1055 Chapter 40- Reagan – Status Report (VOLUME 6)
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Reagan
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The weekend after Thanksgiving, my parents called a meeting for all the people that were involved in the current issue. Usually, that would have been my uncles, grandparents, and a few other people that were always there for them. Now, though, it included me, Rika, Levi, Luka, Alyssa, Alexandria, Ashle, Cyprus, Beech, Elias and a few others that were in town. A lot of the kids that I had grown up with were away at college, so they weren’t here to have this experience with us. I felt bad for them, truly I did, but I was happy that I was here to be a part of it all.
A lot has happened over the last few weeks. We were working hard to secure rights for our people, and it was time to start discussing how we were going to complete this whole process. We needed to figure out the whole revelation process and how we were going to go about it.
The meeting was happening after dinner on the night of the twenty-sixth. When I actively thought about the date, I knew that my birthday was just a few days away and that I was about to turn nineteen, but I didn’t think that I would be celebrating this year. There was just too much going on that needed my attention at the moment. And I was an adult now, I didn’t need to have a big party. I was too mature for that now.
The reason that the meeting was after dinner this Monday evening, was so that the people involved had been able to do whatever other jobs or responsibilities that they had, like classes for me, Rika and the others. And then we were able to spend time with our families. That was one thing that my mom valued a lot.
Family, and specifically time with that family, is very important. My parents have always tried to be there for every dinner and breakfast. The only times that they weren’t, was when they needed to travel for business or politics. We understood that things came up, and I didn’t mind the absences when they were required, but I did miss having them with me.
Maybe this made me seem too childish, but I truly enjoyed having this family time and dinners with my parents. It wasn’t that I felt like I had to have them, I just felt like it was best to have this time before I left home to be on my own. Things would be different when I was mated and living in my own home. Things wouldn’t be how they are now, and that was fine with me. It’s just that I didn’t want to miss these things while I could, and I knew that it was because of my parents that I thought this way.
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I thought about all of this, my family, the future, and all of that, while I walked into the office with my parents. Mom and Dad were sitting in two large chairs behind the desk, almost throne-like in the way that they appeared when compared to the others. Our chairs were comfortable, but they were considerably smaller. I guess the symbolism of the king and queen were hard to overlook.
Rika and I were sitting with the other kids, the legacies as my mom jokingly referred to us. We were all grouped to the side so that we were part of the meeting, but we were also able to see the entire group. My parents could see us all as well, even if we were separated like this, they were able to watch over everyone else.
I felt strange, being separated from the whole group, but I knew the reasons why. We were still learning. We were still young and inexperienced. And these meetings, while we were invited to them, were mostly between our parents and the older generations. We legacies needed to learn more about what was happening before some of them would take us seriously.
After the last of the invited guests had arrived and taken their seat facing my parents, it was time to begin. Mom rose from her seat and started to speak in a calm, clear, and powerful voice.
“Thank you all for joining us. We have all been busy and working hard on the issue that stands before us, and I appreciate all of your assistance.” She paused then as if giving them the recognition and respect that she clearly conveyed that they deserved. “Reece and I have been traveling to the different world leaders that we needed to get onto our side, and I am very confident that we have secured the assistance that we so desired. After all these long and difficult visits, all the other nations are working on laws and bills that will benefit our people. They understand that they need to do this to maintain the status quo that they have right now.”
There was a slight murmur at my mom’s words. I knew what she was getting at here, just like the others did. There were more of us in the world than there were humans. If the world leaders didn’t want us to do something to change the balance of power, then they needed to agree with us and work with us. Whoever had the allegiance of our people would have the power in their country. I was fully confident in that fact.
“Now that we have secured rights worldwide, and the bill here in the US seems to be on the verge of passing as well, we need to think about the next step.” Mom continued. “We need to plan when and where to reveal ourselves to the humans.” I heard Beech and Cypress surpass laughter at that. I knew why they had laughed, but this wasn’t the time for it. Yes, they could use the play on words to be dirty there, but this was serious. I would need to talk to them later about being serious when they needed to. I mean, for crying out loud, even Uncle Shane kept his cool in the face of that comment. They needed to learn from him about how to hide that jokester side of themselves.
