Our Time Bomb

Chapter Thirty-eight ~ Halo

Continuation of last chapter

Slowly, the daze that's settled over me disappears as Luna and I talk things through with mother. Some things are becoming clearer to me. Like the fact that mother really isn't who I thought she was.

Now the three of us are sitting in the room she brought us to. I routinely scan the dirt walls neatly framed with wood. My eyes find interest in the many portraits mounted on the wall. I listen to mother and Luna talking about things. All my life when I've been around them, it's always been this way. They'd talk and I'd listen, adding occasional smart remarks to the conversation which was usually rather dry. Now I don't know if I can do that anymore. I feel like my sense of humor has been sucked out of me.

My ears perk up when I hear Luna asks mother a question I hadn't thought of. "Wait... You were pregnant right? It's been like six months. What happened?"

Mother sighs, "Uh I already gave birth to them."

"Them?" I frown.

A small smile curves her lips upwards, "Oh, well I had triplets. I suppose you had no way of knowing, did you?"

Luna's eyes widen with curiosity, "Triplets? Oh my goodness! You're serious? When did you have them? Why did you have them so early?"

"Woah  a that's lot of questions. I gave birth last week actually. There were some complications on the babies' end.  They are all fine now."

"you what? Had them last week? How are you so active now? That's not normal." Luna gasps. I notice her quickly changing attitude. A little bit ago, she was angry, now she's curious and even a smile is finding her face.

Mother gets a slight faraway gleam in her eye. "Yeah well I didn't suffer too much from it, I'm fine. Now... Jefferson will take care of them."

Jefferson's pov
I dodge the silver blade that is slicing the air in my direction. My head jumps from thought to thought faster than the sword in my hand is aimlessly fending off my trainee. I'm training a young guard. He's well on his way to becoming his dream, a Gyardican. Yet he is not the best at his swordsmanship.

"steady your swing Jared. You must have control." I instruct him, throwing him off his pattern.

I may look fine on the outside, but I'm quite elsewhere within. My mind is plagued, it keeps going down the same path. I cannot stop thinking about Erika. She's gone... I can't escape the moment that's burned in my memory. I still clearly see the bitter contempt in her eyes as she threw that dagger down onto the ground and kicked the dirt over it.

Every time I try and push it away from the face of my thoughts, it comes back, rushing like a river of darkness into my soul. Alright, she left only yesterday, but I must already act like everything is okay. I am instructing Jared on how to be in control, yet I feel as though I am steadily losing control of my situation.

Shadow Nation wants a war. There is no avoiding it, more forces of Gyardicans from the next district will come here and there will be a war. It's been waiting to happen for months... This war, and now it's right around the corner. Not only that, but I am going to be fighting my own wife.

I shake my head in frustration, I have not had a moment of a break from this torture.

How am I gonna do this? If I know Erika right, she'll be right up there at the battlefront, fighting with everything she's got. What the hell am I supposed to do? What if I see her? Would we ever come face to face? Could I even face her? If the leader of Shadow Nation was anyone but her, I'd barely think about it, but since I'm married to this particular one...

"Captain sir," a voice shatters my train of thought.

I draw away from Jared and turn around to the sturdy figure of Sir Bennett standing at the doorway to the large room.

"Bennett..." I say with an exhausted sigh.

He smiles slightly, "you busy?"

I shake my head, "Nah, Jared, that'll be all for today. Go rest a bit will you?"

Jared nods and leaves us, scooping aside a tuft of blonde hair from his face.

"Cap, you look pretty darn bad. I think it's you that needs a rest." my friend says with a chuckle.

I roll my eyes, "I'm fine."

He smirks knowingly, "I've heard that one before. I imagine that if I were in your situation, I would not be fine."

I sigh, "What do you want?"

"oh nothing." he says defensively, "I just wanted to make sure that you're doing alright. I mean, I just wanted to let you know I'm sorry about what happened yesterday."

I look at him but say nothing for a moment, "Hmm... Well thank you."

"Also I just wanted to remind you of something." he says quietly,  "We won't be defeated by Shadow Nation. They may have caught us by surprise, but we'll end the war. We will overpower them with our incoming forces."

I nod, "you're right... But do you think I find any comfort in that?"

He shakes his head quickly, "No Sir, but I had an idea... I know you are worried about your wife. I thought of something that could help us win the war, get keep her safe at the same time."

I frown, my mind rushing through possibilities, "I'm listening..." I say.

He continues at the acknowledgement of my approval, "I suggest that if things come to an upfront battle, we make it a point to find Erika and capture her without anyone else knowing. If we can lock her up for her safety, we can also have her out of our way."

"Since when do you care about her safety?" I blurt out, remembering that he would probably have good reason to want her dead. She humiliated him before me and many others.

He swallows, his eyes tell me that he knows what I'm thinking, "Well... I know it would be easier for you, and I care about you... So..."

I shrug, "Very well then... I have no wish in coming face to face with her, but if you can catch her alone or in bad positioning, you can try to take her."

He smiles slightly, "I'll do my best."

"be careful though, whatever you do. You should know never to underestimate that woman." I say.

That night...
The nurse puts a finger to her thin lips and smiles. My eyes follow her other hand which points to a large cradle. "I finally got them all to sleep." she whispers.

I can't help but smile at the sweet sight. Three tiny forms, wrapped in blankets, peacefully asleep. To be honest, I'm not sure which one is which. I have been too busy, even now, to spend time with them. The nurse lives with us now, she sleeps in the spare room with the babies.

For me, it's a little strange having a woman living in my house that isn't Erika, but it's either this, or send them off to a childcare home. I could never do that.

I study the tiny face of one of them, it's so little and soft. It's face is relaxed and careless as it sleeps. I envy my son/daughter. I wish I could sleep soundly like that without a worry in the world. But unfortunately, I've got the safety of the district on my shoulders.