AN: I don't own anything but my OC characters and parts of the plot. Everything else belongs to their owners.
It was night. By the time we had finished unpacking from our bags and boxes. Buffy, Kate, Kyra, Jenna and I had changed from what we were wearing this morning, and Persephone was dressed for the announcement. Everything was ready neat and in place. I could hear Aunt Joyce hammering something in her room.
"Mama will be back soon. Daddy Cole and Daddy Elijah will be here to watch over you until it's time," I whispered to Persephone before kissing her cheek.
Cole shimmered in with Elijah before I handed Persephone over.
"One of us will text you when it's time," I responded as I walked out of the room.
I met with the others as we walked to Aunt Joyce's room. When we got to the room, Aunt Joyce was hammering a nail into the wall by the window.
"Mom?" Buffy said as she stepped into the room.
"Oh!" Aunt Joyce said as she jumped and accidentally slammed the hammer through the drywall before turning around and seeing us. "Girls! Jeremy!"
We cringed as we saw the hole in the wall.
"Um..." Aunt Joyce said as she pulled the hammer out and faced us, smiling while holding the hammer in one hand and a mask with the other.
"Sorry, Aunt Joyce," Kyra voiced.
"No, no. Don't worry about it. I-I guess I got used to all the quiet while all of you were gone," Aunt Joyce responded with a smile before saying. "But it's no problem."
We watched as she looked at the creepy mask before turning around with it. It looked like it was carved from a reddish wood with cutouts for eyes, which looked evil as they were slanted inwards. The mask also had a series of long and pointed teeth with extra long fangs for incisors set into the upper lip, and it had no lower portion. I didn't get a good feeling from it.
"Uh, look!" Aunt Joyce told us as she hung up the mask and turned back towards us. "It's, uh, Nigerian. We got a very exciting shipment in at the Gallery." She glanced around the room. "I, um, thought I'd hang a few pieces in here. It cheers up the room."
"It's angry at the room, Aunt Joyce," I voiced as I looked at the mask in uncertainty before saying. "It wants the room to suffer."
"You have no appreciation of primitive art," Aunt Joyce as she nodded before noticing our jackets in our hands. "You going out? Aurora, what about Persephone?"
"Oh. Um... well, i-if it's okay. I, um... we'd like to find Willow and Xander," Kate responded as she looked down at her jacket.
"And Jenna said, she'll watch Persephone," I lied.
"Will you all be slaying?" Aunt Joyce asked.
"Only if they give us lip," Jeremy responded with a weak smile.
"Uh, can I make you a sandwich or something before you go? You must be starving," Aunt Joyce returned.
"We were un-until that four-course snack you served us after dinner," Buffy voiced.
"Well, then, um..." Aunt Joyce said as she went over to her dresser. "You know, w-why don't I drive you?" She grabbed her keys. "Uh, I mean, they could be anywhere."
"Mom... if you don't want us to go, just say so," Buffy replied.
"No, no," Aunt Joyce returned as she looked down at her keys for a moment. "I-I just want to put this whole thing behind us, get back to normal." She inhaled deeply before saying. "You go. Have a good time."
"Okay," Kate voiced as we smiled at her before giving a nervous wave and headed out of the house.
After we left, we met up with my direwolf Lady, who was watching over the others while we were gone before continuing on our way to find the others. Twenty minutes later, we were heading down an alley before hearing something fall to the ground and break. Buffy and I stopped and looked toward the direction of sound before we headed towards it. When we got to the intersection of the alley, we turned and looked down the adjoining before noticing a man dressed in black walking suspiciously as though he was looking for something. We began to slowly follow but Kate stepped on something that made a noise. The man spun around and swung a stake at us but I threw my arms and cross-blocked the swing before taking the stake from him and creating a counterattack. A moment later, we realized the man was Xander as he stared at us in surprise.
"Didn't anyone ever warn you about playing with pointy sticks?" I questioned as I lowered the stake before saying. "It's all fun and games before somebody loses an eye." I shook the stake at him.
"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that!" Xander exclaimed as he tried to catch his breath.
He stared at us. I could tell he was trying to convince himself, that we were here in front of him.
