Chapter 69
Abigail convinced Mark to camp out a few more days, not wanting him on his bike until at least some of the fatigue from the battle wore off, or he regained strength. It was slowly tapering off, the magic allowing him to return to his normal self, but it would still take time before Mark was himself fully again. Mark stayed in bed, resting up with Abigail beside him, both exhausted in every way possible from both the battle and the trek back to Wonderful, along with the emotional turmoil. Matt kept them well-fed, bringing them meals, but other than that, they both stayed in bed together, talking and sleeping.
"You know, now that the DOV is gone and the world is at peace again, a lot of those people in Wonderful are probably going to leave to go back to their towns to start rebuilding them." Abigail pointed out randomly 3 days later, laying on her side facing him and stroked his face with her hand.
"I doubt it." He yawned his own hand on her still very flat stomach. It was hard and he knew what that hardness was from, it brought a smile to his face whenever he felt it. "A lot of people have made Wonderful their home, and there will only be a few returning to old towns at the most. Many won't want to leave behind familiar faces and known security. I see Wonderful growing. If there are others out there, who have been managing to stay out of the DOV's sight, they'll eventually start roaming again when they realize the DOV is gone. Then things will get interesting."
"Yeah, it'll definitely grow. You do realize we'll have to either expand the tower or move somewhere else in Wonderful, right?" At his arched brow, she smiled and softly brushed her lips against his, loving how he couldn't keep his hand off her stomach. "I didn't see another room in the tower and…Hope is going to need her own room, eventually. And if we decide to have any more kids besides her, there won't be any space in the tower unless we expand or get a bigger place." If Mark wanted more children, she would give him a few more, as long as Hope's delivery went smoothly without complications.
"Mmm, plenty of time to think about it. Adding to the tower would be a bitch, you know that?" Taker snorted, shaking his head gently.
The tower was built out of the same stone as the wall that surrounded Wonderful. It had been one of the first things built, one of the original watchtowers and he had stayed there ever since. He could easily see Wonderful expanding, past the wall, with the area inside becoming an inner bailey of sorts. That was just giving him a headache, he wasn't going to think about it just yet.
"You already planning for a posse of children, Abbie?"
"I'm just saying if, doesn't mean we have to. I wouldn't mind having more kids with you. I wanna wait though and see how this one goes first, make sure I'm cut out for the mother job." Abigail nuzzled his chest and breathed in his scent, perfectly content and relaxed to stay here with him. They didn't have to go back to Wonderful, they could go anywhere now that the DOV was gone. "Mark, have you…ever thought about leaving Wonderful? Or do you really like it there and see yourself settling down there?" She looked up at him, genuine curiosity in her eyes, and could see he was trying to find the right words. "Never mind, forget it, that was stupid to ask." This man felt an obligation to protect the entire town of Wonderful because of his magic, but Abigail wondered if he was truly happy there or if he wanted to expand his horizons.
Honestly, Taker hadn't considered much past Wonderful just because at the time, there hadn't been anything out there except death and despair. Of course, now with the DOV gone, that left Vesperia wide open to be explored and reclaimed. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that there weren't other survivors out there, but it wasn't just himself anymore. He had her and Hope to think about.
"Darlin', remember when I once told you that men as a whole were… bad? We're assholes." Of course, she did, he wasn't surprised to see her nod. "There'll be those who try to fill in Wyatt's shoes, and Wonderful itself is probably the last place standing, and will likely remain that way for years to come. I don't necessarily want to govern it, but eventually, a government will have to be set up again."
"Everyone is going to want you to be the governor." Abigail surmised, not questioning it, and had a feeling he would never leave Wonderful due to the simple fact of what he said.
It was the only place that couldn't be conquered by Bray and the DOV because of his magic. Eventually, age would catch up to Mark and that magic would either have to be siphoned out of him into a stone to keep the walls of Wonderful protected or…the protection would die with him when that time came. Either way, Abigail didn't see them exploring Vesperia together and finding a new home, a new place to settle down, not when so much still had to be done with Wonderful. Maybe one day when their daughter, or however many kids they had, were grown up, they could ride off into the sunset and see the world.
"I want to build a library in Wonderful, would that be alright?"
A twinkle took over his emerald orbs temporarily. "A library…" He breathed, remembering their trip to the library a few hours away from Wonderful. "Wouldn't that be something…"
They could go get those books, any others they happened across, and have a proper library again. One that he wouldn't allow being destroyed or used for toilet paper, fire kindling, or cigarette papers. Abigail saw the twinkle and grinned, her own eyes sparkling at the thought of having an actual library in Wonderful.
"Yeah, a library, and we can salvage all those books from the one you took me to. We can give these people a proper education, build a school for all the kids." While she spoke, she kissed his neck, his chest and moved to where she now straddled him, wanting more of that green back in his eyes. "I'll never forget our time at that library…and I want one in Wonderful, so we can have another moment like that." That library is where she planned on escaping if they didn't work things out, not that she'd ever tell him that. "What else do you want in Wonderful? A repair shop maybe for cars and bikes? Tell me…"
"We have one, darlin'." She really hadn't even gotten to see all of Wonderful, had she? Probably just the main area and then whatever Dean had shown her. "With all of us usin' motorcycles and whatnot, when we'd go on raids, having a garage was kind of mandatory. A proper hospital wouldn't be bad…" He imagined some people might want a church or something, somewhere to go worship.
"When we get back, I want you to take me on a tour of home. I haven't gotten to see it all yet and I want to see it with you."
If he mentioned church, Abigail would've had to remind him religion is what got them into this mess in the first place. Religion is what turned worlds upside down and destroyed people – Bray being the prime example of that. She didn't want to think about that or mention it, doing what she could to bring her man back to life.
