The Price We Pay for Family - 27

Cont...

Sarah looked over at the basket of shrimp she still needed to devein and sighed. Her restaurant was getting more and more popular, but some days it was hard for her to get enough hands to work in it. Today one of her line cooks and a waitress called in sick, so Sarah was forced to jump in herself to make sure it all worked out. Not that she didn't mind. Cooking was a passion that had started years ago when she'd met her first husband. 

Sarah paused at the thought. First husband indicated she'd had more than one. But she'd never remarried. But you almost did. Suddenly the ring she wore under her shirt felt cold and heavy. 

She'd never married him, yet somehow in her head, maybe even in her heart, it felt like she had. They'd barely gotten engaged before he'd- And this was how she felt? 

Sarah shook off her stupor and went back to deveining shrimp. No good was going to come from agonizing over it. But the thought wouldn't go away. What would their lives have been like if everything that had happened hadn't happened? Would they have married? Would they have been happy? 

If Sarah closed her eyes, she could see it, late-night dancing in the kitchen. Early mornings kissing on the porch. Seeing Cass off to High school. AJ off to college. Seeing the world just the two of them. All the things they'd missed in their lives. Paris. Wakanda. New York. Sydney. Not Russia, though. Nor Germany. But Sarah could be okay with that. Warm places. Hawaii. Maybe Madagascar. Dancing in the sand. Walking on the beach as the sun went down. Holding hands and not caring where they were but just being.

 Sarah jerked back to her cold reality when the restaurant phone rang. She finished the shrimp as Maria, the hostess, answered the phone. She tossed the trash and was about to start chopping the andouille sausage when Maria called her over, "It's for you." 

Sarah frowned but took it. Internal suspicion and panic both rising. "Sarah Wilson of Wilson's Kitchen. How can I help you?"

 "Hey, sis. Say, you wouldn't be able to whip up a big meal for a party of eight, including a walking black hole of a stomach?" Sam asked playfully. 

"Seriously, Samuel? It's almost the dinner rush here. I ain't got time to make another meal for you and your super friends." Sarah huffed, "But," she cut off Sam's protests, "I can give you all the leftovers from tonight. Bound to have some Gumbo left. Is that alright?" 

"That's perfect. Thanks, Sarah. Really." Sam said, sounding like she'd taken a huge weight off his shoulder, "See you tonight." 

The rest of the day flew by, and Sarah felt like she was waiting for, something. Like something was about to happen. Like she was standing at a crossroads. Closing time came, and she insisted she'd lock up and sent everyone home. Then she waited. And waited. And-

 "Hey, sis. Could you get the door?" Sam's voice came from the back door. 

Sarah hurried over and unlocked the door with a grin, "Welcome back!"

 Sam gave her a hug, as did Torres as they came in. John Walker nodded in thanks as she held open the door for him and the four Wakandan women that followed. Sharon Carter shuffled nervously after the group like the new girl at school, unsure and uncomfortable. 

"Miss Sarah!" The youngest of the group hugged her eagerly.

 "Ah, you must be Shuri!" Sarah laughed, hugging her back as she nudged the door closed.

 "Is that Jambalaya?" John's voice floated over from the kitchen. 

"John Walker, if you so much as touch my Gumbo, so help me!" Sarah warned, detangling herself from Shuri and marching towards the dining room and kitchen area.

 "But I'm hungry!" John whined, coming out of the kitchen pouting. 

"You and your super-soldier stomach. Sit down." Sarah shook her head and gestured for them to sit at one of the tables she'd set for them. They all sat down and dug into the rolls she'd set out. 

"Thank you for allowing us to stop here." One of the Dora said politely to Sarah, who brought in a dish of rice and some fried okra.

 "Of course. When Sam calls with something as simple as this, it's a pleasure." Sarah smiled before going back to bring out the Gumbo and check on the beignets dough. 

By the time the meal was done, Torres was complaining that he would have to roll out, and the Wakandans were trying to get her to move to Wakanda to cook for them. True to her prediction, John ate through most of the meal, but she had planned on that and made lots more for the rest of them. Sam just looked smug as he sipped his milkshake.

 "As great as living in the Wakandan palace sounds, I don't think that's why you all came here." Sarah said, fixing her brother with a serious look, "What happened?" 

Sam sighed and put down his drink, "Yeah. That."

 "Yeah, that." Sarah repeated, "Spill." 

"We think we're found fairly conclusive evidence that he's still alive," Sam said carefully.

 All the air in Sarah's lungs left her. All the air in the room seemed to vanish as Sarah's legs went to jelly, and she was faintly glad she was already sitting. "What?"

 "We've found records that show as of three months ago, he was alive," Sharon repeated softly.

 "How?" Sarah whispered, seeing blood coating the floor of a warehouse and water sloshing over the sides of a glass cage in her mind's eye. 

"We aren't sure. But we think he's still alive." Torres said firmly, "And we're gonna find him." 

Sarah's mind floundered with this new information, trying to drink it all in but failing at the implications. He was alive. The thought brought the heights of joy and the depths of fear. He was alive, but at what cost? 

In her floundering, her eyes met Sam's, and the concern for her was clear. He was worried about how she'd take it. He's wasn't wrong, Sarah noted absently, it was a lot to get her head around, but she'd be fine.

 It's Sam she was worried about. The way the bags under his eyes pooled. The tired slump in his shoulders. The haunted look in his eyes. He was tried and beaten and playing the blame game. But there is a fire in his eyes and a sharpness to his stance, and Sarah knew he was bending but not broken. 

She gave him a small nod, and he smiled back ever so slightly. They were Wilsons, and they didn't run from anything. 

Sarah pushed away the whirlwind of thoughts and sat up straight, they were bringing her fiancé home, and she by Thor was going to help, "What do you need?"

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