The day Tyrone received his cryptic message from Magdalena, Cian and Theresa received their own surprise. Sitting down to dinner after Cian’s shift at the hospital ended, the couple began to talk over the day, catching one another up on their respective activities. “I was hoping Lauren would be home in time for the children’s birthday. I know she misses everyone. I so hated that her trip home got delayed for so long,” Theresa said of their daughter.

“I know, love. That pandemic breaking out over there totally messed up her timeline. At the same time, I’m glad she was able to make a difference. She jumped in to help when she was really needed,” Cian replied.

“I’m just so grateful she didn’t get sick, too. I’ve been so worried enough about her anyway with being all alone overseas, and with everything this family has already suffered, that was certainly a scenario we can all do without.” Theresa forked up some rice and chewed thoughtfully. “Robin’s also been so worried about his sister. Plus, almost losing Alina nearly broke him. Having Lauren back home safe and sound will do wonders for his morale.”

Cian frowned into his plate. “They’ve been through hell, and Alina is still so ill,” Cian replied. “I’m going over there first thing in the morning before my shift so I can examine her myself.”

Theresa shivered violently and pounded a fist against her chest. “I nearly had heart failure when Robin put himself in such peril. I know it would have broken him if he’d lost Alina, and I get that. But when it’s my own son, oh, it frightened me so! My magic told me something was terribly wrong, but I was given strict orders by your mother that it was Mathilda who was needed. I’ve never felt so helpless in all my life.” She hugged herself as another shudder racked her slender frame, tears brimming in her eyes and spilling over.

Without hesitation, Cian went to his wife, pulled her to her feet, and held her close. “Theresa, my darling, don’t cry. Oh, my love, don’t cry. The worst is past, and they will recover. They both come from strong stock, you know.”

Theresa sniffed and clung to Cian for all she was worth. “I know. Deep down, I know. But…oh, sweetheart, there’s still so much pain this family is going through. My poor brother! The children! And I simply don’t know what Valerie is up to. She’s been so distant and secretive. She’s in trouble, Cian, I know it.”

Cian blew out a long breath and nodded slowly, resting his cheek atop his wife’s blond head. “I’ve been beating myself up thinking about what else I could have said to get through to her that night she came to dinner. It felt to me like…” He trailed off into a momentary contemplative silence. “It felt like she’s sentenced herself to some self-imposed penance. She’s hiding something huge, but far be it for me to guestimate what it could possibly be. I’m rarely ever stumped, and I absolutely despise those times when I am.”

Theresa leaned back to look into his troubled face and stroked his cheek. “I know. I don’t know how to help her, and I’m equally at a loss as to how to comfort Tyrone. There are just some things this twin thing can’t heal. And the kids! Oh, it hurts more than I can sometimes bear to see such sorrow in their little faces. They’re so young to be feeling such pain.”

Cian ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “I’m a doctor. It’s my job to fix things, to fix people, and this time I just can’t. I feel so damned useless.”

Before Theresa could respond with a gesture or words of comfort and encouragement, there was a knock at the door. She jumped and uttered a small started squeak.

Cian looked at his watch and grimaced. He was tired and just wanted to finish his dinner, followed by another glass of wine, and possibly a little snooze in his easy chair. “Were we expecting anyone, love?”

Theresa shook her head and resignedly started for the door. “I’ll get rid of whoever it is. I don’t think either of us are in the mood for company right now.”

However, Theresa changed her mind, gasping as she saw who their evening visitor was. She screamed in sheer joy as she flung open the door. “Lauren! Oh, my everlasting gracious! Lauren! Oh, my Lauren!” Unceremoniously, she pulled her daughter into the house, kicked the door closed, and threw her arms around the younger woman in a tight, motherly embrace. She wept unashamedly and sobbed her daughter’s name repeatedly.

“Oh, I missed you, too, Mom…so much…so, so much.” Lauren was crying, too, and clung to her mother like a bereft orphan. “It’s so good to be home!”

“Let me look at you,” Theresa said, stepping back slightly but still maintaining physical contact with Lauren. “You look tired, sweetheart, and you’ve lost weight. Oh, my poor baby.”

Lauren rolled her eyes in mock exasperation but smiled fondly at her mother. “Oh, Mom, you never change. I am tired though, but I won’t complain about the weight loss. I was turning into such a chubette before I left. A few pounds shed won’t hurt me one iota.”

Moments later, Cian cleared his throat. “Hey, what about me? Doesn’t your old man count for anything?” Tears filled his eyes as Lauren hurled herself into his arms. Cian lifted her easily off the ground and whirled her around and around as only a father could.

