Page 74 of Ashes of Us

After getting a text from Xavier saying he and Alex were about an hour out, Danica and Emilia went back to the campsite and made tacos for dinner, just finishing up when they heard the motorcycles coming up the road to their site.

While they ate, Alex and Xavier told them about their ride and showed them some of the pictures they took and asked what Danica and Emilia did while they were gone.

They sat around the campfire and talked for a while before they headed to bed early.

Alex and Xavier were exhausted after their eight-hour ride, and Danica and Emilia were completely done in by a full day in the sun and their emotional conversations.

Danica climbed into her sleeping bag and watched as Alex did the same across from her, not bothering with the curtain just yet.

Alex noticed that she wanted to talk and raised his eyebrow as he settled in, facing her as he turned off their battery-operated lamp and waited for her to start speaking.

She very quickly and quietly filled him in on what Emilia had told her, and when she finished, she heard him shift and roll over in the dark.

“Yeah, that matches what I was able to get out of Xavier, which was like pulling teeth by the way.” She could hear the faint annoyance in his voice and knew he didn't like feeling like he was prying into people's relationships.

“But yeah, he was getting frustrated and insecure about being rejected all the time, spoke to some family members, and they all told him it was the same for them, after the third or fourth kid, their wives just stopped wanting sex or affection.

He thought it was normal and stopped chasing her.

He still adores her, so he didn't want to leave; he just decided to take what he could get and adjusted.

But as a side note, what the hell is up with this family having so many kids?

The way Xavier was talking, it's perfectly normal for them to have five or six at minimum.”

Danica let out a soft giggle. It was a question she had asked more than once and had made it very clear to Jasper when they decided to start trying to have kids that she was willing to have two, and that was it.

“I don't know what's up with them, but yes, almost all of Jasper's cousins have at least three, and in most cases, it's more.

The whole clan is huge in general. Jasper's parents are the only ones of their generation to have only one child, and that's because Amy almost died giving birth to Jasper, and it was very unlikely she would survive pregnancy a second time.

Xavier is one of six, Jimmy is one of eight.

.. It's ridiculous and a little cult like now that I think about it.”

“Cult-like?” Alex's voice was curious, and she heard him shift again. “What do you mean, cult-like?”

“Well, once you marry into the Preston family, you are a Preston.

Your previous life and family cease to exist. It's ended a few relationships,” She explained, and she was only half joking.

She knew lots of the people who married into the family struggled to adjust to the near constant family get-togethers, which made carving out time for their family of origin nearly impossible.

“Hell, I'm an orphan, and they still had issues with me spending time with your family.”

“They probably thought you would be an easy one to fold into the flock,” Alex grumbled. “Sounds awful in my opinion.”

“Yeah, but for a girl who grew up in a home where it was made clear to me that I was not part of the family from the very beginning, not by the people who were fostering me, but by their extended families, which meant I was often ignored or left out of things at family get-togethers and was expected to suck it up and not make a fuss about it, it was nice to be accepted and included in everything, even if it was occasionally annoying.” She admitted quietly, then remembered that hadn't been true for Geri, Frannie and Amy.

“Included and accepted by most of them, anyway.”

“My parents considered you family.” Alex reminded her, his voice taking on the tone it always did when she talked about her foster family, this time with some faint bitterness. “I'd even argue they considered you more their family than me and Craig at the end.”

“I don't think that's true,” Danica frowned.

“I mean, yes, I was closer to them at the end, but I think that was because I was here, not that it was your fault that you weren't, I just had the privilege of not being raised by them so there wasn't any of the issues with me that had developed between the four of you.”

“I'm not blaming you, Dani,” She heard him sigh and picked up on a hint of remorse.

“I know you were innocent in all of it, it's just frustrating because I feel like I was pushed out against my will. Dad and I were so close while I was growing up, and the minute he shipped me to London, it was like he forgot I was his son.” Another sigh, and then he continued before she could form a response.

“Anyway, we got off track. Xavier is willing to talk and listen to Emilia, but he refuses to be the one to start the conversation.” His redirection back to their original conversation and tone of voice made it clear he didn't want to talk about his relationship with his parent’s anymore, something Danica was happy to indulge.

“Emilia and I figured out a plan for that. You up for spending tomorrow afternoon with just me?” Despite all the time she and Alex had spent alone together over the last six weeks, she suddenly found herself nervous that he would say no.

“I can think of worse people to spend an afternoon with.” There was a faint hint of laughter in his voice, and Danica let out an exaggerated huff of indignation as she threw her pillow at the faint silhouette of Alex's head, making him chuckle when it made contact. “I guess you don't need this anymore?”

“No, I do, give it back.” She pouted slightly, realizing she may have made a mistake. She had a feeling he wasn't going to give it up without a fight.

“Nah, this is mine now.” He was laughing softly as he teased her, and Danica let out a low growl of frustration.

“Alex!” She hissed, trying to keep the slight whine out of her voice.

“Don't make me come over there! I can't sleep without my pillow!” there was no response but his muffled laughter for a moment.

She sat up, ready to get out of her sleeping bag and wrestle it away from him if she had to, but within seconds of sitting up, the pillow hit her in the face, and she heard a soft “Bullseye” from the other side of the tent.

“Oh, you're so going to get it tomorrow.” She grumbled, wondering how mad he would get if she pushed him off his paddleboard or tipped the canoe the next day as she put the pillow back behind her head.

“Uh-huh. Sure, Dani,” she heard him sit up, and a second later, the sound of his curtain falling into place came to her. “Sleep tight.”

-----------------

When Danica woke up the next day, the sun was already high in the sky, and the tent was almost uncomfortably warm.

They had pitched it under a stand of trees, to keep it out of the wind and direct sunlight, but it was facing the water and the sun hit it directly until about noon.

Pulling her curtain back, she saw Alex was still asleep, on his side with his back to her.

He didn't snore, she observed, unlike Jasper, who could have brought down the house with his snoring some nights, especially if he had been drinking, but his breathing was deep and even, indicating to her that he was still sound asleep.

Getting up as quietly as she could, she grabbed her bag and towel, slipped on her sandals and made the twenty-minute walk to the building that had the only flushing toilets and showers.

She had to wait for a shower when she got there and killed some time walking around the nearby recreation area that looked like it was designed to keep kids entertained on rainy days, the snack shop and then the store where she found out she could rent a pot and buy crab or lobster for a boil-up.

She knew Emilia wasn't a fan of shellfish, but she loved it and so did Alex, and if Emilia followed the plan they came up with for her and Xavier, it would just be Danica and Alex having dinner on the site.

Figuring she would have to come back later with Alex to carry it all back to the site, she went back to the showers and managed to grab one just as another woman came out.

After getting a coffee at the snack shop when she was done showering, she took her time walking back to the campsite, texting Maverick to ask how Indie was doing, and received several pictures of her playing with Watson or cuddled up with Maverick and Antonia.

She definitely misses you. She's very needy.

They texted back and forth as she walked, filling each other in on their weekends and agreeing to grab a coffee when she got back and picked up Indy.

She'd asked him if they planned to do anything for the long weekend and if he'd mind taking Indie during her and Emilia's visit to the store.

Maverick explained that September and October were the busiest months for Toni and the others with the lead up to Halloween between tourism, Wiccans and witches coming in to buy supplies for their All Hallows Eve things and their annual Halloween Party at the store, so Toni, Raven and Jynx didn't take time off between August and Mid-November, so he would be happy to take her dog for a couple of days.

“They have a Halloween Party here?” Danica looked around the store in surprise, wondering how they managed that with all the heavy shelving and stock they had.