The gentle feeling of Shauna's hand on Troy's shoulder was enough to wake him and pull him out of his frantic nightmare. He stared up at the ceiling, breathing hard and trying to tell himself that it was just a dream.
"Sam, you're having a nightmare again. It's okay." Shauna moved closer to him, and put her arm over his chest. "Are you alright?"
The dream gradually released its grip on Troy, and he drew in a deep breath. "The girl was in Beckmann's camp. I was trying to get to her, but my leg kept slowing me down." He took Shauna's hand, squeezing it tightly. "I kept screaming for the guards to take me instead."
"Oh, Sam." Shauna began massaging his hand.
"I don't know if they listened or not, because you woke me up."
"Sorry."
"No, don't ever apologize for that. Thank you." Troy reached over to his nightstand to pick up his watch. "Almost time to get up anyway."
"Let's not worry about that right now." Shauna rested her head on Troy's shoulder.
"Well, it's hard to properly snuggle with a cast on."
"There's a 'proper' way to snuggle?" Shauna smirked. "Are you Jack?"
"No. I'm just saying it's more difficult."
"I know." Shauna kissed Troy's cheek. "The last few days have been a bit rough. You need something to cheer you up."
"I do? You're the one who was crying about the girl not liking you."
"You've been just as stressed."
"Not as much as you."
"Sam," Shauna leaned in to whisper. "No more talk. Just cuddles."
Troy sighed and was about to accept his fate of slightly aggressive cuddles when something clattered on the floor in the kitchen, followed by someone saying, "Oh, blast, we're gonna wake up Mr. Troy."
"What is Jules doing here so early?" Shauna asked.
"I don't know, but I have a feeling I know who else is involved." Troy was released from Shauna's cuddle trap, and got out of bed. He was careful heading downstairs on his crutches, and could hear Jules, the girl, and Anah trying to talk quietly in the kitchen.
"It was an accident. It will be fine," Anah was saying. "At least that pan had nothing in it."
"Yeah. Hopefully we didn't wake up Mr. Troy," Jules added.
"He is a surprisingly deep sleeper at times."
"He won't get mad about us doing this, will he?" the girl asked.
"Oh, he will be angry," Anah said, "but all of it will be directed at me. You have nothing to worry about, dear. He loves you and Jules too much."
Troy stepped into the kitchen doorway, seeing the kids and Anah working over a bowl and a flour-covered counter. A basket of cherries was on the table, and a greased pan was nearby. He wasn't quite sure what they were trying to make, but it looked messy. He folded his arms over his chest, waiting for one of them to notice him.
"Oh, hello, dear." Anah smiled at him. "Good morning."
Jules gave Troy an embarrassed look. "Uh-oh."
"Anah," Troy said, keeping a somewhat calm tone, "what are you doing?"
"What does it look like I am doing?" Anah asked.
"Making a mess of my kitchen. Again."
"Actually, we are making a cherry cobbler, but I suppose that is close enough."
"Where's Moffitt?"
"Still asleep. At the hotel."
"Let me guess; you drove Jules here so you could do this?"
"Maybe."
"You left Moffitt and his wife back at the hotel with no transportation?"
"Maybe."
"Anah—" Troy rubbed his face, "are you trying to give Moffitt a stroke?"
"No."
"Then what possessed you to think this was a good idea?"
"Jules."
Jules looked at the floor. "I wanted to spend more time with Antheia."
"And you couldn't have waited until your parents were up and ready to go?" Troy glared at Jules. "You realize you're going to get grounded for this, right?"
"I thought Antheia would be more comfortable if it was just me and Miss Anah."
Troy sighed. Well, I can't argue with that. He was also a bit surprised at Jules using the name he wanted to give the girl. At the same time, he wasn't. "You know your parents would've understood if you said something," Troy said. "You're getting into a really bad habit of sneaking off without telling anyone."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Troy."
"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to your mom and dad when they get here. And make sure you clean up my kitchen when you're done." Troy glared at Anah. "You. I want to talk to you alone."
Anah, covered in flour, slithered across the counter until she reached the doorway. Troy, not wanting to be covered in flour, plucked Anah from the counter, held her out like she was a dirty rag, and brought her up to the bathroom to rinse her off in the sink.
"If you use cold water, Troy, I will not be pleasant," Anah said.
"You're in a lot of trouble, so Your Royal Highness is in no position to tell me how hot or cold the water's going to be." Despite having just said that, Troy let the water run until it was warm, then placed Anah in the sink. "Why is Jules calling her Antheia?"
