Lewis settled into the bath with Simone, and leaned back. “Oh you know…I just wanted to relax…”

—

The Locket

(This occurs in the past, after the Terrowin family adopted Everett, but before Alshaya)

It wasn’t that Lewis had messed up. In fact, it was hardly the case. He was doing quite well as a husband. The assassin was earning his keep, and providing for his family. Yet, as he held the tiny gift in his hand, he felt nervous. Simone had given him a gift, one to commemorate their ‘first year’ of sorts. And, he had failed to get one in return. Failed was a very strong word, though. More…he had been busy. Work on top of the incident with Simone had left him unable to fully commit to the idea that he had.

It had taken some time to make, and traveling to Parvpora to find a specialist who could manage it. And the end result…was in this tiny gift box. Would it be enough? He wondered, gripping it.

“Simone…” He walked into their room, where Simone was holding Everett. The baby was asleep in her lap, and she seemed so content. “I…have something for you.” The small box was handed over to her. “It’s a little late, I’m afraid to say. I should have had it to you sooner…”

Simone was busy counting every finger and every toe on Everett. He was flailing up at her and she smirked, “You are so perfect.” She kissed his head as she leaned down. “I love you so very much.” The love she had for the little boy who wasn’t from her womb was overflowing into the resonance link. Simone had missed being a mother very much so.

The wife hadn’t thought much of it when Lewis didn’t get her anything. She was consumed with what Everett was and truth be told he was the best gift someone like her felt she could get. She swaddled him up and cuddled Everett close until Lewis came in.

The small box was ornate in design. “A present?” She smirked a bit and his words gave it away. “Better late than never some might say… As far as I was concerned he was the best anniversary gift…” She looked down at the white-haired babe and smirked.

“He’s perfect.”

Once she handed the baby over to Lewis she went to take the bow off the box. “Is… This a locket?” She held the ornate jewelry in her hand. It had a gemstone on it and the fine craftsmanship was something she found attractive. She found the mechanism to unlock it and her eyes teared up at the sight. It was the painting the two of them decided to have done. She, Lewis, and baby Everett. Their little family.

“Oh Lew…” Her eyes went to him. “I love it.” She was quick to put it on and admire the portrait in it. “This is my favorite gift I’ve ever received… Besides Everett.”

Lewis held Everett, who was staring at his mother with big eyes. As she opened the gift, he saw her reaction, and reached out, cooing. Lewis knelt onto the bed, and extended Everett out. He pulled into Simone, and took the locket into his hands, cooing more.

“Even Everett likes it,” Lewis said with a half smile. He set the boy down in Simone’s lap, taking a moment to kiss her. “Happy anniversary, love.” He put his head to hers, and closed his eyes. “And remember…this is just the beginning. Soon, this place will be filled with kids. They’ll be laughing, and playing…” He opened his eyes. “They’ll be safe, and have a happy home.”

Lewis stood up, and smiled, looking down at Simone and Everett. This was the happiest that he had ever been in his life, and it was flowing into the resonance, much like Simone’s own happiness. “Soon, we won’t be able to fit our entire family into a locket. We’ll have to find a better way to keep track of them all…”

"So many babies… I love that idea… Thank you so much for this happiness, my love." Her eyes were sparkling full of love towards Lewis.

You don’t win, I win!

Simone woke up in the morning and she had a satisfied look on her face. She could see the sleeping face of her husband and how relaxed he was. When he was at home he could relax wherever he wanted and right now it was in their bed. They had gotten into the habit of changing into nightclothes after sex just in case the little ones wandered into their room.

You never knew which one or if all of them were going to come. All of them being their youngest ones. She brushed his hair back and there was a smirk on her face. Right now the lion was unaware of what his sheep were doing. That giddy feeling traveled through the resonance. She sprung into action pinning him down onto the bed.

“Looks like I win this time! You lose because you were asleep and undefended.”

It had been a pleasant night, and with pleasant dreams to follow. Lewis was still very much asleep, enjoying his newfound freedom of not having to leave in the dead of night for work. That meant sleeping in, and waking up to Simone every morning. It was something that, upon starting, he realized was one of the absolute best things about waking up in the morning.

This particular morning, though, was different. Simone had a mischievous streak about her at times, and this was one of those moments. With a pounce, she pinned Lewis to the bed, spouting her victory.

Lewis’ eyes were open, and he was relaxed in her grip, a half smile across his face. “Well, well…it seems the sheep has gotten bold.” With a sly look, he slipped one of his wrists out from her grip, and booped her nose. After that came the real attack. He slipped his other wrist free, and wrapped his arms around Simone’s waist, using his strength to flip her off of him. He rolled the other direction, and then got to his knees, pouncing to her.

The ex-assassin went straight for the kill shot, his hands at her sides as he tried to tickle her. “The tables have turned!”

“Because the lion let his guard down around his sheep,” she smirked a bit and watched as he casually got loose and booped her nose. She squealed as he freed his other wrist and flipped her. She flailed a bit as she realized what he was going to do but she fought against the plushness of their bed. “Lew. Lewis. Lewis Terrowin!” He tackled her and began to tickle her. She was laughing so hard as she kicked her legs.

She flailed her legs some more as she laughed into hyperventilating. “Okay. Okay. I–” Lewis relaxed a bit and Simone took her legs and used them to catapult him off the bed and she was soon back over top of him tickling him. “No! The sheep wins today my fair hunter!”

That look in Lewis’s eyes though sparked a war as they began to teleport all over the house trying to pin each other, reverse pin each other, and ultimately win. The next thing she knew they were teleporting into Raile’s shop and the shop owner had to watch in horror as the two tried to fight for dominance over each other. “Not. Today,” Simone yelled with a grunt as she laughed pinning Lewis with some heavy breathing.

