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Trinity
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I was standing next to Reece as we just looked out the balcony door in our bedroom. Our bedroom was, of course, the top floor in the royal tower. The royal tower that happened to be the home of the ruling Queen and her king. And, of course, that queen was me.
This castle, this kingdom, and everything that it stood for, it was created by me. Well, I had help. My great great great grandfather, Valerian, had helped me to make the castle itself. And if it weren't for my husband Reece, and the people that were here with me every single day, then I would never have been able to successfully make this kingdom. Reece, Athair mór (how I called Valerian), Vincent, Shawn, Dietrich, Shane, David, Gabriel, Roisin, Juniper, Paul, Cedar, Carter, Noah, Mom, Dad, Grandfather, Lila, all of them had been here with me to help me over all of these years.
And let's not forget my children. Mine and Reece's children that is. They were the true heart of my happiness. Reagan, Rika, Talia, Zachary, Zander, Zayden and Zaley. All of my babies. And I can't believe how big they are all getting. And how beautiful they all are.
Reagan, even though he has my dark brown hair and blue eyes, he was so tall and handsome like his daddy. Rika, she was the copy of Reece. The only difference is that she is a girl and nowhere near as tall as Reece. Talia, she was my carbon copy. She has my hair, my eyes, and is on the shorter side, like me.
.....
And then there are the quadruplets. The boys, all three of them, were a complete copy of their daddy. They weren't old enough to be as tall as him yet, but I was sure that they would get there soon enough. At the rate that they were growing, it was highly likely. I mean they were already almost taller than me.
Zaley was the only one that was not a copy of us. She was pale like me, only a lot more pale. And she had eyes like mine, but they were just a little different. However, unlike Reece's black hair that went so well with his golden honey colored eyes, Zaley had white. She was the only one in the family like that. Well, unless you counted my father who died many years ago.
The reason Zaley looked so much like him though, was because she was literally his reincarnation. She had his soul. That was something that I had not expected from my once evil father. He had saved me though, and because of that, all four of my youngest babies had lived. If he hadn't done what he did, then the five of us wouldn't be here today. That was why, whenever someone asked me if I was unhappy about Zaley having Edmond's soul, I would tell them no. In truth, I couldn't be happier.
It had been years now though, so I was used to the comments. I was used to the looks. I was used to all of it. And unfortunately, so was Zaley. She had heard those hurtful words since she was little, and she had grown up with them. She didn't let them bother her anymore, but that didn't mean that the others didn't let it get to them.
Zachary, Zander and Zayden especially hated the way that some people treated their sister. They had been womb mates after all, and they were fiercely protective of her. Zachary was the leader of the four and, therefore, was the typical defender. Zander wanted to rival his slightly older brother. He was just as protective as Zachary was, but he was a little more prone to anger than Zachary was. As for Zayden, the youngest of the boys, he was usually so sweet and soft spoken. He never really confronted people about anything, and he was so easygoing. However, whenever he heard someone say something negative about his little sister, he would let that hidden storm that was hiding inside of him rage in the direction of the offender. He loved his sister so much, and he did not like to see her feeling sad. All three of the quadruplet boys were very serious about protecting her.
And it wasn't just the three of them that were fiercely protective of Zaley. Reagan, Rika and Talia were as well. Whenever they were out with her, they would not let the slightest badmouthing of her slide. People have the capacity to be very cruel about things that they didn't understand, and Zaley with her albino-like hair and complexion, was something that most people didn't understand. They would call her a freak and that was when the others would step in. Of the three older children, it was Reagan who was the most vocal about Zaley.
As Reagan and Rika got older, they had become their own people. Of course, that was bound to happen, but it still made me happy seeing who they were now. I mean, it wasn't just them getting taller that had shown that they had grown. Reagan, who was just an inch or two shorter than Reece now, was a very smart and caring young man. And I don't use the term man lightly. He is eighteen now. He is, in all senses of the word, a man. Just as Rika is eighteen and has grown into quite the young woman. They were due to go to college soon and that was enough to make me cry. In fact, I did cry, quite often too.
I had cried the nights of their eighteenth birthdays, since they were born on different days even though they were twins. I couldn't help it. It just hit me really hard that they were growing up and would leave me all too soon.