"Why not? She wants that name," Anah replied.
"She hasn't been adopted yet. We don't even know if we're going to. If she doesn't get along with Shauna, we can't take her!"
"If you were so worried about not getting to adopt her, then why did you pick out a name for her?"
"Because Tully and Dietrich thought giving her a name would help. I was against it at first, now—"
"You found one that fits. Now you are afraid it will be for nothing."
"Exactly." Troy turned off the water once all the flour was gone, then laid out a hand towel for Anah to crawl into. He closed the towel around her, drying her as she slithered out of it, and she emerged, her scales back to their usual black, glossy state.
"Thank you, dear. Now, back to the issue at hand—the girl has shown improvement since Jules started using that name. She is still very shy, yes, but she gets along with him. Perhaps Shauna should try the same."
The phone started ringing downstairs. Troy had a feeling he knew exactly who was calling, and headed downstairs, carrying a squeaky-clean Anah, to answer. He put Anah on his shoulders before picking up the phone. "Hello?"
"Good morning, Troy," Moffitt replied, sounding like he just woke up. "We have a bit of a dilemma—"
"Jules and Anah are with me."
"I already knew that."
"Oh?"
"Where else could they bloody be?!" Moffitt sighed. "Could you come get us from the hotel?"
"Yeah."
"Thank you. I'll see you in a few minutes."
"Yep." Troy hung up. He put Anah back in the kitchen before going upstairs and finding Shauna getting dressed.
"Privacy, Sam!" she shouted, covering herself with her robe.
"It's just me," Troy said, unable to stop himself from grinning.
"Quit smiling and let me put a shirt on!"
"How can I not smile when I've got the prettiest wife in the world?"
Shauna threw a pillow at him, sighing irritably before using the closet door to shield herself from view. "Do you need something, Sam?"
"Guess what's going on in our kitchen, sweetheart."
"What's going on in our kitchen?"
"Anah brought Jules over and they've teamed up with the girl to make cherry cobbler for some reason."
"Are they making a mess?"
"There's flour everywhere."
Shauna came out from behind the closet door, fully clothed. "Wonderful," she said.
"That's not all." Troy glanced outside the bedroom door, making sure they were alone. "Jules has already taken to calling the girl Antheia. Anah even suggested we use it to help her get more comfortable with us if we're serious about adopting her."
"Well, if Jules is doing it, it's too late to stop. It'll take some getting used to, though."
"I know. Also, we have to get Moffitt—"
"I heard. I'll drive." Shauna jogged downstairs. She first made a stop in front of the kitchen. "Jules, honey, are you trying to drive your mother mad?"
"No, Mrs. Troy," Jules said.
Shauna looked at Anah next. "You're teaching him bad habits."
"Me?" Anah gave Shauna a somewhat confused look. "As I recall, your husband—"
"Nope! You are not pinning this on Sam! You're the one who's tutoring Jules. You're the one who needs to help enforce the rules."
That shut Anah up quickly. Troy resisted a laugh as he came down the stairs, but Shauna caught him smiling.
"And what are you smiling at?" she said.
"Nothing," Troy replied.
"You're just as responsible, you know. I know Jules has picked up most of his bad habits from you, and I don't want you teaching our daugh—" Shauna suddenly stopped. "Oh, dear."
"Did you nearly say what I think you were about to say?" Troy asked.
"No!"
"Are you lying to me? I hope not."
"I'm not lying!"
"Sweetheart," Troy put his arm around Shauna, "you almost called her 'our daughter.'"
"I didn't!"
"Yes, you did. Come on, let's go get Moffitt and his wife."
Shauna's face was red as they headed out to the truck. She got in the driver's seat after helping Troy, and let out a sigh while pulling out of the driveway. "I said nothing. Pretend you heard nothing, Sam."
"You know, the more you try to convince me that you said nothing, the more convinced I am that you said exactly what I heard," Troy said.
"You can sleep in the damn barn tonight, Sam." Shauna's voice dropped to a growl.
Troy gave her a confused look. "Shauna, I know what I heard. Jules heard it, Antheia heard it, and, most importantly, Anah heard it. She's going to tell Moffitt—"
"I put her in her place."
"Why are you suddenly so upset about this? I thought you wanted to bond with Antheia."
"That's not her name! We are not keeping her! That's final!"
