Dawn Discovered

He ground his teeth as Tristen casually grabbed a clean glass and dirtied it with nothing more than a swallow of milk, smirking at him as he did so. He and his brother had definitely not buried the hatchet yet. And may not ever. Right now, he wasn't worried about patching things up with his brother. He'd been an asshole and owed his brother an apology. But, there was someone higher up on the apology list than Tristen. Gina. After supper, he was going to find her and his dad. And apologize to them both, big time. Not because he wanted to get out of trouble, although he did. But because, plain and simple, he owed her, and he owed his father.

Tristen lounged back in his chair at the dining room table. He'd personally requested fried chicken for supper. Knowing it was one of the messiest meals to clean up. As a teen, he was always in trouble for something, and had done his fair share of the family's dirty dishes. He smirked at his brother as he dirtied another glass and set it on the table. The little shit looked contrite and repentant. But, Tristen didn't care. His brother had his coming and he was getting it.

He sat on the other side of Gina. Every bit as protective of her as his dad was. He was glad she was home. Safe. Where she belonged. Seated at the table. Taken in as a member of the family. And so help him. If Daniel got any other bright ideas about hurting her again, he'd do more than put a gash in his scalp and a few bruises on his face.

His brother owed him a big apology. Not that an apology would take back the things he'd said about Gina. Daniel was too smart and too observant for his own good. If his dad hadn't gotten to her first, Tristen knew he would have pursued her for himself. That accusation was true. But, having her for a stepmother was ok with him. He had time. And someday, he would have a woman that nobody but him could claim.

Maybe, someone similar Gina or Claire, he deeply admired them both. They were strong willed and independent, witty, and fiercely brave. Eventually, he'd stumble across the right girl. And when he found her, he was going for it. He'd sweep her off her feet and romance her with every bit of his charm. He could be hard to resist when he wanted to be. He was confident that when he turned up the charisma, no woman would be able to turn him down.

Marianne felt sorry for Daniel. Dirty dishes littered the sink and countertops. The stove was a mess of splattered grease and flour. He'd be scrubbing away for hours. What he'd done to Gina was bad. And she understood that he deserved his punishments. However harsh her dad and Grandpa Nash decided to make them. She couldn't say that the punishment fit the crime. Gina could have been killed, and there'd be no way he could ever atone for that. Luckily, Gina was fine and things had a good ending.

She wanted to offer to help her brother. But, helping him would just land him in more trouble. She sent him an understanding smile as he glanced over his shoulder at her. He was up to his elbows in suds and dirty plates. "Have you talked to dad yet?"

"No, been kind of busy lately." Daniel plopped a stack of dirty dishes into the water. "I'm going to talk to him after I get this done," he said, nodding to the stacks of dishes and glasses.

Marianne grabbed her brother around the waist and gave him a hug. "I'm glad Gina is alright."

"Me too. I really am. I wish I could take it back. I wish it had never happened."

"Because of your punishment?"

"No, because it was so wrong of me to do in the first place. I shouldn't have been so hard on her. She's only human."

Marianne cocked her head. "I guess so. Are you and Tristen going to make up?"

"I dunno. I guess so. Maybe." He rinsed a dish and sat it in the strainer. Huffing as he reached into the steamy water to get another one. He didn't miss the look of dismay on his sister's face. "Ok. Yeah, I'll apologize to him too."

"Good." She wrinkled her nose as Daniel trailed a track of suds down the slope of her nose. Giggling, she wiped her face on his shirt.

"Ooh, you didn't just do that to my threads!" Daniel playacted like he was severely offended by her gesture. He scooped up a pile of suds in his palm and splattered it over the top of her head. He chuckled as bubbled dripped down her braids. "Sexy."

Marianne huffed and scooped the bubbles out of her hair. Rubbing her soaked palms over his chest. She pretended like she was washing her hands in his dishwater, splashing him with a glassful of suds and dirty water.

"Ah, but you forget, little girl. I've got the sprayer." He turned on the cold water full force. "Put 'em up, Missy," he said, pointing the sprayer at her like a gun.

Marianne parked her hands on her hips. "You wouldn't dare."

Daniel cackled. "Oh, you really shouldn't have said that." He took aim and pressed the trigger, dousing his little sister.

