Chapter 85

Chpater 85

***Chastity***

I woke up early the following morning, but to my surprise Rowen wasn’t curled around me like he

usually was. My eyes popped open, and I looked around the room. I spotted him coming out the

bathroom, hair wet from a shower, and I breathed a quiet sigh of relief. He sat down on the bed beside

me, and ran his fingers through my hair.

“Good morning sweet girl.” Rowen whispered to me as he smiled.

“Good morning. Why are you up so early?” I asked.

“I have to go help dad set up for Greg’s service, and burning.”

“Oh. Is that a lot of work?”

“It can be. We have to collect up birch wood for the fire, and get the area cleared out. Dad also has the

area blessed.”

“Oh. Do you want some help?”

“No. I think Braxton needs you more today.”

“True. Has he been here yet?”

“No. Dimi said he was still sleeping, but I’m sure he’ll be down for breakfast.”

“Ok. I wish I had gotten here earlier last night. I could have made croissants for him.”

“You can make them tomorrow morning.”

“True.”

“Well I better go. Dad is waiting for me.”

“OK.”

Rowen leaned over, and kissed me quickly before leaving the room. I sighed, and sat up. Once I felt I

was awake enough I went to shower, and dress. For now I was just in jeans, and a t-shirt. I would dress

nicely for the service later. After that I made my way down to the dining room. The atmosphere was

fairly quiet. Only Gina, Dimitri, and Braxton were at the table. I took a seat next to Braxton, and placed

my hand on his shoulder.

“How are you this morning Braxton?” I asked quietly.

“Mad.” Braxton grumbled, and I trembled a bit, “After I eat dad is going to take me down the gym to

work out.”

“Oh. Well that’s good right?”

“Yeah. The exercise helps.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“You can come work out with us if you want to.”

“Oh. I….um……I didn’t bring any work out clothes with me.”

“I have some you can borrow Chastity” Gina offered.

I was a bit nervous about this, but I nodded any way.

“I know you’re probably uncomfortable being around me when I’m mad, but…well…you have kind of a

calming effect on me. At least you did last night.” Braxton explained quietly.

“Oh ok. Well I’ll be there.” I said smiling slightly.

We ate breakfast in silence then I followed Gina to her dad’s apartment to change. Once I was dressed

I made my way over to the gym. Dimitri, and Braxton were already warming up. I dropped my water on

a bench, and sat down to start stretching with them.

“How are you liking self defense class, Chas?” Braxton asked.

“My instructor makes me uncomfortable, but I like that I feel stronger. I also feel like my movements are

more fluid, and less forced.” I responded.

“That’s one of the benefits of training your body properly. It helps your everyday movements along with

strengthening your body. I’m glad it’s going so well for you.” Dimitri said.

“Thank you for signing me up for the class.” I smiled at him.

“You’re welcome. Jax told me about the issues you had with your instructor yesterday, and that he will

no longer be teaching the class.”

“Yeah. I hadn’t expected that.”

“What happened?” Braxton asked.

I told him what had happened the previous day. I could see Braxton getting angry. It scared me, but I

tried my best to remain calm.

“He’s a jerk. I’m glad Rowen, and Jax were there though.” Braxton growled.

“Me too.” I whispered.

“Alright Braxton I want you lifting to start today.” Dimitri instructed as he stood up.

Braxton nodded, and walked over to the weight bench. Once he was all set, he started lifting the bar

that looked really heavy. I went over to the weight rack, and found some leg weights. After strapping

them on I started jogging around the gym.

“That’s good Braxton. Do five more than we’ll move on.” I heard Dimitri say, and Braxton grunted.

He had just finished when I was done with my laps. I watched him as he moved to another machine. I

took the one next to him. After I adjusted the weights, we continued. None of us really said much, but it

was nice to work out with them for awhile. I was starting to get worn out when Dimitri took Braxton over

to the punching bags.

