Gifted Connections [Book 2]

by SM Olivier

  Jemmy frowned. “What happens if they bring their own?”

  Remy gave her a pointed look.

  “Fine, fine,” she grumbled, but the look in her eyes told me differently. Knowing her, she was going to find a way around it.

  I finished my school work in no time and was able to get a rare moment of quiet time on the couch. I had to watch Trolls, but I didn’t mind; it was a cute movie. Alex was in rare form and wanted to cuddle. I didn’t mind at all. He was normally a million miles a minute, and it was enjoyable to spend some quality time with just him. As I was forced to relax, I thought maybe I should try to set some time every week for each child, like a play date with them, some time to make sure they didn’t get lost in the mix.

  That led me to thinking about my connections, too. They were all made, but maybe we needed to work on us as well. We should be setting up time for some alone one-on-one time. More than what we already did. Drake and I had time to ourselves when we cooked. Jace and I found time to slip off into the music room on occasion. Remy and I had our Saturday morning runs by ourselves. Troy and I fit private lessons down in the basement for additional martial arts classes (which I was thoroughly enjoying). I couldn’t count quality time with Jaxson when we had our inner conversations. It was normally right before we fell asleep at night, and to be honest, we normally fell asleep in the middle of it. Noah and I found time to work on performance arts projects, but it still wasn’t enough. I needed to focus on my connections more.

  I was making lunch when my new phone rang.

  “Hello,” I answered it.

  “Hey Blake,” Remy responded. “I know Alex isn’t feeling the greatest, but some of the females are coming off whatever they were implanted with and they’re acting irrationally and irritable. Jace has his hands full, and we need some back up. Gavin’s on his way in, but we would like you to come in as well. How’s Alex feeling?”

  “Better,” I retorted honestly as I pulled our macaroni and cheese from the oven. “As soon as I finish lunch, I’ll make my way over. Is someone coming to get me?”

  “That would work,” Remy said with a smile in his voice. “Is there enough for me?”

  I giggled. “Yes, there’s enough for you. Can Alex come along?”

  “He listens fairly well, so I don’t see an issue with it,” Remy agreed.

  “Okay, great.” I smiled. “See you soon!”

  I pulled out some honey baked ham and cut thick slices for Micah, Tanya, and myself. I added the sautéed green beans to our plates. For Alex, I cut the ham into bite-size pieces. Some days, he and Ella wanted to act independently and scoffed at being treated like a ‘baby,’ and other days they wanted the extra coddling.

  “Lunch!” I called out into the living room.

  Time away from school was helping my psyche immensely. It was times like these that I realized how much of an ambivert I was. When I had been singing with the guys, I had loved the energy and excitement I got on the stage. I had thrived on it, but I also needed moments, days, and weeks like this. I needed to unplug, unwind, and just be.

  Although I should see if Jemmy had invited Ben, Taylor, Rick, and Mike to the party. I would like to get back to the band. Jemmy said they had been booking gigs, but it wasn’t on the scale we had been on. She even showed me their Facebook page, and they didn’t have ten percent of the followers we had.

  I was ready to get back on that ride and see where it took me.

  Alex came running into the room first, and I pulled out the first aid kit. Jace had shown me that they kept their thermometer in there.

  “Let’s check your temp, buddy,” I said after he scrambled into his seat. He automatically opened his mouth.

  When the thermometer beeped, I nodded in satisfaction. “You seem better. I’ll pack you some juice boxes and we’ll keep you hydrated.”

  Alex frowned. “Do I have to go to school?” He gave me a crestfallen look.

  “No.” I gave him an indulgent smile. “But I need to go to the clinic. Want to come with me?”

  Alex nodded eagerly. “I like spending time with you,” he stated as he scooped some macaroni and cheese on his fork.

  I smiled at him placing a kiss on his head. “I like spending time with you too!”

  “Did you know the most venomous jellyfish in the world is named the Irukandji and is smaller than your fingernail?” Micah asked as he came into the kitchen.

