The diner was humming. There was hardly an empty seat in the dining room that wasn’t filled. It would have been too much for her to handle all on her own, but Frances fit right in. Her quick reflexes had also helped quite a bit. Spills happened less when she was around, her hands saving plastic tumblers and utensils from the laminate flooring. And thank goodness for her keen sense of smell.

When both Maggie and Frances were busy up front taking orders, Frances knew just when to dash back into the kitchen and pull the bacon off of the flattop.

Mr. Foley sat back in his chair, enjoying the last few minutes of his free time and the last sips of his cup of coffee. He turned when he heard a horn out front.

“Maggie?”

“Mmhmm?” She mumbled into the pass through. “You need something, Mr. Foley?” His pause brought her eyes up to look through into the dining room. The older man pointed toward the front windows at the old Chevy muscle car out on the road.

The driver leaned across toward the passenger seat and gave her a wave.

“Oh!” She waved back and took a few steps toward the back. “Frances, Dino’s here!”

“Damn,” her voice was muffled through the door, “one moment!” And in truth it was just the one, because Frances threw open the door and bounded out into the kitchen area. “Thanks again, Maggie.”

With a one-armed hug and a kiss to Maggie’s cheek, Frances burst out of the front door. “Hey, Uncle Barney!”

Maggie sighed and grabbed an apple off the counter and darted toward the door, pushing it open with her elbow. “Frances!”

The girl had one foot in the car and stopped. Turning she looked back.

Maggie held up the apple and Frances lifted her hand in the air with a wink.

“Oh great,” Maggie sighed, “if I make this throw I’m a hero. If I don’t, there’ll be apple guts all over Dino’s car.”

“You can do it, Maggie,” Mr. Foley laughed along with her.

“Okay, here goes nothing.” She wound up like she did back in Bobby Sox and let fly.

Frances dropped her backpack on the passenger seat and jumped in the air, plucking the apple out of mid-air. “See you for dinner!”

Maggie waved and watched as Frances ducked into the car laughing. With a big grin she pulled the seatbelt across her chest and set the lock. A moment later the car started to move.

A soft disapproving sigh came from behind her.

She turned around. “What’s wrong, Mr. Foley?”

“That,” he tilted his head in the direction of the street, “is a classic Trans Am. It should be peeling away from the curb with a roar!”

Maggie shrugged. “Maybe usually, but right now, Dino’s taking Frances to school. If Cage thought he was driving anywhere near the speed limit, he’d ground Dino from fights for a month.”

Folding his newspaper up, Mr. Foley set it beside his plate. “Sounds like Cage has got this over-protective father thing down pat.”

She couldn’t help the warm blush that colored her cheeks. “He’s doing everything he can to help her through this big move.”

He leaned forward and smiled at her, setting his arm on the counter. “I think you’re doing wonders with her too.”

Waving off his words, she went back to the counter and picked up his travel cup. Taking it to the coffee pot, she filled it up. “I’m glad she’s letting me help. I see so much of myself in her and then I see so much more. You know?”

She set the cup down and he re-covered it.

“I raised three of my own. I do. I just don’t know what it’s like to raise ah… um… I don’t know the proper term for it.”

“Shifter?” She nodded. “It’s a big shock for me too.” She hesitated. Maggie couldn’t tell him she’d known about all of this for more than a decade. Her father’s unit and their missions were top secret. She just knew because she was too sneaky for her own good. “But I’m getting used to the idea of my work and home being more of a menagerie than a regular job and apartment.”

He nodded thoughtfully as she handed him his bill. Reaching into his wallet he pulled out a few bills. “Is Dino another lion? Or a jaguar like Cage?”

She shook her head and took the money to the old-fashioned cash register. Pushing the cashdrawer button, it sprang open and she reached for his change.

“Go ahead and keep it, Maggie.”

She set aside the tip and turned back to him with a big smile. “Thanks. No, he’s not a cat, Dino is a wolf, not many of those around this part of town.”

He nodded in reply. “Then why the ‘Uncle Barney’?”

Maggie rolled her eyes. “Well the ‘Uncle’ because practically all of the guys who fight at the venue for Cage, they’re all like uncles now. Taking turns driving her to school so she won’t be late after helping me with the morning shift. She knows whoever pulls up in front about this time is her ride to school. And Dino, well, that’s because it matches with dinosaur.”

“Ah...” He chuckled and stood. “My three were too old for that show when it started, so thankfully I missed it.”

She grinned back at him. “My cousins watched Teletubbies so be glad you missed those too.”

* * *

Late in the afternoon, Cage stepped outside for a little fresh air, and yes, to look up at Maggie’s apartment. It was too early for her to put on any lights in her place, but he didn’t have to look for lights to know what she was up to. His mate was fast asleep, taking one of her ‘power naps’ before Frances returned home from her tutoring session.

Folding his arms across his chest he brought up an image in his head. Maggie, in an oversized t-shirt and a pair of bikini panties, her limbs tangled with an old thin sheet that she needed to get to sleep. Some old hospital blanket from her last time in the hospital before rehab.

