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Trinity
~~
The decision to go home was fast and spur of the moment. We got our things and were ready to go in almost no time at all. It was about three in the afternoon in Crescent City when we left, and it was about an hour and thirty seconds later when we arrived in Trinity Falls, Colorado. It took us all of thirty seconds to pass through the door and exit the other side of the magical tunnel. The hour was because of the time difference between Colorado and California.
“MOMMY!”
“MOMMA!”
“MOMMY!”
.....
“MOMMY!”
“MOM!”
“MOMMY!”
All of our children, Zachary, Reagan, Zaley, Zayden, Rika and Zander, in that order, called out to us when we exited the door into the main living room of the royal tower. Mom, Dad, Lila and Grandfather weren't there at the moment, so I wasn't able to greet them. Oh well, maybe they would be back here in time for dinner. They did have other things to do as well.
Reece, feeling left out that the kids were all surrounding me, grumbled in mock disappointment.
“What am I, chopped liver? Last time that I checked I was your dad.”
“We love you too, Dad.” Rika let go of me and started the mass exodus from around me. All of the kids ran to Reece after that.
“We missed you, Dad.” Reagan hugged him and let go a little quickly. I guess men didn't hug their dads like they hugged their moms.
“I missed you, Daddy.” Zaley leapt into his arms and hugged him while Zachary, Zander and Zayden hugged him around his waist.
“Yeah, Daddy, we missed you too.” Zachary looked up to him as he spoke.
“We missed you both, Daddy. But Mommy was through the door first.” Zander added as he pressed his face against Reece's stomach.
“We were lonely without you guys here.” Zayden said to round them out.
“Hey, I'm home too.” Talia said as she finally walked through the door with Rudy and Alexio.
“Tally!” Zayden ran to her first when he saw her.
“Tally!” Zachary, running as quickly as his brother, called out to her as well.
“TalTal!” Zaley called her by her special name that she had for her as she ran toward Talia.
“Tally!” Zander was the last to reach Talia, and he was the one that knocked them all to the floor. There was a round of laughter, even from Alexio and Rudy as they watched on. Talia was laughing just as much as we were, albeit a little breathlessly. She had gotten the wind knocked out of her when she fell over.
“I missed you guys.” Talia, who couldn't wrap her arms around the four kids at once, but she still did her best to hug them, hold them, and show them her love.
“Alright. Alright. Let her breathe.” Reagan scolded the younger children as he and Rika started to pull them away from her.
“Aww. But I missed my Tally.” Zayden whined as he stood on his feet next to Talia.
“She needs to get up. You four are crushing her.” Rika laughed as she pulled Zachary to his feet.
Once Talia was free of children, Reagan and Rika helped her to her feet and hugged her tightly. The three of them were close, all of the kids were, but these three specifically.
“I missed you, little sis.” Reagan's voice was sad and happy at the same time. He had been worried about her while she was away, sad that she was not with them, and now happy that she was here. There was a lot going on inside of him, that was easy to see.
“So did I, Talia. I missed you too.” Rika said with her face pressed against Talia's hair.
“I missed you, too. It was exciting to travel, and I was happy to help, but I missed home way more than I thought that I would.” Talia was always able to talk to Reagan and Rika openly about things. It was just the relationship that they had with each other, and I was glad to see it in front of me.
“OK, if we're all content now that the hugs were given, I think we can start to settle in a little.” I called out and at that moment, Roisin came over toward me.
“Welcome home, Queen Trinity.” She bowed toward me, but I saw that she was looking out the corner of her eyes toward Gabriel. “Shall I take your things and see to it that they are put away?”
“That is not an immediate priority, Roisin. You can spend some time with Gabriel first. I am sure that you two missed each other.”
“R..really?” She beamed at me happily. “Thank you, Queen Trinity.”
“Not a problem. Gabriel, we will reconvene in two hours to debrief everyone here. Vincent, Shane, David, Jackson, Rawlynne, Rudy, all of you can go and spend time with your families as well. Please return in two hours so that we can hold a meeting with everyone.”
“Trinity.” Reece called out to me. “That will be in the middle of dinner, let us reconvene in four hours, at eight this evening.” I understood what he was saying underneath those words. We can spend more time with the kids, then they will be able to spend the time before bed in their rooms while we talk things over with the others that were here.
“Alright. That sounds good. We will meet back in my office in four hours.” I nodded at them. “Enjoy this time with your families. I know that they have all missed you.”
“Thank you.” The words were echoed from everyone that was in the room before they left to do their own thing and relax for the next four hours.
“Mommy, are you home for good now? Are you going to leave again?” Zaley asked as she came running back over to me. She took my hands and looked up into my eyes.
“We're home for now, sweetheart. I don't know if we're going to leave again. I hope that we don't have to. I want to make sure that we're together as much as possible.” I squeezed her hands gently, just a little bit of pressure to let her know that I was here and that I loved her more than she knew.
“I don't want you to leave, Mommy.” She hugged me around her waist, so tightly that it almost hurt.
“I know sweetheart. And I don't want to leave. Mommy only leaves when she has to. But I promise you that I will always come back to you. To all of you.”
“Momma, is everything OK now? Is the business over?” Reagan was speaking in terms that wouldn't scare the younger kids. They didn't know that we were on an investigation for murders, but Reagan and Rika did. They were older and knew more of what was going on than the others. Well, they did know more. Now Talia knew more than they did.
“No. It's not over, but our research has brought us back home now.” I gave him a meaningful look and spoke in the same coded pattern. “We will talk about it later. For now, let's have some time together as a family.” I held Zaley closer to me. “How about we let Abigail know that we're home. I am sure she will need to know so that she makes enough dinner for us all.”
“I'll tell her.” Zachary volunteered and started to run. Zander and Zayden followed him.
“No, me. I'll tell her first.”
“No! I want to tell her. I want her to make dessert for us too.” They all ran out of the room and toward the large kitchen that Abigail typically occupied.
Reece, the four remaining kids in the room, and I all moved to sit down so that we could relax together. Alexio, the only other person that was still with us, seemed to be at a loss.
“Alexio, I know that you do not have someone to return to at the moment, but you may do as you please for the next few hours. It has been a long trip, and you have worked hard. You deserve a break as well.” I saw him look at Talia and wonder if he should really relax in his duties right now, given what was going to happen soon. Then again, he had to be thinking that we were in the castle, which was heavily guarded with my magic, and she was with her parents who could protect her.
“A..alright. I will return to my room. Thank you.” He nodded and left after a quick bow to Talia. He really was a devoted guard. I just wish that he would find someone to love soon. He was lonely and I knew that he needed to have someone to make him happy. I felt bad that he was here for so long and hadn't met the right person yet. Then again, all he ever did was work, so that was probably part of the reason why. Maybe I would bring in some potential mates for him and see if they react to him. It would be an idea at least.
I mean, I didn't want him to be lonely forever. I wanted him to find someone that would make him happy. Someone that he would be able to spend time with when he wasn't working. The problem would be getting him away from work long enough to actually meet these people. I had a feeling that it would take a cataclysmic event to make that happen. And with a chuckle, I decided to just leave him be and let him live his life the way that he wanted to.
