I laughed and blushed. If he only knew. “You could say that.”
“The unexpected lightning storm was quite eventful too,” Jaxson teased me with a wink.
“I didn’t see any lightning on the radar,” Will said as he rounded the corner, with a petite blond safely ensconced in his arms.
I cried out as the little blond ball of energy launched herself out of Will’s arms. “Blake!” she cried in excitement.
I fell to the ground on my knees, my tears running down my cheeks unheeded. “Ella,” I cried pulling her close to me. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I left you.”
“You didn’t,” she said resolutely. Wise beyond her years. “I know they took you away. I knew you’d find me. Did you know he’s here?” she said scrunching up her nose in distaste.
I knew she was talking about Collin.
I stared at her in shock. How had Alex, Ella, Micah, and I retained our memories in the time leap, but no one else had? I longed to ask Will, but with Sue around, I knew it would have to wait.
I laughed shakily. “Has he been nice?”
She rolled her eyes. “He bought me a new Wii U and video games. A lot of them. I told him money can’t buy forgiveness.”
“I’m sure he’s sorry. He didn’t know,” I said softly. Not completely convinced myself.
Ella looked behind me, her eyes lighting on Alex. “Alex! I missed you!”
Alex blushed, but rushed to meet Ella as she hugged him. “I missed you too,” he mumbled, slightly embarrassed.
I could see that I wasn’t the only one smiling and crying at their little reunion. Rachel had come into the room followed by Chip and Collin. She was freely crying. Along with Jemmy.
“Want to go play my Wii U with me and Chip?” Ella asked excitedly. “Collin bought extra remotes.”
“Yeah,” Alex cried in excitement.
“Just until dinner is done,” Will gently informed them. They all squealed with excitement as they left the room.
“How’s she doing?” I asked Will.
He smiled, but I could see a deeper emotion behind his eyes. “She’s still fragile physically, but her will is strong. She’ll recover.”
“And Chip?” I asked.
He looked down for a moment. “The little guy will be staying with us for a while. We’re unable to locate his mother at this time, and there was no way we could leave him at the hospital in his…condition.”
I nodded, understanding the unspoken meeting. When the gifted received their gifts, they could be volatile at times. They were already emotional, confused, scared. Adding the disappearance of his mother and losing his only friend would have sent Chip over the edge.
“Would you like to see your room and take a shower before we eat? You have about 20 minutes or so till we eat,” Will said, looking over at Micah.
I blushed. I had been totally self-absorbed. “Sorry, Micah. Let me introduce you. This is Will. He…adopted Ella, the little blond, and I, well before,” I explained. “Ella is my sister, technically our cousin,” I said quietly. But she doesn’t know.” Then I pointed at everyone else. “That’s Sue, a family…friend, then there’s Gavin and Jemmy, Rachel and Collin.”
Micah was slightly self-conscious as he shook their hands. He was awkward in his movements as only 13-year-old boy could be. It didn’t help that he was nearly 6 feet and looked like he hadn’t eaten a decent meal in ages.
I found out that he had lived on the streets for years. He never knew our mother, and his father had left him with a girlfriend when he was 7 years old. When his father didn’t return, she kicked Micah out. He was street smart and had a rudimentary education. He met several homeless people on the streets, and quite a few of them took care of him. He made his way into many of their hearts, especially the veterans.
Some of those veterans came home from overseas and didn’t know how to ‘life’ anymore. They suffered from PTSD, got hooked on the sleep aids and pain killers. They lost their lives, they lost their families. Some of them ended up on the streets. But some of them instinctively had that protective gene in them. These were the ones who had cared for him.
It wasn’t until he knew he was being chased did he leave his little group and had to find other places to sleep. He had to find other soup kitchens to hit up.
“We have some clothes for you,” Jemmy said brightly as he came to give her a handshake. She swatted it away, to draw him into a hug. Not caring that he was dirty and smelled. “I can show you your room. You’re right across the hall from Blake and Ella.”
His face almost matched his bright red hair as she stepped away from him. I knew he couldn’t be accustomed to affection. “Yes, please,” he mumbled.