Usual disclaimers apply.
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Chapter 41
"The twins can talk to animals?" Gabrielle looked at her wife in disbelief.
"Apparently so." Xena ran her hand down her face before pulling her pacing wife onto her lap. "It would explain a lot though," Xena continued. "Why they're so good with the horses, the way Nasa follows them everyplace."
"And how they managed to get Minerva to ride that horse with them a few weeks ago." Gabrielle added.
"Yep." Xena sighed. "We will talk to them about being Dr. Doolittles soon, but first we need to talk to them about following random lion cubs at night."
Gabrielle nodded, "As well as talk to Sam about using her brain, and Eve about…" Gabrielle shook her head. "Well, Eve was just being Eve."
"I know," Xena chuckled. "Acting without thinking, just like her mommy."
"Oh really?" Gabrielle looked into Xena's eyes. "And who is it that decided to stop an advancing army of Persians alone?"
"I wasn't alone, I had you." Xena smirked.
"And I was on my deathbed." Gabrielle laid her head on Xena's shoulder. "I guess Eve takes after both of her mothers."
"I guess," Xena took a deep breath. "And Sam?"
"Needs to have a lesson on how and when to use that brain in her head," Gabrielle said quietly. "She may be sixteen, but she acted all of Eve's age today, Xena. If you hadn't followed them who knows what could have happened."
"Anything." Xena held Gabrielle close. "Though I imagine Sam could have handled just about anything. I just don't want her knowing that; yet."
"Or ever," Gabrielle chuckled. "She is too much our child to let her know we think she can handle things at such a young age."
"I know." Xena kissed Gabrielle on the cheek and then moved the bard to sit next to her on the bed. "I guess I'd better go and talk to Sam. We're going to talk a walk."
"I'll talk to Eve," Gabrielle shook her head. "And we will tackle the twins together."
"Sounds good," Xena stood and moved to the bassinet in the corner of the room. "Try to sleep a little longer, Gracie, and don't give your mommy any trouble."
Feeling Gabrielle next to her Xena relished the familiar arm wrapped around her waist as Gabrielle's head laid on her shoulder. "This one has eaten and should be good for the time it takes you to talk to our eldest. If not, I have those bottles you made."
"What do you think her gift will be, Gabrielle?"
"I'm not sure," Gabrielle gently rubbed the infant's cheek. "But whatever it is, I'm sure she we will be ready to handle it."
"If our oldest two don't kill us first," Xena quipped.
"Please," Gabrielle led Xena towards the door of the bedroom. "Cyrene survived raising you, I think we can manage."
"I don't know, Gabrielle. They have us outnumbered."
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My hand had slipped into Mama's easily and I walked in silence through the woods with her. Looking around I couldn't believe how much these woods resembled the woods from back home. I could almost see a younger me being put through the Xena and Gabrielle boot camp for ancient Greece. Sighing I wondered if my thoughts of the future, of wanting it to be that way still, would ever move to the back of my brain. I knew it was a part of me but there were days when I wished that I was ten years old once again and bothering Mrs. Penway enough to have a phone call home.
"Little one?" Mama's voice was soft and I brushed a wayward tear with my free hand.
"Do you think it will ever go away, Mama?" I asked quietly.
"Do I think what will go away?" Mama asked as she led me towards a very large flat rock in a small clearing of the wood.
"My desire to be ten years old again. To go back to what life was like before coming here. Do you think I will ever be able to see something that reminds me of that life and just acknowledge it rather than wishing it was still my life?"
"I don't know," Mama's honest answer made me sigh heavily and I slowly sat down next to her on the overly large rock.
"And how is it you always find a flat rock or a turned over log or something when we need to have a chat?" I added.
"I have many skills," Mama teased putting her arm around my shoulder and allowing me to lean into her. Feeling the kiss to the top of my head I closed my eyes and turned as far as I could into my mama. "You do know that snuggling with me does not prevent the inevitable?"
"I know, Mama. I just…" I opened my eyes and put both arms around her waist. "I sometimes wish I was still Eve's size so I could just crawl onto your lap and let you make everything safe again."
"You don't feel safe here?"
I shook my head and looked up into Mama's eyes, "That's just it. I do feel safe here. Safer than I have in a very long time. It's almost like the energy of this place is different. I don't feel the weight of being 'The child of the gods' here the way I do in the village. It's just…"
"It's different," Mama agreed. "I feel it too, Sam. I haven't been this relaxed in a very long time. It's almost as if I know there will be no danger here that will cost me my family."
