Anna closed the door to Paycen's bedroom as quietly as she could. In the end she had decided to stay home. Shawn had argued with her to stay awake until he returned. She had tried to tell her daughter that the team would be getting home very late, but she wouldn't listen. Shawn and Serge had gathered supplies in the form of juice and snacks and plopped down in front of the television in the living room. They had watched movie after movie with Shawn using Serge as a pillow.
Every hour or so, she would check on the duo. They were a match made n heaven. Shawn moved around a lot because she was six and Serge was right there with her. They even went outside together when Serge needed to go out. So it wasn't a surprise when they remained together in the living room.
It was about eleven when Shawn started to go down. Her normal bedtime was around eight. Three hours past bedtime was a no-no in their house, but since she had begged to stay up until Paycen came home, she wasn't going to give up easily. She didn't. Every time Anna had walked in to put her to bed, Shawn would wake up and shoo her away.
Finally she went out around midnight. Anna had laughed at her as she scooped her up to take her to bed. Serge had followed them to the bedroom and had hopped up on the bed. The large Saint Bernard turned around once then settled down beside the little girl.
Anna walked back into the living room and began cleaning up the mess the duo had left behind. Shawn wasn't usually messy, but pair a six year old with a Saint Bernard and things were bound to get out of hand. She tossed crushed up chips and Goldfish into the bowl they had been mixed in and grabbed the juice boxes from the floor. After taking out the trash, she set about cleaning the kitchen.
For a small group of people they could put away food. Aggie made a lot of food when she cooked then conveniently forgot to clean up the mess she made. Anna was used to cleaning up after a six year old but not a forty-nine year old woman. Her mother was young. She had had Anna when she was twenty-four, months before Anna's father had died. It made Anna really appreciative of her mom. Her stepfather had been a jerk so it made her mother even better in her eyes.
Because of her stepfather, she had been a little wary when Paycen had told her about being her mate. Her stepfather hadn't been physically abusive but he had been mentally abusive. He was never that way when her mother was around, but when she wasn't it was all out war between them. Aggie had married him to because he had showed her one side. When she had found out that her husband was abusing her daughter, they had walked out on him.
Anna had promised herself that if she ever fell in love again, the man had to love Shawn as much as he loved her. Paycen had gone above and beyond that. He had already asked to be the girl's father even though they weren't married yet. Someone who considered Shawn his own before they were even married made her feel that this was the right thing for them. Even though she didn't like the way she had been told, she couldn't deny the fact that in two weeks she had come to understand the way they worked.
She was happy she was human. In the world the others lived in, she wasn't sure she could do it with the finesse they had. Besides, someone had to be the one to bring the normal human aspect to the relationship. She didn't know how Paycen was going to be when it came to homework, bath time and bedtime, but she was going to be strict about it even more so because Shawn was a superhuman.
Abby appeared out of nowhere, nearly giving Anna a heart attack. She smiled apologetically as she moved to the fridge to get something to drink. She looked better than she had two days prior. Blood loss would do that to a person. Shawn had been so upset when Abby had been brought back in worse condition than when she left. Paycen had been very diligent in taking care of her so the girls would have plenty of days together.
"Did she finally go to sleep?" Abby asked as she pulled herself up on the counter.
"Yeah, she and Serge are curled up in the bed," Anna replied as she rinsed off the last dish. She set it in the strainer then pulled the plug so the water could run out. "I'm sure she would have slept there all night if I had let her."
"More than likely. She's very taken with Paycen. Both of you are." She smiled when Anna looked at her. "I see the way you look at him. It's the same way I looked at mine."
Anna was pleasantly surprised. "You have a mate?"
"Yep, I do, but no one knows about him. I told Keldin and my team but they're the only ones who know him personally."
"What about the Queen?"
"Oh, I'm sure she knows since we're all interconnected but she won't bring him up. She knows how private family can be and she understands it. I would tell you but you're not part of my team. No offense."
The other woman shook her head. "None taken. It's just you're so young."