And Talia was getting so much older too. She just turned fifteen last month. She was quite the young lady. And I knew for a fact that with each passing year, my time with her was coming to an end. She was going to be taking over as the Goddess of the underworld when she was an adult. She was learning all that she could from the current gods while also going to school and taking advancement courses.
Like Reagan and Rika, Talia was doing dual enrollment. Only Talia had needed to make sure that she was going to graduate early. She was only fifteen, but she was in her senior year of high school. She will be going to the same college as Reagan and Rika just next year.
“Hahh.” I sighed as I thought about all of these things that had happened, and all of the years that had passed.
“What is wrong, Little Bunny?” Reece tightened his hold on me as he hugged me to his side.
“Nothing, Fido.” I pretended like I wasn't on the verge of tears again.
“Do you think I am going to believe that?” There was a slight chuckle in his voice. I could tell that he had been expecting that response from me and was just amused to have been completely right about it. “Come on, Trinity, we have been together for almost twenty years now. I know when something is bothering you. Stop trying to hide it. I know you too well for you to lie to me.”
“Well, Mr. Peabody, since you are the all knowing doggy, shouldn't you be able to tell me what is the matter with me?” Twenty years later and I still call him by these dog names. I love that it never got old and that we could keep it going. Also, twenty years later, he is still calling me a bunny.
“First off, that is a really old reference. Secondly, Mr. Peabody was a genius, but I would hardly call him all knowing. And lastly, I know that you're just feeling overwhelmed and sad at the moment. I mean, tonight is the send off party for the kids.”
“GAH!” I grabbed my head and shook it as he reminded me about the party. “Why did you have to mention it? I didn't want to think about it.”
The party in question was for all of the kids that were going off to college. Back then, when we were all pregnant at the same time, there had been twenty-two babies born within a year of each other. One of them was born in the summer and could have been a year ahead of the others in school, but Noah decided to give Elias an extra year of preschool to make sure that he was fully prepared for school. That meant that all twenty-two children graduated from high school this past school year and were now heading off to school.
A fair few of those kids were going away to school. They were heading to different states and even different countries. However, there were a group of them that wanted to stay local and just go to the university that was right here. That group, which was twelve in total, would be living here in the castle while they attended classes full time. And thankfully, my Reagan and Rika were part of the group that was staying in town with us. It made me happy to know that I would be able to see them on a regular basis, but it didn't stop me from knowing that they were going out into the world as adults.
“Come on, Little Bunny, it's not that bad. They grew up, that's what kids do.” Reece was trying to comfort me, but he wasn't helping me much.
“Yeah, I know. They all grew up. I feel like I blinked and just skipped the last decade. Where did the time go, Reece? What happened to my babies?”
“Ha ha ha.” Stop being so dramatic Little Bunny. You were there with them, you got older too. We all did. I know it's sad, but we did a good job with them. They are great kids. They are smart. They are responsible. And I know, just as much as you do, that Reagan and Rika will be just fine. It's hard on me too, Little Bunny, it really is. I mean, they're my kids and I need to send them out there on their own. No supervision or anything. And then there is the fact that there are boys out there. Boys that will prey upon my little Rika. That alone makes my blood boil, but I can't stop it. I can't hold her or Reagan back. I need to trust them, Trinity, and so do you.”
“Wow, that was a lot more level headed than I expected from you, Reece. I am shocked.” I laughed at him then. I had thought that he would definitely be worried about someone taking Rika the moment they saw her. He was such a protective daddy. That was where they all got it from. Okay, okay, I was protective too.
“Yeah, well, whoever she brings home has to pass my test first. I don't care what fate says about mates or not. I am her daddy and what I say goes.”
I laughed about that. I knew that Rika had refused to date anyone in high school because she didn't want to deal with her daddy being mean to her boyfriends. She didn't want to have that kind of experience over and over again. That meant that she was inexperienced now, and that worried me as well.
Reagan had a couple of girlfriends, but Reece had never cared much about his son dating. I did, and I had made sure the girls were nice and that they treated him right. A momma has to do her best after all.
“Come on, stop thinking about all of this, Little Bunny. We should head down to breakfast. The kids will all be waiting for us.”
“Yeah, you're right.” I stopped letting it get to me and went with Reece down to breakfast.
