Deciding to keep the twins as close to Bryon as she could manage, she bent down and picked up the blonde, curly haired girls who had been sitting on the dining room floor watching her as she set the table. With one child in each arm, she walked up to her husband at the front door and stood on her tip-toes to give him a kiss on the lips. “Your timing’s perfect as usual; dinner is just now ready. How was your day, honey?”
“The same as ever,” he replied with a sigh as he removed his coat and hung it in the hall closet. “We found out today that we had a shipment get lost on its way to Beewa last Jumat, and the handler hasn’t shown up anywhere.”
“Who was the handler?”
“Ninan. He’s the new guy we hired several weeks ago. I should’ve known better than to send him on that run,” Bryon said as he brushed past Alena on his way to the bedroom without even acknowledging the twins in her arms.
Alena turned with a scowl on her face and followed after him wishing he would have offered to at least carry one of the girls; they were getting heavier by the second. She gritted her teeth and walked into the bedroom. “But I thought he just bought a house here in Kirma. It doesn’t make sense that he’d just take off,” she said as she gratefully set the squirming girls down in the middle of the bed and tickled their tummies as she waited for Bryon to change his shirt for dinner.
Bryon paused to consider Alena’s comment about Ninan’s new house and then shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe you’re right,” he said. “I might be jumping to the wrong conclusion. I’ll give him another day to get that shipment delivered before I report it to the authorities. Maybe something happened with the freighter telepod which delayed the delivery.” With his shirt changed he turned to leave the room.
Alena suspected he would try to scoot out of the room without offering to help carry the twins so she preempted his attempt by holding out Jena and saying, “Here, take Jena and set her up at the table please.”
Without wanting to sound surly, Bryon had no other option than to take Jena into his arms. He was surprised at how big she had gotten in these past two mesans. She surprised him by grabbing his ear, and he turned to look at her and realized just how adorable she was becoming now that she was four and a half mesans old. Her blonde hair was starting to curl in ringlets, her eyes were a startling bright blue instead of the dark blue of newborns, her chubby cheeks were rosy, and she had two perfect little teeth in her smiling mouth. He could not resist reaching up and twitching her cheek as he said, “Careful with my ear, I’ve only got the one on that side.” Jena giggled as Bryon teased her while they walked out of the bedroom together.
Juila flailed her arms to be held by Alena. She picked up Jena’s identical twin and hugged her tightly as she whispered in her ear, “I think Jena will win him over yet!” Juila giggled too as Alena mimicked Bryon’s teasing of Jena as she followed him to the dining room. Alena noticed that Juila seemed to be warm with a fever as well. She knew from experience that she would be kept busy with cranky children and runny noses very soon.
Once everyone had finished eating dinner, Alena cleared her throat and announced, “I have important news for our family.” She winced as she realized Bryon would assume any good news was going to be related to Amanda’s return. She hurriedly continued by saying, “Elder Debbon has approved my request to legally adopt Juila and Jena. They are official members of our family now!” She smiled around the table.
Justan, Andera, and Kyelon all smiled and clapped their hands with genuine happiness. Even though Justan was just four anons old, Andera almost four, and Kyelon nearly three, they were very active participants in the twins’ lives. Kyelon had been especially grateful that he was not the youngest in the house anymore to always get teased.
Bryon, on the other hand, scowled and said, “Don’t you have to have two signatures on the adoption contract?”
“Only if it’s the husband requesting the adoption,” she replied cheerfully. “Isn’t it wonderful, children? We get to keep them forever now.”
“Don’t you think we should’ve waited a little longer?”
“No, I don’t,” Alena spoke more harshly than she intended. “These girls deserve to have both a mother and father they can call their own. I’m more than willing to fill that role even if you aren’t.”
“I never said I didn’t want them,” Bryon defended himself and then continued, “I just thought maybe we should give Amanda a little more time to make it back here.”
Alena inhaled a quick breath through her nose as she replied through clenched teeth, “That’s enough, Bryon, you know as well as I do that Amanda is not going to come back. She’s gone, but her precious little girls are still alive and here and they deserve to have our unconditional love!”
Their three small children looked at each other with concern. Were Mommy and Daddy fighting? Did they just say that Amanda was dead and not just visiting family? Andera and Kyelon both looked to their oldest sibling, Justan, to find out what they should do with this new information. Any time they were confused, Justan always had an answer. This time, Justan slightly raised both his shoulders and mouthed the words, “not now,” to his two siblings.
They all looked from one parent to the other to see what would happen next. They knew their Papa had been unhappy ever since Amanda had left. They wanted to see their family back to normal and happy again. They turned to watch their father to see how he would respond to their mother’s bold statements.