“You didn’t think it would be this easy did you?” Lewis smirked up at her and she lost the confidence she had as Lewis threw her off of him and repinned her. Soon they portaled out of the shop and into Xeik office. There was laughing as they knocked things off his desk in front of him. Simone was laughing even harder than Lewis as she threw him on the desk and sat on him.

It was the look Xeik was giving them that ultimately made them stop. “Oops…”

The two were nearly evenly matched. How could they not be? Lewis and Simone were one and the same with the way their resonance worked, so when they were as focused as they were, neither could really one up the other. Things like this rarely happened, but when they went into Raile’s shop, it wasn’t hard for the merchant to make a quick coin.

As soon as the two warped out, Raile raised his hand. “All right boys… bets are on. Who will win?” Drake and Rhenakos glanced at each other, and reached for their silver…

It was Xeik’s office, though, where things got the most interesting. The poor healer was shocked to see the two wrestling about his office, but he was even more shocked at how much fun they seemed to be having. He had never heard Lewis laugh like that, and Simone seemed almost light hearted in comparison to where she had been the other day.

Still, when they ended up on his desk, that was the final straw. “ALL RIGHT, THAT’S ENOUGH!” Xeik exclaimed, grabbing the two and throwing them apart. “What the hell has gotten into you two!?”

Lewis was on one side of the room, a big goofy smile still across his face. He was panting as he tried to point at Simone. “That….that doesn’t count as a loss…you hear me?”

Simone’s eyes were large as she looked at Xeik and she crossed her arms with a pout on her face. “I suppose not. It’s interference.” She didn’t realize how out of breath she was as she finally fanned herself using her hand. “That was so much work and I could have won…”

Her gray-blue eyes were locked onto Xeik, “I started a wrestling match. What did it look like? It got a bit hairy there for a moment with all the portaling but I thought… or maybe WE thought that it would throw the other off… Obviously, that wasn’t the case. However, it is a draw for now even though I was clearly the one pinning Lewis when Xeik threw me off.”

She rolled her eyes lightly and gave Lewis a smirk. “We do have some fun that doesn’t involve murdering, sex, our children, and any other nefarious things we find ourselves into. Didn’t mean to drag your desk into it though.”

Simone tapped her finger against her arm, “Bet you can’t pin me again.” There was a load of snark in her voice towards her husband. “You got lucky the first time. Even cheating with the tickles!”

Lewis got up, stretching as Simone explained their ‘game’ to Xeik, and when Simone made a snarky comment about betting that he couldn’t pin her again, a smile slid back across his face.

“All is fair in love and war, my dear sheep. Bet you I can pin you!,” he said, lowering his stance, ready to pounce.

“I bet that if the two of you don’t get out of my office, I’ll pin you both to the ground and have Mia sit on you!” Xeik yelled.

Lewis rolled his eyes. “He’s so touchy.” He glanced over to Xeik, “Hey…how’s the baby thing going?”

Xeik turned a bright red, “DON’T YOU START TOO.”

With Xeik distracted, Lewis pounced on Simone, and the two disappeared into a portal, resuming their game. Not even Raile would find out the answer to who had won, though, and his bets would go unsettled.



Therapy


Xeik leaned back in his chair, and stared at Simone, who was situated across a small glass table. His office had been changed around to accommodate the new task he was given. His desk was hidden away, and would reveal itself once he shifted the room back into its normal configuration, but for now, it was a large, empty room with two rather large, comfy chairs sitting across from each other. The glass table in the center had lavender peonies in it, and a glass of water on each end for the two. The room itself had a rather calming aura about it, and the smell of valerian permeated the air.

“As you know, Lady Angela asked me if I could help you. I know that she’s better than I am, but…well…I’m all that’s available at the moment, and I know you and Lewis quite well.” Xeik said as he looked over the papers he had. “I don’t have a lot of information from you, so let’s…start with what you’re comfortable with.” He paused. “I have a rather…complicated magic ward around this room. I will not disclose anything you say to Lewis, nor anyone else, other than Lady Angela. If you wish to tell Lewis everything, or wish me to tell Lewis everything, I can…but it would be best that you experience your emotions as you have them…without his influence.”

“Let’s start with the most recent…” He flipped to the first page. “The world that could never be. A dreams world of alternate times and events. During that time…what were you doing when Lewis was struggling to break free? Could you see him? What did that make you feel?”

“You can tell Lewis… It’s probably best he knows…”

Simone thought she could handle it, she really did. However, here in this room? She was cut off from the cool that Lewis had and she felt the ocean that was herself completely. Her eyes almost instantly showed what she was trying to hide all this time and she repositioned herself to try and relax in the seat.

“Can I even call it hell?” Simone bit at her own lip. “At first, no. I was stuck with Saphielle taunting me about how she was going to make Lewis cave. I was virtually almost powerless. It was like being stuck underwater again. Whenever he wavered I could feel it though and my heart hurt. Lewis is the only really certain thing in my life that I have because of how we’re bonded. For him to doubt me… It hurt.”

She chewed on the side of her mouth now and took a huge breath. “When I finally felt a surge of magic I was able to start fighting back. It was a small surge here or there. After all, it was my own dreams and it would make sense if I had some tangible form of control. I didn’t count on her having control as the caster though. She summoned nightmares to attack me and I had to fight back. It’s what I was doing for most of the time. She only let up to let me feel Lewis’s hesitation, his sadness, and most importantly his disappointment in me.”

She held herself and she felt tears welling up, “It was horrible. I was drowning with no way out and the only thing I could do was keep fighting back but I was getting so tired. Tired from fighting two fronts at that point. The front with Lewis having his doubts and the front with Saphielle and the physical fighting. She made me want to die. I hate that feeling…”