Chosen by Fate, Rejected by the Alpha

Trinity     

~~     

Reece and I weren't needed to stay at the stadium. Not once all the DOE members had been surrounded and cuffed. The moment that they were taken care of, I dropped the barriers and put an end to my involvement for the day.     

Knowing that I wanted and needed to get home as soon as possible, I opened the doors to the castle, back to the living room that I had left that morning. Back to Talia, Zachary, Zander, Zayden, Zaley, and Reeselynn. Back to Mom and Lila, and the life that made sense to me.     

"MOMMY!" Zaley called out to me the moment that I was through the door. "We were so worried about you." I felt her collide with me as soon as the words were out of her mouth. She was followed in quick succession by four others. Zachary, Zander, Zayden and even Talia had come to hug me. The only one that hadn't was the baby that was not able to crawl or walk yet.     

"Mom, we were scared when we saw what was happening."     

"How did you know what was happening?" I asked them, confused about it all.     

"Well, that device of yours started to go off." Mom said, pointing toward the table and the gold coin that was supposed to let me know when Orson entered the city. "While we tried to get a hold of you, Talia had a feeling that she needed to turn on the news. The entire thing was broadcast live, Trinity. It was the only thing being broadcast on three different networks. I can't believe what happened." She was holding Reeselynn against her chest as she came closer.     

"We were all worried, sweetheart." Lila said as she added her arms to the group that was hugging me. It was hard to move, but I loved that they were all here for me.     

"Mom was amazing." Rika said calmly yet reverently. She had remained silent almost the entire time that we were at the stadium, but she was giving me eyes that said she hadn't missed a thing.     

"She truly was." Alyssa's eyes were shining at me. "You're the prime example of what we women are striving to become, Aunt Trinity. You're so amazing. So powerful. And you were there with the God Odin. That was so awesome. Still, you were stronger than he was. You stopped his attack."     

"My mom is simply the best." Reagan sidled up next to me now that the others weren't holding me anymore. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and I looked up into his loving eyes. I remembered then when he was a baby, little like Reeselynn, and he used to prefer Mommy over anyone else. It made my heart ache with how much time had passed already. And it made me want to hold my little Reeselynn even more. After I properly hugged Reagan and Rika though.     

I was crying again, but it wasn't for the same reasons as before. They were all here for me. They had been all along. Even when standing silently with me at the stadium, they had been there supporting me. I had felt them, but I hadn't thought about it. Thinking about it now though, I knew that it was them being there, their faith in me, that allowed me to be so strong. And I decided to tell them all just how I felt.     

"You're all the reason that I was so powerful today. You all believe in me so much. You all have so much faith in me. And it was that faith that made me stronger than Odin. I know that it was."     

"You're powerful on your own, Trinity." Reece kissed my temple as I snuggled the baby against my chest. I had taken her from mom after the hugs. "It was just our faith that helped you to realize it."     

"Yeah, he's right." Reagan nodded, kissing my cheek then his sister's head. This went on with everyone in the room. All the guards, all the family, all the extended group of friends turned family. They all offered me their words of encouragement and kissed my cheek or temple, then they kissed the baby's head as well. She got a lot of kisses at that moment, and so did I.     

I was feeling more at ease than I had thought that I would. It was like just being here with them all, in my home, helped to soothe my soul. I knew that it wasn't just the location though, it was people themselves. Wherever they were, that was my home. They were the reason that I felt so comfortable. They were the reason that I was able to smile again and move beyond all of the hard things that I had faced today and in the past.     

All I wanted at the moment was to be home with them all. I wanted to feel this comfort and love. And I didn't want any of them to leave just yet. I knew that it wasn't the time for a party, and that wasn't what this was. I wasn't celebrating, and I wasn't partying in any way shape or form. I was, however, soothing the pain that I was still feeling in the depths of my heart and soul.     

Abigail, always willing to cook whatever she needed for our family, prepared a veritable feast for us. She and all the other chefs in the castle were working together, under her direction, to make sure that we had what we needed     

There were appetizers, side dishes, entrees, and desserts. Peter, although just a butler most of the time, worked hard to prepare drinks for the group. Nonalcoholic and adult for the varying members of my family that were present.     

And it wasn't just this group that was here that spent the time with us. The rest of the family came as well. Alyssa, Alexandria, Luka, and Levi had already been there, but Bret, Fauna, Ember, and Luther joined us as well. And so did all the other spouses and kids. We made this into the family get together that we had been lacking over the holidays with all the tension and issues that we had been facing.     

Still, even with all that was happening, all the joy that we were able to experience that afternoon and evening, I was worrying about what was going to come. I knew that things weren't over, this was just a sort of pausing point. Soon, all too soon, there would be more issues that came to light.     

I did my best to put it out of my mind though. I needed to focus on the situation at hand. The people that were here with me. And all the while, I was holding Reeselynn in my arms to let her heal my soul.     

"Aunt Trinity." I heard someone call out to me. A voice I knew but hadn't thought about in a while.     

"Conner!?" I smiled at him. "Wow, I keep forgetting how much you've grown." I smiled at Vincent's oldest child and gave him a one armed hug.      

"It's been a long time, that's for sure." He laughed nostalgically. He was just a little boy in elementary school when I met Vincent all those years ago. Now, he was about the same age Vincent was when I had met him.     

"How have you been? I know that you moved a little further away."     

"I did, things are good." He smiled at me and motioned to someone to come closer. "Aunt Trinity, you remember my wife, Ginny. And this is our little one, Hope."     

"Oh, she's a cutie." I smiled at the baby that was perhaps two months old, if that. "She is going to grow up with little Reeselynn here, isn't she?"     

"Looks like it." He laughed and nodded. "I wanted to make sure that I showed her to you. I happened to be in town when Dad called and told me that there was a family get together. It's been a long time, and I wanted to tell you how happy and proud I am to know you and consider you a part of my family."      

I had not been expecting this. It was out of the blue and it set off the waterworks again. I could tell that I had confused Conner and his wife, who both stiffened and looked a little worried.     

"Thank you, Conner. That means more to me than you can imagine."     

"Are you alright, Aunt Trinity?" Conner asked in a worried tone.     

"I am. It's just been a tense year for me. Well, not quite a year, but several months. There is a lot that has happened, as I am sure that you know. And I am just a little overwhelmed by it all. Honestly, I am happy that you came to see me. That you said that to me. It is helping me to cope with it all, to know that I have done the right thing."     

"You've always done the right thing, Aunt Trinity. Even when I was a little boy, I knew that. You were always the nicest grown up I had known at the time. You should know that we all love you, even the ones that aren't here all the time, we all love you and are happy that you're a part of our lives."     

That moment was random, and completely out of the blue, but I knew that I had needed it, and was so very thankful for it. Conner will never know how much that comment that he made helped me to get through the rest of the night and to brace myself for the news of what happened after the incident at the stadium was over. He gave me what I needed to face the rest of this war that was stretched out before us.