Troy bit his tongue, struggling to think of what to say next. "Sweetheart, it's just me in the truck with you. You can tell me what's going on. Even though you didn't intend to say 'our daughter,' you really want that to be true, don't you?"
"I don't know."
Troy was quiet for another minute. "I know how you feel, though."
"No, you don't."
"Yes, I do. I know what it's like to deny what you're feeling. Don't you remember when we first started acknowledging how we felt about each other? How it took me so long to tell you everything about my past?"
"I do remember that."
"So, I do know what you're going through. Don't throw all of this on the others. I know this has been difficult for you because Antheia is still getting used to you—"
"She likes a damn snake more than me!"
"Okay, that 'damn snake' is part of our family, as annoying as she may be at times, and we've already gone over what Antheia's problem is with you. She didn't even talk to Vanora yesterday—"
"She isn't going to be around Vanora for long periods of time!"
"Point still stands. You should be more mad at the people who treated Antheia so poorly. It's not her fault, and it's not your fault."
Shauna was quiet until they reached the hotel. Troy wasn't sure what to say next, and when Shauna didn't move, he got out of the truck himself, and limped to the hotel's lobby doors. He could see Moffitt and Vanora sitting with their suitcases, and Jules's, in front of them, and they both looked like they needed to go back to bed.
Today's not going to be a good day, Troy thought with a sigh. He entered the lobby, and tried not to show his frustration in front of Moffitt. "Your taxi's here."
"Thank you, Troy," Moffitt said. "I'm so sorry this happened."
"Don't apologize. Not your fault."
"No, I should've—"
Troy's frustration came out anyway. "Moffitt. Stop. Not in the mood. I've already got my wife angry."
"What did you do?"
"We'll talk about it at the house."
Shauna seemed aggravated for the whole ride, and didn't say a word when they returned to the house. She took the keys and went inside without bothering to help Troy.
"She really is in a terrible mood, isn't she?" Moffitt looked toward the house as he got out of the truck.
"Yep." Troy opened the passenger side door, and allowed Moffitt to help. "Where do I start with this?"
"The beginning, I suppose."
Troy gave him a look. "Well, we can start with the fact that your son wanted to spend time with Antheia, so instead of waiting for you and Vanora to get up, Anah decided to take him here."
"We've established that."
"Shauna came downstairs and yelled at Anah for teaching Jules bad habits. Then she turned and yelled at me because I don't exactly help in the bad habits department—"
"That's been established for years."
"—and then Shauna said that she doesn't want me teaching 'our daughter' bad habits. I don't think she intended to say 'daughter.' First, she denied it, then she said we're not keeping the girl, and now she's just in a really bad mood."
"It sounds like everything over the last few days has built up and exploded."
"Yeah. I don't know what to do. Antheia's behavior has just made Shauna more… bitter, and I've never seen her bitter before. Not like this."
Moffitt gave Troy a concerned look. "I don't want this to tear you two apart. I know how much you and Shauna love each other."
"I doubt it would come to that."
"Even so, you can't just hope that your bond with Shauna will be enough. You both have a responsibility to fortify that bond and keep it as strong as it can possibly be. What made Shauna fall in love with you?"
"It wasn't any one thing, but I know the main reason was that out of everyone she's met, I was the person who was nicest to her. I treated her well, and she wanted more."
"What made you fall in love with her?"
"She can keep up with me. She's smart as a whip, sweet as can be, and while she can be kinda gruff at times—"
"Like you."
"—she's a really kind woman. She understands me. That's not something I can afford to lose."
"You needed someone like her in your life. Anah was right. She may've been a bit too… pushy in her help, but thinking back on it, she was right to help you. Despite everything, Anah does have all of our best interests at heart." Moffitt looked toward the house. "She needs to do a better job at showing it, though."
"You can say that again."
Moffitt walked alongside Troy as they headed to the house, mindful of ice on the sidewalk. It was strangely quiet as they went inside. There was a misshapen cherry cobbler on the kitchen table. Anah was cleaning up and looking like she was in quite a foul mood herself. The kids were nowhere to be seen, and Troy could hear Vanora talking to Shauna up in the bedroom.
"I have never seen you hooded up while cleaning, Anah," Moffitt said. "Is everything alright?"
"Ask his wife," Anah muttered.
"We're working on it," Troy said. "I'm sorry she yelled at you."
"No, she was right. I have encouraged bad habits in Jules, and I am as responsible as Moffitt and Vanora in teaching him right from wrong. I have not done so."
"It's not like you're trying to turn him into a disaster," Moffitt said. "Look at me. I'm a disaster at times."
