Young Guardian Trilogy by Lady Adellandra Dratianos (the lemonade war series .TXT) 📖

and Derrick and Shane were working with the Hill View Police Force, Aimee helped me with the twins. Luna came over with Caleb as well. The four of us, plus Aaron, kept each other company. One day, Aimee noticed the vanity in my room.
“Where did you get this?” Aimee asked.
I grinned at her. “Put your hand to the pane and close your eyes.”
“Huh?”
“Just trust me.” I told her. She was helping me fold the laundry, while Aaron was with the twins downstairs.
Shrugging, Aimee put her palm to the pane, closing her eyes. In moments, she was gone.

I did the same thing, and ended up in the Dream Realm’s Jungle Kingdom. I’d only been here twice before in my youth, and Aimee had been with me.
“How did we get here?” She asked. “How do we get home?”
I couldn’t wait to tell her. “Before I answer that, I want you to do something.”
“Now what?” Aimee asked dreadfully.
“Walk over to that tree, then come back to me.” I instructed.
Shrugging again, Aimee did what I’d told her.
When she turned around, she saw the glowing white shape where she’d come in.
She grinned. “I get it. Our aura trace, right?”
“Yours alone.” I told her. “I haven’t moved, yet. I’ll tell you more about it back home. Let’s go.”
“How?”
“Do the same thing we used to do as Young Dreamers. Step through your aura trace.” I told her. “You’ll return home in no time.”
“You are something else, you know that?” Aimee teased me with a laugh.
I shrugged innocently. “It’s a gift. Now, let’s go.”
She walked up to me, deliberately missing her aura trace. “Don’t you have to move, too?”
I shook my head. “Nope. All I have to do is close my eyes and think of home.”
Aimee took my hand. “Lead the way.”
In seconds, we were home again, thrown from the Mirror.

