"Hey, Little Man... where's the fire?"
Adam stopped trying to escape the moment he heard her voice. Instead he snuggled down into her hold and buried his nose in her neck. "Br'anna good," he murmured.
"ADAM ROCKWELL!!" came Charisma's shouted voice from the doorway as she exited on a run....
... only to discover him in the arms of her erstwhile best friend. She inhaled deeply, struggling to get her temper under control. Adam had scared the living daylights out of her when he'd jerked way from her and run pell-mell outside, and after everything else that had been thrown at her all day long, she had reached her breaking point. Brianna, having recognized the sheer terror in Charisma's eyes, headed her way immediately with Adam still nestled in her arms.
Kent, realizing that Charisma was torn between panic and fury, slid out the door and intercepted Brianna before she reached Charisma. Brianna understood that he wanted to remove Adam from what could quickly become a field of battle, and she moved to release Adam into Kent's arms. Unfortunately for Brianna, that just made Adam cling to her tighter.
She leaned back, tilting his head up until blue eyes met serious green. "Adam, you need to let go - you're hurting me, Little Man."
"Love Br'anna."
"I love you too, but you need to go with Daddy now. You scared him and Mama when you ran off like that. Do you remember the talk we had with Saphira, after you ran in front of my car?" He poked out his lip in a pout but nodded slowly. "This is the same thing."
"No go!" he commanded and frowned.
"Adam, I'm not going anywhere tonight, and you'll get to see your cousins again before you go home, all right?" He held her eyes for a long moment, then nodded, nuzzling back into her neck. "Okay, but for right now, you need to go with Daddy."
"C'mon, son. I think Gramma was getting out some leftovers for you to have a snack. Are you hungry?" smiling when Adam nodded and released his stranglehold on Brianna's neck. Kent lifted Adam into his arms and leaned forward to brush a kiss over Brianna's cheek. "Thank you," he whispered. "If anything had happened to him...."
"I'm glad I was there, Kent."
Kent nodded. "Seems like you've been there a lot for him. Maybe you're like his Guardian Angel."
"God, I hope not," Brianna said with a laugh. "I couldn't possibly keep up," breaking the tension of those around them. The motion that had frozen at Charisma's bellow resumed and Kent just chuckled in sympathy with her. Then he shook his head and walked back inside, pausing by Charisma a moment before returning indoors.
Brianna looked at Charisma, but when she moved to go to her, Charisma shook her head and turned to walk around the side of the house. Brianna watched her disappear into the darkness, not surprised to feel Kay's hand drop onto her shoulder.
"Talk to her, Bri. It's been a hard day for her, and this was her last straw, I think."
Brianna nodded and patted the hand on her shoulder, then turned to embrace Kay once more. "Thanks, Kay. It means so much to me that you guys came today."
Kay let go and Brianna found herself engulfed in Lee's arms. "We were happy to be here, Bri," he assured her. "But don't you get yourself caught up in that whole political scene down in DC, all right? We're all counting the days until you come home."
Brianna chuckled. "Me too," she admitted. "But we'll be here for a couple more days, so let's make sure to put the time to good use. We'll get together again, right?" The rest of the family - brothers and their wives - cheered at that suggestion as they gathered around for their goodbyes, and then they were all leaving one full vehicle at a time.
Brianna moved to stand on the front steps, not seeing Okasa and Patrick come up behind her as she waved goodbye. Only when she turned did she realize they were there, and she was glad for their steadying hands when she nearly took a backwards header off the steps.
"You all right, Little Bri?" Paddy asked when she was steady again. Brianna nodded.
"Yes, Paddy. You and Mama just surprised me. I thought I was by myself."
"Would you prefer to be?" Okasa asked, searching green eyes carefully.
"No, Mama. I love knowing you and Paddy have my back. I just expected you two to be inside with Kent and Adam."
"Oh no," Okasa stated emphatically. "Aside from wanting to make sure everyone got away safely, Kent was going to give Adam a good talking to. Paddy and I would just be a distraction." She looked around the now dark and empty yard. "Speaking of distractions, where is my daughter? I know Adam nearly gave her heart failure when he ran out. I expected her to be the one to bring him in, reading the riot act or something similar."
Brianna smiled sadly. "I think it all got to be too much. But I have a good idea where she went. Do you think I could get a thermos of hot chocolate?"
Okasa smiled and nodded. "Sure. C'mon inside and we'll make it up. It won't take but a minute."
Together they entered the kitchen, only to find Esmeralda at the stove stirring what smelled like homemade hot chocolate. Saphira was busy shaving chocolate into the pot on the stove while Kent was cleaning up a nearly sleeping Adam. As Brianna, Okasa and Patrick entered the kitchen, he hefted Adam from the chair and into his arms.
"I'm just going to go give him a quick bath and put him to bed. I think all the excitement tuckered him out."
Patrick chuckled. "All the excitement tired me out too."
"We'll be up to say good night in a few minutes," Okasa volunteered. Kent nodded and left the room. The five remaining adults in the room looked at each other for a long, silent moment, before Esmeralda shrugged sheepishly.
"I hope you don't mind. It sounded like a good idea with everyone standing around outside in the cold... especially after Kent told us what happened with Adam."
Okasa marched over to the stove and took a spoon from the drawer beside it. She stirred it around in the hot liquid for a moment, then scooped up a portion, blowing on it lightly before letting it flow across her tongue and down her throat. She closed her eyes to savor the flavor, then opened them and stared at Esmeralda sternly. "If you think you're leaving here without giving me that recipe, young lady, you've certainly got another think coming," her face breaking into a smile. "That's amazing." She leaned over the pot and breathed in deeply. "You fixed enough for everyone, right?"
"Oh yes, ma'am. Always make enough to share with everyone - rule number one."
Okasa rolled her eyes at being called ma'am again; Patrick just laughed roundly. Brianna grabbed the thermos from the place it always was... always had been... and passed it to Mama to fill. Okasa did so without comment, then closed the lid and handed it back to Brianna with a small nod. Brianna smiled her thanks and left the kitchen without a word. The rest watched her go, and it wasn't until they heard the back door close solidly behind her that Saphira spoke.
"Is everything okay?"
"I hope so." Okasa replied slowly. "I truly hope so."
************
Brianna walked through the backyard by rote, glad Patrick and Okasa were such stable, reliable individuals. Not much had changed back here in years other than the bushes getting fuller and the trees growing taller. The gardens - even when the flowers changed with the seasons - were still laid out in the same place and fashion as they had always been. So she moved into the darkness with utter confidence in her steps even though she couldn't actually see much beyond her feet. The bare sliver of the moon offered very little light to her path.
Brianna slowed her approach as she reached the largest tree on the property - one that was guesstimated to be more than one hundred years old. It was in this tree that Patrick had built a tree house for his children. At first it had been Hunter's fortress, then as his brothers grew old enough to climb, it became a place for all of them to hide and play and get away from their parents for just a little while.