Harmonizer's Evolution (Balancer's Soul cycle) (29 page)

About twenty minutes later Veronica gained everyone’s attention.
“Since this day has been so joyous
,
it is time to give some congratulations.”

“I’m out of here!” Connor and Kara shouted simultaneously
,
after looking at each other with terrified expressions
. Every one of
them
were confused as they ran directly for the trees. Once in the confines of the forest they were hidden by the shadows.
What is the matter with them?

Soon it became all to
o
clear.

They
all turned to the heavy steps that belonged to Veronica. Her large hand wrapped around
Sarah’s
middle and before
she
knew it
her
feet
had
left the ground, all in a rush.
Veronica kissed the entire side of her
face with
warm
leathery lips. It
felt
hot, wet and it luckily didn’t have a
foul
scent.

Everyone
started
laughing and
Sarah
now knew what it was like to be congratulated by a Keeper. Co
nnor and Kara already shared that
fate
once before
.

For the next few hours everyone had gotten a turn with the children. Connor looked up and stated “It’s just after midnight. They need to be fed and we all need some sleep. We will see everyone in the morning.”

No one wanted to leave,
but they could see how tired they actually
were. Connor
confiscated
Pearl and Darrel was already with Sarah
.
They
then went inside the cottage as everyone said goodnight.

Once inside
,
they
went directly into the babies’ room. It smelled remarkably pleasant inside and the room was entirely clean.
The birthing
table
had
pushed to the side as were the
medical supplies. Connor laid P
earl in her crib. He walked pas
t
Sarah
and said “I’ll be back soon. We are both tired. You
try and
feed them while I fix something for us to eat.”

She
then remembered. “There isn’t too much left. We need to go by the store tomorrow. I kind of fed Shannon and Veronica
earlier
because the wild game is scarce around here, right now.”

“Alright. I’ll go out in the morning and get enough for us all.”

He then left
them
in the r
oom, but the door
remained
open and she
could hear him cooking. While he did that
,
she
walked over to
her
rocking chair
with Darrel
.

Once they were comfortably seated and all
became
quiet
, the first nursing was a success. So was the second.

As
she
returned
a satisfied
Pearl to her crib
,
Connor said dinner was finished.
They
both ate the rest of
the
food
in
their
home
because
they
were
both
so drained. Before going to bed
they
checked to see if they were asleep and they were.
Their
family had the most stressful day of them all. At last
,
her
body had fully regenerated.

Before
they
went to bed Connor took a shower himself.

Once in bed
her
wish
had
finally
been
granted. Sarah
was able to snuggle
up
against her
mate like
she
had
always
been
able to do in the past. It was even better than remembering it. His smell and
their closeness put her
to sleep. Now it was time to recover from the
painful day’s
ordeal.
At least
s
he
could sleep like
she
wanted to from now on
since the danger of snuggling had left her body
.

Monotonous and Thrilling

Connor
remained quite
tired when
his
eyes
eventually
opened early
the next
morning. Because of yesterday’s events nothing would ever be completely the same.
His
energy rese
rves were still low because of
Tool’s finished form. Sarah was probably just as depleted from all the energy she gave over to the children. And as long as she breastfeeds she will still give over
copious amounts of
energy. Jillian once said that
a Balancer
’
s breast
milk is laced with the mother’s own reserves
.

Since his
eyes had only just opened
,
he
looked down. It felt great to have Sa
rah back where she
is meant to
be. They
’ve both detested not being this close in months. She was finally able to cuddle
up
beside him without worry
. Her head rested on
his
chest, just as her left arm and leg where thrown over
his
body.
The rest of her
pressed against
him
in an almost desperate need for closeness. And then
he
heard her soft and pleasant snoring. It was as cute as ever.

Know
ing how much needed to be done
,
he reluctantly had to wake up his
mate. When she finally lifted her head she smiled so beautifully and said “You have no idea how much I’ve missed cuddling like that.”

“I thi
nk I’m the only man who does.” He
tapped
his
temple.

Sarah then giggled and conceded
on that fact
.

