“Right, as soon as I get you downstairs.” Logan turned, taking a step towards the great room, intent on getting his mate to the hospital as fast as possible, but stopped short when he saw who was standing just a short distance away from him. “Mom?” he asked in disbelief. “What are youdoing up here? Oh my gods, Mac…something’s wrong with Mom!”
Kieran grabbed Logan’s face, cupping his cheeks. “Macushla!That’s what I was trying to tell you. You really need to listen to our spirit more because it was telling us your mother was on her way to surprise us, although it wasn’t a surprise to me since I listened to our spirit but that was why I was so happy…isn’t it great? Your mom can walk again and now you don’t have to worry about her anymore…at least about her getting around…isn’t it just perfecto? You should put me down now,macushla.”
Setting his mate down, Logan kept his eyes on his mother, while listening to their spirit assure him she was fine.
Jackson, along with everyone else, mirrored Logan’s dumbfounded look as they formed a semi-circle around Hope. “Mom, what are you doing?”
Pushing through his brothers, Dakota stopped in front of his mother. “Mom…Mom…is it really you?”
“Should I get a chair for Mom?” asked Zane,
“I thought you were downstairs with Sofia,” Mac said.
“Mac, why didn’t you tell me she was walking?” asked Colton.
Looking at her sons, she smiled. This was where she was meant to be. Hope knew she’d walk through the gates of hell if that was what it took to have her sons alive and happy. She owed her life to whichever god protected her that night so long ago, so that she could come home to her children. Spreading her arms wide, she said, “Come here…I missed you all so much.”
A sob broke loose from Dakota as he fell into her arms. Hugging her tight, he cried, burying his face in her neck as he inhaled her sweet orange blossom scent.
Jackson joined his brother, kissing his mother over and over on her forehead, then he moved slightly so Logan could hug her before the rest of his brothers joined in, until only the top of his mother’s head was visible. Reaching over his brothers, he touched her head, needing to confirm it was, indeed, his mother…who’d made a giant step toward recovery.
Remembering Jimmy’s call, his shock at the news, his overwhelming sorrow, the panic that his uncle’s men would find them before he got his brothers to safety, the summer where grief was their constant companion, then the long years of facing daily struggles to keep his brothers safe…all of it bearable now because their mother was back with them. The lynchpin in their family, the parent who loved them unconditionally, fought for them, protected them, gave them whatever was needed…was home. And Jackson vowed his uncle would never hurt her again.
Finally, one by one, everyone stepped back, leaving only Dakota clinging to his mother. “Honey,” she murmured, “you should sit down.”
“How about both of you sit down,” Mac said.
Dashing his tears away, Dakota murmured, “I will, if you will.”
“Deal. Come on,” Hope said, walking to the table with her arm around him. Sitting down next to Dakota, Hope waited until everyone was seated before she began to speak. “I know you all were so worried about me…I could tell every time you came to see me.” Holding up her hand, she waited until there was silence before continuing. “Don’t get upset at yourselves…believe me when I tell you it was the best thing you could have done for me because every day, it pushed me to get better. You see, when I realized I was the cause of your worries it just spurred me on to try harder. Sofia figured it out early on, so she used it to get me to do more each day. One day, I was so frustrated and angry because she was demanding I do another set of leg lifts, I lashed out and told her I was tired of being in a wheelchair and I wanted to walk again.”
Glancing over at Sofia, Hope smiled softly at her. “Well, she marched over to me and said, ‘So what’s stopping you?’ Shocked at her angry tone, I just stared at her. Then, when I calmed down, I realized I was stopping myself. That’s when we decided on a plan of action, and last week, I was finally able to walk.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” asked Mac.
“Mac…I owe you so much…but sweetie, I knew what you would say if I told you. And I couldn’t fight you while I was fighting for myself. Tonight, I wanted to walk upstairs, and join my family for dinner. And that’s what I did.”
“So I was set up?” Mac grinned.
“Yes, Sofia was going to help me change and we didn’t want you walking in,” Hope explained. “Once everyone was at the dinner table, Willow sent Sofia a message, letting us know it was time for us to go upstairs. Once we were in the great room, Willow would announce our arrival to everyone in the dining room.”
“But I never got to do that because Logan thought Kieran was having their pup,” Willow laughed.
“That’s because he didn’t listen to our spirit,” Kieran said. “That’s a bad habit of his and no matter how many times I tell him,macushlanever checks with our spirit…he didn’t do it in Ireland, and I almost got new wrinkles because of it.”
“I do too talk to our spirit,” Logan protested, “but you said you didn’t expect it so soon. What did you think I was gonna think when I heard that? That our pup was on the way, of course. I mean what else are we expecting?”
“Ahh, Logan, maybe you should check a calendar,” Colton said, smirking. “Kieran still has some time to go before the birth of your pup.”
“He’s right,macushla,” Kieran said, smiling. “But don’t worry, I just thought of a great idea to help you.”
“Oh, no,” Theo moaned. “Not another idea.”
“What’s wrong with Ki’s ideas?” asked David.
“Don’t ask,” Norm said.
“Ignore him, David,” said Kieran. “You can help me with this one...and you, too, Q.”