Marianne giggled as she ran out of the sprayer's range. Cold rivulets of water snaked down her back and soaked her shirt. She darted in and out of the sprayer's reach. Daring him to douse her again. She bolted into the utility room. Snatching a water bottle in her hands. She loosened the top of the sip spout and aimed. Squirting him back. Unfortunately for him, her range was better and he got a torrent of water right in the face. Unfortunately for her, he had a limitless supply of water and she did not.

Daniel howled with laughter. Wiping his face with a dishtowel and forgetting for a few minutes that he was supposed to be the more mature sibling, and enjoying being a kid again. He heard footsteps creep up behind him. Without thinking, he released a deluge of cold water from his sprayer. Drenching Gina.

Gina sputtered. Grinning. "You booger," she snickered. Obviously, she'd interrupted a water fight between Daniel and Mouse. She snatched the dishtowel off the counter and twisted it tightly. Snapping it across his thigh. "Take that."

"OW!" Daniel jumped. "Booger... did your really just call me a booger?"

"You are a booger," Marianne chimed in. Hiding behind Gina. Squealing in delight as he drenched both of them with the sprayer.

Gina wound the towel and let Daniel have it right across the back of his Levis. "Back! I say!" She commanded. Pushing a lock of soaked and dripping hair from her forehead. Snapping the towel again as he followed her with a spray of water. "Back!"

The sound of a throat clearing interrupted their playful moment. Nash stood at the entrance of the kitchen. A fake, disapproving scowl hid the smile that crept at the corners of his lips. "Enough!" he bellowed. He was glad that Gina had a good nature and could take a joke. He was grateful to see that she was getting along so well with the kids. But, he couldn't let the trio destroy his kitchen. "The three of you get busy and clean this up. NOW!"

"Oh, I guess we're in trouble." Gina tried not to snicker at the glowering man. "I'll wash. You dry and put away," she ordered Daniel. "Mouse, get the mop." She set them to work. Washing. Drying. And mopping.

Hunter came into the kitchen with Tristen on his heels to see what had his dad in such an uproar. Smiling when he saw his woman and his children busily cleaning up the mess they had made. They played as they worked. Gina rammed into Daniel with her hip and Daniel rammed her back with his. Everything was going to work out. Although she claimed to have no experience with kids, she handled the children fine.

"Hi, Daddy," Marianne said as she mopped a clean spot on the floor.

Tristen took the mop from Mouse and made short work of the puddles on the floor. He gave it a final once over and leaned on the handle. He blew out a sigh of relief to see his brother and sister getting along so well with Gina, even if they did make one hell of a mess.

Hunter came up behind Gina and gave her a tight squeeze around the waist. "Busy?" he brushed his lips across Gina's cheek affectionately. He reached over and tousled Daniel's damp hair in a playful gesture.

Daniel brushed away his dad's hand and made pretend gagging sounds as his dad and Gina exchanged a soft, happy kiss. When the mess was cleaned up and the last of the dishes put away he asked if he could speak with his dad and Gina, as soon as everyone had time to put on dry clothes.

Daniel knocked on the door of his dad and Gina's rooms. Entering when he got the okay. He shuffled his feet nervously as his glance moved from Gina to his dad, back and forth. "I'm really sorry for what I did. I didn't mean to cause you any trouble," he said addressing Gina directly.

"I know," Gina answered. "I was a teenager once. I understand." She held up her hand to stop him from saying anything else. It wasn't necessary. She'd already forgiven him and put the incident out of her mind. The whole thing was just as much her fault as his. She'd run off half-cocked before she had all the answers or even knew which questions to ask. "I blame myself as much as I blame you. I'm supposed to be the adult. I should have thought things through before hand."

"You're not to blame. I knew what I was doing. I was trying to make you run away. It was my fault. Not yours." Daniel rubbed his sweaty palms on his thighs. "I'm really sorry. And I shouldn't have done what I did. Can you forgive me?"

"I already have," Gina answered. "I'd like to ask if you'll give me a shot."

"At what?" Daniel asked.

"At being your friend." Gina reached out her hand to him.

Daniel gripped her hand in his. "I already consider you a friend." He squeezed her hand and bathed in the warmth of her smile. She wasn't one to hold grudges. He could tell by the genuineness of her words. She was a straight shooter who said what she meant and meant what she said.

Hunter was proud of his son and the man he was becoming. He stopped Daniel when he opened his mouth to apologize to him as well. He and Daniel had made their peace. But, there was someone who Daniel was still at odds with. His brother.

