***

 

The radio was in pieces and Brooke was hunched over on the floor trying to figure out which of the components had gone bad. Emily was sound asleep next to her under the cushion of a sleeping bag, but her arms and legs still twitched, still fighting the scorpion venom coursing through her tiny frame.

 

John hadn't left Emily’s side the entire time she was recovering. In fact, Brooke hadn't even seen him take his eyes off Emily since she had charged him with watching her.


A smile crept onto her face. Her favorite moments of her children were when they were together. It made her feel whole, full. It had been her husband's favorite sight, too. When they were younger, Jason would just sit in the kitchen, looking out into the living room, watching them play. She knew he reveled in those moments. It gave him something to hold onto while he was away.


Brooke hadn’t fully understood that until right then. That force that drove someone forward was different for everyone, but the moment her children had been born was the moment they became her driving force. She had done and would do whatever was necessary to keep the both of them alive. That was the constant in her life.

 

God help anything or anyone that tried to hurt them.