"That does not mean your son has to become a disaster. He should not have to repeat any of the things you went through."
"No, but he has my curiosity, and it's difficult to know when to indulge his curiosity and when to rein him in. You're doing your best, Anah."
"I am glad you think so, dear." Anah was starting to look less peeved, and nuzzled Moffitt when he stood next to the counter she was on.
Troy spoke up. "In Anah's defense, though, Jules said he thought Antheia would be more comfortable if it was just him and Anah. I… can't blame him."
"That was the only reason I agreed to do this," Anah said, climbing up to Moffitt's shoulders. "Jules's logic was sound."
"We would've left you alone if you explained that," Moffitt replied. "I don't understand why you think we're going to say 'no' all the time."
"You have gotten a lot more high-strung and cautious since Jules was born," Troy said. "Dietrich noticed that when he was helping you and Vanora for a few weeks."
"I've relaxed since the whole thing with the prophecy was resolved, but with Jules growing up and getting bolder, it's… a bit worrisome at times." Moffitt turned his attention to the cherry cobbler on the table. "Did you make that, Anah?"
"No. I helped, dear. Jules and Antheia made it," Anah said. "Would you like a piece?"
"Yes, and I'd like—"
"Your tea," Anah and Troy said at the same time.
"As a matter of fact, yes, I'd like my tea."
"Well, I'll let you enjoy your tea in peace," Troy said. "I'll go check on the wives."
"You should eat something, dear," Anah said with a somewhat concerned tone. "It will help you think clearer."
Troy knew Anah would just keep nagging him about it, so he got plates out for himself and Moffitt, and cut into the cobbler while Moffitt made his tea and Anah made coffee.
"I take it you haven't contacted anyone about the girl?" Moffitt asked.
"Not yet. I should do that today," Troy replied. "Wait till the rest of Douglas wakes up."
"Agreed." Moffitt sat at the table while waiting for his tea to steep, then paused. He turned to Anah. "Where are the children?"
"Jules went to show Antheia the chickens," Anah replied.
"How long ago?"
Anah was quiet as she thought. "Now that you mention it, shortly after Troy and Shauna left to pick you up."
"The chickens aren't that interesting," Troy said. "Jules knows not to go near the cattle."
"Maybe he's showing her your horses?" Moffitt suggested.
"Maybe. We really should check, though."
Anah froze. "They are not on the property. I cannot pick up their auras within it."
"Bloody hell." Moffitt stood up.
"Are they nuts?" Troy hissed. "There are wolves and bears in this area!"
"Best not to go unarmed, then."
"Go get Shauna. She's a good marksman."
Anah made sure the coffee maker was off. "You should not be going out on crutches, dear."
"I don't care," Troy said. "I'm going out there. The kids' lives are more important."
As he turned to limp downstairs to grab a rifle, Troy heard Anah griping, "Why could I not have been blessed with the ability to heal broken bones?" She followed Troy into the basement, and quickly moved out of the way when Shauna came running downstairs.
"Idiot kids," Shauna was muttering as she unlocked the gun safe. "One of these days, Jules's sense of adventure is going to backfire hard on him."
"He's just like his dad," Troy replied.
"Well, his dad is extremely reckless at times as well."
"That's… kinda true. He's not all that reckless anymore."
"I know. But Jack has his moments. Are you going to help us get the kids back, or are you going to stand there doing nothing?"
"Shauna—" Troy knew bothering his wife while she was angry and holding a loaded rifle was a bad idea, but he reached out to touch her arm anyway, "can we talk about this, please?"
"Not now." Shauna had taken out an M1903A4 Springfield from the safe, and looked down the narrow scope. She then checked to make sure it was actually loaded, and slung it over her shoulder.
"You're not thinking clearly, sweetheart."
"We can discuss this when we get the kids back."
Troy looked down at the floor, sighing with defeat. Shauna went back upstairs, and Troy tried to follow. Anah had begun climbing up his right crutch, saying, "This has really gotten to her, has it not?"
"It certainly has," Troy said. "I didn't think I'd ever see the day where she was inconsolable."
Outside, Anah had returned to Moffitt, who was patient while walking alongside Troy and making sure there was nothing for his crutches to catch on. A light snowfall had started, and was starting to cover tracks left by the kids, and Shauna. When they got to the woods, Moffitt walked ahead, watching for roots and rocks. "You're clear, Troy."
"Doctor's not going to be happy to hear about this," Troy said.
