Aftermath

Ch 55: Rainy Day (cont)

A/N: Please note the POV change.

Sang

"Well, fuck me sideways and upside down," Gabriel said as he put the letters down. "I hate that bastard."

I gave him a look, silently admonishing him. Though he and I had finished, the others were still reading.

Gabriel made a face at the letters, then picked up his pen and made a few notes. I picked up my pen, but I didn't know what to write. Instead, I focused on my boys.

Kota was sitting next to me, intently focused on the pages in front of him. He had admitted to being moody this morning, and he obviously wasn't feeling very well in the first place. I was worried that reading the letters or stressing about them might cause his headache to worsen. But he had that determined look on his face; the best I could do was convince him to let me and the others help him.

Nathan was at the other end of the table beside Kota, his face like a mask, giving away nothing as he put the pages down. At the end closest to me, Victor was intent on whatever he was reading on the computer, and Silas was concentrating as well.

Even my normally happy-go-lucky boys seated across the table from me had turned serious. Luke looked lost in thought, and Gabriel continued to make a few notes, scowling at the letters.

I still knew very little about Mr. Lee; Kota had started to tell me once or twice, but we always seemed to be interrupted. The letters had seemed innocent enough, but I had a feeling that the boys wouldn't think so.

Finally, Kota looked up; for once, he had been the last one to finish reading. "Anything of note?" he asked calmly, as though we were doing homework instead of discussing his abusive father.

Gabriel made a face. "He sounds so—so caring. Involved, or some shit like that."

"Same here," Luke said, and Silas nodded.

Kota leaned back in the chair. "He's acting like he ever got to know her instead of avoiding her. When he was around, he couldn't stand to be bothered by her, especially when she was a baby."

"She doesn't know any better," I reminded him.

"Then I guess it's time that we tell her. Soon." Kota shook his head. "What did he say about his location—or did he? He was very vague in what I read."

"He didn't even mention it in mine," Luke said.

Gabriel shuffled through the pages. "I was reading the earliest letters. The only thing he said was. . . Here it is. 'While I would love to see you in person, I'm not at liberty to do so. Right now, all I can tell you is that I'm on assignment on a top secret project, doing my part to keep your world safe.'"

"Not at liberty," Kota repeated. "Well, he's not wrong."

"Keep her world safe by not being here," Gabriel muttered, and Luke high-fived him.

"Top secret?" Nathan grimaced. "It sounds like he hasn't gotten over his obsession with Special Forces."

Kota scoffed. "I'm not surprised by that." He turned to me. "That was his focus for as long as I can remember—becoming part of the Marines Special Forces unit. He spent hours researching it, talking to people, and he would create these homemade training lessons based on what he thought he needed. Of course, he never quite made it." His eyes glazed over as he paused, lost in some unknown memory.

Nathan reached over and tapped on the arm. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Just memories."

"I get it," Nathan said. "It's different for all of us, but we get it."