Azalea It was fun to watch. It looked like the twins took this one thing seriously- they had already begun to set up ice block walls in the clearing outside the hall. I'd have to remember to ask how they did that. You could see they each had a few young men and women around each of them, making piles of snow balls all along the insides of the walls that were being built. I hoped we would get the chance to watch. On the other side of the clearing was a huge mountain of snow. "What's that for?" I asked Cassie, finishing my drink. "Oh that's for them to slide down. You sit on the little plasitc sled and they push them off and they go all the way to the bottom. Do you want to try it before they get here?" She asked, seeing my interest. "Is it safe?" I asked dubiously. She laughed and grabbed my jacket handing it to me as we walked up one side of the hill. She walked me all the way to the top where Jared and a few others stood and said "We're here to make sure it's actually s
Azalea "One last thing on this beautiful Christmas day. I want to thank our Christmas elf for making an appearance and bringing goodies for the children," Rich said and I blushed as the crowd cheered and clapped. I hadn't brought them I had just helped hand them out. "But even more, our Christmas elf brought the meat that will be served at your tables tonight. I know she was hoping to keep it a surprise, but alas, I couldn't let anyone else take credit. A big thank you to Corey, his family and the othe butchers who worked through the night and day to get the meat prepped, packed and delivered to you. Merry Christmas!" The crowd cheered and clapped even louder, several clapping me on the shoulder. I glanced at Alex and he frowned, shaking his head slightly, telling me it wasn't him. I feel like I met every family again as they came up to thank me again, many hugging me, which was a little awkward. I felt more than saw Rich come up behind me as I watched the last family walk
Azalea I slept in until after 11 the day after Christmas, not realizing how tired I was. I grabbed a quick shower before dressing and heading down to the kitchen for food. There I saw Cassie, who had just sat down with her plate of food. "Good morning sleepy head," she said smiling. "Right back at you. At least I showed and dressed," I retorted, raising my eye brow at her pajamas. "You didn't have to put on clothes," Markus said from the door way. I rolled my eyes and took a playful swing at him while Jason said, "Yea we'd prefer you without." Cassie threw a pink fluffy slipper at him which smacked him right in the face before falling on the table. We all laughed as I settled down with a bowlful of leftovers. "Karla," I called out as she walked in to the dinning room, "your food was amazing, like seriously the best ever. How was your Christmas with your family?" She handed each of the boys a bowl as I shoveled food in my mouth and replied, "It was wonderful. We had
Azalea I smiled, watching a much smaller set of twins and a little girl who I assumed was their sisiter try and re create what Jason, Markus and Cassie had been doing earlier when they were swinging Cassie around on the ice. They were moving closer to the barrier and I was starting to get worried when all of a sudden the boys let go and the little girl went flying through the barrier. "Oh no," I said, running over and slowly getting on the ice. The little girl was crying, having landed hard on her arm and side and the little boys were running toward her. A warrior yelled out for them to stop and they froze in place, tears sliding down their cheeks. He went rushing over as I slowly skated in that direction. Cassie and the twins had gathered the other children and were ushering them off the ice. I didn't recognize the warrior, but he was a big guy and once he had gotten a few feet over the barrier I could hear the ice begin to crack. "Stop! You're too heavy," I told him right a
Cassie I screamed as I felt her last breath. NO! There was no way this was happening. This was my best friend and she was not allowed to die on me. I felt the twins pull me back as the doctor and Alex started working on her, Alex starting CPR while the doctor injected her with adrenaline. My dad threw a blanket over her trying to warm her up as they continued. "Come on damn it, breathe," Alex said, thumping hard on her chest. The nurse rushed in with some sort of machine, a difibulator if I remembered correctly, that they hooked up to her chest before shocking her. I cried into Jason's shoulder, unable to watch as the minutes ticked by. "Got a pulse," the doctor said before ordering them to get her to a room. I sat down quickly on the sofa, releived and still worried for her. She had come into all of our lives and I couldn't imagine it without her. The twins helped my father and Alex carry her to her room while my mom sat with me. I knew there were others rushing ar
CassieThe next morning we were awoken by the doctor, who had come in to check on Azalea and Hortencia. it was rare that she came to the house but I was glad to see her. Since I figured they would be a while I ran to my room and grabbed a quick shower and brushed my teeth before throwing on some sweats and heading back to Azalea's room. The twins appeared not long after, looking fresh and clean. This time Dad came out of the room with the doctor and Hortencia, smiling when he saw us standing there waiting."She's doing better and her breathing is improving as well. The doctor said he may even be able to take her off the monitor and the IV tonight if she keeps improving. Hortencia has given her some other things that should speed up her healing as well," my dad said with a small smile. He looked tired but hopeful. "Go on in. Your mom is getting breakfast brought up for you guys."What ever she had given her appeared to be working already as her color had greatly improved sinc
AzaleaWe walked the short distance down the hall and they dropped us both on the bed laughing. "We'll be back in 30 minutes," Markus said closing the door.I slowly crawled off the bed and walked over to the bathroom. I could hear Cassie move to the dresser and the closet. I turned the hot water on and tried to take a deep breath. My chest and lungs were burning. I stepped under the water letting it run over me for a few minutes just absorbing the heat. I leaned against the shower wall and washed my hair which was a tangled mess. It took a bit but I already felt better with it clean. I realized that I had some bruising on my chest while washing and wondered what happened. I scrubbed my face and teeth and while I was still pale with huge dark circles around my eyes, being clean gave me a slight glow so I didn't look completely like a zombie. I left the bathroom with a towel wrapped around me and my wet hair hanging down. I didn't have the energy to wrap it. "Hurry and ge
Azalea Rich came and got us for dinner and this time I begged for them to let me walk. The dinning room wasn't far and my body was getting really stiff from lack of movement. They agreed but walked along side me like I was a baby. Dinner was it's usual affair and for that I was greatful. I loved listening to the stories of all the things going on around town and in the other communities that were part of the pack. Kate even let me hold little Ethan again for a bit and I smiled. He was such a good baby. Cassie let me know that Ashley would be by tomorrow with some ideas for me to look over. After dinner I was finally truly exhausted and begged off watching the other Blade movies. I did accept a piggie back ride up the stairs and to my room but promptly shooed everyone out. "I promise I am much better and you guys deserve to enjoy your own beds tonight. To get some sleep without watching over me. I'm good I swear. I just need some sleep," I said smiling softly. Cassie