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

The elder Sara replied. She fiddled with her rings, as if wanting to say something to me. “Madam Reading, I have experienced something odd with Andrew.”
“What about him?” I asked, concerned.
“Well, you know he’s developing telepathy, correct?”
“Yes, why?” This wasn’t sounding too good. “What happened to Andrew, Sara?”
“He sent me a message.” She told me.
“What did it say?” Luna asked. “Spit it out.”
Sara finally met my eyes. “Be prepared for anything. Have your Empathy on guard at all times. You never know what will happen.”
I gulped. What did that mean?
“All this is giving me a headache.” Luna groaned, slumping in her chair. “Sara, can you get Caleb ready for me? I’m going to head home and take a nap.”
“Are you feeling alright, Lu?” I asked her.
“I’m just tired, that’s all.” She assured me.
I wasn’t convinced. My sister looked sick.
“Tell you what; let me take Caleb while you take a nap.” I replied. “Something tells me you need it.”
“Are you sure?” Mother asked me. “Will you be able to take care of all three boys by yourself?”
“I’d do anything, Mother.” I told her. I turned to my sister. “Besides, she needs her beauty sleep.”
Luna looked up at me and stuck her tongue out.
“Now, now, girls.” Mother said with a smile. “Be nice.”
“I’m only teasing her and she knows it.” I smiled.
“Doesn’t matter.” Mother replied. She looked at her watch. “I have to be getting back. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Sure.” We chorused as she kissed each of us on the cheek. She raced out the door, letting it slam behind her.
Sara came back moments later.
“Madam Morehouse,” Sara said, breaking my sister’s concentration.
“Sorry, Sara.” Luna said. “I don’t mean to be a bother, but I’m not feeling well. Ariana has agreed to watch Caleb while I take a nap.”
“Quite alright, I understand perfectly.” Sara smiled, handing Caleb to me and placing the diaper bag on the floor. “Would you like me to help you home?”
Luna stood, then sat down, hand on her head.
“Lu?” I asked, at her side in moments. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m just dizzy, that’s all.” She told me, and then faced Sara. “I’d like that, thank you.”
I watched as Luna was escorted away by Sara.
“Sweet dreams.” I said blankly, in a daze.
“I hope she’s gonna be okay.” Aaron whispered.
“She will be, just watch.” Aimee said after him. “Right, Ariana?”
I snapped out of my daze. “Sure, Aim.”
“Mommy?” Caleb’s little voice cried in my arms.
Tears were running down his face.
I hugged him. “Oh, Caleb. I’m your aunt Ariana. Your mommy is going to take a nap while I watch you, okay?”
He sniffed, thumb in mouth. Looking at my nephew, I could tell the resemblances between him and my own boys. They looked identical, like triplets, but Caleb reminded me of both my sons combined. Sweet, yet adventurous.
I told the twins I’d be back after checking on my sons, leaving to go to the nursery.
I opened the door to find Andrew standing in his crib, hands out to reach for me.
“Mama.” He smiled. “Calley okay?”
I nodded. Slowly, Andrew was opening up. His brother already was saying a whole slew of words in his own language. Andrew was smarter than Mark Antony was, I could tell. He just didn’t want to speak up unless he trusted the person.
I changed each boy’s diaper before heading back out to my friends.
I heard a knock on the door as I was finishing with Mark Antony. In came Aaron and Aimee. Each took a child. Aimee took Mark Antony, Aaron took Caleb and I took Andrew. We headed outside for some fresh air as we let them play in the backyard.
“Don’t you ever get them mixed up?” Aimee asked after a while.
“The three of them, no.” I told her. “See – Caleb and Mark Antony are playing in the sand together while Andrew’s playing by himself with Magic.” I looked up to him. “Andrew James, what have I told you about that?”
“Sorry.” He stopped the Magic and joined his brother and cousin.
“I can’t believe it’s already been two years since they were born.” Aaron replied.
“So much has happened in so little time.” Aimee said.
I stared at my twin friends, smiling.
“What are you smiling at?” Aimee asked, looking at me strangely.
“Oh, nothing.” I grinned. “I was just thinking about our past together.”
“As the Three Musketeers?” Aimee replied. “Why? Hadn’t you gotten enough bad vibes in the past to last you forever?”
“Yeah, Ariana.” Aaron agreed. “Don’t dwell on what’s already past.”
“I’m not.” I told them. “I was thinking about Aimee’s remark. How so much has happened in such little time.”
“What about it?”
“As orphans, we survived Mrs. Gertrude. As Crusaders, we defeated our own demons.” I explained. “Through it all, we grew stronger.”
“It’s like what you were saying yesterday.” Aaron said. “Without obstacles, we can’t grow stronger.”
“I’m not finished, yet.” I told them, hand up to stop their words. “Last, as parents, we’re learning by the day how to cope with real-world issues.”
Aimee looked sheepish. “Are you sure we can handle it?”
I looked up to watch the boys. All three had come up to me and taken a seat. I picked up and kissed each one. “Of course we can handle it.” I turned to Mark Antony. “Right, Mark Antony?”
He nodded. “Yep, Yep, Yep.” He grinned; his silver-blue eyes sparkled.
I hugged him, and then turn to my friends. “Grab a boy and head inside. These guys look hungry.”
