Jaxon opened his eyes slowly, groggy from sleep to find himself tucked in on his bed with no recollection of how he got there.
He sat up slowly as a rustling sound caught his attention. "Shana?" He blinked blearily as he saw his younger sister poking around in his wardrobe.
"I was starting to worry if you were dead." Shana clicked her tongue, turning around to look at him. "I've never known you to be such a deep sleeper, what are they feeding you?" She asked, sounding pleased.
It made him realise just how much she worried about him. "You should ask your mate that, she's the one who makes my sleeping potions." He fired back, flopping back on the bed, he had never been so reluctant to wake up before.
Shana scoffed, ruffling her short red hair. "Mae wouldn't let me breathe in peace if her potions were this effective." Now, she walked over to him. "As much as I love seeing you get enough sleep, your niece really wants to see you and you have to be on the road in a couple hours."
Jaxon turned to his side at this, his eyes going wide. "Ruby is here?" He jumped to his feet in excitement. "Where? Where?"
Shana looked unimpressed, of course that was the only thing he heard, but she also knew that there was no talking to him until he had seen Ruby.
"In the Kitchen with her Ma, she insisted on making breakfast for her best uncle." She directed, raising up a knitted sweater to eye level. "Its sum…" She continued saying but Jaxon didn't give her a chance to complete his sentence, already hurrying out to the kitchen with an excited squeal of … "Mae's here too?!"
She let her arms drop with her expression. "You know, I'm starting to think I'm your least favourite." She muttered, following right after because she still needed her brother's input to help him pack.
Darian had called first thing in the morning to ask her to check on her brother and just as she was about to tell her mate about it, Mae came with a similar story of Leon calling her to check on Jaxon as well.
Why was this all too familiar?
Sighing, she tossed the piece of clothing in her hand on the bed and made her way to the kitchen to join the others. Ruby's excited voice was the first thing that alerted her to their presence.
"Uncle Jaxie, Ma made me in charge of your sandwiches, look! Do you like them?..."
Shana stepped in and her nose twitched. "Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?" She noted in amusement, stepping behind her mate who was frying up eggs.
Mae smiled proudly. "She wanted to make something for Jaxie…"
From behind them, Jaxon was wowing in amazement. "Ooh! That's really delicious, Ru." He praised, his mouth full from the bite he had taken.
Ruby just giggled happily, staring up at him with stars in her eyes, Mae had had to place her on a low stool so she could properly use the counter.
Shana just got a handful of water from the sink and splashed it at Jaxon, a few droplets getting on Ruby who laughed louder. "Don't eat before brushing your teeth." She scolded.
"Ahh!" Jaxon squealed, shivering at the cold water. "Let's escape Ru, your mean mom wants to take away all the sandwiches you made for me." He stage whispered covertly to her, snatching her up with one hand, the tray of sandwiches in his other hand and he darted around the kitchen, escaping with his giggling niece in his arms.
Shana gaped at this turn of events. "What the f…"
A splash of water cut off the rest of her sentence, Mae had been the one to do the deed. "What have I told you about cussing in front of our daughter." She nodded at her mate, feigning upset.
Shana stepped right into her personal space, crowding her mate, this made Mae panic, her cheeks turning a fiery red. "The eggs, babe..." she reminded, looking everywhere but at Shana who had her face right up against hers.
Shana hid a smile at how flustered her mate was, it was cute, she reached behind Mae to put off the gas and pulled her away so that they didn't topple the pan.
This made Mae fall against her, Shana propped up against the island, she put her mate's arms around her neck and slipped hers around Mae's waist.
"We really shouldn't…" Mae trailed off, her hooded gaze falling to Shana's lips.
Shana leaned forward and she was a goner, melting into the kiss as sure as butter against a hot pan, feeling Shana's hands stray from her waist, going lower to cup her butt.
One moment, it was a hot melding of plush lips against one another and the next they were sputtering, springing apart.
Jaxie stood in front of them, in his pajamas, his red hair wild, expression judging.
He had thrown them a handful of water to get their attention. "Thank goodness I left Ru in the room." He said, throwing them a blame filled glare as he walked to finish up the food.
Shana and Mae burst out laughing at the turn of events, watching Jaxie quickly tuck in the eggs before they got cold.
"Tell me you brushed your teeth." Shana made a face.
Jaxon looked affronted. "Of course, Ruby even supervised."
"Talking about Ruby, I'd better go keep an eye on her." Mae piped up, wiping water from her cheek as she made her way out of the kitchen.
Shana got comfortable on the dining table opposite her older brother and appraised him for the longest of moments.
"What?" Jaxie demanded, cheeks puffed out.
"Are you good?" She asked vaguely, she had been more than a little busy with the clinic so she had to rely on Mae's tidbit of information to know how he was doing.
"Of course." Jaxon replied enthusiastically, eating even faster. He could guess where this conversation was going and his love life wasn't something that he wanted to discuss with his baby sister.
The relief when all Shana did was nod was palpable, she pushed to her feet. "Let's get to packing, I can't believe that you managed to sleep an entire day away."