Chapter 1194: SIDE STORIES BOOK 2 Chapter 19- A Gathering of Those We Love Part 2
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Trinity
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It took about thirty to forty minutes to get everyone to calm down and have a seat so that the party could officially start. People were talking and laughing right from the get-go, and they were all actively avoiding Shawn and Dietrich, which made me laugh. If they thought that they needed to be right next to them to sense the secrets that they were hiding, then they were mistaken.
From what I had been told, they were able to detect it up to fifty feet away, if the person was in sight.
Once a semblance of calm settled over the group, I rose to my feet, walked to the middle of the tables, and started to speak to them all. All eyes were on me, even those of the kids that were gathered in the large circle.
"Welcome, all of you. I am so happy that you are here." I looked over at Aunt Glory and Athair mòr, they had stopped to say hi to me earlier and they both looked like little kids on Christmas morning. "We have had precious little to celebrate over the last year. I know that we have all wondered what we were going to do and how we were going to make it through all of this.
At least, I had been thinking that."
I paused again, looking at all the people that were here, all the ones that I wanted to share my life with as family of my blood and my heart. They were all so precious to me, so dear and close to me.
"We all know that Reeselynn came this past March, and that with her there was a break in the bad situation. The DOE was eliminated not long after her birth, and while it is not perfect, the world is a lot more calm than it had been. And I know that this isn’t the only up side to all that has happened lately. "There is a lot that we need to celebrate.
Like Vincent, my Beta, my guard, and my dear friend that is like a brother to me. He had some news for me recently."
"Yes, I did." He kissed Heather’s hand before looking up to me. "We’re having a little girl soon, and her name will be Grace."
"That’s right. And Acacia, wife to my good friend Cedar, they have news, do they not?"
"We do." She leapt to her feet. "Three little ones, two girls and a boy. I just simply love having babies." She rubbed her belly with a big smile as the others applauded her and Vincent.
"And there is more." Roisin rose to her feet with Gabriel at those words.
"We’re having twins, one of each. We are so overjoyed." Gabriel was kissing Roisin’s temple as she spoke to the crowd.
"We recently adopted twin boys, Carsten and Casper, and we’re also pregnant as well." Shawn had almost leapt to his feet as well. "Being that we’re both Gods now, I am sure that we were granted the ability to have more biological children. This November we will have our eleventh and twelfth children."
"Our hearts just have so much love to give to our children, and we will always welcome new ones into our home. Through adoption or not, we are far from done adding to our family tree." Dietrich made this a heartfelt declaration that Shawn and all their kids seemed to agree with.
"I am so happy for all of you." I beamed at them all before turning to look at the others. "Now, is there anyone else that wants to announce something?" I made it obvious that I was looking for baby announcements. This was the time for that, since it was the baby explosion that happened after I had Reeselynn. I really needed to stop having kids.
The first to get to their feet was, unsurprisingly, Aunt Glory and Athair mòr.
"I am having twins!" Aunt Glory squealed happily. "I don’t know if they are boys or girls yet, but they are there." She rubbed her belly. And then Athair mòr spoke as he pulled Daciana to her feet.
"Ha ha ha, can’t get away from you, huh sis!" Jackson laughed as he sat back down. "This is awesome. Babies everywhere."
"It most definitely is amazing." I said as I started to move on.
"There is one more." Juniper rose to her feet. "I just found out this morning."
"Yay!" I bounced on my feet. "I am so happy for you Juniper."
"I am excited." She was practically shaking with excitement as she told us.
"I look forward to meeting her." Luka said with a smile. "I am happy for you, Aunt Juniper."
"Thank you, Luka." She sat back down in her chair, beaming at Paul as they held onto each other.
All in all, there were nineteen babies on the way. If you added in Reeselynn, that made twenty. It was just like what happened with Reagan and Rika all over again. It was almost the same number of babies in this time as there was last time, and I knew that there was a lot that we had to look forward to with these babies.
One of the most important things being that they were going to be raised together and that they would almost always have someone that they would be able to play with. Those were always the benefits and upsides to have so many babies at the same time.
The party got underway after all of the announcements. There were a lot of my guests that were not able to get on to the rides that we had provided for the carnival experience with the kids, but they were able to do the water slides, because they were small and inflatable. And they got to have fun with Reece’s water war games. That was actually fun for everyone that was old enough to take part in it.
Grandfather wasn’t interested, so he said that he would watch Reeselynn as well as Carsten and Casper. Not feeling much like the kid games either, Lila and mom sat it out as well. Dad took part in it all though.
I am not sure when the last time that we all had this much fun was. We didn’t have to think about the problems of the world. We didn’t have to worry about if our people were safe. We didn’t need to stress and let that affect our moods or any of those things. We were able to just relax, have fun, and enjoy every moment of that day.
It was dark before we knew it, but water wars were just as fun in the dark as they were in the day. And the only time that we stopped having a good time in the grounds, was when we all settled in to watch the massive fireworks display that Reece had set up for us. It had more explosions than the ones you see on TV, and the kids absolutely loved it all.
I spent the time snuggling a slightly fussy Reeselynn, she didn’t like all the noise, and letting Reece snuggle me against his side.
I couldn’t believe how much time was flying by today, or how it was likely to fly on by in the months to follow as well. We were going to be busy with getting the kids off to college again and with a baby that was growing so rapidly. Before we knew it Reeselynn would be crawling and walking. The quads would be teenagers before I knew what hit me.
Reagan and Rika were going to find their mates, get careers and move on with their lives. It was all coming toward us, and it was all going to happen soon. I just knew that it would.
For just this moment, for these next few minutes and hours spent with the ones that I loved, I could pretend that this moment would last forever. I could make myself think that things were done changing, even if they were good changes.
I could lie to myself and say that there was no way that Reeselynn would ever stop being this little baby in my arms, but she was already getting so much bigger and older. It was happening, whether I wanted it to or not. And Reeselynn, along with all of my other children, they were my legacy that I was giving to this world of ours. They were the greatest things that I had ever done or would ever do.
To think, with all the things that we do in life, we forget it all in times of peace. And all that matters, the only things that will have any significance at all, will be the people that you are with. And that is why I am here right now. That is why I wanted to have this party. I wanted to have a gathering of all those that I hold dear.
The closer that I am with these people, the better version of myself that I am.
There was one thing to remember though. Moments like these, while perfect and amazing, only lasted so long. Like the fireworks that were in the sky, things would eventually go dark again. And that was why I needed to cherish and savor this as much as I could. We all needed to do that. Not just me, but everyone in the world needed to appreciate the good things in their life.