25 - Discoveries

    

Maia thought it puzzling how time could pass so quickly when a person was contented.  All too soon, her little toddler sons grew up.

   

    

   

    

   

    

   

    

   

    

   

   

She was both sad and proud when they got on the bus for their first day of school.

   

    

She was excited to see Rahu and Ketu’s genie powers begin to develop.

   

    

   

    

She was thrilled when Nik started riding his first broom with training wheels.

   

    

And she loved watching them play together.

   

   

Maia was also pleased when each of the triplets made their IF’s real, especially knowing it meant she could put off having another child for just a bit longer.

Rahu & Pal

   

   

   

   

Ketu & Patches

   

   

   

   

Nikhil & Puzzle

   

   

   

    

But Maia was at a loss as to what to do while they were gone at school all day.  One day, while web surfing, she randomly typed in “100 Baby Challenge.”

   

   

Maia was surprised by all the information there, and she’d had no idea so many others were attempting baby challenges, just like her.  She found baby blogs and 100 BC Parent Support Groups, and advice columns on topics like balancing home and work life, fertility treatments and how to raise multiples. There were even dating sites for helping BC parents find their next partner!

   

    

But what she was most curious about was if anyone had ever completed their challenge and had actually had all 100 children.  When she clicked on the next link, what Maia read amazed her.

   

   

There were several men and women who had completed their challenges, or were very nearly done, but Maia was most astounded by a half-dozen names that sounded very strange, yet familiar.

Chao, Merope

Daiyu, Alcyone

Liang, Electra

Shen, Celaeno

Wu, Taygete

Zhou, Sterope

   

    

All these women were named after the Pleiades, as she was.  Could these six BC mothers be her long-lost sisters? After clicking on the names which linked to family pictures, there was no doubt in Maia’s mind that they were.

Electra

   

   

Taygete

   

    

Alcyone

   

   

Celaeno

   

    

Sterope

   

    

Merope

   

    

All of them were pictured with their last 20 children.  So they were all already done birthing babies and just needed to raise the youngest ones?! As she stared at the screen, Maia was bombarded with a barrage of conflicting emotions.  Happiness at discovering her sisters and seeing they were doing well. Jealousy of them and disappointment in herself that they were so far ahead of her. Anger that “destiny” had forced her to participate in this unwanted challenge in the first place. Relief in knowing that the challenge was possible to be completed, and had been by many others...

And with that, she felt a budding hope that swiftly grew, one that suggested that maybe, with so many others partaking in the challenge, someone could take her place, and she would be free to live her dream of love and family with Aashif and their children!

At last, Maia could freely admit to herself that somewhere in the days they shared, she had allowed herself to fall in love with Aashif.  But for now, that was a secret she would hold close to herself.

   

    

For the moment, she just wanted to enjoy the good times they all spent together as a family.

   

    

But all good things eventually come to an end.

It started one evening when Aashif was reading the paper.

   

   

“Maia, you need to read this,” Aashif told her.

And so Maia read the article he indicated.

   

   

Maia asked, “Do you think this means...?”

“...That the prophecy is beginning to come true?”  Aashif interrupted.  “Yeah, I do. And I’m sure that the mummies people claimed to have seen might be some of those undying evils mentioned in that prediction.”

Then Aashif looked Maia directly in the eyes and said, “I think we’re running out of time. You need to get back on track with your challenge.”

   

    

“But Aashif, I can’t!  I love you, and I know you love me back!” She blurted.

“I do care about you, Maia, but doesn’t matter what either of us feel.  I won’t ask you to abandon your challenge, and I couldn’t handle watching you have children with so many other men anyway. There can’t be anything permanent between us, whether we want it or not.”

   

    

“That’s not true!” Maia protested. “You don’t have to watch me have children with anyone else, and you don’t have to ask me to give up my challenge either, because I’ve already decided I’m going to quit!  But everything will be okay because someone else can take over for me.”  Maia explained about the online research she had done on 100 BC’s, and how her sisters were nearly finished, and there were others doing the challenge as well, at least one of whom could easily replace her.

   

    

“Oh, Maia,” Aashif said gently, shaking his head.  “No, it has to be you; you’re one of the Seven Sisters in the prophecy; you can’t just pass this off to someone else.  If you’re the only one not yet finished, the fate of everyone rests on you, even if you don’t want to believe it.  Please, you have to at least try to accept that and continue with your challenge.”

“No!” Maia said fiercely.  “I never asked for this!  All I ever wanted was to have a family of my own with a man I loved and who loved me in return. I have that now, and I’m not going to give it up!  I can’t save the world, Aashif, and I don’t want to!”

“Then I’m sorry, Maia, but I’m going to have to leave.”

   

    

Maia was stunned. “But you can’t leave!  What about your sons? And Grim sent you to be my protector; you can’t just take off and not fulfill your commitments!”

Aashif retorted, “Why not?  Isn’t that what you’re trying to do?”

   

   

“Look Maia, I can’t just stand by and watch you do this,” he continued.  “Maybe if I leave, it will be easier for you to do what you need to.  And maybe while I’m gone I can do something to fight this darkness that wants to obliterate us all.”

“But... where will you go?”

“I’m going to Egypt, to see if I can be of some use there.  Perhaps some of the other djinn in the area have some information that might be helpful in finding some of these missing Al Simharans and tourists.  I can’t stand idly by and watch bad things happen to innocent people, Maia.  And I don’t believe you can either.”

   

    

“Please don’t leave me, Aashif! You’re right, and I’m sorry, but please don’t go!”

   

   

“I have to, and I should’ve left some time ago. This will be best, I think, for the both of us.”

   

    

And without packing; without even a backward glance or a goodbye, Aashif walked out the door.

After a moment of bewildered hesitation, Maia ran after him, but he was already driving away.

   

    

And in the days and nights that followed, Aashif called and talked to the triplets often, sharing tales with them about his travels in Egypt.

   

   

But never, not once, did he ask to talk to Maia.