Unbreakable

Chapter 43

Ava's POV

At some point we made our way back to the bedroom after cleaning up downstairs. The next morning we woke up to the phone blaring. Austin answered it before it woke the whole house up. He pressed the speaker button before saying a deep and brief hello.

"This is Piper. I can't find my son and I really need to know what happened after you dropped him off last night." She said. She sounded worried but not as worried as I would sound.

"Well Piper, if his parents would have been home then this conversation wouldn't be happening would it? After we pulled up to a completely empty house, we brought him back here." Austin said. I sat on the side of the bed with him and told him to be nice.

"I had to take Ben back and forth from the bar. You must have showed up when I was gone." She said.

"He said he's left at home alone frequently. Do you always leave him when you have to take 'Ben' somewhere?" He asked her.

"It's not very long. It's just a few minutes." She said. Before she could speak anything else Austin cut in.

"Anything could happen in those few minutes. Someone could break in, the house could catch fire, or something worse. Piper you need to figure it out." He said.

"We can help you. All you have to do is ask. We will have him home by noon. Please get your priorities straight." I said. After that I got up to get ready for the day. We are in no form or fashion perfect parents but we both work at it. It seems to me Piper is alone in this.

After getting dressed, I went downstairs to find John-Luke glued to his phone drinking coffee. Him and his father were addicts to that junk. "What are you doing up?" I asked him.

"The phone woke me up. I decided to call her while I was up. Her name is Kennedy. I hope you don't get mad, but she's coming for breakfast." He said.

"Do I ever get mad? Me and Ruby always cook enough." I said while filing in behind Ruby getting things prepared.

"It looks like we will be feeding plenty of mouths this morning." Ruby said.

"Does it shock you Ruby?" I asked.

We both laughed as she shook her head no. Once all the kids were up and dressed for the day, we started setting the table. I heard the doorbell ring and sauntered over to it. I pulled the door open to a young girl who looked strikingly like her mother with hints of, I'm sure, her fathers features. "Kennedy?" I said.

"Yes ma'am. I'm not sure of your name-"

"Avalyn, Ava, Momma, but not grandma yet. So call me anything you like. Come on in." She stepped in and looked at the house.

"This is a beautiful house." She said.

"Thank you honey. It was built and paid for with hard work. I just want to tell you, I'm a big believer in giving people chances, but this is my little boy we are talking about and I need you to not hurt him. Your mother did but she wised up. Let's not let time waste, let's get started on a good foot. Okay?" I asked. She nodded as Austin and John-Luke came in the foyer.

"Hey. I see you've met my mom." J-Luke said as he came in. "This is my dad Austin." He said. She smiled and said hello. "Listen, I'm glad to meet you and with much consideration, I am glad to have you be apart of my family. But this is my family and this is my home. You are more than welcome to be a part of it, but you will not destroy it."

"John-Luke. A little nicer." I said.

"I didn't know how to put that any nicer." He said honestly.

"Sixteen years and I still can't beat your daddy out of you." I said. Austin beamed with pride and J-Luke looked lost.

"It's okay. Really. I just wanted to meet you because you're the only family I have left now." She said as tears welled in her eyes. I wanted to hug her but John-Luke beat me to it.

"Don't cry, Kenny. I swear this whole family will love you as if you have been around the whole time." He said to her. She nodded her head while wiping away the tears.

"I knew it." I whispered to Austin.

"Knew what?" He asked.

"I knew he would accept her without a doubt. Look at the way he treats me, his sister, and even Ella. He has a soft spot that can only be brought out by a few women." I said.

"I'm glad I don't have that." Austin said. I immediately busted out laughing. I started back toward the kitchen. "What, I don't." He said in a defensive manner. That man had a huge weak spot and he could deny it all he wanted but it's still there.

I heard Kennedy whisper, "I'm gonna love it here" as they walked behind us.

We all sat at the table and dug in for breakfast. We found out that Kennedy's full name was Kennedy Maine Walker. John-Luke had already given her a nickname because we Knights were accustomed to nicknames.

"Kenny it was good to have you. I can't believe there is finally another girl in the family. You don't understand how bad these boys are overprotective." Kirby said.

"Oh really. How so?" Kenny asked.

"This is the only boyfriend-" Kirby was cut off with all of the boys, except poor Jack, choking on their food or looking at her with disbelief. "The only friend I have that's a boy." She recovered.

"I think I see what you mean." Kenny said.

"He's not your boyfriend." Austin said. "You can't have one of those until I'm dead." He said.

"I'm not her boyfriend sir. I have a crush on another girl in my class. Kirb is my best friend." Jack said. Austin looked at him in disbelief but eventually let it go.

"I'm glad to meet you too, Kennedy. I just hate it was under these circumstances." I said to her. She nodded in understanding.

"Why do you keep kicking me?" Kennedy suddenly asked John-Luke who sat across from her.

"I'm not." He said a little confused. We all looked under the table to see Hercules sniffing Kenny out.

"That thing is huge." Kennedy said.

"That's our baby, Hercules. He's huge but a huge baby." Austin told her.

I looked around as my family laughed when Herc nearly took down the whole table trying to get some bacon. My family could not get any more perfect than this, especially with all my added bonuses like Kennedy.