Page 100 of Peach Tree Family

They had hours of fun with Theo and Seth keeping them safe. It was exhausting, but the unwelcome visitor was never far from Theo's mind. He watched Ace, so happy and carefree, but he wouldn't be if he knew their aunt was there.

Later on, it was Sam who picked up the boys and Theo knew he had to talk to him. "I need to tell you something and Wyatt should know this too. My aunt is in town and she can't have anything to do with Ace. If she approaches him or tries to take him anywhere, please call me."

"We would never let Ace go off with anyone unless you told us it was OK," Sam assured him.

"Thank you."

"Let us know if you need anything," Sam said and he touched his arm briefly.

"You've already done a lot for me and Ace."

When Rico and Mitch came by to pick up Sammy, Rico looked all around then he nudged his husband. "This place would be perfect." He then explained himself to Theo. "My grandma likes to throw an egg hunt for her Easter party in her nice garden, but it would be more of a serious hunt out here."

Rob was still there, and he disagreed. "It isn't supposed to be a 'serious hunt'. It's supposed to be easy."

"Then how are the kids supposed to hone their hunting instincts?" Rico asked.

"You planning to hand out bows and arrows?" Rob asked.

Theo cut off their arguing with a question, "Does your grandmother hide real or chocolate eggs?"

"Real ones. You thinking of doing chocolate? Grandma throws her Easter bash in the evening. I was thinking we could throw a hunt out here earlier. Lunchtime? What do you say?" Rico said.

Theo agreed. "Sounds great. OK. It's on." He wanted to give Ace something good, an antidote to their aunt being there and whatever she was up to.

Seth had the dinner shift at the tearoom so they didn't get to talk until he came back that night. Ace was already in bed, but Theo wanted to make sure they weren't overheard so they stayed in the kitchen. Theo leaned against the counter tiredly, and Seth leaned next to him and took his hand to encourage him to talk.

"I told you about our aunt. Well, she's here," Theo said.

"Why? What does she want?" Seth asked, frowning.

"Ace. I wasn't supposed to take him away, but I had to get him away from her and her boyfriend. He was violent and our aunt..." Theo took a breath. "I still don't understand how she could be our mom's sister. She's nothing like her. Where mom had the biggest heart, Aunt Cindy has an empty hole. It's even more confusing for Ace."

"You can't let her take him," Seth said.

"No. Ace wouldn't be safe with her. After Aunt Cindy kicked me out, she started seeing this white supremacist. I didn't know it at the time, but it turned out he was beating on her. At one point he did it while Ace was there to witness it. Ace tried to get between them, but our aunt started hitting Ace, telling him to keep his mouth shut. I only found out about that later. The next time it happened, Ace couldn't keep quiet. Jerry hurt our aunt pretty bad and Ace called 911. She ended up in the hospital, and Ace stayed with me. When we went to see our aunt in the hospital, she said it was our fault her boyfriend got arrested. I got audio on my phone of her telling us to go live on the street because that's where we belonged, but I don't know if it will stand up in court."

"I can't believe you thought to record her," Seth said.

"She had claimed that Ace lied. She was denying that her boyfriend was the one who hurt her. I thought she might admit to something when it was just us."

"Is her boyfriend still in jail? She didn't bring him, did she?" Seth asked, his expression dark.

"I hope not. I was thinking that she might have gotten smart and dumped him. That could be why she's here. Her boyfriend never wanted Ace around. With him gone..."

Seth could guess what he was afraid of. "No. No."

"I can't imagine why else she would be here. I'll have to start work on getting custody, but I didn't make myself look good by taking Ace away without going to court first. I could be charged with kidnapping."

"Your aunt threw you out. But why didn't you go to court then? If she hit Ace..."

"They might have taken Ace away from her, but they wouldn't have placed him with me. I didn't have a permanent place to live. I was just staying with different friends, and I only had a part time job. I didn't know where Ace might have ended up. That's why we came here."

"You have a job and a proper place to live now. They'll let you keep Ace," Seth said, but Theo could tell he had doubts. Instead of words, Seth offered him a different kind of comfort. He opened his arms and let Theo step into them.

Theo sagged against him, but the need for comfort became so strong, making him cling to Seth.

Theo spent a sleepless night and kept Seth awake too as he held him and refused to let him leave his bed. "If I go, you can get some sleep," Theo told him.

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