Page 79 of Spiritwarrior

“No.”

“I understand. Most people don’t.”

Alanna gave her a smile. “I didn’t believe it at first, either.”

“You do now?”

“Oh, yes. I can’t imagine my life without Matthew, and I won’t have to. It’s very comforting to me that our souls are linked.”

“Let’s see if you can say the same thing when you’ve been married forty years.” Isaac laughed. “You’ll be searching for a chainsaw to cut the link between you guys by then.”

The table broke out in laughter. Alanna laughed along with the others at the dirty look Matthew was giving Isaac.

After dinner, they sat in the living room while the children played. Sophie couldn’t help but notice the teenager Ginny had brought with her. Lennon was sitting on the floor, playing with the children. The girl appeared to be sixteen or seventeen, was very pretty, and she hadn’t spoken a word when Ginny introduced her. While Lennon was helping set the table, Ginny had explained she was a friend of the girl’s foster mother, and Lennon stayed at Ginny’s house during school breaks.

Gavin seemed tolerant of the girl and didn’t seem upset she stayed close to Ginny’s side.

While she enjoyed listening to the banter going back and forth between the siblings, she continued watching the kids play.

Alanna sat Alex down on the floor. The adorable baby, who was a miniature version of his father, was shoving one fist in his mouth while attempting to maintain his balance. Ginny’s daughter, who was playing with blocks, handed one to Alex, which he promptly dropped. Leah reached out to pick the block up, and as she did so, Alex reached out to grab Leah’s hair. The little girl giggled, reached out to take the baby’s hand, and then Sophie jumped when Leah started howling in pain, holding her hand.

Ginny, Reaper, and Silas simultaneously went for Leah. Gavin reached her first.

“Give her to me.”

Sophie was shocked at the way Silas ordered Gavin to give his own daughter to him.

Ginny was trying to grab Leah’s hand, which she was holding close to her chest, which made Leah cry louder.

Ginny looked away from Leah to Silas, who had his hands out with a curious expression on his face.

“Give her to him, Gavin.”

Hearing the urgency in his wife’s voice, Gavin reluctantly handed Leah over. Gently taking Leah into his arms, Silas started crooning to the upset child, turning around to walk into the dining room. Everyone anxiously watched the two.

Glancing down at the children on the floor, Sophie saw Alex was crying, frightened by Leah’s cry. Big fat tears were rolling down his cheeks.

Seeing everyone’s attention centered on Leah, Sophie leaned forward to pick the baby up. Her movement caught Alanna’s eye.

“No! Don’t touch him.”

Matthew hurried over to scoop the crying child into his arms.

“I’m sorry, I just—”

Alanna shook her head. “There’s no need to apologize. I didn’t mean to yell at you. It’s just …” Alanna seemed to be at a loss of words to explain her outburst.

“Alex doesn’t know you well, and being touched by a stranger could have set him off crying louder than Leah,” Matthew explained, patting his son on his back.

Sophie glanced back over at the other child, seeing Silas handing her back over to Gavin. Leah had stopped crying and was snuggling into Gavin’s chest. Gavin had a fearsome appearance, yet the sight of him gently rocking his daughter brought a lump to her throat

Gradually, the room went back to normal with conversations starting again, yet Sophie noticed Matthew or Isaac kept Alex with them rather than letting him play with Leah or Freddie again.

Alanna moved to the couch where Gavin and Ginny had taken a seat after putting Leah back on the floor to play with the block. Sophie wished she could overhear what they were talking about. Alanna seemed to be tearfully apologizing.

She started to go over there to tell them Alex had done nothing wrong—he had barely touched her when she had started crying.

Jody took her hand, stopping her.

---