All Her Broken Pieces

Chapter 7

*Owen*

She hugged me.

She genuinely and truly threw her lovely arms around my neck and hugged me, and I never wanted her to let go. Without agenda, or motive, or for any other reason than she wanted to, she did it because I'd brought pizza for tonight's festivities. At the present moment I'm absurdly grateful for the decades worth of practice at keeping my emotions in check or I would be blushing and stuttering like a foolish school boy with a crush; yet that is precisely how I feel about the lovely Miss Sorenson, this stunning creature who has slipped under the emotional walls of not only my brothers, but of myself as well.

I see the way that they gaze after her longingly when she leaves the room, the near physical desire to follow after her, to soak in the bright light that seems to emanate from her. Even North, and the normally closed off Branson keep one eye on her at all times, the former nearly melts in her presence. As for the others, especially Gabriel, they have opened up to her and flourished just spending time around her. Not once has she played favorites, or given significantly more attention to one man over the other, seeming to give us equal space in her thoughts and conversations. Sometimes even going so far as to switch between who she sits near or greets first so there is hardly room for jealousy or overly possessive behavior among my team.

She's quite remarkable really, doing all of this on an entirely subconscious level, and I believe we may have been correct in thinking that one single bird could be the nucleus of our team. However, I have gathered both from stories of her that Uncle has told us over the years, her reactions to us and others, as well as tidbits of information she has let slip out. The boys have informed me of certain allusions to her past, as limited and sugar coated as they may have been, that were made during one of Gabriel's famous games: the possible escapes from her home by jumping to a tree outside her window; not being allowed to a school prom; having to cut her own hair; and, most disconcerting, the near death experience in a bathroom, one which she refused to speak of and sent her out of the room in a panic.

All signs point to an abusive home life, perhaps similar to most of our own stories, maybe worse, only time will tell. However, it is clear to me that while she may not be fully recovered from the trauma of her past, she has come incredibly far, likely therapy and distance to the situation would be my guess.

The most amazing sound drags me from my thoughts and I turn to find the source is none other than our stunning little bird. She's sitting across from Luke, Marc and Gabriel on the couches and is trying to catch pieces of pizza crust in her mouth as they toss them to her. Impressively, she's yet to drop one, the coordination is remarkable as the three trouble makers are pointedly tossing the pieces so they may be more difficult to catch. Finally, one bounces off her nose and lands in North's beer glass causing her to release another musical laugh, her entire body shakes with the effort and I can see even my brooding brother in black smile wistfully her way. She has us all enraptured, wrapped around her tiny, perfect little finger and hasn't even the slightest idea that she does.

Their game now over, she stands and begins gathering empty plate and glasses, and carries them to the kitchen. With a sharp glare at the other three, North huffs and stands to help her clean up, soon to be followed by everyone else and he place is cleaned with a speed I've never seen from them. Allowing myself a minuscule smile, I walk to the kitchen where Sang and North stand side by side at the sink, one washing and one drying. I pick up the finished plates and put them back in their designated cupboards and soon enough the task is finished and Sang looks to me and North, appearing a little lost now that she has nothing else to do.

"What now?" She ask, her head tilted ever so slightly to the side.

"Well, I believe Gabriel said this was a movie night, so why don't you find Nathan and select a few for us to watch before bed?" Her face lights up as I speak, and she bounces slightly on her toes.