Four Flames for Angela

“I forgot to pack a robe. Would you have something I could borrow?” In her haste to pack, she’d only grabbed a long T-shirt to sleep in, and it showed an awful lot of leg.

“I’ll have one of the guys find you something and bring it to you,” Rock answered and walked toward the room Todd was sleeping in.

Angela quickly dried her body and pulled her T-shirt over her head. Then she blew her hair dry with the blower that was in the room. She brushed it until it fell in soft waves of black satin down her back. By the time she was done, there was a soft knock on the door. She opened the door to see River standing there holding a dark blue robe.

“Here you go, sweetheart. It’s mine and will be big on you,” he said and held it so she could put it on. When she had both arms in, he grabbed each side of the belt attached to the robe and pulled her to him. He placed a soft kiss on her lips and held her. “Umm, lilacs. I like the scent of lilacs on you. Perfect choice.”

“Thank you,” Angie said, leaning into him. He helped her roll the sleeves up far enough that she could use her hands and wrapped the belt twice around her. It was so long it reached below her knees. She was so short at five foot five inches, all of the men were close to a foot taller than she was.

River ran his nose over her skin. “Come on, Todd’s waiting for story time.”

“I’m surprised he’s still awake after the day he’s had today.” Angie followed River to the room Todd was using for the night.

“He’s close, but I can tell he’s fighting it tonight.” River threaded their fingers together and led her down the hall.

“Angie, come on. I’m tired,” Todd said as soon as he saw Angela standing in the doorway.

“I know you are, buddy. Did you pick a story for tonight?” They had a huge storybook Angela had gotten him for Christmas that has several bedtime stories in it. Luckily Angie had remembered to bring it for him.

“Yeah. All of the guys are going to read the one about the dragons to me. They can each do a voice and you can be the girl dragon.” Todd held up the book, open to the page he wanted.

“Perfect. I’ll start and the guys can help.” Angie settled on the side of the bed with the book in her lap and started to read. As she read the first part, Todd snuggled down in the bed and one of the guys tucked the covers around him.

Angie read until she came to the first part where one of the men needed to jump in, her voice soft and soothing. She handed the book to Rock and turned to look at Todd. She brushed a soft kiss across his forehead and made sure his stuffed dragon was close to him.

One by one the men quietly walked to the door and stood in

the hall, waiting for Angie to follow.

“Do you feel like talking, or do you want to go to bed?” River asked after he pulled Todd’s door mostly shut.

“Let’s talk,” Angie said.

“We’ll go down to the great room. We can start a fire, and it will be warm down there.” Hunter led the way down the stairs.

“Do you want something to drink? I can bring you a glass of wine or coffee, hot chocolate, tea…whatever you want.” Sawyer stood by the door to the kitchen.

“A glass of wine please.” Angela let Hunter lead her to a large sectional sofa that took up most of the room. On one wall was the largest television she’d ever seen.

Sawyer came back with her wine and beers for him and his brothers. River put a remote control in her hands. “This button lifts the footrest, this one turns on the heat, and this one will start a massage action.”

“Wow, all you can do in my chairs is sit. Don’t show Todd this. He’ll want us to get one,” she joked, adjusting the chair to her comfort level.

“Will you tell us how you and Todd became a family?” Rock asked, sitting down beside her and adjusting his part of the seat as the others did the same.

Once everyone was comfortable, Angie started talking. “Just after my fifteenth birthday, my mom and my dad were killed in a car accident.”

The men all murmured how sorry they were.

Angie took a deep breath and went on. If she stopped she couldn’t start again. Just thinking about her mom and dad brought tears to her eyes. “I was too young to live alone, so I was put in foster care. It wasn’t too bad. I lived in a lot of places, some good, some not so good, but I survived. I was seventeen years old and in my final foster home when I met Todd.

“He was just three years old and had also lost both his parents in a car accident. He was already on his second foster home. There were several children in that home. Most of them were older like me. I don’t know why the family accepted Todd. He was the only young child there. Some of the older boys liked to pick on him, and I defended him. He was just a baby.”

She stopped for a sip of her wine and to take another deep breath. “We got close. Really close. He would sneak into my room at night when the older boys would try to scare him, and the parents let him sleep with me.”

“So you’re twenty now? I don’t mean to insult you, but you seem older than that.”

“No insult. I’m twenty-two. When I turned eighteen I aged out of the system. And I got the money my grandmother had left me. I used that money to adopt Todd. It took a while and it was a lot of work, but I couldn’t leave him behind.”