Thomas had been up all night. At times, he would catch himself dozing off, but his head would snap back up and he'd be alert again. With his shotgun firmly in his hands, he sat in a chair next to the window where he spied upon the town for anything out of the ordinary. The night was unusually quiet; not even the crickets sang nor the owls who often flew by to grab a mouse for midnight snack made any attempt to visit the little town. Thomas stole a glance over at Kristine; she was sleeping peacefully. He watched as her chest calmly rose and fell, even her belly was showing signs of movement.
Almost six months. Thomas thought to himself. In a few days Kristine would be six months along. They would need a safe place to stay and raise their baby together. He grinned. Together.

As the morning sun started to rise, Thomas finally closed his heavy eyes—by accident, of course. It was never his intention to fall asleep, and as Kristine woke, she let him sleep. She carefully took the gun from his hands and placed it down on the bed. Next she took one of the spare blankets and draped it over Thomas. The mornings could get chilly and she didn't want him catching a cold. It was charming, him watching over her and the town at night, but also worrisome. She was concerned about his health. If he was exhausted, how would he be able to fight off the enemy?
For now, she would let him rest, and when he awoke she would make him something to eat. Kristine had spent enough time here to learn the basics of cooking from scratch. Thinking of that led her to wonder about things she had strayed from doing, putting them off almost indefinitely. Somehow she would have to contact her parents and tell them everything. She hadn't told Thomas yet, but Kristine planned to stay...for good. This was her home; she had made a life here for herself long ago, and she wasn't going to say goodbye to it.

Kristine went on with her day as normal. She helped Anne in the garden, prayed at the church, and helped some of the children learn how to read and write. Life was simple, but it was also scary how unprotected they all were. In the future, you had police patrolling the town; most apartment complexes required you to have a key or some other device to even get through the first door. People had house alarms; women off all ages carried pepper spray or a taser, or both. But here, there were less things in which to protect oneself from danger.
"What are you thinking about?" Anne asked.
Kristine was brought out of her deep thoughts and looked over at Anne, her new sister-in-law, and gave her half a smile. They were walking back to the house with a basket full of vegetables. "I'm thinking about the others back at the camp. Little Susan, Nathan, Samuel, Margaret, and William."
Anne rested a steady hand on Kristine's shoulder. "Don't worry. They're in good hands."
Kristine was ready to return the kindness when suddenly the door to Anne's home swung open quickly. Thomas rushed down the steps, his head turning right and left. Finally, he turned around, relief washing over his face when he saw Kristine and Anne.
"Goodness, Thomas!" Anne chuckled. "What seems to be the matter?"
"I was...I was worried. No one was home." He took the basket of vegetables, not giving Kristine a chance to protest, and carried them for her.
"You should be sleeping." Kristine told him. She started counting her fingers. "You've only been asleep for four hours. That's not enough. Go back inside and double that amount."
In response to Kristine's demand, Thomas gave her a devilish smile. "I'm fine. Besides, I can sleep when I'm dead."
That comment stopped Kristine in her tracks. She didn't think his clever comeback was very smart. In fact, it upset her. "Don't talk like that." Her voice was low; the look on her face a mirror to how she was feeling.
"I'll see you back at the house." Anne quickly made her escape.
"I...I'm sorry." Thomas immediately stopped his tomfoolery. "How can I make it up to you?"
With one brow raised, Kristine said, "Oh, I'll think of something." She walked past him, following after Anne.
Thomas let out a puff of air, his bangs flying up as he glanced around. A little ways down the road was a rider, and then another, and another. With the basket still in his hands he walked over to the rider fast approaching. It was one of the militia men.
"Gabriel told us to come here. We received your letter and sent help as soon as we were able. More are on their way."
One nod came from Thomas. "Great."
The rider got off his horse and so did the rest of the men. "Where's the traitor?"
Thomas motioned his head to the side. "In that shack."
The man eyes the shack and then the basket of vegetables. "Taking up gardening while away from the war?" He joked.
Thomas tolled his eyes. "You would know." He quickly changed the subject. "Head on over to the shack, but don't go inside. It's locked anyway and I have the key." Thomas walked off into the opposite direction to take the basket back to Anne's house and to let the others know that help had arrived.

Kristine was sitting down at the kitchen table peeling potatoes and Anne was chopping up an onion and carrots. Thomas set the basket down and walked over to stand behind Kristine. He started to rub her shoulders, a soft moan from her indicating that she was enjoying it.
"You know, a massage is not all that will make up for your poor joke."
"But it helps, right?" He leaned down and kissed her cheek.
A sound came from across the room and Anne was putting chopped onion and carrots in a boiling pot. "Kristine and I are making potato cream soup. The bread has almost finished rising."
"Mmm, yum! By the way, Anne, where is your father? Gabriel sent over some militiamen. It's important that he's present while we discuss how to keep the town safe."
"Right, of course. He's with my mother at the church praying." Thomas nodded to her and then quickly left to fetch Mr. Howard.

