Chapter 13

The tutors settled in and everyone fell into a routine.  Jordan was allowed to leave under supervision, against which she of course rebelled.  She hated the mandate from her father that she couldn’t leave alone.

April became May; May became June.  The boys had all been informed that David and Brie were having a small house built on the property for them to stay in that would act as a command center if need be.  Jake and Delilah were trusted with the keys.  Jake would see that his parents received them when need be.  The house may have belonged to Jacob, but the property was still in David’s name.  No one complained that Dad had decided to build a little vacation spot on the property.  It was his land after all.

Marc was always willing to play with military grade technology, so he was more than happy to help Morbus wire his parents’ little cottage in the middle of the property.

Jake and Delilah were charged with making sure that the cottage was stocked with what their parents would need.  Jake was given a grocery list which he passed on to Delilah.  Delilah took Maddie and Kenna with her and they helped make sure that the pantries were stocked.  The fridge was full, and the liquor cabinet was well stocked.  Certain vintages of wine were removed from the wine cellar and take to the house so that their father could indulge some nights.  Surely, he wouldn’t indulge every night, right?  Little did David’s children know, but he surely would and so would their mother.  Brie’s new motto in life was, You only live once, so why not enjoy yourself?  When Jake questioned her, she said, “Jacob, I am going to be 70 years old the day after your father and I arrive there.  As long as I’m careful, my doctor won’t give me too much hell and that young man decides to pick a fight with me, I’ll put him over my knee and bust his ass just like I still will you.”  Jake had laughed.

So, everything was ready for his parents arrival.  And, there were two young children that were celebrating the prospect.  Ezekiel and Miriam were both beyond excited.  Gramma was coming to town and she was going to spend their birthday with them.  Miri talked her daddy’s ear off for an entire week before Gramma and Grampa were to arrive. “Daddy, do you think that Gramma and Grampa will let me and Zeke stay out at their house the for our birthday?”

“You’ll have to ask them when they get here, Miri.  I can’t say either way.  Gramma and Grampa will be tired when they get here, baby girl, so you might have to wait until your birthday to ask.”

“Can you ask when you call Grampa tonight?”

“No, Miriam.  If you want to know, you will be the one to ask.” 

Even though she was her father’s little princess, she still knew that when Dad got a certain tone in his voice, she wasn’t to push.  She knew that she had to do as she was told.  She straightened up and nodded.  “Yes, sir.”  And she would pester him again the next day.

Finally, David and Brie arrived.  They were jet lagged, but still hung out with their grand children for a little bit before taking their leave and going out to their little cottage/ command center.  Morbus would give them the grand tour later and show them what all gadgets they had and how everything worked.  For the time, they knew that there was a single switch on the wall that turned their little house into a Watch Tower.  Miri and Zeke both asked their grandparents then if they could spend the night the following night.  “Gramma, Grampa, can we stay with you guys tomorrow night?” Miri asked.

“What do your parents say?” David asked his grandchildren.

“My dad told me to ask you and Mama agreed”, Miri said.

“Same with my parents”, Zeke echoed.

Brie looked to the children’s parents- Jake for Miri and Makayla for Ezekiel.  They both gave a nod.  Brie looked at her grandchildren.  “We’ll see how well you both behave tomorrow and if your parents still feel that you deserve it, then Grampa and I will discuss it as a birthday present.  Ok?”

The children both nodded and went about their business playing.  Jake looked at his parents.  “You have no idea how much that little girl has begged me to let he stay out there with you tomorrow night”, he said with a chuckle.

“Same with Zeke”, Makayla added.  “Two weeks, I’ll swear it.”

Brie laughed.  “I’m not at all surprised.”  She looked over at David.  “Are you ready to go, love.  I’m fading fast.”

He yawned and nodded.  “Me too.  God, I hate this being in my 70’s shit.  Makes me feel old sometimes.”

Their children all laughed.  “Are you saying you’re old, Dad?” Marc asked.

“Did I say, ‘I’m getting old’, Christopher?”

“No.”

“No, I didn’t, I said that being 73 makes me feel old.  I am not now, nor will I ever be old.  As your mother has said on several occasions, I’m not old, I’m well seasoned.  Now, Jacob, if you would be so kind and to show your mother and I to our little getaway house so that we can get some rest, it will be greatly appreciated.  We will see you all in the morning after we’ve eaten breakfast and I’ve properly wished your mother a happy birthday.”  And with that, they took their leave of their children. 

Jake kissed his wife and told her he’d return shortly.  “Are we ready to go?” Jake asked as he grabbed a couple four wheeler keys and handed one to his father.

“Yep.  Morbus took our luggage out to the house after he dropped us here.”  David took the key from his son.  “You know where the place is.  I told Morbus to scout a place and surprise us.”

Jake cracked a smile.  “Then allow me to show you out to your little one bedroom cottage.”

---------------

When they were finally in their little cottage and Jake had shown them which switch was to turn on the lights, David and Brie both collapsed on their bed.  They were exhausted.  They needed rest… not that they would really know the meaning on the word on this trip.  They had testy, whiney adult children who were going to press on their nerves.  They were in their 70’s.  Weren’t their days of raising their children over?

“David, do you think our children are ever going to grow the hell up and stop bitching when shit doesn’t go their way?”

He sighed.  “There are a couple that have.  Jake’s handling everything fairly well.”

She nodded.  “I’m very proud of him.  He and Jeremiah are doing remarkably well in stepping into leadership positions.”

“That they have.  I’m just waiting for Jordan to do something stupid.”

“We both know she will, but David, we can’t be too hard on her.  She is an adult now.”

“If she puts herself in harm’s way, that’s one thing.  But to endanger others in the family is another.”

“I agree.  Let’s just see how all of this plays out.  That’s really all we can do seeing as we’re here for the duration and we’re not as young as we used to be.”

He chuckled.  “I bet I could still out shoot each and every one of our boys.”

“Do you really think that any of our children will allow it though?  We’re not in our thirties and forties anymore, love.”

He sighed.  “I know, damn it.  And I hate it.”

“You think I enjoy it?”  She pressed a finger to his lips.  “Keep it to yourself.  I don’t want to hear it.  We should be resting because we have two grandchildren that are going to want to sleep out here with us if they can behave themselves.  Let’s go to sleep for a little while, then we can get up and eat something, and we’ll figure out what we’re going to do from there.”

He smiled at her.  “Ok.  We’ll go to sleep.”  He reached out and grabbed his phone.  “What time do you want to get up?”

“In about 3 hours.  Just a little nap.”

He set an alarm and smiled.  “Your wish is my command.  Let’s get some sleep, love.”

---------------

The rest of the night was uneventful on both fronts.  David and Brie napped off and on throughout the night.  When they woke up at dawn, David properly wished his wife happy birthday and took all morning to do so.  They stopped long enough for him to make them breakfast, then he went right back to making love to her.  It was a hell of a 70^th birthday.

After eating lunch, showering, and getting dressed, David and Brie headed into the main house to see what was going on to spend time with the two children having birthdays.  When they walked into the kitchen, they heard incessant bitching and saw Jake resting his head in his hands.  He had started shaking.  David opened his mouth to say something, but Jake beat him to it.  “Would you all just shut the fuck up?  Shit.  Act your fucking ages for the love of God.”  He then looked at his twin.  “God damn it, Jordan.  You’re 35 years old.  Stop acting your fucking shoe size and just do as you’re being asked.  Now, if you want to act like a dumb ass and risk your children losing one of their mother’s feel free, but don’t put the rest of us as risk.  Just because you don’t think there’s a threat doesn’t mean that there isn’t.”  He looked at his younger brother James.  “And you, fucking instigating this shit.  Is that all you can do is bitch, James Matthew?  You’re 28, God damn it.  Fucking act it.”  Then, finally, he turned his attention to Marc.  “Marc, really?  At 25 you’re no more mature than this bull shit?  Really?  For God’s sake, I would have thought that being the only of us boys not born during the War would let you know that this shit is serious.  Someone is out to kill Malachai and Jordan.  Someone wants Reckless Disregard to be no more just like the Utopians wanted Disturbed to be no more.  And you’re all sitting here bitching?  Make the best of a bad situation and get along, or just shut the fuck up.”  Jake stood and started for the back door when he saw his parents.