She’d balked when she’d tried to tell him the story and that was fine, he’d wait. He’d wait forever for her.

He blew out a breath and thought over his plan for the night. He’d already talked to Frances and she’d given her approval to the plan. Tonight, he was going to invite Maggie out for a night on the town, whatever night she was free. Hell, Frances had even picked out clothes for him to wear. That had been quite the shopping trip. It seemed that his teenaged lioness was pleased as she could be torturing him with trying on all sorts of shirts and jackets… and ties, just to make the ‘right’ impression on Maggie.

And he didn’t complain. Not much.

Not when he couldn’t wait to see Maggie’s face when he took her to a restaurant with candlelight and food he couldn’t pronounce. He knew how to make her shiver and sigh, but now he was going to learn how to romance the hell out of his mate.

She deserved it and more for putting up with him and helping Frances find her footing in Sylvan City.

The only thing keeping him down on the sidewalk and not using his key to let himself into Maggie’s apartment was the fact that he was planning on keeping her up for hours after Frances went to bed. She needed her sleep.

He blew out a breath and sighed.

A rumble in the distance caught his attention.

Cage knew every car owned by his fighters by sound. He also knew the same for the owners of the other buildings around. The sounds echoing against the hard walls and into his ears from the car coming down the road had no business being here, even on a night where they were having fights, it was too early for anyone out of the ordinary to come by.

That had him out of his office door and onto the concrete open area in front of the Club. The shiny black Hummer looked like it rarely saw the outdoors. It was a damn waste.

Still, by the way he drove straight up to the curb in front of the Club, Cage felt a little itch in his gums. Fangs on the verge of pushing through his skin, he advanced on the car and made sure to angle his approach to keep his eye on the driver.

The man stepped out and Cage saw the fancy shoes and what looked like a suit that cost more than his car. He didn’t have to ask the man what he was doing there. His whole demeanor screamed lawyer.

Yeah, Cage had known it wasn’t a social call, but he was fairly sure he was going to have to keep himself from ripping the man apart.

He was, after all, a foster dad. Killing a man in cold blood might just be an issue. So, he stood there and watched the man approach with a packet of papers in his hand.

“Cage Gamble?”

Cage made the man wait. There was no way a man with that much money would come all the way out here without knowing exactly what his target looked like. This man may look like an ass, but he didn’t look stupid.

Then the man decided to poke the bear before him. “I said, are you-”

“You know exactly who I am. Why don’t you tell me why you’re here?”

The man’s smile wasn’t just smarmy, it was predatory. “Here you go.” He held out the packet of papers and Cage took it in his hand. The lawyer’s eyebrow quirked up a for a moment, more ominous than a wink. “You’ve been served.”

Cage stared at the back of the process server as he walked out to the curb and into his Hummer. “Yeah, Hummer, bet you make the big bucks, huh?”

He shook his head and looked down at the papers in his hands. “What kind of unholy hell is this?”

“Hey, Boss.” The unmistakable bulk of Truck’s shadow preceded him across the pavement. “What’s going on? What did that suit want with you?”

Cage blew out a breath and held the packet up in his hand. “Some kind of shit from Frances’ mom’s family. I bet they’ve got a big stick up their ass about something.”

Truck came around front, blocking the view of the retreating Hummer down the street. “Can I take a look?”

Darting his gaze down at the papers in his hands, he handed them over to the taller man. Truck was as big as he was good from the inside out. He was also sharp and much more intelligent than most people would think given his size and muscle bulk. He looked like the big guy from ‘Green Mile’ if you added about a hundred pounds of muscle and a good foot onto the big guy. He trusted Truck with his life and at one time or another, Truck had pulled every other member of their unit out of the frying pan. “Here.” He set the papers into his hands. “If you get a headache, you know where to find the pills.”

Cage turned and heard the first page flip as he started to walk away and came to a complete stop a moment later.

“Boss.”

Shit. The tone of Truck’s voice said it wouldn’t wait.

Turning back, Cage waited for his friend to speak.

“You need to get a lawyer, now.”

“What is it?”

Truck held the papers out to him. “They’re suing you for custody of Frances.”

Cage snatched the papers back from his friend and followed Truck’s large finger as he pointed out the relevant lines on the first page of the packet.

He was angry. Livid. Blood thirsty.

Truck could feel it in the air. “Go, Boss. I’ll take care of things here.”

Cage was gone seconds later, running down to the gym, determined to see the Colonel. The man who’d led him through hell was the first person he’d go to now. He needed the man’s cool head, otherwise he’d chase down the process server and eat his way through to the man’s spine for bringing him this news.

* * *

When Maggie arrived at Cage’s apartment, she didn’t know what kind of reception to expect. The fact that her father had sent her a text was reason enough to worry. The fact that he was the one to greet her at the door sent her insides twisting. No sooner than her father had taken the food containers out of her hands, Frances stepped into her embrace.

“I’m not going.”

Maggie tried to look at Frances’ face, but the young woman had her face buried in the crook of Maggie’s shoulder and neck. “Hey,” she smoothed her hand over Frances’ back, “what’s going on?”

