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"In that case, consider yourself lucky. It wasn't the most comforting life to grow up in. I'm glad you got to skip all of that. What are you doing now? Tell me about yourselves. Please." I whispered the last part, eager to hear more about them.
I learned that Ravina was a seamstress in their small town. She often took on bigger custom jobs too, but she preferred to keep to the locals. Javier was a pilot who was away more than not. He only just managed to rearrange his schedule for this visit. Leeland was in a band of some kind. The way they spoke, it sounded like it was famous enough I should know it, but I was drawing a blank. Still, it was cool to know what he did. And lastly, Marisol explained to me that she was previously an engineer who had become a stay-at-home mom after delivering her own set of triplets last year.
"Do you have pictures?" I asked eagerly. "I love babies."
It was true. I'd been hit with baby fever since Emmy started sharing pictures of her grandkids, and I didn't know what to make of it. With everything else going on, I also hadn't had time to talk to Daddy about it. But when I turned to see his reaction to my words, I found a knowing smile instead. He leaned forward with me as he looked at the pictures on Marisol's phone. The three chubby faced baby boys were amazing to look at. There was so much similarity between them and their mom that there was no doubt who Marisol was to them.
"We're so happy you managed to fit in a visit to see us so soon. I know we only contacted you last week, so I can't fathom how you managed to coordinate it all," Preacher said after getting his fill of the babies.
Marisol grinned at us. "That would be my doing. I've been wanting a vacation of some kind since the boys were born. This was the perfect excuse! Plus, why wouldn't I drop everything to meet my new brother? I might not have known about you all along, but I damn sure wouldn't miss out now that I know."
Her words brought tears to my eyes. I hadn't wanted to cry in front of them. It was just all so overwhelming.
As the first tear fell down my cheek, Ravina rose to come to my side. Her arms wrapped around me in a motherly hold that tore down the last of my defenses. It had been so long since someone maternal had hugged me like this, my mother being the last. After her death, my father never remarried, and there were never women around to watch me for longer than it took to get me from place to place. I'd been taking care of myself when Preacher came into my life and into my home. Since then, he's been my rock.
But even so, there was nothing like the love of a mother. And though she wasn't biologically mine, I felt a connection to Ravina.
"You're going to be ok, sweetie. We're here now and you're safe. We'll have to make a schedule now to coordinate visits and such. We don't need to go too long without seeing you. And then there's the holidays. We need to get that figured out too," Ravina said as she held me tight. It was like she was going through a mental checklist as she integrated me into their lives.
"Just let us know when and where. We have a plane at our disposal we can use to get to you. A couple, actually, if you count our allies. We can get you where you need to be in no time." Preacher spoke from my other side, his voice steady.
"And since I'm a pilot, I can take care of ensuring we get around in one piece. No need to worry with me on the case," Javier said with a smirk.
The room erupted into laughter at his haughty tone. I had no clue if he was a good pilot or not. The fact that he was alive should have been proof enough, but I still had the feeling that I'd hold off on giving him full control until later.
"We're going to be ok." I said the words to no one in particular. It was more to settle my own thoughts.
Ravina nodded. "We will be. This is the beginning of a bright new world for you. It's exciting and nerve-wracking."
"That's exactly how I would describe it." I wrung my hands together. "If you're all ok with it, then that's how I'd like this to move on. I don't want to just meet you once. That doesn't seem right."
"I have everyone's numbers. Sorry to sound creepy, but hazards of the job when you're a P.I. I can send you each a text with Dante's number, so you have mine and his."
Everyone agreed, then we talked about other things like our favorite movies and food. We found we all had loads in common, enough so that Ravina couldn't stop laughing when all four of us told her how disgusting pickles were. It was the little moments like that where I felt the most connected to them. I felt like maybe I could truly belong.
As the night wore on, we were all tired out. So much good conversation, along with multiple delicious meals from Emmy, had me exhausted to where I could barely keep my eyes open.
"We're going to head to bed," Preacher told the others. "Feel free to stay up or you can go to your rooms as you wish. Text or call us if you need anything. This place can be confusing, so maybe don't roam all that much."
"Ohh, is this like the mafia warning about having to kill us if we find something?" Javier joked.
Preacher chuckled. "Not in this case. You're family. It's best you don't get involved with the organization, but we aren't going to kill you if you stumble across something."
He led me from the room before I could do more than wave goodnight. At the base of the stairs, he swept me into his arms to carry me up to our room. I would have argued had I the strength to do so. But since I was two seconds away from passing out, there was no use.
Darkness claimed me before we ever reached the top of the stairs.
* * *
The next morning over breakfast,Ravina worked with Emmy to create something traditional to their homeland while the rest of us gathered on the back porch to wait. It was a beautiful day, not too warm or too cold. And the sunrise we managed to catch was beautiful enough to bring a smile to both mine and Preacher's faces when we made our way outside.
"Now that Mom is gone, can we talk about you two? I'm getting a lot of Daddy vibes from you, Lloyd." We didn't go into describing why Preacher was Preacher to them, so we kept him as Lloyd. It still threw me off to hear that name come from anyone these days. It had been so long since he was anything but Preacher, destroyer of men and the man I had to love in secret.
Yet now he was... so much more. He was Lloyd and Preacher and Daddy. He was everything.
Javier grumbled as he poked his sister's ribcage. She protested as he said, "You can't just ask them that! It's fucking personal, Marisol."
I waved my hand around to distract them. "It's personal sure, but I don't mind. Yes, he is my Daddy in the sense you're thinking of. It's only as weird as you make it," I added when I saw Leeland's eyes narrow.
