Page 17 of Unveiled Wishes

“Thunder, I…you,” she said to me, with a slight smile.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said, settling JR against my shoulder and taking my chair again. Pointing at her nieces, I asked again, “Were they always like this?”

“Can still hear you,” Flo said, but she smiled and there wasn’t any heat behind her words. She had walked over to Meredith, and they were standing side-by-side.

“No,” Liz laughed. “Only fighting…Gerry…encouraged…younger. They work…well.” Her gaze shifted first to Grace and then to Meredith.

“We can hear you,” they both said as they turned with their hands on their hips to face us.

“Good.” She laughed at them and waved her good hand to encourage them to get back to work.

“Alright, enough of this. How many stockings are there?” Meredith asked Flo.

“Fifty-ish.”

“How did you order fifty-ish? There had to be a set number.” They had turned to face each other, but they were standing so close, it made me nervous. Meredith wasn’t stable, and even though I didn’t think they would fight, I wasn’t taking any chances. I shifted with JR towards the front of my seat, in case I had to put him back into his bouncer and break them up.

“Well, there was, but I had to add a few at the end, and I lost count.” Flo shrugged, like it was not a big deal.

Meredith rubbed her hand across her face. “You’re killing me. How wide are the stockings across the top?”

“I don’t know. I thought they were cute and didn’t bother to measure. Plus, some of the longer names fit easier, so I didn’t have to worry about it.” Flo shrugged again. I was watching them closely, and I was pretty sure Flo was acting clueless. It was a plight to keep Meredith functioning. It could also have been a sister thing that I would never understand.

“Did you do this on purpose?” Meredith rolled her eyes as Flo approached her aunt.

“Aunt E, make her stop.” Flo moved JR’s bouncer out of the way and flopped down on the other side of Liz, placing her cheek on Liz’s shoulder. Liz brought her good hand up to pat it.

“No.” Liz nodded in Meredith’s direction with a smile on her face.

Meredith wasn’t paying us any attention. She’d whipped her phone out and was trying to figure out the placement for the stockings. It was good to see her taking part, even though tomorrow might be another day. She stopped typing and then opened the box on the other table. Looking inside, Meredith placed her head in her hands. “Of course you did,” she aimed at Flo.

“They were cute.” Flo smiled at Liz, and when she returned it, it was easy to tell which side of the family the girls took after.

“Do you need help?” Slate said from behind Liz, his hands on either side of her shoulders. I had been so engrossed with the girls that I had missed Slate walking into the room. I wanted to tell him to get the fuck away from Liz, but she wouldn’t understand why I was territorial about her. Slate would just laugh at me, and then we’d have to settle this outside. As we were two of the oldest in the club, the rest of the brothers would never let us live it down.

She turned around, and that was when the light went out from her eyes.

“You okay, Liz?” he asked her.

“Let her be. Next time, don’t sneak up on anyone,” I said.

“I didn’t sneak up on her. She saw me enter the room when she turned towards Flo.” Slate made sure his hands grazed her shoulders. She was in such a mental state that she shook. Her mind couldn’t process that she was safe. All she knew was that she was being touched.

“It’s alright, Aunt E. Why don’t you come sit closer to me?” Flo stepped in, shooting a look at Slate over Liz’s head. “It’s okay, no one will hurt you. I’ll make sure of it.” Liz couldn’t process anything that was being said, but Flo’s tone would soothe her until the light shined back in her eyes.

JR whimpered in my arms, sensing my tension. Before he wailed, I handed him back to Flo, so that I could get away from Slate. If we hurt anyone over our stupidity, Sabre would dish out punishment and not even ask twice. I didn’t blame him. I would have done the same thing to protect my family.

I stood from my chair and rolled my sleeves up, preparing to hang stockings with Meredith. “Would you like some help?” I asked her as I grabbed the stocking she’d placed on the table. Doing a double take, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It wasa white fluffy cuff with Sabre’s name sequined at the top. The actual stocking was red with Santa riding a motorcycle. I didn’t know what to say, and I was sure my face was stuck in shock.

“I told you she was insane. There’s one for every person.” Meredith pointed at the stocking I held up. “There are even a few with reindeers on bikes.”

“They were cute,” Flo piped up, still watching Liz. Slate had moved on to the bar, but he was sitting on a stool facing the room.

“It’s going to look like Christmas threw up in here,” Meredith complained, pulling off Grizz’s hoodie she always wore.

“It’s JR’s first Christmas, and the club hasn’t celebrated a holiday in a really long time.” Bouncing JR in her arms, Flo brought him closer to her so that his feet could bounce on her leg. “We’re going to help Aunt Meredith find her Christmas spirit.”

“I am hanging your stockings. What more do you want?”

---