78 - Awake

Grim had done what he’d intended. He took Maia’s pain so she would be strong enough to have a successful birth. He’d released her from her bargain, knowing she’d be more willing to follow through with the BC if she felt she had a choice in the matter. He still needed her to continue the challenge, and if that meant making sure she was more willing and better prepared, well, he’d done his best to tell her what she needed to know.

But Maia was too curious, and there were some questions Grim didn’t want to answer. He didn’t want to tell her he had once lived in the deepest pit of the underworld where the vilest of undead beings were still imprisoned.  He didn't want to tell her he had far less power over the undead pit creatures than she believed. He didn’t want to tell her that he was not originally an undead at all, or that the Iblisan, Kadru, who had ordered Maia’s recent abduction, was the same individual who had torn his living soul from his body so long ago. And he certainly didn’t want to explain to her that—misguided fool though he had been—he had completely deserved his punishment for what he’d done.  For that, and for what he had yet to do...

But transporting Maia to and from the underworld had drained the Reaper’s powers greatly. And when she went into labor with the child of Kadru’s undead mummy minion Zhemerkhet, he took on all the pain of the childbirth as well as the death she would’ve succumbed to during it had he not intervened. The strain of keeping Maia alive rendered him unconscious, and Grim crumpled to the ground.

While the Reaper slept, time moved on.

But from that day forward, all the ghosts of the newly dead haunted the overworld in ever greater numbers, having no one to reap them and guide their souls into the underworld.

And while Grim lay oblivious, the undying creatures from the underworld’s deepest pit sought escape from their prison.  More and more of these soulless zombies managed to find their way through the thinner veils that separated the overworld from the underworld—the most fragile veils being located in the town of Moonlight Falls.

But eventually, the echo of a voice found its way into the Reaper’s dark and dreamless sleep and tugged at his consciousness. It sounded as though someone was calling out to him from far away.

Maia?! 

And the Grim Reaper awoke.

He scrambled to his feet, only to feel himself abruptly hurtled towards the overworld as though he’d been catapulted by a giant rubber-band, and then snapped into a living body he was quite familiar with, although he had not possessed it for millennia.

 “Samael?!”

It was Grim’s own true name, a name that had not been spoken by anyone for eons, one that he had long since forgotten, but was now carried to his ear on the breath of his beloved.

For a brief moment Samael gazed at Maia, the woman he had loved so many lifetimes ago; the woman he had never stopped loving in all the ages since. And now the power of Maia’s wish and the magic that sought to reunite them had returned him to the overworld. At last, she remembered him and had somehow set him free!

Samael quivered with barely suppressed emotion as he reached out his arm to tenderly stroke Maia’s cheek.

But suddenly, it seemed to him that the earth itself turned inside out, its molten heart burning away his physical body as his consciousness was forced to flee from his corporeal form.

Samael found himself back in the underworld, in the skeletal body of the Grim Reaper once again.

Grim threw back his head and screamed in despair at his loss, his cries of anguish echoing throughout the hollow caverns of the underworld.

But he understood all too well the reason for his sudden return. After all, how could he return to the realm of the living as Maia’s soulmate when he no longer possessed his own soul??  

Without a soul of his own, he was unable to stay in the overworld with Maia as her soulmate and fulfill the wish she had made. And when his consciousness had been returned to the form of the Reaper, the fairies of the well had been obligated to give Maia the nearest probable substitute they could, based on the parameters of her wish—a man who didn’t necessarily look like Samael, but with whom she shared a romantic bond and deep connection in the past.

And so, they brought her Reid, a man who, unlike Grim, had a soul.

They brought her Reid, the only man in existence who had nearly as deep of a romantic connection to Maia as Samael himself had.

They brought her Reid, the same man whose discovery of Samael and Maia’s love in the distant past had ultimately led to their age-old separation and torment.

The agony of having his soulmate stolen away from him all over again before he could even touch her as Samael was almost more than he could bear. He had to tell Maia everything, he had to help her understand, and he still had to find and reclaim his own torn-out soul. Only then could they end the curse that had been laid upon them; only then would they be free to be together again. And when the opportunity to see Maia again presented itself, he would have to act with nothing but the limited power he had left in his still depleted body, no matter the cost.  But Samael was the Grim Reaper, and in order to even leave the underworld to get near Maia—somebody close to her would have to die...

77 - Head Over Heels

“Hey!  How’s the surfing in there, little dudes?”

