Page 13 of Emergence: Prequel
“Happy for you, brother,” Cash clapped my shoulder on his way to the bar.
It was late when Cash, Buck, and Tinman followed me into my home after they’d received messages telling them where their Old Ladies and daughters had ended up.
Stopping in the doorway, my eyes wandered around my living room, full of sleeping teenage girls, and in the background, the happy sound of laughing women.
For once, my house felt like a home. It was like it had been waiting patiently for the one person to make it into a home filled with love and laughter.
Not wasting any time, I found Stacey and kissed the hell out of her. I would probably have carried on if I hadn’t been reminded that we had an audience by the amount of heckling we got. Not that I minded. Not with the way Stacey was looking at me with soft, happy eyes and a smile playing over her lips.
It had been a shit day, but I was going to bed happy and content that I had her in my arms and safe under my roof.
STACEY
Waking up, I turned to look at the empty space next to me, making me wonder how late it was. Roman liked blackout curtains, making the room dark no matter what time of day it was.
It must be pretty late because I could hear the hum of conversation and laughter that I recognised as Rosie’s. I was relieved that she seemed to be doing okay after yesterday, although I had a feeling it would haunt her on certain occasions. I made a mental note to find someone for her to talk to once I was able to.
That was for another day, though. Getting up, I hurried through my morning routine, wanting to get out there and find out what was going to happen today. Opal, Maura, and Chrissie, Cash and Lizzie’s youngest daughter, had all fallen asleep while watching a movie. It had made more sense to leave them and collect them this morning. I’m sure they’d want breakfast before they left. With that thought in mind, I tugged on a pair of leggings and a long, loose-flowing aqua-coloured top. Quickly braiding my hair, I called it a day.
Walking out of Roman’s bedroom, down the short passage towards the kitchen, I came to a halt in the doorway. There he was in all his glory, wearing a pair of black sweatpants, shirtless with his tattoos on display and the muscles—good Lord, themuscles on the man were phenomenal—and I’d know because I’d licked and kissed most of them.
But that wasn’t what had me stopping to watch. No, it was the fact that he was cooking breakfast for the girls and seemed perfectly comfortable doing it. This obviously wasn’t the first time he’d done this either, not with the way he expertly dropped pancakes onto a plate. Cash and Lizzie’s girls were comfortable getting cutlery and showing Opal where everything was. Rosie was at the stove with Roman, helping him. And that alone made my heart beat in an entirely different way. Roman had shown more care and attention to Rosie in the last month than Grudge had in her entire sixteen years.
In one way, it pissed me off that he’d treated her so badly, but in another way, I was fucking thrilled because she now knew the difference in the way that Roman treated her.
“Morning, Aunty Stacey,” Chrissie bubbled, happily coming towards me and giving me a hug. I don’t think this kid knew how to be unhappy or mad; from when she’d been a baby, she’d been a bundle of happiness.
“Morning, sweetheart,” I replied, returning her hug.
Walking up to Roman and Rosie and bussed a kiss to her cheek before tilting my head for a kiss from Roman, which he obliged me with. “Do you need any help?”
“Nah, baby. Grab a coffee and sit. Rosie and I have a system.”
Leaving them to it, I made myself a cup of coffee, topping Roman’s up while I was at it. Taking my coffee to the table, I sat down next to Opal.
“How did you girls sleep?” I asked.
“Really good,” Opal nodded. “Maestro’s couches are really comfortable. Probably because they haven’t had four boys throwing themselves down into them,” she sniggered.
Chuckling along with her, I had to agree; her brothers weren’t small, and I had a feeling they were hard on the furniture.
“Here you go,” Roman plunked a platter of pancakes on the table, and Rosie added a platter of bacon.
“That’s a lot of food,” I remarked.
“Cash and Lizzie will be over soon, and I have someone else arriving as well.”
Before I could ask who else was coming, his phone rang, and he walked out towards the living room, telling the person on the phone to hold. He turned to us, “Y’all start, I won’t be long.”
The girls, taking him at his word, got stuck in dishing up like they hadn’t eaten in days. At first, I thought I was hearing things when I heard my son’s voice, but then I realised that no, I wasn’t.
‘What the hell was he doing here instead of being at school?’I wondered.
Rosie’s wide eyes met mine, and then she was up and out of her chair, running towards the front door. I heard the humph of her hitting her brother before her sobbed, “Kyle.”
Slowly getting up from the table, I walked into the lounge to find my daughter wrapped in her brother’s arms, sobbing her heart out. Tears pricked my eyes. My kids were close, they always had been, even with the four-year age gap. I’d still like to know what he was doing here, though. Turning my attention to Roman, I knew immediately how he’d found out what had happened. I didn’t know if I was angry or not.
Roman walked to me, snaking his arm around my waist; he pulled me towards him, bending his head, he softly said, “Don’tbe mad, sweetheart. He’s been the man in your house for years; he’d have been pissed if I didn’t tell him. And I had a feeling Rosie needed him, but she’d never ask him to come home.”