79 - Paradise Lost

Although Reid had come back to her after their argument about the baby challenge, Maia was all too aware that things were not as they once had been.  Reid seldom spoke with her and they hadn’t been intimate since making up after their argument about Maia’s job. He even seemed to be distancing himself from their babies and Maia’s older boys, and stopped participating in family activities. And she didn’t know how to fix things between the two of them when any attempt she made to talk to her husband about their problems sent him into a towering rage and out the door yet again.

If it hadn’t been for her friends, Maia didn’t know what she would have done. But Joy and Isak came to visit often and were very supportive of her, and even her boss Shravan understood her need to resign from her job at Lucky Fortunes to focus on her family.

Maia hoped that sharing the news about her resignation might serve as a sort of peace offering between her and Reid and mollify him enough to get him to listen to her other ideas about how they could work things out, like the possibility of using anonymous donors for in vitro fertilization so she could complete her task.  And as soon as Chasin, Cruz, Rumble and Ramble had graduated and moved out, Maia planned to suggest that she, Reid and the quads move immediately to Isla Paradiso. Maybe it would be easier for Reid to get beyond their problems in his hometown where he no longer felt as though he was forced to sacrifice so much just to be with her. Maybe if they returned to the place where they’d met, they could start over again without the painful memories of recent times getting in the way. And maybe there they could find paradise together once again.

In the meantime, Dax, Jude, Indie and Eden aged up to toddlers.  Jude was a werewolf like his father.

Maia had looked forward to training the quadlers with Reid, but now the task was a constant daily reminder that their relationship was less than idyllic.  Still, Maia loved every moment she spent teaching them their skills, which was easier to do alone now that she was no longer employed.

She also enjoyed watching the four of them bond with their IFs Drifter, Rail, Summer and Breeze.

Before long, the twins and their IFs became young adults.

Happy birthday Chasin!

Happy birthday Rumble!

Happy birthday Cruz!

Happy birthday Ramble!

The four boys graduated with highest honors. Cruz was named class valedictorian.

Chasin and Rumble were planning to attend college business classes and then work for an automotive repair shop until they had enough capital built up to open their own shop someday, while Cruz and Ramble wanted to become underground club DJ’s and play at raves. Maia hugged them goodbye and then the four of them moved out to pursue their dreams.

Now that the older boys had moved out, Maia knew it was time to talk to Reid and tell him of her plans.  She went into the basement where she found him shooting a game of pool.

“Reid?”

“What?”

“Reid, can we talk?”

“Whatever; doesn’t matter,” he answered as he attempted his final shot. “Eight ball; corner pocket.”

“Reid, I quit my job!”

Reid threw his cue on the pool table. “Uh, congrats?  I really don’t give a damn.”

“But the boys are all moved out now, and we can move to Isla Paradiso—you, me and the quads—just like you wanted! I thought that would make you happy,” Maia said as her belly began to churn in anxiety as it had during their previous arguments.

“Do you really think that matters anymore? After this baby challenge bomb you dropped on me? I LOVED you!” Maia could see him struggling to control his inner wolf as his temper rose. “We’re done, Maia. I got a lawyer. And after the divorce is final, I’ll be moving back to the islands.  Alone.”

“You hired a divorce attorney?” Maia gasped.

“What other choice did I have?  Let my wife screw around behind my back? Not gonna happen!  And where did you think I was most of the time when I wasn’t here?  Off cheating? No, babe, that may be your gig, but it ain't mine,” he said harshly.

Maia felt ill to the point of vomiting.  “But I was going to tell you—I came up with an alternative idea!” she said desperately. “I could be inseminated by anonymous donors at a clinic. It shouldn't matter how my challenge children are conceived, just as long as there are different fathers for every pregnancy. I wouldn’t have to woohoo anyone else! We can still make our marriage work!”

“You know what?  The only good thing coming out of this marriage is that once it’s over, I’ll be a multimillionaire. Yeah, that’s right; I’m taking half of what you’re worth financially because that’s what you owe me after this bait and switch bullshit. And here’s a thought... if you can use donors, why haven’t you been doing that all along?  I’ll tell you why. You like your one nighters if your little fling with me in Isla Paradiso is any indication!”  Reid said viciously. “How many times have you done that with other men, Maia? How many other hearts and vows have you broken?”

And at that, knowing what Reid thought of her character, Maia did throw up.

And that’s when the thought occurred to her. Maia had believed it was just the anxiety from their frequent arguments that had made her feel ill so often recently, but... “Reid,” she said, her voice trembling, “I think I might be pregnant!”

“You cheating BITCH!” Reid roared, and the wolf in him surged to the forefront, transforming her husband into his werewolf aspect. It was terrifyingly abrupt, but what scared Maia the most was that although she knew she had never seen Reid in his werewolf form before, she was equally certain that somewhere... she had. And she was sure it was something she did not want to remember.

