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“That look better not have been directed towards you, sweetheart…” Alpo growled protectively.
Firefly was climbing out of the car and had this look on his face that made everyone hesitate – except Harley. The man looked bewildered and shocked, rubbing the back of his neck distractedly.
“Firefly,” Harley snapped hotly. “We’ve told you to please slow down when pulling into the parking lot, and…”
“We need to talk – all of us,” Firefly interrupted, and then looked at Mary. “Hey there, Mrs. Ghostie-poo, congratulations, hon… you got yourself a good guy.”
He extended his hand towards Mary – and she shook it nervously as he looked at Harley.
“When’s Romeo going to be back?”
“Probably three hours, maybe a little more. What’s going on?”
“It’s serious,” Firefly said tightly, looking at Mary. “Want to hang around and see us all in action? I promise we aren’t like that… and…”
He grew quiet as Harley stared at him, looking curious. Alpo took off to go check on the other man as the three women waited. Firefly took a deep breath and looked at Glory.
“Can you text everyone and tell them to be here in three hours? We’ll order pizza or something? This might take a bit… but he needs us.”
“Firefly, what is going on?”
“Houdini’s grounded,” Firefly whispered, his voice devastated, and even though Mary barely knew the guy, from his tone and the combined gasps from the women, she knew it was bad. “If he keeps flying? He’ll go blind.”
“What?” Harley whispered, “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, but he’s gonna need to be the one to tell you.”
“Oh my gosh,” Glory said stunned, “Hunter would be lost if he couldn’t fly…”
“And that’s just about where our boy, Houdini, is right now,” Firefly finished softly, turning to her. “He was crying in the car, Harley. Mary, don’t take anything he said or did to heart, because that broken man… that isn’t the guy we know. He’s devastated and lashing out at everyone right now.”
“Thank you,” Mary whispered in understanding. “I can order the pizza if you want to text everyone.”
“Yeah, let me get the company card,” Harley volunteered. “I’ll be right back. Order enough for twenty people – and some two liters.”
* * *
Mary kept trying to leave,but more and more people kept showing up, hugging her, telling her congratulations, and offering up so much advice – both wanted and unwanted. They were trying to be kind, bring her into the ‘fold’ of their extended family, and had been nothing but accepting.
Sure enough, hours later, the last arrival showed up.
Romeo.
He walked directly to Mary, hugged her, and smiled.
“You did really good,” he said quietly. “Leaving is hard, and Ghost talked about you the entire time. I’m glad he has you, and you are such a strong person. That helped him a lot.”
“I’m not strong,” Mary countered, feeling tears well up again.
“Give yourself some credit. You’ve just been through a lot, and you are stronger than you realize. Congratulations again on your marriage, and welcome to our family…”
… And with that?
Romeo turned quickly, searching the group, and she knew the second he spotted his wife, Dixie. It was like watching an earthquake meter suddenly go still. He was at peace just seeing her… and Dixie must feel the same – because the two were suddenly there, embracing each other in a hug, and then taking a seat beside each other.
Firefly stood near Thumper at the front of the room that was crammed with a ton of people, and Mary hung out near the back, trying to be that ‘fly on the wall,’ because she didn’t feel like she had a say in any of this, but wanted to see how they all interacted with each other – and represent for Jax since he wasn’t here.
“Look, we need to talk…”
