The Ascended (23 page)

"Fit as a fiddle," she said smiling.

Shawn grabbed me up in a bear hug, spinning me around. I laughed out loud at his joy. "It's the only place that made sense," Sam said, finally answering my first question as Shawn gave me one last crushing hug.

"Sis, where have you been?"

"Oh you know, hobnobbing on the heavenly realm and such," I joked good-naturedly.

"That's insane," he said, grinning at us.

"I know right," I said, sinking down on the sand with Sam and Lynn, who both wrapped their arms around my waist, anchoring me to them.

"We were with Haniel," I said, dropping the bombshell.

"What!
How?"
Lynn asked, confused.

"Haniel made a deal with The Light. He sacrificed himself as an Archangel if it would save us. Once he dragged Victor to The Dark One, The Light gave Haniel his deepest desire."

"And what is that?" Sam asked, enthralled with our tale.

"That he spends all of eternity with his one true love," I answered smiling.

"What?" Kieran asked, clearly shocked. "Haniel was in love?"

"Well, that's a whole other story," I said knowingly.

"So tell it," Kieran said, sinking between John's legs on a big oversized towel.

It took Mark and me several hours to fill them in on Haniel, and what we had learned and experienced once we had left the earthly realm. We tried to give them every detail we could remember. Finding the right words to explain what we had seen proved to be a challenge. Heaven was unlike anything I had ever imagined. I had always pictured it as dreamlike place with Angels bouncing from one cloud to the next. I remembered when I was eight and still struggling to control my emotions, my parents had taken me to Sunday school. The day had been a disaster as I tried to fade into the background, only to have the overly friendly teacher call on me frequently, hoping to draw me out of my shell. By the time my parents picked me up, I was a mess, but I could still recall in the lesson how the teacher had told us the streets of heaven were lined with gold and everyone lived in a mansion. Neither of those assumptions proved to be true.

"It was like entering what I can only imagine the Garden of Eden was like. Lush plants and vegetation grows abundantly everywhere. Animals and people roam the land together, neither harming the other. The air is always the same mild temperature, neither hot nor cold," I said, trying to explain it the best I could in a mishmash of words.

"Why did Haniel want to see you?" John finally asked the most important question.

I glanced at Mark before answering. He nodded his head, smiling at me. "Haniel wanted to see us so he could appoint us to our new job!"

"Job?'
Sam asked bewildered.

"Yes, we have been appointed to take over for him," I said.

"Like, as Archangels?" John asked, trying to make sense of our words.

"No, as the first Ascended Angels," I said, shooting Mark a small smile.

"Mark Ascended too?" Sam gasped beside me.

"Yes," I answered.

My answer opened a floodgate of questions and Mark and I answered them the best we could. We were a little unsure of our duties, but Haniel had promised he would contact us soon through the same Archangel that had guided us to the Heavenly Realm.

"So, Haniel has been in love with your mom all these years?" Sam asked.

Mark nodded his head.

"That is sooooooo romantic," she said, sinking back into Shawn's embrace.

"What comes next?" Jaime asked after several moments passed.

"I don't know. It seems so crazy, not having to worry about Victor anymore. I guess we wait for the next bad guy to come around. But in the meantime, I say a family reunion is in order. I'm dying to meet a certain little boy named Logan. I have a secret for his ears only," I said, shooting Jaime a smile.

My friends continued to pepper us with questions. After we had exhausted every detail, I finally stood up and walked toward the water's edge. The peace I felt was unlike any I had ever experienced. It was hard to believe that six months ago I had stood on this exact spot, confused and lost. I could hardly remember the girl I had been as I tried to recall how unsure and insignificant I had felt. Surrounded now by the ones I loved, it seemed like a lifetime ago. Mark joined me at the water's edge and wrapped his arms around my waist. I tilted my head back to look into his eyes, losing myself in the arms of the person that had chosen me over all else.

Chapter 1

"Victor, can you hand me some extra juice to throw in the beach bag?" I asked my significant other.

"Give me a minute Jenna, can't you see I'm a little busy right now."

My heart tugged a little at his tone. Today was supposed to be a fun day. We were finally home again with our children after completing a rather difficult task in the Middle-East. Victor had been on edge since our return, and I felt a slight unease because of his odd behavior. Each assignment lately seemed to take a greater toll on him than the other Protectors. I had been meaning to talk to Haniel about it, but never seemed to get the chance. Haniel's visits have been sporadic lately and I missed talking to him.