Once back on her feet, Lauren bawled like a baby on Cian’s shoulder and held on as tightly as she could. “Oh, Daddy, I was so homesick! I love traveling and having adventures, but when you want to go back home and can’t, it’s such a nightmare. All I could think about was you guys and everything that’s been going on. I feel awful that I couldn’t make it back for Aunt Lenora’s services.” She took a tremulous breath and tried to stem the flow of tears but was only partially successful. She wiped furiously at her cheeks, then gave Cian a lopsided smile when he handed her a hankie. Lauren bit her lip and tried to mop herself up as best she could. “What is going on with Robin? He told me he was engaged but then, I got this horrible feeling in my gut that something was terribly wrong. My twin radar went off.”

Theresa nodded understandingly but was quick to reassure her daughter. “it was touch and go for a brief time but everyone’s doing better. The worst is behind us.” She quickly told Lauren the full story of Robin and Alina’s harrowing experience. When Lauren went chalk white at the telling of Robin entering the spirit world, Cian quickly guided her to a chair at the table and made her sit. Almost as though she were “The Flash,” Theresa handed her daughter a snifter of brandy. “Drink,” she commanded. “You’ll feel much better.”

Lauren did as bidden and felt warmth and color return. “I wish I’d been here to help. Oh, I am so out of sync right now. I wasn’t here when everyone needed me the most. Uncle Tyrone…the kids…oh, I just feel like I abandoned everyone. I want to see them all so badly and do what I can to support the family.”

“What you need is a good night’s sleep, some homecooked food, and time to recover. It won’t take long to get caught up with everything. We just wish we had happier things to share with you, sweetheart,” Cian replied on a sad, tired sigh. “I’m sure everyone will start flocking to see you tomorrow. Are you hungry?”

“Famished, actually,” Lauren grinned in spite of everything. Then, she gave her parents an apologetic look. “I’m sorry I came unannounced and interrupted your dinner. I could have just checked in at a hotel and come tomorrow after everyone was rested up.”

“You will have done no such thing,” Theresa said sternly. “This is your home, darling, as long as you want it to be. We were just about to have another glass of wine, but dinner is still warm. It’s shrimp scampi and rice. How does that sound?”

Lauren grinned delightedly. “I’ll apologize in advance for my soon-to-emerge bad manners, for I’m about to drool. It sounds heavenly.”

Laughing, Theresa hurried to the kitchen while Cian waggled an eyebrow at his daughter. “Now, my dear, let us wine and dine you while you tell us all about your adventures.”

Lauren giggled and rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Oh, Daddy! You’re too much. Oh, Grandmother Ariadne, how I’ve missed you all!”

“We’re so relieved to have you home,” Cian said softly, reaching across the table and covering Lauren’s hand with his own. “It puts our minds at ease that you’re safe.”

In between mouthfuls, Lauren told her parents about everything she’d done, especially about the pandemic she’d gotten stuck in the middle of and about an advanced martial arts class she’d taken with a master guru. “The class was wonderful, and Sensei Toda is absolutely amazing. I’ve learned so much from him. Between the pandemic and talking extensively with him, I know what I want to do. Oh, we got so close, Sensei Toda and I.” At Cian’s raised eyebrows, Lauren burst out laughing. “Not close in that way. The man is 67. It’s just that we became great friends, and I’ll always consider him a mentor.”

“Well then, what was revealed to you while in your zen-like state, O Great One?” Theresa asked, eyes twinkling as she served everyone glasses of wine on a tray.

Lauren’s face went from all smiles to an intense, serious expression. “Well, I guess, in a way, I’ll be taking after you, Daddy. You see, I ended up helping out at this makeshift hospital that was set up in this particular remote, poor village. So many people came down with the sickness, the nearest doctor had died from it, and the nearest doctor after that was about 200 miles away. There were a few actual nurses but those of us who were untrained but still standing did all we could to pitch in and help. I learned how to do IV’s, give breathing treatments, and so on. I also learned how to…” She trailed off and bit her lip, a wave of grief hitting her. “Well, let’s just say I learned a lot about death and dying, too.”

Cian patted is daughter’s hand, then squeezed her shoulder. “Sweetheart, that’s a hard thing to learn about. Believe me, I know.” When Lauren nodded, he continued. “So, does this mean you want to go to medical school and become a doctor?”

