Robert was up before dawn, preparing to leave for Sacramento. Heidi slowly woke and watched him move about the room. She loved to watch him. His muscles rippled as he moved. He was the most handsome man she had ever met.  His stood there shirtless, contemplating what to pack. She wanted to run her hands over his bare chest.

He noticed her watching him and pretended he hadn’t seen her. He walked around to the other side of the bed, out of her line of vision. He quickly slid into bed and grabbed her around the waist, making her squeal. He snuggled up to her back.

“Good morning.” He whispered. “I didn’t mean to wake you.” He kissed the back of her neck and felt her shiver. “Are you cold.”

“No. I shiver with anticipation of your kisses.” She turned to face him. “I love you. How much time do you have?” She kissed him.

“Mmm. Not enough.” He kissed the tip of her nose. She amazed him, but he worried about her. When she was awake, things were wonderful. When she was asleep, she would whimper and cry out. She was haunted by the past. He hoped one day the memories would fade away.

 “I’ll make it up to you when I get back.” He gave her one more passionate kiss and released her so he could get up.

“I’ll miss you.” She scooted down under the covers to keep warm. She never took her eyes off him as he finished dressing. When he was done, he sat on the bed beside her and brushed her hair back. “Take care of Jackie.”

“I will. I’m so glad Charles proposed to her.”

“Yeah, me too. I have to go.” He leaned in and gave her one last kiss. “I love you.” He grabbed his bag and left the room.

Heidi ran to the bathroom to take care of business. She put on one of Robert’s favorite t-shirts and ran back to bed. She snuggled down under the covers and pretended to be asleep. She knew it wouldn’t be long before Colin came into their room. She knew he would forget to knock. She heard the door open.

Colin had watched Robert leave. He carefully climbed onto the bed. He slowly lifted the covers to see if Aunt Heidi was awake.

“Rrraaaaah!” Heidi growled at Colin and he screamed in surprise. She grabbed him and tickled until he cried for her to stop. She finally gave in and gave him a hug. “I didn’t hear you knock, little bear.” She snuggled him under the covers.

“I forgot Aunt Heidi, I’m sorry. Peas don’t tell Uncle Robert?”

“I won’t tell him this time, but I won’t be able to save you if you forget when he’s home.” Simon and Elyse came running into the room.

“Can we get in bed with you too, Aunt Heidi?” Simon asked.

Heidi held up the blankets so they could all join her. “Hurry, it’s cold out there.” They climbed into bed where it was nice and warm. It was still dark outside. “What are you all doing up so early?” Heidi whispered.

“There were noises. It woke me up,” Elyse told her.

“Well, you’re not used to this house. I can understand that.”

“No, it wasn’t the house. There was a howling.”

“A howling? You mean like a wolf?” Elyse nodded.

“Well, we can ask Uncle Charles about it later. Right now, we are going to keep warm and go back to sleep.” They all cuddled under the blankets.

“Aunt Heidi, this is like the first time we spent the night together. Do you remember?” Simon asked her.

“Yes, I remember.” She gave him a hug. “It’s still dark outside, try to go back to sleep.” They all snuggled together and went to sleep.

Heidi thought about that night they spent in the cave. She had had such a strong feeling that something terrible was going to happen when Robert had been called to work on Thanksgiving Day. Something terrible did happen, but not to Robert. It happened to the parents of these wonderful children.

 

                                                         *****

 

Next few days flew by. Robert took care of business in Sacramento and cleaned out the Olson’s apartment. The woman that had reported the Olson’s missing, lived next door to them. Judy Parks had been a close friend of the Olson’s for many years and was heartbroken when she heard of their deaths. She offered to take care of everything in the apartment after Robert had removed what he felt should go to the kids and packed all their clothes.

With everything taken care of, Robert headed home. He missed Heidi. He had called her every night and could hardly wait to see her again.                                               

Heidi spent her days while Robert was gone, watching the children and helping Jackie. Charles finally went back to work.                                                

“Jackie, did you know there is going to be a bonding ceremony, after your friend’s wedding on Christmas eve?” Heidi asked.

“I’m sure there will be. I hadn’t given it much thought. Why?”

“Robert asked me to go through the ceremony with him. I was wondering if Charles had mentioned it?”

“Not that I recall.” Jackie started to fidget.

“All right, don’t go getting all hyper,” Heidi told her, “now that Charles has asked you to marry him, what would you think about a double wedding?” She instantly came to the conclusion Charles hadn’t talked to Jackie about either idea. “It’s totally up to you. I know that Robert and Charles are very close, maybe they would like that. After the baby is born, that is.” She added quickly. “Unless you’ve made wedding plans already.”

“No, I haven’t. I’d love it. Would you like to have a double wedding?”

“I would be honored to stand with you and take our vows together. I’d like you to stand with me at the bonding ceremony as well.”

“It’s settled then. We’ll have a double bonding ceremony and a double wedding.” Jackie gave Heidi a big hug. “I couldn’t think of anyone better to share my wedding with, my new sister.” They spent the rest of the afternoon going over ideas for a double wedding. When Charles got home after work, the girls informed him of their plans.

After dinner, Charles thanked Heidi when they had a few minutes alone.

“I know you had something to do with that. Thank you.”

“Why didn’t you ask her before this?”

“I don’t know, Jackie had mentioned something about a fairytale wedding and a double wedding didn’t seem to fit into that.”

“Oh.” Heidi looked at Charles. “She didn’t mention that, but you know what, we can still make it a fairytale wedding. Don’t worry, Charles, everything will work out. It will be beautiful.” She smiled up at him. “We have plenty of time to make plans. Oh, you and Jackie are going to join Robert and I for the bonding ceremony.”

“We are?”

“Yup.” She gave him a big smile. “Jackie and I have already made plans.”

“How was she today?” He asked with concern in his voice.

“Different as day and night. She’s okay.” Charles gave a sigh of relief. 

“One other thing, before I forget. The kids said there has been a wolf howling outside the last few mornings. Have you heard it?”

“I did the other morning. I think it was one of the Wolf brothers. You say they’ve heard it every morning?” Heidi gave a nod. “I’ll ask James about it when I get to work in the morning.”

“Thank you. Now, go to Jackie. I need to take care of the kids and get them ready for bed.”

“Would you like me to take care of the twins?”

“You don’t mind?”

“No. It’s good practice for me, besides, I’m going to miss my nightly soakings.”

That made Heidi laugh. The twins could be a handful and she was usually drenched from head to toe, when their bath was done.

“You’ll have your own soon enough. You’re going to be a great dad”

Charles got a big smile. “I can’t wait and thank you.” He gave the twins a yell and told them to get ready for their bath.