Taste of Wolves

Chapter 21

It had been a rather entertaining evening for her as she listened to these bikers playfully talking trash to one another as they played pool. Bringing her to the clubhouse had the desired effect. She wasn't thinking of her aunt and she was laughing. Genuinely laughing and smiling. Quinn hoped her good mood would remain after he took her home to her now-empty house. When she finally started yawning, Quinn decided it was time to take her home. Although she'd had a good time at his clubhouse, she felt ready to go home and face her first night alone in the house. She made sure to bid Chibs a good night and waved to the bikers who looked her direction as she followed Quinn outside.

The ride was shorter than she remembered it and before long they were pulling up in front of her driveway. He parked his bike not sure if she'd want him to stay with her or not. He walked her to her door where she unlocked it and turned on the lamp by the door. They stood just inside the door where she thanked him for the nice evening and looked forward to when she got to see him again. He just smiled and said it was his pleasure. He made her promise to call him if she needed anything. He pulled her into a tight hug before pressing his lips to hers. As it usually did, his kiss left her feeling dizzy and weak as they stood there kissing. He finally pulled away and told her he'd call her tomorrow sometime to check on her earning a sleepy smile in return.

She watched him leave before she shut and locked the door then headed upstairs to her room to get ready for bed. Her first night alone in the house was strange feeling for her. She wasn't sure what she expected to happen. When her aunt went to bed, there wasn't a lot of noise happening in the house. There wasn't a lot of noise happening in the house then but it still felt strange to her. She got as settled as she could before turning her TV on to find something to watch as she went to sleep. At some point she drifted to sleep. Her alarm woke her the next day and she got out of bed like she normally did to take a quick shower before getting dressed to make breakfast. She was in the middle of her shower when she realized she'd only be cooking for one that day.

She sighed as she finished her shower. When she entered her bedroom to get dressed, she found she had a new text. Picking up her phone she found it was from Quinn which immediately brought a smile to her face.

Quinn: I was just thinking of you. I don't know what your plans are for the day but I hope your day is good.

She thought he was just the sweetest guy on Earth. Once she'd dressed and poured herself a bowl of cereal, since she didn't feel like cooking, she decided to go to the hospital to visit her aunt. Since it was just her, she opted to take her vehicle instead of her aunt's. They normally went places in her aunt's car because it was easier for her aunt to get in and out of her car than Aria's SUV. Now that she was going places on her own, she opted to take her vehicle. The ride was uneventful as she hummed along to whatever song was playing on the radio while she made her way to the hospital. When she arrived, her aunt was just getting breakfast.

The pair greeted one another and Aria urged her aunt to eat telling her it would help keep her strength up. Linda just smiled at her niece and did her best to eat as much as she could. Her appetite was waning and she knew that wasn't a good sign. She was tired all the time and was just about ready to give up the fight so she wouldn't hurt and be so tired anymore. Aria asked her aunt how her first night had been in the hospital. They chatted about this and that including how Linda was feeling. "I'm ready to go, sweetie. I'm in pain all the time, I'm tired all the time, I'm just ready for this to be over." Linda told Aria taking the younger woman aback. It made Linda chuckle at her reaction. Aria wasn't as prepared as she thought she'd be especially hearing her aunt was ready to go.

"I'm going to miss you, Aunt Linda. But if you're in this much pain, I don't want you hanging on because of me." Aria finally relented to the fact her aunt was more than ready to leave the world.

"I know, sweetie. When it's my time, I'll go." Linda gave Aria's hand a squeeze, "Besides, I'd like to see Filip one last time. We have great conversations and he makes me laugh."

"I'll go by the shop and let him know you want to see him then. I'm sure he can find the time to come up and visit." Aria told her earning a wide smile in return.

Aria stayed with her aunt until lunch time. She urged her aunt to eat once more. Linda ate all she could even though it wasn't much. She told her niece to go visit Quinn and that she'd be fine until her next visit. Aria hugged her aunt then left the hospital. She decided to surprise Quinn at the shop by bringing him lunch. Seeing a metallic blue Ford Escape pull into the lot made Quinn's heart leap into his throat. That was Aria's vehicle. She brought the bag of food and two drinks with her to the picnic table by the clubhouse with a smile. She told him she thought he could use a break making him laugh.

"I'll always take a break for you." He retorted, "How's your day been?"

"Just came from the hospital from visiting Aunt Linda. She says she's ready to go but wants to visit with Chibs one last time." Aria separated their food.

"I'll let him know. How are you doing with all this?" He inquired as Tig and Happy approached the table with their own food making her shrug.

"I thought I'd be more prepared especially since we knew this was a possibility but it still hurts, ya know? She's basically my only living relative left besides her shithead son whom I can't stand. She told me she's ready to go because she's in so much pain and so tired all the time. I told her I didn't want her hanging on because of me if she's really ready to go." Aria explained.

"Aunt has cancer?" Happy asked.

"Yeah. She's in the hospital's hospice care unit now. Her doctor gave her only weeks to about two months left." Aria told the bald-headed biker.

"Sorry to hear that, Doll." Tig stated.

"She's got her affairs in order as far as I know and she's prepared. I thought I was but I guess I'm not really ready to let her go just yet." Aria shrugged.

"I understand." Happy grunted.

"His mom died of cancer a few years back." Tig told her when she looked at the assassin funny.

"Sorry for you loss. I lost both my parents when I was young and was raised by my grandparents. Lost them right after I graduated from high school. Now I'm losing my Aunt Linda." She sighed.

"Damn. If you need anything, just ask." Tig told her as Chibs approached the table.

"Wolfie! Nice t' see ya! 'ow's your aunt?" Chibs asked as he sat down on her other side with his own lunch.

"Doing as well as can be expected. She wants to see you, though. One last conversation or something." She replied.

"Aye. I'll stop by the 'ospital after work an' see 'er then." Chibs exclaimed.

"She'll like that. Visiting hours are over at eight though." Aria warned him.

Chibs got her talking about her stream and how she was doing with that. Neither Happy nor Tig understood what she was talking about which amused Quinn. It was something they'd have to see for themselves to understand what she did to support herself. She talked about some new games she'd gotten that she was interested in making Tig tell her she needed to talk to Juice since he was a gamer too. She nodded and said she loved talking to any fellow gamer making several of them laugh. Quinn asked if she was ever going to bring over some baked goods making her face tint slightly and said she'd try to do some baking in the next few days.

After lunch, she bid everyone goodbye before heading home. She did some cleaning before heading to start her afternoon stream. She knew she'd be taking a week or so at least off when her aunt died so she tried to stick to her normal schedule for now despite being a bit depressed about the situation. Tig still didn't understand what she did for a living but didn't want to dwell on it too much. She supported herself and that's all that mattered at the end of the day. Quinn figured he'd stop by her house after work to check up on her and spend a little time with her while Chibs went to the hospital to spend time with her aunt. The pair had gotten close over the last few months. Most of his brothers figured it was a romantic relationship although it wasn't.

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