Rising Tides

by Rebecca Royce

  Amari nodded seriously. “I would never drop her. Someone would have to kill me first.”

  “Well, hopefully it won’t come to that.” I handed her to Amari. He slipped her against his shoulder. She was tired. I could see it from the way she rubbed her face against him. Why did she battle sleep so hard?

  “Go to sleep, Amber.” Hunter turned from the window. “Or eat one of the hundred frozen meals Paloma has for you in the fridge. Or take a shower. Just take a break.”

  “Maybe we could all just sit here together. I realize it’s not all that pleasant with the screaming.” Josie had actually stopped, so hopefully Katie wasn’t too far behind. “That’s what I’d really like to do.”

  Hunter nodded before he sat on the couch. Amari followed suit, and I snuggled in between them. A few minutes later, Katie stopped.

  “You know,” Amari kissed her head and then my cheek, “I thought we were all dead on that ship. That was it. And when I think about potentially missing this… I can’t stand it.”

  I leaned my head on his shoulder. “I can’t think about that at all. And you like it? Even with the screaming?”

  “They’re just spirited. That will be good for them later.” He sounded so sure. I loved how Amari made up his mind about things and then somehow willed that into existence. He grinned. “If they’re still screaming like this at ten, I’ll have words with them.”

  I must have closed my eyes.

  “You’re up.”

  Amari’s voice woke me, and I lifted my lids to see Shane standing in the doorway of the living room. He rubbed his eyes. “I think a lot of time has passed.” He touched his chest. “And I have this cool monitor on me now that I also think is not a fashion thing. And you two are holding my daughters. So maybe more time than I even realized. Hi, Amber.” His voice broke. “I missed you.”

  I rushed at him and threw my arms around him. This was it. They were all finally here.

  “I missed you, too.” I breathed him in. “It’s a heart monitor. You’re going to be fine. Don’t worry.”

  He wiped my tears away with his thumbs. “Amber. I heard your voice. Right before it all went black, and I remember thinking that it would be a great last thing to hear. You were… able to talk to us. Somehow. Through the energy. And I thought I could die because I’d heard you again.”

  I lost it. I’d never really understood that expression before but there it was. All of the angst exploded out of me, and took my knees out with me. I would have hit the floor if Shane hadn’t grabbed me.

  “Fuck.” Hunter jumped up, still holding the baby. “Don’t say that to her. She hasn’t slept in two months.”

  “I…” Shane kissed my face, holding me against him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean I wanted to. I hung on. I did. We’re all here. Fuck.”

  I had to find my voice. “Not your fault. I’m sorry.”

  Shane walked to Amari, and like I’d seen Hunter do, pressed his head down on my oldest husband’s shoulder. It was some kind of acknowledgement that he’d returned, that he was back with Chen. Maybe it was an apology. I didn’t know exactly, I just knew it was beautiful. After a long moment, Amari hugged him—one handed since he held Katie on one shoulder.

  Hunter strode toward them, slightly elbowing Shane with a grin.

  “Here, take your daughter. This is Josie.” Hunter passed sleeping Josie to Shane who suddenly looked like he’d been stunned silent. He stared down at her. The sight was so funny, his eyes wide, his brow furrowed, that it knocked the tears right out of me.

  Amari placed Katie on Shane’s shoulder. “Here you go, Daddy.”

  Hunter held me against him. Oh, how I’d wanted just this moment. “Sorry, guys, I’ll pull it together. I’m not sad. Not really. Just overwhelmed.”

  Amari took my hand. “And exhausted. Sleep a little bit more while they do.”

  That sounded like a good idea.

  Babies don’t scream every two hours forever. As months passed, I was extremely relieved by that fact. Eventually, both of the girls stopped being so full of angst. Katie regularly laughed and charmed the heck out of everyone who came near her while Josie was more reticent but happy to be around her family.

  They slept through the night just about the time the snow melted outside and spring pushed its way into our lives once more.

  I stared at Shane’s heart monitor. “Not a blip.”