They
both got up and dressed. The very first thing
they
did was make a beeline straight to the twin’
s room. Once they
silently went inside
,
they were both sleeping so peacefully. They were really sleeping this time because their eyes were
gently
moving under their
precious
eyelids. Neither of them moved from where
Sarah
left them in their individual cribs.
Sarah wove her arm
with his
as
they
watched them breathing ever so peacefully. They were both so beautiful and they really did have a lot of their mother in their features
and they hel
d a lot of him
in their eyes
.

Sarah spoke at a whisper. “What are our plans for today?”

“Knowing our family
,
they will all be here shortly. I need to go shopping for us because you and I are still tired from yesterday’s events.”

Their
eyes met and she looked so perfect. “Then go on ahead. I can hold down the fort until you come back.”

Connor
knew she wanted time alone with her babies and it was easily granted. She walked with
him
into the living room while
he
slid on
a pair of boots. He grabbed his leather
wallet and before leaving the house Sarah stopped
him. When he turned around his
wife had jumped and
their
lips connected. It was a kiss of happiness rather than
a prelude to
intimacy
.
Even without entering her mind he
knew she was so thrilled to have finally had the children. She was looking forward to becoming a loving mother.

Once she finally allowed him
to go
outside, it
remained
dark.
They
had only gotten four hours of sleep
at most
, but
they
were lucky to have gotten that.
Their families would have kept them
up all night if
he
didn’t end it. There would still be another half hour until things began brightening. Off to the side of the yard the bonfire
had been
extinguis
hed
without water
,
so that it
could be reused again.

He
didn’t feel anyone coming in this direction and took it as a sign of fortune.
Running through the
empty
woods felt refreshing. The night air was cool and comforting.
Within a few short seconds Connor
had to slow down. After passing the tree line
, his
eyes saw the backside of Jack’s house and the front
of
his
mom’s. All of the lights i
n each house were off and dark.

His
steps were silent while crossing the yard. In the Branderso
n’s driveway stood his large
green truck. Last week it was refilled with water and seven
depleted
car
batteries were re
placed. Now it
would be the time
to go. He walked right up to it and his
senses alerted
him
to a
nearby
presence.

Connor
spun around and saw Jack sitting on the trunk of Jillian’s red sports car. He smiled and slid off the car. “Good morning, Connor. What are you doing up so early?”

His
senses relaxed and so did the danger of
his
voice. “I could ask you the
exact same thing, Jack.”

“Actually I couldn’t sleep
at all after we left
and I didn’t want to bother Jillian.
By the time we made it home, she about collapsed on the bed.
By the way you didn’t answer my question.”

“We’
re out of food at the cottage. I’m going to resupply and go by the butchers to buy three cleaned cattle for Sorono’s family.”

“Mind if I come with?”

“Sure. I could use another pair of hands.”

He smiled and soon they were off.

The truck ran silently down the road and the
peace
in the cabin was almost as
eerie
. Jack stared out the passenger window
for nearly an eternity
while
Connor’s
focus
ed
on the road. Since none of the local stores would be o
pen for business at this hour they
drove into the city which was an hour away.

When they
were three quarters there Jack finally broke his streak of silence. “I know you were probably wondering why
I had a hard time sleeping. After all the
centuries
of
waiting I’m finally a grandfather
,
yet I
strangely
feel like a first time father all over again.”
Connor
remained quiet and allowed him
the time
to speak his mind. “It is strange to say
aloud
, but that is exactly how I feel. I’m scared and happy all at the same time. I don’t know exactly how to be a grandfather, but David said it’s easy. He said whenever you get fed up with them you can just pass them along to their parents.”
Yeah, that sounds like Granddaddy alright.
A
smile touched the corners of Connor’s
lips. “Then there is this latest development. I have been expecting granddaughters ever since my
daughter
Pearl first came into my life. Now I am blessed with both a grandson and
grand
daughter. With all these thoughts, it became impossible
for me
to get any sleep. Jillian was the opposite because the only thing she did when we got home was
to go directly to bed.”
Jack
cracked his own smile.
“That rarely happenss.”