"Now we have some serious things to discuss with you Spencer," Shawnda began.

Spencer looked around at the other four people in the room and all of them had serious expressions.

"This must be life-changing," Spencer said. "All of you look so serious."

"In a way it is life-changing," Dave offered. "You see this family is different than any other family. No other family is like us."

Dave went on to explain all about immortals and Spencer shook his head in denial. He said nothing however, as Shawnda sat beside him and held his hand and listened to her father. Spencer looked at Shawnda and she didn't look disbelieving at all at her father's words. None of the other people in the room looked disbelieving either Spencer noticed and in fact, all of them were nodding as Dave continued his explanation. Shawnda's father had apparently been elected the spokesman for the family.

Were they all delusional Spencer wondered silently the whole family including his fiancée or were they telling the truth? Immortality how could such a sci-fi concept exist? On the other hand, they could travel to other planets and that also used to be considered impossible.

Spencer was well aware that there were many mysteries in the world.

Suddenly his mother's voice spoke in his head. Just accept it Spencer. Shawnda loves you. She often did so when he was about to act rash and also make himself miserable in this case. His mother would want him to be happy and Shawnda made him so incredibly happy and if he really loved her he would accept her for who she was no matter how unusual she happened to be.

"It's hard to believe," Spencer said sounding calm and collected while his emotions on the inside were anything but.

"You're certainly being calm about this," Shawnda said studying Spencer curiously. "I expected disbelief, anger, outrage. I expected you to call me a liar, someone who was making it up."

"I might appear calm, but I'm really not," Spencer said candidly. "Not on the inside."

"Shawnda said you're very logical and that you would probably not believe in concepts like immortality," Aaron offered.

"Shawnda is correct. I am usually very logical," Spencer told Aaron. "It helped me survive my childhood to not let my emotions get the best of me. Now it's just habit."

"So what's the difference this time?" Jazz asked. "I'd think you'd call us delusional or insane at least."

"For one thing, I'm well aware there are many unsolved mysteries in the world," Spencer tried to explain his feelings. "I love watching those programs where they discuss things like the great pyramids and the mysteries surrounding them. I'm always watching some documentary or other on the history channel. For another, I know I love Shawnda and if I was to throw that away I know I'd be miserable. My mother was always telling me, before she passed, that logic was all well and good, but it would cause me to reject love."

"How do you remember that? You were only 10 when she was killed?" Shonda asked.

"Didn't Shawnda tell you? Eidetic memory," Spencer said tapping his forehead for emphasis. "I remember everything my mother ever said to me no matter how young I was when she said it. My mother knew I'd remember any advice she gave me even if that was 20 years later."

"That's some gift you have," Dave said in awe of his son-in-law.

"That's a rare talent," Aaron commented.

"Yes, it is," Spencer agreed with a grimace. "Only 3% of people have it. I just happened to draw the short straw."

"Why the short straw?" Jazz asked puzzled. "I would think it be a great gift. To be able to remember every moment with whoever you love."

"The way Spencer explained it to me is that he might be able to remember every happy moment, but he also remembers every tragedy or every bad thing that's ever happened to him," Shawnda spoke up for the first time in awhile. "He'll never be able to forget every time someone was nasty to him, every time someone was rude or every animal he has lost at his surgery and those are just examples."

"That's one of the disadvantages of having my type of memory," Spencer explained quietly. "It's why it's more of a curse than a gift. I have a ton of bad memories, but then everybody does. Most memories fade over time though, as that's the way the human minds usually works, mine never will."

"That would be hard to handle," Jazz said finally understanding where Spencer was coming from, which was why to him it was more of a curse.

"If you'd like a demonstration of our immortality I'll be happy to give you one," Dave suggested just to get off the subject of Spencer's eidetic memory.

"That would be good," Spencer said more calmly then he felt.

"I'll do it, dad," Shawnda told her father who nodded not looking worried, which Spencer immediately noticed. What parent wouldn't worry for their child when she was going to supposedly demonstrate something that was supposedly impossible.

"Oh course, sweetie. He is your mate," Dave agreed soberly.

"Mate?" Spencer asked puzzled. There was several meanings to the word mate but it seemed to mean in this case a sexual partner or soulmate.

"You see Spencer, every immortal has kind of a mate to be with them throughout there very long life," Shawnda begin to explain.