As though the last thread of hope snapped, Bryon closed his eyes and then spoke quietly, “You’re right, Alena. I’ve been holding onto a false hope so I wouldn’t have to face the facts. I’ve been horrible these past two mesans, haven’t I?” He looked into his wife’s eyes and silently pleaded with her to understand his guilt.
Alena nodded and said, “Well, you’ve certainly left yourself a lot of room for improvement. Why don’t you start right now by taking the twins along with the other children into the living room for story time? I can take care of the dinner dishes while you get started.” She stood up and began to gather the dishes.
Alena could see a difference in her children as they smiled at one another as they jumped up from their chairs and clambered to the living room for their favorite time of the day. She felt vindicated in her decision to adopt the twins; it was just the thing needed to bring her family back together again after the terrible tragedy.
Once the dishes were put away, Alena quietly stood leaning against the doorway to the living room to watch her husband’s natural interaction with all five of the children. She smiled at the scene in front of her as Bryon’s spiky, dark-haired head was leaning over the two blonde heads of the twins while the other three children nestled around them.
Alena always marveled at how comfortable Bryon was with all ages of children. She liked knowing that his strong, muscular frame could be so gentle with the children. Alena watched his large hands as they easily turned the pages of the book as he read. She enjoyed the deep richness of his voice as he imitated different characters in the story.
The twins were falling asleep in Bryon’s arms, and he could feel them getting heavier as they drifted into their dreams. He wondered if he should try to read another story while they were sleeping or if he should put them to bed and then return to the other children. He looked up from the girls while trying to decide and saw Alena watching him.
Not knowing how long she had stood there he raised his eyebrows and nodded down toward the twins to see what she would decide. He watched his slender wife shrug her shoulders, make a decision, and then walk gracefully across the room to assist him.
“Wait here a few minutes, we’ll be right back,” Alena whispered to her three children, kissing Justan lightly on the top of his head, as she bent over and picked up Jena from Bryon’s left arm and gestured for Bryon to follow her with Juila. Her heart was bursting with joy to see Bryon’s change of mind where the girls were concerned.
She had been uncertain if her news of the adoption would b
e received with understanding or anger and apparently she had guessed correctly that he would come out of his despondency. Placing each girl in her own bassinet, Alena turned toward Bryon and leaned into his chest to hug him. She was relieved when his arms wrapped around her and his lips brushed the top of her head as he held her close.
“Thank you, Alena,” he whispered as he held the love of his life in his arms.
She leaned back far enough away from him to be able to look into his face as she replied with a smile, “You’re welcome.” She kept her arm around his waist as she started to return to the children in the living room and said, “Let’s give our other children a couple more stories tonight, okay?”
“You get to read the next one,” Bryon replied with a smile as they walked down the hallway.
“Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“Well, I kind of promised Justan that you’d read Genero tonight.”
“Really? How kind of you,” she replied a little too sweetly. “And here I thought you might like a little time for us tonight. I guess I was wrong since you offered for me to read such a long book.”
“Hey, I didn’t say you’d read the whole book,” he replied hastily all the while wishing he had not promised anything at all to Justan.
“I’d hate to deprive our children of any of our time,” she said as she teasingly removed her hand from around his waist. With a bounce in her step, Alena entered the living room and smiled at their three little children waiting for the next story. She announced, “Who wants me to read Genero?”
Justan jumped off of the couch and retrieved the book from the shelf. Without having to read the title, since they all knew the book by its cover, he selected the book from the many on the shelf. He ran up to his mother, looked up at her with his big brown eyes, and gently handed her the book saying, “It’s one of my favorites, Mama!”
“That’s my smart boy,” she said as she took the book from his small hands and continued, “Let’s all sit together on the couch while I read.” She gestured for Bryon to sit beside her and hold Andera and Kyelon on his lap while she situated Justan on her own.
She opened the brightly colored book and began to read, “Jehoban lived alone in a world called Tuala…” Alena read until all of the children were limp with sleep in their arms, and she quietly closed the book. She looked over at Bryon and said, “I guess that’s the end of the story tonight.”
“Not if I can help it,” Bryon whispered back with a mischievous grin.
“Did you want me to finish reading Genero to you, honey?”
“No, I was thinking more along the lines of making our own creation tonight.”
“What did you have in mind, painting, cooking, or something else?”
“Definitely something else,” he said as he easily stood up while holding both Andera and Kyelon.
Alena stood up with Justan in her arms and said, “I’m excited to find out what you have in mind.” She followed him into the boys’ bedroom and settled Justan down into his bed for the night. She then took Kyelon from her husband’s arm and tucked him into his own bed across from Justan’s. Alena followed Bryon into Andera’s room and watched as Bryon gently settled her on the bed and covered her with the pink blankets. Alena kissed her first-daughter on the forehead just where Bryon had before turning out the light to leave.
