I didn’t want them to experience that. I tried to protect them for as long as possible. Life had already been tough enough on them, and I wanted them to enjoy what was left of their childhoods. I didn’t want them to be caught up in this war.
“It’s probably something you should have asked them away from the kids,” Megan teased Pops.
Well…? I asked the guys silently. I tried to keep my inner voice neutral so they couldn’t hear my misgivings.
I got varying answers of agreeance.
“If we allow you to do this, you’re going to have to be self-motivated to get your school work done,” I commented slowly. “Just because Jaxson, Jemmy, and I are finished with our school day doesn’t mean our work is done. We have to find the time to complete our assignments.”
I was really directing the statement towards Micah, because he was still struggling to get caught up from all the years he hadn’t been in school. He was making fantastic pr
ogress, but he was still behind by a year or so. Kade, however, was the exact opposite and was ahead of all his peers back at school.
“I promise I will stay on top of my school work,” Micah said fervently.
“If you don’t, you’ll be put right back into the other learning center,” Remy said sternly.
“And if you feel like you’re going to fall behind or need help with your school work, you can ask me for help at any time,” Drake stated before he took a sip of his green tea.
“When can we start?” Kade asked. He was trying to play it cool, but I could see the excitement in his eyes.
Both of them were at a weird age. They weren’t quite old enough to be considered adults, but they shouldn’t be treated like children either. Kade had really enjoyed going with us to get Miranda. I don’t know if he did because he got to spend more intimate time with our small group, or if he just liked being treated more like an adult.
“Monday,” Will informed them.
They looked at each other and smiled. For two brothers that looked nothing alike, they had grown really close to one another. I was glad that they got along so well.
“When can we train?” Alex finally said in a discontented tone.
“You’ve already been training,” Jaxson mollified. “Until you can fit our gear, you can’t train with us yet, buddy.”
“What if we were to run the same operation we did today, but without the guns?” Gavin suggested at Alex’s crestfallen look. “We’ll see if Terrance, Marcel, Dawn, Sam, and Ford will be willing to help us out after our duty day is over or during the weekend.”
Alex looked at Pops hopefully.
Will smiled at him and nodded. “I don’t see the issue in it, and if they don’t want to give up an evening or weekend doing it, it doesn’t have to be on that type of scale. The twelve of you could suffice."
“What you did today was like hide and go seek. You’re going to lose,” Ella commented pragmatically. “He cheats.”
“It’s not cheating if you don’t tell me not to use my gift,” Alex said with an overdramatic eyeroll.
“We shouldn’t have to tell you,” Ella sighed heavily.
“Kade and I choose Alex for our team,” Micah said with a sly smile.
Most of the table laughed at them.
A phone started to ring at the table, and almost everyone looked down at their phones. I didn’t bother because I hadn’t brought mine.
Lincoln looked down at his phone and frowned. “Can you guys excuse me?”
We all nodded even though we really didn’t care. He rarely was on it. For someone that was famous, he continued to blow my preconceived notions out of the water. He was almost as bad as me when it came to carrying around his phone. He didn’t seem to care if he missed calls from his agent, and I’d already gotten several texts from Anna telling Lincoln to call her or to find out how he was doing.
“So obviously the connection was made,” Jemmy stated as Lincoln left the private area we were shown to. “But why is there still awkwardness?”
Will had called ahead to make arrangements for us. He knew Lincoln may draw a lot of unwanted attention. After the week we’d had, Pops wanted to make sure we could all enjoy our dinner in much-needed peace. Luckily, Paul knew the owners and eagerly got us a private room.
“Jemmy,” Gavin sighed.