Harmonizer's Evolution (Balancer's Soul cycle) (31 page)

As Jillian and Sarah
continued speaking in a subdued tone
,
Pearl was the first to open her eyes. She looked around, almost groggy. Then she me
t her mother’s
eyes and
Sarah
smiled
warmly
. Pearl blinked
a few times and then she made Sarah
gasp at what she did.
Her
three day old daughter smiled
toothlessly
back to her
.

“Connor. Connor
!” Her
mate flew into the room at
her call. He looked worried until she
pointed at the crib. “L
ook.” Sarah
said in a normal tone.

Connor
stood
at her
side and peered down. Pearl looked down slightly
herself
and saw her daddy and her smile became even more pronounced.
Their
daughter had the cutest dimples any parent could ever ask for. “Would you look at that…” He said
while wrapping his arm around Sarah’s
waistline.

Jillian
jumped in by saying “Pearl, would you like to get up and go for a walk outside with grandma?”

Their
daughter’s hazel and green eyes followed the sound of
Jillian’s
voice and soon their eyes connected. Pearl mimicked a nodding gesture as a yes. Connor’s arm tightened on
her
side as he took
her
a few feet to the side to give
Jillian
some room.

“That’s a goo
d girl, come to grandma.” Jillian
said while reaching into the crib t
o claim her
dimpled
prize. Soon Pearl
cuddled
in the comforts of
her grand
mother’s
loving
arms.

About ten minutes later
,
Darrel awoke and Sarah
noticed that the brother and sister learned almost at the
same rate because he too gave his mommy
a dimpled and toothless smile.

Thirty minutes later Veronica and Shannon showed up.
They
were all outside and were enjoying the first rays of the sun. When they showed up alone
,
Jillian
was the first to ask “Veronica, where is Sorono.”

The ten foot tall Keeper glanced at Connor for an instant and he didn’t miss her look either, but
Sarah
didn’t understand it. Veronica reconnected with
Jillian
who now held Darrel and Pearl wanted
her mother’s embrace
for a while.
“Actually Sorono was called home during the night. His son Damian
showed up
at the cabin
a few hours ago
.
It seems like after two years
my mate’s
brother has resurfaced
once
again
.”

Connor ran right up to Veronica and Shannon. “Veronica, what did Ranvan do to g
ain attention this time
?”

The tall Keepers hissed a sigh.
“I wish that I knew. Actually Sorono didn’t give me any specifics either, but he did ask me to relay a message to you.”
They
were silent as V
eronica steadied herself.
“ ‘Connor, I’m sorry that I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye myself, but my son has said that the trail is fresh. Damian has been looking for me for the past two days and I
must
leave immediately
before the trail turns cold
. I hope that my sudden departure doesn’t hinder our relationship
. I will be back as soon as I can
.
U
ntil then, enjoy being a father as much as I am.’ That is what my mate asked me to relay to you, Connor.”

Sarah’s
Knight
stood motionless as he processed what
had been
said. His tone became cool and comforting. “Veronica, was anything else said?”

“Not much
to my recollection
. Sorono told me to stay as long as I would like. After that he said he would meet me at home if the trail wound up empty.”

“Father looked different.”
Shannon added shyly and Veronica didn’t rebuke her daughter because she looked just as
fearful
.

Connor knelt in front of the child. He rested a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Shannon, there is nothing you should worry about.” The child searched
his sharp
features for any signs of falsehood. “I don’t know everything about your father, but I do know
that
you shouldn’t worry
. Sorono is the strongest force on the planet and his
level of
experience is second to none. If anything comes to harm him he can deal with it without even trying. He won
’
t allow anything keep him away from you or your mother. He loves both of you
very
much.”

They
all watched as Shannon move
d forward to give Connor a hug.

After the tender moment ended Veronica grinned.
“Can I embrace you too?”

Connor laughed while
Sarah
said “I think he would like to keep his skin in one piece. Maybe some other time.”

They
all smiled at each other. Soon Darrel wante
d to visit with his daddy and they
all sat down together by a small fire.

Around three in the afternoon
Jack
finally arrived. It was strange because he brought a folder with him and a small white box. He
kept
smiling.
Sarah’s
arms were free as
she
asked “Father, what do you have there?”

He and
Jillian
sat together and they shifted their seating arrangement to look directly at
her and
Connor.
Jack
handed
her
over the single
manila
folder. Upon opening
,
it was filled with
several documents. She
picked up one
paper while Connor read over her
shoulder.

