Magic is real, whispered an odd voice inside my head. It was mine, but it wasn't. It was foreign, yet so familiar I found myself believing in it despite the alien quality. Once the last of the warmth rushed through me, I opened my eyes and gave Avamarie a small yet utterly grateful smile. "Thank you," I whispered and let my knees finally give away until I was once again sitting on the floor. "I know I've said this a lot since you first came into this… in-between. But, now what?" I asked. "That's up to you," she admitted. "You can stay here and be nowhere. You can go through the light and onto whatever comes next. Or you can go back through the door and live again." My options sounded vast, but they were truly limited. I couldn't stay in this in-between area, who in their right minds would want to be nowhere. I couldn't die, there's no way I could leave my children with no father and no mother. So, it meant sucking it up and brave the cloud of pain so I could make it through the

"Okay everyone's down for the night and I've got most of the unnecessary things shut down. Just checked on the babies and they are all doing well. I'm shocked at how well the preemie is doing. He's been getting better and better ever since Vicki did her thing with him," Louis said. I cringed remembering the weird light that had healed Tommy while I had held him. I had hoped, in vain obviously, that Louis would forget that moment. But he was proving to be a stubborn witness. I made a mental note to ask Avamarie about that damn stone she had given me. "Oh, Uncle Louis, are you still going on and on about Vicki healing the baby with her necklace? I told you it's nothing but a black stone," Julia said shaking her head at him. "I'm telling you it's the truth and when Vicki wakes up, I'll prove it to you," he said just as stubbornly. This must have become a normal argument because Julia just shook her head and let it go. "So, everything is shut off?" she repeated. Louis nodded. "All

The light hit the back of my eyelids and I realized I had closed them as I had jumped. I opened them slowly and my first sight was my own face. I was floating above my body as it laid in the hospital bed. I was utterly shocked by how pale and sickly I looked. Even the white bandage that was wrapped around my forehead had more color than I did. I gave my body a once over to make sure I had only been shot once and that is when I saw a little bit of a brown curl poking out on the side of the bed. Johnathan was laying fast asleep right next to me curled up tight in a sweet sleepy little ball. On the other side laying with his head near my feet was Marcus lightly snoring. That was a silly little sound I would never take for granted again; in my mind, it meant that he was safe and healthy. I reached out to touch his cheek but was disappointed when my arms suddenly felt as if they had anchors lodged on them. I looked down and saw weird white strings connecting me to my body making it so I co

"Hi," Benjamin said in a false gruff tone. A snort accidentally popped out of my mouth and earned me a glare from him. The fact that it was completely obvious that he was flirting with her was not supposed to be funny. In his own way, he had just reprimanded me for the sound. Avamarie just giggled at us both and stuck out her hand to shake his. "Hi, Benny. I'm Avamarie," she greeted him. Benjamin's hand froze in her grasp so all that she was shaking was a limp noodle. "You're-you're- Avamarie? The Avamarie that Johnny and Melissa have been talking about?" he stuttered out. She gave one of her laughs again and let go of his hand. His head whipped between the both of us in disbelief. It was whipping back and forth so hard I was sure it would pop off at any moment. Suddenly she slowly faded out and it must not have been in her plans because she got an extremely disappointed look on her face. "Darn, I was hoping to have a moment longer," she said sadly, her voice held an eerie

After Benjamin left, the boys and I spent most of the day holed up in my hospital room. The only people to disturb us was Louis and Julia both coming in to check on me and make sure I had healed up properly. Louis asked me in a hushed tone if this had anything to do with my Magical necklace and when Julia heard she pulled him out practically by his ears. After that it was quiet and peaceful with the only sounds were the babies crying. And the only crying baby I had to deal with was the little baby Katrina. Johnathan had apparently bonded with her and when he would hear her even whimper, he would drag me out of the room and force me to take care of her. He had branded her his 'little sister' and wouldn't hear it happening any other way. I was a little taken back by this, having never known he had wanted another sibling. Truth be told, I was quite enjoying holding a baby again and when she looked up at me with her baby blue eyes that were almost identical to Darren's, I couldn't tell h