Chapter Twenty-Four - Family
"Do you want to drive babe?" Bo asked Lauren as they left the Clubhouse. She linked their elbows together and rested her head on the blonde's shoulder as they waited for Kenzi to check the mailbox.
"Uhm, about that… my SUV kind of lost an argument with a dumpster last night on my way here."
Bo lifted her head and cupped her lovers face in her hands as Kenzi walked up to the pair, "Oh my god, baby are you alright. Is that why you were all wet?"
"Gross guys, standing right here. God damn it it's like I'm invisible sometimes I swear."
"Not that kind of wet Kenz, God get your mind out of the gutter."
"What? Where you guys are concerned you can't blame a girl for assuming that you're always talking about sex."
Lauren nodded and shrugged, agreeing.
"No, Lauren just said she wrecked her SUV last night."
"Oh my god girl, that was you. Damn Doctor Hotpants! Did you like speed up when you saw that dumpster or what? How do you hit a dumpster by the way, it's not lit it jumped out at you," Kenzi was laughing so hard it was hard to get the words out.
Lauren shot daggers at the girl through her eyes.
"Oh shut up Kenzi, we've taken you driving once before, now if you don't want me to tell Lauren that story, I suggest you shut it." Bo told her best friend. The girls started to walk to The Dal without discussing Bo's car, knowing walking was always the safer option.
Lauren snaked her arm around Bo's waist and held her tight to her side. "Oh, tell me tell me tell me!"
"Bo, I swear, I will curse you worse than I did with you know who," Kenzi gave Bo her best 'crazy eyes'.
"Who?" Lauren asked.
"She means Baba Yega-"
"Bo! You can't say her name!"
Lauren laughed at the pair "So tell me about Kenzi's day driving."
"Let's just say I have multiple dents on my poor little Camaro that I now call Kenzi. And there might possibly be a cat running around the neighborhood with half of a tail."
"Bo! You promised we'd take that to our graves!" Kenzi folded her arms and pouted. "At least he lived."
"Oh relax, it's just Lauren."
Lauren smirked as they rounded the corner and saw The Dal, her SUV was still parked on the curb, she realized she'd left her emergency lights flashing and the driver's side door was still wide open.
"Shit babe!" Bo exclaimed as she cupped Lauren's face in her hand, running her thumb over her forehead. "Are you sure you're all right? Should we get you checked for a concussion?"
"I'll live. But I'm afraid my car won't… at least it stopped steaming. I'll call a tow truck from inside the bar."
"Baby, I can't believe you were in such a hurry to get to me that you crashed your car, you never speed."
"I know, it was kind of a blast, we should go ride go-carts or something one day, I think I have the need, Bo-"
"The need for speed baby! Yeah! That's what I'm talking about, man Elvin Lauren is fun! That's literally the greatest idea you've ever had."
"Oh yeah, that's a great idea, my two little delinquents with a habit for running things over want to get in suped-up lawnmowers and race each other," Bo rolled her eyes, she held the door to The Dal open as Lauren walked around and shut her car door, not that it made much of a difference at this point.
"Oh come on Mom, live a little."
"Yeah Bo come on, all the kids are doing it."
Kenzi sucked in a breath through her teeth, "Damn Hotpants, you were so close to being cool just now."
Bo smirked, dropping an adoring kiss to Lauren's cheek.
"I know. Then I had to go and try to say words again."
"Yeah, you know how you are with saying words, you should've stopped while you were ahead."
"I sensed that right as it was happening."
"Well at least you recognize the problem," Kenzi said thoughtfully as the girls got a table.
Lauren laughed, feeling so filled with joy to be with her girls again. There weren't very many people in the bar this early, just a few party-goers from last night who needed a good breakfast to cure their hangovers.
Trick came around to take their orders and noticed Bo's hand covering Lauren's on the table. Lauren looked up and saw that his eyes were filled with tears. "Oh my god, Trick, is everything okay?" Lauren asked, filled with concern.
The strong man looked at his feet and sniffed, wiping his eyes quickly with the back of his hand. "Fine, just had something in my eye."
Bo looked up at her Grandfather and smirked. "Go on and say it," she egged him on, seeing the unsaid words written all over his face.
He almost tackled Lauren off her chair as he dove into her chest, hugging her hard. "Jeez," she exclaimed with a laugh as she hugged him back.
"Sheesh Gramps are you still drunk?" Kenzi asked sarcastically.
"I'm just so glad you girls finally sorted everything out. You two were meant to be together," Trick laughed as he released Lauren from his death grip hug. He thoughtfully patted their hands as they rested on the table. Lauren squeezed Bo's hand and Bo replaced her hand her other hand and wrapped her left arm around Lauren's shoulders possessively, nuzzling her face into the blonde's hair for a second to plant a kiss to her neck. Lauren tried not to shiver too noticeably as her chest flooded with warmth, making her dizzy.
"Now," Trick cleared his throat, returning to the strong, manly person they all knew. "What can I get you girls? It's on the house."
"Damn Trick, complimentary food?! Bo, Lauren, can you promise me that you'll breakup and get back together every day – it would really end up saving you a lot in the long run Bo, if you think about it," Kenzi reasoned.