“Come on Chas. I want to see what you’ve learned.” Braxton called to me as he followed Dimitri.

With a sign I followed them. This was my least favorite part. I didn’t want to hit people, and I hated the

sounds of the punching bag being struck. Dimitri taped up my hands, then stepped behind the bag to

hold it in place. After a few deep breaths, and a silent pep talk, I swung at the bag. I could feel Braxton

watching me, but I kept swinging.

“Hang on a second Chastity.” Braxtoh said as he walked over to me.

I got a little nervous, but stood my ground Braxton explained a few things to me that Matt never did,

and he had me follow his motions. They looked the same as Matt’s, but the difference was Braxton

explained every move as he made them, and made them slowly so I could watch. When I mimicked

him I could feel the difference. I tried a few more times, and it felt more natural.

“Huh? I wonder why Matt never explained all of that. He just showed us, and we copied.” I said after a

few hits.

“He’s a shit teacher. I guess.” Braxton responded then took my spot in front of the bag.

I watched as Braxton attacked the bag. Dimitri held the bag still, and encouraged Braxton the whole

time. He would give pointers on adjustments as needed, but not much else. One thing I noticed about

Braxton was the more he attacked the bag the more the tension I had seen riding him, drift away, until

he looked completely relaxed again. Eventually he was covered in sweat, and breathing heavily. He

leaned forward, and waved off Dimitri when asked if he wanted to keep going.

“Thanks dad. I needed that.” Braxton said between heavy breaths.

“You did good son. Do your cool down then go shower. Chastity, back on the bag. We’ve got some

more work to do.” Dimitri stated as I raised in eyebrow at him.

I moved to the punching bag, and started swinging at it. We remained silent for awhile, but when I

heard Braxton leave, Dimitri spoke.

“I had him ask you to join us this morning.” Dimitri stated.

“Why?” I questioned.

“I saw the fear in your eyes when he said he was mad. I knew you needed to see for yourself how he

works his anger out now. I thought it might help you trust that he wouldn’t hurt you again.”

“Oh. I guess that does make sense.”

“I thought it might. He’s doing good Chasy girl. He really did learn a lot from his mistakes, and he does

all he can to do better.”

“I can see that. I’m really proud of him.”

“I am too. He has also talked to me a lot more than he ever did before about Aurora. I never realized

she. did the things she did to him. I really was a fool.”

“Don’t beat yourself up about her actions. Consider what his life would have been like if he hadn’t been

here. What his, Jax, and Colby’s lives would have been like if they had been with her away from here.”

“That’s true.”

“In a lot of ways they’re better because they were here with you than if she had stayed on her own or

with Greg. Not that Greg was a bad person, but I’m not sure he could have handled her. I think she

would have taken her anger out on him, as well as the other three if you hadn’t brought her here. She

probably would have also done all she could to keep Jax, and Colby away from you.”

“That’s true. I never thought about it like that.”

“They are who they are because of you, not her.”

“Yeah. True. How are things going with Rowen?”

“Good, but I still don’t trust it to last. Although I’m starting to think that has more to do with me then

him.” “What do you mean?”

“I still don’t have a lot of confidence in myself.”

“Baby girl, you are amazing. You’re intelligent, strong, brave, kind, caring, and beautiful. There is

nothing about you that you shouldn’t feel confident about.”

“I hear you. I do. I hear everything all of you say about me, all of the time, but I still see what I’ve been

trained to see in myself.”

“Have you talked to Dee-Dee about this?”

“Some, but not much. We’ve mostly been focusing on how I see all of you. I wanted to be able to be

around all of you, and not feel like I was less than you. To feel like it was not my job to serve, and cater

to you. I felt like I was missing out on my family by seeing you all as above me. I also didn’t want to fear

all of you any more.”

“I can understand that, but baby girl we want you to feel good about yourself too. We want you to not

only hear what we say, but believe it as well. We want you to believe in yourself as much as we believe

in you. You have a lot to be proud of.”