"Jeez, Rory, Buff!" Xander voiced.
Suddenly, a vampire smashed through a crate leaning against a wall before lunging at us. Buffy and Xander fell to the ground as they were knocked. Xander tried to grab the vampire as he got up but the vampire grabbed Xander instead and pulled him up. He drew his fist back for a punch before I jumped in the hit the vampire in the stomach with a powerful sidekick, making him fall back into a pile of trashcans and bags.
"Come in, Nighthawk! Everything okay?" We heard Cordelia from a walkie-talkie that was on Xander's belt.
"Nighthawk?" Kate questioned as we were taken back.
"Oooh!" Kyra said as the back got back to his feet and tackled Xander into the chain link fence.
Buffy tried to stake him, but he sidestepped her and shoved her into the fence as well. Xander tried to come up behind him, but the vampire swung out with a backhanded fist to Xander's face before knocking him down. Buffy got to her feet and blocked two punches from the vampire before she high-clocked his third hit and got a hand under his chin to hold him at bay. He pushed Buffy back into the fence as they struggled before we noticed Willow, Cordelia and Oz running towards us. Willow and Cordelia grabbed the vampire by the arms as we stared in shock and dragged him off of Buffy. Buffy caught her breath as we looked in astonishment. The vampire growled as Oz tried to move in with a stake. The vampire sent Oz flying to the ground next to Xander before shoving Cordelia away. I quickly moved and caught her so she wouldn't get hurt.
"Oh, hey, Aurora," Cordelia said as she realized it was me before the vampire threw Willow aside towards Xander and Oz.
I pushed her aside towards Kate, Kyra and Jeremy before wielding my stake as the vampire came toward us. I plunged my fire element stake into the vampire before he burst into flames and then into ashes.
"Hey, guys," I said as I turned toward my friends and family before giving them a wave and weak smile.
They stared at us as Xander's head dropped back to the pavement.
After the fight with the vampire, Xander wanted us to go see Giles. So we headed to Giles's apartment. I texted Cole and the others to meet us there. We met in front of the apartment building before heading to the door. We stood at his door as we were unsure of what his feelings would be about us leaving without a word.
"You know, we... maybe it's too late. Maybe we should just come back tomorrow," Buffy voiced.
None of us made a move to go as Buffy and I looked at the door and back at the others.
"What if he's mad?" Buffy asked.
"Mad? Just because you ran away and abandon your posts, your friends, and your mom and made him lay awake every night worrying about you?" Xander questioned.
"Giles knew Aurora and some of us were going on vacation. We just couldn't come back just yet," Elijah voiced before Xander turned towards Oz and Willow.
"Maybe we should wait out here," Xander suggested to Oz and Willow.
Kate and Kyra gave him a look before I turned to face the door and grabbed the knocker as I tapped it a few times. Moments later, Giles opened the door in shock to see us there.
"Check it out. The Watcher is back on the clock," Xander voiced as Giles slipped on his glasses before saying. "And just when you were thinking career change, maybe a becoming a looker or a-a seer."
"Thank you, Xander," Giles responded before he turned towards us. "Welcome Buffy, Aurora."
We smiled at him as he opened the fully and stepped back fully to let us in.
After we walked in, we sat down. We were all spread out throughout the living room as we talked.
"We got in a few hours ago, but we wanted to see aunt Joyce first and tell her the news," Kate voiced.
Persephone was playing with a toy in my lap. I hid her shirt's meaning with a small jacket.
"Yes. Yes, of course," Giles stated. "How, how did you find her?"
"Well, we pretty much remembered the address," Buffy responded.
I knew Giles didn't mean the address but didn't say anything.
"Ah, eh, I mean, uh..." Giles said as the teakettle went off before asking. "How are things between you?" Giles noticed the whistling of the kettle. "Ah. Excuse me." He headed into the kitchen.
"Hey, so, you're not wanted for murder anymore," Oz told us.
"Good. That was such a drag," Buffy stated.
"So where were you all? I know Elijah said Aurora and some of you were on vacation for a bit. What about you, Buff? Did you go to Belgium?" Xander asked.
"Well, we went to Orlando, Florida," Kyra answered.