Moving my arms from around Mama's waist I looked at her thigh and to the spot where one of my fingers was now drawing patterns. "I'm in trouble, huh?"
"You are."
"I should have listened to that little voice telling me to get you," I finally admitted. "It's just that Eve…" I stopped and took a deep breath. "Okay, I know she wouldn't have come back with me but I also know we could have easily tracked her. I just gave in because it was so much easier."
"It usually is with your sister," Mama agreed. "But you are sixteen now, Sam. Not thinking when you are faced with a situation like that doesn't do you or your sisters any good. What would have happened if I hadn't been there and that lioness hadn't been friendly?"
"I get it," I said quietly. "I acted like a little kid and didn't think."
"You did."
"So I guess you're going to remind me what happens when I act without thinking?"
"I am."
"Joy," my sarcasm was obvious and I was pulled over Mama's lap without further talking. Feeling a tap to my hip I sighed as heavily as I could but raised them up knowing that my sweats would be tugged off within minutes. "You know, Mama," I tried. "These sweats really don't give me too much protection. After all your sword hand is pretty strong."
Hearing the snort, I sighed again and grabbed Mama's ankle seconds before I felt Mama's sword hand come down on my bottom. Feeling her arm tighten around my waist I tried to remain stoic as her hand fell repeatedly. My stoic attitude didn't last long and I was crying and doing my best not to move off of Mama's lap moments later. The spanking seemed to last for hours and yet I knew this was not the case. I vaguely registered being righted and curling into Mama as she pulled me upright onto her lap.
Putting my arms around her I cried a little longer and finally accepted the cloth she gave me to wipe my face. "You haven't lost your touch." I whispered into her neck.
"Your sisters keep me in practice," Mama deadpanned. "Especially Trouble."
Smiling through my last few tears I nodded. "I know."
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Hearing the muttering coming from the corner Gabrielle took another deep breath. "Eve Anastacia, stop swearing in, is that French?"
"Zut! ," Eve confirmed.
"Your mother…." Gabrielle trailed off and Eve snickered despite her predicament.
"I would watch it if I were you, young lady." Gabrielle sat on Eve's bed and took a deep breath once more. "Come over here, Eve."
Slowly turning from the corner Eve walked to her blonde mother swearing in every language she knew in her head. She might get away with an occasional 'damn' now and again but she wasn't stupid. She knew if her mom ever heard her cussing the way she did sometimes…well, this spanking would be the least of her worries. After all, she may be smart, but six was still six, and as far as her parents were concerned she was far too young to be speaking like the warriors she heard around the village every day.
Stopping in front of her blonde mother Eve found herself pulled onto the familiar lap. "I would like to know why you thought it was a good idea to get Sam and follow the twins alone, Eve."
"I wasn't alone," Eve leaned into her mother. "I had Sam with me and I wanted to fix the problem myself."
"Don't you think having your mama or me along would have been a good thing?"
"I think that Sam can protect us and I didn't want to be in trouble for putting the idea in the twins' head. I mean I'm the one that told them the story. That's why they followed the cub."
Gabrielle sighed and hugged her middle daughter before speaking, "Your story may have been part of it, Eve, but your sisters followed that cub for another reason as well. The point is, you are only six years old, and Sam is only sixteen. You should have gotten your mama or me."
"Even if I was going to be in trouble?"
"Aren't you in trouble now?" Gabrielle asked.
Eyes so like her wife's stared up into her face and Gabrielle saw Eve finally make the connection. "Yeah," the girl leaned into Gabrielle once more. "I guess I'm in more trouble now. This sucks."
Making a mental note to discuss slang from the future with her eldest Gabrielle hugged Eve once more. "I think you know what's going to happen, Eve."
"Yeah," Eve looked into her mother's face again. "Flaming tail feathers."
Holding back her chuckle, Gabrielle, nodded. "Yep. Flaming tail feathers."
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Entering the cavern, I brushed past Mom and headed to my room. Kicking off my tennis shoes and fell onto the bed and closed my eyes. Feeling the softness in my hands I opened my eyes and pulled my stuffed elephant close to me. Closing my eyes once more I decided to allow my mind to wander. Mama had worn me out using her sword hand and I felt all of the ten-year-old girl that I had been when I first came back to ancient Greece. I had done something an untrained warrior would have done, yet a part of me wouldn't change what I'd done for Eve the night before.
