“I’m going to write a note and drop it off at Pops’, just in case anyone wakes up,” Remy offered.
“Thanks,” I smiled up at him.
“Ready,” Lincoln said as he exited the room.
We headed out of the apartment, down the hall, and up the stairs. Ever since our attack, I had an aversion to the elevator unless I absolutely, positively had to use it. Good thing they were only one flight up the stairs. We headed down the hall, and we just had to knock once before the door was opened.
“Hey,” Greg looked astonished. “How did you know?”
“The door in Alex’s head was never closed last night,” Jace explained softly. “Where is he?”
“Miranda has him,” Greg couldn’t hide the relief in his tone. “We didn’t want to wake you up. He was alright all day long. He’s definitely doesn’t have verbal skills as his other peers but he was trying today, and for the first time in over a year we got to see him smile, hear him laugh. Tonight we put him to bed, and not even an hour later we found him under his bed screaming. We tried to talk to him, but it’s like he can’t hear us anymore. It’s like any progress we thought was made last night vanished.”
“I guess we have to figure out a long-term solution to all of this,” Jace offered. “From the sounds of it, he will always see the evil in this world, and we know that’s never going to go away.”
“That’s my fear,” Greg said quietly. “It’s not like you guys can do this every night, and if we teach him how to turn it off, who are we turning our backs on?”
“One hurdle at a time,” Lincoln reassured him before reaching out to squeeze Greg’s shoulder.
“One hurdle at a time,” Greg repeated as he opened the door to one of their bedrooms.
Miranda was sitting in a rocking chair, trying to soothe her son as he thrashed around.
“Hey, buddy,” Jace said quietly as he advanced towards them. I could feel him pushing feelings of peace in the whole room, and any anxiety I was even feeling was gone.
Admittedly, I was feeling apprehensive about what we might see tonight. Last night was disturbing enough and I was an adult! I couldn’t imagine how Harry’s young mind was able to comprehend it, especially since he’s been seeing it for a year now.
For him, I had to do this for him.
“Let do this,” Jace said firmly as took Harry in his arms.
He looked so natural holding Harry, and for the first time since I started this relationship with the guys, I could see him carrying a child of his own. I held a hand up to my mouth at my traitorous thoughts.
“Ready?” Alex asked as he took a seat next to Jace. I found a position on the floor next to the rocking chair, and Lincoln took the other side of me.
Lincoln grabbed my hand, and I looked down at our intertwined hands. When did it become so natural to draw strength from his touch?
“Ready,” I confirmed with a decisive nod.
“Where are we?” Lincoln asked barely above a whisper.
I looked around and noticed we were in a park in the middle of suburbia. The moon was bright enough that we could look around to orient oursleves. The street lights illuminated the houses, giving us additional lighting. It looked like a cookie-cutter neighborhood with clean, immaculate lawns, hedges neatly trimmed, and shrubbery around flagpoles that proudly displayed the American flag.
“I imagine we are in a neighborhood,” I said dryly.
“Yeah, but why, smart…butt,” Lincoln quickly corrected himself. He was cognizant of the children, and it surprised me that he had adapted so easily to our language around them.
“Follow,” Harry said with determination. He took me by the hand and started walking towards a beautiful white house with black shutters and a wrap around porch. There were two beautiful, black rocking chairs side by side and a white porch swing in a little-alcoved area. The house was completely dark, like everyone was sleeping.
He led me us to the side of the house. A detached garage was near the back of the property where an outdoor fluorescent garage light illuminated the house. I noticed another dim light was coming from a room from the rear of the home. I nearly tripped on a basketball as I neared the window. A child’s bike was discarded next to the gate and fence.
I peered into the backyard and noticed a playset and a covered inground swimming pool. Nothing seemed off or amiss. It was colder here, and I wished we had worn coats.
“See,” Harry stated as he pointed to the window. Lincoln and I stepped forward, and I grimaced when I realized that I couldn’t look into it.
“I don’t see anything,” Lincoln muttered as he looked down at me. He smirked at me before he lifted me by the waist.
He didn’t seem phased by my weight as I braced my hands on the windowsill.