Months had passed and Maia was still head over heels with Reid.  She especially loved the times he’d talk to her growing belly, which seemed to have grown rather too large to be holding only one baby. That was just fine with Maia though, as she knew that this pregnancy with Reid was the only one that would count towards the baby challenge. Maia dreaded the thought of having to explain her task to him, but she would tell him when the timing felt right, and that time wasn’t just yet.

But it was time for the babies to arrive!

Welcome son Dax!

Welcome son Jude!

Welcome daughter Indie!

And welcome daughter Eden!

Life was busy at the Calder residence with infant quadruplets to care for.  It was also time for the twins to become teens.

Happy birthday Chasin!

Happy birthday Cruz!

Chasin made his IF Rumble real, and Cruz brought Ramble to life.

Maia and Reid somehow found time to teach the four boys to drive.

And then it was time for prom for all the teens.  Bluff was voted Prom King and Roulette was crowned Prom Queen.

Although Maia was very busy with the new babies, she still made time to stay involved with the interests of the older kids, paid for lessons, and saw to it that they had free time to enjoy their hobbies.

Maddox and Gamble enjoyed the great outdoors and spent their days fishing or gathering fruits and vegetables for Maia to use when cooking for the family. They weren’t interested in cooking, but they certainly liked to eat!

Chance and Bluff liked programming computers and playing strategy based video games. They couldn’t wait to be old enough to gamble in the casino and try the betting system they had worked out.

Felicity and Roulette liked discussing art and visiting the art museum. They spent a great deal of their time at home painting.

Chasin was most interested in cars and girls, although not necessarily in that order. When he wasn’t out on dates, he was busy restoring old cars with Rumble and scrounging for parts in the scrap yard.

Cruz and Ramble were musically inclined, and although they could each play a few instruments moderately well, they had even more fun messing around with the DJ booth, and both boys loved to party!

Before long, it was time for the older teens’ birthdays and graduations.

Happy birthday Maddox!

Happy birthday Gamble!

Happy birthday Chance!

Happy birthday Bluff!

Happy birthday Felicity!

Happy birthday Roulette!

They all graduated with highest honors and Chance was named class valedictorian.

Maia hugged them goodbye, and then it was time for them to move out and go to university to get degrees in their chosen fields—Felicity and Roulette in Fine Arts, Chance and Bluff in Technology, and Maddox and Gamble in Business and Science respectively—and then begin pursuing their careers.

Speaking of careers, it was time for Maia to get back to her own job again. Between vacation days for her honeymoon, maternity leave and time off for her kids’ graduation, she hadn’t been to Lucky Fortunes in quite awhile. She had just gotten dressed for work when her husband walked into the bedroom.

“Back to work, huh?” Reid commented. “I don’t suppose there’s a chance you’d blow it off to hang with me?”

“No, I really can’t.  It’s been so long since I’ve been in the way it is. But I promise to make it up to you later...”

“Well, I’ve been thinking about this job of yours,” he said. “I’d rather you stayed at home instead.  And you don’t really need to work anyway; you’re loaded!  Why don’t you just quit?”

“Uh, maybe because I like my job?”

“But we’d have more time together if you quit,” Reid pointed out. “And once your boys graduate and we move to Isla Paradiso with the quads, you’d have to resign anyway.”

“Wait, what?” Maia was bewildered.  “Move to Isla Paradiso? What are you talking about?”

“Okay, so I’ve been thinking of this for awhile now.  I figured you’d want to stay here while the boys were still in school, but after they moved out, then we’d move too.”

“Why would we move?  I love living in Lucky Palms.”

“Well I don’t!  The beaches here all suck, and there’s no ocean,” Reid said, his brow furrowing in frustration.  “How am I supposed to ever surf or go deep sea diving again in a place with no ocean?”

“I... I guess it never crossed my mind how you’d feel about living here permanently...”

“You work some weird voodoo magic and bring me to this damn desert—and you never thought about what I might want?” Reid’s voice began to rise in anger. “You’re a psychic; you had to know this would happen! And I’m just supposed to forget my entire life as I knew it now that we’re married, while you keep doing everything the same way you've always done, right?  Lame!” he shouted.

Maia was furious.  “Well, where do you get off making decisions about my job for me? And I never said I wouldn’t consider a move; just that I hadn’t before!   But I don’t have time to argue with you about this now; the carpool is here and I have to go!”

“Yeah? Well, that's just great 'cuz I have to go too!”

“Where are you going?”

“Some place that’s not here!”  And Reid stormed out.

