“I’m sorry I woke you,” I tell him while rubbing my cheek lightly against the soft hairs of his chest.
“I was already up. I don’t think any of us slept much. Well, other than Julien, clearly.” I smile at his wry humor.
“I think a stampede of elephants doing a tap dance on his chest wouldn’t wake him up,” I reply, lifting up on my tiptoes.
“He’s had a rough week.”
“We all have.” Once I’ve raised high enough to reach Ryder’s mouth, I whisper, “Good morning.”
Ryder bands an arm around my lower back and cups my face. “Good morning,” he says back and gives me the kiss I have been wanting since I walked into the kitchen.
No matter how out of control my world feels right now, this man right here brings me back. He grounds me with his love and support. He heals me with every kiss he gives. I press closer, delving deeper, and a low grumble of a moan passes from him into me. I could stand here and kiss him all day, but we both hear someone coming down the hallway and know it’s more than likely Jayson. With one final touch of our lips, we pull apart. I lift the coffee from the counter and take a sip just as Jayson walks in.
“My bathroom’s available for anyone who needs it.” Jayson walks over and wraps his arms around me from behind, his chin resting on my shoulder. I don’t try to move away. Ryder doesn’t say a word. We both understand Jayson needs this connection with me.
“I foresee a very long nap later today,” Jayson says next to my ear. I sip more coffee and nod in agreement.
“I’m going to check to see what assignments I need to do for today. I should call Meredith too. I hope she’s not too mad at me for dropping off the face of the planet this week.”
“Invite her over,” Ryder suggests handing Jayson a steaming mug.
“Maybe. Let me see how I feel later today. I’m not ready to re-enter the world just yet. I’m giving myself until Monday. I canceled my appointment with Dr. Clairemont for today. I do need to get some fresh clothes from my apartment. Check my mail.” It’s a given that I’ll continue to stay with them for as long as I need to. If it was up to them, I would have been moved in three days ago.
“Liz,” Jayson says, turning me around to face him. “I would like to tell my parents. They should know.”
“That’s going to be a very unpleasant conversation.” How do we tell his parents that we got pregnant and they have a dead granddaughter that we never knew existed in the first place?
“I can’t spring this on them over the phone. I’d like it if you would come home with me so we can do it together in person. They’ve been wanting to see you anyway.”
I jerk back and bump into Ryder. A splash of coffee spills from my mug, so I put it down. “Jayson, I can’t. I just can’t. The house. I’m not ready to see it yet.”
This time Ryder’s arms come around me in comfort. I’m not ready to go back to the place where my family was murdered. Going home with Jayson means that I will see it. I won’t be able to avoid it because I know our houses are right next to each other. It means I’ll have to face that awful night for real. And I’m not ready.
“Shit, Liz. I didn’t even think. Fuck. I’m sorry.”
“I would like to go see her. See Elizabeth Ann. Do you think we could fly to Seattle sometime so we can see our daughter?”
Julien walks in the kitchen at that moment. “We’ll all go. Let me check with Coach and see if I can get a couple of days off. We usually have a week between each match so it shouldn’t be a problem to take a couple of days off in between games.”
Julien heads over to where we’re standing between the counter and the middle island. He pulls me away from Ryder and I get a third morning hug.
“I hope we didn’t wake you.”
“Nah,” he says and grabs my coffee where I placed it.
“Hey! Hands off.”
Julien takes a long gulp, grinning the entire time. He finishes and licks his lips with a smack. “It’s three in the morning. Everybody’s up but Elijah. Why don’t we remedy that?” Julien waggles his eyebrows at me, and I grin in return.
“Race you,” I call out, already dashing out of the kitchen to Julien’s room, our kitchen conversation going from serious to playful. We’ve existed in so much heartache the past three days, it’s nice to have some silliness sneak in.
The guys easily catch up with me and I fling Julien’s bedroom door open with a loud crack.
“Holy fuck!” Elijah yells and falls off the bed. “You assholes!” we hear him holler from the floor on the other side of the room.
“Wake up, Elijah!” Julien bellows and dives over the bed with an impressive belly slide. He lands on top of Elijah with an “umph.”
I leap on top of the bedcovers, but Ryder tackles me from the side. Elijah and Julien are wrestling on the floor. Elijah tries to push Julien off between half-hearted bouts of cursing. Jayson lands beside me and starts to tickle my ribcage as Ryder holds me down.