"A proper hospital sounds great. I really want to continue working in the medical wing and possibly expand in it since Jeff says I have a calling for it." Though, when she was around 8 months along, she would have to take time off from work to have Hope. "What else would you like to see in Wonderful?"
"Families." People would feel more secure now, they would naturally want to do what people did: raise families, in safety.
"Mmm, I see a bright future for Wonderful, especially with you as the governor or whatever you wanna call yourself. They call you boss, so maybe that'll stick." Abigail nuzzled his neck, stroking his arms, and saw the tattoos were slowly coming back. "Do you think you'll be able to leave tomorrow or do you need another day to recuperate?" She pulled back to look at him, stroking his goatee, and slid the pad of her thumb across his lips, caressing his face. "I'm sure if you need another day, they won't mind. Everyone seems to be getting along fine here and I don't want you riding if you're not ready." She planned on riding with him, not wanting to leave his side. "Be honest with me, how do you feel?"
"I've been okay to ride for a while now, darlin'."
Taker really hoped he wasn't named governor or whatever the hell else. He ran things now, sort of, when it came down to the hard decisions, he usually made the final call, but he also always had input and took other things into consideration. Day to day life and all that was pretty much run by themselves, with disputes being handled by the council, or 'circle', as some liked to call it. However, those people had been in Wonderful for years and proven themselves so… he didn't know. He was getting a headache just thinking about it.
"Not like I can't go total invalid and ride in a truck."
"Okay, we can leave tomorrow then if you feel you can do it." Abigail was happy he had taken 3 days to just chill out and rest, especially after that gruesome war. "I'm gonna ride with you. Not letting you out of my sight."
She heard him chuckle and pinched his side playfully, mumbling incoherently in his neck. It just made him chuckle harder and, honestly, hearing that from him was sweet music to her ears. If she was being even more honest, Abigail needed these past few days with him alone, just to reflect and talk things out. Yawning, she felt the energy drain out of her again and knew it was from the baby, passing on top of him a few minutes later.
She had given him quite a bit to think about and as Taker thought, he realized a lot of people were going to need to start learning trades again. Most people in Wonderful worked, they had to. Everyone pitched in one way or another. However, people were usually sent where their strengths lay. Training wasn't something people just signed up for, they were given it based on need and predisposition. Like Abigail, and how easily she had picked up drawing blood. Jeff had seen she had the aptitude and gone from there.
The next morning, everyone pitched in to take down the encampment and piled in the various trucks. Abigail hopped on the back of the motorcycle, wrapping her arms around him, and smiled as he took off down the road with everyone following. They stroked each other throughout the ride, hands on his chest, his hands on her thighs and knee, both reassuring the other they were really here. Another 12 hours later, they camped out again and Steve informed them it would be another couple of days before they reached Wonderful.
Sure enough, 3 days later, the gates opened as everyone began filing inside, people stopping what they were doing to glance at the swarm of new people, mostly women, with children coming into their town. Abigail knew there'd be some scrutiny, but if Mark deemed it fine for them to be here, everyone would mind their tongues and attitudes. She held his hand, inhaling the smell of Wonderful, of home, and everyone began applauding to show their appreciation.
"MATT!"
Matt spun around as the love of his life, Amy, jumped into his arms, swinging her around in circles with her legs encircling his waist. "I'm-" His mouth was claimed by her and all he could do was kiss her back, tightening his arms around her.
Abigail could tell Amy was crying, her heart going out to the woman since Matt had been forced to go to war instead of Jeff, who didn't have a pregnant woman in his life the way Matt did.
Matt wasn't the only man with a woman expecting a baby who had gone. Steve was another example. There were several in the squads from other parts of Wonderful that had gone as well and now those men were scrambling to go see their expectant wives and girlfriends. Matt going was simply the best option, he was more of a fighter than his brother. Jeff could fight, but he was more medical minded and they had needed that here.
"Oh, sweet Jesus, Taker…" Stephanie walked slowly up, blue eyes taking in the procession of new people. "We have that apartment complex open still… the first floor is livable, I'm sure the second could be fixed up soon enough."
"Why are you up?"
"It's been over a month?" She rolled her eyes at him. They had been gone a long time. "Anthony is with John, and I've been getting things ready for your return. I didn't realize there would be so many…"
"I will help you, Stephanie." Abigail offered, frowning when Mark placed a hand on her shoulder and saw the concern in his eyes. "I'll be fine…"
"Did I miss something?"
This wasn't the way she wanted to tell Stephanie, of all people, but Mark was still overprotective of her because of the baby. "I'm pregnant…" She blinked when Stephanie gave her a bone-crunching hug, grunting out 'I can't breathe' before she was released.
"How? When? Oh my god, did you go KNOWING you were pregnant?!" Stephanie exclaimed, blue eyes wide.
"No! No, I didn't. I had a vision…and that's how we found out." Malcolm was the one who told them for sure, but Abigail didn't want to mention him at the moment.
"Well, Malcolm left yesterday with Susanne, said he was taking her away and starting a new life or something. Is everything okay?" Leave it to Stephanie to bring up a sore subject.
"Yeah, it's fine." Abigail felt Mark tense at the mention of his father and kissed his hand, letting him know all was as it should be. "How about I help her for a bit and then I'll come back to the tower to rest? I promise I won't overdo it."
"I-"
"Boss, get your ass over here, mother fucker, and help us!" Steve bellowed from just outside the gates. "We got trucks to unload and these boys want to get home soon."
"I'll uh, ring the square bell and get all hands on deck, Taker," Stephanie said, trying not to smile as she winked at Abigail. "I'm thinking we're just going to throw shit in the big pots tonight over open fires."
"Go on, darlin'." He sighed, waving his woman off with a grin.
"I love you." She whispered, kissing him softly, and then went on her way to help Stephanie with whatever she needed.