  “He’s been fascinated by biology,” Tanya explained as she grabbed a plate and sat at the bar. “Thanks for lunch.”

  “No, thank you for your help with Micah, he’s improved greatly already. I figured we needed something heavier today, since it’s chilly outside.” I smiled. “Alex and I are running out shortly. Noah should be home before you leave for the day.”

  Micah frowned. “Can I go with you? I’ve taken all of my tests today.”

  I looked over at Tanya and she smiled with a nod.

  I nodded. “I don’t see why not. Maybe you can keep an eye on Alex while I help Gavin and Jace. Looks like you have the afternoon off,” I smiled at Tanya.

  “Can we borrow Ella’s Wii U?” Micah asked hopefully.

  “Sure,” I answered. We had agreed to restrict screen time during the week, so the kids hadn’t played on any game systems since Sunday night.

  “Chip will let me borrow his,” Alex piped up.

  I nodded. “That’s fine. We can do that.”

  Remy came walking in the door not too long afterwards. He kissed me on my head and ran a suggestive hand on my butt.

  I blinked up in surprise. He was affectionate when it came to embracing me, playing with my hair, or wanting me to sit on his lap, but he never initiated any intimate contact to that degree since I returned. I was left wondering if he was trying to tell me something. Was he tired of waiting for us to reconnect on a more intimate level?

  He pretended like it hadn’t happened as he grabbed a plate and sat down next to Alex. He reached over and held the back of his hand to his forehead. “How do you feel?” he asked.

  Alex, for some reason, showed apprehension around the big guys Terrance and Remy. I don’t know if it was because his father had been a big man, or that they were the size of mountains. “Good,” he responded before he took another bite of his food.

  “Blake said we can go with you,” Micah said excitedly.

  “Awesome, man,” Remy reached over and fist bumped Micah.

  “I’m going to grab the game systems and maybe pack some snacks and drinks for the boys,” I jumped up and grabbed a lunch box out of one of the cabinets.

  “I heard there were some boys with birthdays coming up, and so is Christmas,” Remy said with a sly grin. “Maybe sharing won’t be necessary soon.”

  “Mine is in two weeks!” Micah said excitedly. His birthday was close to my original birthday.

  “Mine is after Christmas, and Christmas is such a looooong time away,” Alex said dramatically. Willing to forget his fear of Remy in that moment.

  To their credit, Remy and Terrance made it a mission to draw Alex to them. They gave him extra attention in hopes that he would be comfortable around them.

  “Well maybe if your report card comes back with good grades…” Remy trailed off.

  “You guys need to stop spoiling the children,” I said with mock sternness. I was torn about the whole situation, honestly. One part of me believed that they deserved to get spoiled, but the other part of me didn’t want them to become materialistic. I didn’t want them to take the trivial things for granted. I didn’t want them to believe everything should just be given to them and not earned.

  “I’m really smart,” Alex said confidently.

  “Well, smart boy, hurry up and finish eating so we can go,” I ruffled his dark curls and ran upstairs to get the game systems.

  The drive to the facility wasn’t a far one. We took the children to Cora’s office. She rarely used it; she spent most of her time in the lab. It was a spacious office complete with a desk, over
sized chair behind it, two winged-back chairs in front of it, a little sitting area with a large leather couch, a television, and a unique looking coffee table with matching end tables on either side of the couch. She had some animated movie playing on her television and cookies sitting on the coffee table.

  The boys seemed to like this treat to come along with us and hang out at the clinic. They had animatedly talked the whole time there. I wanted to question Remy about his caress earlier, but with their constant chatter and their presence, I really couldn’t.

  We made sure the boys were settled, and then I headed towards the wing where we kept the woman we had brought in. It was busy in here today. Healers were buzzing around everywhere. Remy gave my hand a little squeeze before heading to the elevators. I knew he was helping Will down in the lab.

  Gavin came out of one of the rooms looking harried and drained. “I don’t know what he did to them, but it was a number.”

