Page 21 of Homecoming

Grace’s cheeks were flushed from more than cold, but she gave Angela’s arm a squeeze. “Thanks. Guess I’ll have to ask him again another time.”

Angela looked at Black. When he stepped in to protect Grace from the reindeer, it had been a little telling. “I think you justneed to be patient. He’s a quiet man who assimilates a lot of details. Just give him a while.”

They rejoined the group in line.

“Everything okay?” Aiden asked her.

She beamed at him. “Definitely. I’m falling in love, Aiden.”

He barked out a laugh. “I thought you were already in love?”

“Not with you, silly. With the town.”

His smile changed, and he nodded once. “I can understand why.”

She had so much to fill him in on.

“Santa is my Uncle Charles,” Grace whispered to her. “It’s not applicable now, but in a couple of years when Fallon has her list, we slip the parents a piece of paper when they pay for their picture, letting them know what they want.” She motioned to the little kiosk just past Santa and his elves.

Angela laughed, shaking her head. She hadn’t even thought that far ahead. Would they be here in two or three years? She had no idea.

EIGHT

Aiden loved the feeling that surrounded them in the truck.

Angela had gotten her magical night for Fallon. The little girl hadn’t enjoyed sitting on the blustery Santa-figure’s lap, but Aiden had urged her to stay long enough for them to get a picture. Fallon was more interested in the reindeer and screamed bloody murder when they finally took her away.

The screaming actually made Aiden happy, because it meant she was still a baby who wanted her own way. Sometimes she was too serious, and she saw too much. Angela had distracted her with her toys and a pacifier, and they’d tried to shield the public from her temper. He and the security team were getting better about building a metaphorical wall around the baby, both to keep her wild emotions from getting out and affecting other people and to keep her from being ‘seen’ by others that had been modified.

By the time they made it back to the SUV, she’d tired herself out. Her head rested on Aiden’s shoulder, and she’d almost been asleep by the time he loaded her into her car seat.

Angela had hugged Grace goodbye, and promised to get together with her again soon. Aiden could feel how much they liked each other, and it reassured him that he sensed nosubterfuge in Grace at all. She had feelings for Black, but that wasn’t any of his business. Although, from the lingering way Black watched her walk away, he wondered if the feelings didn’t go both ways.

Vaughn drove them up the mountain, through the fresh snow. As the elevation climbed, so did the snow they drove through. It wasn’t especially cold, but he was glad he’d banked the fireplace before they’d left. They would appreciate the extra heat tonight.

Once they pulled into the drive, Aiden carried Fallon into the house. He toed off his snowy boots and padded through to her room. The baby didn’t even wake as he pulled the puffy snowsuit off her. He changed her diaper and put her in a one-piece sleeper. She fussed a little, but not enough to fully wake. It had been a very busy night for her.

Angela was puttering in the kitchen. A tea kettle simmered on the stove, and her hands were wrapped around a mug of tea as she leaned against the counter, looking out the sink window.

“She barely even opened her eyes as I put her to bed,” he murmured.

“There’s a bottle ready in the fridge if she wakes up tonight,” Angela said, her voice raspy.

Aiden got himself a cup of tea and sat at the table as Angela talked about the people she’d met and the stories she’d heard from Grace. “I really, really like it here, Aiden. It’s scary how much.”

Yeah, he could feel the fear in her now. Pushing up from the table, he crossed the distance to her and took her hand. “There’s no sense in being afraid. We’re going to live our lives and make a safe environment for our child. If something happens, we’ll deal with it.”

Sighing, she gave him the crook of a smile. “Did you see Grace and Black?”

“They were a little hard to miss,” he laughed.

Angela leaned back in her chair. “I hope he takes a chance with her. He’s too closed off.”

Aiden rubbed his jaw. “Well, it’s up to him. Knowing Black, he’s thinking of the consequences down the road if the men get involved with the townspeople. We’re going to have to come up with a protocol on what we can tell the people that come into our lives. We’re in a pretty tight bubble right now, and that’s going to have to change. I’ll talk to him. If he has a chance at love, I would never tell him he couldn’t take that chance.”

“Some men may choose to leave the Foxhole,” Angela said softly. “Leave the mountains.”

He shrugged a little, trying not to show her how much the thought worried him. “They have that prerogative. If they don’t want to join Task Force Omega or work for Elizabeth at the Elton building or the Foxhole, they’re free to leave. We would never try to control them like Shu and Wilkes and Hall. That goes against everything we stand for.”

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