Beyond The River

2

Three days later

Evelyn woke up that morning to three munchkins bouncing on her bed. "Eva, Eva, Eva!" they shouted in joy as they jumped around her, Maurice landing on her at one point, causing her to 'oomph'. She laughed as she swatted playfully at her younger siblings, "I'm awake, guys." She said and they all stopped jumping and wound each of their arms and legs around her blanket-covered body, "Happy Birthday!" they said in unison, giggling at her attempts to free her arms and legs to hug them back.

She thanked them, and Ryker shouted at the children from downstairs to leave their sister alone. They released her and crawled off her bed to run back downstairs to their Papa, telling him that they succeeded in their morning surprise.

Ten minutes later, after dressing in a dark blue blouse and black shorts, Evelyn found herself in the kitchen to find Ryker cooking up eggs, potatoes, and bacon for everyone. She smiled as her father turned to see her and had a wide smile on his face she hadn't truly seen for six months. "Happy birthday, Love." He greeted her with an open arm, which she accepted as a hug.

"Thanks, Papa." She greeted back. She accepted a plate from him and sat at the table, waiting for him to come over with his own plate. After praying a blessing over the meal, the family of five began to devour their breakfast.

Shortly after breakfast was finished and the family was cleaning up, there was a knock on the wooden front door. The twins ran out of the kitchen, with Evelyn yelling at them to stay away from the front door and Ryker rushing to answer it before the five-year-olds could do it first. Ryker mildly disciplined the twins, telling them to go back into the kitchen to help their sister while he answered the door.

Ryker opened the door to see Olive and her older daughter, Mila, greeting him with multiple bags of who-knows-what filling them. "Good morning, Luna. Miss Mila." Ryker bowed his head as he greeted the Lunas. "What brings you here to our humble cabin?" he asked, already knowing what they were here for.

"Good morning, Ryker." Olive greeted back, but Mila had an annoyed pout on her face. "We are here to see Evelyn. She is eighteen today. I wish to bring my beta's daughter some birthday gifts."

He nodded, "Well, I thank you kindly for thinking of my daughter, Luna. Thank you for coming with her, Miss Mila. I'm sure Evelyn will be more than happy to see you." He smiled as Mila smiled uncomfortably in return, not speaking.

Ryker let the two women in and led them into the kitchen. Evelyn was leaning over Maurice, guiding him in washing the dishes, while Micah was drying them with Nina. "Evelyn." He called and she turned her head to face him. Seeing the two women, she had Maurice drop his children's plate back into the sink, and had Micah and Nina stop drying the dishes. "Welcome Luna, Miss Mila." Evelyn bowed her head as she greeted the women stood behind her father. She soon had the other three children doing the same thing.

Olive waved them off, "I'm here as a friend today, Evelyn, not as a Luna." She half-heartedly spoke, letting the children submit to her, but not forcing them to do otherwise. Olive knew the importance of instilling respect in the hierarchy in children, and stopping the children from doing so would possibly alter their view of it.

"To what do we owe the pleasure, Luna?" Evelyn insisted, eyeing the bags in each of the hands of the women. They moved from around Ryker and had Evelyn sit down at the kitchen table, "Happy Birthday!" Olive and Mila said in excitement. They set their bags onto the table opposite of Evelyn, and Olive moved to grab her hands, "Remember when I said there would be a special present for you? In the letter I sent you?" Evelyn nodded, a small smile on her face.

"Well, these bags are part of it." She started. "More, what's in them." Mila corrected. "Open them and you'll see what we mean." Mila said excitedly.

Evelyn looked over to see her family had congregated on the other end of the table, watching her with excitement. They wanted to see her happy, she knew, but was reluctant to do anything. "Um, which one should I open first?" she questioned.