David and Brie both stood speechlessly for a few brief moments, then started applauding.  “Shit, boy, you took the words right out of my mouth”, he said with a chuckle.  He then turned his attention to his children.  “What the fuck?  You’re all acting like a bunch of children.  Hell, your children don’t bitch nearly as much as you all are.  I know your mother and I raised you better than that.  So, I think Mom and I are going to hang out with the your kids, who have been acting a hell of a lot more mature than their parents are.  Right, Mama?”  She nodded wordlessly so that he could continue.  “When you can all act like adults, let me know.”  He took his wife’s hand and they went into the living room to play with their grandchildren… all 23 that were present, and to wish two certain children a happy birthday.

---------------

Jake followed his parents into the living room where they were greeting their grandchildren.  Miri and Zeke were getting birthday hugs from Gramma while Grampa was trying to get out from under the pile of grandkids that jumped on him the moment his ass touched the couch.  Although his father was laughing, Jake knew something had to be done.  “HEY!” he barked.  “If Grampa didn’t say it was OK to climb all over him, then back the hell off.”

The children complained but started to climb off of David.  “Ok you guys, two at a time.  I only have two arms and there are 20 some odd of you and only one of me.”  He waved the two birthday kids over and gave them hugs, wishing them happy birthday then moved on to the other grandkids.  Finally, greeting the grandkids was done, and they all ran off to eat lunch.  David sighed and sat back against the couch, wrapping his arm around his wife’s shoulders.  “Now that that’s over with”, he laughed.  “What seems to be on your mind, Jake?  Other than the fact that your brothers and sisters are constantly bitching about having to be here.”

Jake sat in one of the arm chairs and sighed.  “They act like they can’t go anywhere; like this is just like when we were all kids and there was a war outside out front door.  They can leave and do whatever.  They can take their kids to the park.  I would just prefer that no one leave the house alone unless they have no choice.  It’s a safety precaution.  And they’ve been bitching about the same fucking thing over and over again for the last two months.  It’s rather tiresome.  I just snapped.”

“And you channeled your father”, his mother laughed.

Jake chuckled.  “I noticed.”  He sighed.  “On to another topic.  Dad, are you still doing that twitter thing?”

“Yeah, occasionally.  I like to stay close to the fans if I can.  Just because Disturbed isn’t recording anymore doesn’t mean that I can’t drop them a line and answer questions every now and then”, David said with a nod.

“I noticed the last time I was on your page that some of them are like militant trying to figure out when you’re going back into the studio.”

“And your mother is quick to put them in their place.”

The look on Jake’s face quickly became one of shock.  “Seriously, Mom?”

“Oh yeah.  And there’s always the fan that thinks that he’s typing it and gets shitty with him.  It’s an endless 

cycle of stupid people.”

“Example?”

“This one douche that seems to always be on your Dad’s page trying to get what he thinks of as insider information about the band asked Dad once, So, what’s the story?  Dad says, What do you mean?, in his usual all caps style.  Douche replies, When is Disturbed going back into the studio?  It’s been five years.  Well, this was enough for me.  I was sitting next to Dad as he was going to reply, so I snatched the computer from him and answered for him.  I said, Never, that’s when!  I stole him away and that’s all you get.  The fans had him for 40 years… it’s MY turn now- Mrs. D.  I turned off the caps lock of course so that people would know it wasn’t your father saying it.”

“Wow Mom.  Selfish much?”

“These days, very much so.  I spent the first 30 years of our marriage letting him do what he does to entertain the masses and encourage them, help them gain catharsis through his lyrics.  Now that he’s retired I’m going to be as selfish as I can be and keep him all to myself.”

“And I take it that people don’t like that Mom’s answer didn’t go over well?”

His father shook his head.  “Not at all.  I had fans tweeting back that I didn’t have to pretend to be my wife to say no, or that your mother had no right to be so rude.  Better yet, that I didn’t have to be so rude.  I responded back, IF YOU DON’T LIKE WHAT’S SAID ON MY PAGE, FEEL FREE TO LEAVE.  MY WIFE CAN SAY WHATEVER SHE WANTS… SHE’S EARNED IT.  And that was one of the nicer responses.”

“What’s an example of the less kind ones?”

“WHAT PART OF I’VE BEEN RETIRED FOR 5 YRS DON’T YOU GET?!  NO MORE STUDIO, JUST TIME WITH MY WIFE.  DON’T LIKE IT, FUCK OFF.  I DON’T REALLY CARE.  I'll go on to say, MY WIFE IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR APPROVAL.  I'M STILL THERE FOR THE FANS, BUT SHE'S MY #1.”

Jake laughed.  “Nice!  Leave it to you to put fans in their place when they get shitty with Mom.”

“Your Mom was more than patient with my career.  Now that I’m not recording and touring anymore, I’m going to spend as much time with her as I possibly can.  The militant Disturbed fans are going to have to get the fuck over it.  Your Uncles and I aren’t going back in the studio.  It’s time for us to be with our wives rather than trying to figure out what’s next.  There’s nothing left for Disturbed to accomplish.  We’ve pretty much done it all and then some.  It’s time for bands like Reckless Disregard, Crosshairs, Wrought Iron and other bands I’m not mentioning to carry the torch now.  If the fans don’t like it, tough shit.”

Chapter 12

Jake was not looking forward to getting up at four in the morning, but he knew that he needed to get a workout and a little bit of breakfast before he headed out to the shooting range to practice his aim.  Once everyone else was up to Morbus’s par, Morbus would begin teaching them tactics.  They would be learning from the last person to learn the advanced things from their late Uncle.  Jacob was excited.  He’d always wanted to learn from his Uncle.  Too bad his uncle passed away before he had to opportunity.

First thing he did was hit the weight bench after his warm up.  He worked on his biceps and triceps while he waited to see if one of his brothers were going to join him.  He knew that Malachai had been considering getting a workout that morning.  It was only a matter of time before he  actually came down to start his work out.

He wasn’t surprised to see that not only did Malachai join him, but all of his brothers, his brothers in law, and his two nephews and one niece that were training were down as well.  His wife and sisters would work out later.  Jake knew that they were going to have to set up a workout schedule with as many people as they had in the house.  “Hey, ‘Chai, why doesn’t Miranda work out with the women later?”

“Oh, she will be, I’m just showing her around the gym”, his older brother asked.

“Dad just wants to make sure that I know where everything is and which machines do what”, Miranda told her Uncle.

Jake nodded.  “Gotcha.  Well, this is the weight bench and I’m about to work on my bench press.”  He looked for one of his younger siblings.  “Jay, you mind spotting me after you’re done warming up?”

“No problem, Jake”, James replied.  James was almost finished with his warm up to begin with.  After he was finished, he approached the bench.  “Do you have it at the weight you need?”

“I actually have less weight on there than usual.  Today, I’m working on tone rather than strength.”

James nodded.  “Good idea.”  He looked at his older brother.  “Alright Jake, let’s do this.”

