Azalea Cassie led me over to a house in the center and knocked. An older lady with a long silver braid thrown over her shoulder answered. "Hi Hortencia. This is my friend Azalea," Cassie said smiling. "I've been waiting for you. Come in let's talk," she replied to us. Just then Alex came up and she directed him to meet with another lady to put away the barrels he brought before joining us. I wasn't really surprised that she said she was waiting on us- everything I had been reading about witches led me to believe that some- the really powerful ones- know a lot and see more than they speak and I could feel her magic around us. We followed her to the living room and she ushered us to sit down. She had a fire going with something cooking on it as well as a tea kettle, which she pulled off. She poured us each a cup of tea and then sat down across from me. "May I speak frankly and freely?" she asked me. "Yes. She knows," I relied anxious to hear what she had to say. "For y
AzaleaNeither of us moved at first, too lazy I suppose until I jumped off the bed and said "I'll race you to the kitchen" before running to the door and throwing it open. I ran down the hallway with Cassie laughing right on my heels. The twins were on the stairs chatting with their dad blocking the whole staircase, so I jumped up onto the banister and slid down making Cassie cry out "Cheater!". I had always wanted to do that since I was a little kid but had never been to a place that actually had the right kind of stair case. I had been thinking about sliding down it since the first day we got here. I was laughing too much though to stick the landing and ended up landing on my butt at the bottom."That's what you get," she stated as she rushed by me. I jumped up quickly getting back on my feet before turning and waving to her brothers and father who were now laughing at our antics and dashed after her. She had made it to the kitchen before me and was already pulling out the thi
Azalea I had fallen into a nice deep sleep until a loud bang woke me up. I burrowed deeper under the covers not really wanting to be awake until I was tackled by two huge bodies. I couldn't see out but I knew exactly who it was by their smell and their laughter. The twins. "It's time to get up sleepyhead. It's Christmas!" Jason exclaimed, bouncing on my bed. "I can't. you two boulders are sitting on the blanket and I'm stuck," I said, my voice muffled by the blanket. They laughed some more and then suddenly their weight was gone. I snuggled into my blanket again hopeful they had left when all of a sudden the blanket was jerked from the bed. "Hey!" I exclaimed, sitting up and glaring at them. "What if I had been naked?" They both turned and looked at me for a moment and then Markus said, "Then it would have been the best Christmas ever!" They both laughed and high fived. However they did not see Cassie coming up behind them both and slapping the backs of their heads sim
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