They were brand new identification papers, but they weren’t completed yet.

The first name was Darrel May; born February first at nine sixtee
n p.m.
W
eight
:
eight pounds one ounce
.
Sarah
read through the work and said “Father, why are we doing this right now?”

He smiled. “Actually you will need to have these birth certificates anyway. You’ll need them when they start school in about ten years. We can fill in their birth year when we need to. It is a good idea to be prepared for any eventuality. For all we know Child Services could see it as an unregistered child.”

Connor’s voice turned to steel. “They wouldn’t stand a chance if they even attempted to take our children.”

Jillian
shook her head. “We are not worried about that. We just need to cover our bases incase we
are forced to
placate an
y
nosy intruders.”

They
knew they were right.
Jack
opened the box and pulled out a
pad
of black ink. He pushed them to his grandchildren’s feet and
then
pressed them to the papers.
Soon Connor and Sarah
filled out some papers stating that
they
were
in fact
the
ir
biological parents and
then
signed them. Very soon the paperwork was finished.

Rhoda called
Sarah’s
cell an hour after the work was finished. Apparently she
came down with a cold
and David had forgotten to call
them earlier
.
She
told
Rhoda
to get well and she said that the moment she feels better she’ll be over to play with her great-grandchildren.

Mark and Kara showed up together after her classes were over and Mark’s shift was done. Mark
allowed
Pearl tug on his hair while Kara played a game of tag with Shannon. Darrel was
currently
fast asleep in
Jack’s
arms.

During that time a memory came to the front of
Sarah’s
mind. “Oh man!” Connor stopped
what he was doing and came to her
side.
Apparent
ly he was the only one to hear her
. His
silence and
piercing eyes were demanding an answer. “I just remembered a promise to Mrs. Burrow
’
s.
I’d promised that we would go visit them
when
the twins
finally
arrived.”

He rested a comforting hand on
her
shoulders and stated “Then we will visit them tomorrow morning. Since it will be Saturday tomorrow
,
Deputy Burrow
’
s will have the weekend off since school
’
s out.” He looked back at the house and said “While it’s on my mind I’ll
go ahead and
give him a call.”

“Please do.” And he did.

After Pearl and Darrel went to sleep in their cribs
that evening,
there was something that has been missing in
her
life for a while now.

Connor was all too thrilled to be intimate with
her
. It had been too long for
them
both and after so long
,
it
proved to be
much more pleasurable. She
missed his tender touch and the warmth
their
body shared as
they
made love once again.

Connor’s body
felt
so relaxed when he awoke early in the morning. He
was thankful for Sarah’s willingness to make love once again.
He
had been afraid to be so physically intimate with he
r for fear of harming her or the
children that it made last night all the more perfect.

While Sarah gave her first
morning
feeding to the twin’s
,
he
had
prepared more food
. When Sarah returned she said that she already dressed them for today’s very first outing.

They
soon entered their
room and they were both awake. He
opened up one of their closets and quickly found their individual car-seats.
Connor
sat them
both
in the center of the open room. Sarah grabbed Darrel while Pearl
slipped
in
his
arms
.
They
each securely placed each child in the
ir car-seat and stepped back. His
wife and
he
stood side by side and looked at
their adorable
children. Darrel watched
them
with unwavering little eyes while remaining calm and still. His sister was the opposite. Pearl’s eyes were only looking
to
Daddy and
continuously
pointing at him
rather than wiggling all of her fingers
in
his
direction
.

Sarah watched as
Connor
dropped down to sit on
his
heels so t
hey didn’t need to look up for him. His
tone
became
light and the ranking authority of the room. “Alright you two, listen very carefully… Pearl, please sto
p pointing at me and listen.” His
tone remained calm and Pearl finally quit struggling. “Thank you, Sweetie. Now we are going to visit some of Mommy and Daddy’s friends today. They aren’t like those you have met so far. They won’t understand how special you both are if you begin pointing to who you want to go to. What I need the two of you to promise us is not to really do much except pretend to sleep.” Darrel closed his eyes
meaningfully
. “That’s right, son. Do only that and you’ll make mommy and me very proud of you. As long as you can do that you can get to see them again. Ok?” Darrel’s eyes opened and he gave a curt nod with his tiny
head
.
They
smiled at each other.