“I’m doing five sets of thirty, James”, Jake said as he laid back on the bench.

“Ok then, I’ll help you keep track too.”

Jake grabbed the bar and started doing his reps as everyone gathered around and watched.  Jake didn’t mind the audience.  The first four sets were a breeze.  He got through the first half and the final set and he started to struggle.  He could feel his arms start to shake, his muscles complaining that he was doing too much.  He knew that he had to push himself to get through it.  He was almost done.  He needed something to push him through.  “You’re going to want to keep an eye on you little princess.  She’s going to scare the hell out of you soon”, the words of the Shaman rang in his ears.  That’s all the fuel he needed.  He pushed through the last few reps in his final set.  James helped him put the bar back on the rack because his arms were shaking.  Jake sat up and looked around the room.  “Are you guys going to work out too, or are you all going to stand around and watch me?  If that’s the case then everyone should go back to their rooms and get ready to head out to the range to practice.”

Everyone stared at Jake.  Jeremiah was the one the step up and encourage action.  “I don’t think he stuttered guys.  Let’s get to moving in one direction or another.  Either way, we need to do something other than stand around.

Everyone dispersed, moving to different machines throughout the rather large gym.  The only thing left was the pull up bar that hadn’t really ever been used for pull ups.  Jake planned to use it the same way he’d seen his parents use it.  He grabbed ahold of  the bar and did a front flip, hooking his legs over the bar and hanging there for a few moments.  He could feel his spine realigning and the discs in his back decompressing.  Finally, he crossed his arms over his chest and started doing sit up and oblique crunches.  He closed his eyes and ignored the staring he knew he was getting from everyone other than the brother that lived on the property with him.  No one knew that Jake worked out just as intensely as their parents had.

Jake had started to become more health conscious in his thirties because he knew that he had keep better tabs on his diabetes.  He’d started voluntarily testing his blood sugar, rather than being ordered to by an endocrinologist like his mother had to be.  He had an insulin pen on hand if he needed it that had been prescribed for him.  No one questioned him.  His wife only wanted him to do what was best for him and that’s what he did.

No one but his wife and parents knew, but not long after their parents had left the country Jake had a scare with his sugar.  Working the way he had been when he was the Chief of Medicine at two different hospitals had started to take its toll.  He never really had a night off.  If he wasn’t at one hospital overnight, he was at the other.  At least one night a week, he was bouncing between the two.  It was a night like that when it happened.  He had just arrived at CSMC where he was doing his rounds in Neurology and he’d started feeling very ill.  He knew that when he started feeling dizzy, he needed to eat something substantial but he just didn’t have the time.  He’d grabbed several small snacks throughout the night, but they weren’t getting his sugar up high enough to sustain him.  He was leaving the room or one of his MS patients that was staying for testing and had just grabbed another chart from the nurses’ station.  He was already feeling unsteady on his feet, so he stopped and leaned against the counter of the nurses’ station to let the wave of vertigo pass.  Once he felt well enough to walk, he managed to get five steps away from where he’d stopped before the world went black and he hit the deck.  The next thing he knew he was waking up to see his wife’s face.  He asked about the children, because he knew that if Delilah was at his side, then Miri and Ira had to be somewhere else.  He learned that he had been out long enough for his parents to return to take care of the kids so that she could be with him until he came around and was released.  From that point on, he was a health freak.  He was militant about it.  Now, his brothers were learning to what extent.

Jake finished his work out as his brother’s all sat and stared.  He decided not to pay any attention to them.  Once he was done, he grabbed a towel and wiped his face before heading up from the basement- where the studio and game room where also located- to get a bite to eat.  “I’ll see you slackers upstairs.  I’m gonna get a bite to eat and head out to the range.  See you all when you finally get your heads out of your asses.”  And he was gone and had shut the door behind him.

---------------

The guys all exchanged a look, then looked at Jeremiah.  “How long has he been working out like that?” Marc asked.

“It’s been a couple years at least.  I know a few years ago Mom and Dad came back for a week or two and Delilah was never really here.  Jona and Maddie said she wasn’t really ever at work either.  No one knows where either of them were.  But, when they both came back, Mom ran everyone off and she said something to Jake that struck him because he’s been working out like a mad man ever since.  He keeps track of his sugar, eats a lot better than he had been, and he opened a private practice rather than working as Chief of Medicine at the hospitals he did.  No one really knows that happened but Mom, Dad, Jake and Delilah.”

“Really?” James said.  “Whoa.  Something must have put the fear of God in him.”

“No kidding, but no one knows what could have happened to make him resign as Chief of Medicine at BOTH hospitals.  It had to be serious though.  Now, why don’t we all get to our asses into gear and get our work outs before the women are demanding the gym from us?”  Jeremiah situated himself on the leg press machine and had Marc spotting him.  Jeremiah had never been on that could gain a lot of muscle.  He didn’t have the frame for it.  He was too tall and thinly built.  He’d accepted that long ago.

Everyone else followed suit.  It wasn’t long before they all started trickling out of the gym and to eat and head out to the range.  But, when they got upstairs Jake was gone.

---------------

He was lying on his belly on the ground.  The night vision scope of his rifle was perfectly adjusted to the distance of his target.  In his mind, he made the necessary calculations to adjust for wind, humidity and lighting.  He had a mind made for calculating things like that.  Hell, he had to do it all the time when he worked at the hospitals.  Calculus was one of his favorite subjects in high school and college.

The wind shifted and he made the adjustment as he took a deep breath.  His scope was lined up perfectly.  When he exhaled, he put a round in the target’s head.  Always squeeze the trigger, Jacob, never pull, he heard his father say over and over again when he would practice.  He would be sure to follow the instruction.  Fire on the exhale.  Don’t hold your breath.  Tuck the butt of the rifle in tight against your shoulder so that you don’t dislocate it.  That’s all he heard when he practiced.  He heard his father’s voice over and over again.

On his feet, he followed the check list.  Feet apart, left foot ahead of the right, butt of the rifle tight against his shoulder, proper calculations made and he took his aim.  Deep breath in as he put his finger in the trigger and on the exhale he fired.  His bullet made the hole in the head of the target just a little bigger.  I need to have Morbus set up a moving target somehow, he thought to himself.  I’m a little rusty with moving targets.  Or, maybe I can convince one of my younger brothers to let me play William Tell.  He had to laugh at the thought.

He brought the target in and changed it out, sending it out further.  He planned on putting more whole in this one, so the further out it was the better.

He didn’t much care for killing.  Maybe it was because he was a doctor and had taken an oath not to do harm.  But, if his family was in danger, he wouldn’t hesitate.  He was a dangerous man when he had to be.  He didn’t care who you were, if you put his wife and children in danger you would feel his wrath.  The man who T- bones his wife when she was pregnant with their oldest child found that out the hard way.  And the cops would never find the body.  Knowing the most dangerous man in the country had its advantages- especially when you were doing something that was highly illegal and needed to dispose of the evidence.  And that was a secret that he and Morbus would keep to themselves until the day they were both dead.

He’d fired all of the rounds he’d planned on for the morning.  He didn’t want to spend too much time out on the range when he had to be in the house to greet the tutors and make sure that the children were well taken care of as far as schooling went.  He broke down the rifle and put it back in its case.  As he headed back toward the house on the four wheeler he’d ridden out to the range, he passed his brothers.  “Hey, Jake, aren’t you going to practice, brother?” James called out.

