“Anything I can help you with?” Jude thought about it and decided if she really wanted to help, she’d let her. “I’m game for just about anything. I sort of owe you for saving us.”
“You don’t really think that, do you?” Tracy turned to look at her as they were in the parking garage. “I mean, we didn’t take you in because we wanted you to owe us something. You don’t believe we did it for any other reason than we wanted you two to become our family, do you?”
“Honestly?” Jude nodded, getting herself ready for some sort of horrible thoughts coming from Tracy as to why they’d adopted them. “When you and Duncan first told us what you were doing, I was ready to take Abe and head out. I don’t have any idea where we might have ended up—probably on the wrong end of something bad. But I saw you holding Abe. He was asleep in your arms as if he belonged there.”
“Just me holding him? That got you to stay?” Tracy told her it was because he’d been asleep. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be dense here, but why did that make you want to stick around with us? I’m assuming you trusted us for that reason.”
“No. It was because Abe trusted you. Enough so that he was able to fall asleep without me there to keep him safe. He trusted that you’d not hurt him. Not make him feel like he had to have someone protecting him while he was resting. He trusted you. And in turn, I did as well.” Jude looked at Tracy. “Do you understand now?”
“Yes. I do. And I want to thank you for telling me. I don’t know what I’d do if I were to find either of you gone from the house. I would move heaven and earth to keep you both safe.” Jude thought about what she was saying. “I know you and Abe have only been with us for about a week now, but I feel as if you’ve opened up a part of my heart that I hadn’t realized was closed off. Duncan moved in there too but in a different sort of way. I’ve fallen in love with both of you. You mean more than anything to me.”
Tracy hugged her. Not just a quick hug where her arms barely touched her before she moved away, but a full out, entire body hug that warmed her all the way to her heart. Hugging her back, telling her how much she loved her, she was a little sad when Tracy pulled back and looked up at her. The tears in her eyes brought Jude’s to the point of falling down her cheeks.
“Thank you, Mom.” Jude burst into tears when Tracy called her mom. It was more than she had hoped for when taking these kids to her heart. “We should get going. I don’t know about you, but all this emotional crap is making me hungry.”
It took her a couple of minutes to gather herself enough to drive. While she was sitting there in the car, she had a sudden thought. Looking at Tracy, she wondered why she’d not said anything about driving. Asking her why she didn’t drive had the girl laughing again.
“Because there wasn’t a car around for me to practice in mostly. Not to mention, it’s doubtful that Hanna would have allowed me to drive her car.” Jude asked her if she’d had the permit test. “No. It didn’t occur to me until just now that I could be driving. I have driven before—not legally, but I have driven. Are you going to buy me a car if I say I’d like to drive?”
Sure she was joking, Jude told her she would buy her a good stable car. “I don’t want you out someplace where you can’t get home. You and Abe, you both need cell phones as well. I know we told you about how we can communicate with you since we’ve taken you into our hearts, but you need to have a phone for other things too.” Jude pulled out of the doctor’s parking lot and onto the road. “I’ve never been big on driving. I guess you could say my way of getting around pleases me where driving doesn’t. I don’t like traffic. People, for the most part, are all right, but I don’t like them in traffic.”
“I think it’s a given that if there is traffic, you can bet there will be people in the cars.” Jude grinned at her. She had such a good sense of humor. “But I don’t expect you to give me whatever I want. That’s not the way it’s supposed to work.”
“It’s how I work. I won’t give either of you everything, but I will indulge you in some things. Having a reliable car isn’t an indulgence, however. It’s a necessity. For both of us—my peace of mind, and your ability to go from point A to B without getting into a terrible accident.” Tracy said she could understand her wanting her to be safe. “Good. Because I didn’t mention this to you before, but you’re an immortal. You’ll age until you’re about twenty-five, then you’ll just stay the way you are. You won’t be able to gain weight after that, either. Just to let you know.”
“Duncan told me this morning before I left home. He also mentioned that
