Chapter Ten
Seraphina dusted the flour off the shirt she’d dug from Rod’s closet and blew out a hard breath. She’d done it. Made Ma’s fried chicken. By herself this time, under Valerie’s watchful eye. Three grease burns on her wrist, sore feet, and a jaw that hurt from gritting her teeth. She felt like she’d just done battle.
And it was the most fun she’d had in a long damn time.
She watched on pins and needles as Valerie lifted a crispy golden piece of chicken to her mouth. It looked right. It looked perfect. But what did it taste like? This was the true test…
Valerie’s teeth made a crunch as she bit down.
Good sign, good sign. Properly fried chicken should have a mild crunch, she’d said.
She bit a piece off and chewed, her eyes fluttering closed for a beat. Seraphina wanted to scream, waiting for the judgement.
Valerie met her gaze. “It’s good, Sera.”
“Good?”
“Really good. If you made this for Rod, he’d never know it wasn’t mine. You got the crunch just perfect.”
Seraphina squealed, jumping up and down in triumph. “Yes, yes! Thank you!”
Valerie laughed, her tired eyes twinkling at Seraphina’s happiness. “Proud of you, hun.”
She hugged Valerie tight, trying not to squish the woman to pieces.
It was just… today was the best day she’d had in a long time. Today she forgot about her troubles. The sadness she beat back every morning at the reminder of her upbringing. The dread she cursed to hell with every goodnight.
Today was like a new beginning.
It started when she woke in Rod’s bed. It was early, before the sun rose. But the shower running in the master bathroom roused her, and she’d looked over at the chair to find it had been slept in. He’d turned it toward the bed so he had somewhere to put his feet, and blankets were piled on the floor where he’d clearly woke in a hurry.
Before she could cover her almost bare lower half, he’d emerged from the bathroom, dripping, with only a towel around his waist. Every rippled muscle was being licked with water droplets. Her tongue could do a better job though. Mmm.
She’d had to swallow five times in order to breathe. And when she did, it was with a hiss.
“You shouldn’t be awake yet,” he’d said darkly, taking her in.
“Well, I am. You shouldn’t be… you know… dripping on the carpet.”
He’d smirked, looking like the playful Rod everyone else knew. Except this time, it didn’t look put on. It looked real and it made her heart thump double time.
“Dripping on carpets is what I do, sweets,” he had purred, more sexy than any man should be.
She’d rolled her eyes, hiding a smile as she looked away.
“You snore.”
Her gaze snapped back to him as he used another towel to dry his hair. “Do not.”
“Yeah, ya do. Bad too. So damn sweet when you’re awake, but sleeping, you turn into a monster. It’s a real Jekyll and Hyde thing with you, isn’t it? We’re talking full-on sawin’ logs and callin’ hogs, baby.”
“Shut up!”
He’d chuckled long and loud, and it was so nice she almost forgot what he was teasing her about. This was Rod, laughing for real. Not smirking, not joking. No shadows in his eyes.
“Yeah? Well… how did you sleep then, so close to the beast, if it was that bad?”
“Don’t know. Magic?” He uncapped his deodorant and swiped it on, seeming not to mind her watching him. “Didn’t have a choice though. I had to make sure you didn’t choke on your tongue. You might need it later.”
He’d winked at her in the mirror, clearly proud of himself. But she was competitive. It was how she won on the track so much. Never pull in last. And she wasn’t letting him have the last word.
“Maybe,” she had agreed, stretching out on the bed. She arched her back, lifting her arms over her head, pretending to go into a leisurely stretch. She felt her nipples pearl and harden against Rod’s shirt that she wore. And he’d noticed, if the way he went utterly still was any indication. “But then again…” She pushed her boobs out just a bit further and let the shirt ride up closer to her hips, knowing just as he did, she wasn’t wearing any panties. “I’m pretty used to choking on things.”
Valerie coughed, bringing Seraphina back to the present.
“I need to sit, child,” she rasped, easing out of Seraphina’s tight grasp.
“Oh! Sure. Sorry.”
She let out another laugh, this one much weaker, and gasped to catch her breath. “Never apologize for being happy, Sera. A lesson my… son… needs… to learn.”
Seraphina helped her to the small dining table and into a chair.
“Not feeling so good, hun. I think… think I overdid it.”
Seraphina frowned. She’d only known Valerie a short time, but she seemed so… regular. So vibrant and well. It was easy to forget she was battling back a serious illness that she’d never be free of.
“Just relax, Ma. I’ll take care of the clean-up. You want some water?”
“Yes, please,” Valerie wheezed. Her hands shook and her face was pinched as if she was in pain. Seraphina’s heart squeezed tight with worry and she rushed to fill a glass.
Bringing it back, she helped Valerie drink, but it seemed she was having a hard time swallowing. She choked on the water, some of it dribbling out of the corner of her mouth before she got it down. Seraphina reached for a napkin, helping clean it up.
