“I can help her,” Sierra insisted. “I mainly know Puerto Rican dishes, but I don't mind learning more dishes. You guys can have a break.”
“You can teach me Puerto Rican cooking, and I’ll teach you some of the dishes I’ve learned along my travels,” Megan said with a smile.
r /> “I’m so happy to see Gavin won’t be starving once we enter the real world again,” Jaxson teased. “Maybe you should start learning too, Jem.”
Jemmy glared at him. “Why? You know I burn toast. If Sierra is happy being Becky Home-cky, let her. It works for us.”
I could see Jemmy was trying to act like Jaxson’s teasing hadn’t bothered her, but I could see something else was going on. She seemed defensive and appeared passive aggressive toward Sierra. I wondered if that was the reason why she was struggling lately.
Gavin and Sierra did have more things in common, but I also knew Jemmy brought out sides of Gavin that needed to be brought out. He was too severe and driven without Jemmy’s influence. She made him stop and smell the flowers.
“He’s just teasing,” Gavin said quietly as he squeezed her hand warmly. “You know he likes to get a rise out of you.”
“No!” Noah said in mock horror. “Not Jaxson. He’ll never push people’s buttons for his own amusement.”
“I’m afraid to see how he’s going to be after he gets his gift back,” Troy said with amused dryness. “I think everyone should brace themselves.”
“Don’t worry,” Jaxson said with a wicked smile. “I’ve been taking notes. I just found out something about Aunt Megan I never knew.”
“Jaxson James,” Megan said with mock severity. “So, help me, if I see one snake near me when you get your gifts back, I’ll enlist some help to get you back in the most epic way.”
“I’ll help!” Noah quickly piped up.
“Me too!” Jemmy added.
“Count me in.” Troy smiled roguishly.
Megan gave Jaxson a smug look, but he seemed undaunted by it. In truth, I felt sorry for most of them. If…when he gets his gifts back, he was going to be a terror. We had already seen what he was like when he was unable to use his gifts for an extended period of time.
“So why aren’t we talking about the elephant in the room?” Jemmy asked after she dipped her chicken into a pile of ketchup.
“What, like the fact that your taste buds have never grown up and you still dip almost all of your food in ketchup?” Troy asked dryly.
Jemmy stuck her tongue out at him. “No, like why isn’t Lincoln here?”
I could see Gavin grimace and his hand clenched on his fork momentarily. Sierra must have noticed his movements, too, because she reached out and covered his free hand with hers.
“Gavin, Sierra,” Will cut in before he shot Jemmy a stern look. “Did you let Blake and the boys know that you guys are done with the simulations?”
“No way!” Jaxson exclaimed excitedly. “When can we try it out?”
Jemmy let out a sound of frustration, apparently upset that we weren’t talking about Lincoln’s absence or what had transpired. I wished she could understand how hard this was on us. We really needed to give our minds a break from our current situation. We just wanted to enjoy our family dinner without talking about the issues we were having. We needed the break.
“The simulation suits will be here the day after tomorrow, and then we can start running the exercises,” Gavin brightened up, obviously excited to talk about his baby.
“You’ll be happy to know that I had a say in the female suits,” Sierra teased Gavin gently.
“Dare I ask?” I asked. I was trying really hard not to dwell on the more pressing matters crowding my head. We were still waiting to find out how Lincoln was doing, and we were all left wondering if he would finally believe me.
“Let’s just say some of the guys watch too much anime and read too many comics. The girls would have been wearing next to nothing,” Sierra stated.
“I guess I should thank you now, then.” I smiled at her.
“How does the simulation suit work?” Drake asked with a smile.
“They’re pretty high tech. They allow you to feel the pain, to a degree, if you mess up,” Gavin explained. “Will helped me with some of the scenarios he has encountered, and he gave me footage of old missions, so we were able to incorporate them into the exercises.”
“I can’t wait for some of the Nons to experience the scenarios,” Noah said smugly before taking a sip of his sweet tea.