Little Mr. Sunshine

Siblings

Ray

Ray watched his little sister out of the corner of his eye as he took the turn that would take him back to the centre.

Back to the home he'd built with Oscar.

Even after all these years of trying to heal himself, Ray still felt anxious when away from the centre. Logically, he realised the world he inhabited wasn't the violent one he had been raised in, but after years of learning what it meant to love and be part of a family, what it meant to be safe, he still had days when he struggled.

That's why it was important that Ray challenge himself to confront anxiety when he felt capable of doing so, which is how he had spent the weekend with Meri at a resort one state over. His little sister was just beginning to show her pregnancy with his nephew. Judging by the difficult pregnancy she'd had with the now six-year-old twins, they weren't sure how many more months she'd be able to get away and relax, and the bonding trip had been her idea, a way to get some privacy while enjoying each other's company without nieces or nephews or lovers demanding attention.

Over the patter of rain on the vehicle roof, she spoke. "I had a lot of fun this weekend, Ray. Thank you for coming with me."

"Me too. And thanks are unnecessary. It was a wonderful time. I'd never been to a resort, though I wish you had let me pay for some of it at least."

"Please," Meri rolled her eyes before grabbing her bag of candies from the holder and pulling one out to nibble. "It made Car all happy that he could plan this and take care of everything. There's no denying him when he gets in his head that he wants to spoil his family by doing something special."

Ray nodded his agreement. "Carbry Alesky spoils his family. I'd say it's because of some supernatural urge to preserve and provide for what the primal part of his brain views as his, but now that I know other vampires, I'm pretty sure Car is just... highly devoted to the ones he loves."

She said nothing else, but Ray didn't miss his sister's grin of affection at the thought of her fiancé as they pulled into a parking spot near Oscar's apartment. After seeing Meri off, Ray planned to return the SUV to the central storage lot. They'd borrowed the spacious vehicle for this trip, considering Oz's beaten-up truck wouldn't have been very comfortable for Meri.

Besides, what if Oscar had needed his own vehicle while they had been gone?

"God, can't the security people take a day off? One was literally getting a massage in the room right next to me at the resort yesterday."

As Meri spoke, she rolled her eyes at another vehicle trying to discreetly pull in nearby. It was a large black SUV that had been following them all the way back to the centre from the resort.

Ray didn't begrudge the security personnel. They were just doing their jobs. Meri alone was a difficult charge. And Daryl... and the children. Alesky had many people he needed to protect. Even so, his sister's annoyed reaction would have upset him had he not known her well enough to see her bemused smirk as she'd complained. She verbalised discontent, but she also enjoyed feeling safe.

That was a feeling that Ray, even now, several years after meeting Oscar and falling in love, still struggled to embrace, that idea of safety.

When Meri moved to get out of the vehicle, Ray grabbed an umbrella from the back seat and hopped out, hurrying to her side before she could get out herself and stand in the wet. It was a little unseasonably cold. It wouldn't be good for her to be soaked and chilled, not when her immunity needed to be in peak shape for her and the baby.

When he popped open the umbrella for her, she grinned up at him. That look of pure love and trust nearly took him back to some dark thoughts regarding guilt and pain at the things he'd done in his past. Thankfully Ray's presence at home and the fact that he could sense Oscar nearby kept him from being consumed by the dark thoughts as Meri spoke.