"Why would I go to Belgium?" Buffy asked as she gave Xander an odd look.
"I think the relevant question is why wouldn't you? Belgium!" Xander responded with a huge smile and giggled.
Buffy joined him in laughing before we decided to give them our news.
"Okay, we continue. We have announcements," Kate voiced.
"What is it?" Willow asked.
"Well," I said as I turned Persephone around and took off her coat.
They got a good look at Persephone's onesie and it said, 'Big Sister & Cousin.'
"OMG, are you seriously pregnant again? Who's pregnant as well?" Willow asked.
"Well, yes, I'm pregnant again. It seems I only get pregnant by my soulmates," I voiced.
"I'm pregnant," Kate announced.
"I'm too," Kyra replied.
"Me as well," Rebekah responded.
"We have all the necessary protections like last time. So I will still be able to patrol," I told them.
"Anyway, that's enough about us. What about you, Xander? What's up with you?" Kyra asked.
"Oh, you know, same old, same old," Xander answered as he put his arm around Cordelia.
I could tell Giles was enjoying hearing us again after so many months away from here.
"Hardly," Cordelia replied as she pushed Xander's arm off.
"Okay, I lied, a whole lot is new," Xander voiced.
"Well, that's good, isn't it? New is good," Rebekah responded.
"Oh, yeah, absolutely, except for the obvious. It's not too much..." Xander started to say.
"Yeah, 'cause you weren't at the hotel," Cordelia interrupted as Giles came into the room with a serving tray.
"Cordelia's parents dragged her onto a luxury vacation," Xander voiced.
"I feel for you," Rebekah returned.
"Here we are then," Giles voiced as he laid the tray on the coffee table. "Cheer us up." He sat down in his chair and took the teapot.
Each of us took a cookie from the tray before Cole took Persephone from me.
"So were you, like living in a box, or what?" Cordelia questioned.
"Well, it's a long story," Buffy responded.
"So skip the heartwarming stuff about kindly old people and saving the farm and get right to the dirty," Xander voiced.
"Perhaps they could use a little time to adjust before we grill them on their summer activities," Giles said as he poured several cups of tea.
"What he said," Kyra replied.
"Fair enough. In fact, you can leave the slaying to us while you settle in. We got you covered," Xander told us.
"We noticed. You guys seem down the slayage, all tricked out with your walkies and everything," I responded.
"Yeah, but the outfits suck. This whole Rambo thing is so over. I'm thinking more sporty like Hilfiger maybe," Cordelia complained.
"Still, we were getting good. We dusted... nine out of ten," Willow said as she nodded.
"Six out of ten," Oz whispered to Willow.
"Six out of ten," Willow corrected herself.
"Whatever, we were kicking a little undead booty," Xander responded.
"Well, thank you for the offer, but I think we just wanna get back to our normal routine. You know, school, slaying..." I voiced.
"In fact, we're jonesing for a little brainless fun," Buffy replied before turning to Xander. "What are you doing tomorrow?"
"Oh, I would, but, uh," Xander stuttered as he reached his hands around Cordelia's arm. "I'm kind of tied up." He smiled.
"You wish," Cordelia returned as she pushed him away.
Xander sat back on the couch, embarrassed by Cordelia's action.
"Will?" Buffy asked.
"Um, tomorrow I..." Willow started to say.
"Oh, come on. Friends don't let friends browse alone," Buffy interrupted.
"Okay. I had some schoolwork, but... I can change my plans," Willow returned.
"As for school, Buffy, girls, Jeremy, uh, you know you'll have to talk to Principal Snyder before..." Giles said as he raised his cup.
"On it. Aunt Joyce made an appointment with his ugliness," Kyra voiced.
"We'll be back at school the day after tomorrow, due to we were suspended after exams," Kate voiced.
"But Buffy will need Aunt Joyce's help with breaking him," I responded.
Giles looked up from his tea before giving Buffy an unsure grin.
"Well, it's getting late. We need to get Persephone to sleep," I added as we got up.
I hugged the others before hugging Willow and whispered into her ear, "Thank you for the secret of my postcard. I really did miss you."