  “It is beating, right?” He winked at me. “I mean, I do have a heart. I know I do. You own it.”

  I kissed his lips, and he grinned at me. “You do and the readings are good. I’m thinking we can get this taken off you soon.”

  As if on cue, the door to the house buzzed and Brenden poked his head in. “Melissa and Dane are here.”

  We’d been mostly left alone for months. With everything being rebuilt, Hunter had to interfere a few times to fix up design flaws but had otherwise really not returned to work. Amari ran things from his tablet a few times a day, and Shane had checked the water locally but not flown off to do anything outside of our little area.

  I hadn’t gotten back to work. I still didn’t like to leave the girls, and it was even hard for me to bring myself to take them from the house very much.

  As it warmed up, Shane insisted on walks around what he called the village, so the girls went in their strollers. They looked around with their violet eyes wide as they chewed on their toys and their hands.

  There wasn’t a person in the Chen Empire who didn’t stop to admire and speak to them. Katie ate it up and Josie tolerated it, pretty well.

  I still didn’t like to leave them with anyone other than my husbands. Amari had suggested a nanny. Once. And then not again.

  “Let them in.” I smiled at Brenden before I looked down to make sure I was actually dressed. Half the time I didn’t know if I was wearing a bra or if I had baby spit up on me somewhere. That my husbands regularly wanted me naked and in their beds really spoke to the fact that they must love me and somehow still see me as sexy.

  I’d showered that morning. I could probably see visitors.

  Melissa grinned at me as she came through the door. “You look so much better than the last time I saw you.”

  She’d been by to see the girls a few times. “How long ago was that?”

  Melissa threw her head back and laughed. “New motherhood. I was running through an ice planet with baby Diana. I don’t remember those days, and it’s not because of brain damage. I just don’t remember them.”

  Dane shook his head. “You do look well.”

  Amari rounded the corner from the kitchen. “Hello.”

  There was a real discrepancy between the Chen Empire visiting and my friends. No one bowed when Amari walked in the room if they’d come from elsewhere. He didn’t seem to mind. “How are you guys? Everything okay?”

  Dane nodded before he grinned at Shane. “Came to take away the heart monitor. You had one weird reading in the beginning but not since. So I’m going to say you’re safe.”

  “Thanks.” Shane winked at me again. “I just needed to get my heart back to its true owner.”

  I shook my head but grinned at him. “He’s so sweet.”

  “And I’m here to tell you guys we’re leaving.”

  I’d known that had to be coming, but still it made my own heart clench. Waverly and her crew would be next. Diana. Damian. Sterling. Cash. Lewis. Judge. Melissa. Dane. C.J. Cooper. Nolan. Wes. Geoff. They were all going to be gone.

  I touched her arm. “Are you following your daughter back to the Farm?”

  “No, actually. I fully expect Waverly to go there soon. But we are retaking Mars Station. No one can find the two Evander ships in the Dark Planets. That’s very concerning and the majority of the Super Soldiers have headed out there to deal with that. We think the best use of our resources is to reopen Mars Station, considering its closeness to the Black Hole. We can help facilitate their exit through it if they manage not to get killed and make sure no one else comes through to help them
. Plus, if an all-out war breaks out again we’re close by.”

  Amari nodded and Hunter came down the hall. “Makes sense. We can regroup and come out to join the fight in the Dark Planet quadrant.”

  “I knew you’d say that and I’ve come to say don’t do that.”

  Hunter picked up Josie from where she played on the floor. “Don’t do it? Half the fleet was Z. You don’t think we need to participate. I want those fuckers out of this side of the galaxy right now. I don’t want them near my children, my wife, my empire. I want them gone.”

  Amari smirked. “He speaks for all of us.”

  “We want that, too. And on that note, we need you to get Earth ready. I know plans were started, but I don’t think they’ve progressed because everyone wanted all three of you to be involved. So if you could maybe do that.” She rubbed her arms. That had to be uncomfortable to say. She was basically asking us to pull our shit together and get back to things. It was time. She was right. “And there’s something else.”

