A/N: Lorelei and the twins return home. Meanwhile, Sean tries to better understand the symbols Diana has been drawing.
*Sean's POV*
On Tuesday morning when Sean arrived at the hospital, he found out it would be the last time he would be doing so. Lorelei and the girls were being discharged that day. Aurora and Liliana had amazed staff by how quickly they had gained weight. As of Tuesday morning, they were 5.55lbs and 5.5lbs respectively. And with no additional health issues, the doctors had determined they were ready to go home. Lorelei's own test results showed she had recovered enough that they felt comfortable enough to send her home. All three of them would have appointments to check their progress a couple of days after the New Year started.
Sean had contacted Angela to let her know. She told him she would let her sisters know, especially Amanda who would be acting as their night nurse for the first few months. After that period, she would join her sisters as their regular nannies, taking turns caring for the children. Once that was done, Sean helped Lorelei pack up hers and the babies' belongings. "I swear, I didn't have this much stuff when I arrived." Lorelei commented as she pushed down on her suitcase, trying to zip it up.
Sean looked up from where he had finished zipping up the twins' bag. He walked over to where his wife was and used his body weight to hold the suitcase closed, allowing Lorelei to finally zip it up. "You did receive some gifts while you were in here. I'm sure they added to the load."
Lorelei nodded. "True." She turned to look at the girls, who were in their bassinets. "Let's get these two into their car seats and head home."
"Mommy!" Olivia flew down the hallway, throwing herself at Lorelei's legs as they entered the front door.
"Hi sweetheart." Lorelei said as she bent down to pick Olivia up. "How are you?" Olivia in her arms, Lorelei headed towards the living room where Angela was waiting for them. "Hi Angela."
Angela pulled Lorelei into a hug. "How are you sweetheart?"
Lorelei smiled at her. "Tired. But glad to be home."
Angela nodded understandingly before turning her attention to Sean and the twins. "Hello little girls. Look how big you've gotten since I last saw you." She cooed.
"Just over 5. now." Sean informed her. "And if you'll excuse me, I might take them upstairs, get them out of their car seats."
"Of course. Olivia was just about to help me make lunch, weren't you sweet girl?"
Olivia nodded and Lorelei handed her over to Angela. Sean started making his way up the stairs, followed closely by his wife. Setting the car seats on the bed, he unbuckled Aurora from hers and gently picked her up. "Welcome home sweetheart." Sean told her softly as he moved to place her in the bassinet.
Lorelei removed Liliana from her car seat. She gently placed her in the bassinet before turning to Sean. "I might have a bit of a lie down before lunch."
Sean nodded, removing the car seats from the bed. He helped his wife onto the bed before sitting down on the edge beside her. "Is there anything you need?"
Lorelei shook her head, a smile on her face. "I'm all good." She replied.
Sean placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "I'm gonna put the car seats in the twin's room. I'll be downstairs if you need anything."
The rest of the day was uneventful. Lorelei spent the remainder of the day upstairs with the twins. The twins were feeding around every 90 minutes for about 20 minutes each. Lorelei would alternate between feeding them at once or one at a time. When she wasn't feeding them, she was either resting or pumping. Sean and Angela took turns staying with Lorelei, bringing her food and drinks. Both had offered to feed one or both of the twins, but Lorelei was insisted that for this first day, she would do it herself. She wanted to stock up on breast milk, so she was able to better rest overnight and tomorrow.
Amanda arrived around 7pm just as Sean and Lorelei were putting Olivia to bed. The twins and their bassinets were moved into the guest room where Amanda would be sleeping when she wasn't attending to the twins. It was determined that for this evening, at least, Amanda and Sean would do the feedings while Lorelei slept. By 10pm, Lorelei and Sean were heading to bed. The twins had been fed and they had an hour and a half before they were due to be fed again. Turning off the lights, Sean joined his wife in bed. She shuffled closer to him, her head resting on his chest. "I'm glad to be home." Lorelei told him.
Sean pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'm glad you're home as well. All of you."
Lorelei looked up at him, her hand coming to rest on his cheek. Sean leant down capturing her lips with his own. "I missed being able to do that without the heart monitor going off." She said with a chuckle.
Sean hummed in agreement. "Likewise. Now, get some sleep."
Sean entered the kitchen the next morning desperate for coffee. Every time the twins had awoken, so had he. Lorelei had as well, but it didn't take much to convince her to stay in bed and leave it himself and Amanda.
"Morning. You look like you could use this." Angela commented as she offered him a cup.
Sean smiled at her gratefully. "Thank you." He said accepting it. He pressed a kiss to the top of Olivia's head before sitting down at kitchen island. Olivia was eating some fruit while Angela was preparing breakfast. And it looked like she was preparing a feast.
"How'd everything go last night?" Angela asked as turned back to the stove to finish up the bacon.
"It went well. The twins are feeding frequently but not for very long." Sean answered. "And with the two of us feeding them at once, we weren't awake for very long."
Angela nodded, placing the bacon on an oven tray. "How frequently are they feeding?"
Sean rubbed his eye. "Every 90 minutes."
"That is frequent. I suppose it's because of their size. Over time there will be longer and longer breaks between feedings." Angela slid the tray of bacon in the oven to keep it warm. "How often did Lorelei try to get up?"
Sean swallowed his mouthful of coffee. "She didn't. She would wake up, but it was easy to convince her to go back to sleep."
"That's good to hear. She needs to rest. I'm glad she's taking the help. She can be quite stubborn, that one." Angela said with a chuckled.
