Christof and I were up in a sh to greet our girl. Dara and Eve followed Kennedy in and I understood why this room was sorge. It was made to contain an extended family and we certainly had that.


    Kennedy was less injured than Hannah had been. She and her Sisters looked as though they had fared well in the battle. I examined all three of them before I remembered Mycah and his family.


    The little boys were staring intently at Kennedy and her Sisters. They edged closer and closer to the girls, approaching them. None of them seemed afraid. They looked like they were trying to control their curiosity.


    “You aren’t Hannah, but I feel you,” Jonathan announced loudly. “You look a little like Hannah, but you don’t feel like her. She is not here.”


    Mycah and the rest agreed as the adults stared at them. We had no idea how Mycah’s family knew Hannah.


    “I am Kennedy, born in the T’aran Mountains,” my daughter said as way of introducing herself to everyone present.


    Eve and Dara also introduced themselves, but the boys weren’t interested in names. Mycah’s family was barely tolerant as Hodlen’s family introduced themselves.


    “Can we touch your wings?” Rees asked and the barrage of questions began.


    The small boys were fascinated by the Paterian women and wanted to get close to them. Every part of the girls fascinated the small boys. Mycah’s family was getting used to feeling connected to those around them. They wanted to be close to those they thought were extended family


    “Mycah needs to ask,” Hodlen said and Damien agreed with him.


    The boys needed to work together. They had a bad habit of splintering apart. My husbands wanted the boys to build a strong bond and thinking as a team made that happen. We wanted them to feel free, but they also needed to be connected to one another.


    It took several heartbeats for the boys to focus on Mycah. Kennedy and her Sisters just smiled and sat down Indian style along one wall, inviting the young ones to explore. They had no hesitation at all.


    The boys were all over the girls. They inspected their wings and their talons. I watched them stand on the girls’ legs and scramble up on their shoulders. Not surprisingly Aiden found Kennedy’s long hair fascinating. It was different from the body hair she had and closer to what Rynal had. Jonathan went girl to girl, reaffirming their taste. Overall, Mycah’s family crawled all over Kennedy and her Sisters and inspected them.


    Molly and I readjusted ourselves so we faced the girls and waited for the children to calm down.


    “Mycah, how do you know Hannah?” I asked pointedly and the little boy turned to look at me.


    “My Brother felt her close when it was really noisy outside at thepound,” Mycah said pointing to Jonathan. “We went outside when no one was looking and went to find her. We kept feeling Damien and his Brothers, but they weren’t as close. Hannah was really close, we wanted to know who she was, why we felt her, and if we could find her.”


    Jonathan had tasted his birth sisters many times in the mountains. Evidently he had notpletely forgotten any of us, his memory had just been temporarily blocked. I looked over at Damien and he looked as stunned as I felt. Hodlen’s family watched the interaction closely, but stayed silent. Tyle’s family looked as curious as us.


    “How close was Hannah? How do you know her name?” Damien asked quietly. The boys were talking about thepound during the battle, but he didn’t understand how or when they would havee across Hannah.


    “When we were in thepound, she dropped out of the sky,” Mycah said plopping down on Dara’s thigh facing the family. “The tall, thin aliens wereing toward us and she cut them in half. They cut her, too, but she just roared at them.”


    My mouth dropped open and I felt the same amazement from Damien and his Brothers. We had not known aliens had gotten into thepound. No one would have dreamed they’d been that near the children.


    “Ra came, too, and then the Warriors all came running. Hannah and Ra made all the aliens fall down and then they talked to the Warriors,” Mycah said as his hands explored Dara’s talons as her handy at his waist.


    We sat in continued amazement as Mycah blithely exined how Hannah had introduced herself and quickly taught the Warriors how to fight aliens. She told the Warriors how the aliens moved and how to destroy them quickly. As she talked, she’d plucked Mycah’s family from their hiding ce and demanded the men put the curious boys in a safer spot.


    “War is not a ce for little boys!” Mycah said wagging his finger at us, as he must have seen Hannah do. “You have to do a better job watching them!”


    None of us knew what to say and I looked at Kennedy to find her expression sheepish.This is from N?velDrama.Org.


    “You were worrying so much about him, Mama,” she said softly stroking Aiden and Jonathan as they sat on herp. “We didn’t want you to panic if you heard that. If the men told Damien and his Brothers… we thought we’d just let it happen if it did.”


    “No secrets, Sweet Girl,” Christof said mimicking the pet name I’d given her. “Mama can’t be strong if we don’t treat her like an equal. You have to trust that she’ll make the right decision.”


    Kennedy rolled her eyes in a very human gesture and hmphed before she spoke again.


    “Like tearing down the mountain on a transport trying to get into the tunnels?” she asked quietly.


    “Be respectful,” Bane chastised, “Mama was upset. Many of us wanted to do the same thing when we heard what was going to happen. We all worried for the young ones.”


    Kennedy apologized, sounding somewhat like a sulking teenager, and I admitted to my mistake. What I’d done had been foolish. I assured the girls I wasn’t going to do that sort of thing again. Protecting our family would be a shared job, as it should be.


    We sat and talked for a while longer and the conversation was pleasant. Damien watched Mycah’s little family and knew they were still healing. With no more excitement they started to be sluggish and sleepy. Paterian men healed when they rested and the boys were slipping toward doing that. We would let them rest out here with the family for now.


    Mycah’s family stayed with Kennedy and her Sisters and, soon, started to doze as the girls held them. They fought to stay awake, but the warm, soft hair covering Kennedy and her Sisters made a nice ce to cuddle. The little family started to stretch for sleep as their eyes closed.


    Niah was pushed off Eve’s thigh and looked blearily around as Molly and I watched trying not tough. His Brother, Rees, had stretched out and unintentionally shoved him off. He looked disgruntled at the loss of his space.


    “Niah, baby,” I called out, e sit with me.”


    The little boy dragged himself over so I could pull him up on myp. He stretched out across Molly and me, quickly falling asleep. My new friend was tentative as she stroked the young boy. He sighed and snuggled against us, absolutely at ease. I felt her tremble and looked over to see tears in her eyes.