“In the big picture I know that, but on closer inspection it’s hard to see.”

“I guess I can see that. Are you going to talk to Dee-Dee about this?”

“Yeah. I have a journal entry about it to talk to her on Tuesday.”

“Good.”

“How….um….how is Naomi doing? Did Peter get her into therapy?”

“He did. She’s doing ok. She’s been pretty angry lately so he let her out of her chores for now. He had

to when she got into a screaming match with Tina two weeks ago.”

“Oh no. What happened?”

“By the way, we can stop for the day. Do your cool down stretches.”

I only nodded, and moved to the mats to stretch out.

“So what happened?” I asked as Dimitri sat next to me to stretch.

“Tina brings the pup with her when she comes to work every day. Some days Beth or Lucy will watch

her, or one of us, while Tina works. That day we weren’t available so Tina had the pup with her. She,

and Naomi were cleaning the dining room when the pup got fussy. Tina stopped what she was doing to

take care of her pup. Naomi got angry, and started screaming at Tina. Tina won’t stand for that, and

yelled. right back. It got pretty heated. Thankfully Lucy, and Pete caught them before it got too bad. He

practically had to carry Naomi away from Tina.” Dimitri explained.

“Oh no.”

“Yeah. At that point Lucy told Pete that had been happening a lot more than usual. Pete pulled Naomi

off her chores until her temper subsides.”

“Is she doing better?”

“Not really. She’s been keeping to herself a lot. We all hope in time things will get better though.”

“Therapy is hard. It makes you really look at the things you’ve gone through. Sometimes it can make

you angry. Especially when you don’t have the answers as to why things happened to you.”

“Do you ever get angry?”

“Sometimes.”

“What do you do when you get angry?”

“Those are the times I don’t answer the phone or video chat. I lock myself in my room, and write in my

journal.”

“Oh. You know you can talk to me when you’re angry. If you need to yell at me, I’ll take it, and listen. I

won’t yell back.”

1 know. Thing is I don’t want to yell. I want to stew, write, and release it that way. I worry I’ll say

something I shouldn’t.”

“Your mom was like that when we first met. Thing is nothing gets resolved if you don’t speak up. I had

to teach her that. The first time she yelled at me for something shocked the hell out of me. She yelled

for a good five minutes straight. I think she even called me a horse’s ass, and told me I had shit for

brains. I knew she didn’t mean those things, but once she got it all out, we talked about what made her

so mad, and fixed the problem.”

“Really?”

“Yup.”

“What was she so mad about?”

“Socks on the floor. I had a bad habit of taking my socks off, and just leaving them sit where ever I took

them off.”

“Eww. That’s gross.

“She said the same thing. In the midst of her yelling about it she even threatened to start feeding them

to me. Colby, and Jax’s socks too because they tended to do the same thing”

“She wouldn’t have though. Would she?”

“At that point I thought she would do everything she could to do just that, but no I doubt she would

have.” “How did you fix the problem?”

“I would take them off when I took off my shoes by the door, and she had a small basket by the shoe

mat for us to put our socks in ”

“That’s why that basket was always there, filled with socks.”

“Yup. She started that.”

“I never understood, and Aurora would get so mad when I would put all of the socks I washed right

back – in that basket.”

“You did?”

“Of course. I just thought it was a separate basket just for socks. No one every told me different. I

always washed the socks from the basket separately, folded them, and put them right back in that

basket.”

“Huh? I guess that explains why I sometimes ended up with Colby or Jax’s socks.”

“Probably.”

“Anyway, my point was that I don’t want you to ever not voice your anger at me. I can take it.”

“Ok. I’ll try.”

“Good. Why don’t you go shower, and get dressed. The service is at 1:00. It’s almost 11:30 now.”

“We’ve been down here that long?”

“Yup. Braxton usually takes about an hour to work out his anger on a bag or two.”

“I feel bad for him.”