“Yum.” Mark Antony supplied, rubbing his little tummy. His favorite word.
After we’d fed them and put them to bed, Aimee and Aaron went home, leaving me in peace to read and relax.
I’d almost fallen asleep reading when I heard the door open and my husband’s voice calling my name.
“In the study, Derrick!” I called back, stretching my aching muscles.
Derrick came in as I put a marker in my book. He kissed my cheek. “Should I say it or not?”
“What’s that?” I asked him.
He grinned. “Honey, I’m home!”
I giggled.
“So, any luck finding her? Any clues, suspects, evidence, anything at all?” He asked, in his detective mode.
I shook my head.
“She’ll turn up, just watch.” Derrick assured me. “Other than that, how was your day?”
I told him what happened. “Aimee really got me thinking about things.”
“What things?” He took a seat beside me.
“Our pasts, present horrors, you know. Things.” I told him. “Mainly how we survived it all.”
“What about it?”
I looked into my husband’s warm brown eyes, pausing to kiss him. “I love you, Derrick Reading, yet I know nothing about you.”
“Nonsense.” He replied. “I love you, too, and yes, you know a lot of things about me.”
“I know how you’d run away from your torn family to follow your Dream Girl.” I said. “I know how you met Shadow, who took you to the System. I know how you and Luna used to be partners before we met.”
“What else is there?” He asked.
“I know nothing about your own past.” I told him. “What demons did you have to fight on your own? What about your lonely nights without love in an almost-perfect family? What about your past?”
Derrick looked away, almost ashamed.
“Derrick, don’t you trust me?” I asked him, afraid.
He looked back at me. “Of course I do.”
“Why are you so afraid to tell me?”
“I wouldn’t want you to feel bad.”
“Why?”
“You grew up as a lone orphan with Aimee and Aaron.” He said. “I grew up in the perfect family. Only, it wasn’t so perfect on the inside.”
“What made you run away?”
“The city referred to me as just another rich kid not getting his own way. They treated me with respect, but I could see they loathed it.” Derrick said. “Inside, my family was falling apart. Mom and Dad were fighting, Jake was turning into a criminal, Kendra hid in her room constantly crying for a better day, and Brian looked up to me as a mentor. Alex was just a baby when I ran off, not knowing what was going on around him.”
Interesting. I thought. I recalled when we were in the System so many years ago.
“Is that why you were so angry in the beginning?”
He nodded. “No matter how angry I was, I couldn’t get the Dream Girl – you – off my mind or out of my dreams.”
I smiled. “I knew you were something special before I met you, so I wanted to hang on.”
“I wanted to help you, Love, wanting you to be safe from harm.” Derrick hugged me. “I loved you then, and as every day progresses, I love you more.”
“Why and when did you start to open up and trust me?” I asked. “You hid your sincerity from me at first. Why?”
He sighed. “I don’t know. I guess I didn’t want to hurt you by getting too close too soon.” He kissed me. “You know what I mean?”
I shook my head.
“Do you remember when you were in the Juvenile Center?” I stared, waiting for him to continue. “I watched over you one time.”
“How?”
“Before Big Guy found you, I met Mistress Enchantra.” Derrick replied. “She let me see your image from the Mystic Mirror. I felt so sad for you. I only began to open up after two weeks rooming with you.
“I listened to your constant nightmares, wanting to do something, but always afraid of hurting you more.” Derrick continued, kissing me again. “They changed my mind about you. I wanted to know what made you so quiet and sad, so I spoke up.”
I was silent, a tear running down my cheek. “That’s when we kissed for the first time.” I whispered. “It was only after that I began to feel loved and wanted. Not only by you, but also by everyone there. I was no longer an orphan, but a top-notch detective. I loved it all.”
“Not to mention, you were practicing your powers.” Derrick teased, making me smile. He looked into my eyes. “I love you so much, Ariana Moon Reading.”
As he kissed me again, the doorbell rang and the boys cried from the nursery.
“So much for the moment.” I teased back. “You get the boys and I’ll get the door.”
“Aye, Aye Captain.” He saluted and we parted.
Story #4:
Ghosts of Hill View

I knew about him and he knew about me.
That still didn’t explain why I’d been dreaming of him since my youth.
I headed downstairs behind my husband, going to the front door. When I opened it, I saw two familiar faces.
“Tiffany! Tart!” I cried, hugging them. “What are you doing here?”
I noticed tiny teardrop amulets around their necks. Each had their initials, with an ‘A’ in the end. I could sense some kind of Mystic Magic spell over it, protecting them.
“We’ve come to tell you the great news.” Twelve-year-old Tart began. Her blue eyes sparkled with delight.
It had been a long time since I’d seen them, two of my Oracle Children. When I met them back in the orphanage here in Hill View, an eight-year-old Tara Mae “Tart” had a nightmare. I comforted her, with the five other girls in the room waking to the sound of her screams. I declared them my Oracle Children after telling them about the Dream Realm.
“You’ll never guess in a million years!” Fifteen-year-old Tiffany Jane grabbed her necklace.
Tart couldn’t hold her excitement; she jumped as she cried. “We’ve been adopted!”
“That’s great, you guys!” I told them. “Where are your