“I did”, he said, pulling to a stop.  “Policed my brass and everything.  You’d all be smart to do the same thing.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get the tutors settled in for the kids.”  And he roared off into the distance.  He’d go back out later while it was daylight and shoot some more.  He’d needed to test his night vision and he knew it.  It hadn’t shot at dusk or dawn in a very long time.  Now he knew he could still do it.  It was a comforting thought that he took with him all the way back to the house.

---------------

Morbus was true to his word, as always.  He started getting in touch with everyone that he needed to and called David with the details he would need.  The only thing Morbus really needed was David’s credit card number so that the things David wanted done could be done.

After taking care of all of the little details, Morbus and his two boys- Will and Travis- went out and scouted a place on the property to put what would amount to being a command post if they needed it.  Everything would be connected in real time.  There would be no time lag, it would be accurate to the millisecond.  David and Brie would have a state of the art command post.

Will and Travis from that point would alternate watches, each taking four hours apiece.  Morbus had high expectations of his sons and if they were to take his place as Reckless Disregard’s only armed bodyguards then he had to have high expectations.  David wouldn’t have trusted his oldest children’s safety to just anyone and neither would Morbus.

The Utopians think that they’re going to be able to make a comeback?  Not on my watch.  They won’t know what hit them.  Maybe I’ll finally get to use those old RPG’s I have stored in my shed.  I should be so lucky.  But, after this run, I’m done.  I think Karyn and I are going to move away like David and Brie did.  Maybe not to Israel, but away somewhere.  No more after this.  I’m too damn old.

Chapter 11

Nine AM came a little too soon for David Draiman.  He certainly didn’t want to get up.  Not after the fender bender he had been in the night before.  The fender bender meant that he had to talk to the insurance company.  He rolled to see if his beautiful wife was still lying next to him.  His hand reached out to search for her because his eyes were still closed.  The sun was spilling in through the thin drapes over the window in their bedroom so his eyes were close so that they wouldn’t start bothering him.

The space he touched next to him was empty.  She was up already.  He sniffed the air.  He smelled steak and maple syrup.  Pancakes?  Waffles?  French toast?  He wasn’t sure what she was making.  There was one way to find out and that was for him to drag his tired ass out of bed.

Once he was dressed in a pair of silk basketball shorts, he trudged out into the living room and kitchen area to find out what she was making for breakfast.  “What smells so good?” he asked, walking up behind her and slipping his arms around her waist.

She smiled.  “Food.  That’s what smells so good.”

He laughed and kissed her neck.  “It looks like waffles to me”, he chuckled against the side of her throat.

She shuddered lightly.  “You’re certainly astute this morning.”  She was being facetious.

“Yeah, I guess eating my Wheaties yesterday morning was a good idea”, he said with a laugh.

She laughed and leaned into his embrace, turning her head so that she could give him a kiss good morning.  “You’re so funny, David.  Are you going to call the insurance company about the accident last night?”

“Yeah, after I go out and take pictures of the damage to the rear end of my Mustang.”

“Then why don’t you slip on your shoes and go do that?  Jake’s due to call any minute now and I’m sure that you won’t want to be interrupted while you’re taking pictures of the car to take a phone call.”

He chuckled.  “What’s the ETA on breakfast?”

“Five minutes.  I have some coffee on for you.”

“Always on your toes to take care of me.”  He squeezed her gently and moved for the coffee pot.  He grabbed his coffee cup out of the cabinet above the machine as he heard his cell phone start going in the bedroom where it was still on the charger.  He set the cup on the counter and ran to get his phone, barely missing the call.

Brie made her husband a cup of coffee while he came back into the kitchen with the phone pressed to his ear.  “Sorry I missed you, Jake.  I was charging my phone in one room and getting coffee in another.  What’s up?”  He paused.  “Hold on, hold on.  Let me put you on speaker so that you mother can hear what’s going on too.”  He pulled the phone from his ear and pushed a button on the screen then set it on the counter.  “Ok, Jacob.  What were you saying?”

“First of all, good morning Mom”, Jake said.

“Good evening Jacob.  What’s been going on over there?” Brie said to her son.

“Well, first of all, those who haven’t trained with weapons have started the training course.  I extended an invitation to the spouses that were interested.”

“And how many wanted to learn?”

“Well, a fair few, but there some of them can’t whether they want to or not.”

“Why is that?” David asked.

“Well Dad, you and Mom have met James’s new wife Kenna, right?”

“Yeah, she’s the first girl he’s brought home that isn’t a red head.  It’s kinda strange to see him bring home a brunette.”

“No, she’s a red head that dyes her hair brown.  She’s confirmed it.  Anyway, after Jona has Rina in July, you have another grandbaby coming around Thanksgiving.”

“No more babies after that one.  For the love of God”, Brie laughed.  “Like two dozen grandchildren aren’t enough.  No, we’re going to have two baker’s dozen and then some.  What, do you kids want to give us 30 grandkids before we die?”

Jake laughed as well.  “Well, personally, I want to see if I can out do you two.  I was aiming for 12 kids myself.”  He was totally joking.  He had his hands full with the four he had.

“Don’t do it, Jake”, David said.  “I still don’t know how my sanity survived ten children.  I also question how your mother managed while I was away.”

“So do I”, Jake and Brie said in unison.  Brie took over.  “Did you all ever call Colt’s tribal Shaman?”

“We did”, Jake said.  “And he gave us some… interesting news.  Yeah, interesting is a good way to put it.”

“What was so interesting?” David asked.

“Well, he knew who each of us were without any of us having to speak.  He knew how many people were in the room.  He knew that Colton was calling and he knew about the dreams and Skyler’s vision.  He asked about Matthew and Mom and why they weren’t in the room.  He even knew that Jeremiah is a little worried about the little one coming in July.  He told him that little Rina will be perfectly healthy.”

“What did he have to say about the dreams and Skyler’s vision?” Brie asked.

“That’s where things get complicated.  He said that an old foe of Dad’s is after Jordan and Malachai.  No matter how much we beg Jordan not to go out on her own, eventually, she’s going to.  We shouldn’t take it personally, it’s just fate working.  Later in the day, I spoke to Colt about it and he said, ‘She’s just following the path that spider has woven for her.’  She also has to be allowed to exact her revenge afterward in order to keep what everyone is seeing from coming to pass.”

“Uhuh”, David said.  “There’s something else you’re not telling us, Jacob.”

“Because I’m under instructions from Albert Stormcrow not to.”

“Who’s orders do you follow, Jake?”

“Yours, but he said that telling you could alter the course of fate and if we do that, the War to end all Wars could break out not only here in the States, but around the world.”

“Grr”, David said.  “This is nonsense.  Anything else that you can tell me?”

“Yeah, I got a call from the FBI earlier today.  Remember that box I got?”

“The one that was sent to you through Miri, yeah.  What about it?”

“Yeah.  The ashes inside were human.  The managed to find teeth that didn’t burn.  The DNA inside was ran and match to two missing persons in the national database.  A young woman named Yasmine Gathrang and a young man named Dalton Winston.  They were around Isaiah and Miranda’s ages.  I did a little digging the other day.  The head of the PSUS is a bit of a pedophile as well as suspected of being connected with several disappearances of young men and women between the ages of 15 and 18 over the last several years.  He fancies himself a business man.  He used to support the Utopian Government.  He was even on the War Council.”

“What’s the man’s name?” Brie asked.

“Porter Grissom”, Jake said.  “Why?”

“That name rings a very dim bell.  It’s been years, so I can’t be sure where I know it from.”  By this time she and David were already seated in their little breakfast nook eating breakfast.  “Is there anything else you need to inform us of?”

“Not that I can think of at the moment.  It’s after midnight here, so you can probably imagine that I’m exhausted.”

