Trial By Fire - Bouncing Back, Book 1

Thirty-Two

When she awoke the next morning, she felt Memphis snuggle into her back. The slight growth on his chin scratched her shoulder as his arm looped around her waist, his hand resting gently against her stomach. Taking a deep breath as he stretched out his legs, he smiled. "Good morning, my lethal little wife. Did you sleep well?”

She groaned, "Did I really pull a gun on your cousin in front of the whole family?”

"No one is mad about that. No one. They’re furious over what they found out yesterday,” he told her softly.

Sniffling, she breathed a laugh, "God, I thought only Nix’s family was dysfunctional.”

Memphis snickered. Getting out of bed, he sighed, "Come on, let’s go grab a shower. It might help."

“Can I ask you something?” she murmured as she grabbed her overnight bag.

Memphis raised a brow, glancing over at her while he picked out what he was going to wear that day. “What’s up?”

She licked her lips, “If your grandmother is Tanisha’s daughter, and she married Gavin Rouzes, why do you and your father carry the Slade name?”

“When I was ten, my mother made most of the family believe that Dad abused her. Dad and I talked it over when my i***t grandfather disowned us, and we agreed to change our last name to Slade. We never bothered to explain it to the rest of the family, but the ones that matter know.”

Someone knocked on the door before his father’s voice called out to them. "Are you decent?"

"Yeah, Dad," Memphis called out.

The door opened, and Thomas grinned at them, "I gotta say, that was one hell of a show yesterday. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Just threw my guts up, but I’m good," she muttered. "Do they hate me?"

"Hate you? Sweetheart, you put my ass back in the family's good graces and got rid of two idiots in the process." He chuckled, "Memphis, you treat that girl like gold, you hear me?"

Laughing, Memphis pulled Kennedy to her feet and dragged her into the bathroom. "Come on, wife. Let's go take a bath."

******

Temperance tried to stay calm as Declan left the room to go outside. After what happened yesterday, she was sure her sister would be told to leave and not come back, but it didn't happen. Instead, the women welcomed the brassy girl with open arms. Her two older children were already done eating and had gone to play with Helena’s children in the garden.

Marigold sat down as Temperance nursed Holden. Her eyes, a mirror of her grandson’s own honey-brown, were soft with peaceful acceptance. "You have such beautiful kids, Mrs. Reyes."

Shaking her head, Temperance told the woman to call her by name. "My sister is a little bolder than I am.”

Tanisha joined them as Carl set a cup of tea down for her. “Temperance, you have a beautiful name, dear. May I ask why your sister is fluent, but you are not?"

"I only speak enough French to scrape by, honestly," she replied. "Kennedy is a child prodigy with an addiction to learning, and the IQ of a genius."

Smiling, Marigold asked, "Is there anything your sister cannot do?"

"Deal with bullshit," Declan said, as he washed his hands after coming back inside. “Kennedy is incapable of dealing with people who believe they are above the rest of humanity, and she excels in bringing them back down to earth by whatever means necessary.”

Laughing, Marigold sipped her tea, watching as Thomas walked into the room. "Had to wait for the newly-weds to get out of the shower."

Memphis and Kennedy followed close on his heels, their hands entwined. Kissing the side of her head, Memphis asked Kennedy what she wanted to eat. Before she even had a chance to answer, Bella breezed into the kitchen with two fast food bags. "Bonjour ma famille! Avez-vous bien dormi, Kenni?"

"I slept well, thanks,” Kennedy replied.

Giggling, Bella opened the bag and handed Kennedy one of the meals. Handing Memphis the other, she made her way over to the kettle on the counter. "Yesterday was so much fun, I was hoping to get the chance to show you around town for a bit. Just us girls, though."

Memphis muttered under his breath about sexism before biting into a piece of bacon. "Make sure you take your medicine before you leave. Bells, she's not allowed to overdo it, so be cautious with her."

"Is something wrong with the baby?" Belladonna leaned over, her fingers splaying over the younger woman’s stomach. “Doux petit bébé.”

Kennedy glowered at her husband before kicking him under the table. "No, I'm just under strict orders not to over-exhaust myself until the baby is born. What are we naming our Jellybean anyway?"

Coughing, Memphis reached for his coffee before answering her. Taking a drink, he set the mug back down, "What about Francis? It's a unisex name, isn't it?"

