CHAPTER SIX

If Sydney thought the auditorium was impressive with all its beautiful people, the cafeteria far surpassed it. What she noticed immediately was that they weren't just beautiful. They were kind, considerate, caring, and immediately concerned for her needs.

"Hi, Sydney. My name is Ajei, and I'm married to Luke." The gorgeous Native woman smiled, her dark eyes and hair shining in the sunlight. She was average height and weight, but it all seemed beautifully proportional to her frame.

"Oh, hello. It's nice to meet you."

"This is Kate. She's married to Cam. Gwen, married to Hex, and Sophia Ann, married to Eric." Sydney nodded.

"Yes, I met you in the meeting. You're one of the engineers on the jet project. That's impressive. It's nice to meet all of you."

"Conor said that you didn't have any clothing other than a few items. Gwen is a clothing designer, and we have an entire closet of items that you can select from until we can get off the property," said Kate.

"Oh. Oh, wait. You're Gwen N'hana?"

"Gwen N'hana Vernon," she smiled.

"I love your designs. They're crazy, beautiful, and creative. I actually bought this magnificent coat from you a year ago. It was a beautiful turquoise, white, and orange native blanket print with a fur interior."

"Yes, that was one of my favorites," smiled Gwen.

"Me, too. Unfortunately, I think it was lost in my apartment fire," frowned Sydney. "That, along with all my photographs, books, everything. I've lost it all." Suddenly, it hit Sydney. She had nothing. She was homeless, without clothing, and possibly without a job if she couldn't find out what was going on in North Korea.

"We can help with almost everything except your photographs, honey," said Sophia Ann. "If you had them scanned, I'm going to bet the boys can get them off the cloud for you."

"Oh. No," she said, shaking her head. "Remember, I'm agency. We're pretty paranoid about the web. I just had prints."

"I'm sorry, sweetie," said Ajei. "Do you have any family? Parents? Siblings? Anyone you need to call?"

"No," she said with a sad expression. "My mom died when I was little. My father was in the Corps, and he was killed while on active duty. I have a brother who is with the Corps as well, but he's in Sicily. We don't speak much."

"I'm sorry," said Kate, gripping her hand. "I have a twin that lives right down the path from me. I don't know what I'd do without him."

"You all seem like one big family," said Sydney. "I've always craved that, I suppose. Strange that I'm surrounded by it now."

"The Robicheauxs are, of course, all related, and some of us are related to others on the property," said Ajei. "For instance, that big man over there with the tiny little dark-haired woman? That's my brother-in-law and sister. Eric is technically my nephew, although we feel more like brother and sister."

"I love that," smiled the woman.

"Those two men there are my twin brothers, and that's my twin sister," smiled Sophia Ann. "The gorgeous blonde and hunky somber man are my parents." The women all laughed.

"He's strikingly good-looking," whispered Sydney. "Are those men related to you as well?" Sophia Ann turned, nodding.

"Yes. Nate and Joseph each had twins, so they're all my nephews."

"Uh, there are a lot of multiples here," said Sydney.

"Oh, heck yeah," laughed Ajei. "We have twins, triplets, and even quadruplets. The Jordan triplets each had triplets."

"Holy shit," muttered Sydney, pushing the coffee away. The women all laughed at her but understood her sentiment.

"Morning, ladies," smiled Avery.

"Morning," they said in unison.

"Hi. You must be Sydney. I'm Avery Crawford. I thought I'd bring you some of my favorite cosmetics and perfumes from my summer collection."

"Oh, wow! You're that Avery," smiled Sydney.

"I am," she laughed. "I think I've matched your color. Just let me know if you need anything else. I included hair products and my favorite styling tools as well."

"Thank you, that's incredibly generous of you."

"Nonsense. We take care of one another here." Two big men kissed her cheeks, laughing.

"Morning, Mom."

"Morning, Mama."

"Morning, boys. Kev, where is my granddaughter?" she asked one of them.

"She's with her mother," he laughed. "They're walking through the gardens. Why don't you join them? She was asking for her gigi."

"Gotta run, girls. Welcome to the family, Sydney."

"Oh, I…" But Avery was gone before she could finish her sentence.

"We move pretty fast around here," said Kate. She noticed that Sydney was staring over her shoulder, and she followed her gaze. It led her to exactly what she thought it would be. Conor.

"He's very big."

"Yes, he is. So are his father and grandfather. Olivia is very tall as well."

"She's lovely. So is Leightyn. But the men. Those three men are incredibly handsome. And tall."

"Yes, they are," smirked Ajei. "Do you not have a boyfriend, Sydney?"

"Me? Oh, no. Being a CIA operative doesn't exactly allow for intimate, meaningful relationships unless I'm willing to bang a different soldier every night at the bases I'm on." She winced, realizing that she wasn't with a group of her peers. "Sorry. That was inappropriate."

"No, it was honest," said Kate. "I was an operative once upon a time."

"Oh."

"Yep. Sort of got into trouble chasing after my twin in a war zone while I was hiding the baby I'd had a year before."

"Ohh." Kate laughed.

"It's a long story, Sydney, but I thought that Cam wasn't ready to be a father, so I hid it from him. It's the worst decision I've ever made. That man was born to be a father. And grandfather," she said, nodding toward her husband. He was talking baseball with their grandson, Joey.

"He does seem to be a natural," said the woman quietly. "It's not a secret. I mean, I don't hide this from anyone. I got pregnant in college and thought I'd have to leave to have my daughter."

"But you didn't?" asked Ajei.

"No. I didn't have to. The decision was taken from me." She looked down, her palm flat on her stomach, without thinking.

"I'm so sorry, honey," said Ajei.

"It wasn't the right time, and I suppose my body, and God knew that. Besides, I would have been a single mother. My boyfriend at the time went to all the trouble of transferring schools to avoid me. When he found out I'd lost the baby, he actually called me to see if we could get together again."

"I hope you cut his penis off," said Sophia Ann. Sydney laughed, shaking her head.

"No. I wanted to. My brother definitely paid him a visit, and so did my godfather's bodyguards. Since then, I haven't dated much. I'm not a nun or anything, but I think you learn very quickly that you can handle things yourself if you have to."

"Yes, but it's not nearly as much fun," smirked Katherine. The women giggled, nodding at her.

"Sydney, this is Katherine. She's on our counseling and therapy team. Katherine is a sex therapist."

"Oh," she said in a whisper.

"Don't worry, honey. I'm not going to tell you all the ways to make yourself happy. You already know those. But if you ever want to talk about what your boyfriend did to you, just let me know. Nice to meet you." Sydney gave a small wave, rubbing her temples.

"I don't think I'll ever be normal again," she muttered. Ajei laughed, gripping her hand with a squeeze.

"Normal is overrated."