A Price Worth Paying

Chapter ten.

The airport.

"God Silas. This seems an awful lot of drama for a film of Sang Baby when she was a kid. What the hell else do we not know yet. There's more to this than meets the eye."

"No idea, my friend. But I kind of like the idea that there was someone out there who cared about Aggele all this time. At least he kept sending her books. You know how much she loves reading."

"Yeah. Her and Kota definitely have that in common. But what is the deal with those books? Why didn't she ever tell us about them?"

"I'm not sure, you could ask her you know." Silas grinned. "But if it was me and I had been as alone as she was it must have hurt when she stopped receiving them. I hate her parents North. That bitch knew exactly how best to hurt Aggele mou by hiding them. And it pisses me off even more that her sister did it too after her mother went away. Why do that to someone. It's just pure spite. I'll bet that Danielle had something to do with it."

"No fucking way am I asking her shit at the moment, and that woman is not her mother Si, but I know how you feel, and what really burns is Sang Baby is so damn sweet it didn't occur to her that they had arrived and someone had fucking hidden them. If we had finished cleaning out the shed that day we would have found them tucked away inside those other boxes."

"Well there's no point dwelling on it my brother, Aggele is with us now and we'll find out soon enough what is going on. Knowing Sang she'll surprise us all in a big way."

North started laughing. "I think you may be right there" he said just as he spotted Mr Blackbourne watching as a Piper Navajo taxied to a stop at the private flight terminal.

"Good morning Mr Korba, Mr Taylor. Let's go meet Mr Drummond's son shall we?"

"Good morning. Am I correct in assuming you are Mr. Blackbourne, Mr. Taylor and Mr Korba? You match the photos Rose sent my father last night. Do you have the code word for me?"

"Good morning Mr Drummond. I am Mr Blackbourne. This is Mr Taylor and Mr Korba.
I believe the code decided upon was CPR." Owen replied formally as they shook hands.

The younger Mr Drummond relaxed upon hearing that. "It was indeed, gentlemen. How is little Rosie? Is she recovering well? I believe you told my father she suffered a head injury a couple of days ago."

"Her progress is pleasingly satisfactory. Her doctor is monitoring her closely." Mr Blackbourne replied carefully.

The younger Mr Drummond laughed at Mr Blackbourne's tone. "It's all right boys you can all relax." he said. "My father stopped panicking last night after he spoke to Rosie again. She spoke most highly of all of you. He won't sweep in and take her away from you without a damn good reason. Now I am on a timetable here and I'm sure you are too. You'll need a trolley. Do you have one?"

Finally, Silas thought to himself. We can get the packages and get back to Agglele Mou.

Victor's House.

Sang stirred sleepily. It took a moment to realise where she was. Sitting up she noticed two pillows on either side of her that had been used last night. Trying to think she vaguely remembered Kota and Victor had both been with her last night, and Victor had played his piano for her while Kota held her, like that time last year with Silas. But at least it wasn't because of a nightmare she thought looking up as Victor walked through the door.

"Good morning Princess. You slept well, didn't you. How are you feeling today?" He smiled gently his fire eyes simmering.

"Hi Victor. I'm fine. I slept all night no problems. I think it was your beautiful playing that did it."

"Any time Princess. You know that. If you're sure that you are okay you might want to get up and have a bath. I hear Gabe is on his way and I think he's planning on doing your hair if you're up to it. I'm sure he's planned what you're wearing too. But don't stress Princess, we're staying put so no dressing up needed."

"Okay Victor I guess. Um, do I have clothes here?" I blinked sleepily, still feeling a bit doughy in my head.

Victor laughed. "You're kidding right! Gabe packed you a bag because Mr Blackbourne told him to, but you already had a pile here. Don't worry we've got you covered."

I smiled at the thought of Gabe putting clothes for me in Victor's closet and went to have a bath.

"Leave the door open Princess" Victor said. When I looked confused he continued "Dr Green's orders, just in case. Is that okay? I'll sit here and play my piano to make sure one of the louts out there doesn't barge in on you. You know what they're like." He said hurriedly seeing me start to frown.

"Fine. Whatever. Paranoid much." I muttered walking into the bathroom.

Victor's POV.

God. That was close. I thought it was my turn to get reamed while I fished my phone out of my pocket to let the others know Princess was awake. I played the piano with one hand while I quickly texted the them.

Me: Princess is awake. Said she feels "fine". Little bit edgy still, thanks for that Dr Green!
Dr Green: Rather you than me. I had my turn yesterday. How was she otherwise! No headache? No confusion? Colour normal? I'll be there in about an hour. Call me if you have problems sooner.
Kota: You sure Vic?
Me: Seemed a little confused when she woke. I think she was still sleepy. Only started looking cross when I passed Dr Green's message on to leave the door open. Again, thank you for that.
Dr Green:  Any time.  😄
Gabe: Well fuck, Vic. I wanted to do Trouble's hair. Does this mean I can't?
Me: She seemed fine until I mentioned Dr Green's instructions. But I think you'll be good to go, Gabe.
Nate: We're almost there, tell Sang Luke and I said hi.
North: Be gentle with her Gabe.
Gabe: Fuck off, North. When am I not gentle with Trouble.
Silas: We've been here a while unpacking boxes. Hurry up, you can help.
Luke: No problem Silas. There in 5.
North: I'm just saying don't fucking mess with Sang Baby and upset her, dumbass.
Gabe: Again, Fuck off North.
Mr Blackbourne: Enough gentlemen. Calm down, unless you're planning on using the gym for an hour or two today.

I put my phone down, sighed, listened out to make sure my Princess was indeed fine and started quietly playing a tune I had had running through my mind for a while.

Sang's POV.

I sat on a chair in the bathroom while Gabe dried and styled my hair. He was strangely quiet, but when I asked him why he just grinned and said he was thinking about how good it felt to have time off from school. I wasn't convinced he was telling me the full story, but I was feeling a little lethargic still so I let it go. He had given me a pretty dress with a deep scooped neckline in a very dark purple with a rough lace overlay of the same colour that had dark cream flowers embroidered into the lace all over it. It was very comfortable, but I still thought his idea of casual was vastly different to mine.

When he finally finished and was happy I really didn't feel like getting off the seat. Gabe looked seriously at me. I knew he could tell I was a little off so I didn't bother trying to pretend.

When he asked me if I wanted something to eat before seeing everyone else I was so relieved I simply kissed his cheek and hugged him back.

Gabe's POV.

I could tell Trouble wasn't her usual self. It was like all the life and energy in her kept coming and going. I fucking hate it when shitty things happened to her. When she kissed my cheek and hugged me back it was the best feeling in the world.

I couldn't help smiling when I went to get her something to eat. I left her perched up on the bed, making sure she didn't wreck her hair. Not even Doc coming and quickly checking on Trouble could wreck my mood.

After we made sure we had put crumbs right through Victor's bed causing her to giggle her head off, Trouble brushed her teeth while I went and found the shoes I knew I had got her just for that dress. Damn she looked so fucking hot! I knew she would as soon as I saw it. I am so glad we found her I thought as we walked together to see the rest of our family.