Feeling the bed dip next to me I ignored the familiar presence the best that I could. Finally feeling Mom lay down next to me I turned and allowed myself to bury my face in her neck. "I miss home," I whispered.
"Home?"
"Yeah," I nodded. "The future home. I just miss it. No gods, no talking lion cub, our worst worry being my driving…" I trailed off. "I miss easy and safe and normal."
Feeling the kiss to the top of my head I hugged my elephant tighter, "I wish we could give you that, Sammy. I would give almost anything to give you back that normal childhood. You missed so much when you came here." Mom pushed me back and looked into my eyes. "But you gained a lot too, Sammy."
"What did I gain, Mommy?" I whispered. "Yaya, my sisters, my friends? What about the ability to kill and the fact that I have killed? The knowledge that I am not only the child of the gods but the savior of the Amazon Nation? Or I know, how about the fact that we're never truly safe here? Being in this cavern is the safest I have felt in years." My tears began again and I felt Mom pull me into her arms. She said nothing but held me as I released all my emotions.
"Better?" Mom whispered as she helped me wipe my face with a clean cloth that had been on my side table.
"I guess," I sniffed. "I don't understand why this hit me so hard. It's not like the first time I've been in trouble."
"And I don't think it will be the last," Mom smiled wryly at my expression as she tapped my nose. "Oh, Sammy, you are too much your mothers' daughter not to be in trouble every so often."
"Tell me about it," I sighed again. "I just wish we could be this at peace and safe all the time."
"What do you mean?" Mom asked quietly.
"Don't you feel it? How safe it is here? I know that the woods hold dangers. I know that there could still be accidents or injuries, but it feels safe, like home did. I don't feel the gods here. I don't feel the weight of being the child of the gods. I'm just me again. Just Sam."
Closing my eyes, I allowed Mom to pull me into her arms. Snuggling into her neck I inhaled deeply and allowed myself the familiar comfort of vanilla and honeysuckle. The familiar scents caused me to relax and I spoke quietly, "Tell me again how you and Mama first met." Mom's familiar story began and I relaxed even more into her; my final thoughts before sleep being how I wished we could live here all the time.
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Entering Eve's bedroom Xena sat down on her middle child's bed and wasn't surprised when the girl turned and jumped into her arms. "Flaming tail feathers?" The warrior asked.
A wail and nod answered the question and Xena stood with Eve moving to the rocking chair in the corner that she knew had not been there when they first arrived. Shrugging at the idea of the gods redecorating Xena decided to take advantage and hummed while she rocked Eve slowly. "Want to talk about it?" Xena asked once Eve's tears had quieted.
"Mommy spanked me," Eve sniffed.
"She did."
"And she made my butt feel like it's on fire," Eve's tears started again. "And just because I wanted to find the twins first. I mean I can't help it they had to go and follow that stupid cub. Why didn't they just stay home?"
Holding in her smile at the question Xena kissed the top of Eve's head, "Well, Trouble, I think that they were taking after you."
"Me?" Watery pools of blue looked into Xena's face. "What do you mean?"
"Do you remember the goat?"
"Which time?" Eve responded before slapping her hands to her mouth. "Oh, Mama. They are like me, aren't they?"
"A little bit," Xena confirmed. "Just like you look up to Sam and want to be like her."
Eve nodded and leaned into her warrior mother, "Sam is cool. And she knows everything, and stuff she doesn't know we find out together, and she teaches me the best stuff."
"She does," Xena confirmed. "Sam is a great big sister, and you are a great big sister. You just have to remember that you can't handle everything on your own and you need to ask you mom and me for help sometimes."
"Even if Sam is around?"
"Even if Sam is around," Xena held Eve close and hummed a few moments before speaking again. "Sam is your sister, Trouble, not your moms. You can come to us about anything even if you think you might be in trouble. We will never stop loving you."
"I know, Mama." Eve sighed and leaned into Xena. "I wish I could see the future where Sam came from."
"You do?" Xena's hand rubbed Eve's back as she rocked.
"Yeah," Eve yawned and curled into Xena more. "I mean I could really kick some butt there."
Shaking her head Xena smiled as she watched the girl on her lap fall asleep. "Just like your mother," Xena whispered kissing Eve's forehead but making no move to put the girl to bed.