He would not allow Daniel and Tristen to be at odds for years without making peace as he and his brother had been. If Grant hadn't loved him despite his flaws, he'd be dead by now, either by will or circumstance. And he would have missed out on so much. He would have missed Gina and the sweet happiness of the new life he'd found with her at his side. It seemed, he too needed to have a conversation with his brother. And beg for forgiveness. Offer his thanks to his brother for seeing what he could not, that his life was worth living.

Daniel knocked on Tristen's door. He was more nervous about apologizing to his brother than he had been about apologizing to Gina. His brother would not be easily won over or convinced to forgive him. He'd said truly awful things to him. Things he shouldn't have and could never take back.

Tristen got up off his bed and sauntered across the room. Daniel waited on the other side of the door. He could smell the pungent scent of his brother's anxiety and didn't mind making him wait it out a few minutes longer. Eventually, he opened the door and stepped aside.

"Tristen," Daniel said as he bit his lower lip. "I'm sorry for what I said. I shouldn't have said those things. Your feelings for Gina weren't any of my business."

"No they weren't." Tristen sat on the edge of the bed. He loved his brother but was hesitant to give in and forgive him. "My feelings for Gina are complicated. I can't even fully explain them."

"I know. But that didn't give me the right to say what I did. I shouldn't have. At the time, I was angry. Can you forgive me?" Daniel kept his feet planted. He wanted to sit on the edge of the bed next to his older brother. But, he deserved every bit of Tristen's disdain.

"You're my brother. I guess I kind of have to forgive you. Gina belongs with Dad. I understand how you felt. When Mom died, we lost a lot. We lost Dad, for a long time. And when he came back to us. I understand how desperately you wanted to keep him. When you did that to Gina. I thought I'd failed you, that I'd done something wrong. I was angrier with myself than you. I tried to stand in for Dad. But, that wasn't my place. I am your brother, not your father. I couldn't make up for all you'd lost. If felt that your failure was mine."

"I never wanted you to stand in for Dad. I only wanted you to be my brother. That's all I ever needed from you." Daniel took a few hesitant steps across the room. "All I need now is to know that you love me."

"How could you doubt that? Sure, we've beaten the crap out of each other. And I'd do it again if you even thought about hurting Gina. But, that doesn't mean I don't love you. I always have."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really." Tristen scooted over to make room on the bed for his brother. Bathed in the light of his smile, he grinned. He automatically assumed that his brother knew how much he loved him. He should have made sure, instead of assuming.

"So, we're square," Daniel asked as he hopped onto the bed.

"Yeah Daniel, we're square." He clapped his brother across the shoulder blades and tossed him a game controller. He'd been deeply involved in the greatest video game ever invented when his brother's knock interrupted him. He reset the game for two players and lounged against the pillows. Kicking the bad guys ass with his brother at his right hand.

Daniel had barely left before another gentle knock sounded on their door. "Come on in," Hunter said. As suspected, right on cue, Mouse tiptoed into the sitting room.

Marianne looked at her dad and Gina, "Tuck me in, Gina?"

What else could Gina say? Mouse had her in her sights. Pinned captive by those big, round, thickly fringed, brown eyes. "Sure." She got up and followed the little girl clad in the most adorable pink nightgown to her pink bedroom. Climbing up on the pink bedspread as Mouse thrust a book in her hands. Dutifully, she began with chapter four, reading aloud as the little girl curled up in the crook of her arm.

Hunter took the opportunity of a little free time to travel up to the third floor to see how his brother and his infant nephew were getting along. He cringed as he heard the GT's shrill, unhappy cry and Grant's exasperated voice as he unsuccessfully tried to calm the wailing baby. Oh yeah, he'd been there. He grinned as he entered the open door. "Baby problems?"

Grant paced the floor with GT stretched across his shoulder. The baby bawled, red faced in a fit of inconsolable rage. "Yeah, he misses his mother." Grant was more than happy to thrust the baby into Hunter's outstretched hands.

"Let me try." Hunter spoke softly to his huffing nephew. Taking a seat in the rocker and smoothing his hand across the back of a thick, soft, fleece onsie. "Where's Claire?"

"She's having dinner with her parents tonight." Grant exhaled a sigh of relief as GT's head rolled to the side and his eyes sank closed. He'd been trying for over an hour to quiet his son. But, his son wanted no part of it. "I think she needed a break from GT."

"I'd like to say that it gets better, but..."

"Yeah, I broke up Tristen and Daniel the other day. Hell of a fight."