"So don't tell him." Moffitt grinned.
"Good idea." Troy fell silent for a few moments. "You want to hear something funny? Shauna said you're reckless, which is funny given that you haven't been reckless in year. I said that Jules has your sense of adventure after Shauna said it's going to get him in a lot of trouble."
"It has gotten him in trouble, and yet it hasn't stopped him. Same with me, especially when I was younger. You remember me telling you about the trip to Alexandria I took without telling my parents, right?"
"Yeah. All because you wanted to take a photograph. I think Shauna was referring to Jules getting seriously hurt."
"I got seriously hurt on a few expeditions. Didn't really stop me. Like I was saying before, our biggest challenge with Jules is how much do we indulge his curiosity."
"Let's just worry about actually getting him back first."
The three went further into the woods. Troy kept cursing to himself that if he hadn't broken his leg, they would have found Shauna and the kids by now, prompting Moffitt to reach over and gently squeeze his shoulder.
"You keep telling me not to beat myself up," Moffitt said. "My turn to tell you the same."
Troy glanced at him. Can't believe there was once a time when I wouldn't have allowed him—or anyone—to even sense what I was thinking. That changed when I met Shauna. Anxiety surfaced inside him. I'm going to lose that, aren't I?
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a wolf barking, followed by Jules screaming, "We're up here! Somebody help!"
"Jules!" Moffitt sprinted ahead.
It took time, but Troy eventually caught up. He could see Jules and Antheia on a fairly low tree branch, cornered by three wolves and struggling to stay on. Shauna was trying to get a good shot, but the wolves kept jumping up and the kids kept shifting. "Jules, stop moving so I don't accidentally hit you!" she shouted.
"We can't get a good grip, Mrs. Troy!" Jules replied.
"Move closer to the trunk!"
One of the wolves leapt up to the branch, grabbing it in its jaws and trying to pull it down. Antheia slipped, and another wolf jumped to take her by her boot.
"Antheia!" Shauna hollered. She squeezed the Springfield's trigger. A loud bang echoed through the woods. The force of the bullet striking the wolf knocked it away from Antheia, and the other two took off running from the noise.
Silence fell over the woods. Moffitt was first to the tree. "Come on down, Jules, it's alright."
"Dad!" Jules dropped into his father's arms, squeezing him tightly and sobbing.
"Are you hurt?"
"No." Jules buried his face in Moffitt's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Dad—"
"You're alright, Jules, that's all that matters." Moffitt adjusted his grip on Jules so he could carry the boy back. Anah had moved to Jules's shoulders, nuzzling him and making sure he was actually alright.
"Of course I missed all the fun because of my damn leg!" Troy said, stopping next to Shauna.
Shauna ignored him as she stood and slung the rifle. "Antheia! You can come down from there, lass."
The girl was slower to move, but she eventually came down from the tree, and dashed over to Shauna, much to Troy's surprise. There were tears running down her face as she hugged Shauna.
"Are you alright?" Shauna asked.
The girl nodded, holding onto Shauna tightly. She then slowly pulled away, her face still wet with tears. "You called me Antheia."
"I did?" Shauna looked up at Troy. "No, I…"
Troy sighed. Here we go again.
Shauna turned back to the girl. "I did. I did call you that."
Antheia went back to hugging her. "Does this mean I'm staying with you?"
"Yes," Troy said before Shauna had a chance to respond.
"Sam—" Shauna glared up at him, but her gaze quickly softened. She let out a breath. "There's a few things we have to take care of first, but… yes. You can stay, lass."
When they returned to the house, Moffitt and Vanora took care of lecturing Jules out on the porch, while Troy and Shauna sat Antheia at the table for a talk of their own.
"What you and Jules did was extremely reckless, not to mention stupid," Troy said.
"We're glad that you're getting along with Jules, but you can't let him talk you into running off without a word to anyone," Shauna added.
"Jules said that's what you did during the war," Antheia said, looking at Troy.
"It was part of my job," Troy replied. "Sort of. Look, just because I do something doesn't mean you can do it, too."
"I'm sorry, sir."
"What exactly were you doing out in the woods anyway?" Shauna asked.
"Jules showed me the chickens, and then we decided to take a walk."
"That wasn't smart. You should've stayed within the fence," Troy said.
"It won't happen again."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"Okay. I told you a few days ago, I take promises seriously. I won't break a promise to you. I don't want you breaking promises to me, understood?"
Antheia nodded.
