Lost and Found Pieces 2

him, resting her cheek against his. Aiden wrapped his arms around her back, holding her tight to him. “I love you, Angel.”
“I love you, Aiden.”
She whispered a kiss across his ear, his cheek, then pulled back to find his lips. Aiden had never expected to find intimacy like this and it still occasionally shocked him. Sometimes he would wake up, his heart pounding because he knew he had to go out on the streets again to watch for the Collaborative and protect his brother. Then reality would hit him and the past two years would flood back into his mind. Wulfe and Fontana were struggling the same way, he’d learned, though Wulfe seemed to be adapting the best. But then, he and Elizabeth had known each other before.
When John and Shannon returned, the children toddling in front of them as fast as their little legs could churn, Aiden allowed her to step back. “I need to send Zeke a message,” he whispered.
Angela grinned, an excited light entering her eyes. “Yes!”
John and Shannon snatched a few more things from their plates before they all adjourned to the living room and settled around the tree. They’d decided to exchange gifts tonight because Shannon’s parents would be invading on Christmas Day to see the boys, and it would be significantly more crowded. Aiden didn’t really care when they did it, just that they did get together.
Within minutes, chaos had descended as the boys began ripping into their presents. The adults exchanged brightly wrapped packages as well, but most of the attention was on the twins and their ephemeral joy. Aiden was fascinated to realize that they enjoyed the tissue paper and sticky bows as much as some of the gifts. He took picture after picture to document their play.
Again, his thoughts wandered back to their mother. Had she ever taken pictures of them during the holidays? There hadn’t been anything in his belongings when he’d turned of age. He looked at John, meeting his brother’s gaze. John must have understood what he saw in Aiden’s eyes because he shook his in the negative. “I never got any pictures either. Thanks for doing that,” he said, jerking his chin to the phone.
Yeah, John would appreciate these now. Aiden was finding that even pictures of he and Angela together were precious to him. Fontana was getting into documenting his time with Jordyn, too.
Angela set a long box on his lap and he looked at her in surprise. “I thought we were having our Christmas tomorrow?”
She grinned at him. “We are. This one needed to be shared though.”
He looked at the box in his hand. It looked like a regular shirt-sized box. He began pulling the paper apart at the seams. Once he’d gotten through it he cut the tape on the sides with his pocket knife and flipped the lid. Inside the mound of tissue paper was something soft. He pulled it out and let it fall open, then he turned to look at Angela. “What is this?”
She grinned at him, though her eyes were a little guarded. “What does it look like?”
His heart shuddered in his chest. Aiden blinked and looked at the baby outfit. “Are you serious?”
Terror rolled through him at the thought of actually having a baby. Because he’d been tested on with the ayahuasca he hadn’t really thought about having children. What if there were repercussions on the child from what had been done to him? Angela was on birth control and they used condoms but that would not negate what was in his blood. What if the baby was born…different?
“Are you pregnant right now?” he demanded, voice a little sharper than he meant.
Angela was watching him closely. “I am. And before you say it, I have not forgotten any of my pills and this isn’t a bid to get a commitment from you. I mean, I’m committed to you, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be official, or anything. No ring or anything if you’re not ready.”
He frowned, not liking that his completely steady girlfriend was losing her shit. The color was high in her cheeks and her eyes were avoiding his. “I know you wouldn’t have done this on purpose, Angela.” He felt bad for even making her think it.
Unexpectedly, tears filled her eyes. “I didn’t, I swear to you. I don’t think I’m ready either. I mean, we just got together, and I wouldn’t risk us,” she motioned between them, “for anything. I hope you know that.”
“I do,” he breathed, leaning in to kiss her. “It was just a shock.”
And it still was. He glanced up and realized they had an audience. He wiped at his face as Angela drew back. “I guess next Christmas might be a little busier,” he murmured, finally allowing a grin to cross his mouth.
John laughed and rolled forward, hand outstretched. Aiden took it and allowed John to pull him into a hug, taking strength from his brother’s arms. When they separated, John’s dark gaze held his own, as if he sensed the turmoil. “It’ll work out buddy.”
Aiden tried to believe it would, but it had been so long since anything decent had actually happened in his life. Then he paused, realizing how wrong that thinking was. In the past year he had connected with his brother, helped rescue other tortured fellow prisoners and fallen into a relationship with Angela. He realized that the past year had been filled with amazing things. They’d gotten the men out of the torture camps. They were all in Arlington, now, with Elizabeth and Wulfe, getting the care they needed. And Damon, the head of the Silverstone Collaborative, the one responsible for their torture, was dead.
There were still bad guys to be rounded up, though. The politician that had worked with Damon Wilkes to set up negotiations between all of the other countries was still free. There were still a few medical personnel on the run as well, but Aiden knew they would find them. He thought