We headed out the door and headed home.
When we got home, I headed up to the bathroom. Cole started the bath water as I got Persephone undressed.
"You get ready the bottle ready. I'll do the bath time," Cole said as he took Persephone from me and undid her diaper before I headed out of the bathroom.
I headed downstairs and made a bottle of formula before warming it up and heading back upstairs. I walked into the nursery and picked out a sleeper for bed.
"Here is one clean baby," Cole voiced as he handed me Persephone.
I laid Persephone down on the changing table before putting a clean diaper on her and changed her into a clean sleeper. I picked her up and grabbed the warm bottle of formula before sitting on the chair next to the small bookcase. I started feeding her the bottle as I hummed 'once upon a dream.' Sometime later, Persephone was done, and I burped her before laying her down in the crib. I gave Persephone her soother and laid her blanket down before turning on the musical nightlight and baby monitor. I kissed her goodnight. Cole kissed her goodnight before Elijah came into the room and kissed her goodnight.
"Good night, my love. May the angels watch over you," I whispered before closing the door softly.
"So, goodnight, see you tomorrow," Elijah said before kissing me goodnight.
"Night," I replied.
"Night," Cole voiced before kissing me.
All of sudden, I got a flash of a boy who looked like someone from our past life as well as an older boy and a young girl.
"What is it?" Elijah asked.
"What did you see?" Cole questioned.
"We're getting some new members of our group," I voiced. "We'll see tomorrow."
"So nothing, scary?" Elijah asked.
"Nothing yet, but never say never," I answered.
"We'll see you tomorrow," Cole said before grabbing Elijah's arm and shimmering out of the hall.
I headed into my room and turned on the baby monitor on my side, and saw Persephone dowsing off to sleep. I walked over to my desk before turning on my laptop. I started working on getting the pictures from vacation ready to print for tomorrow. An hour later, I got into my PJs and went to sleep.
Time Skip
It was morning as I heard Persephone's cries through the baby monitor. I got up and headed into the nursery next door.
"Mamamama," Persephone said as she cried.
"Mama's here," I said as I walked over to her and picked her out of the crib and laid her down on the changing table.
I undid her sleeper and got her out of it before changing her diaper.
"Here," Kate said as she came into the room. "Go get ready. I'll change her."
"Thank you," I replied before kissing Persephone's forehead. "Mama will be right back."
I headed out of the nursery and back into my room to change for the meeting. I pulled out what I wanted to wear and laid it on my bed. I got undressed before putting on clean undergarments. I grabbed my tights before pulling them on. I slipped my skirt over the top of the navy tights before putting on my blue top and adding accessories. After that, I brushed my hair before slipping on my shoes. I grabbed the bag that matched before putting my phone, keys, college map & other things I needed. I put my dirty laundry into my laundry basket before heading out of my room.
I headed downstairs into the kitchen dining room combo. I saw Aunt Joyce, Jenna, Kyra and Jeremy making breakfast as Kate fed Persephone in her highchair.
"Morning," I said.
"Morning," They all said.
"Hey, Kate. Thank you for changing Persephone into her clothes while I changed," I thanked her.
"You're welcome. I also fed her a bottle of formula, and now she's eating some baby cereal," Kate voiced.
"Thank you, anyway," I replied.
"Here are your pancakes," Buffy said as she laid the plate down.
"Your smoothie," Kyra said as she came over with her smoothie cup.
"Thank you," I responded as I took my smoothie cup.
I started eating my breakfast. We talked about this morning's meeting before we headed out to the cars. Persephone was in her car seat as I sat next to her, Buffy was behind me with Jeremy, and Aunt Joyce was driving with Kyra in the passenger. Kate was with Jenna in her car. We were off to our meeting.
When we got to the school, we were sent right into Snyder's office. We sat as Snyder looked at us with intent.
"For Ms. Sommers-Gilbert, Ms. Lockwood, Ms. Forbes and Mr. Gilbert are excepted to be back in two days. But for your daughter, absolutely not. Under no circumstances," Snyder voiced.
"But you can't keep her out of school. You don't have the right," Aunt Joyce responded.
