Working Through the Weekend

When we made it to the house, my friends were all waiting outside. They seemed to be more like an extended part of my family than just friends. It was kind of weird having so many people to be able to trust, when not that long ago none of them even knew what I did for a living.

  Having not seen her since she'd led us to where the warlock was holed up, I was a little surprised to see her with the rest of the group, but Miranda ran up to me and gave me a hug.

  "Thank you so much for taking care of the warlock and helping us. We were strangers to you, but you still stood up for us."?

  "The strong should always protect the weaker amongst them. I keep getting told I'm the most powerful person around, so I kind of had an obligation to help. I'd look rather foolish for me to claim to be a queen, and then hide behind someone else."

  "You are a great leader, my queen, and I am honored to serve you," she replied, stepping back from our hug.

  You bring a person back from the brink of death and they get totally weird on you. Next time I was in the situation, I'd have to think twice before saving the person. Okay, that would be just wrong, but they better not turn out all weird like Miranda.

  Before I could tell her to knock it off, Kyle cut in. "That was quite a show you put on."

  "Sure was, little sis. It looks like you didn't forget a thing," Rick added.

  "Does this mean I get to fly home in phoenix form instead of getting on the plane?" I asked, already knowing the answer was no.

  "Sometimes you are so silly, sweetheart," Nate said, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "I wanted to let the guys of the group know, now that Rick isn't playing his stupid little game and Avery knows he's her brother, any flirting I deem inappropriate won't be tolerated. I let it slide for a while, but she's mine and always will be. Anyone who wants to challenge that will have a fight on their hands."

  The guys all shrugged their shoulders. "We kind of expected that when we learned the truth of the situation," Liam said. "It wasn't like we didn't already realize she was off limits. It's hard not to try to fight for her, but we know our places."

  "Can I still call her dollface?" Kyle asked.

  "I don't tend to mind nicknames, as long as they aren't too personal, but you might want to clear it with her," Nate replied. "She's hated just about every nickname I've ever heard a guy call her."

  Kyle looked at me with sad, puppy dog eyes. It was kind of funny to see, because it made his tough shell look a little vulnerable. I was so happy that all the flirting would be gone, that a nickname here and there didn't seem so bad.

  "I will allow nicknames within reason. Think of things you would call your sister and those are acceptable options," I told them. I wasn't sure if berserkers could have sisters, so the comparison probably didn't work as well as I wanted it to.

  "Just as long as no one starts calling her Peaches. That's my nickname for her and I don't share," Frannie said, smiling.

  "Right, what Frannie said. Now, let's get inside and make some dinner before Liam starves to death," I said as I headed towards the house. "I think his cheekbones got a little more pronounced since I saw him last.

  "That's a plan I'm totally behind," Liam said, jogging after me. I was surprised the ground didn't vibrate as the big man ran.

  When everyone made it to the kitchen, I ordered them to wash their hands. As they formed a line and got cleaned up, I started grabbing the ingredients for tacos. Looking at my troops, I saw Frannie and Gary missing, as I expected. It was best to keep Frannie far from the kitchen, and I knew she'd keep Gary with her so she wasn't bored. It was a fluke that she'd spent a few minutes talking to me the night before with an oven turned on nearby.

  "Liam, since you're so interested in food, I want you to start browning a few pounds of hamburger. That shouldn't be too hard."

  The kitchen was cramped with everyone in it, but I knew I'd have fun bossing them around. I could pretend I was a world famous chef running my five-star restaurant.

  "No problem," he said, grabbing the hamburger from me and heading for the stove. I watched to make sure he didn't catch the place on fire as he turned on the burner.

  "Okay, now I need three people to help dice up vegetables. Kyle, Joseph and Rick you're my choices for that task. On the counter are tomatoes, olives, onions and lettuce. I need the lettuce washed and shredded and then everything else chopped up."

  They hurried to get the things to complete their tasks and headed out of the room where there'd be more space. I wanted to follow and make sure they weren't using hospital beds as tables, but I had other things to worry about. If the food tasted like antiseptic, there was going to be hell to pay, and I assumed they knew that.

  "Is there anything for me to do?" Miranda asked.

  "I need someone to cook up some chicken breasts, and then shred them. Do you think you can handle that?"

  "No problem," she said and went to work. The whole "do as I tell you and don't ask questions" was working well for me. If the men in my life could only be that agreeable when food wasn't involved, I'd be in heaven.

  I saw Nate and Elizabeth left with nothing to do. For some reason I was just noticing that my robot was missing. Since he was rarely ever too far from me, it left me suspicious.

  "Nate, where's Vinnie?"

  "Don't worry, he's just running an errand for me. He should be back shortly," he replied, being vaguer than I appreciated.

  "He seems to be taking orders from you a lot lately," I responded.

  "Anything that has to do with you is a top priority for Vinnie. Since the task is something that will affect you, he had no problem doing as I asked. Don't worry that it will become a habit of his. I'm fairly certain it's a one-time thing."

