A Year Of Celebrations

Blackbourne Team Founding Day

By Mionebristow

I woke up, disoriented and trying frantically to recall where I was.

I'm not sure what woke me up. I mean, the air didn't shift so no one came in the room. There wasn't a unique scent that I related to any of my boys, suddenly present in the room. There was a faint scent of spring soap lingering on the outskirts of my awareness.

Ah yes.

Mr. Blackbourne.

I'd spent the night after a long surveillance mission ended. We'd all gotten together at the diner for a late night shared meal of pancakes and bacon. Chocolate milk for most of us but there were a few coffee drinkers among us.

I couldn't fathom the idea of drinking coffee at 2 AM but Kota and Mr. Blackbourne didn't seem to mind.

I stretched out, allowing myself to slowly wake up, stretching out like a cat and feeling my joints crack slightly as I mentally sent wake up messages to each part of my body. I rolled my neck and became aware that there were unusual noises floating up the stairs to me. I smiled when I picked out a few of the voices and eagerly pushed the comforter off my body and got up. I was mildly puzzled at the fact that I was wearing a button-down shirt instead of any night clothes and quickly took a mental inventory of what I was wearing.

Whew.

Not that I was worried about any state of undress around my boys, it's just that there was a certain amount of dignity that I required to keep myself in around Mr. Blackbourne.

I pulled the leggings I had worn the day before on and headed downstairs to investigate. We didn't wear shoes at Mr. Blackbourne's house. That was to my advantage as I was certain none of them would hear me approaching the source of the noise. I eased into a spot near the doorway, nestled between a curio cabinet and a bookcase as I leaned out carefully and peered around the curio cabinet and peered into the kitchen.

There were several of my boys over this morning. I was surprised at how well they were working and talking with each other with no teasing or yelling.

Given that North was frying bacon, the lack of yelling was amazing. Mr. Blackbourne was squeezing oranges for fresh orange juice. Gabriel was scowling at the choice of table linens in the drawer where Mr. Blackbourne kept them. Something made me think that there would be new... colorful... table linens appearing in short order. Luke was arranging what appeared to be 3 dozen doughnuts onto a platter. I peered around again, puzzled for a moment. I know Sean was around here somewhere. He'd arrived late to the diner last night and had come home with Mr. Blackbourne and I.  I'd only been able to see him for about 10 minutes once we arrived before I fell asleep.

I tensed as I became aware of someone behind me and I barely registered his citrus and ginger scent before he spoke. "Anything interesting in the kitchen today, Pookie?" His arms wrapped around me from behind and he rested his chin on the top of my head.

"Maybe," I said, immobilized by the way he was holding me.

"Don't be a creepy stalker. We have video feeds for that." He chastised me, soothing the sting of his words with a kiss pressed to the top of my head. "Besides, you're just in time to help me cut up the fruit for the fruit tray. And it's your first ever BFF Day..." He twisted me around in his arms before dropping another kiss, this time on the tip of my nose.

"Best Friends Forever day?" I asked, puzzled as he drew me into the kitchen. "I thought that was every day for you when you get to spend it with Mr. Blackbourne."

He laughed. "Oh, you're such a joker. Clearly you've been spending too much time with Silas." He said, standing me at the counter behind a cutting board before he went over to get fruit and a couple of knives. "That's not what it stands for."