What was Lost and Found in the Fire

Ch. 31 Stirs and Smiles

Early update, because I can. Thank you for reading! Vote, let me know what you think!
Love, Timmy.

~~~

Axel's POV

Location: Lockheart Estates

Date: October

~~~
We touched down in a clearing within the Lockheart Estates in silence. 

Tension fills the air, chasing the conversation that was just interrupted. We all disembark the jet slowly, with caution after the day we've had, taking in the overgrown circle of trees and greenery along the lone cracked slabs of cement that make up what is meant to be an airfield runway. 

I stand on one side of Marc, helping him down the steps slowly as Sonny helps Corey and the other guys make they're way after us. We're all groaning, aches and pains making themselves known after the long flight. 

My eyes roam around us, and lock on two familiar women staring us down, both with arms crossed. Lorraine Lockheart and Loretta Lavele stand off to the side, near a large dark van, and they start to quickly make their way toward us. 

The two woman are almost upon us, with the grimmest of expressions, but they both stop as one of the doors of the van pops open behind them.  

A hard look crosses Lorraine's face, and she looks back at the van with a cutting expression. Loretta's mouth thins, but she keeps her eyes raised behind me. I turn around, getting a sharp elbow jab from Marc as he teeters on the stairs without my support. My eyes fall on Kayli, just as she steps into the light and for a moment the air around us seems to evaporate. 

A stunning smile lights up her face. Her empty expression that was a constant the past few hours has melted into something softer and sweeter. The child in her arms, fast asleep, only enhances my fascination. 

I swing my head around, wary of what would make her smile like that. The shining grins of children shock me, even though it shouldn't. I knew she had picked up a few kids, but the number of them, and the age differences, and the complete love in their and her eyes surprises me still.  

"Mama," A very small little boy shouts. "Maria!" A cap of bright blond hair waves wildly around his head, and a mess of what might be chocolate cake covers his face. His little legs work on overtime as he runs toward us. 

Another child follows close on his heels, a serious-faced little girl. Curly brown hair and wild brown eyes take us in, and the little girl slows down as she gets closer to us. Her eyes dart to each of us, and she stops feet away, while the little boy ducks and weaves around us to get to Kayli. Marc and I lean away so he doesn't jostle either of our injuries and he smiles happily at us in thanks. 

A pair of boys and another girl exits the van, but they don't try to approach us. They watch as Kayli leans down and scoops up the little blond boy when he finally squeezes past Sonny, Corey and Raven. Maria, the little girl in Kayli's arms, stirs and smiles sleepily as the little boy throws his thin arms around both her and Kayli. 

I turn away, my heart hurting at the radiant look on her face... and at the way her face drops to nuzzle at the little boy's curls and the way the three of them start to whisper to one another conspiratorially. I missed out on that. I lost her, and fuck knows that hurt. But this? Her happy smile and the children in her arms make me feel like scum. I didn't save her. I hadn't even known where to look to find her. 

I thought I'd find her in some ditch. Or under some sick fuck's thumb, turning tricks for someone else's pocketbook. The reality was so much worse. She endured torture, sexual abuse, and who knows what else, and instead of being the jaded and headstrong woman I knew before this, she's a doting mother with a bundle of kids and a strength in her expression that wasn't there before. She survived that dark place.