"I have not only the right but also a nearly physical sensation of pleasure at the thought of keeping her out of school," Snyder returned before saying. "I'd describe myself as tingly."
"Buffy was cleared of all those charges," Jenna told him.
"Yes. And while she may live up to the not-a-murderer requirement for enrollment. She is a troublemaker, destructive to school property and the occasional student. And her grade point average is enough to..." Snyder said as his eyes glazed over for a moment. "I'm sorry. Another tingle moment." He smugly smiled.
I silently used my ice powers and froze his desk drawers shut before Aunt Joyce yelled with anger in her voice.
"I don't see how you can be so cavalier about a young girl's entire future!" Aunt Joyce yelled with controlled anger in her voice.
"I'm quite sure that a girl with the talents and abilities of Buffy will land on her feed. In fact," Snyder said as he leaned towards Buffy. "I noticed as I came in this morning that Hot Dog on a Stick was hiring." We glared at him with anger. "You will look so cute in that hat."
"Let's go, Mom," Buffy said as we got up and headed to the door with the stroller.
"This isn't over," Aunt Joyce said as she stood up and faced the Snyder before saying. "If I have to, I'll go all the way to the Mayor."
"Wouldn't that be interesting," We heard Snyder say as we headed out of his office.
When we got out of Snyder's office, Kate, Kyra, Jeremy and I were heading to where we could pick up a hard copy of our class schedules. As we walked into the room, Kyra, Jeremy and I walked into some people, and their papers fell to the floor.
"I'm so sorry," Kyra, Jeremy and I said as we bent down to help them.
"It's okay," the boys and girl said as we looked at each other, we saw the people from our past lives.
"Hi, I'm Sam Winchester," Sam 'Samuel' said. "I believe I've been looking for you."
"I'm Aurora," I replied.
"I know," Sam said before asking. "Where are Liam, Elijah and Cole?"
"Elijah is working, Cole should be here soon and Liam is away," I voiced.
We headed over to the desk.
"Hi, my name is Aurora Sommers-Gilbert. I need a hard copy of my class schedule," I said.
"Of course," the sectary said as she printed out my schedule before handing it to me. "Here."
"Thank you," I replied before heading out of the room with the others.
"Aurora, this is Dean Winchester, one of my soulmates and this is Joanne Harvelle, the last of Jeremy's soulmates," Kyra introduced the new members of our group.
"It's nice to meet you," I responded as my phone went off.
Where are you? You still have to pick up your college schedules.- Buffy
"I'm sorry, we have to go. We don't start school yet," I added.
"Yeah, we have to pick up our college schedule," Kate voiced.
"We'll see you later," Jeremy said as he kissed Jo's cheek before we left them.
When we got back to the cars, Jenna, Aunt Joyce, Persephone, and Buffy were waiting.
"Sorry, we bumped into some people and helped them up their papers," Kyra voiced as we got into the cars.
We were off to our next destination.
A Slight Time Skip
After we left high school, we went to the university for our online schedules before stopping at Espresso Pump & Cafe. Aunt Joyce and Jenna stopped the cars at the curb. Aunt Joyce and Buffy talked about school.
"Don't worry about school, honey. If we can't you back into Sunnydale, maybe we can swing private school," Aunt Joyce told Buffy.
"Private school? Do you mean jackets and kilts? You want me to get field hockey knees?" Buffy questioned.
"It's not that bad," Aunt Joyce responded with a smile.
"What about homeschooling? You know, it's not just for scary religious people anymore," Buffy voiced.
"We'll work something out. Okay?" Aunt Joyce returned as we got out of the car.
I got the stroller and diaper bag out before getting Persephone settled into the stroller.
"Say hi to Willow?" Aunt Joyce said as she leaned in and kissed Buffy goodbye before saying. "Have fun girls."
We nodded as Buffy got out of the car. Buffy closed the door before Aunt Joyce and Jenna drove off.
"Let's get some lunch, shall we as we wait?" Kate voiced as we headed into the cafe.
Thirty minutes later, we were sitting down and eating as I fed Persephone her lunch as we talked about meeting more of our soulmates and what we were doing when we got home.
"Aurora, what are you doing tonight?" Kate asked.