“Me too. He knew this was coming though. We all did. All we can do is help him get through it though.”

“True. What….um…..what do I wear to this? The only service I’ve ever been to was Luna Jane’s, and I

had to stay out of sight.”

“You did?”

Yeah.”

“Who…..damn it. That female was a poison to us all. I’m glad she’s gone.”

“Yeah.”

“Wear something pretty, and colorful. Braxton said you’re prettiest in colors.”

“He said that?”

“Yes. The boy adores you. He always says he couldn’t ask for a better big sister. He keeps saying he

wants to be like you in every way he can when he’s an adult.”

“Really? But….”

“Don’t say it. I know you don’t believe it, but you are something special. He also has a serious soft spot

for you. I think a big part of that has to do with the way you handled him after everything that happened.

Everything he did. You forgave him, and helped him, even though you were scared of him. You didn’t

give up on him when the rest of us were ready to. You saw something in him the rest of us didn’t or

wouldn’t see. That meant more to him than anything else in the world. Even me letting him stay here

didn’t mean as much to him.”

“Oh. He’s still just a pup. He had the chance to turn his life around. I wanted to see if he wanted to, and

give him the chance to do it.”

“I know that, and you did the right thing by him. He’s a completely different person than he once was

because one person didn’t give up on him, encouraged him to do better, and helped him to do better.”

“I’m glad he is. He’s a good pup, and I think he’ll do great in the future.”

“I agree. Well lets get moving.”

“Ok. Thank you for this morning. I didn’t realize I needed that.”

“You’re welcome baby girl.”

I waved to Dimitri as I made my way up to Jax’s apartment. It was empty so I went right into the

bathroom to shower. Once I was clean I went to my closet to find something to wear. Eventually I found

a floral print dress I thought would work. It was bright, and cheerful. Yes it went down to my ankle, but I

thought it would be fine for today. It had cap sleeves, and wasn’t too tight on my chest. Once dressed, I

braided my hair, and went out into the living room. I found Molly sitting there, reading.

“That’s a cute dress.” Molly said as she put her book down.

“Thanks. Dad told me Braxton prefers me in colors so I thought this would work.” I stated as I sat down

across from her.

“Yeah. Well that’s perfect then. What did you do this morning?”

“I worked out with dad, and Braxton.”

“How did that go?”

“Pretty well actually. Dad said that he could see I was scared when Braxton admitted he was mad at

breakfast this morning. He thought it would be good for me to see how Braxton works out his anger

now. He wasn’t wrong. It helped a lot.”

“Well good. I’m glad. By the way, I set up one of those movie nights you suggested to Rowen awhile

ago.” “You did?”

“Yup. It’s two weeks from now. We’re going to do a potluck dinner, then show a family friendly movie in

the town square.”

“Oh that’s great.”

“Yeah. Everyone in the pack is really excited about it. We’re also going to do a Halloween parade

where all of the dressed up pups, and anyone else who dresses up can show off their costumes,

followed by a Halloween party.”

“That sounds like fun.”

“Yeah. I thought so too. Do you think you can get home for either of those?”

“When is Halloween?”

“It’s on a Friday this year.”

“Oh. I can’t, unfortunately.”

“That’s ok. I’ll make sure to take lots of pictures, and video for you.”

“Thanks. I feel bad for missing it though.”

“Don’t. We all understand, and are so proud of you. You’re doing the right thing.”

“Am I though?”

“Yes. Absolutely. You’re come a long way in the time you’ve been gone. You needed this time to get

away from here to heal, and get stronger. I don’t think you would be doing so well if you had stayed

here. Even with you being treated as you should have been all along, I don’t think you would have

really healed from what happened to you.”

“I think you might be right. I still miss home, and everyone, but I need this.”

“We know, and we all understand. Everyone supports you. We miss you, and look forward to when you

come home, but we support you just the same.”

“Thank you.”

“Well we better get down there. We don’t want to be late.”

