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“So help me, if you try to stop me from having my coffee… One cup. I get one damn cup of coffee each day. Do not come between me and it.”

With wide eyes, she put her palms up and backed away and guilt rode me. Mercedes had first arrived in Bridgewater after she fled the cult she’d been raised in. She didn’t handle making mistakes well, and always shut down hard if someone got mad at her. Since settling down with Tiny she’d gotten better, but she still had a long way to go. I reached out and rested a palm on her arm.

“Mercedes, I’m not mad at you, sugar. It’s just been a long eight months growing this boy of mine, and I’m about done with Scout’s over-protectiveness.”

“How about you go sit down and I’ll make it for you? I promise I won’t use the decaf like Scout told me to.”

That had me chuckling and I pulled her in for a hug, happy she was back to her normal self.

“Sure thing, sugar. It’ll be our secret.”

I moved out from behind the machine and took a seat at an empty table facing the kids, but not so close that they’d think I was hovering. Ariel didn’t do well when she thought she was being watched. Poor love tried to do everything she thought adults would want her to do, not realizing we just wanted her to be a child and have fun with learning how to live her life free.

Apparently Scout had the whole damn universe out to prevent me getting my caffeine this morning, because before Mercedes could place the cup on the table in front of me, the front door crashed open. Naturally, the noise made her jump and the cup slipped, dropping to the floor and shattering. In reflex, I jumped up from my seat to avoid the hot liquid and quickly found myself with a thick arm around my throat. A chill ran down my spine and a wave of dizziness hit me when the barrel of a gun pressed against the side of my belly.

“Don’t move.”