"I tagged her!" Ephraim frantically pointed out as Christofer grabbed him by the back of his neck and pulled him away from the adorable giggling baby girl rolling over on the mat.

Danni sighed contently from the sidelines where she sat between Caine's legs. "Karma's the best."

"It really is," Caine said, wrapping his arms around his mate and pulling her back as they settled in to watch the daily show.

"Chris is getting away!" Ephraim shouted, struggling to get free, but after two straight hours of getting his a.s.s handed to him, he was too exhausted to put up much of a fight.

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" Chris gasped from where he lay boneless on the floor, breaking his own heavily enforced rule about not swearing in front of the children. "I'm your son!"

"You're also a Sentinel trainer so man up!" Ephraim groaned as he was yanked to his feet.

"Baby on the mat!" Chris called out, sounding almost relieved.

Christofer looked down to see baby Jessica crawling towards her daddy. With a bored sigh, he dropped Ephraim, who hit the ground with a weak grunt, and picked up the adorable baby girl who was quickly staking a claim on his heart. All the children living in the mansion had him thinking about something that he'd once refused to even consider.

But now......

Things were different.

At first he hadn't been happy about staying here, but after seeing the others with their mates and their families he'd quickly changed his mind. He'd never thought that a future with a wife and children was in the cards for him, but now he couldn't help but hope for more. He wanted it all, a wife, children, and a purpose in his life and now he could have it all. There was only one thing standing in his way.

The past.

He couldn't risk a future with Cloe, not until he took care of the monsters from her past. He'd already lived a life on the run. He didn't want that for Cloe, or G.o.d help them, their children if they were ever lucky enough to have them. He wanted to see the world with her, to live their lives without fear, but until he took care of the b.a.s.t.a.r.d that had marked her, they couldn't do anything. They were stuck here, and even though he was enjoying himself more than he thought he would, they were still trapped.

"You think maybe it's time to stop 'a.s.sessing'," Danni said, making air-quotes around the word a.s.sessing, "his skills and actually move on to training him."

"I hate you," Chris said, trying to sit up, but only managed to fall back on the mat with a pained groan.

"Such a big baby," Christofer said softly, smiling down at the grinning baby in his arms. "You want a chance to beat up your daddy?"

Deciding to take her excited giggle as a yes, he carried the little girl over to Chris and placed her by his side. The little girl immediately attacked, going for her daddy's nose. No doubt she was getting a little revenge for all those games of "I've got your nose" where Chris stole her nose and refused to give it back. Chris took his beating like a man, properly whimpering and pleading for mercy as she continued her attack.

"I think I'm dying," Ephraim said from his spot on the floor.

"Wimp," Madison playfully teased as she walked in the large training room with her two baby boys in her arms and her oldest son bringing up the rear with baby CJ in his arms.

As soon as little Jessica spotted Marc, she released her hold on Chris' nose and went for the little boy. With a patient smile, he handed CJ over to Christofer and picked up the little girl who was known to throw screaming tantrums in order to gain Marc's attention. Sighing, Marc carried the little girl, who now had a firm grip on his nose, over to the section Chris had set up for the babies and sat down with her in his lap.

"I thought I'd go into town tonight. Does anyone want to come?" Madison asked, walking over to Danni and handed one of the babies to her.

"I think we're going to stay in tonight," Danni said, smiling down at the baby in her arms, which didn't exactly surprise him since she didn't seem to be able to do much more than sit on the sidelines when she wasn't sleeping the day away. The woman was sick and getting sicker each day. He wondered just how long it would be before even coming downstairs to sit became too much.

"I need to patrol, but after that I can take you out if you want," Ephraim offered, rolling over onto his side with a pained grunt.

"Will you be able to walk by then?" Madison asked, sounding thoughtful as she looked her husband over.

"Probably not," he said, chuckling as rolled over onto his back.

"I promised Izzy that I'd watch an X-File marathon with her," Chris said with a pained sigh that probably had more to do with the night Izzy had planned for him than the actual damage that Christofer had done to him.

"What about you, Christofer?" Madison asked as the baby boy in his arms smiled sleepily as he nodded off.

"We'll probably just stay in," he said, carrying the sleeping baby boy to one of the ba.s.sinets lined up against the wall and placed the baby carefully on the small bed.

"Are you sure?" Madison asked, sounding like she wanted to say more, but thankfully she kept the questions to a minimum.

That was one thing that he liked about this group, they didn't ask too many questions. They didn't harp on him or demand answers. They left him alone to do whatever he wanted. He could train, draw, walk the grounds or sit in the nursery with a baby in each arm in peace and enjoy the quiet- Screams for help.

Chapter 51.

"Stop!" Izzy screamed as she tried to slap Cloe's hands away, but she'd been doing this long enough now to know that stopping was the last thing that she should do.