Sean smiled into his cup. That was true. Although Lorelei had gotten better at accepting help over the past year. "I'll have you know, I come from a long line of stubborn people." Lorelei said as she entered the kitchen.
"Of course you do." Angela said, rolling her eyes. Lorelei smiled cheekily at her as she walked over to Olivia to kiss her good morning. "Do you want a drink? Coffee, tea, juice, milk?"
"I might grab a juice." Lorelei said making her way to the fridge. "Anyone else want some?"
Olivia raised her hand. "Me!"
"What do you say." Lorelei prompted her.
Olivia thought about it for a second. "Please."
Lorelei nodded. "Good job." She said as she grabbed a glass and Olivia's sippy cup from the dishwasher.
Amanda soon joined them in the kitchen to let them know the twins were awake. Juice in hand, Lorelei headed upstairs to feed them. By the time she was done, breakfast was ready and the five of them sat down to eat together before Amanda headed home. Lorelei headed upstairs to feed the twins again while Angela got Olivia in her winterwear before taking her outside to play.
Sean headed into the office, closing the door behind him. He pulled out Diana's drawings and sat down at his desk. Powering up his laptop, he opened up the program that would allow him to videocall a contact who may be able to shed some light on the meaning of the symbols. Sean had considered asking Lorelei, however if she knew about the symbols, she may be unlikely to tell him about them, especially if she had been told to keep it a secret.
Dasha looked surprised when she answered the call. "Allo? Sean Renard…This should be interesting."
Sean smiled at her. "How are you doing, Dasha?"
Dasha shrugged. "How are things in Irkutsk, Siberia? What do you want?" She asked, although the smile she gave him indicated there was no malice behind her words.
Sean glanced at the drawings before looking back at the screen. "I have something I need you to take a look at." He replied, holding the drawing up for Dasha to see.
Dasha stared intently at the image. "What is it?"
"I don't know, that's why I want you to look at it." He told her.
"Where did you get this?"
Sean glanced at the drawing, wondering how much he should tell her. "My daughter drew it."
Dasha's eyes widened. "You have a daughter?" Sean nodded, unable to stop the small smile that crossed his face. "Things have changed, haven't they, Sean."
Sean nodded. "Yes, they have."
Dasha swallowed the tea she had been drinking. "Why would your daughter draw something like this?"
"She said she saw it."
Dasha raised an eyebrow. "Where could she see this?"
"In a secret room." He replied. "That's all I know. Can you figure out if this means anything?"
"I will tell you right now, it does mean something." Dasha informed him. "What, that will be more difficult. I will call you…when I know something." Sean nodded understandingly. He knew it may take some time. "What is your daughter's name?"
"Diana."
Dasha nodded. "Send me the drawing." She paused for a moment. "Sean, do you know who the mother is?"
"Goodbye, Dasha."
Sean headed upstairs to find Lorelei had fallen asleep while pumping. Noticing that the bottles weren't drawing any more milk, he gently disconnected the pump and covered his wife back up. Bottles in hand, he headed downstairs to put them in the fridge. As Sean was finishing up, Angela and Olivia came back inside, although it sounded as if Olivia would have preferred to stay outside. "It's time to be inside." Angela told her patiently as she removed Olivia's little boots. "We're going to have a snack and then you are going to have a nap."
Sean took over getting Olivia out of her winterwear as Angela went to prepare the morning snack. "Another coffee, Sean?" Angela asked. "I was going to have one."
"Please." Sean answered as he hung Olivia's jacket up before picking her up. "Did you have fun playing outside?"
"Yes." Olivia said, fiddling with the collar of his sweater. "Brrrr."
"Yes, it was cold outside." Angela agreed adding some of the apples she'd cut up onto a plate, along with some cheese and crackers. She handed the plate to Sean. "I'll make up our coffees."
"Thanks Angela." Sean said before carrying Olivia and her snack to the table. He placed the plate on the table before getting Olivia set up in her highchair. Sitting beside her, Sean placed the plate in front of her. She went straight for the cheese.
"Lorelei awake?" Angela asked as she joined Sean and Olivia, sliding his coffee towards him.
Sean shook his head. "No, she fell asleep. Which is good. She needs it."
"Maybe you should get some sleep as well. You look tired."
Sean nodded. He felt tired. And although he knew he should get some rest, he didn't think he'd be able to sleep during the day. Perhaps he should at least lie down. It couldn't hurt. Then he could be there for Lorelei and twins. After finishing his coffee, Sean headed upstairs to join his wife.
Later that evening, after Olivia had gone to bed, Sean was in the office again accepting a call from Dasha. Lorelei and Amanda were upstairs with the twins. "Are you alone?" Dasha asked him.
"Yes." He confirmed.
"What you have me is unlike…anything I've ever seen…"
"Do you know what it is?"
"I know what some of it might be." Dasha said slowly, holding up a copy of Diana's drawing. "And it scares me." Sean frowned. "I can't tell if it's good or bad. Probably bad."
Sean leaned forward, resting his arms on the desk. "What is it?"
"An ancient prophecy…possibly…which predicts…something coming…"
"From where?"
"Somewhere we don't know." She paused. "You said your daughter made these images."
Sean nodded. "Yes."
"Then she should be connected to this…in a way we can't imagine."
"To what's coming?" He asked, wanting to confirm.
Dasha nodded. "Yes. Watch her very carefully."
As Sean ended the call, he felt a sense of foreboding. Something was coming. And Diana was somehow connected to it.
A/N: Happy Holidays everyone. I'll be taking a couple of days off from posting.
