TIGERLILLY- THE BRAVO BOYS [book two]

Chapter NINETEEN

Frankie Xiao

When River doesn't return to the bedroom, I collect Lovey from the nest of blankets I'd made for her on the bed and take her with me to inch slowly back down the hall, hoping the beautifully-furious woman who had ruined the most perfect moment I've ever lived has finally gone..

The living room is eerily quiet as I circle the sofa to where River sits.. In his hands he holds a torn open yellow envelope and a pile of papers that he flicks through in frustration.. His blonde brows are set in an irritated scowl and his hardened eyes scan back and forth over the words written before him.. When I settle on the floor with Lovey, he looks up from the documents with an uncertain sigh.. "She doesn'ae wanna come back.. She doesn't want custody.."

"Amberley?" I ask, knowing that he means Lovey's mother.. The beautiful, angry blonde woman.. She had big eyes like blue-lakes and rivers of sunshine for hair..

Everything I am not, she stood confidently on the longest legs I have ever seen when she spoke to me.. When she warned me about animals..

Oh, I know animals.. The way she behaved, I would say she is maybe one herself..
Angry and sad..
And I feel sorry for her..

"Aye, fuckin' Amberley." He nods.. Flinging the envelope down on the table with an angry growl.. "Fuck!"

I flinch, clutching Lovey a little closer to my chest where she warbles and begins to sob.. "River, mercy!"

He hauls himself to his feet, smoothing out his tone to speak softly.. "Shite-- I'm sorry sweetheart-- I can't do anythin' rite'.."

I rock Lovey back to a tranquil state while River meanders off into the kitchen, returning minutes later with a bottle of milk for the baby and a bottle of whiskey for himself..
He scoops Lovey from my lap, sitting back down he nestles her in the crook of his arm and lets her hold the bottle herself, only assisting when she fumbles or squirms..

With his other arm and a pained groan, he tries to reach out to the whiskey bottle on the coffee table, unable to get his fingers around it..

I climb to my feet to help him, unscrewing the cap and pouring a little into the glass, just the same as he had done for me when I was hurt.. I hold it out to him, made anxious by his dark aurora and inflamed mood..

"Ah, t'anks much, Lovely.." He lifts the glass and smiles cheerlessly at me before drinking every drop..
That is the best way after all.. He said so himself.

I curl up on the sofa beside him, watching as he dotes on Lovey.. Amberley must be wrong about him, he isn't so bad.. Not when he is with me.. "Maybe her mind will change?" I offer the thought as it occurs to me..

River looks over at me.. "Ye' think?"

"Maybe." I shrug, unsure.. I can't know the future for certain since it is always changing.. But I think I know River.. I know that if I were Amberley, I would change my mind about abandoning him.. I can't imagine being so upset with him that I'd ever want to leave..

So, maybe she didn't really want to leave?.. Maybe she had to?

Then again.. Father Xiao didn't come looking for me.. So maybe Amberley is like that.. Maybe she is happier without her daughter..

"Do ye' really think I should wait around for that?" His sad eyes seek mine for answers I couldn't possibly have..

"I think-- you hurt." I reach over to take the collar of Lovey's onise and carefully wipe the milky dribble that spills down her cheek..

He narrows his jade eyed jeer at me.. "I dunno about that.."

"I think-- you are angry." Lovey abandons her bottle, letting it rest on her belly before reaching out her itsy-bitsy fingers to curl them around mine..

He nods.. "Aye.. That I am."

"Yǐdébàoyuàn." I give to him my most heartfelt belief, telling him to repay his grievances with virtue, to treat Amberley with kindness in the same way he has treated me.. I tell him simply to be good.

Because it is simple.. If everyone were good to everyone.. Then nobody would get hurt.. Nobody would suffer..

He marvels at me, a wash of relief creeping across his strong features.. "You don't know how badly I needed to hear that, Wallflower.."

"Explain to me why, please?" I ask as he passes Lovey over to me.. I prop her on my knee and pet her back gently and she giggles a dribbly coo..

He leans forward to return the cap to the whiskey bottle, seeking something to do with his now empty hands.. "I know everyone thinks I'm weak for lettin' Amberley walk all over me the way she does sometimes.. But--"

When he trails off to nothing, I assume the rest.. "You love her?"

He shakes his head with a rejecting scoff.. "Ha. No, Lilly.. It's not love.. It's likeness.. She is like me. She does bad things, but I know deep down she wants to be good.. Or at least I thought I did.."

"You want to recover her." I smile, understanding him.. That is what he does.. He climbs mountains and traverses canyons to recover people who have been lost..
Amberley is lost to him.. So, he must want to recover her.

He tips his head.. "Recover her?"

I lean forward to pick up his book from beneath the papers and pushing it into his hands.. "Recover.. Rescue.. You rescue people.. So many people!"

He clenches the hardcover in his hands and shrugs.. "This book is all written from one person's perspective.. It's only the good bits, not the rest.. All I did was find a way to make the military work for me.. Combat duty wasn't exactly my first choice.. So, I went into expeditions and recovery.. And now I'm just a broken down VET taking on shitty contracts.. "

"You rescued me.." I proclaim.. "You want to rescue Amberley too.. Like a good man."

He chuckles.. "Ney, that isn't what happened, Lilly, I found you after you rescued yer'self.. And Amberley doesn't need me for nothin'."

I rescued myself.. I can't help but smile, feeling proud.. I really hadn't thought about it in that way before..

But in truth, I wouldn't have known what to do after my escape without River.. I didn't know what to do other than hide in an alleyway I shouldn't have been in..

If he hadn't been in that alley too.. The man Beckett would have ended my life that night..

I am here because of River, whether he wants to accept it or not..

Lovey squeals, yanking on my hair and demanding my attention.. "Ba-ba-bab-baa-Ooo!"

I smile and giggle at the awkward pull of her grip, prying her fingers from my pink strands to kiss them.."Lovey needs you."

Lovey grabs at my cheeks as I pull silly faces that make her smile..

He grins at me, the gloomy mood of earlier now gone and he returns to the tender tiger he had been before Almberly appeared.. "O'Aye? I see what you're doin', Lilly, It's pretty sweet of ya.. Thank you.. I feel fairly better.."

"Oh, good." I beam with happiness when he leans forward to kiss my forehead..

"Should we go to the soup market and see if we can find us some pork chops for dinner, then?" He teases me, and I quite like it, the playful way he smirks at me and the twinkling green lights in his eyes..

With a laugh, I spring to my feet, bouncing Lovey excitedly in my arms where she squeals in delight, finding both me and her father extremely amusing for some reason.. "Oooh! Yes, pork chops!"

He chuckles to himself, moving to collect the bag that contains Lovey's essentials for an outing.. "Just fuckin' adorable."