“Yeah.”

I followed Molly to the ceremonial grounds. I was sad to see that not many people were here, but Greg

had become a loner over the last 15 years. It didn’t take me long to spot Braxton. He was standing

between Joe, and Rowen, looking sad. Part of me wanted to go to him, but I didn’t feel it was my place.

I found a spot next to Dimitri.

“I know you’re still uncomfortable with being referred to or even thinking about being Future Luna, but

unfortunately in this instance, you’re needed up here with us. I’m sorry if that makes you

uncomfortable, but it’s a support thing. I think it would mean a lot to Braxton as well.” Rowen mind

linked me.

“Oh. Um…Ok.” I responded.

I took a deep, calming breath then moved to stand with Joe, Rowen, and Braxton. I was standing on

the outside of the group when Rowen moved me between him, and Braxton. I looked up at him in

question.

“Lunas provided support, and care to their pack members in times of need, and emotional distress.

They’re place is closest to the one hurting.” Rowen mind linked me.

“Oh. Right. That makes sense.” I responded.

“I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable, but it’s the tradition, and as I said I think it would mean a lot

to Braxton.”

“I understand.”

“You look beautiful by the way.”

Thank you.”

“You’re welcome sweet girl. By the way, you don’t need to say anything, unless you want to. Just being

here to offer support, and love.”

“……I can do that.”

“I know you can.”

He cut the mind link after that. I looked over at Braxton to see his shoulders slumped, and his eyes red

rimmed. This was harder for him than I think he wanted to admit. Wanting to show him I was there for

him, I slid my hand into his, and gently squeezed. He slid his eyes over to look at me, and gave me a

small half smile, which I returned.

“We all know I have my favorite ceremonies, but this is not one of them. It is always hard to put a pack

member to rest. To know they will never grace us with their presence again. All we can do is hope they

find peace, and love in the arms of the Moon Goddess when they return to her. In Greg’s case he

needs that more than anyone I have ever known. He spent many of his years without that, sadly. A fate

no one deserves. I am just thankful that in his last months he was gifted that by his son Braxton. That

he got some time where he received love from another.

“Greg talked to me about that recently. I had been eating lunch in the dining room, reviewing some

files. when Greg joined me. He was quiet at first, but when he spoke, he spoke about Braxton How

proud he was of his son, and how well he was doing. He had high hopes for the pup’s future, that I

have no doubt will be achieved. He expressed his anger at missing out on so much of his son’s life, but

was thankful that, his son was provided the love, and care he deserved from so many for so long. He

was also thankful he got to spend his last months getting to know his son. For the first time in years he

felt wanted, and cared for. It meant a lot to him. He had his regrets, but in the end he was just thankful

for what he did have, and held no anger towards anyone.

“We all hope that on this last journey of his he finds the warmth, and love he had been missing for

years.” Joe said quietly.

Braxton squeezed my hand, and I looked at him. He had tears on his face, but he seemed almost calm.

“You know I didn’t really know Greg very well. I tried to learn about him, but I guess….I guess part of

him was worried I would judge him for the choices he made over the last 15 years. I never really held it

against him. In a way I kind of understood. I’ve never experienced the pain he did, but that kind of

rejection must weigh heavily on a person. It was hard for me to see him deteriorate that way, but I was

glad I was able to be there for him over the last few months. To let him know that he wasn’t alone, and

someone cared enough to be there for him. He made me feel accepted just as I am. He didn’t say the

words, but I knew he cared. He wasn’t in my life long, but I will miss him. I’ll miss listening to his stories.

about my grandparents, and growing up on the farm. I’ll even miss him trying to teach me about

farming. even if I didn’t understand what he was talking about. At least he tried. I have no doubt he will

find love, happiness, and acceptance with the Moon Goddess. Rest easy Greg. You’ve earned your

peace.” Braxton said quietly, but strongly.

