Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (87 page)

Sarah
sat the bowl back on the table and wiped
her
lips with a napkin. “Fairly boring since Connor isn’t there anymore. There hasn’t been a s
ingle accident near me since.” She
smiled wick
e
dly at
her
mate
.

Before he could defend himself, Jenny cut in. “You know what that means? Connor is a
big
magnet for just about everything
, especially trouble
.”
She
felt
her
brow furrow together. “He attracts
problems
as well
as the
good.”
Jenny
smiled jokingly. “Guess which one you are?”

Under his breath he said “Trouble.” Apparently Jenny heard it as well because her smile became slightly wider.

Back when Rhoda first whispered the
secret
to a good marriage
Sarah
felt appalled, but this time
she
didn’t
at the moment
. Sarah
grabbed the metal spoon from the empty bowl and cracked Connor over the back of his head.

Jenny doubled over in laughter. Connor was more shocked about what hit him rather than the pain. Apparently
she
used too much strength because the spoon
bent backwards at the handle. Sarah
quickly put the spoon under the table
and straightened it back to its original form with
her
fingertips.
The spoo
n
did creak as it was bent back, but it was inaudible next to Jenny’s laughter.

Connor spoke while Jenny was laughing so hard that she was actually squeaking
and her face was red
. “So that wa
s what Grandma
taught you.”

Jenny burst into another fit of laughter.

Jenny finally was able to breathe
a minute later
.
She wiped away a tear with the back of her left hand and said
“Sarah, you ar
e a natural at being a May
.” She continued smiling.
Connor didn’t r
ub his head the first time as they
left
the house. As they
walked to Connor’s truck, Jenny was on her way to work.
Sarah knew that whatever damage she
inflicted
on him
had
already healed.

They
returned home later in the day.
They
had to go to two grocery stores because the first one only had five bags of apples left on the shelf.
And tha
t was nowhere near enough for Sarah’s craving amounts
.

Dome and
Grou
nd

Mark and Kara showed up the next day
at the cabin
. Mark had a gr
in from ear to ear as he gave
his sincere congratulations of
their fateful conception and hoped they
would have a perfect
and healthy
child
that was as unique as their parents
. Since Connor doesn’t like to smoke or drink, Mark invited
them out
to eat at th
e diner again. They
accepted his offer and had a good time.

Yesterday on December twentieth Connor left as he said he would.
He spent
an hour on the bicycle to charge the batteries while he was away.
As he left their
home he had a rather large pack filled with an assortment of things.
Sarah
wanted to peek, but he said it will be a secret
and wouldn’t allow
her
to even guess
.
She
wanted to use sonar, but decided that the surprise would be well worth it.
She
was a little excited and a little annoyed as he left after g
iving
a quick kiss.

Sarah
awoke around nine in the morning on
the winter solstice and also her
birthday
with a
feeling
of
excitement
.
This is the day that she’s been looking forward to and dreading. She
had gotten used to waking at the crack of dawn, but since
the
pregnancy
began
she
ha
s
been sleeping in a little bit longer
than usual
.

She
walked
away
from
the
warm
and cozy
bed, across the freezing wood floor, into the chilly bathroom and turned the bath water on hot. When the water
became
comfortably warm
she
shrugged the blanket off and s
at it in the hamper along with her
large nightshirt.
She
use
s
Connor
’
s shirts t
o sleep in because they are so
roomy
and they have his unmistakable scent that drives
her wild. After shaking her
head
to
clear
it
again, she
jumped into the showe
r and let the water ease away the
fears and pain
for the next ten minutes
.

As
she
stepped out of the shower and wrapped
her
self in a towel
she checked her
bond to see where Connor was.
She
could tell he was to the northw
est and currently on his way back
. A smile spread across
her
face as
the day’s
excitement increased.
Grabbing the hair drier she
started
the task of
drying
her
hair
while thinking exciting thoughts
.
It
’
s my birthday and I can finally
tell my parents the glorious news…

After brushing her
hair and putting on winter hiking clothes,
she
looked into the bathroom mirror one last time.
She
grabbed a black hair tie and pulled
her hip length,
long brown hair into a single tail. In the mirror
she
looked almost radiant
;
if that would b
e the right word in this case. Her complexion
didn’t have a single
blemish in the reflection and she was glad that she
wasn’t too tired
today
.
Her
skin had a glow of motherhood a
nd the smile that grew
i
s genuine.

She
walked into the kitchen and made a quick breakfast of eggs an
d toast along with six apples. She
finished soon after and walked
back
into the bedroom
to finish up the preparations
.
The
camping bag
had been the first removed
from
her
closet that
she
brought with
her
to the last camping trip with Mark and Kara
up
in the mountains.
The
brown hiking backpack
rested
on the bed
as she
unclasped the opening.
As
she
was putting clothes in the bag Connor’s mind
began
reaching for
hers
. Lately
their
mental range had doubled since the incident with the mayo
r and it is worth it. It means she
can connect with
her
mate sooner than normal
and have his c
omforting mind washing with hers
.

“Good morning, Connor.”
She
said happily while putting
o
n some undergarments.

“Happy B
irthday, Princess.”
J
ust the touch of his mind
eased her
inner struggles away. Connecting with his mind is both intimate and calming
to
her
as it is for him
.
“Are you ready to get your party underway?”

“Almost!
I’m still packing my bag.”

“Be sure to only bring a change of clothes. You don’t need to bring anything else. Everything is prepared for your birthday.”
He paused for a moment.
“Can you tell that also to your parents for me?”

“Will do…”
He
cut the transmission a
s
she
latched
the
pack closed.
Sarah
carried the pack
from
her
bed
to the living room
. As she
finished putting on socks and lacing up
the boots, she
sw
u
ng the brown backpack over
her
shoulder and left the house
after making sure the front door was locked
.

Sarah dreaded
stay
ing
out
in the cold
for too long
so
she
ran atop the fresh snow fast enough to not sink down
below its surface. She
made it to
her
parent’s house
in record time
and walked through the garage door without knocking. The inside was warm and toasty which
i
s wh
y
she
ran over here
so
quickly
for. The ligh
ts were on in the living room. She
shut the door s
aying “Mother? Father? I’m here!
”

“We
’
re in here still getting ready.”
Jack’s deep
voice came from their
bed
room.
F
rom his tone he was just as excited about all this.

Sarah sat her
bag by the front door and sat quietly
on the sofa that faced the front door.
Her parents
had already eaten
a small
breakfast and
she
also
saw a little bit of steam
coming
from the
bathroom
.
T
hey just finished freshening up. Through the bond
she announced
“Connor will be here in about five minutes.”

“Thank you for the heads up.”
Her m
other
acknowledged
.

She then remembered Connor’s request. Sarah
spoke loudly down the hall. “Connor
also
said to only bring a change of clothes with you. He said he has everything else prepared.”

Jillian
poked her head out her
bedroom
door
wearing a silly grin
. “Really? Did he say what he
prepared
?”

She
shook
her
head. “I’m as clueless as you are, Mother.”

Her head disappeared again
after her eyes narrowed
. For the next few minutes
Sarah
crossed
her
ankles together and waited.
Jillian
was the first to exit her
bed
room with
her tall mate
right on her heels. She wore thick
brown
pants, heavy brown leather hiking boots,
a red long sleeved shirt along with a thick brown parka with a hood. Her dark brown hair was tucked under the parka while her golden eyes were alert as ever.
Jack
wore a si
milar style,
only
his shirt was
light blue. In his hands were two full
back
packs
.
Jillian
sat on the other s
ofa
while
Jack
sat the bags next to
Sarah’s
by the front door
.