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“Settle down, we won’t be leaving yet.” He wraps me tightly in his embrace.
“I don’t think that prolonging this is good for Cassandra.” I barely register Darren’s voice as the numbness spread into my limbs.
“Yeah, brother, let’s rip this Band-Aid off fast and quick. We will help her.” Logan’s chest vibrates, leading me to believe he agrees with Lucas.
He turns to me to say goodbye. “Remember why we are doing this. Keep working, and in three months, you won’t be able to get rid of us.”
He looks straight into my eyes as his palms envelop my face, and he kisses me goodbye. Finally, he presses our foreheads together and quietly whispers, “I love you.”
The air tingles on my swollen lips that refuse to tie him to me with those three words he craves to hear. Instead, I promise to the universe, if I regain my peace, I will give him everything he wants.
“Goodbye,” I whisper back. Slowly walking over to the twins, I bless them, kissing their foreheads, cheeks, lips, and pleading hands. “I love you and I’ll see you soon,” hoping that it will come true.
They leave, and I turn around, fighting emotions. I’m confused to see Leif and Lucas still sitting in front of me. “You’re not leaving?”
“Nope.” Leif gives me a gentle smile and pats the seat, inviting me to sit next to him.
Mystified, I look at my sisters for help, but I find myself silently crying, and I look away. Needing to stop the waterfalls, I sit next to a teasing Leif, who puts his hand on my shoulder. I draw my legs to my chest. Lucas leads both of my emotional sisters to the sofa to sit next to Leif.
“I’ll make us chamomile tea.” He turns around and walks to the kitchen.
“Make us catnip tea, or if you find Valerian root tea, chamomiles won’t work!” Aisha shouts to him. Apparently, my sisters got the stash sent over from our birth country. Raine decides to go help him find it.
“Let’s watch something, sisters. What do you think about Lucifer or Sweet Little Lies?”
With Leif, you never know when he will let his innuendoes fly, so I look at him, trying to catch the drift of his implications but finding none. Strange. He smooths my eyebrows with his fingers and then playfully bops my nose.
“Stop creasing your forehead, you look like my grandma. You should see your expression, like you think I’m a bad guy.” He tsks as he grabs the remote and pulls up Scandal.
“Sometimes your sweet side doesn’t show up, so forgive me that I expect the other one.”
He kisses my temple, and we begin to watch the show. Raine brings me tea and banana bread that she baked while Logan and me were at the lake. Eventually, my nerves calm as I receive the notification of an incoming text. Logan lets me know they’ve made it ok and have started unloading the boxes.
“Am I the only one feeling the sedative effects of the tea?”
Lucas replies, “Nope, we’re all drinking it,” and they laugh with me as we sit silently, continuing to watch TV.
“When are you leaving?” I ask, curious to know when they are going back to the U.S.
“Who said that we are?” Leif raises his eyebrow, daring me to throw them out.
“Relax buddy, I don’t mind you staying here.”
“Lucas, don’t you have to go back to the Marines?” We all look at him, waiting for his answer.
“No, I’m on leave.” With no further comments, he closes the conversation.
“Well, thank you for elaborating,” I mumble to myself, but Leif hears me and he chuckles.
“He is a talkative one. By the way, Cassandra,” Leif adds, “we’re going to be your buddies and help you to get yourself in shape.”
“And how are you going to achieve that?” I ask, suspicious of their methods.
“Just wait and see. Tomorrow, we’ll start with the military routine. Get good rest, and we will pound the pavement like soldiers.” I look at Lucas with interest because I know he understands PTSD better than anyone here. As if he knows what I am asking, he gives me a curt nod and returns to watching Olivia Pope.
Those boys have become a part of this family, and their energy fits in perfectly. My sisters get to joke, tease, and fight with them, just for the kicks of it. Logan’s brothers don’t mind my overbearing sisters as they try to boss them around. The two of them actually enjoy the challenge of tormenting them in return. It’s a shame the only thing not working like a well-oiled machine is me.
“Stop thinking,” Aisha’s stern voice interrupts my inner dialog.
