No Church in the Wild [Les Twins Fanfic]

THIRTEEN.

"You shouldn't be up, Melie." Laurent says, his hand resting on the small of her back, mindful of the stitched up wound that was covered by a black dress. "You not completely healed."

"I let him die." She says, looking down at the open casket, studying Tommy's face. "What type of fucking gang leader am I? How could I let this happen?" She inhales deeply, wiping and trying to stop her tears. "I'm terrible." She says, her voice cracking.

"Melie, you not-"

"Just like my father. I watched him die in the exact same way. I let someone kill Tommy the same way those niggas killed my father, and I wasn't even the one to kill Lex. I passed out. He shot me and I passed out. He didn't even shoot me. He shot at me and the bullet grazed me."

"The wound was deep, Melie. You haven't been-"

"I wish I was in this casket instead of him." She says, sniffing. "He had kids to take care of. What do I have that was so important? Who's going to take care of those kids for him? Why did Lex do this to him, Laurent?" She cries.

"Don't say that. Lex crazy. We all foolishly believe he was on our side." Laurent says, wiping her face. "We can no trust no one else." He bends his head a bit, kissing the corner of her lips and she closes her eyes.

"No more new people." Amelie mutters. "Never again. This will never happen again."

"Never." Laurent says, wrapping his arm around her and pulling him to her. She bites her lip to keep the sobs at bay, but didn't stop the tears slipping from her eyes. She wraps her arms around him, clutching at the back of his suit jacket.

"I let this happen." She sobs.

"Is not your fault."

"It is." She cries. "I'm not good enough. What type of leader am I?"

"Melie, is not your fault. Is expected of this life. None of us expect to be one hundred percent safe, and we know we all at risk. Is nothing you can do."

She closes her eyes tightly. "There's always something I can do."

-

She sits at her desk, staring at the wall. She made no moves. She just sat and stared. She had been staring at the same spot for hours.

"Melie?" Someone asks, knocking and opening the door. Amelie slowly closes her eyes and opens them, focusing on the person who walked in.

"What's up?"

"Well, uhm, we need guardians for Talia and Elijah. I was wondering if... you wanted to..." Amelie looks up at Jasmine.

"If I wanted to take the kids?" She asks.

"Yeah. Bambi was the one who thought of it. She said you needed a distraction." Amelie frowns, and Jasmine looks down. "I mean, you don't have to-"

"I want to." She looks up. "I want Tommy's children in my care."

"Oh, thank goodness. I couldn't bear to see them in foster care." Jasmine says. "They really are great kids. I think you'll love them. I'll have the paperwork with you as soon as possible, and you can meet them now. They're here."

"Around all these guys?" Amelie gets up, moving past Jasmine and walking out of the office. She walks to the living room, watching as her twins play video games with the two kids, a smile on her face.

"Amelie." Cam says, making her turn around. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Emotionally or physically?" She asks, giving him a small smile.

"Both."

"I'm pretty cool." She shrugs. "Uhm, the wound isn't too bad anymore and it's kinda cool. I mean, now I can say I've been shot."

"And emotionally?"

She takes a deep breath. "I've been alright." She shrugs. The last thing she'd want to go around was the fact that she hasn't been fine. She's supposed to be strong in times like these. She was the one who needed to be asking her men if they were feeling better. Not them asking her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, Cam. I'm good." She says, nodding once and walking away from him and to the couch, smiling at the sound of the children's laughter.

"Why you cheat? Is not fair." Larry asks, nudging the little boy a bit.

"I didn't! You just suck, Larry." Elijah says and Larry gasps dramatically.

"You so mean." He says, covering his face. Amelie chuckles a bit, reaching over and tugging on Larry's afro.

"Don't be a baby." She says, and their eyes fall on her.

"Melie." Larry whines. "I not being a baby." She smiles, shaking her head and her eyes fall on the children.

"Hi." She says, looking at the kids.

"Are you Melie?" Talia asks. Amelie nods. "Daddy's talked about you before. He said you were nice." Talia looks away, opening her mouth as if she wanted to say something more, but doesn't.

"Yeah! And I saw you at our dad's fune... funer... funeral." Elijah says, and Amelie smiles. He couldn't have been younger than five, which was just adorable. "Jazzie said you are gonna take us."

"Yes, I am."

"Are you our mommy?" Talia asks, looking back at Amelie. Amelie coughs a bit.

"Uh, n-no. I was your father's friend. A close friend." She says, giving her a soft smile. "None of us here wanted you guys to be away from each other or from us, so we all came together and decided that I would take care of you."

"Do you know our mommy?" Elijah says, and Amelie shakes her head.

"Sorry."

"Melie don't know her mommy either." Larry says, and the kids look at her.

"You don't?" Talia asks and Amelie nods.

"I've never met her." She shrugs.

"And guess what? Melie grew up to be the best and nicest person ever." Larry says. "She gon take care of you guys now, okai?"

The two kids turn their eyes on Amelie, who gives them a slightly nervous smile. She wasn't going to change her mind about taking these kids, but how would she do it? She's never taken care of anyone except for Laurent and Larry. And she knew they would be completely different.

But as long as she wasn't like the woman who 'took care' of her, she'd be fine. She wasn't going to leave these children on their own. She was going to provide for them, smile with them, be there for them. She might not have familial ties with the children, but as far as the court and child protective services were concerned, she did. She wasn't going to just leave these kids alone.

But what if something would happen to her? What if something crazy goes down. Would she want these children in the middle of it all?

"Do you have fruit snacks?" Elijah asks, making her focus on him.

"Not at the moment. But we can buy your favorite."

"Okay. I'll go with you." He says, smiling. Her smile brightens.