I mean, they explained enough to indicate that it was basically just Freya using the vibrator while Lily controlled the remote, along with a lot of eye contact, but I supposed I was hoping for a play-by-play. At the very least, Freya promised that when Lily got more comfortable with me not being there, that I could watch if I wanted, but emphasized that she really needed this one-on-one attention with Lily.
I was fine with that.
Plus, her wink told me that she might share more, once Lily wasn’t about to burst into flames from embarrassment.
They then said they wanted to talk to Heidi and Lexi alone after that, which was the situation I’d found myself in now. Not that I minded at all. I had my miracle baby in my arms, and I was enjoying watching Rose play with a bumblebee like it was a toy.
Seriously, if she was any other kid, I’d be freaking out right now, because those little guys still stung, but nope. Instead, I was enjoying quite the show.
It wasn’t until my phone rang that I noticed a strange sensation in my head, like I was mentally in two places at once. And even stranger, I couldn’t identify why I felt that way, since I couldn’t even begin to fathom what other ‘place’ I might have been at, other than right here.
It was kind of a dizzying experience, except I didn’t feel physically dizzy at all.
Using an astral limb for extra support while I readjusted Eden to one arm, I pulled my phone out of my pocket, saw who it was, and held it up to my ear.
“Hello, Jackie,” I greeted pleasantly, sincerely in a good mood. Which was also strange, because I felt like normally a phone call from her would make me worried that she had bad news.
Oh well.
“Good morning, Sam. I hope it’s not too early.”
I scoffed. “I don’t sleep, so it’s never too early. That, and everyone’s been awake for several hours now.”
“Right,” she agreed, sounding amused. “Of course. And how is everyone doing?”
“Surprisingly–” I paused as Rose ran over to take Eden from me, carefully holding the baby in her thin, but deceptively strong tan arms. “Surprisingly, pretty well. I mean, obviously it’s going to take some time for them to get fully back to normal, but they are doing okay right now.”
“That’s good to hear,” she replied. “And, of course, trauma counseling for this kind of thing is freely available to all of you, if anyone needs it.”
“Thanks, and I’ll be sure to remind them of that, although I think they’re sort of doing their own self-counseling session right now.”
“Wonderful.” She sighed. “Now then, I called so we could go over some last-minute things regarding you working for the CDS, if that’s alright?”
“Sure.”
“First, given the situation, I figured I’d have a photographer come out to take pictures for your new IDs. That way no one has to go anywhere. Is Tuesday, around noon, alright?”
“Should be,” I agreed. “But can I maybe call you back after this, once I’ve talked it over with my family?”
“Yes, that will work.” She paused. “Next, just to confirm the list with you, I have that you want to consolidate Ms. Rosetti’s Sovereign Persons ID under yours, as well as add Ms. Dodson, Lexi and her sister, and then also your two daughters, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, then I should have all the documentation ready for them to sign by the end of the day, which I’ll send over electronically.” She paused. “And then, I also understand that you want to add Winter Fowler under your Sovereign Persons ID as well, that correct?”
What the hell?!
My eyes nearly bugged out of my head, completely shocked and confused by this development.
Of course, I realized that Winter must have requested this, possibly this morning, because I sure as hell didn’t, but I also was concerned as to the reason why. However, I didn’t want to humiliate her by suggesting it wasn’t my idea.
Thus, I took a different approach.
“Oh, well, I actually wanted to ask you about that in more detail. If I did add her, how exactly does the whole responsibility thing work again?”
“Right, so normally a country is responsible for the behavior of its citizens. In many ways that applies to you as well. You will be held accountable for any criminal behavior, and sanctions may be levied against you in the event such behavior is not dealt with properly. However, you do have the option of turning a situation over to us.”
“And what exactly is Ms. Fowler’s current situation?” I wondered. “I’m afraid I didn’t get a chance to ask her those details before she left this morning.”
“Current situation? You mean citizenship?”
“Yeah, pretty much,” I hedged. I honestly didn’t know what I meant. I supposed I just wanted to try to figure out why she wanted this.
“Oh, well I have to file completely different paperwork for her, because she’s under a different Sovereign Persons ID, instead of being a normal citizen of a country. Specifically, she’s requesting dual-citizenship, which honestly means you probably wouldn’t be responsible for her in the same way as the others.”
“So…” I hesitated, wanting to be careful how I worded this. “Other than just legally being under my ID, is there really any benefit for her? Sounds like it’s sort of an ‘in name only’ arrangement.”
She paused. “Yes, if we put her under both Sovereign IDs, then I suppose that is true. The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is how legal matters are handled. For example, contracts between citizens of two separate non-country Sovereign States can become very complicated, due to the necessity for a third party to officiate the arrangement.”
“And what does that mean?”
She sighed. “Basically, you don’t have a lawyer under your ID, requiring you to hire a lawyer who is legally foreign, even if that lawyer lives down the street from you. That’s not much of a problem when you’re dealing with legality issues in that foreign lawyer’s country, or even dealing with certain arrangements, like marriage, between your own citizens. However, legally, that foreign lawyer can’t help you with contracts with another non-country Sovereign State. Technically , there is a way to make it happen, but it’s very complicated and expensive.”