“Yeah, shoveling shit all the time is a bitch.  Been there done that, my son”, David said as he cut a piece of his waffle.

“So, what’s for breakfast over there?  Have you two gone native?”

“Not quite.  You mother still insists on cooking things that she cooked over there and I’m not going to complain.”

“So what is it this morning?  Steak and eggs?”

“Nope”, Brie said.  “Steak and waffles.  We had eggs yesterday.  The only thing I miss about the US is being able to get deer meat whenever I want it.  I miss venison.  I really do.  I’d love a good piece of back strap right about now.”  She laughed.  She had to or she was going to cry.

“When you come out in June, I’ll see what we have in the deep freeze.  Delilah likes to stock up on deer meat ever season so that there is plenty come that time.”

“God, it sounds like the house I grew up in.  Your Grandfather Cartwright was notorious for stocking up on meat.  To this day I don’t know why, but he would do it.”

“Well, we do it because you can only get deer one season a year and we eat a lot of it around here.  Plus, we know that when you and Dad come to town, you’re going to want some.”

“And we now have such a big family that you kind of have to stock up.”

“Only during the holidays.  It reminds me of when we would have all of the other families over during the holidays.  Uncle Dan, Uncle Mike, Uncle John.  The whole mess of us kids.”

“And now you kids all have kids.  Justin’s there, is he not?”

“Yeah.”

“I hope he and Logan understand that they’re being sent off for the holidays.”

“Hopefully this will be over by the holidays.”

There was a charged silence between the three over them, even though there was so much distance between their locations.  They all knew that if whatever was going on wasn’t over by the holidays, there would be trouble.

---------------

After they hung up with Jacob, David and Brie finished their breakfast.  “I don’t like what the vibe I’m getting, David.  I don’t like it at all.”

He reached across the table and took her hand.  “I know, baby.  I don’t like what I’m hearing.  It’s going to hit the fan here very soon, and here it is, it’s only April.”

“I think we should start making plans to stay out there in June whether they need us there or not.  We should also take Jessi and David Adam with us like Jake suggested at the end of the call.”

“One of them has to work to keep things taken care of here.”

“I don’t know if Jessi will travel with a newborn and without her husband though, David.”

“All we can do is talk to them about it.  He may want to stay here.  He works for the Embassy and he may be needed while he’s out here.  Jessi’s on maternity leave from the Consulate.  She can make a trip home to visit her brothers and sisters for a couple of months.”

“I’m really worried about our children back in the US, David.  I know I shouldn’t be because they’re all adults, but I am.”

He scooted his chair around next to her and pulled her into his embrace.  “Brie, baby, our children can take care of themselves.  But, if it will put your mind at ease, I’ll have us a small guest house put up on the property that can also be used as a tactical base.  I’ll call the guys to see if they still have some of their contact and I’ll do what I can to get in touch with a few of my old contacts as well.  Hell, I’ll get in touch with Morbus and have him out fit the place with a bunch of his old toys.  I’m sure that he’s got some stuff that we can use.  Will that help?”

“It will bring me some piece of mind, yes.  As long as I know there’s a way for us to help our children out of they need us.  I just need to know that we can do something while we’re there other than babysit if things go pear- shaped.”

“Ok, I’ll start making phone calls this evening.  You know the schedule Trevor keeps.  Hell, he’s probably up right now.”

“You wanna give him a try?”

“Might behoove me, huh?”  He grabbed his phone and called his former bodyguard.  When he heard the phone pick up, he cracked a smile.

“Hello Boss man.  To what do I owe the pleasure of a 1:30 AM phone call”, Trevor asked.

“You haven’t called me boss man in years, brother.  What gives?”

“I’ve taken up the old mantle one more time to keep your kids safe.  I’ve been doing hourly patrols with the help of my boys.  Trained them personally so that they could take over as protection for Reckless Disregard in the next few years.”

“Ok then, Morbus.  I need you to coordinate something for me.  Find a prime piece of the property to have a small house built on.  It needs to be outfitted to be a tactical base of operations should we need it.  I want all the toys, Morbus.  All the bells and whistles.  We’ll need communications capability, satellite link ups; the whole nine.  Contact a contractor to build it, you wire the hardware in and download all of the software.  Pass it on to Jake that I’m having this done as a precaution, but do not give him the location.  Do this as discreetly as you can.  What time are you training them in the morning?”

“I won’t be working with them too much until those learning how to use weapons can use them and do so without hurting themselves.  Meagan seems likes she’s a natural.  Jordan’s not struggling, but she’s still acting like she doesn’t seem like she understands the point.”

“What about the others that are learning?”

“It’s just Davina, Delilah, and Kylely.  They’re all doing rather well.  Amanda seems skittish about Malachai walking around with a pistol tucked into the back of his jeans, not to mention everyone that knows how to shoot.  She seems to think that one of the little ones will get a hold of them and will hurt themselves.  She’s also freaking out that Isaiah, Miranda, and Elijah learning how to use guns.”

“She needs to get over it.  I’m sure that the children’s parents will explain that they’re not supposed to touch the guns.  Hell, our kids knew not to mess with them.”

“Yeah, I know.  I remember that.  Now, about that tactical base you wanted.  Let me make sure I heard you right.  You said all the bells and whistles?”

“Yes, sir.  Everything.”

“What’s my deadline?”

“Can you have it done but June 20^th?”

“Is the sky blue?”

“That’s what I thought.  I’ll talk to the boys about helping me with it.  I’ll need Marc’s expertise, though.  He’s the computer man.”

David paused and thought about what Morbus was saying.  “Ok.  Tell the boys and them alone.  Malachai, Jacob, Jeremiah, James, Kylely, Colton, Marc, Justin, Logan, and Caleb.  Let Skyler know what I’m planning as well.  Give them the location once you find it.  Keep them busy if you can.  Can you do that, Morbus?”

“I’ll do that.  I’ll start making calls after I get me report on the 8 AM sweep.”

“Good man, Morbus.  You’re still the most deadly mother fucker I know.”

“I was trained by the best; therefore I am the best.”

The line went dead.

---------------

After breakfast and dealing with the insurance company over the fender bender him and his wife were in the night before, David grabbed the keys for his Harley and met his wife out in the garage.  “Are we ready to go to the hospital to see our newest granddaughter?” he asked with a smile.

“Whenever you are, babe.”  She wore jeans and a tank top with a light jacket over it.  She had sneaker on her feet rather than sandals because they were on the motorcycle rather than any of the cars.

He looked her up and down.  “No boots?”

“It’s too hot for my riding boots.  My feet will swell if I wear them.  I really don’t feel like having to deal with the edema later.”

He chuckled and got on the bike, waiting for her to mount behind him.  “Has it ever occurred to you that you’re getting old?” he asked playfully.  He put on his helmet.

“No, I’m just having some issues.  I’m wells seasoned.  May a little too well seasoned, but still.”  Her arms slipped around his waist and she laid her head in between his shoulder blades after adding her helmet as well.

He just laughed and started the bike after hitting the garage door opener.  “I still say you’re like a fine wine”, he said over the roar of the engine and he rolled the bike out of the opened garage.  The bike was facing the road.  He’d actually shift it into gear once they were out on the road.

“Oh?  I just get better with age?”

He closed the garage door once they were wheel on the road.  “Exactly.  Now, hold on tight.  I’m taking the back way to the hospital.”

“Weary of the main road after we got rear ended last night?” she teased.

“No.  The back roads are quicker.  You want to see our granddaughter sometime today, don’t you?”  He shifted the bike into first gear and hit the throttle.

