Gifted Connections 4

I stiffened. “Why is she sitting with the therapist?”

“She’s been having dreams lately about the cage,” Remy explained quietly. “She’s not sleeping at night, and even you’ve noticed her act of rebellion lately.”

When we found Ella after time was taken from us and we were separated, Heidi had sold her to one of Horatio’s groups. This group kept the children in cages no bigger than dog kennels. She was severely malnourished when we were reunited.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” I asked slightly perturbed. “I had the right to know. I especially should have had a say whether she saw a therapist or not.”

“You haven’t been well,” Jaxson said gently. “And it’s not like the therapist you had when you are younger. Dr. Wong is gifted, and he’s renown with the gifted and nongifted alike.

“She was hiding her nightmares from everyone. We had to use Alex to drag the truth from her.”

“I still would have liked to know,” I said before taking a bite of my refried beans.

“

How does that work?” Lincoln asked. “Why do you guys have so much say in all those children’s lives? I thought your mother was here. I know she isn’t her mother, but shouldn’t her aunt have a say in her treatment and where she stays?”

I looked over at him and was reminded of our kiss. Then I looked over at the guys trying to shake the uneasy feeling in my stomach. “He met my dear old mom?”

Jace nodded and gave me a small smirk, apparently seeing the humor in it that I couldn’t. “It was kind of hard to deny the resemblance when he ran into her last night.”

“She’s my biological mother, and that is all,” I stated looking back over at Lincoln. “She abandoned most of my siblings and me. We recently had a lovely reunion, but we were granted custody of my siblings before she came back into our lives. Did your mom try to have any more children?” I asked wanting to change the subject and out of general curiosity.

He shook his head. “Not that I know of. She really didn’t have much of a social life to meet men. It’s hard enough to raise children with two parents, and all seven of you raise them?”

He apparently wasn’t done appeasing his own curiosity.

I started to laugh. “Not seven of us, more like nine. Megan and Pops have a say, too. We have the village mentality.”

Lincoln snorted and shook his head before he went back to eating his breakfast.

“Are the Knights and SC settling in okay? How was the prison transfer? Did all of them go?” I asked, hoping not to open that can of worms.

“Surprisingly enough, yes.” Jace replied. “I think the Knights were dying of boredom, so cleaning up the mess upstairs hasn’t even phased them. I think our reputation has proceeded us because the SC team is just as eager to be put to work. And all the prisoners were transferred except for Alison and John Doe.”

I turned to look at Jaxson who looked straight back at me. “I’m okay, Blake,” he murmured in my ear. “Jace and I had a long talk, and a lot more things make sense to me now. I miss the woman I thought she was, but I think I’m going to be okay.”

I smiled over at Jace as I squeezed Jaxson’s knee. I was glad that Jace finally trusted his brother with the truth. “Okay, what else did I miss while I was in cryo?”

Noah, Troy, and Jaxson groaned simultaneously. “No more sci-fi flicks for you. Who even let her watch them?” Troy asked in exasperation.

I laughed. “You know Drake is a closet sci-fi geek.”

“You didn’t miss much else. Training has been reduced until upstairs is complete and that’s about it.” Jace stated.

“Who’s stuck with me this afternoon?” I asked.

“Are you not feeling one hundred percent?” Remy asked in concern.

“Not one hundred,” I stated truthfully. “Maybe eighty percent.”

“I have my tablet in my bag if you want to lay down for a little while longer and watch some movies,” Troy informed me.

“Thanks,” I smiled. “I think I’m going to do a little bit of school work first. So, who’s stuck with me?” I repeated.

“Me again,” Lincoln stated with a mocking smile.

I barely refrained from groaning and rolling my eyes. “Yay me!” I said sarcastically.