Lauren shook her head, "Sorry Kenzi, never going to happen. This is it, forever."
"Thanks a lot guys, jeez I mean I just ask this one simple thing – but can you do it? No, you're so selfish! I mean we're talking about free food."
Bo shook her head and they all ordered, Trick went to hide behind the bar before he cried any more happy tears.
As they were sipping their coffee's Hale arrived and Kenzi turned to greet him.
"Hey bab-ow what the hell!" Kenzi shouted, grabbing her neck. She turned back to the table to see Bo smiling at her, eyes twinkling with mischief.
"You did not just do what I think you did."
Bo lifted the straw up from where she had it hidden under the table. "That's what you get sucka!" Bo laughed and Lauren couldn't help but joining her, shaking her head at her two favorite girls.
"Seriously, do I even want to know?" Hale asked as she kissed Kenzi on the forehead and sat down beside her.
"All you need to know is that I was giving Kenzi a taste of her own medicine. Maybe now you'll think twice before spit-wadding someone."
"I will get you for this Bo Dennis, I know where you sleep. I mean – come on, I have your spit on me, gross." Kenzi wiped her neck with her hand and shuddered and the group laughed at her.
Tamsin walked into the bar and the group waved her over. "There's my Tam-Tam, come sit baby girl!" Kenzi patted the chair beside her.
Tamsin noticed Bo and Lauren sitting closely, Bo's arm still wrapped around her love, playing absently with Lauren's hair, looking utterly relaxed and content. Lauren smiled at Tamsin warmly, lounging back in her chair, her fingers running small, almost imperceptible tracks up and down Bo's thigh under the table lovingly.
"You two look cozy," Tamsin commented as she sat down in the chair beside Kenzi at the end of the table.
Lauren smirked like she had a secret and Bo winked at Tamsin. "Well Lo, I just wanted to say you killed it at The Test – I'm rarely impressed by anything and I was thoroughly impressed."
"Thank you Tamsin, that means a lot coming from a badass Valkyrie."
"So is it official? Are you two back to being BoLo?" Tamsin asked, sounding so much like Kenzi it was scary.
Bo laughed, "Yeah, we're good. No more breakups, just this," she lifted their interlaced hands with pride.
"Good, it's about time you guys realized what the rest of us already knew. And I heard you saved Kenzi's dumb ass from dying too recently, you're on fire Doctor Hotpants."
"Okay, Tamsin, I think you're spending too much time with Kenzi," Bo said, thoroughly concerned.
Tamsin and Kenzi shared a wink and a smile while they high-fived, "Never," Tamsin said.
"So when are we all going to party?" Kenzi asked, suddenly serious as she sipped her coffee.
"Ooh, yeah! I just want to dance!" Tamsin exclaimed. Lauren and Bo burst out laughing at her child-like excitement, 'new' Tamsin was definitely more fun than scarily serious Tamsin.
"Why don't we go tonight?" Hale asked.
"Not tonight," Bo and Lauren said in unison and everyone laughed.
"Clearly the girls need more 'alone' time," Kenzi winked, making the same obscene gestures that she had been earlier that morning.
"Hey, we came to breakfast," Lauren shrugged, not caring what the group thought of her and Bo staying in bed for the next twenty-four hours. What did they think a Succubus and her reunited lover got up to anyway? Taking long walks and knitting? Not exactly.
Hale laughed, "I like this new side of you Doctor Lewis," he gave her a warm smile and she realized how at home she felt so effortlessly with all of them.
"Trust me, she's always been this goofy, she just thought it was a secret before," Bo told them, running her fingers through the hair at the nape of Lauren's neck. The blondes eyes closed blissfully and she smiled.
"Ugh, you guys are so cute I want to throw up," Kenzi rolled her eyes and Hale kissed her on her temple.
"Hey, we're that cute too," Hale pouted and Kenzi gave him a quick peck on the lips.
"I know babe, but when we're that cute it doesn't make me want to throw up my coffee."
Bo snorted and rolled her eyes.
Dyson entered The Dal and Kenzi spotted him right away, "D-man, over here!" Kenzi waved the wolf over and he looked uncomfortably at the table. His eyes met Bo's and she nodded that it was fine. He joined them at the opposite end of the table from Tamsin, sitting next to Lauren and Hale.
"Hi guys, I heard that your Test was a roaring success Lauren, everyone is talking about it. That really took courage for you not to align, I admire you for that," He told the blonde honestly.
"We're going dancing tomorrow night wolf-man, you want to come?" Kenzi asked.
"Uh, sure I guess. I'll have to see what I have going on," He said, his eyes glanced to Bo nervously.
"Oh please, what could you possibly have going on when everyone you know is going clubbing."
"You don't know everything I do," He smirked at Kenzi who rolled her eyes.
"Please, unless it's ripping your clothes off and running around the forest in the middle of the night, I know for a fact you have nothing going on."
"We'll see."
They all ate breakfast together, the rest of the morning continuing on much the same, teasing, joking and laughing. There may have been a small food fight that Trick quickly squashed. Bo had felt that missing dynamic in the group without Lauren there, it was so glaringly obvious, but now everything felt complete, whole, it felt like home again.