Page 12 of Surviving in Everton

“Rowen? Are you feeling okay, Kitten?” Nate walks over to me and cups the side of my face.

I close my eyes and breathe him in. His hand slides around to the back of my head, where he fists a handful of hair and pulls my head back. My eyes fly open and I stare into his warm brown eyes. The longer he holds me here, staring into my eyes, the calmer I become. I don’t know what the fuck that was about, but I don’t like it. He must see a change in my eyes or maybe it’s the breath I let out, the sagging of my shoulders, but he slowly releases my hair.

“What just happened, Kitten?” he asks me softly. Fuck, I wish I knew.

My eyes start to water, so instead of demanding an answer, Nate pulls me into his arms and just holds me as I cry for the hundredth time today. God, I’m so fucking sick of crying. It doesn’t take long before I feel multiple hands on me. Each of the guys trying to calm me in some way. Or maybe they’re trying to calm themselves.

They pass me around, each of them needing to hold me in their arms. By the time I end the 'pass the Rowen' game in Declan’s arms, I’m feeling a lot better. Dec holds me tight, so tight I shouldn’t be able to breathe, but somehow I can. God, why does it feel so good to be in his arms? Even more than the other guys for some reason. Which really doesn’t make sense, because I don’t have actual favorites, I just play favorites. But damn, I feel at peace for the first time since this shit started, in Declan’s arms.

“We need to talk,a mhuirnín,” Declan tells me as he kisses the top of my head. Still not loosening his grip on me.

“Okay? Is it bad?” I ask him, squeezing him even tighter in fear of what this conversation will entail.

He sighs. “No,a mhuirnín, it’s not bad. Just something you should know. Do you think it would be okay if I stayed the night?” he asks me with a hitch to his normally smooth voice.

I finally pull back and look at him. I can tell how important this talk is to him by the uncertainty in his bright green eyes. “Of course, you can, Declan.” I look over at the other guys and find them all nodding in agreement. I wonder if they know what Dec has to talk to me about… Oh well, I guess I’ll find out soon enough.

Chapter 6

Rowen

Acouple of hours later, the rest of the guys take Logan home. Now it’s just Declan, Violet, and me. This is the second time this week one of the guys has stayed the night. I really didn’t plan on making a habit out of this, but it sounds like they think one of them is going to be staying here every night. I don’t know how to explain all of this to Violet. I really don’t want the kids to know what’s going on, but they’re both smart. It’s only a matter of time before they figure out something is wrong.

“Mommy?” Violet fidgets with the hem of her shirt, looking at me with questioning eyes, that quickly dart away.

“What is it, sweetie? What’s wrong?”

She sighs. “Nothing’s wrong, Mommy,” she tells me as she climbs up on my lap. “Are you feeling okay?” she asks me with her little brows furrowed.

“I’m fine, sweetie. Nothing for you to worry about,” I reassure her. Though based on the look on her face, I failed miserably.

“Mommy… you don’t have to lie to me. It’s okay. I can handle it,” she asserts gently. Why is my sweet five-year-old trying to comfort me? That’smyjob, not hers. I’m sitting here, with Violet on my lap admiring what an amazing little girl I’m raising when I hear Declan gasp. I look up to find him staring at Violet in wonder.

“Violet?” he calls her name and she looks at him with a smile.

“Yes, Mr. Declan?” she responds.

“Uh, just Declan is fine when we’re not at school,” he tells her and she nods. “Do you know about my special ability?” he asks, and I look at him with wide eyes.

“Yeah… Logan told me,” she admits then bites her bottom lip. She looks so much like me, looking up at Dec with wide eyes, abusing her lip.

“That’s okay, Violet. I’m glad he told you,” he says, and she sags in relief. “Do you know that some people have extra abilities like I do?” he asks her gently.

“I guess… I mean, I know not everyone can read minds like you can,” she offers.

“That’s right. It’s actually a pretty rare ability. But there are other abilities people can have that are similar,” he explains.

She looks at me out of the corner of her eye. “Like what?” she asks him. There’s that lip bite again. She definitely knows something. What is Declan getting at here? I look up at him in question and he sighs deeply.

“Like empathy,” he suggests.

Empathy? That’s a power? I mean, I know Violet is very empathetic. That’s why she makes friends everywhere she goes. She gets that from me. It’s always been easy for me to tell how someone is feeling… Wait… Empathy is a power? My daughter has apower?!? I look at Declan with my mouth agape.

“Declan?” I breathe his name. That’s all I can force myself to say.Is it true? Does she have an ability like you?I ask him.

“Uhhh, well…” he stammers. “That’s partially what I wanted to talk to you about tonight.”

I tilt my head to the side. “You wanted to talk about Violet having special abilities?” I ask doubtfully.

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