The Gathering (66 page)

Alia shook her head.
 
Tanner glared at his mother and crossed his arms in front of him.

“I love you, Mom, but I’m eighteen.
 
You can’t tell me what to do.
 
I’m going.
 
They have my sister, my girlfriend, and my brother’s girlfriend… I’m going.”

He turned and walked out of the room, as Sean walked in.
 
When Tanner got a few steps past him, he stopped and turned.

“I’m going.”

Then he went up the stairs.
 
Sean watched him go, then turned to the group in the main room.
 
He frowned and walked towards them.
 
Sara jumped up and ran into his arms.

“Please, Sean, stop her!
 
Don’t let her go!”

Sean held Sara and looked at Alia.
 
Her eyes were swollen and red.
 
Amanda wouldn’t let go and Lisa had buried her face in Alia’s chest.
 
In that second, he understood what had happened and he stared at Alia.

“No one is going anywhere.”

Alia closed her eyes and then looked at Kaley.

“Kaley, Sweetheart, I need you to take the kids upstairs.
 
Sara, help your sister.”

Begrudgingly, Sara left Sean’s arms and helped gather the younger children.
 
Kaley had to peel Amanda from Alia.

"No, no, Mommy!!
 
I want my Mommy!!"

Kaley let silent tears fall as she carried Amanda from the room.
 
Rebecca and Brian continued to look over their shoulders at Alia as they walked out of the room and up the stairs.
 
Sean’s gaze never left Alia.
 

“I changed my mind, you’re not going.”

Alia rested her elbows on her knees, put her head in her hands and rubbed her eyes as she breathed deeply.
 
She sniffed and stood up.
 
Then she looked at Sean.

“Yes, I am.”

“You can’t go, that’s what they want, Al!
 
I’ll go.”

“Look, I…”

“No, you look!
 
You’re not going… these kids need you!
 
These people need you!!”

“ENOUGH!”

Sean stopped and stared as Alia continued.

“They will kill them!!
 
Do you understand?!
 
I
have to go, no one else.
 
Rona said
I
had to come!!
 
You’re the one who’s staying, Sean.”

He shook his head.

“I don't understand why I can't come.
 
Yeah, I know, you need me to take care of the kids and the village, but…”

“I can’t have you there!!
 
I'll need my wits about me, Sean.
 
It's bad enough they have the kids.
 
I can’t have you there, too!
 
I can't have them hurt you to get to me and they will if they have the chance."

Sean ran his hand across his face and looked at the floor.
 
Alia's face softened and she looked at him.

"And if I don’t…”

“I don’t want to hear it!”

“You will hear it!”

Sean sat down and covered his head with his arms and then rubbed his face as Alia continued.

“… If I don’t come back…I need you to raise my kids, Sean.
 
I need you to do that.”

He stayed in the chair.
 
Alia moved in front of him and knelt down.
 
She gently moved his hands away from his face and saw that he was crying.
 
He touched her cheek.

“I have dreams, too, you know.
 
I have dreams, too.”

"I love you, Sean, so much and I have every intention of coming back, but I'm not stupid.
 
They want something from me, and it can't be good, but they've taken my daughter to get me.
 
The fucking bitch knew exactly how to get to me."

Sean covered his mouth with his hand and looked at Alia.
 
His heart was breaking.
 
She touched his face and took a long deep breath.

"You and Janeen were right.
 
I should have gotten rid of Rona when I had the chance and now I've got to deal with it.
 
Promise me you'll do as I ask, Sean… promise me."

"I hate this.
 
I hate that you're asking me to do this."

"You know I'm right."

Sean nodded and pulled Alia into his arms, burying his face into her neck and squeezing tightly.

"Promise me, Sean."

He pulled back and looked into her eyes.
 
Then he nodded.

"I promise.
 
Just make sure you come back."

"Sean…"

"Give me that, Alia…Promise me you'll come back."

Alia stared into his eyes.
 

"I promise."

"I can't live without you, Al.
 
I can't."

He pulled her to him and kissed her.
 