All during work, Maia could barely concentrate.  She kept thinking of what Reid said about taking him away from his home and everything he knew, while expecting him to be happy simply because she was. Maybe she hadn’t known what would happen when she tossed that lucky coin with the four leaf clover into the wishing well, but the rest was all too true. Maia felt terribly selfish, especially when she considered how Reid had come up with some sort of solution on his own, and was even willing to wait until Chasin, Cruz, Rumble and Ramble had graduated and moved out. And although she had initially felt shocked and angry about the assumptions he’d made about their future, hadn’t she done exactly the same thing to him?

When Maia got home, she checked to see if Reid was back.  He was in the nursery, bathing one of the babies. Maia’s heart melted.

“Reid?” she called out tentatively.

“Yeah?” His voice was cool, but much calmer than it had been earlier.

“Reid, I want to apologize.  I should’ve given more thought to what you might be feeling with so many abrupt changes in your life—a new town, losing all your friends, your pastimes, marriage, fatherhood—and I’m the reason for all of it!  You never mentioned anything was wrong, so I just assumed you were as happy as I was with the way things were—I should’ve paid closer attention. I will from now on. And once the boys graduate, we can talk about moving to Isla Paradiso since it means so much to you; I can’t truly be happy unless you are too! I’m so sorry. Can you forgive me?”

Reid was silent for a few minutes as he tucked the baby in the crib. Finally he said, “I didn't feel I had the right to ask you to stay with me when we met in Isla Paradiso. It was like I somehow knew what we had could only be temporary. But I couldn’t get you outta my head once you left. And I’m not gonna pretend to understand that magic stuff you did at that wishing well, but I was glad you brought me here even though I hated that I had to sacrifice everything just to be with you. I guess that’s why I lost my temper; I think I felt... betrayed that you didn’t even notice what I had to give up to be with you. I should’ve said something before today though. So, yeah, I forgive you if you forgive me.” And he pulled Maia into his arms.

After clinging to Reid for several minutes, Maia peeked up at him from under her eyelashes. “If you’re interested, my offer of making things up to you later still stands. It is later, you know...”

Reid didn’t need to be told twice.

But sometime after they had fallen asleep, Maia began to dream.

It was the same recurring dream she’d had for so long, and Maia woke from it, trembling with anxiety.  Could it be a warning of danger to come?  Or maybe now that she was having the dream again, Reid would start having it too and remember who he was? Maia looked over at her sleeping husband, but if he dreamed of their past life together, she couldn’t tell.

The following day, things started off well.  The teens were at school and Reid was just settling the quads in for a nap.  Maia had been sitting on the couch waiting for him so they could watch a movie together when Diana began meowing loudly, so Maia got up to check on her cat. She had brought Maia another present.

“Hey pretty girl,” Maia cooed. “I haven’t seen you in awhile. What have you been up to lately? More hunting, I see. Thank you, lovely.”

Just then, Reid walked into the room. As he neared Maia, Diana arched her spine and began hissing furiously and spitting at him.

Reid backed away uneasily and Maia was stunned.  “Diana!” she scolded. “What’s wrong with you? You know Reid!”  But Maia never recalled seeing the two of them interact before. In fact, now that Maia thought about it, it seemed that Diana had made herself scarce ever since Reid had come back into her life. She couldn’t imagine why.

Diana scurried from the room after her chiding, and Reid looked up at Maia.  “I’ll bet you’re wondering why she’s acting like that.  I think I might know,” he said in embarrassment. “A lot of cats just don’t like dogs...”

“I don’t understand...”

“I have to confess I’ve been keeping a secret from you, Maia. I’m... I’m a werewolf!”

Maia peered closely at Reid’s pale, glowing eyes and deeper still until she could see his aura. What he’d said was true; Reid was indeed a werewolf!  She didn’t mind, of course, but she couldn’t believe she had never noticed before! Had she really been that wrapped up in their romance that she hadn’t been aware of something that should have been so obvious?

But Maia was quick to reassure him that it was alright and she was appreciative he shared his secret with her, although she would’ve been happier knowing sooner.  “After all,” she said, “the quads are going to become toddlers soon, and if any of them inherited your lycanthropy, I’d rather not be surprised to find out when they start clawing up the furniture!”

Reid was relieved.  “I’m glad you understand!  Things happened so fast once I arrived here, and after that it was just easier not to say anything.  But I feel better that you know now; I didn’t like keeping this from you. No more secrets?”

Maia hugged him in response, but her conscience pricked her.  No more secrets. It seemed the time had come for Maia to share a significant secret of her own.

“Reid?” Maia mumbled into his shoulder. “I have something that I’ve been keeping from you too...”

