Disclaimer: I don't own the Hardys. They're WWE property and themselves.
Later that night, I had just finished reading the kids another chapter of Harry Potter. I looked at them all, Raymond asleep on my bed.
"Did you see the way they ate their supper?" asked Kamiel suddenly, grabbing everyone's attention. "It was perfect! Almost like home!"
"And Uncle Jeff was teaching us how to wrestle!" Haku added.
"And Aunt Beth taught us a new card game!" Matthew said. I smiled.
"So you like them?" I asked.
"Very much," they chorused.
"Good," I said. "Because I have to go to the city in the morning."
Haku bolted up into a sitting position.
"But you just got back!" he protested.
"I know," I said softly. "I'll only be gone one day. They will look after you until I return."
"Why do you have to go?" asked Kalub as he and Kamiel got situated on my lap.
"Grandpa and I believe that I need a new security card and the birth certificate name has to be changed," I answered. "I need a new driver's license and a few other things. It's all necessary."
"Grandpa's going with you?" Kamiel whined. "Why can't we go? Ray gets to!"
"That's because he's still a baby," I explained kindly, playing with her hair. "Also, my contacts will be in. My eyes will now look like the Nile River, brown with tints of green and blue."
Kamiel smiled at the thought.
"Do you remember the Nile?" I asked them.
"The one from the story?" asked Kalub. "The river where that Princess lives?"
"Yes," I answered. "Cleopatra was not only a princess, but also a queen!"
Then I noticed that Haku was silent, his eyes on the floor. I frowned. That was never a good sign.
"How much more do you have to change, Momma?" he asked suddenly, looking up. "First your hair… and now your eyes… How long 'til they demand a change in who you are, too?"
I studied my eldest son. He had amazingly accurate perception, especially for a nine-year-old.
"They all ready restrict your activities at the Ramble," he continued, undeterred by his siblings' frightened expressions. "You can't go anywhere without being followed, be it by people trying to protect you or those meaning you harm or those sent to follow you. You had to drop out of college, lacking time to transfer. That was your dream too! Going to college… getting a great job… You had to quit your job, just when you finally got that promotion you worked so hard for, and you can't talk to any of your friends 'cause the lines may be tapped. You can't even visit the pack because someone might see you!"
He paused and I knew that his true worry was about to be revealed.
"How long 'til you're cut off from us, 'til you can't be our mother anymore?" he asked, his eyes burrowing into mine, begging for answers that I truly didn't have.
He was frightened! Sensing that he was about to cry, I moved the twins to sit down next to me and pulled him into my lap. I wrapped my arms around him and let him cry on me.
"Now you listen carefully to me, all of you," I said not unkindly. "I promise you that not even death will take me from you. I will always be with you… even if you can't see me. I promise."
***
Sindel walked into the living room and sat down hard. I looked at her crestfallen and saddened expression and felt a slight tug in my heart. Blasted thing anyway…
"You all right?" I asked. She jumped slightly and her eyes zeroed in on me.
"Didn't realize you were still awake," she stated, turning her eyes to the window.
Thank God! Those eyes felt like probes, searching, digging deep inside me for all my faults, failures, and—OH FOR THE LOVE OF—Pull yourself together!
"Jeff…" she began hesitantly.
"What?" I asked, then winced after she did. That hadn't been the kindest tone of voice.
"Can you… promise me something?"
Now she had my attention.
"That depends on the promise," I said carefully.
"Jeff… I know we just met and that you don't particularly like me—"
"That's not true," I cut in. "I just don't know you."
Her eyes caught and held mine. All arguments and stalls died in my throat.
"I'm not here to argue," she said quietly. "I want to know… no… I need to know… Will you promise me that… heaven forbid… if something happens… to me… will you help raise my children… when I'm gone?"
My eyebrows shot up. Help raise… Help?
"Help who?" I asked. She smiled weakly.
"Matt agreed to take them as his own if something happened to me," she told me, then added ruefully, "But he said I'd die over his 'pus-spewing carcass'."
I smirked. Yep. That sounded like Matt.
"Will you help?" she asked again. "They all ready like you well enough…"
I couldn't help it. I wanted those eyes off me!
"Yeah," I answered. "I can do that."