She shook her head, finding herself on the floor. I was standing up beside her.
“What was that?” She asked me, standing.
“That, dear Aimee, was my own Mystic Mirror.” I replied proudly. “The Sisters gave it to me for all the hard work I’d done for them against Orthos.”
She shook her head, this time in amazement. “Let’s go find Aaron and Lu. They’ve got to know about this.”
I grinned. “Luna has one, too. Oh –” I remembered something and gasped. “You know the ring you gave me when Derrick and I got married?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
I showed her the ring, then the Jewels Amulet. “I haven’t taken it off since. For me, it’s a form of power; along with the new Necklace Lord O’Dell gave me.”
“You’re getting all sorts of gifts, Ariana.” Aimee sounded a little jealous. “Makes me wish I were a Mystic.”
I grinned at her. “In a way, you are.”
“Oh, right. The Over-Seer thing.” Aimee replied.
“Not only that, but the Pact.” I reminded her. I showed her the inside of my wrist, and then gestured to hers. “Do you remember what you felt when the Musketeers made the blood Pact?”
“Energy, flowing through my system.” Aimee replied, fingering the tiny scar. “The next day was the first time I was actually able to talk to the animals. I felt rejuvenated in some way, like you gave me some of your Magic or something.”
I nodded. “See? That’s the Unicorn Magic in your system. Besides, you did help Luna and I figure out the Dark Magic.” I reminded her. “That must mean something.”
Aimee grinned at that. She shook her head. “Think we can do this a little faster?”
“You mean, like this?” I stared at the folded clothes and pointed where I wanted them to go.
“Your Magic’s growing.” Aimee told me. “Come on, let's go tell them.”
I nodded. After the laundry put away using telekinesis, Aimee and I headed downstairs to find Aaron playing a game with the twins.
“Hey, Aaron.” We chorused.
He looked up for a moment, an excited look on his face. Jumping up, but watching where he was going, he stood up. “You’ll never guess, Ariana. It’s simply amazing.”
“So is the Mystic Mirror in her room.” Aimee told her brother.
He shook his head. “I’ll get to that in a minute. I want to show you something.”
Aaron picked up Andrew James and showed him to me. “Go ahead, Andrew. Do it again.”
“What?” I asked, crossing my arms. “What did he do?”
Andrew, not even a year old, yet, grinned at me, a sparkle in his silver-blue eyes.
“Just watch.” Aaron insisted. “Go on, do it. Make the ball come to you, Andrew.”
“I don’t believe you, Aaron.” I heard Luna’s voice giggle from behind me. When I turned, I saw she had her son in her hands. “He’s only a baby. He can’t do anything, yet.”
“Who says he can do anything at all?” I asked, but secretly knew about his telepathy.
“He did it – I swear.” Aaron replied. He handed Andrew to me and I shared a look with my own twin.
“Sure he did.” Aimee teased him.
“I sat here and watched him.” Aaron said, and then looked over to where Mark-Antony was playing with some blocks. “Or was it him?” He shook his head. “I don’t know which one actually did it, but I saw it with my own eyes.”
“What did you see?” Luna asked him, playing along. We were going to humor him.
“One of your twin sons looked at the red ball over there, and reached his hands out to retrieve it.”
I gasped sarcastically. He was too much. “No. You don’t say.”
“This is serious, Ariana. I mean it.” Aaron replied. “You’ve got to believe me.”
I looked at his eyes, which were serious. “Okay,” I said after a minute. “I believe you. At any rate, have they eaten, yet?”
“That one has,” Aaron pointed to Mark-Antony, “but that one won’t. He refuses.”
“Picky eater, huh?” I asked Andrew. He grinned, making me smile. “You’ll eat for me, won’t you?”
As if understanding me, he nodded.
“You mean to tell me you can tell them apart?” Luna asked. “I mean, they’re identical.”
I nodded. “Just like us, and Mother and Aunt Sharon, and also Gramma Dixie and Great-Aunt Dorianne.” I told her. “I’ve always been able to tell them apart. They are my sons, you know.”
“How can you tell who’s who?” Aimee asked.
“For one thing, Andrew is more serious and levelheaded then Mark-Antony.” I pointed out. I put Andrew in the playpen and picked up Mark-Antony. “Meanwhile, Mark-Antony is wilder than his brother. Get it?”
“Andrew is quiet, while Mark is hyper.” Luna said. “Yeah, Caleb’s like that, too. He’s more like Andrew, though. Sometimes, he’ll test me by acting like Mark-Antony – wild and out of control.”
“It’s kind of funny the three of them are so identical.” Aaron spoke up as I placed both Mark-Antony and Caleb in the playpen with Andrew.
Aimee giggled.
“What’s so funny?” I asked her.
“Oh, nothing.” Luna replied. “Just think – when they get older, they’ll try to switch.”
“The twins, I can imagine.” I replied.
“What if all three of them wanted to switch?” Luna asked. “I’d be horrified.”
“Not as horrified as I’m going to be if we don’t get this house cleaned up before the guys get home.” I playfully chided them. “I’ll put the twins and Caleb in the nursery, while the three of you figure out how we’re going to do this.”
“The kids should be home soon.” Aaron announced, looking at his watch. “As soon as we’re done here, why don’t I take Kelly for the evening? That way, Derrick can rest, and you can go to school tonight?”
I stared at him. “I’d like that, thanks.”
“What are best friends for?” He asked, grinning. He kissed my cheek. I could tell he was feeling better since our little talk.
It took practically forever for us to clean the house the Earthbound way. I thought it was fun without the Magic, because I didn’t get tired so fast.
Once the kids came home, Kelly went straight to Bradley’s house next door with Aimee and Aaron. Luna was watching the twins and Caleb in another room when I finished with the housework. As I dusted a picture of my family, I stopped and stared at it.
Mother and Father were in the middle of the entire brood. Anna, Mary Ellen, Kevin, Claudia, Christopher, Antony, and Luna and I. We looked like such a happy family. I smiled, thinking how the picture had been taken shortly before I’d blown up like a balloon from being pregnant with the twins. Kelly was in the picture, too.
I closed my eyes and had a vision.
I saw as Mother was performing a ritual spell in a separate room. I watched as the stones around her neck glowed bright, her hands in the air, calling out the chant in the old Ancient Mystic Language. I didn’t know what she was saying, but could tell it was powerful.
She sensed me watching, because she looked right at me!
It was at that moment, when our eyes met, I was tapped awake from the vision.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I heard Derrick’s teasing voice in my ear.
I turned to him. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m cleaning house.” I pretended to straighten up the trio of pictures on the mantle of the fireplace. I set the family picture down, saying. “There, all clean.”
“You’re supposed to be resting, remember?” He asked me with a quick kiss.
“From what? Nothing’s happened, yet.” I told him.
He stared at me. “That’s funny. I could have sworn I felt you use Magic earlier.”
“You felt it?” I whispered, grinning. “The Pendant. Enchantra did say it would gain more power for you.”
Derrick shrugged. “Well, did you?”
“Use Magic?”
“Answer the question.” He said simply.
“Yes, I did. Aimee and I were so excited after our quick trip though the Mirror, I decided to fold the laundry with Telekinesis.”
He nodded. “Oh. I see. Okay then. As long as everything’s alright.”
That was strange. He’d never acted like this before. Was he always going to question me on my use of Magic?
“Yes. It is.” I said. I wanted to change the subject, so I headed to the twins’ nursery to check on them.
“Where’s Kelly?” Derrick asked, following me.
“With Aaron and Aimee.” I told him in a whisper, motioning him to be quiet. I softly cracked open the door. “See how your twins are doing.”
He looked, seeing the same thing I did. Andrew and Mark-Antony were together, side by side. Andrew had his arm wrapped around his brother’s neck, as if protecting him. I thought it was sweet.
Derrick looked back at me and smiled, as if nothing had ever been wrong. He kissed me after I closed the door.
“You know what?” Derrick asked, holding me while looking in my eyes.
I smiled. “What?”
He kissed me again. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” I told him. I tried not to read his mind as his eyes bored into mine. I didn’t want to betray a sacred trust like that. Thing is, something was wrong with him, and he wasn’t talking. I could sense it.
“Come on, I’ll help with dinner.” Derrick announced, turning toward the kitchen.
I snapped out of my short daze and followed my husband.
Looks like I’d have to talk to him later, too.
EPILOGUE:
A Mystic Celebration – Earthbound Style

January came and went. Derrick and Shane were now a part of the Police Force, as recruits. The cool Michigan Winter weather kept me in the house most of the time, which was good. I was able to be