"I met Jazz in the late 20th century," Dave continued. "I was just passing through this small town known as Moonlight Gorge and stopped to get me a cup of coffee at this bakery. Jazz's Stupendous Delights was the name. I remember thinking at the time the name sounded really egotistical, but I soon learned that the owner could really live up to the name."

"I was behind the counter at the register, because my usual employee had an emergency involving her son," Jazz said. "Usually I was in the kitchen helping the other employees prepare the desert type items that we sold so we never would have run into each other if that was the case in that instance. I might have run into him in town though, because it was a small place and they were only so many places to eat out unless you went to other towns that were nearby."

"I knew instantly she was the one the second I set eyes on her, as that's the way it works with immortals," Dave explained.

"Aaron's and my story is similar, except I didn't meet him for three years until after Jazz met Dave," Shonda said. "In fact, she happened to be pregnant with Shawnda at that time."

"So I am your mate?" Spencer said catching on immediately. "That certainly explains some things."

"Yes, you are," Shawnda said. "It's why we are explaining all this to you, as we usually don't tell anyone for obvious reasons."

"No, we don't," Aaron put in. "You're certainly accepting the information better than I thought you would. From what you explained about your mother though I think I understand why."

"I do as well," Dave said. "Your mother realized you might reject love, just because you're so logical and you don't usually listen to your heart. I'm sure she didn't expect to die so young and thought she'd be around to stop you from making a mistake. She gave you some sound advice and because you loved your mother you're listening to your heart instead of your head."

"I'm still struggling to believe it," Spencer said.

"Which is only natural," Shawnda said taking the knife her mother handed her from the plate of eclairs she had brought from the kitchen.

Shawnda calmly sliced the palm of her hand cutting herself deeply managing not to wince at the sharp pain.

Spencer watched intently as Shawnda's palm healed before his eyes nearly instantly. All that was left was the bloody knife and the blood on Shawnda's hand from where blood had flowed for a few seconds.

Shonda handed her goddaughter a tissue from her pocket without a word and Shawnda wiped the blood off her hand. Spencer studied the palm intently but there was absolutely no sign that his fiancée had been injured at all so that meant they were either immortal or he was imagining things.

"Well, I guess I'm gonna have to believe you after seeing that," Spencer said shaken.

"We all know how hard it is to believe in something like immortality," Shonda offered. "I had no trouble believing it when I met Aaron because Jazz had already met Dave at that point so I already knew that immortality existed, as she had told me with Dave's permission. It might've been a bit of a shock that my mate was also immortal, but I accepted it quickly."

"I would think you wouldn't tell anyone else," Spencer told Jazz and Dave.

"Normally, that would be true, but Jazz and Shonda had been best friends practically since the day they were born. They grew up in the same town and were the same age. They share a bond that no one can ever break," Dave said simply.

"We simply can't lie to each other, because we know each other too well. We can't even fudge the truth," Jazz added. "It's always obvious if we do try to lie even by omission."

"You got that right," Shonda put in.

"Which is also how Shonda ended up being named the godmother to Shawnda because I would never name anybody else for such a responsibility, especially not for a first child. We told my parents of course and my siblings, but no one else at the time and they were sworn to secrecy," Jazz continued ignoring Shonda's statement.

"We stayed in Moonlight Gorge until her parents had passed," Shonda added. "My father was already gone by then as he was very sick, but he lived long enough to see me marry Aaron and to walk me down the aisle and for me to give birth to my first child, but he died not long after that. We named that child Michael after my father, just as we promised we would before he passed. My father knew that I was happy and and that I would be alive long after he passed. That's all that ever mattered to him seeing Jazz and I were happy knowing we would live on and we'd have large families. Jazz was practically another daughter to him as she was always over at my house when we were growing up just like I was over at hers. We were as thick as thieves, as that ancient saying goes and still are even to this day."

Spencer noticed that Shonda didn't mention her mother and he assumed that she was dead by then or maybe she had left the family as that happened all the time.

"I know this is a lot to take in," Shawnda told Spencer, "but there's one other thing we need to tell you."

"What else could there be?" Spencer asked feeling very shaken.

"You see, Shonda and I have magic," Jazz explained producing a small witch light. "So does Shawnda. All our children got this ability.

"I would argue that magic isn't real, but considering that you just produced that globe of light..." Spencer said.

"Witch light," Shawnda supplied. "It is the simplest of magic and anybody who is a witch can produce one by the time they are five years old."