  Shane watched her from where he still sat on the floor. “What’s that?”

  “There is a ship headed here right now with prisoners on it. Super Soldier prisoners.”

  Amari narrowed his eyes. “Why are they bringing them here?”

  “Well, they’re really not sure where to bring them. Sterling is actually captaining the ship. He reached out last night, and I thought… Well I thought here was the right place.”

  My oldest husband indicated nothing. He was good at that. Amari might have taken some time off to get me through the last months but he hadn’t disappeared into happiness. The rough, negotiator was still right there. “Why would you think that?”

  “Two reasons.” Melissa held her ground. “First was that this is Earth. They’re human beings who have never been allowed to be humans. Part of me, the sentimental part, thinks they need to come home and be here, not fighting here, but living here. Drink the water, feel the heat of our sun.”

  Amari shook his head. “We’re not falling into that trap. Just because you bring up the water doesn’t mean that we are suddenly going to feel we want to help captive Super Soldiers who once fought us in battle and let them live under our protection. Let them drink the water someplace else.”

  She sighed. “Okay, that was low of me. I had to try. Truth is it’s because of the Z.”

  “Outside of war, the Z have full time jobs. Yes, some of them are here for our protection. I doubt I could separate Brenden from my wife, but most of them have full time careers. They are not here to guard enemies who have nowhere else to go.”

  Melissa cleared her throat. “I don’t mean to guard them. I mean to train them.”

  “What?” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Train them to do what?”

  “To be human. To be… something. I don’t know. You train men. It’s what you do. I watched it for months. The Z are an incredible unit of people who are loyal, smart, and capable. Things can go wrong. They obviously did with Amber when your mother was living. But this crew is strong. I want you to give them the chance to be those men.”

  Katie made a happy shrieking noise, and I crossed over to her, to hand her another toy while I kept my attention on this exchange. I’d never known before I had the girls how well I could multitask with my attention.

  “You want me to give our enemies the same training I give the Z? So they can be stronger when they attack us?”

  “Amari, can I speak to you alone?” I wouldn’t disagree with him in front of Melissa. In front of her, I was on his side, always. To me, that was loyalty.

  He nodded. “Sure. Come.” He extended his hand to me, and I rose, taking it. “Shane, watch the girls a second.”

  Shane grinned. “Watch my daughters?” He kissed Josie’s head. “I love doing that.”

  “It is pretty great being a dad, isn’t it?” Dane asked Shane as I left the room with Amari.

  In the kitchen, I turned on the water. They didn’t need to hear us. “They fought for Evander because Evander is their home. They’ve had nothing else. People fight for their homes. It’s like… Mommy and Daddy telling you to go to war. They did that.”

  “Not all of them. If Blaze wants to move here, he can. They picked the right side.”

  I had to make him understand. “This isn’t about right or wrong. They picked their right, it was our wrong, but they did as they were raised and born to do. Amari, they need another home. We need for them to pick us next time. There’ll be a next time. Maybe not in our lifetime, and hopefully not in the girls’. But maybe their sons or daughters. There is always a next time. Don’t you want the descendants of those men to fight for us?”

  “What makes you think I can rehab them? I’m not in any way trained for this.”

  I pulled him to me. “Because you’re you. Because success is what you do. Find a way to help them and make it profitable.”

  He pressed his forehead to mine. “I’ll try.”

  “Good.” I grinned at him.

  “I know you just partially manipulated me. You’re better at it than Melissa.”

  I shook my hand. “No, you just want to fuck me so it seems that way.”

  He threw his head back, laughing. “That is absolutely true.”

  Amari let go of me. “I’m getting rid of them so we can do just that. Come say goodbye.”

  I turned off the water and followed him to the front room.

  “I’m going to do it. I’ll rehab who can be rehabbed and if they can’t then I’m sticking them on a ship headed straight to the Dark Planets. They can go find a life for themselves there. But yes, I’ll try. Don’t be surprised when they start showing up on Mars Station ready to work for you. That’ll be my first suggestion of work.”

  Melissa grinned. “Sounds good, Amari. Nolan loves a good security team.”

