"Oh, sure. I'm glad the trip went okay."
She fumbled with the phone, and then Tommy's voice came on the line. "Sam! We're almost to your house. Mom says it's just an hour more. She said I should sleep since it's the middle of the night, but I can't. I'm too excited. I can't wait to see you." He lowered his voice to almost a whisper. "Mom's been real sad, Sam. She smiles and doesn't say anything, but I can feel it in me, like having to sleep in a wet, cold blanket. Can you help her?"
Poor Tommy. Reading minds had its own burdens, but I wouldn't want to be empathetic. He had a hard life ahead of him, weighted down with the emotions of others. Maybe we could teach him how to control it, how to shield himself and discern between his own feelings and others. Father Patrick had shared horror stories of empaths who used drugs and alcohol to numb the pain. None of them lasted long without help.
"We can help you both," I said. "I can't wait to see you."
He handed the phone back to his mom, who sighed. "I don't know what to do, Sam. I can't protect him from my fears and worries anymore, and it's eating away at him."
"That's why you have us. We'll find a way together, I promise."
We said our goodbyes and I pulled out my sketch book to distract myself while I waited.
Time stretched on and after awhile I couldn't stand being alone. I checked Ana, who slept soundly, and turned on her baby monitor, then hooked it to my jeans before leaving my room to roam the house and see who else might be awake.
In a group this size, someone could almost always be found in the kitchen, and a cup of tea sounded good, so I headed there first.
It didn't take long for company to arrive. Darren walked in and yawned. "What are you doing up?"
"Tommy's coming tonight. I can't sleep."
"Oh, right! I forgot. That's cool. You must be excited to see him again."
"I am." That assignment plagued me more than any other. If Tommy had been a girl, he would have been his father's prey. Instead, he had become a different kind of victim of Mr. Beaumont's sick perversions. I'd done the right thing, turning him in to the FBI, but I'd destroyed their family in the process. Now I hoped I could help them rebuild their lives.
"Do you mind if I join you? I couldn't sleep either."
I gestured to the chair next to me and smiled. Darren had become a good friend in the last few months and I appreciated the company.
Ana cried just as the tea kettle hissed.
Darren walked to the stove. "I'll make us tea if you want to get her."
I thanked him and went back to my room. Ana fussed and cried in her crib and I lifted her and rocked her. When she still didn't calm, I sighed and brought her to the kitchen with me.
Two cups of chamomile sat on the table, steam wafting through the kitchen. Ana didn't settle down, and I didn't want to risk drinking hot tea with her squirming in my arms. I looked longingly at the cup while I rocked her.
Darren laughed. "Why don't you drink, and I'll rock her for a bit?"
I passed the baby to him. What could it hurt? She instantly calmed down as he hummed a nonsensical tune and rubbed her back from top to bottom. He had a gift I coveted.
"How'd you do that?"
"A trick I learned while on assignment once. Babies get gassy and that's often the cause of their fussiness. Rubbing their backs this way helps push the gas out and makes them feel better."
My eyes widened as I took in the total Darren package. I hadn't looked at another guy in that way since Drake left, and I still couldn't go there entirely, but in that moment I realized it might be possible to move on. Someday. There were other men in the world—attractive talented men with good hearts.
I sipped my hot tea and watched Darren. With a nod from me he took her back to my room and came back to join me.
"That was impressive. You're good with kids."
"Thanks. I like them. I like working with the younger kids here, teaching them and helping them. I hate that all the little ones and babies are still trapped. I hope Luke and Lucy are close to freeing them so we can bring them home."
Home. He and Mrs. Beaumont both used that word, and for the first time I realized this place really had started to feel like home. We still had growing pains as we worked out training schedules and class times, not to mention the cramped living space, but that shift had happened when I wasn't looking. What had been a safety net to fall back on had turned into something so much more, and people I'd known all my life at arm's length had suddenly become family.