“I-”
“School was part of her cover, Hudson.” Major Lawson has been quiet the whole time so far, standing by the window and looking out over Manhattan. My secret life has been cleared with my family as of one hour ago; all his doing. He turns, leveling his gaze at the three men in the room, one by one; “I’m sure you can all appreciate needing to hide a facet of yourself from even those love you.” Hudson grins, and even somber and quiet Bryce off by himself in the corner cracks a hint of a smile.
Logan maintains his steely-eyed gaze, unwavering.
“He’s not a bad guy, Logan.”
“Yes, he is, Chelsea.”
“OK, maybe he was a-”
“Agreed.”
Reagan puts Christine in Hudson’s lap before she comes over and gives me a hug, and I all but lose it right there; “I’m mad at you, you know,” She says, mashing her face into my shoulder as she squeezes me tightly to her; “But I understand, and I love you.”
I raise my eyes to Logan as Reagan pulls away from me; “He saved my life, you know.”
“It’s a start.”
“Jesus Christ, Dempsey, how long are you going to hang onto this?” Bryce growls from across the room. He shakes his head at Hudson and Logan; “Are the two of you assholes seriously going to hold falling for someone you shouldn’t over her fucking head?”
My face burns red and I raise my eyes to Bryce; ‘Thank you’, I mouth to him, and he winks at me.
Hudson breaks first; “Damnit,” He huffs, standing and passing my niece to his wife before he comes over and scoops me into a big bear hug; “I guess I owe you for helping me sway this one.” He says grinning, jerking his head towards Reagan. “I don’t like him, you should know that; but I’m not going to get between two people who are going to crash into each other anyways.” I sniff back a tear as I smile at him, and he ruffles my hair like the kid-sister I am to him; “I’m just glad you’re ok, Chels.”
Peyton prods Logan in the arm, but he brushes her off, and then growls as she rolls her eyes and comes over to hug me as well.
Major Lawson clears his throat, and everyone - even stone-cold Logan, turns; “When I told William I’d watch his daughters,” The older man smiles and shakes his head; “Well, the job has certainly given me a bigger run for my money than I ever expected.”
I can feel Reagan move behind me and squeeze my shoulder, and I look up at her and grin; “Major, I hope you know that we-”
“I made a promise to your father, and I stand by that vow; no matter what.” He takes a deep breath, nodding as if choosing his words carefully; “Your father saw things in people. He saw the good and the worth in them when others didn’t.” Logan scowls and starts to turn away when the Major looks at him sharply; “Like, for instance, your adoptive brothers, Chelsea. Just like Hudson, and Bryce,” He looks at each of the men in turn; “Just like Logan. The three of them were,” He chuckles; “Well, I think we can agree that they were all works in progress when your father found them and when I first met them.”
Hudson and Bryce share a look and shrug as they grin at each other.
“But your father saw promise in them; the promise of the men they could be.”
“He didn’t see it in Javier,” Logan mumbles.
Major Lawson shoots him a look; “But Chelsea did.” He turns to me; “There’s a lot of William in you, my dear. Your sister of course as well, but you,” He nods; “You took a lot of him.”
I lean into Reagan’s embrace as she hugs me again.
“So, Javier.” The Major looks pointedly at me, and I blush, embarrassed and ashamed, and I hate that I’m ashamed of my feelings.
“Javier-”
“Is a good man, at heart, I’m willing to believe. Probably better than anyone’s ever given him credit for. He sacrificed himself to save you, which counts for a lot in my book.”
I sniff, and the tears I’ve been desperately and furiously holding back begin to trickle from my eyes.
“It means something in my book and I know it meant something in your father’s.”
The front door to Hudson’s place bangs open again, and a teary-eyed Quinn storms in. She’s crying as she quickly crosses the room and throws her arms around me, and it’s then that I just go to pieces.
“Don’t ever go and get kidnapped again, OK?” She sniffs into my shoulder, making us both choke out laughs through our tears.
“He’s still there, with Blackriver,” I say quietly, wrapping my arms around her.
Quinn looks up at Major Lawson; “Javier; he saved her, didn’t he?” The silver-haired man nods, and she turns to Logan; “We’re not leaving him there to die then.” Logan’s jaw tightens, but I know I’m watching the facade crumble. She looks back at Major Lawson; “We can’t leave him there.”