"I'm going to print out the pictures from the magic Disney experience app that we bought and put them in the album," I replied as I wiped Persephone's face and hands with a wipe. "There all clean."
"Mamamama," Persephone said with a smile.
"Now time for a nap," I replied as I pulled out her soother and she took it from me.
I laid her blanket on her and set the soundless spell on.
"I wonder where Willow is?" Buffy asked as I looked at my cell phone.
"We'll wait for another hour and if she doesn't show up. We'll head home," Kate voiced.
We waited another hour to see if Willow would arrive, but she didn't. I'm sure she was busy. We headed back to the house. When we got home, a woman was coming out of the house. We looked at her in confusion.
"Oh, my word! Oh, you must be Buffy, Aurora, Kate, Kyra, Jeremy and little Persephone!" the woman said as she smiled and came down the stairs. "Look at you. Aren't you all just a picture?"
"Thank you," Jeremy said with an unsure voice.
"Oh, I'm Pat," Pat introduced herself and reached out her hand.
Each of us shook her hand, but when she got to me. I got a vision flash of the mask that hung in Aunt Joyce's room and the dead rising.
"From your mom/aunt's book club. I'm sure she mentioned me," Pat continued.
"Actually..." Buffy started to say.
"I, um, I sort of took it upon myself to look after you all were," Pat said as she rolled her eyes. "...you know, off and away or what you all, and..."
We looked aside as we couldn't believe the conversation.
"Well, between, uh," Pat inhaled before exhaling. "...your situation and reading 'Deep End of the Ocean', she was, uh, she was just a wreck. You can imagine."
We gave her a thin smile before a weak nod.
"Anyway, I'm off. W-we're making empanadas in my Spanish class tonight," Pat said as she giggled before saying. "You go be with your mom/aunts. You two need to re-bond." She smiled before heading on her way.
We headed up the stairs with the stroller before heading inside. I picked a sleeping Persephone up and out of her stroller before heading upstairs and placing her into the crib. I turned on her baby monitor before heading into my room and turning on mine. I grabbed the monitor before heading downstairs.
When I got downstairs, I joined the others in the kitchen and dining room combo. We saw Aunt Joyce taking some notes from a book.
"Pat wishes us some quality time," Buffy voiced as she and Kate went to the cupboards.
"Oh. I met in a..." Aunt Joyce started to say.
"Book club," Kate responded as they grabbed glasses out of the cupboard.
"Yeah," Aunt Joyce returned.
"Got it," Jeremy replied.
"Oh, uh, before I forget, uh, Willow just called," Aunt Joyce said as she looked up.
"Where was she?" Kyra asked.
"She got held up, but she said she tried to call," Jenna answered.
"Was there a message?" I asked as we looked at our cellphones.
Buffy walked over to the fridge and got a pitcher of infused juices out.
"No. But I had a thought. What if I invited Willow, Mr. Giles and everybody over for dinner tomorrow night?" Don't you think that would be nice?" Aunt Joyce asked with a smile.
Buffy sat the pitcher down before pouring the drinks for us out.
"Since I sort of already did, I was hoping for a yes," Aunt Joyce added.
"It'll be fun," Kate said as we looked at Aunt Joyce and gave a smile and nod but Buffy lost her smile after a moment.
"Great. Uh, do me a favour? Run down and get the company plates," Aunt Joyce asked.
"Aunt Joyce, I don't think Willow and everybody are company-plate people. They're normal-plate people," Kate voiced.
"We never have guests for dinner. Please indulge me?" Aunt Joyce responded.
Before any of us could respond, we heard the cry of Persephone through the baby monitor.
"I'll be right back," I stated.
"I'll make her a bottle," Jenna voiced.
"Thanks, Jenna," I replied as I headed out of the room and upstairs.
After I got upstairs, I headed into the nursery to see Persephone sitting up in the crib. I picked Persephone up and felt that Persephone had a wet diaper. I laid her on the changing table before taking off her pants and getting rid of the dirty diaper. I cleaned her up before putting a clean one on her and putting her pants back on her.
"Time for a yummy bottle," I said as I picked her up and headed back downstairs.