  I was extremely curious to find out what kind of errand a robot could be running for him out in the middle of nowhere. I had other things to worry about, so I let it go, but I made a note to talk to Vinnie.

  I thought it was great that he was listening to someone else, but I wanted to make sure he knew there were times when it would make me happy to know about Nate's little secrets. Since Vinnie loved to make me happy, there was a chance I could learn some of the secrets everyone was keeping from me.

  "The only things left to do dealing with the food preparation are opening up the sour cream, salsa and bag of cheese," I told them. "You guys could get out all the plates and silverware we'll need."

  "No problem," Nate said. "I'll grab the silverware."

  "And I have the plates," Elizabeth said.

  "Hamburger looks done to me," Liam said. I walked over and approved his work. He turned the burner off while I checked in on the chicken.

  "I'm just going to shred it real quick, and then it should be ready too," Miranda told me.

  I opened the toppings and my choppers brought in the veggies. It was amazing how quickly things could get done with eight people in the kitchen.

  "Frannie, Gary," I called, and watched as they hurried in. "Okay, here are the taco shells and plates. Everyone, get to building your own tacos," I announced as I observed the guys diving to be first in line.

  We assembled in the sitting area when we had our tacos made. At first, everyone was too busy chewing to really carry on a conversation. As the food began to disappear from the plates, the words start pouring out of their mouths.

  "Why haven't I ever made these before?" Liam asked. "Anyone can brown hamburger and chop up a few vegetables."

  "That's true," I responded. "I was a little surprised to find the fresh vegetables in the store. How do you have them shipped in? It seems like they'd go bad before they got here."

  "Actually, our dad has a huge climate controlled greenhouse. He can't live without fresh vegetables, and he decided to grow enough to sell," Kyle said. "The other grocery store has veggies too, but they spend a fortune to get them flown in."

  "It's no wonder they taste so fresh. I'll have to thank him for putting in the extra effort if I see him again."

  "So, Mom, how was it turning into a phoenix for the fir
st time that you remember?" Elizabeth asked. "It didn't happen to trigger anymore memories, did it?"

  "I don't know that there are words to describe how awesome it was. One second I was standing there little ol' me and the next I was this beautiful, blazing bird flying around," I explained. "I didn't get any new memories, but since I already got quite a bit today, I wasn't expecting anything new. Living in the moment was enough for me."

  "Does she still have her freckle," Rick asked Nate.

  "Yup. The star is still there. Her phoenix form looks exactly the same as it always has. We found a little abnormality that I'll need to have checked on, but I'll fill you in on all the details later. You can decide who's best to look into it. You might want to get a couple sources doing research," Nate replied.

  "No problem, bossman," Rick responded with a little salute. I thought the request was convoluted at best, but Rick sounded eager to find answers.

  We finished eating and took all the dishes to the kitchen. With that many people it was kind of a mess. I wasn't always the cleanest cook, but I rarely left a kitchen looking like a tornado had ripped through it.

  "Liam and Kyle," I said sweetly. "I'll make you a deal. You guys get this kitchen back in order and I will make you each a dozen chocolate chip cookies."

  "You got a deal," they said in unison and got to work.

  "Hey, Rick, can I speak to you outside for a second," I said, heading for the door. I didn't grab a jacket, so I'd be able to see how well I could keep myself warm.

  "Sure thing, baby girl," he said, following me.

  ?"So, I've heard no objections to having the berserkers come with us. I wanted to give them a little bit of a rough time, though, and make a list of all the things they'll be required to do if they make the move."

  "You know, being twins, we've always thought along the same lines. I've really missed our evil minds working together," he said.

  "Aww, Rick. I think that is the nicest, non-creepy thing you've ever said to me," I said with a little laugh. "So, do you have any good ideas for my list? So far I was thinking things like washing Romeo and Juliet, running any errands I need, and washing the windows. I thought about include washing Winnie on the list, but you know how particular I can be about my girl."

  "Ha. It's a good start, but just a little boring. You need to add wiping down the mats in the gym after each workout, cleaning toilets and purchasing your feminine products," he explained. "I imagine they'll still agree, but I want to see their faces when you tell the about the girlie products."

  "You are way too evil. You do know I'm not going to actually expect them to do any of these things. I'm just having a little fun," I reminded him. The thought of any guy buying my monthly products was something I didn't want to think about.

  "I know, and that's part of the fun for me. I know these things won't be required and they don't."

  "Fine," I said, sure that my grin matched his wicked one. "I'll make up a formal list and hand it to them the day of the big party. Let's get back inside before they notice we're gone. I have cookies to make."

  We headed in and I checked on the kitchen and saw that it was ready for me. I went to work quickly making up five-dozen cookies and gave the berserkers their promised dozen a piece. When everyone had their fill of milk and cookies, we called it a night and went our separate ways to bed. Just a few more days and I'd be back in my own bed. I was already starting to count the hours.