Hold My Hand

Past

Hector was deep in thought by the time his team arrived. Marcus and Nico rushed over to him beaming.

"Hello there. How have you both been?" asked Hector.

"Up," said Nico raising his hand. Hector lifted him up. Elio who came there beamed and hugged Marcus tight and pouted at Nico.

"That's my papa now," he said. Nico made a face but jumped down and tackled Elio to ground. They were both laughing.

Lukas checked on Hector and Miles. Estevan was not around.

"You are both well?" he asked.

"Yes. Finally, someone who will feed me something that's not toast," said Myles. Hector huffed. Myles hugged him tight.

"I am just kidding," he said. He dragged Lukas along with him. Desmond briefed him on everything that happened. He introduced Desmond to Timothy, Gregory and Colin. They moved to a modern house a little away. It was surprisingly quiet around the place even though it was close to the city. Lukas will stay with them for now. The new house was safer and the children adjusted as they understood it's a temporary arrangement. They actually pretty much claimed rooms to share with Marcus and Nico. Lukas will stay with them. That left Hector and Estevan who will be sharing.

Estevan had been busy and even Hector was. He had so many pending files to review. He found a little space to work from in one of the rooms. Estevan was restless. Hopefully, now that they are in a more secure place, he will calm down. After dinner, which didn't have Estevan in attendance, Hector read stories for the younger ones. Elio claimed he is technically young now.

Myles was strong arming Lukas into playing a video game with him. Once he was sure that the kids were safe with Lukas and Desmond, he stepped out. Colin bowed.

"Boss has come," he said. Hector nodded and went to their room. Estevan was pouring himself a drink.

"Are they asleep?" he asked.

"No. They may still come looking for you," he said. Estevan nodded and shut the drink back in the drink cabinet.

"Your scent – are you sure the heat will only begin later?" asked Estevan. Hector had completely forgotten about it.

"I am not sure. I forgot all about it," he said.

"We will have the doctor check in the morning," said Estevan. Hector nodded.

"Did you have dinner?"

"No."

"I will bring something. Get fresh," he said and stepped out. To be honest, Myles's comment about toast stayed in his mind. He is not sure he can feed Estevan the food that has been unattended for more than an hour now. Not when the situation was still dangerous. In fact, they do have a cook now. Mrs Martha was apparently Aunt Janet's former maid. She was trustworthy and had an elderly wisdom about her. But, deep inside Hector was scared of trusting anyone just yet. He found instant noodles. Well. That he can do. So, he cooked the noodles, added some veggies and egg to it. Once ready, he added some chopped onions as a side and took it to their room. Estevan was out of bath and was shirtless as he checked the cupboards.

"I didn't unpack everything," he said as he kept the dinner on the table.

"Did you eat?"

"Yes. I ended up eating what was in El's plate too. He didn't like the northern preparation much," he said.

"Ah, Aunt Janet cooked dinner? El doesn't like northern cuisine. How is that house keeper she spoke about?"

"She is just like Aunt Janet, a bit stricter," said Hector.