  I’d thought that winter was gone, but it turned out it had only gone on hiatus for a few days. The afternoon Melissa and her crew left us, the Super Soldiers arrived, landing in the midst of a blizzard. It marked new days for all of us. Hunter took a trip to go look at the new security blasters being installed on the North Pole of the planet, and I’d officially left the girls in the hands of two nannies and their two guards, who I finally decided I trusted.

  Shane had promised to get home to them before dinner, which meant they’d only be alone for three hours without any one of us checking on them.

  Amari wanted me with him to quote “look at what kind of mess I’d convinced him to get into.”

  Sterling stepped off the ship. He nodded at Amari. “Really nice to see you up, brother.”

  Amari grinned at him. “Well, I needed a good nap.”

  “Heard you broke the med machine. How’d you do that?” He scratched his head. “Knocks me on my ass.”

  Everyone asked Amari this now. I was pretty sure he hated it. “I really don’t remember it. I guess I just really wanted to see Amber before she gave birth.”

  This made Sterling turn his attention to me. “Diana asked me to see the girls while I’m here. Is that okay?”

  “Sure. Tell her I miss her.”

  “Will do.” He cleared his throat. “I’m bringing you a mess.”

  “I fix messes. It’s what I do.” Amari could feign confidence with the best of the them.

  Hours later, I wasn’t so sure I’d done the right thing convincing Amari to do this. Fifteen of the angriest people I’d ever seen disembarked from that shuttle. Amari had placed them under guard in the top floor of the orphanage we’d built. There were only a few children there so far as we were working on relocating the kids to places where their extended families were. Only after it was clear they had no one did they come to live there.

  I wasn’t sure it was a good idea to put them in the same building with the Super Soldiers, but Amari seemed to be certain about it. He wanted to see. That was all he said. In the meantime his best Z were watching them.

  When I asked what he wanted to see, he didn’t answer me. This was Z lan
d, and much as I’d temporarily led them, I wasn’t one of them, and I didn’t want to be.

  The men wouldn’t even tell us their names. Right now they were numbers, and I hated it.

  I slumped down on the couch next to a sleeping Shane, both girls sprawled out on his chest. The nannies had been gone when I got here. Did that mean he didn’t like what he saw when he arrived or he’d just told them to go home? I touched his cheek, running my finger off the slight scruff there.

  His eyes fluttered open. “Hey, beautiful. Guess we decided to take a nap.”

  “I’ll never know how you can sleep with them on you. I’m always terrified they’re going to get hurt.”

  He shook his head. “They’re safe with me.”

  “Yes, Master Chen.” I rolled my eyes. “Where did the nannies go?”

  “They were great. Girls were fine. When I got home, I simply decided I preferred it to just be us when we’re home, and I sent them off. They’ll be back tomorrow morning. How was it being back in the real world outside of this haven you had built for us?”

  I thought about that. “Nice to be dressed, to be around adults. Horrible in some ways. Those men… they’re not Sterling or Canyon or Rohan. They’re not even Blaze and his guys. These men are rough and hurt. I don’t know if we can help them.”

  Shane adored me with his gaze. “We can. You were right to push Amari on it. Some of them will get better with time. Some of them will need a push. He can do it.”

  I hoped he was right.

  Shane

  I walked to the water. With late freezes, sometimes the water could get bacteria in it. I had Katie on my shoulder. She was bundled up in a jacket one of the older women had given us. Two Z trailed behind us, but they were giving us space.

  I’d take Josie here, too, when she wasn’t fussing. Amber thought she was cutting teeth, and I didn’t want to wake her since she slept. But Katie was awake so Lady Katherine got to come.

  I still couldn’t believe I’d made two female babies. Her mother’s violet eyes stared up at me, and I grinned. Yes, they were Amber’s, but they had an edge no one commented on, but I was sure my brothers could also see. Those were Chen eyes. Her mother wouldn’t hurt anyone; she was a healer, unless she felt they threatened those she loved. This child would be ruthless, and we’d have to temper it.