With the sign of the cross, Mr. Howard finished the last of his prayers, only to be spooked by Thomas when he came up beside him suddenly. Me. Howard fought back a curse. "Thomas Martin!" He whispered fiercely. "You almost gave me a heart attack."
Thomas winced apologetically. "I'm sorry to bother you, but some militiamen have arrived. They're by the shack where the traitor is being held. We need to discuss what should be done about the town and keeping the people safe."
Mr. Howard stared at him for a moment. "I see more of your father in you everyday."
This surprised Thomas. It was the first compliment the man had ever paid him. "Thank you, sir." He stepped to the side, letting his new father-in-law step out of the pew.

When they met with the militiamen, Thomas unlocked the door and let the others enter first.
"This is him?" All the militiamen started talking amongst themselves. The poor man was still tied up.
Thomas let the men speak their minds for a moment and then got straight to the point. "How many men was my brother able to spare?"
"Ten. The three of us here, and the seven more scattered two to three miles around town. They're keeping watch in case the British decide to show their faces."
"That's not enough. There could be anywhere from fifty to a hundred British soldiers."
The man shrugged. "That's the best Gabriel could do."
Thomas cursed under his breath. "What do we do?"
A feeble voice spoke out. It was coming from the traitor. "You can take what I say seriously, or you can choose to ignore me, but the British will be here by late afternoon tomorrow. The best way for you to save the town and people, is to leave. Take everyone with you."
One of the militiamen kicked the man to shut him up. Thomas grasped his shoulder and forced to take a step back. "I've already given him a beating." Thomas turned to the man sitting on the floor. He took his words with great consideration. "How can you expect us to believe you? What if there is an ambush out there waiting for us?"
"Then take my family."
"Oh, you'll be coming with us, too." Said Mr. Howard.
Thomas second that idea. "No man left behind, I guess."

The time came with the militiamen had come with a plan. They would need to start now, and with 's help, they immediately started telling the townsfolk to prepare. Packing was t necessary; it would have to appear as if the people simple vanished. By taking some of their precious belongings, it might make the British think they had fled and go after them. By doing it this way it could be assumed that they never knew about their coming.
"Thomas!" Mr. Howard called.
"Yes?"
"Are you all right?"
Slightly confused, Thomas raised a brow. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"You seem on edge."
"Isn't everyone?"
Mr. Howard gave the young lad one of his looks, his jaw set tight. "You May be your fathers son, but that doesn't mean you have take on all the burden like he did." He paused for a moment before saying, "Think about your wife, Thomas."
"I do. Every single day."
"You know what I mean, young mister Martin."
Thomas took a step closer toward the stout man. "I would kill for Kristine. I owe her my life a hundred times over. I'd never let anything bad happen to her. I'm not just living for myself, I'm living for her and our unborn child, too."

Later that evening, whilst everyone sat around the dinner table and ate the potato cream soup, the works of tomorrow weighed down on Thomas's mind. He brought the news to the young ladies of the house right before supper. They seemed to have taken the news fairly well, and whatever doubts they might have had was covered up with butter and bread over their bowls of soup.
While Thomas ate his fill, he looked admirably at Kristine. Her brown curly locks of hair bounced each time she'd nod or laugh. Her cheeks were pink from all the good food and company, and her tone was pleasant.
How did I find you? How did I become so lucky to have you?

Once the dishes had been cleaned and the tables by everyone in the room, it was off to bed. The whole town had a big day in the morning, so getting enough rest was essential to their plan and having it work out.
Kristine sat on her side of the bed brushing her hair. She yawned, ready to lay her tired head on her feather filled pillow.
Thomas joined her soon after taking his boots off and sliding into bed half naked. The clean sheets felt nice against his skin. He scooted closer to Kristine and took the brush from her, finishing brushing out the remaining tangles in her hair.
"How are you doing?" Kristine's voice was soft and quiet.
"I'm all right."
"Are you nervous about tomorrow?"
"Who isn't?"
A small sigh escaped Kristine's lips and she reached back to take her brush, setting it down on the nightstand. She positioned herself comfortably on the bed and patted the spot next to her to let Thomas know that she wanted to cuddle. Thomas happily obliged, one arm around her while his other hand gently rubbed her belly.
"Thomas, I've decided something."
"And what's that?"
"I want to stay here."
"You do?" This surprised Thomas. Surely Kristine would rather raise a baby in a world without war? "What made you decide this?"
Kristine shrugged. "I don't know. It just feels right." She told him.
Thomas kissed her forehead. "How will we tell your parents? I can't risk losing you on the other side again."
Kristine nestled closer to Thomas. "Maybe Gabriel could help us figure something out. We're family now, after all."
"Yes, let's wait until we see him again. I have a feeling he'll have some crazy ideas." This made Kristine laugh. She hoped to see everyone again very soon. But there was some thing else nagging at the back of her mind. She tried not to think about it too much because the idea sounded absolutely ludicrous. In her heart, Kristine felt as though her parent's were keeping a terrible a secret from her.

Author's note: I'm really bad with updates. I can't apologize enough. Just when I think no one is really interested in the story, I suddenly get notifications and I'm like, crap! I gotta update! I'll try and do better. The story is kind of close to the end.
Also, the song, Mirror Mirror, sung by Marina Kaye, reminds me of this story. Please give it a listen, and don't forget to review!