If the holiday spirit could be spread with song, the windows of Kenzi's car would be spilling Christmas cheer as she barreled towards Fae Town. Kenzi was singing at the top of her lungs, the baby gurgling in her car seat in the back when the car shook with the impact of something she must have missed on the snow-covered roadway. The sudden noise moved the baby to cry, wailing against the carols on the radio, creating a holiday movie nightmare. She tried to soothe Dagny while she eased onto the shoulder of the small rural highway. "Shit."
Kicking open her door, she walked around the car, her boots crunching in the snow. She had one very flat tire. With a sigh and a silent 'fuck,' she phoned for roadside assistance-it would be a two-hour wait. She waved at Dagny through the window, who happily kicked her feet as Kenzi dialed again. "Hey Bo-Bocita, I've got a flat… No, no, we're fine. Just waiting for the tow truck… I'll let you know when we get back on the road."
Bo sighed and hung up her phone. She tried not to worry, but a little thing like a blown tire could leave Kenzi stranded for hours with no protection. She tried to keep the faith and pushed it out of her mind, thoughts returning to Lauren's quandary. Her quandary.
"Was that Kenzi?" Lauren walked into the room with a roll of wrapping paper and scissors. "Is she close?"
"She has a flat tire." Bo said looking at her phone futilely.
Lauren stopped and Bo could see the worry written all over her face. "Are they…safe?" Her hesitation was palpable, her concern, great.
"She's going to call when she's back on the road." Bo set her phone aside and patted the sofa beside her. "Sit with me." Lauren loomed closer but did not sit immediately. She was thinking and Bo knew how dangerous her thoughts could be. "Please?"
It was awkward, the way she sat stiffly beside Bo. They were lovers but it might have been impossible to tell by her posture at that moment. There was nothing she could say to ease her discomfort. Check that. There was one thing she could say to end their stalemate but Bo could not say those words. Instead she cradled Lauren's hand in hers and spoke softly. "They'll be fine," she said for Lauren's benefit as much as her own.
A sigh and Bo knew her attempts to redirect Lauren's worries had failed. It was Christmas Eve and she was sitting in front of a neatly decorated Christmas tree with her love and they were anything but happy. It was crushing to be to be facing yet another obstacle when they had fought through a hailstorm already.
"Would you relax?"
Mark watched Vex pace back and forth in the back of the kitchen. The mesmer was always a few steps from losing his mind altogether, but Mark was beginning to see it for what it was: a great ruse. Vex was strong and ruthless, but as he began to see the good in others, he himself became softer and more willing to be merciful. That vulnerability was what drew Mark to Vex in the first place. The challenge was how he decided to deal with that vulnerability and how to channel it into something productive instead of pacing in front of the walk-in.
"Seriously." Mark hissed and Vex stopped suddenly. "You're stressing me out."
"I'm stressing you out?" Vex exclaimed, his voice immediately dropping to a whisper. "I've been planning a holiday feast for the only people in the world who've accepted me as part of their mentally unstable and sexually ambiguous family for the last month so that hopefully, hopefully, the one who sired my statuesque boyfriend might actually not want to slit my throat every time he looks at me."
Mark puffed his chest out. "I'm your boyfriend?"
Vex rolled his eyes. "Focus, grasshopper."
"I am focused." Mark took Vex's hands. "On you."
"Ugh, you sound like an after-school special." Vex looked over to the ovens. "I have to pull my buns out."
Mark smirked. "Uh huh."
"I have no time for your witty repartee, this meal demands my undivided attention if I'm gonna pull this off," Vex muttered as he turned back to his cutting board.
Shaking his head, Mark fought the urge to hop onto the counter beside him. "One of these days, you're going to have to realize people love you for who you are." He patted him on the back before walking out the galley doors.
Kenzi hovered over the tow truck driver as he tightened the lug nuts on the van's spare. "On your way home for Christmas?" He said between grunts.
"Clichéd, but yes."
"Families ought to be together this time of year."
Kenzi smiled. "You're wise beyond your years, Cletus." She patted his shoulder and he clambered to his feet.
"Don't speed and get a new tire as soon as you get to civilization."
"You got it."
He turned and walked back to his truck. "Keep that baby safe, Miss."
A shiver ran through her body and she backed away from the tire, keeping the man in sight as she opened her door and locked herself inside. She looked in her rearview mirror at the sleeping baby, as she turned the key in the ignition. Her hand covered the handle of her katana, and then shifted the van into gear. Dusk was falling as her tires spun on the gravel, pulling away from the tow truck.
How could she have let her guard down? For starters, it took three hours for him to show up. If he had meant to kill her, the waiting almost did. But honestly, a guy named Cletus, with a MOM tattoo on his forearm and LIVE and FREE on his knuckles screamed Patriot, but Fae bounty hunter was a stretch. Maybe it was a coincidence, but his wording made her awaken to her purpose again: keeping Dagny safe.