  We had a team of techies and scientists still trying to dissect the implants that the women had, but we weren’t any closer to figuring out what they were made of, the long-term effects of them or how to remove them without harming the patients. Most of the females still acted like they were in a comatose state. They mechanically ate and used the bathroom. They wouldn’t communicate with anyone and seemed like they existed in a world of their own. The only female that was able to resist the implant, didn’t have too many recollections. She did say she felt out of it and trapped in her own body when it had worked, but that’s all she could tell us. She had volunteered to stick around and let us draw her blood for testing.

  Ashley Foles had admitted that she was a teenage runaway after she had come into her gift and her parents had kicked her out. She had gone through a downward spiral of sex, drugs, and alcohol. She told us she heard rumors of a facility that gave money for testing drugs for a pharmaceutical company. She hadn’t realized what she had signed up for. The girls she had gone with were never to be seen again, but she had been forced to get clean, then injected with the implant. She had woken in the facility, her mind clear of the drugs she had been hooked on, and pregnant. She was street smart, so she had played the game. She had observed everything.

  Every day they were ‘woken’ up, fed breakfast, taken on walks in the yard or on the treadmill, seen by a doctor, fed lunch, went on another walk, rested in their beds, fed dinner, taken on a walk, showered, and then put to bed. Ashley told us that she didn’t know how she got pregnant or by whom. She said she had seen a few females leave when they went into labor, but they never returned.

  Every female that we had rescued from that facility had been pregnant. They were in various stages of their pregnancy. All of them seemed to be progressing along nicely up until this point. With the behavior they were exhibiting now, I was assuming that the implants didn’t last long.

  “Blake,” Gavin said again. He must have called my name more than once, but I had been lost in my own thoughts.

  “Sorry.” I gave him an apologetic smile. “I’ll get right to work.”

  I rushed into one of the rooms and saw a woman who was slightly older than me and approximately six or seven months pregnant, yelling and flopping around. Ashley hadn’t been able to tell us any of their names, so we were left in the dark. Their patient charts had them listed as patient one, patient two—so on and so forth.

  “No, don’t want to die. I want to go back!” she screamed as she thrashed around.

  “Stop,” I said gently as I placed my hands on her. I could feel her fear and her panic. “You’re okay,” I crooned as I placed my hands on her. I pushed feelings of calm and peace into her.

  After a few more minutes of pushing my feelings into her, she finally calmed down. “What’s your name?” I asked softly.

  “Pam,” she said softly.

  “How old are you, Pam?” I asked trying to keep her mind busy.

  “19,” she said in a small voice.

  As she sat there, I could slowly see the panic recede from her eyes replaced by clarity. She looked around in wonder, like she was just realizing where she was. I could see the moment she realized she was pregnant and her eyes rounded in horror. When she looked like she was going to leap out of the bed, I put my hand on her.

  “We found you in a facility. We aren’t the bad guys,” I said urgently. We needed her to believe me. We needed her to find out what Horatio was up to, besides the obvious. I could see the distrust and hysteria in her eyes. “We found you along with eleven other women. You were all implanted with something. We think it had drugs in them. You’ve been here for a couple of weeks now. Do you remember anything that happened there?” I asked as I felt her suspicion and fear recede.

  “I needed the money,” fat tears ran down her face. “I’m never going to get high again, I promise,” she said in horror as she looked down at her stomach. “How?! How?!”

  I felt her anxiety rising again and I pushed the calm back to her again. “We’re trying to figure that out.” I stroked her hand. “We’re going to help you, we promise.”

  “Get it out,” she said despondently.

  My heart sank. “You’re afraid and rightfully so, but we can’t do that until you talk to some of our doctors here. We also have crisis counselors and have helped many people just like you. We want to help you.”

  “Then kill me,” she said dejectedly.

  “No,” I said resolutely. “I know this seems hopeless, but you aren’t giving up yet. You’ve already been through too much not to survive this, too.”

  Under all her fear and panic, I could feel the fighter within her. I didn’t know her past, but she had been a fighter once upon a time. We just needed to give her the love and support she needed so she could find another reason to keep fighting.