Her arms tightened around his waist as he sped down the road.  It would be nice to feel the wind in her hair as they rode, but she and David were too old not to put their safety first, helmet laws or not.

He roared through the back streets of Jerusalem toward the hospital.  It wasn’t long before he was parking the bike in the parking garage.  He killed the bike as soon as he found a good spot on the first level.  “Are we ready to head into the hospital to see the new baby?” he asked as he took off his helmet.

She pulled her helmet off and shook her hair out.  “When you are”, she said as she climbed off the back of the motorcycle.  She had her helmet tucked under her arm.

“Let’s leave these here so that we’re not startling people for one, and for two so that we don’t have to carry them back out here.  We can put them in the saddles.”

“Ok.  Sounds like a plan to me.” She handed him her helmet back and he put them in the ‘saddle bags’ on the side of the bike.

He climbed off the bike.  “Ok, let’s get out of here and up the third floor.  Adam sent me a text that she’s in 321.  They had Abby in the room with them over night.”

“How did they enjoy that?”

“Well, we’re about to find out.” He reached out for her hand

She ignored the hand and wrapped an arm around his waist instead.  “Yes, we are.  Shall we?”

The walk wasn’t long and the elevator ride was shorter than the night before.  This time they were only going to the third floor.  One the trip up, David whispered to Brie.  “You brought the camera right?  We promised the kids pictures.”

“Yes, dear.  I brought the camera and I made sure that I brought snacks in case my sugar decides to take another nose dive.  Simple peanut butter crackers.”

“Good to know your prepared today.”

“I wasn’t planning on being out of the house as long as we were yesterday.  Hell, I didn’t plan on leaving the house after we got back from the market yesterday.  I was not prepared.”  She laughed softly.

“I know.  I was here”, he chuckled back.  “So, how long are we staying here?”

“Not long if I have my way about it.  I want to hold the baby, get pictures, check on our daughter and see if Adam’s taken to fatherhood any better than he had when we arrived yesterday, and go home.  A couple hours tops.”

The elevator came to a stop as he nodded and they went looking for Jessi’s room.  Jessi was in the bed holding the new baby and their son in law was nowhere to be found.  “Hey Mama, hey Daddy.  Nice to see you guys here.  I wasn’t sure if you were going to come back.”

“Of course we came back, Jessi”, Brie said with a smile.  “We want to see our new grandbaby.”

“Where’s your husband?” David asked.

“He was called into work.”

“How’s he taking being a new father?”

“Not bad actually.  It took him a minute to get used to the idea but he got there finally.”

“Where is Miss Abigayle?” her mother asked as she took a seat in the rocking chair closet to the bed.

“They took her back to the nursery for a little bit to give her a check up and do some blood work.  She’ll be back shortly.  They just called me.  Miss Abigayle is getting hungry.”  Jessi smiled.

“So how are you handling being a new mother?”

“I’m loving it.  I never thought it would be so fulfilling to be a mother.”

Brie smiled.  “It only gets better as time goes on.  Now, I’m warning you.  She’s easy to take care of now, but in later years, she’s going to be a pain.  I’m blessed that you had older siblings that you could look to that would tell you what Mom and Dad would and wouldn’t tolerate.”

“There were some things that I had to learn on my own.  Like that incident with Jeremy Caldwell.”

David laughed.  “I will never forget scaring the hell out of the boy.  That was too much fun.”

“I’ll never forget it either.  I learned that day what I didn’t want in a man.  That day changed my life.”

---------------

Once the baby was brought in, David and Brie argued over who was going to hold her first.  “No, David, you should.  I mean, she’s the first born daughter of you baby girl.  Anyway, I got to hold Danica first when she was born.”

“No baby, you spent more time with her mother playing labor coach than I did.  You should hold her first.”

“David, stop arguing with me and just hold the baby.”

“Why don’t we let Jessi decide who holds her first?”

Brie rolled her eyes,  “Fine David.”  She looked at Jessi.  “Jessykah, who’s holding the baby first?”

Jessi looked back and forth between her parents.  “Dad, come get you new granddaughter like Mom told you to.”  David laughed and walked over to the hospital bed and took his new granddaughter from his daughter.  “I thought you knew better than to argue with Mom, Dad.”

“Normally, I don’t argue with your Mother.  But, I hate to feel like I’m jipping her.”

“David, I told you to hold that baby first.  Don’t feel bad for jipping me when I told you to do it”, Brie said with a giggle.  “I’ll hold her in a little bit.  Anyway, I think pictures with Grampa first would be so cute.”

“I have to agree with Mom there, Dad”, Jessi laughed.

“Well, take all the pictures you want, my dear.  I’m just going to sit here and hold my new granddaughter”, David said as he took a seat in one of the chairs in the private room and started talking to his new granddaughter as he held her.  It was the same spiel that he gave all of the grandkids.  “Hey beautiful girl.  This is your Grampa David.  I can’t speak for your Daddy’s parents but I know that as long as Gramma Brie and I are still around you and all of your cousins are going to be so spoiled your parents won’t know what to do with you.”

Brie took out her professional grade camera and started snapping pictures.  Photography had become a bit of a hobby of hers since she and David moved out to Israel.  It gave her something to do and she took awesome pictures.  She shot wonderful pictures of her husband and their granddaughter as well as Jessi and her new daughter.  Finally, Brie took a chance to sit down and hold the baby while David took pictures.  The pictures he got were just as good as Brie’s were.  They both enjoyed their time with their new granddaughter.

Before leaving, Brie and David looked at their daughter.  “Jessi, you know we’re going back to the US in June, right?” David asked

“Yeah, Mom’s going to celebrate Miri’s birthday with her and Jona’s due in July, right?”

“Yep.  We’re going to be staying out there for a little while.  You want to come back with us, bring the baby?”

Jessi thought about it.  “Well, I’ll still be on leave and I don’t have any lectures scheduled over the next six months.  I’ll talk to my husband about it and get back to you.”

They nodded.  “Make it ASAP, Jessi, so that we can get tickets.  We need to know by the beginning of June.”

She nodded.  “I’ll talk to him about it when he comes in tonight to sit help me with Abby.  I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Chapter 10

Jake, Jeremiah, and Skyler all sat and stared at Colton.  “Dude.  That was the most fucked up phone conversation I’ve ever had”, Jake said.  It was evident that he was still in shock.

“How do you think I felt when I last took Maddie and Asher to the Res to visit my parents and Albert looked at Maddie and told her she was pregnant and going to have a little girl?  We didn’t even know yet that Maddie was pregnant with Dahlia.”

“Jake, I wasn’t even having symptoms yet”, Maddie said as she reached out and took her husband’s hand.

“Wow.  You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Nope.  What’s even more fucked up is that Colt and I had just made love the night before.  He told me, and I quote, ‘The spirits tell me that your union from last night will bear fruit. You’ll have a little girl and your mother will get to play catch again.’  He said it dead pan as though he were tuned into something that only he could see.  Two weeks later, I pulled something you boys have only ever pulled.  I saw her in a dream.  Now she’s four years old and in Pre- school.”

Jake couldn’t help but laugh.  “Wow, Maddie.  That’s insane.”

“What shocked me is that he didn’t tell us that we all need to pay closer attention to our own guides because they won’t steer us wrong.”

“He must be very in tune with his guides or whatever because he knew all of us by name and knew our gifts and concerns”, Skyler pointed out.  He knew us without us having to speak, and when we did he addressed us by name.  He knew what we dreamed or saw without having to be told.”