She closed her eyes and in this one moment, she was safe.
 
While they were still in their embrace, Rebecca walked back into the room.

"Mommy?"

They parted and Alia and Sean stood up.
 
Alia turned to her daughter as Sean turned towards the fireplace and wiped his eyes.

"I just wanted you to know that I understand.
 
I hate it, but I understand."

Alia smiled through her tears and walked towards her daughter.
 
Rebecca ran to her mother's arms.

"Thank you, Baby."

As they embraced, Sara, Brian and Kaley also emerged.
 
Brain stepped up.

"Me too, Mom.
 
I understand, but I'm not happy about it."

Alia shook her head and knelt down in front of him.

"I'm not happy about it either, Sweetheart, but thank you.
 
I need you to be strong and help with the kids, ok?"

Brian started to cry again and nodded, then hugged his mother.
 
Kaley explained that they had put the younger children to bed.
 

"Well, since I've made all these promises to come back from this little journey, I'd better make sure that I do, huh?"

The children all smiled and nodded.
 
Alia finished hugging them.

"Ok, I've got a lot to do, so why don't you guys take it easy and I'll check in on you later, ok?"

They all nodded and turned to leave the room.

"Guys?"

They all stopped and turned around.

"I love you."

"We love you, too, Mommy."

Then they turned and went upstairs.
 
Alia watched them leave and then turned back to Sean.

"We need to find Janeen, Myron and Vivian.
 
We don't have much time left before we meet up with the other leaders… and I need to see my son… my Chris."

Alia's face grew dark.
 
Sean nodded and touched Alia's face as he walked out of the room.
 
Once he was gone, she fell to her knees and grabbed her stomach.
 
She wanted to throw up.
 
She had just lost another child, her precious Alisha was gone and they had taken her Coeli.
 
Chris lay in a coma, fighting for his life.
 
They had killed Ferage and she had felt the life drain from him.
 
They were forcing her to leave her children.
 
They were probably going to kill her.
 

In that moment, she stopped crying and stood up.
 
If they wanted a fight, she would give them one.
 

96

The leaders had formulated a plan quickly and now those who were leaving packed their horses and said good-bye to their loved ones.
 
Sean watched them from the castle steps as Molly walked up next to him.

"You ok?"

Sean raised his eyebrows and turned to look at her.
 
He nodded.

"Sure."

"My horse is packed."

Sean closed his eyes and frowned.

"You too, huh?"

"Yes, Sir."

Sean nodded again as he forced himself to come to terms with the fact the woman he loved and the child he had raised were walking head first into hell without him.
 
The pain of his sister's death, the War, his castle by the sea, his best friend and his children, murdered and the lovely golden-haired girl who washed out to sea, whose name he couldn't remember hit him all at once.
 
He turned and took Molly's face in his hands.

"Ok, but right now I'm Sean the dad, not the captain, got me?"

Molly's almond eyes grew large and she nodded.

"Not one day goes by that I don't revel in the amazing young woman you've become.
 
I made Alia promise to come back, Mol, I need that same promise from you."

"Sir…"

Sean frowned.

"Shad…"

It had been years since she had allowed herself to call him that.
 
Her eyes began to tear.

"I promise, Shad… I promise I'll come back."

He smiled and nodded, then kissed her forehead and wrapped his arms around her.
 
She smiled and felt the lump in her throat as she fought back her emotions.
 
She had missed this part of their relationship more than she realized.
 
Sean then pulled back and cleared his throat, once again showing the composure of her captain.

"Alright, make me proud, Creegan."

Molly nodded and started to walk away but stopped and walked back up to him.
 
He could see in her eyes that she was still his little girl and not the soldier he had become so familiar with.

"I want you to make me a promise, Sir."

"What's that, Creegan?"

"When I get back and I'm not on duty, Sir, I want us to be Molly and Shad.
 
I think it's only fair, Sir.
 
You're the only father I have and I want that back."

Sean fought off the wave of emotion that hit him and again cleared his throat.
 
He nodded.