AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Some people deserve second chances,” Sierra said quietly from the backseat. “My mother was an addict, too. Three years before she died, she wanted to create a relationship with me. My abuela begged me to at least talk to her. I never forgot what my mom did to me, to us, but I was glad that I forgave her. I’m glad I gave her a second chance. She had become a better person, and I never regretted getting to know her in the last three years of her life.”
Sierra didn’t talk much about her parents. She spoke about her abuela a lot, and I knew she had been Sierra’s primary caregiver. I didn’t realize her mother had struggled with an addiction.
From Jemmy’s expression, I figured she hadn’t divulged that information to her, either. Since making their connection with Gavin, she and Sierra were close. They were like best friends, sisters even, despite their many differences.
Gavin was one of my best friends. He helped me get back to my guys after my sister Bridgette and Horatio (AKA my sperm donor) had gotten us separated. He was connected not only to my best friend Jemmy but Sierra as well, one of the girls we had rescued from Horatio’s nefarious facility. They had recently made their connection, although they hadn’t come out and told me; I suspected it—Jemmy had definitely gotten stronger with her gift.
“I don’t know if she deserves a second chance,” Dawn said critically from the back seat as well. “Kicking a drug addiction is hard, and it’s not fair to the kids if they get attached to her if she decides to up and leave again.”
“I thought when you made a connection, your connection could make you stronger?” Rachel chimed in. “Miranda never had Greg when she struggled with her addiction before. Maybe he can help hold her accountable. It’s not fair for the children not to have the choice, plus they should get the chance to know who their little brother is.”
“Alex is too young to make a decision like that, and Ella’s not even Miranda’s,” Jemmy said mulishly.
“Alex is far older than his years,” Sierra offered. “And if Kade and Micah can make a decision, he should be able to as well. He’s not a normal seven-year-old. He’s a talented seven-year-old that can hear other people’s thoughts and been able to jump with his siblings. Ella may not be hers, but she has the right to know her biological aunt if Blake thinks it’s okay and if Ella is willing to meet her.”
“Have you talked to Pops about this?” Jemmy asked peevishly.
I really didn’t think Jemmy’s reactions were based on only what was best for the children. I knew she loved them and was protective of them, but I also had a feeling this went deeper than she was implying. I had recently found out her father had committed suicide. Then her mother pretty much disowned Jemmy and Drake. She even signed over her rights to her children when they were ten and thirteen. Drake was just coming into his gifts, and his mother started putting him through medical and mental testing. She talked about sending him away to a school that could ‘help’ him, which had stressed Jemmy out to the point where she started to show signs of a gift as well.
Luckily, one of the doctors they encountered was a close friend of Will and contacted him right away. Will had given Drake and Jemmy’s mom the opportunity to send them to his prestigious boarding school. After a year of freedom, she had signed over all her rights. She abandoned them.
I think some of the resentment Jemmy felt towards her mother was transferred over to my current situation. I knew without a shadow of a doubt, if her mother were to show up tomorrow and ask to be a part of her life, Jemmy would laugh and walk away. She usually didn’t hold grudges and was quick to forgive, but her mother had done a number on her.
“I ha
ven’t,” I began, and at her triumphant look, I continued. “Technically, I have guardianship over Ella now, Jace has Kade, Remy has Micah, and Jaxson has Alex. We really have the final say in their lives.”
Judge Myers had suggested it would look better on paper if we separated their guardianships. It would appear unseemly for an eighteen-year-old girl to have the care of four minors on the records. We had given the boys the opportunity to decide who they wanted their guardians to be. Even though the boys cared for all my connections, Micah and Alex gravitated towards Remy and Jaxson the most, respectively.
“And,” I continued. “Pops has been hinting at it for the last couple of days. I think he wants the kids to have supervised visits if they choose to, and if we decide that she’s not a danger to them, maybe even unsupervised visits eventually. It’s not like she lives in another house or another town, even. She lives a floor above us. She lives on your floor.”
Jemmy looked peeved for a moment.
“Oh, look they opened the new Sephora shop!” Rachel said brightly, giving me a conspiratorial wink.
“Shut the front door!” Jemmy squealed excitedly. I guess for now she was dropping the subject.
My first stop when we got to town was the post office. The town was more like a quaint village than an actual city. Only the Grocery store had a parking lot, and if you wanted to shop at one of the other stores available, you were quite limited in finding a spot. Most of the stores were locally and privately owned. Very few of the stores were ‘chain’ stores, like Sephora.
We parked in the parking lot, and I noticed immediately that it was packed. It would be, four days before Christmas. The streets and sidewalks were alive with all the last-minute shoppers. I loved the ambiance of seeing the people bustling about with Christmas decorations everywhere. The middle of town even had a substantial, opulent Christmas tree the size of most of the buildings.
“I need to go hit the post office,” I stated as I pulled my hat and gloves on.
“I’ll go with you,” Sierra offered.
Jemmy looked relieved because I knew she was itching to get to Sephora. “Okay,” she said excitedly. “I’m going to head over to Sephora.”
“I’m going with her!” Dawn exclaimed.
“Me too!” Rachel added.
I groaned jokingly. “You do realize Christmas is four days away and the reason for the season is to buy for others, right?”
“This is a gift for everyone,” Jemmy dramatically waving a hand in front of her face. “I bring beauty so others can find happiness in it.”
Dawn and Rachel began to giggle, and I rolled my eyes. Truth be told, she was beautiful with or without makeup. She really didn’t need any. “You keep telling yourself that,” I teased her. “I for one am getting my last-minute gifts. I’ll text you when I’m done at the post office.”
“We might answer,” Jemmy huffed.