"She's trying to kill me!" Izzy yelled, continuing to slap at her hands until she finally accepted the fact that Cloe wasn't going to stop and decided that it was time to make her escape. Unfortunately for Izzy, that large belly of hers and the agonizing pain that had twisted her muscles and forced her to drop to the floor stopped her from moving more than a few inches.

"What the h.e.l.l is going on?" Christofer demanded, dropping to his knees across from them.

"What the h.e.l.l are you doing to her?" Chris snapped as he dropped by Christofer's side on the foyer floor and moved to pull Izzy into his arms, but Cloe took him by surprise by taking a firm grip of his hand and placing it on Izzy's ruined hip.

"Keep your hand here while I work the tension out of her muscles," Cloe ordered, returning her focus to the tense muscles cramping up in the smaller woman's back, hip and leg.

"What are you doing?" Christofer asked, watching them with a frown.

"What does it look like she's doing?" Izzy snapped, once again trying to shove Cloe's hands away. "She's trying to-ooohhhhhh, oh G.o.d, yes!" she ended on loud moan as her eyes slid shut and she smiled.

"What exactly are we doing?" Chris asked, looking amused as Izzy let out another small sigh of pleasure while Cloe continued to work the knots out of her muscles.

"We're helping to stretch Izzy's muscles so that she can function without pain," she explained, carefully ma.s.saging Izzy's back and hip, knowing that the wrong amount of pressure could trigger a muscle spasm.

She honestly didn't know how Izzy had managed to go all these months like this. It was crazy. She'd understood, after she'd made them explain everything to her a few times to make sure that she understood correctly, that medication didn't work on Sentinels. She also knew that they hadn't wanted to risk surgery, but that didn't necessarily mean that the situation was hopeless. There was absolutely no reason for this woman to be in constant pain and while she was here, she was going to do what she could to help her.

"Please don't stop," Izzy moaned, a smile of pure bliss lighting up her face as her body finally relaxed.

"I won't," Cloe promised, happy to see a real smile on Izzy's face instead of that fake smile that she wore in the hopes of making everyone around her believe that she was fine.

She wasn't sure if anyone else had bought it, but she certainly hadn't. A few times over the past week she'd offered to look at Izzy's injury and see if there was anything that she could do to help her, but every time she'd asked, Izzy would simply give her another one of those aggravating smiles, thank her and lie her adorable little a.s.s off and tell her that she was fine. Even though she'd wanted to argue with the stubborn woman, Cloe had bitten her tongue.

She didn't want to ruin things by offending anyone. She liked being here, liked living here, learning how to control her abilities, liked learning how to fight, and even though she felt like she was dying a little inside each time she saw Christofer holding one of the babies, she liked being around the Williams family. She probably should have kept her mouth shut and pretended that she didn't notice how much pain Izzy was in and if she hadn't walked in the foyer just as Izzy had stumbled and dropped unsteadily to the floor, obviously holding back a scream, she would have continued to feign ignorance.

Before Izzy could move, Cloe had her lying on her side, her shirt pulled up and her skirt pushed down. As soon as she'd placed her hands on Izzy's hip and back she'd realized just how tight her muscles were. Working the muscles wouldn't take all of her pain and discomfort away, but over time it should loosen the muscles and allow her to walk without much difficulty. She would need physical therapy every day for a while. Eventually she should be able to function with just a rubdown every day, which was something that her mate could learn to do for her.

"Get your hands off her," the b.a.s.t.a.r.d that never stopped seething, growled, earning a collective sigh from their little group and a growl of warning from Izzy as she slapped her hand over Cloe's to keep her hand right where it was.

"She's helping her," Chris said, a look of deep concentration on his face as he slowly moved his hand over Izzy's damaged hip.

Refusing to listen, big surprise there, Kale moved closer and reached down, but she'd moved before he could remove her hand. She grabbed his and placed it just below Izzy's ribcage.

"Gently rub," she ordered absently as she focused on working the tension out of Izzy's back.

"What?" Kale asked after a slight hesitation, sounding confused as he knelt there, his hand remaining still on Izzy's side.

"She said rub!" Izzy snapped, sending the b.a.s.t.a.r.d a murderous glare that had Cloe biting back a smile as the large man hurried to do just that. Izzy released a drawn out sigh as she relaxed back on the floor, her arm folded beneath her head, her eyes closed and a small smile tilting her lips up as they worked her muscles.

"Where did you learn that?" Christofer asked as she used her thumbs to work out a particularly nasty knot in Izzy's back.

"I took a few extra courses when I was in school," she said, following the direction of the knot until it hit the scar tissue decorating Izzy's hip.

"Is this going to help her?" Chris asked, gently rubbing his mate's hip.

She hated making promises, but one look at the expression on his face told her that he needed to hear something, anything that would give him some semblance of hope. "It should help relieve some of her pain," she promised, praying that she was right.

