Chapter 53

Day 239 - First day of fall

I've always enjoyed the produce my garden bears from the toils of my labor. But my labor has produced almost nothing since summer a year ago. I have only two pumpkins to show for all the fertilizing and watering I have bestowed upon it for the past year. I resolve that if nothing more is produced by the time the plants go dormant I will pull them all up and start fresh in the spring.

The twins graduation was today. Michael decided to make homemade bread for breakfast. Now he decides to learn to cook! Marissa thought she'd exercise in preparation for graduation.

The worst family photo ever!

Marissa graduated with honors. Her classmates voted her "Most likely to become a sports star". She decided they are right and will be seeking a career in athletics. Michael graduated with honor and was voted "Most popular". He has decided to pursue a career in politics. Right there in front of city hall, I presented them with their graduation gifts and hugged them good-bye. They moved into Maz's penthouse until they can make it on their own.

I decided to take William and the triplets to the fairgrounds for the evening. It is almost impossible to get out of the house with toddlers, so we must enjoy our family outings while we can.

Don't be fooled by that look of innocence on Andrew's face.

It grew dark and chilly, so we went home to warm up and eat our supper.

Day 240

I was awakened too early by a neighbor phoning to let me know their cat had kittens and wanted to know if I was interested in adopting one. Seriously? You woke me up for that?

With the children at school, the house felt downright empty. I started the laundry but then decided to take a day off from chores and a day out of the house.

I decided to swing by Yasmin's apartment first. I showed up as she was on her way out, so we only spent a short time visiting.

I decided to swing by Maz's penthouse and see how the twins were settling in. Michael was at work, but Maz and Marissa was there.

Next I wandered over to Times Square Park before heading for the mall.

At the mall I went into the pub and ordered a drink and sat there for a bit thinking about things.

Through a series of text messages with the children, I gathered one went to a friend's house and another brought a friend home with them.

They were fine, so I turned one street before mine and decided to see if Kenneth was home in his castle.

Such a proper gentlemen, even in werewolf form.

Maybe it's taboo getting beastly with a werewolf in form, but it doesn't hurt to push the boundaries of conventionality now and again...

I was *ahem* busy when the kids texted me to let me know that both Beany and Noelle had birthdays and were now elders animals.

I invited Kenneth to come over and spend time with me in the hot tub. I went ahead in my vehicle to shoo the kids to bed. They were taking advantage of my not being there by staying up past their bedtime.

Kenneth showed up in human form. I was pleased with that, as I had a little hot tub procreation in mind.

Afterward we watched the stars until the weather became inclement.

Day 241

I made a phone call to the pet store. I had been contemplating a purchase for some time and now I was ready to follow through.

We have a new African Grey named Frederick.

I uprooted and disposed of all my plants in my greenhouse and outdoor garden. I will try planting in the spring and see what happens then.

I confirmed that I was pregnant and I took advantage of being able to wipe the slate clean with my romances. No awkward breakup with a werewolf needed.

Day 242

Since it was Sunday, I decided to take the kids to the mall and let them enjoy the fall festival there.

I stopped in the mystical shop to take a look around. Now that I have a daughter that is a witch, I should learn a bit more about the craft.

I discovered a old book that spoke of the gateways between the worlds. It spoke of how to move between the worlds. Could it be possible for me to return to the world of non-supernaturals? And did I want to? I hated the cursed full moon here with it's sickly light and drawing zombies from the ground. I have learned to become more comfortable with supernaturals, but I don't feel as comfortable here as I did in the non-magical world.

I know that Rowena had hopes for me, based off the oracle from the magical world. But I am already fulfilling the one from my people and my planet. Why should it be my task to save others too? It's not as if I was accomplishing what Rowena hoped for anyway. I have mated with five supernaturals now. Only five out of eleven children born from these couplings were supernaturals. That would scarcely be considered a success rate. My own human-like alien genetics obviously dominated the gene pool. And that is my true destiny anyway, creating Xicanopian-Earthling hybrids.

I couldn't contemplate returning to the non-magic with supernatural children in tow, but what if they were all grown and on their own? Would I? Well, I don't have to decide right now. I just want to know if it is possible. I purchased the book and settled on a bench to read it while my little ones played.

