Cadence didn’t awake from her medicated slumber in twenty-four hours as Jamie had initially predicted. In fact, it had taken over thirty-six hours for her to finally start to come around, and even with that it took another two hours before she could fully open her eyes or communicate. When she found out that it was Saturday afternoon, rather than Friday evening, she was stunned. But Jamie assured her that she was fine, everything had gone according to plan, and she was just unlike any patient he had ever Transformed, so she reacted slightly differently.
She had stayed at her grandmother&
Cadence’s parents must have heard the car out front because her father flung the door open. “Cadence!” he exclaimed, giving her a hug. She heard her mom yell for Cassidy to come downstairs before she, too, embraced their first born.“Oh, Cadence! We are so glad you’re home,” her mother exclaimed, leading her into the living room. “How are you, honey?” she asked, motioning for her to join her on the couch. “Do you need anything, darling? Water? Soda?”
Cadence spent the rest of the day hanging out with her little sister, listening to music, and attempting to elicit whether or not Cassidy currently had a boyfriend. By the time 9:00 hit, she was exhausted. She told her sister good night and went in to her own room, excited to have the opportunity to sleep in her own bed again for a change. Though she was tired, she decided it might be a good idea to take a shower before she went to bed. The possibility of using her own soaps and shampoos made her happy. As she approached her bathroom, the pink bean bag chair on the floor next to her window caught her attention. She stared at it for a moment, contemplating whether it would be easier to keep the things that reminded her of Drew or get rid of them. She sighed, knowing this was just the first of man
“There is one more thing I wanted to mention to you,” Aaron said, avoiding eye contact with her again, and staring at the floor in front of him.“What’s that?” Cadence asked cautiously.“Well, it has to do with Eliza,” he said folding his arms across his chest.
Drew’s father had built this treehouse several years ago, intending for his younger sons to play in it. However, every time Cadence and the rest of their group came over, they almost always found themselves climbing the rope ladder and lounging around in the top of the oak that spanned most of the width of the back yard. Even today, though it was a bit chilly and beginning to mist, the treehouse was the place they went to automatically.Taylor and Sydney were leaning against the wall, snuggled up under a blanket they had brought up so long ago, it now smelled of mildew. The girls never s
Cadence and Jack walked off toward the side yard, out of earshot of most anyone who could possibly be attempting to listen. “I’m okay,” he said as he stopped near the fence. He was wearing a dark blue suit, and Cadence remembered how that color had always set his eyes off. Today, however, they didn’t seem quite as bright as what she remembered, and she wondered if he had, indeed, been crying after all.“Good, good,” she said. “I wish I would have been able to spend more time with all of you this week. I just needed some time alone, you know?”
“Hello?” Cadence said, praying that it wasn’t a telemarketer.“Just look him firmly in the eye and say, very calmly, ‘Elliott explained that to you. Don’t you remember? Remember what Elliott said?’” It was Aaron, and while she was a little shocked that he knew exactly what she had been talking about, she was relieved to have some help.Despite
Cadence had taken a nap after she returned from Drew’s house. She had visited with her family and watched some television with her sister. Now, she was sitting on her bed, dressed in comfy pants and a long-sleeved T-shirt, perusing Facebook on her phone and waiting for Aaron to arrive. He had sent her a text earlier that he was still planning on coming over but that his trip to Nevada had been a bit longer than he expected, so it might be a little later than he had hoped. Hopefully, by now, he was at least in the air on his way back to ShenandoahShe knew that it was very unprofessional
“Yes, Jamie was able to get you calmed down long enough for the medication to be administered. Otherwise, we probably wouldn’t have been able to get it in, and then, well, I don’t know what might have happened. But it was crucial that we get that second shot in to your system, and his healing allowed that to happen.”“I can’t believe I didn’t remember Jamie stopping the pain!” she exclaimed. She made a mental note to make sure and thank Jamie the next time she saw him.
Hannah took Jo to give her a bath, and Ona helped Cadence get Cadon latched while Jamie left to go check on his own one-month-old baby. Cadence’s son was a pro almost immediately, latching on the first try to resting peacefully while he nursed. Cadence couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have even one sweet baby, let alone the blessings of two. He wore a tiny little cap to keep him warm, and she couldn’t help but stroke his head while he made soft baby noises in her arms.Hannah brought Jo back before Cadon was finished. It took her daughter much longer to latch. She kept turning her feisty little face away, growling her discontentment as Cadence tried to get her on and not disturb Cadon at the same time. With Aaron’s help, their daughter finally latched, but he had to have his hand on her back or else she’d pull off again. “She is definitely a Daddy’s girl,” Cadence declared, shaking her head at her strong-spirited daughter.