"You okay?" Bo shifted the Camaro into gear, its engine roaring as they accelerated.
She nodded. "I'm fine."
Checking the rearview mirror, Bo pulled onto the shoulder and stopped the car. Lauren looked at her expectantly. "What?"
"You can't put me off forever… Or maybe you can," she laughed.
"Lauren, I think I've given you the wrong idea."
"I want a family."
"I want one, too," she blurted. "But in the past nine months I've burned everything I've ever owned, found my mother and grandfather murdered, returned my father to Hell, sent my best friend away to take care of my little sister, shacked up with you, and maybe, just maybe, I've learned to lighten up a little. You'll have to forgive me if the baby train is leaving the station without me." Bo exhaled. "It's a lot to take in."
Lauren listened but had only heard one thing. "You want a baby?" She asked, breathless.
A thousand-watt smile. "Definitely." Her hand brushed the hair away from Lauren's temple. "But Lauren, until Dagny has matured, we are going to be living a dangerous life."
Lauren's hopeful expression fell flat. "I'm tired of waiting my turn, Bo."
"If anything happened to you… And then throw in a baby… It's a scary thought for me."
Lauren smiled. "Bo Dennis, I think this is the first time I've heard you say that."
Bo looked away suddenly self-conscious. "Doesn't change the reality of the situation."
"Maybe not." They both looked out their respective windows, staring at nothing. They played this game a lot, waiting for the other to continue the awkward conversation. Bo almost always lost.
She sighed. "Can we just set this aside for tonight?"
Lauren closed her eyes, unable to meet Bo's gaze. "Sure."
Bo nodded and decided not to challenge Lauren's obvious lie as she put the Camaro in gear again. Kenzi and Dagny were coming home. It was against Bo's nature to fake anything but she wasn't going to let disharmony distract from Kenzi's visit. Even if it meant faking it.
"Where is everyone?" Vex burst out of the kitchen and into the bar, raving. "The prime rib is getting cold, the scalloped potatoes are congealing, the asparagus is overcooked, and my Christmas pudding is turning to mush!"
Dyson looked up from the pool cue he was glaring down on as the side door opened. "Take it easy, Ghoulia Childs." Bo walked in a bag of presents in each hand, Lauren followed, smiling convincingly at the men.
"Timing is everything."
"You don't have to tell a succubus that." Dyson smirked at Lauren who walked around the bar and pulled a pair of beers from the taps. She sat with her back to the bar and surveyed the Dal, transformed for their meal. A long table dominated the room, garlands, ornaments, and pine cones decorated the table and large fireplace. Bo hugged Dyson and Lauren smiled. It was so nice not to be threatened by something so innocent like it might have in the past. They had made their deal, and forged their pact through understanding at last.
"Where is that urchin?" Vex called again from the doorway to the kitchen. "I've slaved all day and I won't have it going to waste."
"Settle down, Vexy, your shoe chef has arrived!" Kenzi burst through the side door with the car seat and diaper bag in tow. She hauled the load with convincing strength even as the group rushed to help her.
"Hurry up and sit down, will ya?" Vex grouched.
Bo took the baby's carrier and spoke to Dagny softly. "You're getting so big!"
Lauren took the diaper bag from Kenzi's shoulder and they walked toward the table together. When they had settled in, Vex began bringing out the plates and setting them in front of each guest. A quiet dinner was a chef's best friend. It meant he had hit it out of the park. When the accolades came at the end of the meal, Vex devoured them. This was his acceptance. When Dyson turned to him and said "Good meal, Vex" and meant it, Vex thought maybe he was on his way to making an impact on the wolf.
The table was nearly deserted an hour later, each diner having split off into different corners of the bar. Christmas carols played softly behind the clacking of pool balls, and the soft murmuring of Lauren, who sat in a large leather chair next to the fireplace, Dagny asleep in her lap.
From her chair at the table, Bo watched Lauren straighten the baby's collar, making sure every inch of her was covered, but not too much. When Dagny wiggled, burbling before falling back asleep, the smile that crossed Lauren's face made Bo's chest tighten. Was this really happening? Bo made shapes in her leftover potatoes. She had always dreamed of the ideal family life and here it was, banging down her door.
The chair next to her skidded back. "Can we talk?" Kenzi whispered to Bo as she looked around the room.
Bo sighed, relieved by the interruption. "Of course, what's up?"
"How do I say this?" Bo looked at her and raised her eyebrows expectantly. "I want to come home."
Bo shook her head. "Kenzi, it's too soon. Too dangerous."
"You keep saying that, but I don't see how me out there on my own is safer than here with my Fae family."
"We decided this a long time ago."
"You decided this," Kenzi corrected her. "I went along with it because I would do anything for you."
Bo sighed. Everything was coming at her three-hundred miles an hour all of a sudden. "Kenz…"
"Bo-Bo, we miss you." She cocked her head and smiled. "Please?"
End part 2