Her heart constricted.

It would be nice, she thought. Looking over at her sister, she waited patiently for any kind of negative response to the request. She knew that he wasn't trying to cause her pain by mentioning her father's name, but it still hurt like hell. Slowly eating her food, she thought it over.

Nodding, Kennedy turned to Memphis and sighed, "I like the idea. It's just hard to start using my dad's name after so long. Am I even going to be able to say it without crying?"

"What would your father say about it?" Memphis asked.

She stilled in his arms, realizing he was right. Taking a deep breath, she smiled sadly, "He'd ask what I was waiting for."

******

A few hours later, Kennedy groaned as they finally sat down on a park bench. "Jesus, how big is this place?"

Giggling, Bella handed Kennedy a juice pack from her shoulder bag. "Here, Memphis made sure to give me a few for you to drink. This place is smaller than back home in Ontario."

Smiling, Kennedy took the drink and popped the straw into the seal, "Thanks, Bells."

"Aucun problème," the other woman replied. "I'm all too happy to spend time with you."

Looking around, Bella spotted an ice cream vendor in the parking lot. Getting to her feet, she said, "Tu veux de la glace au chocolat?"

Eyes wide, Kennedy nodded eagerly, "Oui, merci."

Turning her head, she spotted Charmaine walking in her direction with some of her friends. Taking several deep breaths, Kennedy tried to remain as calm as possible. She kept her head down, tapping out a quick message to Phoenix before sending one to Memphis. Her phone buzzed, Nix's name lit up the screen, "Hey, Boo! How's the honeymoon going?"

"Great, I'm having a blast," he answered. "How'd the wedding go yesterday?"

"I don't want to get into it right now, but we'll totally talk about it later," she replied.

Someone laughed, and he covered the mouthpiece to yell at them. When he came back on the line, he sounded stressed, "Idiotas! Ken, I can't wait to get home. Franc is good to me, but his people are gonna find out the hard way that the Veiðimenn don't f**k around. Sorry for unloading on you."

They spoke for another few minutes until a call from Memphis interrupted them. Letting him go, she answered. His voice was laced with worry and savage anger. "Where are you?"

She knew it wasn’t directed at her, and it made her smile to know he was so protective of her and their child. "Miguasha."

Memphis growled under his breath, "How far?"

"She's getting closer, and she's not alone, either." Kennedy whispered. "Bella is coming back with the ice cream now."

Cursing softly, Memphis said, "How convenient that she showed up there right after Rick went to place a call. I'm on my way."

******

Bella looked over at Kennedy. Following the girl's nervous body movements, she looked around for the source of her new cousin's anxiety. Her eyes settled on Charmaine and her usual group of friends. Running back to Kennedy, she got to the bench with seconds to spare. "I got you, Queen."

"Memphis is on his way," Kennedy whispered. "I'm not taking chances with Psycho b***h and her posse. While I can fight with the best of them, I can’t do that while pregnant. Memphis would never forgive me if I put myself in that kind of situation."

A sleek black car suddenly stopped in front of them. As she watched, Thomas got out of the driver's seat. "Let's go, sweetheart."

"Where’s Memphis?" Kennedy asked.

"He’s back at the manor flipping his s**t because of all the s**t going down," he said. "I came to get you as soon as they showed up. Declan is keeping your man from committing murder."

"There, that's her," they heard Charmaine shriek angrily. "That's the little b***h that ruined my life."

Bella handed her ice cream to Thomas and rolled up her sleeve, "Une minute, cousin. I'll deal with this, you take care of Kennedy."

Without waiting for them to notice what she was doing, Bella hauled off and punched Charmaine in the face. "You're the b***h, Charmaine. Going after an innocent, pregnant girl because you got caught with a married man? You're the lowest form of scum. I'm appalled to even share a skin colour with you, let alone the designation of ‘woman’."

Charmaine's friends scowled, trying to figure out what Bella was talking about. Looking between the two women, the other three smartly stayed out of the fight. Glaring over at the girl getting into the car, the woman on the ground shrieked again.

Having had enough of it all, Kennedy called out: "Bella, it’s time to do your Enforcer duty and protect your Queen.”

"Oh, honey, with pleasure." Cracking her knuckles, Bella pounced.