Everly burst out laughing. “No, Daddy, not for a long time. You’ve got at least ten years to go.”
“Ten years?” Ronan’s eyes widened. “Oh, no ma’am! No. No. No! You’re not having a baby at seventeen. Who do you think you are, the Little Mermaid?”
Laughing louder Everly rolled onto the sand. “It’s so much fun to tease you. You’ve got about twenty years to wait, Daddy.”
“But the future’s fluid.” Ronan wanted to make absolute sure16 and Pregnantwasn’t in Everly’s future.
“It’s notthatfluid!” Everly shot back.
Ronan joined his daughter on the soft sand. “Can you really see it? Your future husband, kids, all of that?”
“I get little bits and pieces. Like a second in time. I know my husband is gonna have dark hair like Dad and bright blue eyes like you. I think his name starts with a K.”
“Oh, sweet Jesus!” Ronan screeched, sitting up quickly. “Tell me it’s not Kenny P.! I won’t survive you being married to that booger boy.” Ronan gagged. “Shit, I don’t think I’ll survive the thought of it.”
“It’s not Kenny P., Daddy. I don’t need my gift to see that. He was awful to me and to Aurora. I don’t care how much he grows up or how much he apologizes, I would never go on a date with him. Not ever.”
“Thank God!” Ronan flopped back onto the sand. “You know I’m kidding, right.”
“You’re a bit much sometimes.” Everly giggled and poked Ronan’s ribs. “You might want to use those next twenty years to get that under control. I can’t have a frazzled, squawking chicken watching my babies.”
“Babies? Does that mean twins? Or triplets? Oh, God, don’t tell me you’re gonna have eight babies like that Octomom!”
“This is what I’m talking about when I say you’re too much.” Everly got back to her feet and brushed the sand off the backs of her legs.
“Why won’t you tell me how many babies?” Ronan asked, sounding like his usual serious self again.
“Daddy, the future is full of surprises. It might be fun to know the answers today, but you’re gonna love it so much more in the future. It’s like watching a movie you’ve seen before. You know what’s gonna happen when and that takes all the fun out of it.”
Ronan thought about what his daughter was saying. She had a point that knowing the future would take the fun out of it, not to mention how much more heartbreaking it would be if the things he learned today never came true. “How’d you get to be so smart?” he asked, certain of the answer.
“From Uncle Jude!”
Ronan grabbed for Everly, just barely missing her ankle.
She laughed and took off running down the beach. “Can’t catch me!”
Ronan stood up and his left knee cracked, followed by the right. At the rate he was going, Ronan would be lucky to survive the rest of the trip. With his old man joints, there was no way he’d be able to catch Everly, who’d already made it back to their deck and was doing a funny dance to taunt him.
Everly could dance all she wanted, so long as she was happy and living life to the fullest, Ronan didn’t mind being the butt of the joke.
Figuring out how to help Ten was another matter altogether. They’d had several conversations about how Ten was feeling and whatnot, but Ronan couldn’t help thinking was that Ten needed a break from all of that to just sit and be. Ten would make his way back in his own good time.
8
Tennyson
Ten woke up feeling like a million bucks. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept past 9:00 A.M. It was definitely before Everly and Ezra were born. He took a long shower, loving the fact that Ronan and the kids weren’t bursting in on him wondering where breakfast or bookbags were. When he’d got downstairs, scrambled eggs and bacon were waiting for him along with the rest of the group who were anxious to get out the door and have fun.
The plan for the day was to visit the old navy prison. It had been on the tip of his tongue to tell Ronan and the guys he wasn’t coming, but knew how much everyone would want him to be there. He was going to need to watch his and Everly’s gifts very closely.
Prisons made Ten physically ill, what with their years of evil, anger, and despair trapped in the walls of the building. Neither he, nor Everly had visited an abandoned prison before and Ten wondered if the evil residue would still be there or if it waned over time like paint fading on a wall. With Everly never havingvisited a place like they were going, Ten had no idea how the surroundings would affect her.
Ten had steeled his spine and gotten into the van with no complaints. He could make it through a two hour tour in a famously haunted prison.
“Are we there yet?” Wolf asked from the back row of seats.
“Ten more minutes, Woofie,” Jude said. “We have to find a place to park and buy the tour tickets, then we have to get on a boat to take us over to the prison.