Throughout dinner I contemplated what I had managed to read thus far. The book claimed that on full moons gateways between worlds opened up fairly frequently. Gates leading to Low World (non-magic) and the High World (magical) were very rare and complicated. But one-way gates leading to the Shadowlands were far more frequent. Was there a gate here that opened to the Low World? And if there was, was it truly a one-way gate? I wanted to find out.

With the full moon rising above the Numinous Rock Falls, I decided to brave the zombies and search for a gateway. The children were busy and content at home. I warned them to stay locked up in the house before I went out to search for answers to my questions.

I walked out past one of the cursed and headed for the top of the falls.

As I walked toward Numinous Rock, I spotted an eerie and familiar glow. My breath caught in my throat. Could it be?

I scooped up a handful of projectiles and cautiously approached taking great care not to step into the light. I tossed the small sticks and stones into the flickering hoping they might disappear from my sight. Instead of the desired results, the items I tossed seemed to bounce off and away from the force within. Just as I was about to give up and walk away a bright light exploded from the gateway. I stepped back in fear and was stunned to see a man appear in the midst of the gateway.

"Where am I?"

"You've arrived in the Shadowlands."

"The what?!? What the hell is going on here?!?"

How do you explain to a normal, rational human being that there is more to the world than what he believes and not come across as someone that needs to be locked away?

I did my best to recount what I knew of the different worlds. I discretely left out my alien heritage or the fact that I was the mother to fifty children with another on the way. Colby Brooks is a police officer that stopped to investigate a strange light off a darkened road while he was off duty. His transition to this world was much like mine except he did not hear whispering, nor did he black out.

He didn't want to believe me. But here he was, in this strange place with it's sickly full moon lighting. And his phone did not work over here. It wasn't just a lack of signal. All of the icons scrambled and showed foreign runes before his phone heated up and died. He was alone and without support, discounting one babbling, crazy lady in the middle of nowhere.

I led him back to my car, offering my home for the night. He accepted somewhat reluctantly.

I think some of his doubts were erased when we arrived to my house. A stray was being taken by the grim reaper on my front porch. A couple of my children disobeyed me and had ran out to see what was going on.

I was tired, hungry and needed to chase the children to bed so I reassured him there would be more time to discuss this tomorrow.

I offered him my bed and I would bunk with the children. But the kids had filled up the lower bunks and he wouldn't hear of it. Poor man had to crawl into the upper bunk to sleep.

Day 243 - Halloween

Today was William's birthday, so I called John to come over to celebrate. I was afraid it would be very awkward having a strange man here first thing in the morning or trying to explain to Colby why the father of my four children did not live with me. I said as little as possible about the situation and the celebration went very well, save the fact that I need a bigger dining room and table.

William aged up to a teen with the trait: Great Kisser. Oh boy, that will go just dandy with his Party Animal trait!

After the celebration, John visited with his children while I quietly attempted to answer more of  Colby's questions. 

Colby finally accepted that he was here to stay for a while. I could tell that he was a proud, independent man accustomed to standing on his own. He didn't want to be taken care of or need my help, but he was suddenly starting over without a benefactor like I had in Rowena. Colby reluctantly agreed to my assistance, insisting I do the minimum and that it was "just a loan".  With that I drove him to the town's motel to procure him a room and to further discuss more of the situation away from the children.

I reluctantly left my new book with Colby. I had not finished it, but he'd have more time to read it through before I could. He now had a place to stay, a new cell phone that worked in the Shadowlands and some cash on hand. It wasn't a great start, but it would do. I returned home to the house and the children. John had decided to spend the day with them. John is really a great dad, the kids couldn't ask for better.

Ewwww!

The kids were eager to dress up for Halloween. As much as I love our house up in the hills, it is removed from other homes. That means the only location nearby for trick or treating is Kenneth's castle. We didn't even receive any trick or treaters at our house this year at all. 

William refused to dress up like a "kid" while he took his siblings out.

It started snowing and Juliette decided "the hell with this" and took off for home.

Once home William decided to show off his costume that he didn't wear to his dad.

I was tired and planning on heading to bed early, when I went into labor.

I went to my bedroom to labor in peace, but John came in to check on me.

I assured him that I was fine and had it under control. Then William walked in and they were chewing the fat completely oblivious to my discomfort. Men!!! In my agitated condition, I shooed them out so I could labor in peace.

Just after midnight I gave birth to a daughter that I named Colleen. Colleen is not a werewolf and was born with the traits: Perceptive and Loves the Heat.