Chapter 14 - Not alone

The days and months went by in a blur of happiness. Not since the first days after I met Blue have I had to much joy in my life. Everyone seems so wrapped up in our warm little bubble of love. I fear for the day that it bursts.

The only dark cloud in our sky of happiness is mum. No one has seen or heard anything from her since my confrontation with her that fateful day. Poor dad is beside himself. SIA have had quiet work with the police and asked them not to take too much of an interest and the apparent lack of action from local law enforcement is really wearing on dad.

"Hi dad," I am trying to be cheerful for him I swear this ordeal is ageing him.
"Hi Rosé. Still no news of your mother."
"Come on in dad. Let's have a cup of tea and sit down for a minute."
Dad sat at the table while I busied myself with the tea making.

What am I supposed to tell him. I can't tell him the truth! Seen from this side it makes it all the more easy to understand what Blue was going through all that time. Still it's different with dad, he's a civilian and can't be told company information. So it's different, right? Still warring with myself I brought dad his tea.

"Here you go dad." We sat in silence for awhile sipping our tea neither one sure exactly of what to say.
Finally dad broken the silence. "I don't know what to do Rosé. The police seem to be dragging their heals on this and as time passes I can't help but think the worst has happened."
"It's ok dad, I'm sure she's ok."
"But how can you know that?" He asked a pleading expression in his eyes.

What could I tell him? Gee dad, mum's actually a supervillian in hiding so that she isn't taken into custody. That'll never work. I grasped at straws and tried a desperate tactic. "I just know dad. You know when you get that feeling in the pit of your stomach that something horrible has happened to someone you love? I don't have the with mum. She's out there and she's fine I can feel it."
"Really?" The desperate look in his eye was almost too much to bear.
"Really."
"Maybe you're right. But..."
To stop his mind going back to those brooding thoughts I quickly changed the subject. "Um, dad. There's something I've been meaning to tell you." I still haven't told him about Blue and I yet and this seems the perfect time.
"Mmmmm," he mummered distractedly.
"Well, Blue and I have decided to make it official. We're engaged." THAT did it he nearly knocked over the chair in his excitement.

"You're getting married!" He was practically dancing. "Oh to think a wedding! Oh and more little grand-berries. Oh Rosé I'm so happy for you." He gushed pulling me into a giant hug.
"I'm glad." I said not quite able to muster up the same enthusiasm. Kids? I hadn't seen that one coming. But the mission was accomplished and he went away with dreams of  a house full of 'grand-berries'.

The twins are flourishing and Plum seems to have put aside his mourning for Nuala and is dedicating his life to the girls. We take with them playing and teaching them how to be proper little girls.

I love them both like daughters of my own. But with my line of work I can't but think that they need a more stable influence in their lives. Underneath it all I can tell Plum is lonely. No matter how deeply he loved Nuala he wasn't meant to be alone in life.

Despite the big news of our engagement we weren't moving fast in making wedding plans. Blue and I are content for now. With all of the major changes and shocks that have happened to us over the last couple of years we aren't willing to rush this.

Just enjoying life for once was enough. After the debacle of my attempted solo mission to retrieve the Simsetta stone Devon realised that if he didn't allow me into the field I was likely just to get myself in trouble doing things off the books. So after a brief stint behind a desk as punishment for my transgressions he has finally let me out. I'm not soloing missions yet, but he does have me on surveillance. While it isn't the adrenaline filled ride that I am after I think I am getting pretty good at this going unnoticed thing.

Meloire has finally entered her teenage years. She didn't want  a party this time though. Although I hoped she would be too young to remember it she still associates her last birthday with Nuala's death. So instead of a cake and candles she choose to just age gentle over a nice family meal.

Fortunately those pesky lips are no longer an issue .

Finally, and after much debate with the agency (who doesn't like agents dating let alone marrying), Blue and I decided on a simple wedding on our favourite beach. Since it is just family attending we aren't bothering with bridesmaids and groomsmen we just gathered the family for a simple ceremony. I was taken aback by how grown up Cheri looks. She really has blossomed into a young adult and looks so like mum it is incredible. Dad's right too, she does seem very attached to Orange Tian.

I wonder how long it will be before there is another wedding to plan. Plum surprised us all by bringing a date! The hottest new berry, Blaze Cherry Jubliee, to come into town it seems had more than caught his eye.

After the shock worn off I could see the way they looked at each other. There is definitely something there and it makes me happy to think that he might have found someone.

As the sunset the family gathered round and we exchanged our rings.

It was simple and perfect. I couldn't have imagined a more romantic moment than that.

Dad even honoured us by playing a song he wrote for the night.

And romance really was in the air.

We decided to go on honeymoon to the place we fell in love. Egypt. Less than a day into the trip and our romantic getaway turned into something else.

"Who was that?" I asked curiously
"Devon." He said with a perplexed look on his face. "It seems there is a mission critical item here in Egypt and since we are already here he has decided to cancel our honeymoon and send us after it."
"What?!?" Our honeymoon canceled, a mission. My thoughts and emotions ran back and forth between those two bits of news.
"Yeah, and it seems it's pretty urgent so come on let's go." I could tell Blue was in the same state as me as the excitement flitted across his face.
As we dashed off to the tomb Blue filled me in. It seems that the Simsetta stone was not, as always thought, worn away by time. It was actually the bottom half of a much larger tablet. The half that was missing was believed to hold the key to decrypting a second message hidden within the Simsetta stone. The boys in the lab back at SIA had discovered some writings that pointed them to a specific tomb here in Egypt.

"And so," he concluded. "We have to get in here and get it before your mum, sorry, gets wind of it and gets her hands on it."
"Wow. Who would have thought there was more to the Simsetta stone." Excitement had finally won out. This was the kind of adrenaline rush I had been craving all this time. And part of me knew that if we got this part of the stone it might be just the thing to get mum out of hiding. As he continued to work on inspecting the hidden entrance I couldn't help but become more aware of a prickling sensation building at the back of my neck. Thoughts of the run in with the mummy on my last bout of exploring made the apprehension grow.

As we approached the chest where the stone was meant to be hidden the feeling grew into a certainty. "Blue," I said trying to keep the waver out of my voice.

"I don't think we're alone in here."