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nTrinity

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nAfter we both laughed at that rather insulting whisper that Reece had done right into my ear, we could hear hurried footsteps coming up the stairs toward our room. I could already smell the scents of my children and my parents. Lila and Grandfather were there as well. It was all of my family besides my siblings, in-laws, and friends that were like my family.

n“My babies are here.” I grinned and nearly squealed the words just as the door to my room was flung open.

n“Mom!” Rika was the first one inside, always so quick on her feet.

n“Momma!” Reagan was right on her heels.

n“Mommy!” Little Talia was the last of my three children to come through the door. And all three of them were crying tears of relief when they saw me.

nThey weren’t the only ones that had been running either. Hot on all of their heels were the adults that were on their way up here.

n“Trinity! My baby girl.” Mom was the next one in the room.

n“Trinity, oh thank the Goddess you’re awake!” Dad was next.

n“Sweetheart! Oh, thank the moon and stars.” Lila was right after Dad, and rounding them out, was Grandfather.

n“Trinity! My dear sweet Trinity!”

nAll seven people literally ran into the room like it was some sort of race. And the finish line was the bed that Reece and I were currently sitting in.

nNot one of them stopped running until they got to us. And the two in the lead, Reagan and Rika, jumped onto the foot of the bed and started to sob.

n“Momma, I missed you so much. I waited so long for you to wake up.” Reagan was leaning forward and putting his head on my leg in an effort to be close to me.

n“Mom! Mommy! I am so happy that you are awake. Oh my Goddess, Mommy, you have no idea. It was so hard to be here without you. And then Daddy left too. He wasn’t gone like you but he was in here and the room was closed off with magic. No one could get in and I couldn’t see either of you. I was so sad, Mommy. Please, neither of you leave us like that again. Please!”

n“We won’t, baby. I promise you that we won’t leave like that ever again.” I wanted to reach out and touch her but I couldn’t. I couldn’t move my arms or legs at all and that was hell right now.

n“Your Mom’s right, Rika. I promise that we will do all that we can to never let anything like this ever happen again. Mommy and I will be there for all of you from now on. And your new brothers that are coming as well. We will be here for all of you.”

n“Mommy, don’t forget about me.” Talia was crying on the floor. There was no room left on the bed for her with the way that Reagan and Rika were positioned. They needed to move back, and Reagan had to sit up, to allow her onto the bed.

n“Talia, sweetheart, Mommy would never forget about you.”

nAt that moment, when the twins were out of the way, my mom lifted Talia up and set her on the bed in front of me. As soon as Talia was in front of me, she threw herself forward and put her arms around my belly.

n“Mommy. I was so scared for you and my brothers. You were lost in the ‘underwear’ world with them. I wanted to help Daddy and the others to see you. And I wanted to see you too. But then Daddy was trapped in here after I left the room, and I couldn’t see either of you anymore. I was so sad, Mommy. And that lasted for a whole week. I couldn’t see Mommy or Daddy. All I wanted to do was cry. I just felt so bad. And it was my fault. It was all my fault. I am the one that made Daddy, Athair mòr, Uncle Noah and Uncle Trevor get stuck in here. I am the reason that Elias, Torben, Lily and Rose all missed out on seeing their daddies too. And I was also the reason why Reagan and Rika couldn’t come visit you at night like they usually did and why they couldn’t see Daddy at all. It was all my fault. I’m such a bad girl.”

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nMy little Talia, my sweet little Tally was sobbing onto my belly as she listed off her supposed offenses. My heart was completely broken. I just wanted to hold onto her and make it all better. This was not the way that a four year old little girl should be acting. This was wrong, so very wrong.

n“Talia is not bad.” I heard a now familiar voice call out as something pink and fluffy came zooming out of the bathroom.

n“Ahh! What the heck is that?” Dad jumped as he looked around us.

n“Calm down, Wesley dear. If it was something bad, I am sure that Reece wouldn’t allow it in his room.” Mom soothed his nerves while laughing at him.

