A lot can happen in seven years. The twins were older, and Eliot and I were loving being parents! Nathaniel became a bit like Eliot, having his smirk and heartbreaker eyes. Sophia was a lot like me, stubborn but gentle. They were also as close as Kasey and I were as kids. They also loved Parker and Hardison.
Every day I missed Nate and Sophie. We'd talk, and I'd send them little videos and photos of the twins, but I still missed them. But they deserved their happiness.
The first three years were nice. Parker and I ran Leverage: International, which composed of 12 teams around the world that helped people. Then three years after Nate and Sophie left, and the twins were two years old, I found out I was pregnant again, this time with a little boy.
I don't know who was more excited, me, Eliot, the twins, Parker, or Hardison! And while Eliot and I were talking about another kid, we hadn't specifically exactly planned for it. But after the struggle with the twins, it felt like a miracle. If fact, all our kids felt like miracles. Later that year, I had our son, and we named him Eli Leo Pardison-Spencer, after his daddy and great-uncle. And as always, my partners were by my side, and everything went smoothly!
The next five years were interesting. Parker and I continued running Leverage: International, Hardison started humanitarian work, Eliot and I raised our three kids, and Nate and Sophie lived their lives in peace. I lost my grandpa, the mob Don, during that time, but my family got me through it, and I was okay. My uncle raised his daughter, my cousin, to run the family, and extended the resources of the business. I accepted the offer. And I was good. Business was good, the kids were healthy, and it felt right.
But something else happened in those seven years. We realized the world had changed. Which meant the jobs got harder. The rich and powerful assholes we took down didn't just cover up what they did with paperwork and bribes anymore. They literally bent the laws to allow them to get away with it. And we used to use the law to bring these people down. But how do we do that when all the laws have loopholes to allow this to happen?
And it terrified me! Because it was bad enough that my kids were the children of thieves and had a legacy of crime, but they would grow up in a world where so many bad people could get away with so many bad things. And for a while I felt guilty, and I still do. I mean, what kind of mother puts their kids in a world like that? So the seven years after Nate and Sophie left were oddly peaceful, even if the outside world was anything but.
It also kinda felt like Heaven, which was a weird feeling. A lot of good was happening to me. Eliot and I have been married for 10 years, and we were loving being parents! Seven years after Nate and Sophie left, we got a phone call from Sophie. And what she told us rocked our world like no other.