Gifted Connections 1

Ella was bouncing up and down on Jax’s lap. “Again, again.”

I shook my head, ducking my head, but smiling. “Just once, poppet.”

“Besides,” Troy said looking down at his watch, “we have somewhere to be.”

I stood up on shaky legs and followed him to the door. “See you guys later,” I waved awkwardly as I left the room.

“You look so beautiful,” Troy murmured in my ear as he helped me put on my coat.

Chapter 19

Now I know why Troy was known as the ladies’ man in the group, I thought to myself as I soared thousands of feet above the earth in his helicopter. His. And he was flying it. I watched him as he controlled the machine with confidence and fluidity. He still wouldn’t tell me where we were headed, and I was okay with that. I really liked surprises. I had very few growing up.

I gasped in wonder as the New York City skyline came into view. Now that I lived basically in the middle of nowhere, I never wanted to live anywhere else. The beauty of nature surrounding me there was soothing to the soul. It centered me. However, I was drawn in by the bright lights and busyness of New York City. I knew it was going to be a p

lace I would never forget.

When we landed, he came around to help me out of the helicopter. He threw his arm around me and we walked towards a waiting car.

“You really know how to impress a girl,” I said shyly as he opened my car door.

He chuckled softly. “I try.”

I gave him a knowing look. “So, this is how you land the ladies.”

“Leave the past in the past,” he gently chided me as he dropped a kiss on my forehead. “Let’s live in the present and plan for our future.”

I stared at him for a moment. Inside I felt all warm and fuzzy, but I couldn’t let him think I could be so easily won over. Yesterday he had shown me a vulnerable side and shared a story with me I’m sure very few people knew, even his brothers. I appreciated it beyond words. I had laid myself open so many times since these guys came into my life. Piece by piece the walls surrounding my heart were being knocked down. I didn’t even flinch when people touched me anymore.

Out loud I decided to tease him. I wasn’t going to be such an easy conquest for him. Knowing him, he would get bored quickly if I were. “Did you find that in a hallmark card?”

He looked at me with chagrin. “You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you?”

I grinned and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. “Nope,” I replied as I leaned back in the seat, watching as the driver navigated the busy streets. I would be lying if I said it wasn’t slightly terrifying. Yellow cabs dashed in and out of traffic, narrowly missing us by inches several times.

“What do you think? Ever been here before?” Troy asked as he leaned back in the seat and put an arm around me, drawing me closer.

“No, never been here before. Before my father passed away, we moved a lot, we lived in a few cities, but I was never too impressed. Too much people. Everyone always seemed to be in a rush, but they had nowhere to go. This is prettier than some of the cities I visited though. It’s a wonderful place to visit, never to live.” I said honestly.

He groaned. “Don’t tell me you’ve been bitten by that country bug too. I was born in the city. The city is in my blood, one day I want to live here again.”

I looked over at him. “But what about the other guys? Do they want to move?”

He chuckled. “You know, just because we’re all connected doesn’t mean we all have to live with Pops forever. Jace has his own spot and Remy found this cool warehouse that he’s rezoned to residential and has been slowly but surely converting it into his home. I need to get my own place too, soon.”

“So where does that leave me,” I asked hesitantly.

He gave me a knowing grin. “I imagine, eventually you’ll have seven places to call home as we have. Pops has more than enough space for all of us. Jace made sure to find a spot where we all had a room to ourselves. Remy showed me the plans for his pad and we all have rooms as well. Just because we choose not to live together, doesn’t mean we won’t stay close. We have the jet and my helicopter if we want to be anywhere fast.”

“What happens if I feel more comfortable in one place than another? How do other nucleus’ live with their connected?” More information was being thrown at me. More to think about.

“They generally live together, but if you haven’t noticed yet, we aren’t the same. Eventually, if we all decide that it is in our own best interest to live together as a family, I’d imagine it wouldn’t be a huge issue.” Troy shrugged.

We finally pulled up in front of a restaurant. “Can we talk about something else,” I asked. My head was going to explode and the more information I got the more my mind started thinking about how complicated this all was.

Say if, and a big if, one day I decided I wanted a child, who would I choose to be the father. Would I treat it like Russian roulette? What if the guys didn’t want children? If they all lived in different houses where would my child live? Would the guys treat my child as their own? Would that mess up a child?

I pulled out my phone and texted Jemmy.