But her vixen was alert and it was telling her something wasn’t right. Something was wrong with Rod’s mom.
Valerie slurred out, “How… how far away was… Rodney?”
“Not sure. He was going to DTD to grab my bag before he came home. Should I call him?”
But before she could answer Seraphina, her body seized in some kind of muscle spasm, locking her up for what seemed like infinity seconds but was probably only twenty. Valerie jerked, pained whimpers eking from between her lips and breaking Seraphina’s heart wide open.
Help her, the vixen demanded. Ma needs you.
“It’s all right,” she whispered as she held Valerie’s clenched hand through the jerking. “Breathe through it. It’s okay, it’s okay.”
But whatever was happening to her body was beyond her control, taking her motor functions and her breath and her dignity at the same time.
Seraphina wracked her mind with what to do. She didn’t know what this was or how to help. All she knew was how to be there. How to comfort. Like she’d done so many times with Kit when he was scared or hurt. Or with Ragan when she cried in the night from bad dreams.
She was helpless, but she was there.
“I’m here,” she murmured. “I’m right here with you. Not going anywhere.”
Another seizing tremor rattled through Valerie’s body and her eyes watered with unshed tears. Seraphina could see the emotions in her pained expression. Humiliation, despair, agony, resolve.
She didn’t want pity. Rod had said that. So Seraphina wouldn’t pity her.
She’d… distract her.
“It’s a bitch, isn’t it?” she murmured, thinking. “Yeah. Well, I know how to handle bitches. I’ve had enough practice.”
She eased Valerie to the floor and slid down next to her. It was safer than the chair.
“You know what bitches love, Ma? Singing, that’s what. So I’m gonna sing you through this one because it’s what I know. I sing when I’m confused or lonely or pretty much anytime I want to feel better. I keep that radio close, and I sing along like a pro. It’s a good thing, music. Maybe that’s why I like Rod so much. Huh. I need to think on that. But not now.”
Valerie had jerked over to her side, her body contorting in horrifying ways.
Seraphina fought back tears. Only the bravest face for this badass warrior woman. She could do that.
Valerie’s cheek was pressed against the cool tile as she rode out the angry ride her muscles took her on. So Seraphina put hers to the tile too. Face to face, so she knew she wasn’t alone.
And she sang.
“She was a fast machine. She kept her motor clean. She was the best damn woman I had ever seen,” Seraphina crooned quietly, trying to make her voice stop wobbling.
The shaking and seizing stopped for a breath. Long enough for only a breath, but it was enough of a reprieve that Valerie’s eyes eased a fraction before tightening again in another spasm.
“Youuu shook me all night long. Yeah, youuu shook me all night long.”
Seraphina could have chosen a less ironic song, sure. But she knew in her heart, Valerie wouldn’t have appreciated it as much as this one.
“The earth was quaking, my mind was shaking… youuuuu shook me all night long.”
She heard the front door open and slam closed. But it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except easing Valerie through this attack of her body. Because she was the kind of woman Seraphina wanted to be someday. Strong and caring. Tough but kind. And capable of getting through anything.
Valerie was so different from her own submissive mother. She’d let Seraphina’s father do whatever he wanted with her, with their young. She hadn’t batted an eye when he’d promised their little girl into a lifelong mating that wasn’t her choice. But Valerie had seen the horror in it even if she didn’t know the shifter aspects.
Seraphina’s fox was so like her mother’s.
Could she ever be strong like Valerie? Could she ever say her wants and needs out loud and expect them to be heard and respected?
Footsteps she could only assume were Rod’s stopped just feet away, but she kept singing her song.
“Another flare up?” He sounded like despair as he knelt on the floor behind Valerie. The room was so quiet, so still, except for the soft singing and Valerie’s groaned whimpers and the slapping of her body against the tile.
And it struck Seraphina that this was reality. His reality. He could come home at any time and find his mother hurting so bad she could barely breathe. He could awake in the night and discover any sort of horror. He spent hours in the hospital, with doctors, and therapy. And he never knew what was coming next, because that was the sort of disease MS was.
And he was never leaving his mom to go it alone.
This was why he drank so much. Why he kept his distance. Why he pretended to be happy with jokes and jibes.
But it was also what gave him meaning. What made his heart good as gold. What he loved.
He loved his mother, and would do anything for her. Give up anything for her, and do it with the most charming smile that never reached his eyes.
Rod knew true love. The kind that didn’t use, didn’t hurt, and only gave. Selfless and enduring.
Family. This was what family should be.
Seraphina wanted one of her own.
Need that, her fox whispered.
With him. With Valerie.
This was where she belonged, and she felt it so strong inside, her bones rattled with the knowledge.
“We need to get her to the hospital,” Rod murmured.
He bent and lifted his mom into his arms. Her body resisted, twitching until he was forced to let her stand. But her legs wouldn’t hold her. His arm around her waist supported her and Seraphina braced Valerie’s other side as the three of them made their way to Rod’s car.