"Can I help?" Marc asked as he walked into the large foyer.

She opened her mouth to say no, but something in Marc's expression told her that Chris wasn't the only one punishing himself over Izzy's injury. "Actually, I could use some help. I was thinking of walking into town and picking up some oils that might help her. You can be my escort as long as it's fine with your parents."

"It's fine. Just make sure you're back before dark," Ephraim said, walking into the foyer with a baby in each arm.

"When are we going?" Marc asked, standing tall and looking like he was ready to take on the world.

He really was such a sweet kid. He was also too serious for a kid his age. In the last week here, she hadn't seen him playing any video games, watching television, playing outside or having a friend over. He was always looking after Izzy and Jessica, making sure they were taken care of. He did so much, too much for a kid.

"Give me an hour?" she asked, shooting Marc a smile.

"One hour," he agreed solemnly, appearing as though he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"Chris, could you make sure that Izzy soaks in a hot tub for at least thirty minutes?" she asked, moving to stand up when Izzy made a desperate grab to stop her. "The hot water will help your muscles relax," she promised Izzy as she gently pried the woman's fingers off her arm.

"Fine," Izzy grumbled as she released her hold on Cloe and allowed Chris to pick her up. "You may carry me to my room and draw my bath for me," she said on a bored sigh as though she were somehow doing Chris a favor.

"Little slave driver," Chris said, chuckling as he leaned down and kissed Izzy on the forehead.

"I don't believe I gave you leave to kiss me, good sir," Izzy sniffed haughtily, folding her arms over her ample b.r.e.a.s.t.s as she looked away, making everyone in the foyer smile, but not for the reason that Cloe thought. It had been long time since Izzy was able to tease her mate and smile about having to be carried around. They took it as a good sign of things to come.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Christofer asked as he followed Cloe into their room. Not that she really had a choice in the matter. He was going no matter what, but he liked to make her think that she had a choice.

"Do you want to go with me?" she asked, eying him curiously as she picked up her backpack.

"Of course," he said, lying his a.s.s off.

He wanted to spend time with her. He just didn't want to do it in another small-minded town. It had been close to three weeks since he was last forced to spend time with humans and he would have been more than fine with turning that three weeks into an eternity, but it seemed that Cloe had other plans.

"Hmm, you don't sound very excited," she noted as she searched through her bag.

"I'm ecstatic," he said dryly as he watched her bend over.

"You could check out the art supply store," she suggested, shooting him a quick glance over her shoulder.

"I could," he said absently as he eyed the pile of drawings he'd done since this whole thing started, still wondering if his new life was going to have room in it for his first love.

He needed to protect Cloe, to make this world safe for her and that was going to take a great deal of training and time to accomplish. His desire to spend every waking moment escaping through his art had started to diminish over the past few weeks. He still loved to draw, took great pleasure from it, but that overwhelming need to lose himself in his art just wasn't the same anymore.

Not since Cloe became the center of his world.

"We have forty-five minutes to kill," Cloe suddenly announced with a coy little smile that he knew too well.

"What do you have in mind?" he asked just as casually as he shifted to make room for his growing erection.

"Well," she began, kicking off her shoes, "we could go for a walk."

"We're walking to town in forty-five minutes," he said, kicking off his shoes.

"True," she said with a slight nod as she reached for the hem of her shirt. "We could go for a swim," she suggested, pulling her shirt off and revealing a very s.e.xy baby pink bra.

"We probably wouldn't have enough time to change," he pointed out, removing his shirt and tossing it aside.

"True," she sighed, nodding in agreement as she pulled her socks off. "I guess we could watch some television."

"There's nothing good on television," he said, having absolutely no idea if that was true or not as he pulled his socks off and tossed them aside.

"That's true," Cloe nodded, looking thoughtful as she undid her jeans and shimmied out of them, giving him a view of her matching panties. "We could go train for a while, I guess," she said, crawling onto the bed and leaning back against the pillows.

"We could," he murmured as he unsnapped his jeans, "but then we'd probably lose track of time."

"This is true," she said, bending a knee as she spread her legs apart so that he had a good view of her dampening panties. "Well, I'm out of ideas," she said as she absently traced her fingertips between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, down to her belly, back and forth she moved her fingers while she made a show of trying to figure out just what they should do for the next forty minutes.

"I have an idea," he said, pulling down his zipper.

"Oh, and what's that?" she asked, sounding breathless as she watched his every move.

He reached into his pants and pulled himself out. "You could peel those pretty little panties off and show me how wet you are."

"I could......," she said, looking thoughtful even as she started to do just that. "But, I'm really not sure how that would help us kill forty minutes."

"Cause while you're sliding a finger inside your sweet little p.u.s.s.y, I'm going to tell you just how badly I want to f.u.c.k you."

Chapter 52.