That Left a Bruise

“Come here, baby.” I pull Heather into a hug. “I got you.” Burying her face in my shoulder she clings to me and lets out a heavy sob. “Shhh.” I pet her soft hair and hold her tight. “I’ve got you, Heather.”

The house goes quiet, the sounds of Heather’s weeping the only noise to break the silence where just moments ago the air had crackled with anger and aggression. My poor, hurting Heather wept for her son. Through it all she had held faith in Liam, believing the best in her boy like only a mother could. And the thanks she got was to watch Liam wield that faith like a dagger and sink it into his family’s hearts one by one. Even as he took advantage of her maternal and biological bonds to support his beach bum lifestyle I knew that deep down Heather had held onto the hope that Liam simply could not be as bad as he seemed. He was her son, her and Alexander’s precious son, in her heart she could not help but to believe in her love for him over the evidence in front of her eyes. But here, with my presence spurring the bully into a vicious and cruel overreaction, even her great faith had cracked. I could not imagine the pain it would have caused for her to, for the first time, be confronted with the monster behind the mask of the boy she’d raised to be a man.

She did not simply weep for the anguish Liam had caused with his barbed words and threats of ****. She wept in mourning for the man he was supposed to be. She wept with the mother’s guilt of bearing Liam’s failures as her own. She wept at the moment she raised her hand to her child, which I knew already shamed her deeply. She wept at the uncertainty of banishing from the house without knowing when or if she would ever see him again. And she wept as a Matriarch who had failed to prepare her alpha son to be the kind of man worthy to carry on the family legacy. For a time I simply hold her. Right now there were no words that could sooth this. Those would come soon enough, but right now she just needed my arms around her. Mercifully the family gives us this space, though they were bleeding too.

When Heather’s sobs begin to abate I finally speak again. Kissing her hair I whisper. “You protected me. Just like you said you would.”

“Mm.” She nods as she pulls back to look at my face, her hand caressing my cheek. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t…”

“I’m sorry I didn’t see him for what he was earlier.” She says, her eyes glimmering. “When the teachers would tell us about Liam’s…problems. We couldn’t… I couldn’t…” Her face winces with a sting that went soul deep. “When he would talk to us like he did, disrespecting us, I…stood up for him.”

“Because you’re his Mom.” I says softly, petting her long hair. “And you always will be.”

“Oh Elliot.” She takes a deep breath then looks to her daughter who stood nearby. Pulling Lily into the embrace with us we hugs her tight. “I’m sorry, Lily.”

“Mom.” Lily whispers, pressing her forehead to Heather’s as she held us both. “I was right there with you.”

“We all were.” Comes Rebecca’s voice with a calm that helped anchor us all. She lays a hand on Heather’s back. “He’s young still, sister. Some men…” She looks to me and then to Roger. “Some men need to be broken before they can be fixed. We’ve tried everything to get through to him and failed. All of us. But even Liam can’t ignore what just happened here today. He’s just lost the most precious thing in his life. Don’t give up hope. What happened here today could be the thing he needs to…grow.”

Heather takes Rebecca’s hand and squeezes it. “Thank you.”

As the sisters come together for a rare hug, Lily joining in, I turn to Mia whose hands were shaking at her sides. I wrap her up in an embrace. “My princess. You were so brave!”

Nuzzling her face into my chest she makes herself small just to feel my hug engulf her more. “He understands what it is to lose a parent, like we do. How could he say…”

Kissing her head I say. “Let it rest. Let it breathe. We’re together, that’s what matters right now.”

She takes a long and deep breath, the tension in her body melting in my embrace. She nods. “Yes, Sir.”

“You okay?” I cup her cheek and look into her big emerald eyes. “Really okay?”

“Mm.” She nods and even gives me a relieved grin, her gaze drifting to Julie. “He was never my Alpha like he was theirs.”

Roger comes up beside us, laying a hand on each of our shoulders. He looks from her to me and back to her again, his eyes gleaming with pride. “Since the day you blessed my life I’ve been trying to protect you and make you into something you’re not. Today you showed me you don’t need protecting or cajoling, you need freedom. Freedom to let the strength that is already inside of you blossom.” He pats my shoulder. “Thank you, Elliot, for showing a blinkered old fool that my daughter is powerful in her own way, just the way she is.” Taking Mia by the shoulders he turns her to face him. “Mia Jones-Pembrooke…I am so proud of you!” With a nod to heaven he adds. “And they are too.”

“Oh Papa!” Mia throws herself at her beaming father, hugging him tight.

Leaving them to talk among themselves I focus in on the the figure standing apart from the rest. As I go Briana and I share a look and I give her a nod of gratitude for her standing at my side when things got dark. She winks back at me and smiles, letting me know without a word being spoken that she’d stand with me again if the need arose. That same sentiment is signaled back at her with a simple pat of her arm as I passed by.

Julie is standing by her self at the counter staring down at the pair of donuts left in the box she had brought with her, though she didn’t look hungry. As I come up beside her she mutters to me in a low voice. “I should have worn the stupid nose clip.” She snorts, a rare flash of anger coming through her usual carefree persona. “Until Heather did something…I felt helpless. I was just gonna stand there and watch him…” Letting out a sharp sigh she shakes her head. “Fucking asshole.”

“Hey, you were there at the end when it mattered.” I put my arm around her and give her a shake. “And hey, you left one on him. That’s more than I can say. He’ll be feeling those ribs for awhile.”

She smirks and glances over at me. “Yeah. I’m sure that left a bruise.”

“I know it did.” I grab the last of the honey dipped donuts…only to have it snatched from my fingers by Julie who stuffs half it into her mouth. That old twinkle returns to her eyes as, cheeks stuffed like a chipmunks, she chews. “I’ll kick your butt for that, prejac.”

“PFF!” Crumbs fall from her lips as she holds back a laugh through her overstuffed maw. Through the wad of donut she quips.“Like to shee you twy, shwimp-dick.”

“Ha!” We fist bump then she rustles my hair roughly.

“Love ya, kid.”

“Love you too…” My grin widens. “…Juliet.”

“You jerk!” She punches my arm and we both laugh.

Walking back through the family that had stood with me I meet each of their eyes before at last I return to Heather’s side. I put my arm around her as she leans into me and rests her head on my shoulder. A peace settles over us. The storm we’d been dreading had arrived and had passed, for now at least, and we’d come through it stronger and more united than ever. As one we all take a collective breath and let the unpleasantness Liam had brought into this happy home exit the same way it had come in.

“Well…looks like I have a rainy day project.” I say, looking at the screen door that now hung off-kilter.

“Seriously?” Lily smirks as she looks around at the group of us. “We’ve still got the whole day ahead of us and our Prince has six happy…”

“…and horny…” Quips Julie.

“…and sexy…” Says Bri.

“…and adoring…” Blushes Mia.

“…and impressed…” Nods Rebecca.

“…and oh so loving and grateful…” Beams Heather, rubbing a hand across my chest.

“…ladies around him.” Lily continues. “And this boy’s talking about screen doors?”

The whole group of them giggle and grin as they gather around me, touching me and looking at me with a new admiration but the same old lust that they always had. Roger looks around at them then back at me and lets out a breath. “Whoof!” He rubs his bald head with a sympathetic look. “Never mind the door. I’d say you got your work cut out for you, lad!”