Bryon took Alena’s hand and said, “I’m excited to show you what I have on my mind.” Alena giggled like a young girl as she snuggled closer to her husband. He led her back to their bedroom and firmly shut the door behind them and pulled her into a tight embrace and started kissing her with a passion she had forgotten he possessed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amanda was so excited they had found a possible avenue back to Tuala. Her mind was in such a whirl of thoughts she had a hard time sleeping that night. She just had to get back to her girls. With all of her memories back, every moment spent away from the twins was an agony she would not wish on her worst enemy.
She imagined all of the things her girls were learning without her there to witness and cheer them on. She was also afraid they would not remember her when she did finally get back. Amanda had tried to talk to her mom about her concerns, but her mom just kept telling her to keep faith that everything would turn out perfectly.
All Amanda knew was her faith was being tested in the extreme. The only thing which gave her a moment of peace was the fact her children were safe with Alena and Bryon. They were excellent parents, and they would love Juila and Jena as their own until she was able to return to bring them home.
She began to wonder how much time had passed on Tuala. Would her baby girls still be babies or would they now be toddlers or even young children when she finally found them? She resigned herself to be thankful no matter what age they turned out being. Of course, she would be sad for any missed time, but she would be grateful for any future with her children in it.
Shemalla had said it would be a few days before she would be able to arrange transportation back to Tuala, but she had also seemed hesitant to even offer that much support. Suppose the Elders opted to deny the transportation request and instead decided to keep her children themselves for testing in one of their facilities. There was a definite fear among the people for old souls being amongst them. There were so many unknown aspects which Amanda could come up with that she began to feel the frustration start to overwhelm her tiny sense of hope.
Chapter Ten
NINAN’S HOUSE IN Kirma proved to be the best place for Petre to hide out. He knew nobody would be coming home for a while. He flew the personal telepod through the streets of Kirma cloaked in the darkness of night.
Hovering outside of Ninan’s house, he left the telepod running, and exited the craft with the plan of breaking into the front door of the house to get the garage door opened promptly. Once his feet hit the ground, however, the additional timed teleportations caught up to him, and he heaved the contents of his stomach onto the front lawn.
Not having enough time to recover, he staggered to the front door and clumsily forced it open. He fell several times as he went through the house and located the garage. Pressing the button for the garage door opener, Petre continued through the garage into his awaiting telepod. At last, he maneuvered the machine into the garage and did not start to relax until the garage door safely hid the stolen telepod.
Petre wandered miserably through the house inspecting each of the rooms. As he looked around at the luxurious furnishings, Petre became more and more furious with Ninan. He must be making a fortune at Kirma Shipping and Receiving, he thought, I don’t know why he even took my money. He didn’t need my money. He just liked taking it from me. He probably laughed at every pitiful payment at what a loser I am to have to pay to find my wife. Just see if he gets another shill from me. What a hypocrite! I wish I would have given him a few more kicks for trying to deceive me. ME!
He ended his angry inspection of the house with the kitchen since he had not eaten much of anything since the bruskins at lunchtime and even that was now residing on the front lawn. Having put in a lot of effort for the day, Petre was ravenously hungry. He did not realize how much effort it took to time a teleportation. Putting together several foxl sandwiches, Petre sat down at the kitchen bar and scarfed down his meal without tasting much. Even if he did not taste the food, he still enjoyed the idea of getting something back from that crook Ninan!
Now that he had eaten and his queasiness was beginning to settle Petre decided he should go to bed. The next day was Sabtu so he knew he would have a day of rest as nobody conducted business on that day. He had big plans to figure out, and he planned on getting an early start. He used the restroom and then turned into the bedroom. Again, Petre felt a warped satisfaction that he was sleeping in Ninan’s plush bedding while he imagined Ninan in an uncomfortable heap on the hard, cold ground. Stretching out on his back on the sleeping platform Petre folded his hands behind his head and smiled at his accomplishments for the day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alena was busy juggling the duties of taking care of her five children. Three of them were sick with head colds as Alena had suspected. The change in weather had come fast this year which always increased the chance of becoming ill. She had dosed them lightly with epeny, and they were finally resting peacefully. Now that she would have a few minutes of peace, Alena made a call over to Tana’s house. Once connected, Alena said, “Hi, Tana, could I ask you a favor?”
“Sure! What do you need?”
“I was wondering if you could watch three of the kids for me while I get some supplies from the market.”
“Would you rather I went to the market for you?”
“Normally, that would be perfect,” Alena replied but then continued, “However, I was hoping while I was out to check on one of my patients who is a vendor at the market. Plus I think I need to spend a little quality time with Jena and Kyelon.”
“No problem, when would you like me to come over?”
“Well, the children have been sick with colds. I just gave each of them a dose of epeny which thankfully sent them into a serene sleep. Could you come over in the next few minutes?”
Ascension Discovery Page 38