Page 10 of Redemption

“How are you feeling?” Trick asks me.

“Better, but sore,” I say. “Did Jensen manage to tell you about Liam and the phone number?”

“Yeah, he did. We don’t need to talk about that now though,” Atlas says. “We’ve got time. We can discuss it when you feel better.”

I smile. “Thanks. I did make a decision when I was riding though.”

“Oh?” Riot asks curiously.

I nod. “Yeah. I don’t want to go to my mother's funeral.”

“Are you sure?” Luc asks.

“Yes. I am not ready, and even if I were, I wouldn’t want to attend her funeral in front of strangers who most likely didn’t know the real her, just like I didn’t know the real her. Not only that, but it could be risky for me to attend. If I ever decide that I want to visit her grave, then I can go in my own time. I grieved for the mother I thought she was. I don’t know this version of her, and what I do know I don’t like.”

The guys are silent for a moment as they absorb my words.

“I think that’s a really good way to look at it,” Luc agrees. “If you want to, you can go there. There is no point going before you’re ready.”

“Exactly,” I say.

Rafe calls from the kitchen, “I think you’re handling the situation really well. Dinner is done. Are we eating in the front room or at the table?”

They all look at me.

“Table, I think. It’s soup, and we all know I’m not great at not getting it over everything,” I admit with a slight wince.

There’s a stain on the underside of one of the couch cushions from the last time that I had soup in here, which I desperately tried to clean before I gave up and promptly turned the cushion over instead.

The guys all look at the offending cushion.

I burst out laughing and then cut my laughter off when it hurts my head.

“Come on, Baby,” Rafe says as he walks up to the couch and simply picks me up.

I absolutely love it when the guys do this.

Granted, if they did it all the time, it would probably annoy me, but since they only do it when I need them to, I just love it.

They’re very good at knowing when I need them to do it, and when it would piss me off. That’s not to say that they don’t find it amusing to just pick me up and walk off with me, usually when I’m causing trouble or back-chatting.

I love it when they do it then too.

I’m not going to tell them that though.

“Thank you,” I mutter as I rest my head on Rafe’s shoulder and simply enjoy being held by him.

He simply kisses my head and then calls back to the others, “Can you guys put the rest of the food on the table, please?”

“The rest of the food?” I ask, my eyebrow raising.

Rafe smiles down at me and places me gently in my favorite chair at the table. Everyone has favorite chairs in every room, and if they tell you they don’t, then don’t believe them. Everyone I know has favorites.

Rafe answers my question once he’s sure I’m comfortable, “I stress-cooked, and I wanted to make sure that you had enough stuff to eat.”

“Thanks, Big Guy.”

The way that they take care of me and each other never ceases to make me smile.