When I got back downstairs, Jenna took Persephone from me before telling me.
"Go help the others find the plates," Jenna told me.
"Okay," I replied as I towards the basement door.
I opened the door before heading down the stairs to the others.
When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I saw Buffy grabbing a step stool before sitting it down in front of an old bookcase full of stuff. She found something and was staring at it.
"What did you find?" Kyra asked.
We walked over to see her staring at a photo of all of us together. We were sitting on the lawn. I remembered this was taken after we had gotten back from summer vacation. I took it from Buffy because I wanted it for an album that I was putting together before she went back to looking for the good china.
"Oh!" Buffy said as a rotting cat suddenly fell from the top of the case.
We stepped back away from the rotting cat.
"Eww!" Kyra voiced as we looked squeamishly at the cat.
Jeremy came down the stairs with a garbage bag before putting the rotting dead cat into the bag and tying it up. We headed upstairs with the garbage and box.
After we got back upstairs, Buffy put the box on the counter before heading outside to bury the cat. I had Persephone in my arms and held her close as Buffy dug a shallow grave for the cat.
"Next time, we get to pick the mother-aunt-daughter-nieces bonding activity," Buffy commented as she stood back up.
Aunt Joyce lifted the bag with the cat in it over the hole and dropped the bag into it.
"Do you wanna say something?" Aunt Joyce asked.
"Like what? Thanks for stopping by and dying?" Kyra responded.
"How about goodbye, stray cat, who lost its way. We hope you find it," Jenna replied.
We accepted before Jeremy filled the hole in.
After filling the hole, we headed back in. We headed to the downstairs play area for Persephone for some playtime before dinner and work time. I placed Persephone on the ground as Kate and Kyra got some toys out for her to play with.
"I can't believe she's crawling," Jenna said as she came into the room and sat down.
"I know," I replied as Persephone tried to stand with one of the toys.
Two hours later, it was time to make dinner. I picked Persephone up and headed into the kitchen with the others before placing Persephone into her highchair. Kate gave her some toys to play with as Kyra got the recipe from the meal kit we brought back from LA.
"So, what are we making tonight?" Kate asked as she had her camera out and was filming.
"Tonight, we are having Smoky Maple Sirloin & Bacon Jam Scallops with cheesy potatoes and green beans," Kyra responded.
"Let's start dinner," Jenna replied.
"Who wants to do what?" Buffy asked.
"I'll do bacon jam," Kyra voiced.
"I'll do the sirloins," Kate voiced.
"I'll do the green beans," Jeremy responded.
"I'll do the cheesy potatoes," I stated.
"And I'll do the scallops," Jenna told us.
We each did our part in cooking dinner.
Fifty-five minutes later, dinner was ready, and we were plating. Kate plated the smokey maple sirloins, I plated the cheesy potatoes and Jeremy with the green beans. Jenna plated the scallops before Kyra put the bacon jam on the scallops and sirloin. The plates were placed on the kitchen table as Jenna, Aunt Joyce, Kate, and Kyra poured the drinks. We sat down as I multi-tasked in feeding myself and Persephone dinner.
"What's for dinner for Persephone tonight?" Kate asked.
"Chickpea & Carrot Purree with Apricot Purree for dessert," I answered before taking a bite of my sirloin.
We continued eating and feeding Persephone.
Thirty minutes later, we were done eating. Kate, Kyra, Buffy, Jeremy and Jenna did the dishes as I cleaned Persephone up before I headed upstairs with Persephone for her bath. Cole shimmered into the bathroom as I turned the water on and got it ready.
"Here, let me do the bath. Go get her stuff ready for bed," Cole said as he took Persephone from me.
I headed out of the bathroom and into the nursery. When I walked into the nursery, I got a clean diaper and sleeper out and was ready for bedtime. I heard footsteps come into the nursery. I turned to see Kate.
"Here is her bottle," Kate said. "I'm assuming Cole shimmered in and is doing bath time."
"Yeah," I replied.
"I'll see you when we are printing the vacation pictures," Kate returned as she headed out of the room.
