Chapter Three-Hundred and Twelve
John took his baby sister from Sara, fighting a few small tears back as he looked at her. "Hey there, Amber…" He smiled, wiping his cheek with the back of his hand. "I'm your big brother." He pressed a tender kiss to her head, giving back to her adoptive mother. "I'll be back in a little bit, I've gotta take a piss." He paused for a moment making sure no one would follow him to his real destination.
He smiled, giving a short nod before he took off for the hospital room he was looking for.
Beverly let little cries escape her as she thought of never being able to hold her daughter again. This pain was worse than any beating she'd ever taken, even worse than being raped by her husband for each of the three children she'd bared. They'd all come early, but for some reason, she felt like she needed more time to be pregnant —more time with her last child.
"Bev?"
She gasped as she looked up from her pillow, biting her lip as John stepped toward her. "How is she?" She asked, fear rising in her throat as he took a seat next to her. "Is she-"
"She perfect." He smiled, placing his hand on hers. "I was only crying because I was happy."
"I was so worried when I went into labor…" She sighed, reaching her hand out to touch his face. "I was afraid that she'd be blue… like you were."
He nodded, letting her hold his head in her palm. "I know." He thought of how unhealthy he'd been as a child, how thin and frail he'd been. "But she's perfectly fine." He smirked, mischief in his eyes. "Besides, the first kid's always a practice anyway."
She shook her head, looking him over only to see that he really wasn't a baby anymore, he was truly a man, grown into a strong protector and provider for a new family —a new generation of Benders. "You're so much like Asher." She smiled, her heart aching when his eyes changed to dark brown. "I should have married him."
Claire snuggled against John's chest, listening to his quiet breath, the beat of his heart, the blood rushing through the veins and arteries in his skin. She closed her eyes, tracing her fingertips over his pecs where a few of the smaller scars resided on his skin. She breathed his scent, smiling as his natural musk filled her nose.
"I smell a hell of a lot better than Ben does, I guess." He chuckled as she wriggled up to his neck, lifting his chin as she suckled on his skin.
"Anything would smell better than him." She whispered, her brow furrowing when something fell under his bed. "What was that?"
John shrugged, rolling off of the bed and crawling underneath it to find the microphone that Jessica had planted there. "I think we've got a termite." He held the microphone up, smirking as he placed two fingers in his mouth and blowing a sharp whistle into the black wire mesh.
Jessica threw the headphones from her ears, John's whistle causing her ears to ring with the volume. "You fucking prick!" She cried, cupping her hands over her ears to try and get the ringing to stop.