At the mention of the word ‘marriage,’ my eyes widened in shock again.
Surely not. That would be ridiculous. There was no way in hell that was on Winter’s mind. She obviously had a reason, but it couldn’t be that, not to mention she should know that Freya and Lily would never be okay with it. Plus, she didn’t even really know me, and I still knew very little about her, except that she was objectively attractive, if I was being honest.
Seriously, I was getting all worked up over nothing.
‘Marriage’ was just an example Jackie gave to illustrate her point and nothing more.
When I didn’t say anything, she spoke up again.
“Did that clarify things?”
“Yes. Although, it sounds like this is more involved than I realized. I’d like the opportunity to talk more thoroughly with her about this, but is it still possible to get the paperwork ready for her?”
“Yes, of course. You’ll have to sign off on all these documents, so nothing will happen without your permission.”
“Great. Thanks.”
Jackie was silent for a moment. “Okay, and then the final thing I wanted to speak with you about was your request to use intelligence assets for personal investigations. At this time, it’s going to be difficult to get you scheduled with a meeting to discuss the details of what you’re wanting them to look into. They are a little tight on staff with everything going on.”
Shit. I could understand that there were only so many people, who could only do so many things, but I really wanted to track down this shadow organization. Still, the immediate threats were definitely more important.
“Okay. Please keep me up to date on that.”
“Of course. And that’s all I have for now. Any questions or concerns you
want to bring up?”
“I think I’m good. Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome. Have a nice day, Sam.”
“You too,” I replied.
She hung up.
Taking a deep breath, I pocketed my phone and then focused on Rose, who was sitting in the grass with Eden still in her arms. She was staring at the little baby’s face, a big grin plastered on hers.
“Good dream?” I wondered.
Rose looked up at me smiling sweetly, her crimson eyes doing most of the grinning now. “No, not exactly. She’s aware enough that she’s hearing your voice, and it makes her really happy.”
I returned the smile. “Rose, I love you so much.”
“Love you too, daddy,” she replied, returning her gaze to Eden’s face. Her brow then furrowed, only for her to gracefully rise to her feet with Eden still in both arms. It was a movement most people would have struggled with. “I think she’s getting hungry again,” she explained.
I nodded. “Let’s go ahead and fix her a bottle then.”
“Okay!” she said cheerfully. “Can I feed her?”
I smiled again. “Of course you can. You’re such a good big sister.”
“Big little-sister!” she corrected me.
I just chuckled in response as I followed her into the house.
Rose wanted to feed her, but she also wanted to make the bottle too, so when we got in the kitchen, she handed me Eden to do just that. However, just then, movement in my second-sight caught my attention. I focused more intently out front to see that Winter was at the gate in the black car. Without hesitation, she climbed out, walked up to the side, punched in the code that I’d only done once in front of her – not that it mattered, since I’d thought the numbers in my head – and then got back in as the gate opened.
Still, it was surprising she’d memorized it.
I mean, it was only a six-digit code, but still.
Too bad I hadn’t noticed just a little sooner, because there was a monitor on the wall next to the door that could display a video feed of who was at the entrance, as well as display a button to tap in order to open the gate from inside the house, or manually force it to stop in the event something was wrong.
Once she pulled up to the house, she got out again, grabbed a duffle-bag out of the back seat and shouldered it while walking up to the front door. Knowing she could hear my thoughts, I didn’t want to invade her privacy, but there was no way in hell I wasn’t going to check what was inside that bag. I had kids in the house now.
In response to my thoughts, she immediately rolled her eyes, stopped where she was, and turned sideways slightly to give me a better view of the bag.
Damn, it was so strange having a mind reader around. Like, one who was actively hearing my thoughts.
When I saw the bag was full of clothes, quite a bit of which wasn’t the black military outfits she kept wearing, as well as a laptop computer, she resumed walking up to the door, and then stood there expectantly. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes as well, while I used an astral limb to unlock the front door.
“Daddy, who is it?” Rose asked from my side, having silently moved there when she heard the gate open.
I looked down at her, realizing that the hand holding the bottle had tiny white claws just barely poking out of her tan fingertips. “It’s okay, sweetie,” I reassured her, as our company stepped through the doorway and looked toward us. “This is Ms. Winter.”
Rose had a very serious expression as she held up the bottle for me to grab, taking a step toward the stranger the moment I accepted it. For half a second, I was concerned Rose was going to attack her or something, but then Winter smiled and crouched down to be on her level.
“Hello there,” Winter said. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you as well,” Rose replied, sounding overly polite, especially for her age. She then moved a little closer, her brow furrowed. “You don’t have very many happy thoughts,” she stated matter-of-factly.
Winter frowned. “I’m not unhappy.”
“Everyone and everything has happy thoughts. Because of the people. But you have so few.”
I was confused by their exchange, wondering how it was possible for what Rose was saying to be true, since Winter seemed like a fairly normal and stable individual. Sure, she was kind of grumpy sometimes, but I couldn’t imagine she’d gone her whole life without having happy thoughts.