Joe nodded, and handed Braxton a lit torch. Braxton took a deep breath, let go of my hand, and moved

toward Greg’s laid out body. With one last deep breath Braxton lowered the torch to the kindling to start

the fire. We all remained quiet as the fire caught then burned. I wrinkled my nose at the smell when

Greg’s body became surrounded by the flames, but I didn’t leave Braxton’s side. Eventually others

quietly moved away, but Jax, and I stayed right with him. For hours the three of us watched until there

was nothing left, but ash.

Braxton sat on the grass for a long while, just being quiet, and staring into the sky. Jax, and I moved to

sit with him. We both put our arms around him, and I rested my head on his shoulder. Eventually he put

and arm around each of us, and pulled us close.

“Thank you both for being here with me.” Braxton whispered.

“There is no where we would rather be.” I said quietly.

“Exactly. You need us, we’re here.” Jax agreed.

“I know. I just want you to know how much it means to me that you are.” Braxton whispered.

We sat for a few more minutes before Braxton decided to go to bed. Jax, and I continued to sit together

just staring out into the woods.

“You really like it there, don’t you?” Jax asked in the quiet.

“Where?” I questioned.

“Dark Moon.”

“Oh. Yeah. It’s good, but it’s not home. I like Cloverland, and I’m learning a lot, but I miss home.”

“Home or Rowen?”

“Both, and my family.”

“You do?”

“Of course I do.”

“Oh. Are….are you and Rowen doing ok?”

“Yes. Why would you ask that?”

“I don’t know. You just aren’t spending much time with him this weekend, and that Matt guy. I just

thought

“I’m here for Braxton this weekend. As far as Matt goes. I don’t know what that was all about, but I’m

definitely not interested in him. At all. I’m only attracted to Rowen. He’s my mate.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“What’s your problem with him, and me?”

“I don’t know. He’s my best friend, and I know he’ll be good to you. That he’s good to you now. It’s

just….. fuck….I don’t know.”

“I’m your little sister, and you still see me as a little girl?”

“Damn it. When I left you weren’t even 14 yet Chas.”

“I know Jax, but I’m not any more.”

“I know. It’s hard ok pip-squeak. It’s hard to accept that I’m not the center of your world any more. I

miss my little sister who would climb all over me one minute begging to ride piggy back every where,

and the next snuggled against my chest, fast asleep.”

“I’m sure it is Jaxy, but you’re still important to me.”

“You know I had this whole scenario in my head before I got home that you would be in front of

everyone, bouncing on your toes, and you would come running to me as soon as I stepped out of the

car, like you used to when we were kids. It gutted me when you weren’t there. When I finally found you,

you wouldn’t even look me in the eye. I couldn’t understand it. Any of it. Hell, when I found you in the

living room, and I thought……fuck I thought you were gone I wanted to rip all four of them apart. I never

wanted to kill anyone more than I did my own mother when I found out what she had been doing to

you. I hated them all. For the longest time I hated them. I couldn’t understand how you weren’t angry at

them. How you. didn’t hate them. Then dad explained it to me. Rowen too. It sucked, but it made

sense. I’ve made my peace with it. With them, but in a way I feel like I’m betraying you for letting it go.”

“But you’re not. We can’t change the past, and we can’t let us hold it back. Yes I have forgiven them,

but live with what they did every day. It’s not always easy. Some days I get so mad at what happened

to me, but how can I move forward with my life if I hold onto the anger, and the pain?”

“I know.”

“It’s not easy Jax. I struggle everyday. I have very little self confidence, and there are days I question if

I’m dreaming or if I’m really living the life I am now. There are days I still get scared that one day I’m

going to wake up, and be dragged back here to be a slave again. That everyone is going to decided I’m

not good enough any more. That I don’t deserve what I have right now. That all of you are going to turn

your backs on me. That Rowen is going to reject me again, and force me to accept it. That I’ll say or do

something that will make all of you change your minds about me.”

