want the guys to think I’m playing favorites.”
“We need to get some time alone…soon,” he growled in my ear.
“I agree,” I giggled. “Now cut that out so I don’t try to jump your bones in the middle of this store.”
Jace chuckled as Ella came over with a purple and yellow quilt, complete with butterflies and flowers. “What’s jump your bones?”
“Nothing,” I said quickly flushing red.
Jace barely contained his laughter as he looked over at Ella. “Did you want that, poppet?”
Ella rolled her eyes at us and held it out to him. “Is forty dollars too much?”
Even though we hadn’t had to worry about food in a while, she still asked about prices, and sometimes I found hoarded food in her room. She remembered what it was like to be hungry, and she always worried we might have to go without again, even though there was no indication of it being a possibility.
“Put it in the cart, squirt, and let’s get you some sheets to go with it,” Jace swooped her up and ran with her back down the aisle.
She admitted a high pitch giggle. She never had any positive male role models in her life. Our dad had died before she’d even met him. Heidi was too selfish to bring any decent men into our life. Now she was surrounded by them, and it warmed my heart seeing how good Will and all my guys were with her and the other children.
It wasn’t like they were acting to impress me, nor was it ever forced. They all equally paid attention to them. Whether it was to read them a bedtime story or play a game with them. Remy took Micah to the gym with him almost every day because my tall and skinny brother wanted to bulk up. Alex idolized Jaxson, so he was often his shadow, and Jaxson never lost his patience with him.
Micah and Patrick were looking at bed in a bag sets on the opposite side of where I was standing. I could see Micah was struggling with the shopping excursion as well. He had been living on the streets for the last five years. I could see him mentally thinking about all the other things he could purchase with that amount of money. I still did that, and I never experienced living in a box or under a bridge as he had.
You don’t have to worry about that anymore, get whatever you like, I told him gently. I communicated with him using my gift of compulsion. If I had spoken the words out loud, I knew I would have embarrassed him.
He looked up at me and nodded as he picked up a navy and baby blue set. I casually walked over there after he left and noticed he had picked up the one on clearance. I laughed slightly, exasperated but proud of him.
“Found mine!” Alex exclaimed triumphantly as he held up a Spiderman set.
“Throw it in the cart,” Jaxson laughed as he pushed the cart towards him.
We were going to have to make a trip out to the truck before we did any more shopping. We had five carts between the eighteen of us. Every cart was almost overfilling. Noah and Drake came around the corner with an additional cart and began throwing bath towels into it.
“We’re not going to be well liked when we return to base. They already think we’re spoiled,” I groaned.
“What they issued us is crap, and we just lost our home,” Noah scoffed. “Besides, it’s not like they use the crap issued to them. I’ve seen some of their rooms. They don’t look as barren or basic as ours.”
“You’re the one who wanted to go shopping,” Drake teased me as he kissed the top of my head.
“Grocery shopping!” I defended myself.
“I think the additional shopping was definitely Jemmy’s idea,” Rachel giggled as she dropped some hot pink towels into the cart.
“You kn
ow the looks we’re going to get when we check out, right?” I groaned.
“Who cares.” Terrance chuckled as he dropped some navy-blue towels with anchors on it into the cart.
Will had given us his black card and told us to make sure we covered everyone. He felt somewhat responsible for their new situation despite the fact that Dawn, Sam, and Marcel hadn’t been abducted with us initially. They had voluntarily joined us a week after we got there.
Marcel had a daughter with a Non, but the mother never let Marcel see their daughter. He took her to court several times over the last twelve years, since the birth of his daughter, and they still wouldn’t grant him extended visitations. His daughter’s mom had moved out of state when she was pregnant with her, and no judge would take her away from her mother. To her, Marcel was just a paycheck.
Dawn and Sam were both single and weren’t close to their families, so it was an easy decision for them. Terrance was like family to them, and we had become family to them, too. Choosing to come here hadn’t been difficult for them at all.
“Hey,” a gruff accented voice said from behind us. “Hey der,” he repeated.
We all turned at once and saw three men that looked like they came from the backwoods. They wore scuffed up work boots, dirty torn jeans, and flannel shirts. The man that was trying to get our attention was wearing a baseball cap over his long greasy hair.
“Yes?” I asked slowly.
“You from dat der mountain base, huh?” he asked in a heavily accented voice. I could barely understand him, his accent was so thick.
“Yes?” I nodded.
“Whatcha doin’ up der?” he eyed us suspiciously.
The base was off the beaten path. Our facility was almost completely underground. Most of our training was done indoors. The only indication we were there was the no trespassing sign and the delivery trucks that came once a week. We still had two guards posted nearly half way up the road, but other than that, we were kept well hidden.
“Nothing that will interest you,” Terrance stood to his full height of well over six foot three. He was a big black man with biceps the size of the average female’s thighs. He was intimidating looking.
