Her Angels (The Roses, Book 2) Completed

2. Gabriel

"Come on guys" I shout out wanting them to hurry up, my mind racing ahead thinking about what we were about to do.
"Gabe, chill out man, we're ready, they're not going anywhere without us" Mike replied appearing and pulling his jacket on and pocketing his phone.
"I know but we've waited so long, I'm just ready"
"We all are brother, look, why don't you go, you're driving the van and I'll follow with Lo as soon as he's ready"
"You sure"
"Yeah, get going, we'll catch you up"
I head out the door, smiling now I'm on my way.  I thought about what was coming next and felt my body tighten in anticipation of seeing Eve again. 
Our little sisters best friend had been around since we were young but it wasn't until we returned home from University when the girls were 16 that things started to change, we had all started watching her, felt guilt as she was too young and off limits, as good as a sister to us, however it was at their joint 18th birthday party that we had realised we all wanted more, the gut deep anger at other boys around her, the need to be near her, it was then that we had sat down and discussed what we wanted in our future, a future that for all of us contained Eve.
Our family was unique but worked and I had never had any reason to doubt the love our parents shared, my dads had decided long before they met mom that they wanted a wife they could share, one that would not come between the bond they shared as brothers and they could all worship and they still did, even after 9 kids their love was strong. We wanted that too, could see it working for the three of us.  I laughed to myself thinking of how we had sat down with our dads and talked about her and what we felt, and now here we were about to start a future we had been dreaming of for over three years.
Our dads had cautioned us to wait until she finished university and we had reluctantly agreed, but had worried about her safety and losing her, so had used the excuse of checking in on our sisters to ensure everything was okay and now the wait was over, we were on our way to bring my sisters and Eve home.
Mom had converted the old granary on the estate into a house with office for them to share, until they were ready to move out on their own, Emme had a successful online blog that she was building on, Charlie and Jo were going to work for Mom's publishing company as editors and Eve was doing translation work and writing, luckily for us that meant that Eve would be working from the estate mainly so we would be able to see her.
I grinned as Lo's car pulled in front of me, knowing they were as impatient as me to get to her, over the three years they had been at Uni, we had seen her during the holidays, she had tried to hide from us and blushed prettily when we had made sure to include her and our sisters in our activities.  We knew the girls supported us, the one Christmas that Eve had gone home rather than to ours, Jo had made sure to keep us updated and Emme had flat out told us she was their sister and we needed to make it official, leaving us open mouthed at her as Charlie had laughed at us.  Even our three youngest brothers had laughed and told us to grab her soon or they'd be old enough to chase her.
We had watched Eve watch us, watched her reactions to our presence and occasional touch, watched her with our family and waited for her graduation so we could take the next steps.
I followed the car into their road and pulled up, Mike was already at the door knocking as I climbed out of the van, as Emme and Charlie came out and squealed and hugged us.
I looked round and past them, where was she?
"Hey, you ready to go?" Lo asked his head swivelling to look round for her.
"Guys, she's not here" Emme said quietly and all three of us looked at her sharply.
"What? Where is she?" Lo growled.
"Hey, don't you growl at me" Emme slapped Lo's arm.
Charlie stepped between them, "enough, she's on her way home with Jo, she got a call from her parents and needed some space, so Jo's got her, they're going to stop and pick up some groceries and will be at home when we get there"
Lo hung his head, "sorry Em, I didn't mean to growl at you"
Emme hugged him "growl away brother, she's safe so don't worry"
I cleared my throat, "What the parents want this time?"
"They've got a new job, permanent placement governorship"
"Christ, when do they leave?" Mike asked, knowing that once again their job will come before Eve.
"They're already there, it's why they missed her graduation" Charlie explained carefully, knowing we had been angry at her parents no show at graduation even if our family made up for it with her.
"Self centred pair of....." Lo muttered rubbing his hands through his hair.
"She okay?" I ask.
"She says she is but you know her, she'll hide her feelings, it's what they've taught her to do, bloody stiff upper lip and all that crap"
I exchange looks with my brothers, we're all furious.
"Come on, let's get loaded up, sooner it's in, the sooner we're on our way"
The girls show us the stack of boxes and we start to load, silently working and thinking about the newest disappointment Eve has had from her parents, it's not that they don't love her, they just don't see her, too wrapped up in their own lives to think of hers.  We had promised ourselves, if, no when she was ours, we would never let her down.
It didn't take us long to pack the van, as the main furniture was staying in the property, so with the last box loaded, Emme jumped in with me and we started the drive home.