Lewis was glad that Simone was getting this time with her parents. At least there was some solace to the fact that they had passed on, and that these two had waited for her for so long.

You are loved, even in the world beyond, he thought to her. He wondered if his own father was getting along with the children now. He had been doing quite well with the older kids, and the younger ones were slowly starting to warm up.

I do hope that Alshaya and Everett are not fighting too much. Shaya needs to calm her temper soon. Llonan will have a lot to deal with… There it was. That acceptance of their situation. They had passed on, and Lewis had left Alshaya to choose her own path. If that happened to be Llonan, then he had to accept that.

His thoughts dwelled on the other children as well, and how they would have to navigate the world without them. Sure, Llynette, Rex, Ezili, and Lucas would manage, but he worried about Corrine and her sickly brother Jules. He thought of Mira, who had started off quite the problem child, and of Rez, who was growing into his own. Then, poor Fiori who was quite the smart child. That brought a smile to his face. Fiori was almost as devious as he was when he was a child, though she had the freedom to grow that the ex-assassin lacked.

There was little Glynn and his guardians, Lila and Janus. And the newest babies, Damond and Remy.

“You would have loved all of the children,” Lewis said aloud. “They were all deserving of Simone’s love. Your grandchildren…” He was being rather introspective and emotional. Perhaps the afterlife was affecting him more than he thought.

Simone was happy to be with her parents and love them. Her mother she never got to know but she was learning to know her now and figured out why Jurien loved her so much. Camille was a lot like Simone and that was why Jurien never wanted her to change.

“The children… sound so wonderful.” Camille looked up at Jurien. “I wish we could have met them.”

“They would love you. The twins would probably get territorial over you Mother…” Simone had a hard time saying it but she smiled up at Lewis. “If we spend more time here… We won’t want to leave…”

“Oh, go explore. There are waterfalls…” Camille spoke up. “You would like them I think.”

“You heard the lady! Let’s get going,” Simone looked enthusiastic. She swore she heard a groan from Lewis. “Let’s go explore!”

Lewis sighed. It wasn’t as if they didn’t have all the time in the world. Simone, though, was far too excited to explore, and he couldn’t help but smirk at that sentiment. “Fine, fine…let’s go.” He took her hand and the two wandered beyond the small pocket that Jurien and Camille centered themselves in.

The waterfalls that were in the soul stream were like nothing that they had ever seen or experienced before. The stream itself was all of the life that had ever been and ever would be, and something about the way it flowed was mystical. The roar of life and love itself was almost calling them home.

“You can feel the pull here,” Lewis said with wide eyes. “It wants to take us to…” He paused. The pull wasn’t what he expected. To return to the soul stream was the soul’s purpose, yet he felt compelled to do the opposite. The pull was something else, far far away…

“Simone…I…” He looked at her in shock. “I think we’re not dead…”