A little while later, Cole joined me with a clean Persephone wrapped in a towel. I took Persephone from him before laying her down on the changing table. I put a clean diaper on her before getting her into a clean sleeper. I picked her up and laid her down in my arms as I fed her a nightly bottle before bed. I hummed 'baby mine' as she drank her bottle. Sometime later, she pushed her bottle away before Cole took the bottle, and I burped her.
"Time for bed," I said as I got up from the chair and laid her down in the crib.
I gave Persephone her soother before laying her blanket down on her. Cole turned out the light before turning on her musical nightlight, and I turned on the baby monitor. Cole stepped out of the room before I placed the protection crystal in place and closed the door.
"Night," Cole said before kissing me goodnight.
"Night," I replied before he shimmered out of the hall.
I headed into my room, where I saw Kate, Kyra and Buffy in their PJs.
"Give me a moment," I voiced as I headed to my closet.
I opened my pyjama drawer and grabbed what I wanted to wear before quickly changing. I placed today's jewelry in my spelled jewelry box before taking my phone, wallet, keys and other things out of today's bag and placing the bag in my extension spelled box. I walked out of the closet and slipped on my slippers before sitting down at the desk.
"Do we have enough photo paper?" Kate asked.
"I believe we do," Kyra responded.
"Let's start then," Buffy replied.
"I sent my copy of the pictures," Kate voiced.
"As did I," Buffy and Kyra responded.
"Okay. We'll start with mine, then Kate, Kyra and finally Buffy," I stated as I turned on my laptop and hooked it up to the printer.
I started printing my pictures which were a lot due to Persephone's first family vacation. After a while, I began on Kate's group of photos.
"How about we print the photo's tonight and put the photos in the albums tomorrow night?" Kyra suggested.
"That's a good idea," Kate voiced as I started on Kyra's group of vacation photos.
"It's a good thing this is in order, so I don't have to continue clicking print," I stated.
We continued talking for a bit before I started Buffy's group of pictures. We had taken a lot of pictures while away on vacation. Sometime later, we were on our last group of vacation pictures.
"So, Aurora, what happened when we met Pat?" Kyra asked.
"I had a flash of that mask that Aunt Joyce has hanging on her wall and the dead rising," I answered.
"Well, I did get a weird feeling from the mask," Kate voiced.
"I thought it was just me that felt that," Kyra returned.
"Nope," Buffy stated as the last picture printed.
"I think it's time for bed," Kate voiced as I looked at the baby monitor to see Persephone asleep.
"Yeah," I said as I yawned. "Night."
"Night," Kyra, Buffy and Kate said before leaving the room.
I put everything in its piles before turning off my laptop and unplugging the printer. I headed towards my bed and got in before turning out the light. As soon as I closed my eyes, I fell asleep.
What Aurora and the others didn't know as they were asleep, trouble was beginning to show. It was just after midnight as everyone in the house was asleep. Inside Joyce Summer's room, the ancient Nigerian mask on the wall, its eyes began to glow a deep red.
Down in the backyard, in the bushes where the cat was buried. The dirt covering the dead cat began to move before the zombie cat poked its head through the soil as it menacingly meowed and clawed its way out. Seconds later, the zombie cat hissed and growled as it got out and walked off.
Back in Aurora's room, she was dreaming as she slept.
Dream:
I was at the school as I walked through the hall outside. I jumped and looked back as a door closed behind me before continuing. The school was deserted as I walked past the empty lounge towards the library. It was just as deserted as the rest of the school. The sun shined brightly on the quad as I slowly walked down the outside stairs while looking for anyone. A little while later, I reached the bottom and headed to the courtyard.
"I thought they'd be here," I said as I stopped and saw Angel coming toward me before continuing to walk.
"They are," Angel said as he followed behind me before saying. "They're waiting for you."
"Am I dreaming?" I asked him as I looked over at him.
Angel smiled and chuckled before saying.
"I'm probably the wrong person to ask," Angel responded as I looked ahead again before saying. "You'd better go."
"I'm afraid," I told him as I looked at him and placed a hand on my stomach.
"You should be," Angel replied as he shrugged and looked at me.
I could tell he stopped walking as I continued on my way, just as the school bell rang.
Dream Ends:
