“We’d be thrilled to meet your step-daughters. When do you think you can bring them over? Or would you rather we come to Riccan’s house? We’ve never even seen your new place. Maybe we can have a family gathering at your house. What do you think?” Diane was already planning what she would wear. She had an idea that Riccan had money, but she was not entirely sure.
Amanda smiled at her mother’s enthusiasm and had to decide what scenario would work best. Maybe having the meeting at her new home would make it easier. At least her mother would be so impressed with the scale of the house that she might not notice the resemblance the twins had to herself. After all, the twins had blonde hair and blue eyes while she, herself, had brown for both.
“I’d like for us to do it as soon as possible. I’m not sure if tonight will work since I haven’t even run the idea by Riccan, but for sure we’ll get together this week. I’ll call and let you know, okay?” Amanda wished she had thought of this before she took the girls to school. If they could get the introductions done tonight, then she would not have to worry about it any longer.
“We can be ready whenever you get it figured out. You know we don’t plan much in the evenings anymore.” Diane had started walking toward the living room so they could sit down and be more comfortable while they visited. She hoped Amanda would stay for a few hours so she could be certain her youngest child was truly happy.
Amanda sat down on the couch where she had spent so many afternoons during her recovery. She could still imagine her thick journal sitting open in her lap as the sun from the windows lit the pages containing all of her memories from while she was in the coma. One day, she had promised to share her journal entries with her mother. That day might soon be approaching if they could see the twins were actually her own children. It might be the only way to actually convince them of a version of the truth, as strange as it may seem.
Chapter Eleven
RICCAN HARDLY HAD to spend any time at all writing the code for the computer program in his telepod. Once he had gotten started it almost seemed as though he had written it before. He considered if that were an actual possibility, but shook his head in dismissal and finished up.
Once the thumb drive contained the program, he swiftly took it out to the telepod. It was a simple matter to upload the file to the main system on the telepod. It helped that he had designed and built the telepod in the first place, so he knew every word of the existing program. Of course, he would not know if his newest program worked correctly unless he took it out and tested it.
He would have to figure out a way to test it without actually putting himself or anyone else in danger. He buckled himself into the pilot’s seat and contemplated his options. The initial start-up procedures went smoothly, and all of the indicator lights on the dash remained green. He set a destination in the navigator and used the manual start switch to make the transfer. Riccan wanted to make sure he had the manual control in his hand in case something went wrong.
The location he had selected was known to be a place where birds liked to congregate. He figured if the program would avoid a collision with the avian species then it would definitely work with a larger obstacle. He did not like the idea of anything dying for the sake of testing the equipment, but he hoped the software would avoid any loss.
The telepod floated several inches off of the garage floor since the system had been activated. Now he pressed the button to telekinetically transfer his craft to the location he had selected. Everything went black, and his senses could no longer register anything during the three seconds it took to move through space to his target destination.
Normally, he would simply reappear, seemingly out of thin air. This time was different. He could begin to have the use of his senses when everything blacked out again, and again, and again. Riccan began to worry he had created a stutter in the program which would eventually be fatal. Just when he thought all was lost, he reappeared at his destination. He looked out the window and saw a flock of birds had just passed by where he had intended to emerge.
Riccan whooped a cheer out loud and pumped his fist in congratulations that his system had done exactly as he had designed it. He had not anticipated the need for multiple avoidances, but the system had performed perfectly. When he looked down on the console he saw the transfer had taken a full nine seconds: six seconds longer than a Tualan transfer, and three seconds longer than a transfer between Earth and Tuala.
He had spent enough time hovering in his present location, so he entered the coordinates to go to his parents’ Residence in Tuala. He initiated the transfer and waited the six seconds to travel the vast distance. The telepod entered his destination and hovered above the immense lawn in the backyard of the Residence. Riccan speedily initiated the shutdown procedures and opened the main door.
While his parents were not expecting him, they always welcomed him. He walked briskly across the lawn and up the stairs to the back verandah. Nobody had come out to see him, so he entered the Residence through the glass double doors into the grand living room. Again, there was nobody around, and he continued to walk down the hall until he reached his father’s private office. The door was open, and the room was empty.
Riccan had never been to their home without encountering at least a few house servants. He was starting to get worried something bad had happened. He began to run down the hall until he reached his mother’s private office. It, too, was empty. This was not good. Something had gone wrong. Riccan full out ran to the kitchen. There was always somebody in the kitchen.
He burst through the swinging door and literally came face-to-face with Melba, the head maid of the household. He grabbed her shoulders to keep from running physically into her whole body with his own.
“Riccan! What’s wrong?” Melba managed to gasp as she caught her breath from the surprise.
“I was going to ask you the same thing. How come the house is empty? Where are my parents?” Riccan asked in a rush.
Melba looked relieved to find no emergency really existed and answered calmly, “Your parents were invited to speak with Jehoban, so I gave the staff a much-needed day off.”
Riccan could hardly believe what Melba told him. Jehoban did not simply request an audience of anybody. Something urgent must be happening. He had to find out what was going on and, right now, his best source of information stood right in front of him. He gestured for them to sit down so he could ask her some questions.
Melba accepted his invitation by moving over and easing herself down on one of the barstools. She had never seen Riccan so rattled, and she wondered what had happened to get him so worked up.
“Do you know what Jehoban wanted to talk to them about?” Riccan began after he took a deep breath.
“No, they didn’t happen to share that particular detail with me. Would you care for some steena tea? You seem a little shaken,” Melba offered. She always thought steena tea cured anything.
Riccan imagined Melba would make the tea by hand, so he gladly accepted. If she were distracted by cooking, then he might get more answers out of the usually close-mouthed servant.
To his great surprise, Melba actually created the two cups of tea using her crystal power. In all the anons he had known her, he had never seen her use her powers. He had begun to believe she did not actually possess the skill, as she had always said it was better to do it by hand.
Melba noticed his reaction and could almost read the thoughts as they passed through him. She smiled because she had managed to startle Riccan. He had always been one step ahead of her as he grew up. He must really be worried about something to put him off his normal game.
“Thanks,” Riccan managed as he tried to cover his reaction. He picked up the cup and blew across the surface to avoid scalding his lips, or tongue, on the hot liquid. He cautiously sipped and closed his eyes at how perfectly Melba had brewed the herbs.
“What’s going on, Riccan? Is there trouble coming?”
Riccan looked up into Melba’s eyes and replie
d, “Not that I know of. I just came to speak with my parents about my telepod, but when I couldn’t find a single person here, I thought something terrible must have happened.”
Melba smiled as she realized everything was just a misunderstanding and began to relax. She picked up her hot tea and took a healthy sip. It could never be too hot for her. It was nice to have an excuse to be off of her feet. It had been a long time since she had visited with Riccan and right now seemed the perfect opportunity to find out more about his mysterious new wife. Rumors had been spreading among the staff, and she did not like not knowing the truth of things.
“How did you and Amanda meet?” Melba asked directly.
Melba was aware of his connection with Earth, so he did not have to worry about upsetting her with the knowledge of Amanda being from Earth. He answered, “I met her during a search and rescue mission back on Earth. She volunteered to go up with me in my airplane to be the spotter to find a missing boy.”
“It sounds as though she shares your passion for helping people then,” Melba said as she fished for more details.
“You might say so. Amanda has actually known me much longer than I’ve known her. She is a very special person. Jehoban said as much when He met with her last mesan,” Riccan replied with more than a touch of pride in his wife’s abilities.
“So I’ve gathered,” Melba muttered as she took another sip of her tea.
“How long ago did my parents leave?”
“They received a special message first thing this morning before they even had breakfast. They left immediately. One mustn’t make Jehoban wait, you know.”
“Yes, I do know.” He took another sip of the now pleasantly warm tea. He took another, larger sip and set his cup down. “I should get home then. It sounds as though we have no idea how long my parents will be gone. Amanda should be arriving home soon after dropping the kids off at school. Thank you for the tea, Melba.” Riccan stood up and walked out of the kitchen without looking back.
Riccan rushed back through the hallway and then outside to his waiting telepod. There really was no reason to rush, but he could well imagine Melba keeping him trapped in the kitchen all day with the number of questions she was bound to have about Amanda and the girls. Besides, if he really needed to, he could time his trip back to Earth, so he would not have missed any time at all. Naturally, this would not be needed for the small amount of time he had been away.
The telepod functioned perfectly, and he returned to the garage on Earth. As was his habit, the telepod was in cloaked mode as it transferred into the tight space. He did not want to run the risk of the craft being seen by any of the people who worked in or around the house. This time, it was lucky he had used the cloaking feature since Mary was actually in the garage when he popped back into existence.
Mary could swear she could hear something as soon as she opened the garage door. She did not normally enter this garage because it gave her a bad feeling. That feeling was reinforced when she could feel the energy from the telepod being disbursed through the concrete space. There was nothing to be seen, but she could still feel something was not right. She hastily dumped the shards of the bowl into the trash bin and raced back into the house.
Riccan watched Mary as she looked around the garage with a scared expression. He was sorry to have made her afraid, but he was glad the cloaking device worked exactly as he had designed it. He waited a few seconds before he completed the shut-down procedure and opened the side door. Riccan exited the vehicle and palmed the door to close.
Instead of going back into the house via the garage door, Riccan went out the man door at the back of the garage. He decided he would stroll through the yard and enter the house through the living room doors. Mary would be less suspicious of him if he were only taking a walk rather than coming in from the garage she had just seen was empty.
Riccan began to whistle as he walked down the cobbled pathway. The day was beautiful, and he could imagine spending some time alone with his wife. He believed she had already returned home from taking the kids to school.
He chuckled at how mundane and ordinary his life had become in such a short time. In fact, he did not even think he had told Amanda about the household schedule. He made a mental note to tell her about the people who were expected and on what days so she would not be startled by any strangers.
Riccan walked into the living room from the glass doors in the back, still whistling. He saw Mary scrubbing the kitchen counters, and he called out, “Hello, Mary.”
She whipped around, caught her breath, and said, “Hello, Mr. Stel. So you up and got married, did you?”
“So you met Amanda? Where is she?” Riccan was not surprised by Mary’s direct speech. He was thankful she did not like to beat around the bush. She always spoke exactly what she was thinking.
“Yes, I met her. She left a bit ago saying she had an errand to run.” Mary scrubbed the island in front of her now that she was turned around. She always wondered why the kitchen was so clean, especially with a bachelor in the house. She had imagined he must eat out a lot, but she often found homemade leftovers in the refrigerator.
“Okay, thanks. I’ll be in my office if you need anything.” Riccan retreated to his private space. He did not like the staff to think he was watching them work. Once he was seated at his desk, he decided he’d call Amanda on her cell phone. There were some things he wanted to talk to her about without the children home.
The phone rang twice in his ear before it went to voicemail. He left a message and then speculated what Amanda could be doing which would prevent her from answering the phone. He wished he could check her birth crystal like he could the children’s. It would certainly simplify things if it were possible.
Riccan decided to do some more research on the gypsy families in France until he heard back from Amanda. He had no idea that almost an hour had passed, he was so engrossed in reading random articles on the internet. When his phone rang, it startled him.
“Hello,” he answered.
“Hi, Riccan. It’s me, Amanda,” his wife said over the line.
Riccan laughed that Amanda really thought she would have to tell him who she was. He would know her voice anywhere. “I know who you are! Where are you?”
“I’m over at my mom’s house. Hey, I wondered if we could invite my parents over to meet your daughters. I hoped we could do it tonight if you don’t already have plans.”
“Sure, tonight works great. The girls will certainly be excited,” he answered easily. He pondered how Amanda had managed to tell her mom about the girls until he realized she had stressed the word ‘your’ when referring to the girls. Riccan smiled at Amanda’s craftiness in getting her parents involved in the girls’ lives without really telling them who they were. After all, they were his girls too.
“Great! I’ll tell my mom right now. I think sometime around six o’clock would be good. I’m almost ready to head home, so I’ll see you in about a half hour. I love you!”
“Sounds good. I love you, too. Drive carefully.” He wished he could install anti-collision software on his wife’s car so he would not have to worry about her getting into an automobile accident. She had already had enough bad things happen in her life. The line went dead, and he hung up the receiver.
Amanda was amazing at problem-solving. This matter with the children just proved it to him all over again. Only Amanda would think up such a good excuse for two teenage girls to suddenly be a part of their life. Now he was certain Amanda’s parents would inquire about the twins’ mother. He did not want to lie about it, but he was not sure how to answer it honestly. He would have to ask Amanda about it when she got home.
Just then Mary popped her head into the office doorway and said, “I’m finished for the day. I saw you had two guest rooms in use upstairs. Are they going to be used for a while?”
“Yes, my two daughters are going to be living here now,” Riccan replied, feeling a sense of pride in claiming them as his own.
&nbs
p; Mary’s eyes grew wide, and she exclaimed, “I was not aware you had any children.”
“Yes. Their names are Juila and Jena. They’re fifteen years old and twins, obviously.”
“Will wonders never cease?” Mary said as she shook her head. “First you suddenly get married, and now you have two girls. Your life has drastically changed since I was here last. I hope I can keep up with all of your changes.”
Taking pity on her, he said, “There shouldn’t be anything additional happening in the near future. We might have to talk about changing your schedule to once per week now that there are three women also living here. Thank you for your hard work, Mary. Have a great week.”
“Thank you, Mr. Stel. Just let me know if you want me to change my schedule. I can begin when you give the word. I wish you the best of luck with your teenagers. They can be a handful on their best days!” She smiled to take the sting out of her words and backed away from the door. She began to wonder if she should ask for a raise if the girls turned out to be as messy as normal teenagers tended to be; her job might be getting considerably harder.
Riccan considered Mary’s reaction to his sudden marriage and addition of his children. There might be several more people in his life who would have similar reactions. He should probably think about trying to let them know in a less startling way. He added it to the list of things to talk to Amanda about when she got home.
Now that they had the house to themselves, maybe they should spend some private time upstairs. They seemed to have many great conversations as they lay naked in each other’s arms. The idea had great potential and managed to keep his mind quite occupied until he heard the garage door opening.
He smiled and stood up from his desk. The object of his desire was about to enter the house. He left his office and walked toward the far door. When the door opened just before he reached it, all thoughts or concerns left his head as the woman of his heart smiled at him and walked into his outstretched arms.
Levels of Ascension BoxSet Page 11
