“Amen,” Ashe said. “Ford and I were just talking about this the other day. I mean, we grew up and spent a bit of time with them.” The toilet flushed and Ashe came out moments later and walked straight to the sink and washed her hands. “But you’re right. It’s like reading the fourth book in a series. I mean, I know what’s going on, but there’re still a few things that I’ve missed along the way.”
I thought about all the years that Ares and I had growing up with the bunch.
“You have to understand,” I said. “Our dads were like brothers. And our mothers like sisters. We spend holidays and birthdays together. Sometimes there’s not even an occasion. It’s still like that, even with none of them being on the SWAT team. Most of the kids were all around the same age, too.”
The children of Michael, Miller, Foster, Luke, Bennett, Nico, and Downy were all within a couple of years of each other.
“We used to play for hours and hours together,” Ares said. “They’d go to the strip club and spend their time there getting their required training in every week, and us kids would just run wild.”
Ashe finished washing her hands and reached for a couple of paper towels before leaning her butt against the sink and staring at us.
“I hope that we have that.” She patted her belly. “I want that for my kids. I mean, we had it, Ford and me. Our parents were both Dixie Wardens. So there was the tight-knit group there. But y’all are something else. It’s like y’all know what’s happening before it even happens. Like out there. You made eye contact with Louis, and you just knew he didn’t want you to be in there anymore. So you moved us in here.”
I grinned. “I actually looked at Ford and did that. Though, Louis definitely made the ‘get the fuck out of here’ look toward me.”
“That’s what I mean. You knew exactly what he wanted with just a look. It’s a great thing to have,” she said softly. “I think that the both of you together is an awesome thing. I think that given time, you’re going to have everything with him.”
I felt my heart soar, then immediately take a nosedive.
“He broke my heart when we were younger,” I said softly. “I was always a sickly kid. I mean, I enjoyed my childhood and all, but the moment that I started my period when I was around twelve, things started to go weird. Like, I’d just get absolutely exhausted for no reason. Down in the dumps, sometimes I couldn’t crawl out of bed exhausted. It was not a normal thing for a young kid my age, that was for sure.”
“I always knew when her period started,” Ares said. “One day she’d be fine. And the next, she’d be in her bed and we’d only be able to watch movies all day because she didn’t have the energy to do anything but prop herself up in bed.”
I grinned, remembering all the times that I used to spend in my bed with Ares.
“Needless to say, things finally started to level out when I turned fifteen or sixteen. I can’t remember which. But I do know that Louis was the first one to donate blood to me. He learned that I needed a transfusion, and all of a sudden, it was him that had to donate. Did you know that almost all of the SWAT kids have O negative blood?”
“Except me and Caro and the rest of the Saint kids,” Rowen supplied. “I have O positive, and Caro has AB negative.”
“It’s really weird that y’all know this,” Ashe said. “And who are the ‘Saint kids?’”
“Michael ‘Saint’ Perez. He and Nikki’s kids. They’re all the ‘Saint kids.’”
“You know,” Avery said. “It’s kind of odd that there’s another Saint on the team.”
That was true. Michael had retired from being the Saint on the SWAT team only for another Saint to take his place.
“Though this Saint is an actual Saint. That’s his name. Saint Nicholson.” I paused. “Saint Nick.”
There were a few snickers.
“I called him that the other day,” Ares said as she pushed the trash can out of the way and hopped up onto the other side of the counter. “He was not amused in the least.”
I grinned. “I did, too. And the funny thing is, Caro was with me a couple of weeks ago when I came to visit my dad. She said ‘Hi, Saint Nick’ and he didn’t correct her at all. Only gave her a solid stare and that was it.”
“So, Saint and Caro. Bourne and Delanie. Booth and Dillan,” Avery said as she pulled her feet up onto the counter and wrapped her arms around them. “Who else are we missing that’s going to get together at some point?”