"I'm not as young as some of the people. Mikey found his mate when he was sixteen. They got married when they were eighteen. Actually they eloped which pissed off both of their families. I think it's all smoothed over now that they have Jamie."
"I take it Jamie is their son?" Abby nodded. "Makes sense now."
They continued talking until there were multiple pops. Eight very tired people walked around the corner and collapsed in seats wherever they could find them. As Anna's eyes scanned the group, not one of them seemed better than the first. Aiden, Mikey, and Emery looked worse than any of them. The King and Queen had matching wounds and split lips but they also seemed to be buzzing more than the others.
Abby reached above her and pulled down a bowl. She handed it to Anna who ran water in it while she grabbed the ice trays and emptied them. She left the kitchen for a few seconds only to return with eight washcloths. Anna placed the bowl in the middle of the table while Abby handed them washcloths. The women stole Paycen and Deuce's rags and dipped them in the water.
"It looks like you had your asses handed to you," Abby said.
"Our wounds are simply from debris when Keldin pulled the tunnel down and Tyler grabbed everything in a whirlwind," Deuce replied. He swatted his teammate's hand away and took the rag from her.
"He's right. Our wounds are superficial. It's theirs I would be worried about," Paycen said. He winced as Anna dabbed at a cut around his eye. "That hurts."
"For a Healer, you suck at healing yourself," she replied.
"I'm not able to heal myself. It's the only downside of being a Healer. I would heal them but I'm kind of depleted from healing Emery and Mikey the first time."
Anna looked at the Golden King as he dabbed at his sister's face. His wounds weren't as bad as his sister's but that didn't mean he didn't hurt. He just looked like he was in less pain than the others. Emery looked the same way but he had a big bruise right under his eye the Paycen obviously didn't get a chance to get to.
They all lapsed into silence as they all got cleaned up. The Sector 7 team eventually excused themselves so they could return to their homes in San Francisco. Mikey and Aiden went back to their respective homes after they promised to do the paperwork for Anna. The only ones left were Emery, Paycen and Anna. Emery excused himself to get a shower then go to bed.
"He seems so tired," Anna said as she dumped the water down the drain and took the rags to the washer.
"He is. He's been staying up later since we've been here. I don't blame him but he overworked himself," Paycen replied.
She didn't see him when he got up from his seat and walked up behind her. He spun her around and wrapped his arms around her. She melted into his touch, extremely happy to have him safe and sound with her.
"Daddy!"
Paycen let Anna go and caught Shawn as she ran at him. He picked her up and hugged her close. She laughed and snuggled into his arms. Anna placed her hands on her hips.
"I thought you were supposed to be in bed," she said.
"I had to go to the bathroom and I heard his voice. I wanted to see him," the girl replied.
Paycen looked between mother and daughter. He shifted Shawn to his hip and held out his free hand. "Come on. Let's go to bed."
Anna was pleasantly surprised when he led them to the room in which Shawn had been sleeping. He shooed Serge off the bed then playfully tossed Shawn into the middle of it. Anna was given time to change clothes as Paycen went to Emery's room to change. When he came back, he was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. He growled once then slid into bed, tickling Shawn as he settled in.
"Now one, two, three, go to sleep!" Shawn closed her eyes and snuggled into Paycen's shoulder. He looked over her head at Anna. "So New York?"
She nodded. "Yeah, New York. When do you want to move?"
"I have to be back by the beginning of next week. You can come as soon as you want. I don't want to pull Shawn away from any school. We have a school that I can get her in. I also have a place where we all live. So it's really whenever you're up to it."
"Can I transfer to the NYPD?"
"Austin's already on it."
"I guess we'll be there on the next break."
Paycen smiled. As he leaned over to kiss her, Shawn lifted her head.
"Good night, Daddy," she whispered.
He hugged her to him and laid back against his pillow. "Good night, baby. Night, Anna."
She laughed. "Oh, I see how it is."
They all laughed until they were too tired to laugh anymore.
Catch the next installment of the Silver Court Series soon!!