“That will never happen Chastity.” I heard a voice say from behind me.

I turned to find Rowen standing behind us, looking sad, worried, and scared. He slowly moved, and sat

on the other side of me.

“I know you don’t believe our words. Especially not mine, but I swear to you I’m not going any where.

None of us are.” Rowen said quietly.

“In my heart I know. I really do, but….” I started

“But your mind makes you question it.” Rowen finished for me.

“Yeah.”

“We get Chas. We do. We can only do what we’ve been doing to prove to you that we’re not taking this

away from you. That things won’t go back to the way they were ” Jax stated.

“I know. This is something I need to work on. I’m going to be talking to Dee-Dee about it on Tuesday.” I

said with a sigh.

“Good.” Jax responded.

“I hate to change the subject, but…..um……how am I getting back tomorrow?” I questioned.

“I’m driving you back. I won’t be able to stay long because I have an early meeting on Monday, but I will

get you back to school tomorrow.” Rowen said as he slid his fingers between mine.

“Thank you.” I responded as I leaned my head on his shoulder.

“Anything for you sweet girl.” Rowen stated as he kissed the top of my head.

“I….I wanted to make the dough to make croissants for Braxton in the morning.”

“Lucy figured you would so she has everything you need all set up in the kitchen for you.”

“Does she make them when I’m not here? She can. The recipe is in the cookbook in the kitchen.”

“She refuses to. She said that, and your snickerdoodle cookies are a special thing for only you to

make.” Jax responded.

“Oh.” I breathed.

“Come on sweet girl. Lets go get it all ready so you can make them in the morning.” Rowen suggested

as he stood then helped me up.

“Ok. Hey Jax.” I said as I turned to my brother who was now standing behind me.

“Yeah?” He asked.

I released Rowen’s hand, and ran into my brother’s arms, squeezing him like I used to do as a pup, “I

love you Jaxy. Can I have piggy back ride to the kitchen?”

“Yeah pip-squeak. You can.” Jax answered with a chuckle, and bent down so I could climb on his back,

giggling.

“What the hell? What am I chopped liver?” Rowen complained as he walked next to Jax.

“Nah man. This was our thing when we were pups. Remember? I used to carry pip-squeak all over the

place like this.” Jax responded with a chuckle.

“Yeah I do remember that. She was a little pip-squeak back then.” Rowen said.

“Hey!” I squeaked.

“Still is, from the sound of it.” Jax joked.

“Hmph. Don’t be mean to me Jaxy or no croissants for you.” I grumbled.

“Ha! I still get some.” Rowen snorted.

“Not if you pick on my big brother.” I stated, sticking my tongue out at him. “Did you…….Jax, she just

stuck her tongue out at me.” Rowen complained. “What do you want me to do about it? She’s on my

back.” Jax questioned “Hold onto her tight.” Rowen said with an evil grin, and my eyes got wide.

“No….NO. NO! Jaxy run! He’s going to do something bad!” I squealed, and Jax took for the rest of the

way to the house, Rowen closing in behind us.

Rowen had just grabbed my sides, and started tickling me as Jax tumbled into the kitchen, me still on

his back, and Rowen following behind. We all landed with an omph, but laughing.

“What on earth is going on here?” I heard Lucy ask as we all laughed, “Looks like a bunch of over

grown pups rough housing in the kitchen.”

“Sorry Lucy. She stuck her tongue out at me, and well pay back.” Rowen said, trying to sound contrite,

but I could hear the laughter in his voice as he started to help me up off Jax.

“Hmph. Like I said, a bunch of overgrown pups.” Lucy stated, but I could see the amusement in her

eyes. I washed up quickly, and started to work on the croissant dough, and fillings as Rowen helped

Jax off the floor. They sat with me, and we chatted as I worked. It was almost 11:00 when we all finally

managed to climb the stairs, and go to bed. I smiled as Rowen kissed me good night, and I fell asleep

wrapped in his arms.