Gifted Connections 4

I didn’t know who was redder; the girls or me.

I was surprised to see Dr. Wong, Kirk, Ford, Darren, and one of the SC team members sitting at the table. Everyone was sitting as we passed out plates. I couldn’t help but notice that Lincoln, Pops, and Greg had their heads bent towards each other and seemed to be in a deep conversation as everyone was served and drinks were poured.

It looked slightly posh out here. It was almost like we were sitting in a five-star restaurant with our perfectly prepared plates. There were goblets filled with water and glasses of wine. Large salads and baskets of cornbread were in the middle of the table for us to serve ourselves.

I was dishing out some of my salad when Harry climbed down from his chair and made his way to my side of the table.

“Up?” he asked.

“Harry, come sit and eat your meal,” Greg gave me an apologetic smile.

“It’s fine with me, if it’s fine with you.” I waved him off.

Miranda and Greg exchanged a look before Greg nodded. “If you’re sure, that’s fine.”

“Come on, Harry.” I pulled him up.

“Eat.” he pointed towards my food.

I laughed. “How am I not surprised?” I blew on a spoonful of grits before I held it up to his mouth.

“This food is amazing, Megan,” Kirk stated. “Thanks for inviting us.”

“I can’t take all the credit,” Megan smiled. “I had a lot of help. Drake, Sierra, and Blake were by my side the whole time. In fact, Drake and Blake did the hard part of peeling and deveining the shrimp.”

“Following your recipe,” Drake demurred.

“I have yet to have one disappointing meal from the Bell kitchen,” Paul stated as he wiped his mouth.

“Maybe someone can teach me,” Miranda piped up from the end of the table.

“We do have cooking classes three days a week,” Drake offered with a smile.

“Count me in.” Miranda laughed.

“Me, too,” Jemmy stated on the other side of Gavin.

I had to say I was surprised to see how attentive she was being to Gavin. The air around them was a lot more peaceful. The tension wasn’t there, and it felt calmer.

“Time out,” Jaxson cried out. “Did I hear Jemmy Bell state that she’s going to learn how to cook?”

Jemmy gave him a sweet smile seconds before Jaxson yelped. He stood up and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He threw it on the floor, and I could see the sparks coming off of it. Jaxson looked shocked for a moment before he looked up and grinned.

“Jaxson James!” Will called out in warning, but it was already too late.

Terrance was on the other side of Jemmy where he had been chuckling in his food when he suddenly became a six-foot-five clown complete with white face paint, creepy red grin outlined in blue and black, and a red nose. He even had a crazy multi-colored wig.

Terrance called Jaxson’s name out in warning just as Jemmy screeched and her chair came tumbling to the ground. The whole table was laughing by then, even Harry. Only Will was half-heartedly trying to control the chaos.

“I imagine raising six gifted boys and one gifted girl had to make life interesting in your house, Will.” Kirk smirked.

“As young teens, and up until a few years ago, they knew using their gifts against each other wasn’t allowed in the house. They had to wait until they were in a controlled environment,” Will said dryly. “Then they grew up…well, in age.”

“Jaxson,” Jemmy whined from the other side of the room.

“What do you say?” Jaxson demanded smugly.

She glared at him before she said. “Boys rule and girls drool.”