  There was a commotion down the hall when I finally exited Pam’s room. I ran down there to find out what was going on. I hadn’t expected to see a woman in the corner of the room and screaming.

  “I want my son, give me back my son,” she was a woman of average height and stature, with beautiful long blond hair. Her features were quirky, but it only added to her unusual beauty.

  Gavin was trying to approach her, but she continued to try and throw anything possible his way, but without her hands. Small objects flew from the cabinet doors and from her food tray left uneaten.

  “She won’t let me near her,” he said in frustration.

  “I got this,” I reassured him. “Go ahead and go to the next one.”

  He nodded, seemingly relieved.

  I slowly approached her dodging a sandwich. “It’s okay,” I said soothingly. “We’re not here to hurt you, we want to help you.”

  “Give me back my son,” she cried out, tears rolling down her face.

  “He’s at school,” Alex said calmly from the doorway.

  I looked up startled to find him perched in the doorway.

  Micah came to a skidding halt behind him. “I’m so sorry, Blake. We were playing and suddenly, he started clutching his head and getting agitated. I couldn’t stop him. He came running this way.”

  I looked over at the woman and she was looking at Alex with a look of complete sadness and despair. “Where’s my baby?” she asked softly.

  “He’s at school,” he smiled serenely. “He’s going to be so happy that you’re home, Miss. Amy.”

  “You’re lying,” she said distrustfully as she stroked her slightly rounded belly.

  Alex advanced toward her, but she didn’t try to stop him. He finally reached out his hand and grasped her hand. Amy’s eyes closed before a large smile spread across her face. Her eyes opened, tears in them.

  “You have my Chippy, you helped him,” her legs seemed to collapse under her as she began crying tears of joy.

  My own eyes began to fill with tears as I rushed over to her, embracing her. “We do, and you never gave up hope that you would find him. He’s going to be so happy we finally found you. Do you remember what happened?”

  She shook her he
ad slowly. “No. I just remember men coming into our home and taking my boy and then… I was here.”

  Alex grabbed our hands without warning, and I could see the night clearly. She had just put him to sleep. She was cleaning their dinner dishes when a group of masked men came busting through the back door. One of them slipped behind her and injected her with the implant. Through drug filled eyes, she saw some of the men dragging a screaming, crying and hysterical Chip. When the kitchen utensils started hurling their way towards the men, one of them knocked him out. She was loaded in a vehicle, while her son was loaded in another.

  The next scene showed her in a drug filled stupor. She was on a cold, metal table, her hands strapped down to the table, feet strapped in stirrups as a man with a paper mask covering his face did something behind the sheet draped over her legs.

  “Healthy female, no history of drug use, healthy son delivered nine years ago,” a young woman stated holding a clip board.

  “Implantation of Male B,” the man said in a cold nasally voice.

  The nurse scribbled something furiously on the clipboard.

  “I thought she was supposed to get Male A,” another man came into the picture, a paper mask covering his face.

  The first man made a scoffing sound. “I’m done implanting these subjects with his. He needs to stop living in denial. He has produced two children with the same subject. It hasn’t been his specimen impregnating these subjects in years.”

  “But he thinks he has,” the second man spluttered.

  “We tell him what he wants to hear, so he leaves us alone,” the first man stated.

  “But what about—" and that’s where Amy had blacked out once more.

  When I opened my eyes, Amy looked slightly horrified. “Is this why I’m pregnant? I couldn’t have any more children.” She wiped away the tears on her face. “Chip’s father wanted more children. I couldn’t give him anymore.”

  “Because you’re gifted,” I stated softly.

  She nodded. “He never knew that, though. I never found my connected. With each year I didn’t find him, I had gotten weaker. Today is the most I’ve been able to do in a very long time. I loved Chip’s father. I thought he was worth me not finding my connected. He left us when Chip was three. He’s happily remarried with three other children now. He doesn’t need or want Chip anymore.” She looked troubled for a moment, before she looked up and smiled at me. “He loves the attention he’s been getting now. Who’s the handsome man with the dark hair and eyes?”