Jae opened her mouth and had barely begun to let out what would have been a blood curdling scream had not the person who had grabbed her shoulder moved his hand and clamped it tightly over her mouth; she began to struggle.
"Don't scream, dear one, you'll wake the whole house!" a familiar voice whispered into her ear.
Colonel?
Immediately, Jae relaxed and the hand was removed from her mouth as the person walked over to a window on the far wall and opened the shade that had been put over it and letting in the moonlight. Jae's eyes widened as she saw that indeed, it was Col. Tavington who stood before her, a small smile turning up the corners of his mouth.
"You're... you're not a ghost, are you?"
Col. Tavington cocked an eyebrow and replied in mock sarcasm, "Well, my hand was solid, was it not?"
"So, it is you..."
The colonel nodded, his smile widening.
"Yes, it is.."
Jae stared up at him in overwhelming silence, as tears began forming in her eyes while the colonel stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her in a tight warm embrace, kissing the top of her head as Jae buried her face in his chest.
"I've missed you so much...Why did you let me go?" she asked, crying softly.
Col. Tavington held her tighter and replied softly, "Believe me, I didn't want to, but you told me that you wanted to go home..."
"I know.. now I'm not so sure I should have.."
The colonel cocked an eyebrow in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"I just... nevermind, can I tell you later?"
"Certainly. But are you all right?"
"I could be better... how about you?"
"I'm well. Braden is two years old now; he's talking all the time and getting into all sorts of trouble."
Jae smiled.
"And the lady?"
"She's well; tired though, she recently gave birth to our second child, a girl, whom we named Brielle."
"Aww... bet she's cute." Jae said, brightening a bit.
Col. Tavington chuckled.
"She looks like her mother, but her eyes are a little bit of both of us. But yes, she's a very beautiful little baby. Even Braden, whom we afraid would get jealous, seems to like her."
"Well that's a good thing..."
"Jae, are you sure you're all right? You looked a bit troubled."
"No," Jae sighed, sniffing a bit. "I'm not all right. There's a gap in time, and I need to go back and fix it."
"I was wondering... after you left, as you may have guessed, we won the war, but something didn't seem quite right, though I couldn't exactly place what it was."
"Look, I can explain more later, right now, I just want to go back.."
Col. Tavington sighed, cupping Jae's chin in his hand.
"You sound just like you did when you said that you wanted to go back home to the future."
Jae averted her gaze from his and began to cry again softly.
"I know, but this time, I really do have to go back.. with you. I know I'm just seeing you again, and this sounds rushed, but I promise, I'll explain everything later."
"Jae? Jae, where are you?" Aidan called as his footsteps sounded outside the room.
Surprised by the other voice, Col. Tavington instinctively held Jae closer to him while reaching for the mounted saber. But then Jae cocked an eyebrow at him and he put it back.
"My apologies... Soldier's instincts..."
"Jae!"
"In here!" Jae replied.
"Is this my cue to leave?" the colonel asked.
"You're not going anywhere.."
"Jae, thank god, I was beginning to wonder..."
Aidan entered the room dressed in naught but a pair of black satin boxers and froze, a look of surprise and mild shock on his face as his icy eyes narrowed at Col. Tavington as the moonlight played across the colonel's skin, giving it a rather ghostly hue...
"So, Brant was right.. you are haunting this place..."
Col. Tavington rolled his eyes.
"No, Aidan, I am most certainly not haunting my house."
"But you're a ghost, aren't you?"
"No. If I was ghost, I couldn't have written that little note to you earlier."
Aidan scowled and Col. Tavington smirked in response.
"But how did you get here?"
"That doesn't matter at the moment. What matters is that I think we need to get Jae back.."
"You already know the situation?"
"A shallow outline, yes, but no details; I believe that Jae will save those to share with me when we are alone." the colonel replied.
Aidan continued to stare at Col. Tavington, his eyes narrowing even more.
This is the strangest situation I've ever been in... perhaps I shouldn't have cracked open that last bit of brandy before bed...
"Aidan, is my sister awake?" Jae asked.
"Yes, I believe so."
"Can you please go get them?"
"Certainly." Aidan replied and walked out of the room.
"Oh, and while you're at it, do get some decent evening wear.." called the colonel.
Jae bit her lip, holding back a laugh.
"So," she said, looking up at Col. Tavington. "Are you up for another visit?"
"Well, are you up for staying with a two year old and a newborn? Not to mention, my brothers, who come by the house every once in a while..."
Jae smiled.
"I think we can come to an agreement... Are you sure you don't mind? We'll try not to be any trouble..."
"Of course I don't mind!" replied the colonel. "Just don't wake me up unnecessarily or upset my wife and we have an accord. Oh, and.. the evening wear..just be sure that you're fully covered.."
Jae laughed.
"I guess it's a done deal then.."