Chapter 193

Amaris stood there frozen and watched the back of Gran as she walked out of the room. She slowly sank back down on the couch next to Lyle again. He still had not moved from his spot, but seemed to be in deep thought. Amaris brought Lyle out of his stupor by grabbing his hand. "Did she just say what I think that she said? Are we going to have a baby?" Amaris thought about what Gran had said 'Little ones'. What did she mean? Was she talking about our children in the future? Amaris felt just like she often had lately after talking to Gran, more confused. Lyle took a deep breath and turned to Amaris. "According to the tapestries that we saw earlier, you and I will have one set of twins. A boy and a girl. Like you they will also have powers. Which means that like you they will also be hunted by others for what they can do." Lyle hung his head. He did not want to think about his children being hunted anymore than he wanted to think about Amaris being hunted.

Now it was Amaris' turn for shock. "Do you mean that I am pregant right now?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, something clicked in her mind. The nausea, the dizzyness, and the weird feelings. Could they all be from her being pregnant? It made sense. She never really went into heat, although, Amaris had attributed that to the special tea blend. If she was pregnant, it would have happened back when they were at the temple. Amaris was pulled from thought when two strong, warm arms wound around her and held her. She hesitantly brought up her own and held Lyle. She needed this. It was like she could actually feel his strength filling her up and making her feel whole again. When he released her, he put his hand under her chin and made her look up at him. He was wearing a tender smile. "I think that we are going to be parents." He said with a low chuckle. He reached up and wiped Amaris' cheek. She had not even realized that she was crying. She smiled shyly at Lyle and then gave him another hug. "We will do this together." He whispered in her ear. She pulled him in tighter and breathed in his scent which had a calming effect for her. After a minute or two they finally let go, and Lyle stood up and held out his hand. Lets go get you fed, and then you can take a nap while I get our supplies and a vehicle. She gave him a watery smile and nodded. He pulled her behind him out of the living room and to the front door where everyone else had left the house. Outside there was a flurry of activity. The house itself, while modest, sat on a vast property of out buildings and lots of land surrounded by trees. There were two, what appeared to be, guest houses. One on either side of the house. Lyle led Amaris to the far side of one, where there was an outdoor kitchen that they were putting to good use. Many of the troops were already sitting in the various chairs or on the stone wall eating, and there were still several more in line. Amaris did not see anyone that was in the meeting in the house in line or seated on the patio. It was their first chance to get a hot meal in quite a while and Amaris welcomed the idea of something that was not a protein bar, or MRE. She had no idea where they got all the food, but it was obvious that they had made themselves at home. There was steak, and chicken. They had baked potatoes, and hard boiled eggs, salad, fish, and so many other sides. It was clear that they were making enough so that everyone could eat their fill before they moved out in the morning.

They got in line, and Lyle handed Amaris a plate. As they went through the buffet style line, Lyle would stop and grab himself some food, and serve up some to Amaris' plate too. When she began to protest that she was never going to eat all of what was already on her plate, nevermind the scoop he was trying to add, Lyle would just answer "Your eating for three now, you need to eat three times as much." Amaris shook her head. She was never going to be able to eat the mountain of food that was on her plate. They sat in a companionable silence and are while they watched all of the others eat, finish, and leave. When they had finished, Lyle grabbed both their plates and returned them to be washed. He walked back to Amaris and held out his hand with a smile. "Come. We'll get you settled, and then I will go get our supplies." Amaris pulled Lyle to a stop by his hand. "No. We will do this together. Then we can both rest for a while together before we head out." Lyle stared at her for a moment, and then with a smile pulled her to him. He enveloped her in a tight embrace. Letting on just a little, he looked down at her. "Ok. We do it together." She did not wait for him. Amaris pushed up on her tip toes and kissed him on the lips. The heat of the kiss quickly burst into flame, as the pent up passion inside them was released. Amaris curled her fingers in his dark hair. It had grown long in the back with them being on the run for so long, but Amaris loved the feel of it when she ran her fingers through it. Lyle brushed his tongue along her lips asking for entrance, and she gave way willingly. His hands had traveled down her back and one was wrapped around her waist pulling her to him while the other had reached down and lifted her thigh as his hand caressed its way back up her backside. There was a sudden clearing of a throat. The two jumped apart. Amaris ducked her head as her cheeks burned scarlet with embarassment. Lyle smiled and took Amaris' hand to leave. "Sorry sir, but Commander Alexis would like a word with you. We also have some supplies set aside for you. Follow me." The young soldier said. His eyes darted ever so quickly to Amaris and back to Lyle. His eyes widened and went back to Amaris as if he just realized who she was. He made a bow. "Oracle. My appologies. I did not recognize you." The young man suddenly seemed beside himself. Amaris was further embarassed, as she did not like all this attention, especially for something that she did not feel that she deserved. She reached out to console the man. When her hand touched his arm she suddenly was transported to another time.