n“This is someone that came back with me when I was done with my work. It also happened to be something that I was told you sent after me, Talia.”

n“W..what!? Th..this is my f..f..friend. This was the voice that answered me?” She seemed shocked when she looked at this strange little being.

n“Talia? I thought that you could see the creature you sent after Mommy. You looked at it like you could see it when it was in this room.” Reece was now as surprised as the others, but apparently for another reason.

n“No Daddy, I couldn’t see it. I could only tell where it was and feel what it was feeling. It was feeling so happy that it made me happy too.”

n“Huh?” He didn’t seem to know how to respond to those words so he just haphazardly agreed with them.

n“Mommy, what is this thing?” Rika was leaning forward and looking at the cotton candy scented dragizxie.

n“This is a friend of your sister’s. Its name is Angel, and it is called a dragixie. It is apparently a pixie dragon.” I explained to them.

n“A dragon!?” Rika was excited. She loved dragons. “I want one too, Mommy. Where do I get one?”

n“I don’t know if you could ever find one.” Talia looked at her. “This one was living in the ‘underwear’ world with all the dead people.” That was the second time that Talia had said the ‘underwear’ world. I had a feeling that she actually meant the underworld. But what she was saying was so much cuter and funnier, so I wasn’t going to correct her. And, apparently, everyone else was used to her calling it that so they weren’t saying anything either.

n“Aww. I want a dragon too.” Rika pouted.

n“But how is this here Mommy? Why did Angel come with you?”

n“Angel came to see Talia.” The creature answered for itself. “Angel came because Angel loves Talia. Angel helped Talia’s mommy to get home and Talia’s mommy brought Angel here with her. Angel is happy. Angel wanted to be with Talia.”

n“Y..you came here for me?” Talia was shocked to learn what the dragixie told her.

n“Yes. Angel wants to be Talia’s friend. Talia is so smart. Talia made magic that sent Angel to find Talia’s mommy. Talia made magic that let Angel bring Talia’s mommy home. Talia is so smart and so brave.”

n“No. No, I’m not.” Talia was crying again, and I wanted to stop her.

n“Yes, Talia, you are. You are so smart, strong and so brave too. You did magic that Mommy has never seen before. And no one blames you for anything. You didn’t do anything wrong. Talia, you did everything right. So please don’t worry, okay?”

n“I..I will try, Mommy.”

n“Hey, Trinity?” Lila called out to me, causing me to look up at her.

n“Lila, I missed you so much as well. I hope you’re doing well.”

n“I’m better now that you’re awake. My son and husband have been so miserable without you.” Her smile was so sweet when she looked at me just then. “However, there is something that I would like to know.”

n“And what is that?” I tried to return the smile as best as I could, but no one could smile like Lila.

n“Why haven’t you hugged anyone yet? I know I can’t be the only one that has been waiting for you to throw your arms around them and let them all know that you’re okay.” Her words kind of stung a little. I didn’t want to worry them, but I wanted to hug them all so badly.

n“Yeah. You have just been sitting there in Reece’s arms and not moving. I mean, yeah, he missed you and all, but the rest of us missed you too. We would like to hug you as well.” Grandfather was sounding a little like a child. He wanted his hugs too, not just the other kids getting theirs.

n“I would love to hug my baby girl.” Mom was still crying from earlier.

n“I want a hug from Mommy.” Talia squeezed me even tighter.

n“You’re already hugging Momma. I want my hug.” Reagan snapped at her.

n“No, me. I want Mommy’s hug.” Rika countered.

n“Ahh, well, you see, I would love to hug you all. I want so desperately to put my arms around each and every one of you. But I can’t.”

n“Why? What’s wrong Trinity?” Dad was worried now. His eyes filled with tension and fear.

n“I don’t know. I..I just can’t move my body at all.”

n“No! Will you ever move again, Mommy?” Rika sobbed, falling on me like Talia had.

n“Momma, you need to get better.” Reagan laid down on his sisters, hugging them and me at the same time.

n“Don’t you worry.. That is why I am here.”

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