Shaking off my unease, I left the half-packed beach bag on the table and walked up behind Victor and placed my hands on his shoulders. He jumped slightly at my touch as he closed down the computer. I could feel the tension and mixed emotions that had been swirling around him since our return the previous night.

I had hoped that the mixed emotions would disappear once we returned home and got to see Harmony and Mark again, but after a brief reunion with them, he had closed himself up in his office.

"What's wrong with daddy?" Mark had asked, confused at his father's standoffish attitude.

"Daddy's just a little sad after our last job," I said, trying to ease his confusion.

"Will you fix him?" He asked as I tucked him into bed after blowing raspberries on his belly, making him giggle in the sweet way I loved so much.

"Yes, mommy will fix him, and tomorrow we will go to the beach and see all our friends," I said, amazed that even at the tender age of three, Mark somewhat understood the uniqueness of our bonds.

"Krista?" Mark asked, distracted about the promised beach trip.

"Yes my sweet, you will see Krista there," I said, returning his smile. I did not resent his attachment to my dear friend's little girl. It was the way it should be. One day they would grow up and they would marry each other. They would spend their youth as the best of friends until they reached their teenage years where they would discover the far deeper love they felt for each other, just as Harmony would with Mason. It was what we were created for.

"Now go to sleep and have the sweet dreams I know you will have," I said, kissing his chubby cheeks one last time.

But I didn't have the chance to "fix" Victor by the time both kids had been put to bed. He had already retired for the night.

To my dismay, Victor's mood was not much better the next morning. Trying to ease his tension, I massaged his shoulders gently, mustering a small bit of peace and tranquility together inside me and prepared to send it his way. Before I could cast it toward him though, he stood up and pulled me in his arms.

"I'm okay. Don't waste anymore of your emotions. You need to recoup," he said, finally sounding like the man who held the key to my heart. "I'm working through it and will be fine," he added, reassuring me with a quick kiss on my lips. I tightened my arms around his neck, aching to deepen the kiss. It had been weeks since we had any significant alone time and I craved his touch.

"Momma, I can't find my Spiderman swim frunks." Mark said plaintively behind me. "And Harmony's swimsuit is broken I fink," he added, making me smile. I just adored his lisp, it was so cute. Pulling away from Victor reluctantly, I turned around to assist my two adorable munchkins.

I had to laugh when I saw that Harmony's swimsuit did indeed look broken with the way Mark had tried to put it on her. He had looped one of the armholes around her neck leaving a missing armhole for her tiny left arm.

"Let mommy fix that," I said, kneeling down in front of the little bundle of sunshine in front of me. Harmony smiled at me in her usual way and waited patiently while I righted her swimsuit. I brushed her long locks of golden hair off her narrow shoulders so the strap wouldn’t get tangled in it.

"There, all fixed," I said, still hunkering down in front of her. "You ready to go play in the sand?" I asked her.

"Sand," she said, her bright blue eyes shining.

"Yes, sand, my silly honeysuckle girl." Harmony's fascination with the sand on the beach was one that had kept all of us entertained. She would play in the sand for hours, sifting it though her tiny little fingers and watching it cascade down. She had no use for the vast ocean, but the sand on the beach was by far her favorite destination.

"Are you ready to go Jenna?" Victor asked, coming down the hallway with an oddly sullen Mark trailing behind him.

"Yep, just about. What's the matter sweetie?" I asked Mark.

"Daddy said I don't need my Spiderman frunks," he said with uncharacteristic tears welling up in his eyes.

"Why not?"
I asked a little confused.

"Because the plaid ones are fine and he needs to start learning that he can't have everything he wants. He also needs to learn to curb his tears," Victor said in a harsh voice that shocked me.

"Of course he can wear his Spiderman trunks," I said intervening. "I know exactly where they are and there's no reason he should go without." We had never argued about the kids before.
Raising
the next generation of Guides and Protectors was an honor; the fact that they were all good natured and happy made the job all the easier.

"You're right," Victor said, switching gears. "I just couldn't find them and was a little frustrated. I'll go load up the car," he added, leaving the room abruptly.

The panic and misgivings I had been trying to keep at bay reared its ugly head as I blinked away sudden tears. I was going to have to talk to Haniel; something was clearly wrong.

***

By the time I loaded the kids into the
car,
Victor seemed back to normal and was joking with the kids about catching a wave to Hawaii. Mark was quiet and withdrawn at first, but by the time we pulled into the crowded lot, he was giggling at Victor's jokes. Placing my panic about his sporadic emotions in a file to be analyzed later, I joined in with their silly bantering.