And Maia told him about the prophecy and her part in it; how she was destined to give birth to 100 babies from different fathers in order to prevent the demise of the Grim Reaper and the release of the undead creatures that inhabited the underworld.  And then she waited with bated breath for his reaction.

Reid stared at her in shock, and then he started laughing.  “That was a good one!  You looked so serious you almost had me believing it!”

“Reid, I am serious!  I know it’s difficult to believe, but it’s true! The arrival of our quads brought me up to a total of 63 babies born for this challenge.  And I have to keep going!”

“So you want more kids? That’s fine. I already gave you a set of four, and we can get started on the next batch soon as soon as you’re ready.”

“You aren’t listening!  In a 100 baby challenge, each pregnancy requires a different father.  We can’t have anymore together that would count.  Do you understand what that means?”

Reid’s eyes narrowed. “No, I don’t understand.  But it sounds a hell of a lot like you’re asking me for permission to sleep with a bunch of other men!”

“I’m not asking permission,” Maia said quietly.  “I’m saying that is how it has to be.”

“And I’m just supposed to go along with it? You’re my wife! How could you even think this would be okay?”

“It’s not like I want to do it!  It’s a task that I’ve been set and I have to see it through.  I thought that if you were my soulmate you would understand; that you could help me raise the rest of the kids while we shared our lives together...”

“Sure, we share our lives with each other while you share your body with random strangers; sounds legit!” Reid sneered in sarcasm. “I can’t even... AARRGH! I’m out of here!”

“Reid, don’t go!  Please, we need to discuss this!” Maia tried reaching for his arm, but Reid evaded her grasp.

“Don’t!” he growled. 

“But where are you going?”

“OUT!” And the front door slammed as Reid walked out.

Maia held her churning belly as she sunk to the floor, shaking. She was too stunned to even cry. Would he even come back?

Maia sat on the floor by the front door for a long time.  Diana had come back to cuddle up with her and she petted the cat absently.  But suddenly she heard the door reopen.  She looked up, hoping to see Reid.  But it was Joy instead.

“Maia?  Are you okay?”

Maia shook her head numbly as Joy helped her back up.

“What’s wrong?  Tell me what happened!”

Haltingly, Maia told Joy about her arguments with Reid, both the one from the previous night about her job and him wanting to move back to Isla Paradiso and the one they’d just had about the baby challenge. “So go ahead and say it. Tell me how you told me so but I wouldn’t listen.  And while we’re at it, let’s get Shravan over here so he can say it too; we’ll make a party of it,” Maia finished bitterly.

“Oh, Maia! I would never say that...”

“But?”

Joy sighed.  “But I was afraid something like this would happen. Not that it matters now.  What are you going to do when he comes back?”

“You mean, if he comes back.  And I don’t know. I can’t blame him for how he feels; I suppose I’ve pushed him too far with all of my expectations.  But maybe he wouldn’t have reacted so angrily if he hadn’t been forced to come here, away from everything that was familiar to him, on top of having to try to cope with the idea of the baby challenge.  Maybe if I agreed to resign from my job and we moved to the islands he would see how devoted I am to him and our family, and he might feel like he wasn’t sacrificing so much.  What do you think?”

“Honestly?  I think you’re grasping at straws.  Quitting your job and moving to his hometown isn’t going to make him feel any better about you needing to have children with other men. The one has nothing to do with the other, and it sounds like he’s already very much against the idea—I don’t think anything will change that. And if you ask me, you shouldn't have to give up everything else just to be with him any more than he should.”

“But it would show I’m willing to compromise; isn’t that what marriage is about?  And maybe there’s another way to go about this baby challenge; maybe I could do in vitro fertilization for the task and have more kids with Reid in between the challenge pregnancies.  There has to be a solution and I’m willing to work to find it. The fairies brought Reid here for a reason, and it wasn’t so I could give up now!”

Just then, Maia heard a car pull in the driveway and peeked outside.  Reid had come back!

Maia raced out the door, leaving Joy and Diana in the entryway. Joy picked up the cat, which twisted and struggled in Joy’s arms as she tried not to lose sight of her owner. Joy turned so Diana could see the couple, and although she finally submitted to Joy’s cuddles, the cat kept her gaze fixed alertly on Maia. “I know, sweetie. You just want to keep an eye on our girl, huh?” Joy said soothingly.

“I don’t know what it is,” Joy continued speaking softly to Diana. “I know she’s head over heels in love, but I’m worried he’s not who she thinks he is...”