Frances didn’t move, she didn’t answer her, she just held on and started to sob. “Don’t let me go.”

“Oh goodness,” Maggie turned, her eyes looking for Cage. He was standing across the room, his eyes dark and raging with anger. “What happened?”

Her father turned from the table, leaving the food to wait for later. “Frances’ family is suing for custody.”

“Now?”

Frances burrowed deeper in Maggie’s arms. “They’re not my family.”

“They loved your mom-”

“Not after she fell for dad!”

Maggie walked Frances over to the sofa and together they managed to sit down without releasing each other. Almost as if she was a little girl, Frances tucked herself into Maggie’s side.

Smoothing her hand over Frances’ mussed hair, Maggie combed her fingers through it while Frances talked. She’d heard the story before, but goodness knows she’d told her own story a few times before she’d made peace with it.

“Mrs. Donnelly called in my Uncle Charles and my Grandmother, Frances,” she nearly spat out the name, “asked them if they could take me in until Cage could come to take me to the States, but they told her they couldn’t be bothered.”

Maggie saw Cage turn to look at them, she saw the anguish in his eyes, hurting for the girl he’d come to love as his own.

“They said they didn’t care about me. Not at all. That my mother had whored herself with my father and they weren’t going to raise an animal under their roof.”

Pressing a kiss to the crown of Frances’ head, Maggie only cuddled her closer. “They don’t know how special you are, sweetheart.”

“How could,” she hiccupped a sob and leaned back just enough to look up at Maggie through her over-long bangs, “how could they raise my mum to be such a loving person when they’re so bloody hateful?”

“Well,” Maggie met her father’s eyes across the room, “because sometimes even in the biggest pile of horse poop around, you’ll see flowers growing out of the muck.”

Frances stared back at Maggie for a long moment before the corners of her mouth turned up from her frown into a hesitant smile. “You mean weeds?”

Maggie shrugged. “Weeds can have a purpose. Medicinal stuff, I think.”

“You’re trying to make me think of the positives, aren’t you? I doubt it will work. I don’t even know why they want me back, but it doesn’t matter. I’ll never go with them.”

“And we won’t let you go,” she met Cage’s eyes and willed him to speak.

“Damn right. You’re family. You’re not going anywhere.”

Suddenly, Maggie’s arms were empty. Frances leapt from the sofa with a cat’s feline grace and was in Cage’s arms hugging him tight.

The sight brought some tears to her eyes, but they were happy tears. Those were fine. She could handle happy. She looked up when her father approached her. “What can we do to help?”

His hand rubbed at his chin as he watched Cage comfort his foster daughter. “We’ve contacted Paige.”

“The Mayor’s daughter?”

He nodded. “There’s a foundation helping shifters with their legal issues. They have attorneys who can work on things like this.”

“Whatever money I have… Cage can have it for their defense.”

The Colonel set his hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “No need for that right now. Paige has a lawyer who’ll do it pro bono. He’s got some experience with custody issues across the pond. Seems his sister had a similar situation recently and he’s eager to draw blood on our behalf.”

It warmed her heart that her father was speaking of things in terms of ‘our’ including Cage and Frances together in his thoughts. Even years after their unit had broken up, he was still looking after his men.

“But you just stick close to these two,” his chuckle was low and warm, “not that you weren’t planning on it in the first place, but I’m glad to see that you’re there for him.”

“You know why,” she covered his hand with hers on her shoulder.

“Yes, sweetheart. You were never very covert with your crush.”

“Well I was a soldier’s daughter. I wasn’t meant for the CIA or the FBI.”

“Thank goodness,” he groused, “never thought you’d have a stick up your ass to match a badge.”

“Well,” the Colonel spoke a little louder than necessary, “I think I’ll head back to the gym. If anyone needs me, you know that’s where I’ll be.”

“Thanks, Colonel.” Cage’s somber gaze met her father’s, their eyes speaking volumes without words. “I appreciate your help.”

The Colonel waved off the words with a scoff. “The least I can do for you and Todd.” He shifted his gaze to Frances. “You keep your chin up, Frannie. I’m always here if you need me.”

Setting her feet down on the ground, Frances met him at the door for a quick hug that her father grumped his way through. Still, Frances’ new-found smile didn’t dim at all as he stepped out onto the landing. Once the door was closed, Frances turned to look at Maggie. “I’m starved, what did you bring?”

Maggie’s laughter brought a smile to Cage’s face.

“Well, at least I know you won’t waste away to nothing,” she told Frances.

“Nope,” she answered back, “I’m too damn-”

Cage cleared his throat.

“Sorry! I’m too fecking hungry to let that happen.” She turned and gave Cage just the hint of a wink. “Happy?”

“Brilliant,” he shot back, using a bit of Frances’ usual slang. “Now be nice and help Maggie while I get the table cleared off.”

As they unpacked the plates and wrestled with the napkins and utensils Maggie watched over both Cage and Frances. They’d gone through a whirlwind of emotions in just a short period of time and it was a long way from being over.