“What I’m trying to figure out is how I’m supposed to tell Dad anything without telling him that he and Mom will end up staying in July”, Jake said.  “Better yet, how am I supposed to tell him anything about what Albert said without telling him that he and Mom will end up staying here in the summer?  Or without our highly educated father figuring it out.”

“Yeah, that’s the dilemma”, Jeremiah said with a chuckle.  It wasn’t a chuckle that said he found anything funny.  It was more nerves than anything.

Maddie chimed in.  “I guess you could tell Dad that we know that Rina will be perfectly healthy when she’s born.  You can tell him that in order for us all to keep what we’ve seen from coming to pass, Jordan has to be allowed to be Jordan and do what she does.  And we can tell him that the Utopians want her and Malachai dead like they wanted him dead back in the day before most of us in this room were thought of.  We should probably mention to Logan that he might want to be careful as well.”

Jake smiled at his little sister.  “You’re genius, Maddie.”

“That’s what my IQ test said last time I took it.”  She gave him a big cheesy grin.

All anyone else in the room could do was laugh and shake their heads.

---------------

As they lay in bed, David and Brie talked about the next trip they were going to go on after they returned home from the US for the birth of yet another granddaughter.  “Where haven’t we gone?” Brie asked.

“Brazil, South Africa, China, Greece, Morocco, Mexico.  We’re seen bits and pieces of India and Japan, but never really took in the sights.  I remember a few years ago you expressed interest in going to Rome.  We haven’t been to Italy yet, if I remember correctly.”

She smiled and pressed a kiss to his chest.  “Are you finally admitting that your memory is slipping a little bit?”

“Maybe a little, but hey, I’m 73 years old.  My memory is bound to fail me every now and again.”

She gasped in shock.  “Are you saying that you’re getting old, David Michael?” she asked playfully.

“You’re the only soul that I will ever admit that to”, he said with a chuckle.

“Well, baby, if you think about it, our children are starting to get old too.  Malachai is 40 now.  Jake and Jordan and 35.  Maddie’s 32.  The quads are 28, almost 29.  And that beautiful young woman that gave us a new grandchild yesterday and her twin, they’re almost 26.  Hell, David, we have grandchildren that are about to graduate from High School.  I think Isaiah and Miranda are seniors this year as a matter of fact.”

“Miri’s what, 10 now?”

“She will be.  Oh, I think she won first place in the science fair this year… again.”

“With Jacob and Delilah as her parents, I’m not surprised.  They’re both very intelligent and deal with the brain in some way on a daily basis.  I mean, technically, Delilah’s a shrink that practices massage and our son is a neurologist and oncologist.  I think Jake’s in his own class as a doctor.”

“Well, he is your son, David.”

“And we have two PhD’s in the family now with Jeremiah and Meagan.  Two Oscar- award winners in Makayla and Marc.  Grammy winners in our rock star children.  A Nobel Prize winner.  An Olympic gold medalist.  A massage therapist that’s revolutionizing the field like her mother, and a record executive.  We have a multi- talented bunch on our hands.”

“We do, we do.  But, they have a multi- talented father.”

“And a beautiful, multi- talented mother with the patience of a saint.”

“I didn’t have saintly patience today.”

“Because our son in law was being a pussy.”

“I think seeing her in that kind of pain is what got to him.  I don’t think he realized just how painful labor and child birth can be.  I am, however, shocked that he was holding her foot with the nurse rather than asking one of us to do it.”  She sighed and rubbed her cheek against his chest.  “Back to the original subject.  Where are we going next?  I say Japan.  I want to see the ancient temples and all that.  After that, we should go to Mexico and see all those ancient temples and ruins.”

“Wow, you know what you want, huh?”

“For the most part, yeah.  Mainly, I just want to be with you.”

That comment earned her a smile.  “And that all I want.  I just want to be with you and for you to be happy.”

“How could I not be happy with a man who is solely concerned with my happiness?”  She stretched up and pressed a kiss to his lips.  “You make me happier than anything else”, she whispered against his lips.  “And that’s what I love about you.  You always keep me in mind.”

“No”, he whispered in return, “I always put you first.  You’re at the forefront of my every thought.”  His hand lay against the side of her face.  “You are my wife, after all.”

She smile softly.  “I love you, David”, she whispered.

“Not nearly as much as I love you, Brie.  Mind if I prove it?”

She pressed her lips to his again as if to say, Be my guest, my love.  So, that’s what he did.  The kiss was soft with no demand to it.  As their lips moved together, her hands slid over the expansive swell of his chest and shoulders and she felt desire coiling in deep in her body.  Making love to him with him at that moment felt just as right as it had their first night together 36 years before.

The hand that rested against her cheek slid back to rest between her shoulder blades as the other slid along her hips to her lower back.  Momentarily, his fingertip traced along the scar from the surgery she’d had ten years previous to correct a fusion of her lumbar vertebrae known as Spondylosis.  He remembered the fresh hell of watching her do physical therapy.  But, now she was better than ever and still as flexible as before.  He pushed the thought from him mind as he rolled her onto her back and came to rest between her legs.  His arms held him up in a half push up; his lips never losing their connection with hers.

She moaned softly against his lips, her hips bucking against him, as she urged him to take her.  She could feel him hard and ready, the tip of him pressing against her opening.  She knew she was ready for him.  She wanted him to make love to her.  She pulled her lips away from his to speak.  “David, please”, she moaned softly.

He didn’t make her ask again.  He didn’t make her beg.  He just pushed into her and fought through the tightness of the silken folds as she wrapped her legs around his waist.  Once he reached the end of her passage he slowly pulled back and pushed back in, building up a rhythm.

Her arms slipped around his neck as she moved her hips against his.  She loved the feeling of them moving together as one.  They were, after all, two halves of a whole.  It was only fitting that it seemed like  it when they made love.  His every thrust brought her closer to her climax as she felt her body becoming more and more sensitive and heat pooled in her loins.  It wouldn’t be long before she would reach her peak.

She wasn’t the only one getting close.  It wasn’t that he didn’t have the stamina to keep up with her anymore.  It was that the day had been trying and he was tired.  Anyway, she loved it when they went together and he knew that.  Her satisfaction was the only thing he cared about.  But, he knew her body better then he knew his way through their house in the dark.  He knew how close she was and that, once she started, it was hard to stop until he went.  He knew that only after he’d gotten his, would her body quiet.

It wasn’t long before she reached that peak either.  Her back arched, changing the angle.  He thrust four more times before he too had gone.  He just pushed his seed deeper inside her as her body twitched and spasmed around him.  His head hung low and rested against her shoulder as they both tried to slow their breathing. 

She giggled breathlessly.  “I love you too, David.”

He didn’t know how to respond to that, so he didn’t try.  He just pulled out slowly- causing her to let out a soft moan- and got comfortable beside her in the bed.  He pulled her into his side with a smile.  Once she’d lain her head on his chest, they both drifted quietly off to sleep.

---------------

“‘Miah, baby, this whole situation has me worried”, Jona said when she and her husband were alone in their little house behind homestead.  Matthew was taking a late nap because he’d hit a wall while he was playing with his cousins that were around his age.

“Jona, love, I’m just as worried about the whole situation as you are.  But, what the Navajo Shaman said was that we should let Jordan do what she’s going to do, though letting her do what she’s going to do is going to prevent all of our dreams and visions from coming true.  What’s surprised me is that you’re not seeing anything.”

“I’ve been seeing little flashes here and there, but nothing that can be made sense of.  I just didn’t want to alarm you.”

“Sweetheart, you have to tell me these things.  What have you been seeing?”

“Mostly, things about the baby.  Weird little things like she’s not going to cry, she’s going to be still born….”

