The World We Once Knew

Chapter TwentyTwo

Logan

I have a somewhat emotional goodbye with my uncle before I leave. I turn my attention to making sure the others look acceptable. He tells us that he is going to bring us to the Abbey. We walk over to a smaller boat and board it. Finn is sitting in one of the seats and waves to us. It's good to see him awake, but I didn't think that he would still be coming with us. Quintus goes and sits next to him. Once the rest of us are sitting down, the captain of the smaller vessel starts it's engine. We reach the dock in about twenty minutes. Quintus helps us up on the dock and then we walk down to the grounds.

Once we reach the grassy area, there are three nuns waiting for us.  We line up in front of them with Quintus supporting Finn. One of the nuns goes over to them and says something. They follow her and disappear around a corner. The other two nuns look us up and down. The Mother Superior steps forward and clears her throat.

"Hello, my name is Mother Superior Agnes. This here is Sister Irene. Sister Irene will take you to your rooms, but first we have some rules here." Akoni and I shift uncomfortably, thinking, knowing, that we won't be able to share a room while here.
"The rules are as follows:

Do not disturb the nuns at any given point in time unless it is an emergency or they speak to you first.
You will be housed in the old dormitories along with the other young people here.
You are here under protection. We will protect you as long as you stay here.
You are allowed to roam about the grounds and most of the buildings. We ask that you do not, however, enter into our living quarters.
Mass is held every Sunday and starts promptly at 9 AM.
The church is open all day every day. Don't hesitate to go in there and pray if you are so inclined.

Those are the rules and I ask that you please abide by them. Other than that we do not care what you do. Are there any questions?" Mother Superior Agnes tells us.

None of us have any questions so Sister Irene beckons for us to follow her. We do and she leads us through a walkway with beautiful arches and then up a spiraling stone staircase. We walk over a pathway and then down another flight of spiraling stone stairs. Sister Irene points out the Walled Victorian Garden that they have and tells us that we are more than welcome to go in there. We reach a building and when she goes to open the door Akoni grabs the door handle and opens it for her. She smiles and thanks him. She leads us up another staircase, this time we go up three flights. She opens a door and we go in. We are in a hallway that is extraordinarily clean.

"This entire floor is for you and the boy who is currently injured. There is an elevator at the other end of the hallway. Mother Superior wanted me to tell you two that your room is at the very end of the hallway." she says looking at Akoni and I.

We smile, "Thank you." we say. She smiles and walks back down the stairs.

"Alright go find your rooms." Akoni says to his siblings. We stand there and watch them open the doors and hear their expressions. We walk down the hallway and open the last door on the left. There is crib, a changing table, and dressers. There is also a toy chest filled with toys and a rocking chair with an ottoman. Akoni puts Brayden down and I take him out of his carrier. I lay him down so he can play with the gym that they got for him. We leave the room and open the last door at the end of the hallway. It is amazing. There is a king size bed with nightstand tables on either side. There are dressers on both sides of the room next to big walk in closets. The closets are stocked full of clothes, and the same with the dressers. There is a fireplace with chairs and a little table in between them, making a little sitting area. Lastly there is a bathroom with a shower that takes up an entire wall, double sinks, a vanity that floats above the floor, a toilet, and a huge bath tub. The room looks like it came out of a fairy tale. I run up to Akoni and kiss him.

"This is going to be amazing!" I tell him.

"I know." he whispers back and then we kiss. He shuts and locks the door and then we make love. We get up and go down stairs to the huge dining hall for dinner. After we decide to walk the grounds. We hold hands and go to the shore. We walk the shore line with his siblings in front of us. Then we walk the Walled Victorian Gardens. We look up at the stars and breathe in the fresh air. I lean my head on his shoulder. He kisses my head and I look at him.

"You don't realize how happy I am right now. To be in this moment with you and just to be able to forget about the rest of the world. It's amazing, I never want it to end." Akoni says to me.

"I love you too." I reply and we go back to walking. Kenzie comes up to us and tells us that she would like to go into the church. So Akoni and I walk into the church with her and sit in a pew. There are a few nuns in there already but they don't look up from their prayers. I decide to pray for my family. So I get down on my knees, put my hands together, and say a prayer for them. Kenzie gets down on her knees and puts her hands together as well. I make the sign of the cross and sit back up on the pew with Akoni. Kenzie kisses her clasped hands and then sits back as well.

I stroke her back and she looks at me, "I prayed for my mommy and daddy." she tells me.

I give her a small smile, "So did I." I say and then she buries her face into my side and starts to quietly sob. Once she's done. We get up to leave when Mother Superior comes up to us.

"I couldn't help but notice that you made the sign of the cross, child." she says to me.

"Oh, yes. My grandmother was Catholic and she taught me how to pray." I reply.

"I'm glad that you took advantage of the church, my dear." Then she looks at Kenzie, "Child, don't cry, know that whomever you prayed and cried for are in a better place."

She smiles at us and bids us a good night. We say goodnight and go back to our rooms. We tuck Kenzie and Brayden in and say goodnight to Ian and Erik. As we are about to go into our room, we hear the elevator door open. Finn walks out of the elevator and waves to us. We wave back and then go into our room.

I decide to take a soothing bubble bath and Akoni lights a fire. Once I'm done with my bath I walk out and see Akoni is sitting by the fire in a chair reading a book. I go up behind him and wrap my arms around him. I kiss his neck and he puts the book down. I walk around the chair and grab his arm. I lead him to the bed. We make love once again and it feels  amazing. Each time we do it, it gets better and better.

When we are laying there Akoni whisper, "You know that the nuns would tell us that we are sinning, right?"

"I don't care about the nuns and what they think." I whisper back.

He chuckles and we lay there. I put my hand on his chest and it goes up and down with his breathing. Finally we fall asleep. The last thing that I feel before drifting off to sleep is Akoni's strong chiseled arms wrapped around me pulling me into his chiseled torso.