“You’ve no idea how happy I am to finally meet you. I’m Loman Foster. My family is inside about to bust to come out and see you. Can they?” She told him sure, even as the front door opened and people poured out. She had a thought of one of those clown cars in the circus—there were so many of them. Sandy hid behind her. Donna, of course, stood in front of her and her sister.
“Donna, it’ll be all right. These are Aunt Rogue’s friends.” She didn’t move. “Donna, just be nice. They’re not going to harm any of us. You heard what your aunt told you. They’re big men, but not mean.”
“It’s all right.” A man, as large as the car they were driving, got down on his knees in front of her daughter. “My name is Ronan. I’m Loman’s brother. The other men here, for the most part, are our other brothers. You must be Donna.”
“Aunt Rogue, she says I’m like her. Even though we’re not blood-related.” Ronan glanced at her, then back at her daughter. “You’re a lion. She said we had better know that, but if we told anyone, she’d beat us with a wet willow stick until we were nothing but strips of meat. She’s very descriptive about things.”
“I guess she is.” Ronan reached up and was handed a small bundle. Opening up the blanket the baby was wrapped in was all that was needed to get all the kids to his side. “This is my nephew. His name is Pete. We thought if you guys could see we don’t hurt babies, you’d allow us to be your friends too.”
“That’s a really stupid reason to bring a baby to us, don’t you think?” Lily was mortified, but everyone laughed. “Mom, you have to agree. I mean, what would you have done if I showed you a baby and told you I wanted you to like me? You would have…well, you would have taken it in too, even though we don’t have two pennies to rub together. But sheesh, I don’t think this was well thought out. Do you?”
“I don’t know. Donna, I swear, you’re more like your aunt daily.” She put out her hand to shake Ronan’s. “I’m Lily Fisher. This is my family. I guess you heard from Rogue? She sent us on so we’d not have to wait in the hotel forever for her to get finished.”
Her car was unpacked, and their things were taken into the house even as she was gathering the kids up. Not only did they help her with the things they’d packed for this trip, but the men also took Rogue’s car to the garage and put it away for her. She’d purchased the car on the road because it was insane to keep renting one. She liked this one better, and when she was working, Rogue was going to leave it for Lily to use. Lily was shown into one of the most beautiful bedrooms she’d ever been in and told she’d be there until they could figure out what to do when her sister returned.
Exhaustion had never been far away from Lily. She and it had been old friends since the day she’d been informed that her husband-to-be had been killed. Mark had been set to marry her, and she was going to adopt his children. He’d even gone so far as to put her on all his insurance policies as beneficiary, to receive the house as well as anything else he’d owned. Then Missy Tyler had stepped in and made their lives, all of them, a complete nightmare.
At the knock at the door, she wiped at the useless tears and asked the person on the other side to come in.
“I’m sorry, honey. Would you like me to come back?” She told the older woman she was all right. “I bet you have been holding on for some time now. Just let it out, and we’ll hold you up. I’m here to tell you the children have been given swimsuits and are now out in the large pool. This house belongs to my son and his wife, Don and Brook. They’re the ones that have the baby. Also, we heard from your sister earlier, and she said she’d call you later with some information. My goodness, you certainly have a wonderful family.”
“I think so as well. Rogue, she’s been taking care that they have a good time. I don’t know what I’d have done without her.” The woman reminded her that she was Loman’s mother. “Yes, Mrs. Foster. I wanted to thank everyone for making us welcome here. It’s been such a bad year or so for us. I hope your other son can help us.”
“He will. And please, call me Carmilla. I know that you’re not as trusting as we are, but if you’d like to take a lie down for a little while, we’ll keep the kids entertained. I know how stressful it is to drive. I don’t do it much anymore, but it can be nerve-wracking.” Lily looked longingly at the bed. “Go ahead, dear. I’ll make sure you’re called in plenty enough time for dinner. We’ll be cooking out, so that won’t take a moment to finish. Go on, have a nice rest.”
She did lie down, but she wasn’t going to go to sleep. Lily promised herself she was only going to be there for twenty minutes or so, then she’d get up and see to her children. It was really nice of them to take care of them, but she wasn’t going to take advantage of anyone. Not ever, if she could help it.
Just as she was getting up to see if she could find herself a book to