“For the record, there really is no comparison between us naming our son after a famous jazz pianist and you naming your daughter after a murderous dictator,” the Healer pointed out before getting back to the task at hand. “I think in two or three more pushes, we’ll have a baby.” He was looking at Cadence now, smiling at her above the draped sheet that made her feel a little more secure even if it didn’t really hide anything at all from the doctor.“Okay,” she said again, ready to get it over with. Jamie told her to push, and she did, as hard as she could, hoping for two and not three as the lucky number.“Keep pushing,” Jamie said, even though Aaron had reached ten. “She’s almost there.”Cadence strained even harder, giving it every bit of energy she had left, and a few seconds later, she felt her daughter slip into the world. Listening to her cries made Cadence’s heart melt all
“One more push, Cadence,” Jamie insisted, his normally friendly-tone replaced by his not-quite-as-friendly medical professional tone. “One more time, and we’ll have a baby.”Cadence could feel the sweat dripping off of her forehead and wondered how normal human women did this, especially the ones who refused any sort of pain medication. Even with her superhuman strength and resilience, she was tired. Jamie had gloves on so he wasn’t using any of his healing powers to help her, but she had opted for the epidural, which minimized her pain but did nothing for the exhaustion.“You ready?” Aaron asked, standing next to her, holding one leg while Ona, a Healer who was acting as Jamie’s nurse, held the other.“I’m ready,” she nodded. Her husband’s smile hadn’t dimmed since her water broke three hours earlier. It might not have diminished since they’d left Prague eight months ago,
Jamie gently wrapped his arms around her. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” He kissed her cheek. “Love you, Cadence.”“I love you, too,” she said, returning the kiss. He took a step back and smiled at her before heading off toward the mountain.Cassidy hugged her sister a little more tightly than the doctor had. “Don’t you ever die on me again.”“I won’t. You neither. I love you, little sister.”“I know.” Cassidy giggled at her own smart remark. “I love you, too.” Cadence kissed the top of her sister’s head, and Cassidy let her go, stepping back to wait for Brandon.“Good job getting the monster.” Brandon’s hug was more like a pat on the back, and Cadence almost laughed, wondering if he just didn’t want to break her or was embarrassed.“Thanks, Brandon. Take care of my sis.”“I will try,
“The baby, Cadence,” Aaron said in her head. “You’re carrying our baby.”Cadence sucked in air all over again, like she had when she’d first fought to open her eyes. The baby! Jamie had told her she was pregnant before the hunt. How it had slipped her mind was beyond her, but yes, she was going to have a baby.Or was she? Her eyes flew to Jamie’s face, all of her questions bottled up in her eyes as she raised both brows, hoping he could alleviate her worry.Jamie smiled and gave a small nod only she could see. All of the air rushed out of Cadence’s lungs again as her hand flew to her abdomen, sighing in relief.“What is it?” Cassidy asked. “What was the other thing you couldn’t remember before?”Part of her wanted to keep their little secret just that, and she was disappointed that she hadn’t been the one to tell Aaron. She looked to him to see if
Cassidy smiled, but didn’t say anything, and Cadence could tell by her expression, she didn’t know what to make of Cadence’s revelation. It was no matter—she moved on.“Jack was pitching, Elliott. And the batter was a guy who looked so much like you. I couldn’t remember you at the time—sorry—but I asked, and my grandparents said the batter’s name was Jimmy.”“Jimmy?” Elliott echoed. “I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned that name to you.”“I don’t think you have either, but that’s your brother’s name, isn’t it.”Elliott’s head rocked back and forth slowly. “Wow. If that don’t beat all.... It’s like the freakin’ Wizard of Oz. ‘And you were there, and you were there....’ Hmmm.”“Well, it gets Wizardier because your mom was there, too. Arlene. And she wa
A growl from Elliott let her know he disagreed, but he didn’t say anything more, and Christian only nodded before he faded out of view. It was just as well. Cadence was exhausted. She didn’t really want to talk to anyone else, just let her husband pick her up in his strong arms and carry her back to the SUV so she could take a shower and fall asleep for a few years.“I hate to interrupt,” Scarlet said, taking a step closer to where they were sitting. “Cadence, it is wonderful you’re okay. But Jamie, what about that serum you made? Do you think we should try it? If we can get the Hybrids back up there, we might be able to save some of those people who are still trapped in the holes.”“Oh, right.” Jamie scratched his head, like he’d forgotten about the serum. “Yeah, why don’t you and Cale start working on that. The serum is in my backpack, which is in the trees near where we first encountered the bla
Lungs burning, body aching with the pain of soldering itself back together, eyes blinded by brilliant white, Cadence opened her mouth and sucked in air for the first time in as long as she could remember. Her legs still felt like they were on fire, like she’d been running for hours, but as she tipped her head back and began to cough the memories of what had happened to her, how she’d killed Daunator and then found herself in the air with no ground beneath her boots, flooded her mind, and every trace of memory about why she felt like she’d been running fled her mind.“Cadence? Cadence!”Aaron was there. She could feel his hands on her, even though she couldn’t open her eyes to look at him yet. Her throat burned as she continued to sputter, coughing and choking on the air she so desperately wanted in her lungs. How long had she gone without taking a breath? Why did her heart feel like a jackhammer, her chest muscles sore from the exert
Jamie was at twenty-two, and Aaron was trying to focus, but the voices to his left were prominent in his mind. He could still hear Elliott’s murmurs, Cass’s sobs, sighs and gasps from others. Christian was pacing back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, behind almost everyone. Aurora, free of her handcuffs now that she was no longer a threat, was doubled over on the ground, her hands linked around her knees, her wails having lost their voice minutes ago so that she was no longer making a noise as her body shook and spasmed. Eliza had her arm around the much taller Hunter, trying to be comforting, but Aaron was aware that, of everyone here, Eliza Wrath was the only one who really didn’t care if Cadence ever opened her eyes again. He could feel it rolling off of her in waves of ugliness like the sea during the type of storm that leaves debris littered all over the beach, breaks boats in its wake, and sends sailors to the bottom of the ocean.There were