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While they’re talking, Jynx asks, “She’s not going to make it back before we go?”
“No, but if it's okay with everyone, she’s graduating in a couple of weeks, and I said that we’d come back and see her then.”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea. I think we’ll be coming back every couple of weeks anyway. I want to make sure everything is okay here, and I want to get to know my grandparents better.” Jynx replies.
“I want to do the same,” Rome replies, “plus, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done with the houses, and we can help with that. With the Ravens running as well as they are now, we should be able to get away fairly regularly.”
“Yeah, I think the grandparents would like that as well,” Jynx adds.
Mase hands my phone back just as we pull up outside of Rome’s place, and it may just be me imagining things, but I swear that this place already has a different feel about it, a better feel than it did when we first arrived, and I think it’s purely because of the fact that Rome’s grandparents are there and they have such a different feeling about them. They make it feel better.
As soon as we’re out of the car and walking up to the house, I thread my fingers through Jynx’s and pull her close to my side. “How’s your arm?”
“It’s fine, it stings a bit, but I’m lucky it was only graze and nothing more serious,” she replies.
I don’t have the time to comment on anything else because we step into the house, and we’re instantly swarmed by grandparents and a fucking delicious smell coming from the kitchen. Little Harry comes toddling out from the swarm of grandparents, avoiding Hugo and Roberta’s hands as they try to get him, and heads straight toward a smiling Jynx, who crouches down on the floor so that she can scoop him up into her arms.
“Hey baby,” she greets him, happiness oozing from her as she stands back up holding him closely, and he babbles, talking so quickly that I can only pick out a few words that I can understand, but she diligently listens and makes the right noises as he talks, giving him her full attention.
It makes a weird feeling start in my chest, and I rub my heart with a frown.
“Glad it’s not just me,” Rip mutters from beside me as he watches her too, and Rome comes to step up beside me, Ace and Mal close by as well.
“It’s like looking at the future, isn’t it?” Rome asks quietly, as all the grandparents are busy fussing over them both.
“Shit, that’s it. That’s what this feeling is,” I mutter, “it’s watching the future.”
“She’s amazing with him, isn’t she?” Rip questions.
“Maybe one day,” Mase surprises me by adding, and what surprises me more is I find myself agreeing. Not now, not any time soon, but in the future, I think, no, I know that we’d all like to have this glimpse into the future become a reality.
Thankfully, our realisation and the huge implications it has is interrupted by the grandparents turning their attention to us, although I choose to ignore my grandfather's very knowing look.
“Hey, kids. Because it's your last night here, and we figured that you are most likely going to be heading back fairly early tomorrow since you have something else that you need to take care of, we thought that we’d have a big send-off dinner. We were all watching from the cameras, so we know what happened, although we’re all pretty desperate to know what was said at the exchange with the buyer, he looked ready to take down your team, and then he looked terrified.” Ruth rushes out as soon as we get in; as she rushes us into the giant dining room, and we all take seats at the table that is thankfully big enough for all of us.
“Wow, this looks amazing,” Jynx comments as we sit down, and she places Harry in a highchair near Rip’s grandparents before moving to her chair and glancing over the feast that has been made.
“Well, we were planning a celebratory dinner for everyone anyway since, thanks to you, the town is now officially safe,” Dexter replies.
“Thank you,” Rome says for all of us, and we’re soon laughing and joking as we all tuck in.
Eventually, we explain what happened with the Conspiracy team and Jynx’s inadvertent link in helping to diffuse that situation; as expected, they’re all very impressed, apart from Gerald and Demelza, who just look proud.
When we’ve all finished and are just sitting around the table enjoying each other's company, Cecil smirks and asks, “So, you’re heading home before you’ve even started to look for the family vault. You’ve already given up?”
I smirk as Ace chuckles, “Oh no, I have definitely not given up on that, but there will be plenty of time to search for it. It’s mostly just curiosity and the fun of the search. I imagine it’s going to take me a while to find it, but we’re going to be visiting regularly, so I’ll find it eventually.”
Cecil’s smile turns cunning as he replies, “In that case, I will give you a clue every time that you return, but only one clue per visit; that way, we can keep you visiting your old grandparents.”
“Good plan,” Mason Sr agrees, the others all nodding along.
“We could set up a proper kind of hunt with clues that use their skillsets,” Lillian suggests excitedly.
“I have a feeling that they’re going to take this idea and run with it,” I mutter.
Mal nods, “Oh yeah, definitely, and we’re going to be searching for years.”
“At least it's something fun to do in our downtime, and it’ll keep our skill sharp if I know our grandparents, as well as I think I’m beginning to. It’s not going to be easy,” Rome replies with a fond smile.