Jeremiah cut her off with a finger pressed to her lips.  “Jona Eavan Draiman, listen to me, ok?  There is nothing wrong with that baby girl.  One of the things that Albert the Shaman said was that she will be perfectly healthy when she comes in July.  And, we both know that your father is excited because he’s sure that he’s going to get his birthday baby, like my parents have theirs- I think they have two apiece, as a matter of fact.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.  Mom has Miri and Zeke.  Dad has Mattie and Pilar.”

“Oh.  Do you think your brothers and sisters mind having my parents so close by?”

“No.  Jake, I think, has come to count on having your father nearby so that he has someone other than Dad to turn to when he needs advice.”

“Well, I still think that there’s something funny about the whole situation with the dreams and Jordan, Malachai, and Logan all being in danger.”

“I agree, baby, but there’s not really anything we can do about it.  All we can do is let the events play out the way they’re supposed to.  I certainly don’t want to have to launch a rescue attempt for Jordan just to find her beaten and bloody and bruised just to have her come home, heal, and become blood thirsty.  I’m sure that none of my other brothers want to do anything along those lines either.  But, if that’s what’s required of us, then we will all do it.”

“Family first?”

“Always.  Our parents taught us to stick together and to lean on each other in time of need.  We’ve always been a close family and that’s because that’s what our parents taught us.  We’re supportive of each other, we lean on each other for strength and support.  I mean, sure, there are times when I want to kill all of them, but if someone were to hurt any of them, especially my sisters, I’ll go on the warpath.  Our parents taught us that family is important and that’s something I want to impress upon our children- that family is important.”

She smiled.  “It’s a good thing that your parents taught you guys that family is important because it makes you all a strong unit.  I want your children to know that kind of support too.  It’s the same thing that my Dad taught Damien and me.”

“Speaking of your little brother, how does he like having his own share in the Draiman – Mason Wellness Center?”

“He likes being the boss”, she said with a giggle.  “He hired another acupuncturist so that he can have time off every now and then.  He likes being able to look at any of the other therapists and tell them to do something and they know he can fire them if they don’t do it.”

Jeremiah laughed.  “He likes the power?”

“Oh yeah.  He very much likes the power.  Well, more like he enjoys the idea of the power.  He’s never used it. ”

“What?”

“Yeah.  He said, ‘If I have to fire someone, it’s nice to have the power to do so.  But, I’m not going to be power hungry and hold it over people’s heads’.”

“Interesting”, Jeremiah laughed.  “Good to know that he’s being so nice.”  He sighed.  “Honey, I know you’re worried because your father is having visions, and I’m having dreams.  Matthew is having bad dreams.  Jake and Maddie are having dreams.  I’m worried too.  Let’s just see where the chips fall.  We’ll do what needs to be done when the times comes.  Don’t worry about it.  Everything will be just fine.”

---------------

“James, you have got to learn to relax”, Kenna- his wife- said as they sat in the kitchen.  She was making herself a snack.  Being pregnant- even only two months- had made her appetite grow.  It was just a little quesadilla to hold herself over until dinner.  Rumor had it that Colton had started smoking ribs in the smoker out back.  There was a bunch of different side dishes being made.  The Draiman family was big enough to have to do things buffet style.

“Kenna, you’re two months pregnant with what could possibly be my son.  I am not going to let you take chances like that.  Anyway, my brother is a doctor.  You are in no shape to be training with a weapon.”

“Would your father have said the same thing to your mother in our positions?”

“In a heartbeat.  Mom’s happiness, safety, and well-being are forefront in my father’s thoughts at all times.  If a decision he makes doesn’t make her happy, at least she’s safety and well.”

“Even though your mother is as highly trained in firearms as he is?”

“Yes, because the amount of force in the recoil of a rifle, especially the rifles we have around here, is enough to dislocate your shoulder if done wrong.  Being pregnant means that you have to think about more than just yourself.  You have to think about that unborn child as well.  Yes, we have Hunter, Nikki, and Josie.  I’m not saying I want a huge family I my parents had.  But, I want a healthy family.”

“You never told me the story of why you were a single father of three when I met you”, she said, changing the subject.

“Hunter, I adopted when he was about 3.  His mother and I dated and we were pretty serious.  She’s also the twins’ mother.  The day that Jona and Jeremiah got married, she tried to pick a huge fight with me and tell me that she was the one that ran shit in our relationship.  She started slapping the shit out of me.  She was about 3 months pregnant.  I did what I could not to hurt her but I subdued her and brought her down here to my parents.  They separated us and the next morning I was on the phone with the family attorney to get custody of Hunter.  It took a couple months, but she was finally served with the papers, not only for Hunter, but for the unborn children.  She went bat shit and attacked me.  Mom tackled her.  My mother may be small, but she is powerful and knows how to take a person down.  Anyway, we called the police and I pressed charges.  The next day, we went to her arraignment and the judge handled the custody matter right then and there because she was also the family court judge.  By that time, Hunter had told me that she was also molesting him.  I had him repeat the story to my parents.  Since then, I’ve had him.  The girls don’t know their mother and never will.  She’s no longer amongst the living.”

Kenna could see the ghosts in her husband’s eyes.  No wonder he wanted her to be safe and stay away from training with rifles.  He’d been burned too many times in one way or another.  She could tell that there was something else that was bothering him.  She wanted to know so that she could offer him comfort.  “What else is there, Jay?  There’s another ghost there that I don’t know about.  Tell me about her.”  She’d been picking at the quesadilla she’d made herself.

James shook his head.  “No.  I haven’t spoken of the other one since her funeral.”

“James, how am I supposed to help you move on if you don’t trust me enough to open up to me?”

He swallowed his pulse.  He knew this conversation was coming.  “Fine.  Maybe this will help you see why I’m so dead set against you learning how to use a weapon while you’re pregnant.”  He took a deep breath.  “Her name was Brittan.  She was my high school sweetheart.  We dated sophomore through senior years.  She was the quintessential cheerleader to my football player.  The yin to my yang.  We ran track together during the spring.  Now, I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t a virgin when I got with her and she knew it.  Neither was she.  We were young, dumb and in love; fooling around whenever we had a chance.  One of those chances I didn’t have a rubber and she got pregnant.  She might have been two or three weeks pregnant when it happened.  After school, she was at the bank withdrawing money from her family account so that she could get some simple necessities for the baby.  The bank was robbed and she was shot.  The gun shot severed the abdominal aorta and she bled out rather quickly. Seeing as the shot was in her stomach, the baby died too.”  He reached up and wiped a tear from his eyes.  “I miss her every day, Kenna.  She was going to be my wife after we graduated.”

She nodded.  “I understand that.  It’s been what, ten years since she died?”

He nodded.  “Yeah.  About that.”  He took her hands.  “You see why I don’t want you out there around the guns, Kenna?  I love you and I can’t lose you like that too.  No one in my family would be that careless but accidents happen and I’m not willing to take that chance.  Not with our unborn child, Kenna; and certainly not with you.  I want us to have the marriage that my parents have.  I want us to grow old and travel the world together after I pass my share of Intoxication off to Hunter or whichever of our children wants it.  I don’t want to have to bury you too.  I had to bury Brittan; I had to have Kim arrested and she committed suicide in jail.  You, my beautiful, sweet, angel, are my last chance.  If something happens to you, I’ll never love again.  I will close myself off to love because it will seem like every woman I fall in love with dies or is fucking crazy.”

She laid a hand against his cheek.  “I love you, too, James.  Now that I understand, I’ll stop harping on it.”

He turned his head and kissed her palm.  “Thank you, Kenna.  You just made my life a little easier.”