"Have you been up all night?"

"Yes and don't change the subject. I have faith in him."

Then at least one of us has. The fact that he has already gone speaks volumes to me and I actually get it. I don't think I would stay in a house where I had just dumped someone...I barely hung around long enough for George even when we were dating. Dad's comments about not finding information about Knox returns to me.novelbin

"Why were you digging up dirt on Knox?"

"I like to know the people that influence my children's life decisions."

"And hows that panning out for you.." I can't help but laugh out loud, Jace missing in action and me a wreck on the sofa. Well, at least Jaxon will keep the family name going strong.

"I'm proud of all my children, in different ways. And just like Knox, Jace will return to us. When he is ready."

"Hhmm."

"He loves you Josie, I can see it for myself. Even though I hate the thought of another male being the main man in your life."

"You'll always be my main man...well except for Lobo." I poke a foot into his rib cage playfylly.

...

Breakfast was very odd.

Auntie Alora and Ezra were touchy feeling which I was all for, but perhaps not so blatantly obvious. I was only just having a morning caffeine fix having fallen back asleep on the sofa for a few more hours.

Dad hadn't gone back to sleep, if he even had any sleep. He prepared breakfast..suprising Mum with a bouquet of wildflowers and a pile of pancakes.. the top pancake iced with the words...will you marry me?

It was a bit of a family joke now. A couple of times a year he would ask Mum to marry him, and yet she would say no.

So when she laughs and rolls her eyes, standing up and walking over to the kitchen island to placing a gentle kiss on his neck, on his mate mark... it comes as no surprise that she says no.

"Did you two want a ceremony?" Mum looks to Auntie Alora and Ezra as she walks back over to the table, Jaxon spitting out some of his orange juice from Mum's pushiness.

"Oh...we haven't really decided just yet." Auntie Alora becomes flustered, her cheeks reddening under Mum's interrogative stare...yet I see Ezra's hand move in the corner of my eye and land supportively on my auntie's thigh. Her body completely changing with his support.

"We will give it some thought." Ezra calmly responds sipping on his cup of coffee.

Tucking into breakfast, a general flow of conversation fills the air, nobody asking me about last night which helps me to relax. However, I have that triplet feeling of curiosity washing over me as everytime I look up, I find Jaxon staring at me...until his phone rings and he exits the room...relief now hitting me from him.

After breakfast I decide to go upstairs and warm my body up even more with a hot shower. Heading towards my room, I hear Jaxon shout down the phone, his growl hard to miss. I backtrack towards his room, curiosity controlling my actions...turning me into an eavesdropping nosey spy.

"I called to see if you had heard from Josie, she didn't return from work....No we've found her. Dad found her in the meadows...I don't know...are you ever coming back?" Jaxon's voice is a mixture of tones. Hurt, anger...disbelief.

He pauses and I can't help but hold my breath, he was clearly on the phone to Jace. Most likely having phoned him to see if I had spoken to Jace last night when I did a disappearing act just like him.

A low threatening growl rumbles from Jaxon, his aura spilling out into his room. Even with the door only slightly ajar I can feel its intensity.

"You're a selfish prick do you know that? I might not be perfect but I wouldn't fucking run out on my family because what...what exactly has happened..."