~~
Trinity
~~
I woke the next morning, naked and wrapped in Reece's arms. It was such a normal way for me to wake up that I could almost believe that my life was normal. That there had been no murders. That there had been nothing that took me away from my children for the last couple of weeks. I could almost believe that nothing had ever happened. Almost.
The memories of the last month came flooding back as soon as the early morning sun filled my eyes. Still, I knew that I needed to be there for my kids today. I knew that I needed to be their mom and nothing else this morning. And that was why I pushed the thoughts away and pretended to be normal just for the day. I needed to let my kids know that they were my priority in all of this and that was why I left in the first place.
I showered quickly that morning. Even though I just took a shower last night. I had made love to Reece after my shower and needed another now. And of course, I had a very handsy Reece that seemed to have woken up in a very good mood. He just couldn't seem to keep his hands to himself during the shower and I needed to yell at him and put him in his place so that we could finish the shower before the kids came running up the stairs to our room.
“Come on, Little Bunny.” Reece pleaded as he wrapped his arms around me.
.....
“No!” I snapped at him. “Bad dog. I need to get ready for the day. Bad puppy.” I splashed water in his face and laughed at him. “Come on, Reece, we're home now. That means that the kids are all here. And I promised Zachary, Zander, Zayden and Zaley that we would have breakfast together and drive them to school.”
“Alright, fine.” He seemed to slump dejectedly as I scolded him. “I just started to think about when we were first together. How romantic and passionate we were. I miss how much we were together.”
“Reece.” I hugged him to me in the shower. “We are still like that, and we will be again soon, when this is all settled down. Just be patient.”
“Alright.” He nodded and kissed me quickly. “Now let's get dressed before I throw you on the bed.” He laughed and turned off the water.
Several minutes later I walked down the stairs at the exact time that the kids were leaving their rooms for breakfast.
“Mommy!?” Zaley called out as she hugged me. “You didn't leave.”
“I told you that I wouldn't, sweetheart.” I hugged her tightly. “Come on, let's go to breakfast.”
Zachary, Zander, Zayden and Zaley walked with us down to the dining room where I found Talia, Reagan and Rika waiting for us.
“Good morning.” Rika called out with a smile. “It's good to be having breakfast together again.”
“Yeah, we've missed you guys.” Reagan added as he smiled at us. The two of them might be eighteen now, and in college, but they were still our kids and they still needed us. They weren't completely on their own yet. I was actually kind of happy about that.
The laughs and smiles that I got from the kids over breakfast was like a medicine that was healing my soul. I hadn't known just how much I was missing this. I had been so busy that I hadn't really thought about what I was not getting every day. This here, this love and family time, it had been in such short supply during the investigation that my soul had suffered, and I didn't even know it. I could feel it now though, as my soul healed little by little.
After the delicious breakfast of pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs, fruit, and freshly squeezed juice that Abigail had made for us, it was time to get the kids ready for school. Talia was even going in person today for the first time this school year.
All the kids, aside from Reagan and Rika, had a uniform that they wore to school, so I didn't need to pick out their clothes, but I could do their hair. Talia's was simple with a thin braid going from her bangs on each side to the back of her head where they met and hung loosely. Zaley wanted pigtails but she wanted a thin braid that went along them as well. It was still simple, but it took me just a couple minutes later. For the boys, all I really did was comb their hair into a little bit of a style that they wanted. Zachary's was a little messier than the others because that was what he preferred. Zander had his hair slicked back and neat. Zayden had his combed perfectly and looked like a little businessman. They were all so cute, but I couldn't tell them that. They were getting older and preferred for me to call them handsome. Still, they were my little boys, and they were cute to me.
I was driving the five younger ones to school while Reece drove Reagan and Rika to school. None of them were taking their guards with them, which had me on edge, but I knew that this was the way that we needed to keep things. At least until we were sure that the threat was actually here in Colorado Springs.
“All of you be good. Don't go anywhere that you're not supposed to and listen to your teachers, OK?” I called out to them as I let them out at the door to the school.
“OK, Mommy.”
“We will be good, Mommy.”
“Don't worry, Mommy.”
“Yes, Mommy.”
“Don't worry so much, Mom. We will be fine. It's daytime and we're at school. It's OK.” I heard the younger ones call out happily as they got out of the car, but Talia stayed behind for a moment to add something to the conversation.
“I know, sweetheart. I just worry about you all.” She leaned over and hugged me before getting out of the car.
“I know that you do Mom, but you don't need to worry about us when we're at school.” She left after that and I watched as she took Zaley and Zayden's hands. Zachary held Zaley's other hand while Zander held Zayden's. And together the five of them walked into the school. Talia was walking them all to class today before going to her part of the school. She was such a good big sister.
~~
Reece
~~
“Dad, you didn't need to drive us to school today.” Rika complained as I drove into the city. “We have been driving ourselves every day until now.”
“I know, Rika, but I wanted to. And you know what has been happening. We're just really worried about you, that's all.” I tried to calm her down as she looked around the car like she was embarrassed.
“How are we going to get home later?” Reagan asked me, not feeling as angry as his sister was.
“Lucas and Westin will be picking you up after your classes are done.” I told them without hesitating.
“Or we can just ride home with the others. I know that Lyssa and Alexa are going to be driving themselves.” Rika tried to get out of the protective detail.
“No, Shawn and Dietrich are driving their kids today too. And they will be getting picked up by Nick and Max.”
“Daaadd!” Rika whined as she heard this news. “I wanted to hang out with my friends after class. I can't do that if I am being babysat by a bunch of guards.”
“Rika!” I said her name sternly. “I don't care what you wanted to do. We're trying to be lenient and let you have your life still, but things are dangerous for our people right now. You need to be careful.”
“Dad, I am careful. I don't hardly do anything.” She was getting a little pissed off at me right now.
“Right. Like that date that you went on.” I turned to glare at her when I stopped at a red light.
“That was nothing. It was just a friend from campus. He's really nice, Dad. And his friend is Lyssa's mate.”
“Her mate?” I had never heard about this, and I was sure that Dietrich hadn't heard about it either.
“Yeah. She met her mate. And I think that Clovio might be mine too. I like him, Daddy. You can't stop me from seeing him.”
“Just try me.” I grumbled the words under my breath, but she heard them.
“DADDY!” She roared at me.
“Rika, all I am asking is that you give us some time. Those people that have been killing our kind, they are here in the US now, and they say they are coming to Colorado. We need to be safe. That's why we're back.”
“What?” Both Reagan and Rika sounded shocked at that.
“Now, please, just for the next few days, until we're sure how things are going, do as I say. Please.”
“Fine.” Rika relented at last, but she still didn't sound happy about it.
“By the way, what is Lyssa's mate's name?” I needed some information for Shawn and Dietrich.
“His name is Warrick Abitz. And he is really nice so don't mess this up for her.” She snapped at me as I parked the car in front of their first building.
“I won't.” I promised her. “Have a good day.”
“Bye Dad.” Reagan sounded jovial and like there was nothing wrong.
“Bye.” Rika was still mad at me.
