Lacuna

17 | I smile

Esme

Right as I finish the last stitch, the doorbell rings, and Dee lets Silas's hand go so he can open it. He shakes his hand in an attempt to relieve the pain from her strong hold the entire way to the door, and she laughs.

"He's not as strong as he looks." She tells me, and I smack her good shoulder.

"Ow! That wasn't nice." Delilah yells out. On a normal day, it probably wouldn't have hurt, but her pain tolerance is extremely low today.

"Neither was what you said." I tell her matter of factly, and she side eyes me with a smirk.

Silas

Swinging open the door, Milo and Genesis rush past me inside. The glass from the front windows crunch under our shoes on the way to the living room, sounding like chalk on a chalkboard.

"What happened?" Milo asks, looking around at all of the feathers from the pillows, the holes in the couches, and the blood from Delilah splattered all over the floor.

After not receiving an answer from Esme nor Delilah, he whips around to me. Genesis hugs both of them at the same time, not saying a word, which is not like her at all.

She's never at a loss for words.

"Do you have Theya? Where is she?" Esme asks her sister, her tone holds no room for anyone's idiocy, it even surprises me.

"I'm right here." Theya calls out from the foyer, and a few seconds later, she storms in with Sean a few steps behind.

Gen and Theya ask in sync,  "Delilah, are you okay?" and I get deja vu.

I don't think I've ever had this much deja vu in my life. This is what, the fourth time this month.

Delilah opens her eyes, and nods yes. Genesis checks out her stitches, and makes a face of approval.

"I'm no Christina Yang, but I think she and the baby will be fine. Now, sh-" Esme explains, but Milo, Theya, and Genesis cut her off yelling, "Baby?!"

All of a sudden they are all talking over one another, and Sean and I stand back, just taking in their chaos.

"Are they gonna stop on their own or...?" Sean asks from beside me, and I shake my head.

In my peripheral, I see him look up at me with confusion written all over his face. With the rest of them still arguing, and Sean sitting in his confusion, I head for the front door.

As I walk around the hood of my car, I hear rocks crunching under someone's feet from behind me. When I turn around, Esme jerks to a stop a few feet in front of me.

"So, you're just gonna leave without saying anything?" Esme runs a hand through her curls, and starts pacing back and forth. "How did this even happen?"

"That's what I'm going to find out. Maybe I should've said bye, but I wasn't about to wait around for you all to stop your squabbling." Esme scoffs, then nods her head as if what I just said actually makes sense.

She stops pacing and comes to stand in front of me. Without thinking too hard into it, I give her a chaste kiss on the lips, then turn and open my car door. Esme closes my door for me, and before I turn onto the street, I see her in the rearview mirror, still standing where I left her.

...

Walking out of the warehouse, my attention is drawn to Milo leaning on his car, typing on his phone. When he hears me approaching, he looks up, and nods in respect.

"I just heard from Tommy, the connect at the LAX private terminal. He told me a jet just took off with Maxim on the passenger list. Amongst him being his two guards, and an ex- sniper for the KGB."

Being the boss means having to keep my head even in situations where it feels like it's about to explode. This is one of those situations.

"How are they?" Milo tilts his head, as if silently asking, 'who are you talking about', but then it clicks. 

He waves it off, and says, "It's best if we stay out of it. By tomorrow they'll be in the kitchen making cookies with one another, having a flour fight." Milo said everything so easily, this can't have been the first time they've fought like this.

Milo tilts his head once again, and hums once he's completed his evaluation. "You really care for her don't you?"

I'm not caught off guard by his question, Milo has always been a very forward person, but I am not comfortable talking about the feelings I'm still sorting out.

"I need you to schedule a meeting with Stefano. Whenever his earliest opening is. As well as Jim over at Interpol. Maxim is not to be allowed to enter this country again. Pull the footage from Esme's, and send it to my encrypted inbox." I walk away from Milo to my car, after he nods his head in understanding.

Esme

"I can't believe I'm going to be an aunt to two babies, Around the same time. Like twins" Theya's huge smile has always been contagious, and everyone is now smiling and feeling excited.

We decided to head to a spa after everything that has happened today. The spa is located in a hotel, and Genesis told me when we arrived, this is one of Silas's.

I sink lower into the hot tub, while Gen and Dee only dip their feet in. Something about hot tubs not being safe for expecting moms.

Theya shifts her attention from Dee to me, and I don't like the look in her eyes.

"Are you next, Mae?" I choke on my spit, and immediately starts coughing, so much so, Genesis has to pat my back.

My brows furrow, and she laughs so hard, her head falls back and almost hits the marble wall. Looking around, both Gen and Dee shake their heads in disapproval at her.

"Why is it always the ones with no kids telling others to have kids?" Genesis questions nobody in in particular, but Theya takes it upon herself to answer.

Once Theya starts talking, the only things that can shut her up are food and sleep. "Um,-" She starts, but I cut her off before she says something wild, again.

"I think it's a girl," I successfully change the subject, and Delilah raises her brows in surprise. "And I think you're having a boy. For sure." I tell Gen, and she smiles in appreciation.

"Really? For some reason, I feel that it's a boy." Delilah discloses, and I shake my head no. "Nope, she's a girl. And she's gonna be beautiful inside and out." What I said had an underlying meaning, and Dee sends a grateful smile my way.

"Yris." Genesis randomly calls out, and the three of us turn to look at her.

Delilah's middle name is Iris, and I've always loved her unique middle name. "Like your middle name, only with a Y." Gen clarifies, and Theya nods enthusiastically, an obvious tell that she agrees.

Dee makes her thinking face that she doesn't know she makes, and then her lips pull into a huge smile.

Our little Yris.

"Gen, give me a few days, and I'll think of a name for your boy." Theya declares, and gen makes a look of discontent.

"Milo already has one in mind, and he's not budging so, save it." Theya folds her arms and the three of us share a laugh.

A/N

I have always thought the name Yris or Iris was beautiful. It just sounds so ethereal. Fairy like. Any predictions? Don't forget to vote, and feel free to comment. I love reading and responding to them.