Winter looked up at me. “She doesn’t exactly mean ‘thoughts’ so much as feelings .” Rose looked at her in surprise, prompting Winter to return the gaze and nod. “Yes, I can hear your thoughts. I hear everyone’s thoughts.”
“Is that why you don’t have your own happy thoughts?” Rose wondered.
My eyes widened in surprise as a new revelation occurred to me. “Winter, are there consequences for you when you use your superpower? Like when you stabilize people’s emotions?”
She frowned and looked away.
“How bad?” I asked seriously.
She sighed and stood to her feet again. “It’s not a big deal. I just feel what others around me are feeling, in addition to hearing their thoughts, especially in certain circumstances, like when I’m latched on. If they’re depressed, or angry...” She paused. “Or traumatized…then part of the process of me stabilizing them is actively sharing the burden.”
Shit.
At least, I felt like that explained a lot, like why she was so grumpy last night. She was experiencing all the shock, pain, trauma, and frustrations of both Heidi and Lexi combined. Meaning, she was probably a lot more irritable and messed up even than she was letting on.
“I told you it’s not a big deal,” she repeated out loud.
I wanted to contradict her, but realized it would be pointless to do so. Because even if it was a big deal, it wasn’t like it made a difference. It was her power, and she would continue to use it how she wanted and when she wanted.
Rose spoke up again. “You smell funny.”
Winter gave her another confused look, only to abruptly begin laughing. “That’s my fur. I’m not used to people being able to smell it.”
Rose’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. “You have fur ?! Can I see it?! Can I touch it?!”
Winter laughed again, before beginning to unbutton her black jacket, and then taking it off so that she was only wearing a black t-shirt, tucked into her tight pants. Damn, she was skinny. And sure enough, the white fur could be seen on her upper arms. Without hesitation, Winter pulled up on her sleeve to reveal her fur-covered shoulder, two black stripes visible.
Rose was in awe, closing the gap and beginning to pet it gently. “It’s so soft,” she whispered.
Eden began squirming in my arms then, so I decided to sit down in the chair to feed her only for Rose to speak up again.
“Daddy, I want to feed her.”
“Oh, well sorry then,” I replied playfully. “I thought you were busy.”
“Eden is first,” she said firmly, climbing into the chair so I could hand off the baby.
Once she was situated, I stepped back. Normally, if Rose had been a normal kid, then I wouldn’t feel comfortable with her watching a baby by herself, but Rose was Rose. She was still a kid, but at the same time was probably stronger than me at this point, and definitely more graceful, combined with the attitude and seriousness of an adult when it came to these types of situations.
She was responsible.
Like, Eden was safer in her care than the average babysitter, which was saying something since most babysitters were perfectly competent.
I turned toward Winter again, finding her with the same neutral expression I’d come to realize must just be her normal resting face. Like some people had resting bitch face, and she just had resting poker face. Which some might view as a blessing, but I kind of wondered if it was because her superpower came with a curse.
Winter rolled her pale green eyes at me again. “Anyway, it sounds like you’re comfortable with R
ose watching your youngest daughter,” she commented. “And your females are still deliberating. So then, can you come outside with me? We have some work to do.”
I gave her a confused look, glancing at Rose.
She nodded. “We’ll be fine.”
I sighed and followed Winter out the front door, keeping my second-sight on Rose anyway.
13: Managing Change
Rose Rosetti
April 14, 2735 – Current Day – Late Morning
Rose cradled her baby sister in one of her arms while holding the bottle of formula in the other hand, the two of them resting in the comfy chair in the kitchen. Eden was only one week old, but their mommy suspected she was closer in size to a three-month-old baby. She was growing so fast, eating, sleeping, and filling her diaper in repeated cycles, rarely being very active.
And yet, according to their mommy, it seemed as if she was otherwise developing like a normal baby, despite the lack of physical activity.
Rose loved to be near Eden, because even little things like drinking a bottle made her really happy, which likewise made Rose happy. She could feel the happiness warm her body like aunt Lily’s warm hugs, and when Eden was sleeping she often had bursts of happiness at random times.
However, Rose also desired to be near Eden for another reason.
Sometimes she began having unhappy thoughts. Very unhappy thoughts.
And Rose wanted to protect her little big-sister from those unhappy thoughts, so she would do things that made her happy. Like kissing her on the forehead, or giving her a gentle hug, or rubbing her back while she was in her arms. Sometimes just giving her a bottle would help too, and it always helped when mommy or daddy held her.
At first, just after Eden was born, she didn’t respond much to Rose whenever she spoke, but in the last few days there were now happy feelings when she whispered to her.
Like right now.
“I love you, Eden,” Rose said quietly. “And I’ll always protect you, no matter what.”
Unexpectedly, Eden’s closed eyes opened up, her irises a brilliant teal, the pupils narrowing as she focused on Rose above her, a burst of happiness emanating from her little body.
The Powerful Pride of an Immortal (Immortal Supers Book 4) Page 20
