“Sawyer, I wanted to ask you if you’d like to join our family for the next few weeks. We’re heading back to Lake Renegade. We didn’t know if you wanted to see your family. Otherwise, you’re more than welcome to come and stay with us,” my mama says as she’s playing with River.
“I-I don’t really speak to anyone in my family,” she says softly.
“Well then, it’s settled. You and River will come back and stay with us.” She smiles.
I love my mama, she knows exactly how to handle things.
“I wish I could, but I don’t have any savings built up yet. And I can’t afford to travel.”
“You don’t need to pay for anything. You just need to pack for you and River. In fact, you don’t even need to pack a lot. Weleave tomorrow night. My brother-in-law is sending his jet for us,” my da says to her.
Sawyer’s eyes get bigger.
“You have a jet?”
“No, my brother-in-law has a jet.” Da laughs.
“I’ve never met anyone that owned a jet.” She laughs.
“Well, now you will. And you’ll love everyone in Lake Renegade,” I say as I kiss her head.
Sawyer leans into me and smiles.
“Is that a yes?” I ask her softly.
“Yes.”
“I can’t wait for you and River to meet the rest of my family. He’s going to have so much fun. There’s so many kids he can play with, and we have animals on the property too. You’ll see otters, red pandas, polar bears, white tigers. They’ve been talking about getting skunks and even seeing if we can get giant pandas.”
“Do you have a zoo there?” She laughs.
“It seems like it at times.”
I leave out the part where I have to tell her that the red pandas, polar bears and white tigers are shifters. We’ll tackle that one when we get to Lake Renegade. I can’t wait to see the look on her face.
“We should get River home, and I need to pack,” Sawyer says as she yawns.
I stand up and pull her up with me. Everyone gives both of them a hug.
“We’ll pick you up on our way to the airport. So that should be around 3 p.m.,” Da says to her as we’re walking to the door.
“Thank you so much for inviting us to join you on your trip. It really means a lot to me,” Sawyer says as she hugs my parents.
“You’re welcome to come with us on all our trips. I’m sure Emerson will let you know about them.” My mama smiles as she hugs her.
Sawyer
Emerson helps me get River into the house and waits while I get him into bed. He makes me feel safe and that’s not something I’ve ever really felt. Ever. And he treats River like he’s just as important to him. I know it’s wrong, but part of me is waiting for him to decide that it’s all too much and leave. But the other part hopes he doesn’t.
“You didn’t have to stay,” I say as I come back out.
Emerson stands up and hugs me. I don’t know why, but all of a sudden I’m crying. He holds me until I finally calm down.
“I didn’t want to ask in front of the family. And if you’re not ready to tell me, it’s okay.”
I look up at him as he wipes my tears away.
“What happened with your family?”