“Well, not exactly,” Lauren said. “I want to be a life-flight paramedic. You know I love to fly, and I’m rather proud to say I can think quickly on my feet. I’m not the ER or hospital type. Hearing about Sensei Toda’s life, learning the lessons he taught me, and getting right in there in the thick of a crisis…well, you see, I think I’d be more useful actually out there in the trenches. I mean, it’s often the paramedics who get to the patient before the doctors, and I think that sometimes what they do beforehand can make a difference in saving a life. Oh, I know there are instances where nothing helps, but paramedics are needed.”

Cian took a sip of wine, squeezed Lauren’s fingers, and smiled a proud, fatherly smile. “You don’t have to sell it to me or justify it, darling. I’m in complete agreement with you. There are many times over when it’s the medics who save a life, and the doctors just finish things up. Sweetheart, if that’s what you want to do, then go for it.”

“Damn straight, love!” Theresa agreed.

Smiling, they all clinked their glasses in a toast. “I know I’ve got a long way to go to be certified, but I’ll do it in record time. You’ll see,” Lauren said determinedly.

“Naturally. You’re my kid, after all,” Cian grinned.

Theresa snorted and poked Cian in the ribs. “Oh, well. I guess the only thing ole Mom is good for is looking pretty and playing the piano,” she quipped while slapping her forehead in a dramatic fashion.

“Don’t forget that you know how to make delicious shrimp scampi and rice,” Lauren shot back, swallowing her last shrimp and waggling her eyebrows at her mother.

“Touché!” Theresa laughed and then kissed her daughter’s forehead. “We’re so proud of you, sweetheart. You’ll make one hell of a flight medic.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Lauren said, then produced a jaw cracking yawn. “Pardon me. I’m bushed all of a sudden.”

“Travel time, a full belly, and alcohol will do it every time,” Cian replied, helping his daughter to her feet and giving her another tight hug.  “Your room is all ready and waiting for you. Go on up to bed, and we’ll see you in the morning.”

Lauren was awakened from a sound sleep at the shrill ringing of the house phone. Automatically, her hand reached to answer the extension in her room but stopped in mid-air when the quiet, soothing sounds of her father’s voice greeted her ears. Growing up, Lauren and Robin had always been used to their father being called to the hospital at odd hours, but those kinds of calls had always come through to his private line, not the main house phone. Something was going on. A cold chill ran through her very soul, and she shivered as though someone had walked over her grave.

Arising from her bed, Lauren padded softly across the room, opened the door a crack, and put her ear to the opening so as to make out Cian’s words. Lauren’s eyes widened, centimeter by centimeter, as snippets of conversation reached her. “Are you sure? Yes, Tyrone did seem agitated at something before the funeral, and you said you thought something was off. And Mathilda agrees? Does anyone else know that Tyrone wants Lenora exhumed? These things take time…yes, I understand. Yeah, that’s wise…let the kids celebrate their birthday and then tell them what they need to know when they need to know it. Mmm, hmmm, yes, they’ve been through enough already…yes…certainly. Theresa and I will be over at first light. Oh, listen, Lauren shocked the hell out of us when she arrived home last night. Yes, poor girl is exhausted…got more than she bargained for on that trip. Yes, fine…OK, I will. Lauren sends her love to everyone. Oh, do you want me to keep this quiet…just between all of us or should Robin and Lauren be privy to this info? OK…yeah…perhaps they can. They’d want to help and with Robin’s connections in the Department, we might be able to get this sped up a bit. I understand. Yeah…definitely…for Tyrone’s sake and the sake of the children, answers need to be found. Right then. See you at Tyrone’s at sunup.”

At the sound of the receiver being put back on the cradle, Lauren quietly closed the door, crawled under the covers, and shook as though she’d been lost in a raging blizzard. Exhumation? Aunt Lenora? What in blue thunder was happening here?

A couple minutes later at hearing a soft knock on her closed door, Lauren turned on her bedside light and propped plump pillows behind her back so she could lean against the headboard. “Come in,” she called.

“Lauren, honey, it’s Daddy. I’ve got something I need to tell you. I’m sorry, love, but it can’t wait till morning.”

Lauren was certain this was going to be a bedtime story she wasn’t going to like one bit.

Author’s Note: The pandemic mentioned in this chapter is strictly fictional. I didn’t elaborate on it much, as the only things that are important about it is that it was bad and deadly, Lauren jumped in there like a trooper and did what she could to help, and it’s something that will shape her life for a long time to come. It’s not COVID. I try not to put real current events into my stories since they take place in a parallel world. Besides, writing my stories is an escape from all the crap that is happening in the real world.

As always, thank you so much for reading, commenting, liking, and subscribing. Your support is so greatly appreciated, and I love you all so very much. 🙂