"There are whole communities of witches all over the world," Shonda continued. "Moonlight Gorge, where we were originally raised, used to be a haven for witches, but there were only a few families that had magic by the time Jazz and I were born. My father was one of those with magic so was my mother who passed years before I met Aaron. I know she would've been happy that I met my mate and I'm only sad that she never got a chance to meet Aaron."

"It was just a small community with only around 10,000 people," Jazz added. "It was so small that Dave ended up having a house built for us for whenever we started having children."

"There simply wasn't any available property if we wanted to stay in Moonlight Gorge for the foreseeable future," Dave said. "Jazz's parents were healthy and weren't going to shuffle off of the mortal coil anytime soon and besides, their house went to Jazz's oldest brother Brian."

"Who finally did find a girl to marry and start a family with," Jazz smirked. "Mom always said that unless Brian married they weren't about to pass the house on to him, as it was too large for just a single person. It deserved a family."

"I would think you would've moved elsewhere," Spencer mentioned.

"That was certainly an option," Aaron said, "but the thing is Jazz had a business and her parents were also alive and healthy and I know Shonda didn't want to leave either, because her father was so ill."

"Besides, I had a business to and while Walters Antiques has continued as Aaron and I have moved from place to place, at that time none of us wanted to leave Moonlight Gorge."

Spencer assumed that Walters had been Shonda maiden before she married. It was a common practice to name a business after whoever had started it.

"It worked out and that's all that matters," Dave said.

"I think Spencer has enough to absorb for now," Shawnda finally told everyone. "Let's give him a few days before we discuss anything else."

"Probably a good idea," Dave decided. "We know we're putting a lot of pressure on you Spencer and we're sorry about that."

"If you're worried about me telling anyone I won't," Spencer said.

"It's not that," Aaron said, "as we never would've told you at least not right now, if we did believe that."

"That's true," Shawnda agreed. "We all trust you Spencer and I hope you realize that when we get married and start having children that they will have my immortality and my magic."

"I hadn't thought that far," Spencer said truthfully, "as you said I have a lot to think about over the next few days. All I know is I love Shawnda and I know I've never felt like this about anyone ever. I won't say what you've told me isn't a lot of information, but that doesn't mean I'm about to break off our engagement as that would be foolish and I've never considered myself so. I would only end up hurting myself if I did so. I would be miserable without Shawnda in my life and I know it."

"Then everything else will work itself out over time," Jazz said pleased and relieved.

"True that," Dave said also relieved.

"I know that it must not be easy to tell anyone what you are," Spencer said seeing the relief of Shawnda's parents. "It must get harder with every passing decade, considering how far we have advanced from say the Middle Ages."

"Even I wasn't alive back then," Dave snorted in amusement having relaxed at his future son-in-law's easy acceptance of their story.

His wife magic strikes again, Dave thought a little whimsically. At a minimum it had just made Spencer accept their explanation for immortality and also the magic in their family easier. Of course his mother telling him to go with his heart before she had died had also likely had an impact. A big one. Spencer had remembered his mother's advice even decades later because of that memory of his. Since he was a good son who loved his mother he took her advice. It really couldn't have worked out much better.

"Neither was I," Aaron said.

"Of course you weren't, because I am considerably older than you are," Dave told his friend with a twinkle in his eyes. "You're a mere babe in the woods compared to me."

"I think it's time for Spencer and I to head out," Shawnda told everyone.

Dave gave his daughter a look and she nodded already knowing what he was thinking. Spencer hadn't asked about how he was to become immortal as that probably hadn't occurred to him yet. Shawnda wanted to give him time to absorb everything he had learned before they got around to that Dave was sure.

"This has been a rather interesting evening," Spencer said, as he rose helping Shawnda to stand even though she hardly needed assistance.

He noticed that everybody in the room nodded approvingly at his gesture.

"So how's Mocha doing?" everybody remaining in the living room heard Spencer ask, as he and Shawnda headed for the front door.

"He's fine," Shawnda replied. "You know he's had his cast off for awhile now, so he's just a normal dog despite the accident. I'm actually kind of grateful. As mean as it is to say, we met because he was run over and I got a lovable, sweet, adorable companion out of it too."

"I'm glad he's OK, but you're right we met because Mocha was run over by some idiot," Spencer replied.

That was the last thing the others heard before the front door opened and closed.

~~~Shawnda and Spencer~~~