"Take my word for it when I say this is the easy part. Wait till you have a couple more, then things really get interesting. Especially as they grow up and think they know more than you do." Hunter rocked the baby. The special baby scent that radiated off GT took him back, to a time, not so long ago when his kids were little.

"We were never like that," Grant chuckled as he took a seat on the couch.

Hunter snorted, "We were worse." He'd given and received more than his fair share of bumps, scrapes, bloody noses and bruises during his youth.

"My God, how did Dad survive it?"

"I ask myself that every time I hear Daniel and Tristen go at it," Hunter answered. Rubbing his cheek over his nephew's soft unruly mound of black waves, smooth as goose down. "I came by to tell you thanks."

"I should be thanking you. This is the first quiet moment that I've had in over an hour. Claire should be back soon, I hope," Grant joked. He hadn't done the things that he had to keep his brother alive to earn any thanks. He'd done them solely because he loved him.

"I mean it. Thank you. I know keeping me alive wasn't easy. You had to make some very difficult decisions. Decisions that I hated you for at the time. I shouldn't have hated you. I was the one who risked my life and pushed you into the decisions that you made."

"Hunter. There's no need for this. I'm very happy for you and Gina. I'm happy she gave you a reason to live."

"I had a reason. I just couldn't see past my own self-pity to see them. My kids needed me and I wasn't there." GT whimpered at the rumble of Hunter's agitated voice against his tiny body. Hunter lowered his tone before he woke the sleeping infant. "Thank you for looking after my kids and filling in for me all those years."

"No thanks are necessary. If the situation had been reversed, you would have done the same." Grant nodded to his brother.

"You would never have let the situation get that bad. Let's not pretend. Grant, you always were the strong one. You would have listened to your brother, to your kids, and to your elders. I didn't. They spoke, all of you tried, I just simply couldn't hear you. Can you forgive me?"

"Hunter, there's nothing to forgive. Your kids are good kids. And I think that I can speak for them and Dad, as well as myself, are glad that you are back. Gina saved you. Dad and I may have held it together. But, she rescued you and brought you back from the pit of your despair. She deserves your thanks and mine. She'll make an excellent wife."

Gently, Hunter eased out of the chair. Cradling GT in his arms. Tiptoeing to the crib to stretch him out on his back. The sleeping baby didn't so much as budge. Hunter blew out a sigh of relief. "We are better matched than what I could have hoped for. Grant, I've found one of the Lost Children."

Grant tried to hide his shock. "A Lost Child? Gina? I wouldn't have guessed."

"Me either, Nana sensed her lineage. Grant, she intends to attempt to free her wolf. She's asked for my help. I can't do it on my own. You're my brother, my other half. I need your help."

Grant crossed the room and gripped his brother's shoulders. "You have it."

Hunter prowled the hallway. Checking on his family. His sons were collapsed into a heap on Tristen's bed deep asleep. He inched in and flipped off the TV. He stood at the side of the bed, looking down at his sons. They were men now. Tristen had the gift of the wolf and soon, his brother would too. So much time had passed. So many things he'd missed. He vowed, even though he could never make it up to them. Never to miss another thing that happened in their lives. He reached over and turned off the lamp. "Goodnight boys," he whispered.

"G-night, Dad." Daniel replied sleepily. Barely rousing out of his dream to answer the masculine voice of his father. He rolled over and drifted off. Returning to his dream of Miss February and her amazing strawberry trick.

Hunter entered the spill of yellow light from Mouse's room. Grinning as Mouse read quietly. Her fingers stroked and played with the ends of Gina's hair as she slept, curled up into a little ball on her side, nestled with a soft, fuzzy pink throw.

Marianne looked up from her book and pressed a finger to her lips. Gina hadn't made it through the chapter before she began dozing off. She wrinkled her nose at her dad and grinned as he crossed the room and eased his big body into her bed. Suddenly, the full sized bed became very small. She scooted over as her dad wedged himself between her and Gina.

Hunter reached over Mouse and slid the book out of her fingers. Clicking off the lamp as he set the book on her nightstand. He inched down into the bed. Gina's head rested against his shoulder. And Mouse curled up into the crook of his free arm. The bed was tight and not the most comfortable of accommodations. But, he had the two women who meant the world to him nestled up against him. Sheltering in his warmth. Dreaming. He closed his eyes, sighing happily. There was never a more content human or wolf as he was at this very moment.