“Mom?” I raised my hand and stood at the same time. I knew that she would see me and hear me with no problem, but I also felt as if she was likely to give me more room to speak if I was standing and drawing the attention of our ‘crowd’ that was filling the room. I was a little nervous at the moment, but I didn’t let that stop me. I needed to deal with speaking in front of others if I was going to lead our people.
“Yes, Reagan? What is it?”
“Just you said that you were wondering how to do the reveal. Well, I have been thinking about that for a while now, and I would like to tell you what it is that I have come up with.” My voice was steady, calm, and filled with confidence. At least that was what they heard, because I was nervous as hell. I didn’t know if my parents wanted to hear this statement. I was still learning, and I had never been included in these meetings before. I was a noob here, and that made my heart race in fear.
That didn’t matter though. I didn’t care if they could hear how nervous I was. Or if they could smell it on me either. I was going to present myself as calm, cool, and collected. That was what a future leader needed to do. And I was determined to be a leader no matter what.
“Go on, Reagan.” Mom motioned at me to continue. She looked intrigued, and that was a good thing. She had been one of the most intimidating things about standing up just now. She was kind of scary when she was acting all official like this. I had seen her address people before, but I had never been on this side of it. I had always been beside or behind her, so I didn’t know how frightening she could look when she was in her queen mode. No wonder Dad and all the others were afraid of her.
“I have thought a lot about this, and the method seems to be a no-brainer. We need to have an international interruption. This can be accomplished because we have the heads of state on our side. The interruption can be repeated in different time zones, no matter what time we choose, there will always be a place that will have people sleeping during the broadcast. Now, as for when we do this interruption, I believe that the Friday before Christmas would be the best option. A lot of people will have the holidays to buffer the news. And that will be essential. They will know what is going on, but they will have other things to focus on before it could get out of control. And choosing Friday is because it will lessen the impact if the news stations are running it nonstop while the humans are trying to work. If we do the reveal then, in my opinion, it will not be as important to them, as it would be if it was something that disrupted traditional working hours.”
“Hmm. That is an option.” Mom looked to be thinking about this quite seriously. “I think that you have a point here, Reagan.” She nodded. “I am not sure if the weekend and holiday will work as much of a buffer, but it is worth a shot. And as for the broadcast, we need to discuss that even further.”
“Mom?” Rika rose then. “I have been thinking about that, if you would like to hear it.” I could see the nerves in her face as she spoke. She was intimidated by mom as well, but this was important, and we all needed to stand our ground.
Right now, in this moment, it was important for me to hand the spotlight over to my sister and support her as she explained what it was that she had to say. I smiled at her and took my seat.
I knew what was coming. Rika and I had talked about our plans to explain our ideas to our parents. We had both been talking and thinking a lot. She had been thinking more about the execution side of things, while I was thinking more on the when and where side of it. I hadn’t explained everything just yet. I was holding back a little when my mom decided to prompt me for it. If she was serious about my idea, then I knew that she would prompt me. She might do it here with everyone watching, or she might ask that I stay when the meeting was over. No matter when and how it happened, I was going to be ready for it. And so was Rika.
“Good luck, sis.” I whispered to her as I settled comfortably in my seat. It was still nerve wracking, especially when seeing how intent and serious our mom and dad looked at the moment.
I had a moment to wonder if my parents always looked at people like this when they were in meetings like this. I wondered if they kept people in line with the sheer force of their eyes. But I knew that wasn’t the case. People knew that my parents were powerful and were probably used to this by now. It was just us over here, the legacies, that would be affected by it all at the moment. And that was when I realized why we were off to the side.
My mom had separated us from the group so that the legacies would be allowed to look somewhere other than at her and my dad’s imposing presences. This wasn’t a way to make us feel less than the others, it was a way to spare us and get acquainted with this situation gradually.
I respected my mom even more for that. She was quite amazing, no matter what she was doing.