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"You ready for this?" Gabrielle took her wife's hand and nodded.
"I am. Eve and Sam are still napping. You've fed Grace and she seems content to just hang out in her crib."
"Yeah," Xena sighed. "I know that they're awake I've heard them talking."
"Then I guess we'd better head in and talk to our two miscreants before they decide to talk to another type of animal and follow it the gods know where."
"Yup." Looking down at the bard Xena sighed. "Okay, my bard, let's do this."
Moving into the bedroom the twins were sharing Xena and Gabrielle watched as their daughters played with the stuffed animals that lined the room being watched over closely by Nasa.
"Emily, Zoe," Xena's voice caused the twins to look up at their mothers. "Your mommy and I would like to talk to you."
"About what?" Zoe asked still playing with her toys.
"About what you and Emily did when you followed that lion cub," Gabrielle replied. Bending down she lifted Zoe into her arms while Xena did the same to Emily. The women then moved to the large bed the twins were sharing. Getting comfortable Gabrielle and Xena made eye contact before making sure the girls on their laps could see their faces and would be able to pay attention to them.
"Are we in trouble?" Emily asked her green eyes focusing on her warrior mother.
"A little bit," Xena replied.
"Why?" Zoe asked. "It's not like Laina would hurt us. She wanted to play and told us to follow her because she had a neat place for us to play."
"That may be," Gabrielle began. "But we need to know where you are all the time. You are only three years old are too little to wander around like you did."
Crossing her arms over her chest Zoe huffed. "It's not fair. Trouble gets to do cool stuff and so does Sam. We don't get to do anything."
Kissing the dark curls on Zoe's head Gabrielle smiled slightly. "You are only three, Zoe. You don't follow random animals anywhere without checking with me or Mama first."
Sighing deeply Zoe nodded, "Okay."
"Emily?" Xena asked brushing the blonde curls from the girl's face. "Do you understand? You and Zoe never follow another animal without telling us first."
Emily nodded and then looked up at her mother, "What if it's an emergency, Mama?"
"What do you mean?" Xena asked.
"What if it's there to help us and you aren't around?" Emily continued.
"Then I guess you can allow it to help," Gabrielle finally answered. "But any other time we want you to talk to us first."
Emily looked at her mothers and then turned her attention on her twin. "Zoe what do you think?"
"I think we can tell them," Zoe answered. "Besides, I don't want flaming tail feathers."
"Me either," Emily confirmed.
Looking at each other Xena and Gabrielle locked eyes and both sighed deeply. "I'm afraid that you both are going to have a couple flaming tail feathers," Gabrielle said quietly. "You left the cavern with a lion cub without telling us. That's very dangerous, girls."
"But she wanted to play!" Zoe pushed off Gabrielle's lap and rounded on both mothers, her blue eyes blazing. "That's not fair!"
"Yeah!" Emily added moving from Xena's lap to sit by her sister on the bed. "We didn't know not to follow our new friend! That's not fair!"
"Oh?" Xena's eyebrow raised and her voice lowered. "Your mommy and I believe that it is fair. You left the cavern and did something very dangerous because we didn't know where you were. You both know that you can't put yourselves in danger like that."
"We weren't in danger!" Zoe shouted again. "We were safe. Laina was with us and it's not like the gods are here."
"Or bad men that want to steal us!" Emily added.
Taking a deep breath once more Gabrielle looked hard at her daughters. "Anytime you are away from us without permission is dangerous. And what do you mean by bad men, Emily?"
"Trouble told us that we can't leave the village to follow our animal friends because sometimes bad men are there and they might try to take us or hurt us."
"And that Sam and she might not be there to help us." Zoe added.
"How long has Eve known you can talk to animals?"
The twins shrugged. "Forever."
Gabrielle nodded and took Emily into her arms while Xena reigned in Zoe. "Okay girls, it's time for us to finish this talk."
"We're good," Zoe quipped. "I think we've talked a lot."
"We have," Xena agreed. "But it's time for Mommy and me to make our point."
"On our butts," Emily deadpanned.
Holding in her chuckle Xena shook her head and winked at her wife. "Come on, you two, let's get this over with."
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Thanks to all who have PM me, as well as for the reviews.
I know it's been a while but I hope this was enjoyed.
I'm working on my other stories as well, but it's been a little crazy in RL. Again, enjoy.