Maia couldn’t help but cower in terror as Reid snarled, “Couldn't even keep your legs closed until you were served divorce papers, could you?  Who the hell is the father? I’m going to tear him apart!”

“Reid, it’s yours! There hasn't been anyone else!”

“That's a damn lie!  I haven’t touched you in weeks!  It was that geek friend of yours, wasn’t it?” Reid demanded.  “The one who’s always here working on the Plumbot!”

“No!  This baby isn’t Isak’s!  You and I woohooed after we made up about the argument we had about my job and moving to Isla Paradiso...”

“So you’re telling me you never slept with him?”

Maia looked away.  “No, but it was only one time and that was before I even met you!”

“Uh-huh. Maybe I should ask who you haven’t slept with instead!” Reid shook his head in disgust. But then his eyes began to glitter dangerously and he growled, “I know who you betrayed me with! Samael!”

Maia’s eyes widened in shock.  Could Reid finally be remembering who he was? But if that was so, why would he be speaking as though Samael was someone else? “What do you know about Samael??”

“I know that I hear you moan his name every night when you’re dreaming! Can’t get enough of him when you’re awake so that you have to do him in your sleep too?” Reid grabbed Maia by the throat with both hands as a mad light gleamed fiercely in his eyes. “How the hell did that bastard steal you away from me again?!” Reid’s grip on Maia’s throat tightened as he lifted her, struggling, off her feet.

Maia couldn’t answer Reid with his thumbs pressed against her airway, even if she could think of what to say. As blackness began to shroud her sight, all Maia could think of was the night time sky. I’m going to die again, she thought, and I’ll be back in that sky in the heart of a star... Then suddenly, a streak of white flashed across Maia’s narrowing field of vision. A comet?  She wondered fuzzily.

But the streak of white wasn’t a comet.  It was Diana. Maia’s cat flew screaming into the chest of the surprised werewolf, her claws tearing furiously at his face as she attempted to protect her owner.

Maia gave one last feeble shove and suddenly found herself free of Reid’s grasp. She dropped to the floor and curled up, wheezing.

Between Maia’s shove and Diana’s attack, Reid had also been knocked to floor, striking his head on the pool table. Diana stood between them, still yowling in warning.

But Reid was done. He got up from the floor, wincing in pain as he rubbed his head. He likely had a concussion in addition to his torn up face, but sanity seemed to return to his eyes as he changed back into his human form. He appeared to be confused and remorseful.

“I... Maia, I’m sorry!” Reid said in shock.  “I don’t know why I... but I shouldn't have! And I never should’ve said...”

Maia interrupted him, forcing the same words he had spoken to her earlier through her swollen throat. “I really don’t give a damn,” she said in a voice thick with angry tears. “Get out.”

Reid nodded and stumbled towards the stairs. He never looked back.

In the following days, Maia found out for certain that she was indeed expecting again. 

It was unfortunate that these babies wouldn’t count towards her task as this was her second pregnancy fathered by Reid, but Maia had raised her adopted son Caspian and all her children’s IFs, none of whom could be included in her challenge total either. It didn’t matter. The more children born and the more souls that existed, the better chance of success the Grim Reaper had of keeping the undead in the underworld. Every soul she could nurture was still important. 

And it was soon time for Maia to begin nurturing two more little ones.

Welcome Piper!

And welcome Beck!

The divorce from their father wasn’t an easy process, and Maia also argued more than once in her phone conversations with her attorney about the division of property and Reid wanting half of her assets.  “I don’t care about the money! As long as Reid relinquishes custody and visitation rights to all six of our children as he agreed to do, let him have it! Once the debt he feels I owe him has been paid in full, there will be no reason for us to ever have contact with one another again. I just want this finalized.”

Eventually, it was. She and Reid were officially divorced, and Maia was a single mother once more. Immediately after leaving the courthouse, Reid moved back to Isla Paradiso and Maia never spoke to him again.

But she did wonder about him sometimes, or at least she wondered about what he meant when he had asked how Samael stole her away from him again.  All Maia knew for certain was that Reid must have remembered at least some of his past life, but it was now clear to her that he had never been Samael after all.

But why had the fairies brought Reid to her in Sam’s place? Who had Reid been to her in their past life? And what had happened back then to ignite so much animosity in Reid in this life? Reid obviously believed that Samael had stolen her from him sometime back then.  But Reid had been wrong about Maia cheating on him with Samael in this life, so he had to be mistaken about the long ago past as well...

Didn’t he?

Author’s Note - Never can true reconcilement grow where wounds of deadly hate have pierced so deep... John Milton, Paradise Lost