"For the record, lass," Shauna said, "we're not going to punish you too harshly."
"You and Jules are okay. That's the important thing," Troy added. "Hopefully, this has taught you not to do something that stupid ever again."
"It has, sir," Antheia replied.
"I'll hold you to that." Troy glanced at Shauna. "Alright, the next part of this discussion. Do you really want to stay?"
"Yes."
"You realize this is a big decision, for all of us." Troy motioned to himself and Shauna. "We'd be mom and dad."
"How do I know you're not going to end up like my real parents?"
"Well…" Troy looked at Shauna again, "no one can really answer that. Bad things happen. That's life, but that doesn't mean there aren't good things." His mind turned to Dietrich. "The good things are what make life worth living, even the little things. When you have a lot of good people behind you, that makes life even more worth living. Sometimes it takes a little while, but you eventually find those people, and it's almost always in the most unlikeliest of places." Troy faced Shauna. "Isn't that right, sweetheart?"
Shauna nodded. "Yes, that's right." She looked at Antheia. "You won't have to worry about being alone or unhappy with us."
"Nope," Troy added. A grin spread across his face. "We'll introduce you to the rest of the family. You've already met Moffitt."
"I've seen the other three in pictures," Antheia said.
"Hitch, Tully, and Dietrich, yeah. If you want, you can pick one and we'll go visit them first."
"Sam, we have to actually adopt her first," Shauna said, squeezing Troy's shoulder.
"I know. Just planning ahead."
The legal process of adoption would take time, but it was time Troy was willing to take. Of course, the first person he had to inform was Dietrich, and woke up early one morning to place that phone call. Troy waited eagerly while waiting for the call to go through, and grinned when he heard that familiar baritone asking who was calling.
"Hey, Dietrich. Guess what," Troy said.
"What?" Dietrich replied. "Are you incapable of just telling me things anymore?"
"No. Come on, guess."
"Why?"
"Just for laughs."
Dietrich sighed. "Fine. The rooster escaped again."
"I wouldn't be smiling if the rooster escaped again."
"Alright. Shauna made you sleep in the barn because you had cold hands?"
"No. Guess again."
"You purchased a new truck."
"Nope."
"I give up, then."
"Remember the little girl I told you about?"
"Yes."
"We're adopting her."
"Oh. Congratulations, Troy. I hope all goes well for you."
"It should. We went to the orphanage she ran away from and had a really, really long talk with the people there."
"Were you pleasant?"
"Yes, and so were they. Bit on the strict side, but we worked things out. They told me Antheia was difficult—"
"So are you."
Troy rolled his eyes. "Very funny, Dietrich. Anyway, I hope this change in situations will make things less difficult."
"I hope so, too. Just bear in mind that whatever disciplinary challenges Antheia had will now be your responsibility."
"I know. I feel ready, but I also don't."
"Troy, I am not ready for my own child. What makes you think I will be able to help you?"
"Because you're full of advice for everything."
"I appreciate that, but I do not think this is something I can help you with." Dietrich paused, then sighed. "You still called me, though, so I will try my best."
"Thanks."
"I have a feeling this will be similar to when Esther and I started living together. She had trouble getting used to the idea after having dealt with previous partners who were… not all that kind to her. You will have to tread carefully at first. You will learn what makes Antheia upset, what makes her happy, angry, frustrated, everything. It will probably not be smooth. Even though she has expressed a desire to stay with you, she may experience regret. She may even be afraid that you will be no different then the people who mistreated her. You cannot give up on her, no matter how challenging it gets. That will be the hardest part for both you and Shauna."
"Have you ever known me to give up, Dietrich?"
"This is something that you cannot solve with brute force. As I said before, this will require patience. Lots and lots of patience."
"I want this to work."
"I know. I want this to work for you, too, but this will be a big challenge for you. At least you are not alone, and I really hope you do not try to just solve this yourself the way you did during the war."
"I won't."
"You say you will not, but sometimes it is easy to slip back into old habits. Trust me. It is an ongoing battle. Things will change, though, as long as you work hard, have patience, and trust in your family."
"Thanks, Dietrich." A thought struck Troy. "Have you had anymore dreams like the one where you saw me with a red-haired girl?"
"No. I would have told you if I did."
"Okay. So… you think this is something I can do? You think I can raise Antheia?"
"Of course I do. Do you think I will be able to raise my son?"
"Yeah."
"Then I suppose we will be going through this nerve-wracking journey into parenthood together."
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
