The Connected

Chapter 16

Hey there strangers, yes I'm still alive. I am so sorry that what was supposed to be a few months of a hiatus from this story has turned into over a year. That was definitely not supposed to happen and for that I apologize, life got in the way. However, now that Safer This Way is nearly complete, I have time and energy to put back into finishing this story. I won't be posting every week, I'm in my last semester of college so that's just not possible, but it will never again be longer than a month between updates.

Thank you to anyone still reading this and welcome to anyone just reading this fanfic, hope you enjoy...Happy Reading :)

*Sang*

    "Can my friend sleep over tonight?"

    I look over at Ollie sitting across from me at the breakfast table where he shoves down forful after forkful of the chocolate chip pancakes he'd somehow managed to swindle North into making for him. Apparently, that little boy pout of his can bring down even the dark brooding bear of the family. I might have to give that a try sometime, I think to myself before putting a pin in that thought for later.

    Swallowing my own forkful of blueberry pancakes, I answer him. "I don't see why not, but you might want to ask the guys first since it's their house."

    At my words, several heads snap towards me in unison, the matching scowls on their faces would be comical if they weren't aimed in my direction. "What?"

    "You say that like you don't live here, too," Luke grumbles, sounding so far from his usual cheery self that I can finally see the family resemblance between him and North. Huh.

    Uncomfortable with their focused attention, I fidget in my seat. "Well, yes. But it's still your guys' house. I wouldn't feel comfortable having random people over without asking first," I explain gently, fighting the urge to groan when it has the opposite effect on their expressions. If anything, I'd just offended them greatly by trying to do the polite thing.

    "Fuck that, you're not guests here. We're family, which makes this big ass house as much yours as it is ours. Invite over whoever the fuck you want." While not the most eloquent speech, Gabriel's words warm my heart. The following smack to his head tells me the others weren't quite as moved by his declaration.

    Rising from his seat with an elegance that I envy, Victor walks around the table to take my hand in his before squeezing it reassuringly. "Princess, what Gabe is trying to say is that the second we found you, you became the heart of this family. You brought us back to life, you and the boys are the reason this big house even feels like a home. You're not a guest, Sang," he says before meeting the eyes of each of my boys.

"Neither are you. This is our home, so yes, Ollie, you can invite your friends over whenever you like as long as Sang knows about it, and okays it beforehand," he finishes by sending a questioning glance my way, asking if I'm okay with that and I nod at him, the lump in my throat not allowing for actual words to form.

My little guy isn't quite as moved as myself and the other two who look at Victor with shiny eyes. "So that's a yes on the sleepover?"

My men all chuckle, and any tension leftover dissipating as Ollie blinks at them. "Yeah, bud, it is," my Prince tells him.

    "Cool, thanks." With that, he hops off his stool, dropping his dirty dishes in the sink before heading towards the stairs. "Let me know when it's time to go to school."

    I can't help but stare at the empty chair he just vacated, envying his go with the flow outlook on life, and wondering if it was something he could teach me.

    So lost in my thoughts, I startle when a warm hand lands on my shoulder, and I look over into laughing gray eyes. When did he move?

    "...while the boys are at school today," he finishes the sentence I'd obviously been zoned out of in the beginning. But I was in Ollie-shock, that state of total what-the-fudge at the inner workings of my four year old's mind that occasionally scare me just a little.