Page 54 of Innocence

“Elena and Major had their baby.” The whole grove erupted in applause and cheers. “Baby girl.Hadleigh. A little over seven pounds and the fullest head of black hair I’ve ever seen.”

“A girl,” nodded Miller. “Bastard deserves to have a girl.”

“We thought it was going to be a boy, but the ultrasound wasn’t as clear as we thought. I don’t think he’s disappointed, but he did mention needing to clean his guns.”

“I hear that,” smirked Doc.

“Elena had a bit of trouble, but we got her out of there,” said Wilson.

“One girl lost. One girl saved,” said Rachelle with a sad face.

“Maybe that’s the way it works,” said Gaspar. “Maybe we lose one and save one. I don’t know, sis. I just know that we did what we thought was right.”

“That’s all we can do,” nodded Rachelle.

“Hey,” said Code, walking toward the fire.

“Hey, brother. What’s up?” asked Nine.

“We went out and looked at the cabin around Sor’s place. I think Nelly was right. We found several sets of footprints out there, but someone is avoiding the cameras and the alarm triggers.”

“Damn. Is he still on a case?” asked Ghost.

“Yeah. We set a few more cameras and triggers, so we’ll hear it or see if something happens. She didn’t want to come back with us. She said that she felt safe there.”

“You’re doing all the right things. We’ll make sure she’s safe, and when Sor gets back, he’ll convince her to come here,” smirked Ghost.

“You sure about that?” asked Gabe.

“Positive, brother. That’s what we do. Convince those we love that being closer is the best bet.” The winds began whipping across the grove, and they could see the outline of faint gray clouds coming in.

“Storm’s coming,” said Rafe. “Let’s get everything buckled down. It could be a nasty one.”

“It always is here,” said his twin. Gaspar nodded at his family, looking around at the oncoming storm, he stood and called out to them all.

“Let’s move, everyone. Winter is here.”

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