The Highlander's Promise

Back Home and Back to Normal

Everyone talks about normalcy or getting back to normal. What exactly is normal for someone else may not be normal for everyone. Sullivan and I came back to the solitude of Holly Hall. Alexei was going to see what he could do about the child. It was not looking good though, I knew that the child was Claire’s kid but when we went to the police station the next day they were telling us that they couldn’t access files on the kid and he was an orphan.

The guy that was watching the child was there as well and he had a smug look on his face. I couldn’t prove he was behind this but I knew he was. Sullivan and I left England with heavy hearts and guilt weighing on our shoulders.

“Do you think the little guy is going to be alright?” Sullivan kept asking me and I wished I could give him answers but neither of us had the answers. We didn’t even want to tell Gregor because if the kid wasn’t his it would just set him up for heartbreak. I was angry with him but I didn’t want to hurry him like that.

It wasn’t as if we could actually get to him anyway. Claire has blocked anyone from seeing him, even Felix was banned from seeing him. I just wanted to go back to my home and beat some sense into that stupid girl. She shouldn’t ban his own family from seeing him.

It has been almost a month since we found the child and even Alexei has been silent. He would occasionally stop by but he had no information for us and he was looking haggard. I told him to lay off the Claire thing, and Jer even volunteered to help him with the case and his other caseloads.

He just smiled and said he was fine. Then he would kiss my forehead and head back to his offices. I was missing him dearly but I was now busy with the animals around Holly Hall. Daniel told me that some of my sheep and cattle were expecting. Also that Lilith was expecting a litter. Jer and I would sit in my room with Melina and joke that the animals were the only ones getting some.

Melina was due any day now too and I was grateful for Eugenia. As Prissy said in Gone With the Wind ‘I know nothing about birthin no babies.’ Daniel was the only one who had any news about what was going on back home and even he was becoming more tight-lipped. I knew something was up and Jer would usually tell me that I was being paranoid, but even he was sharing in my paranoia.

We found an old building on the property and we were going to restore it and make it into a greenhouse. Thank goodness the younger Mackenzie knew what he was doing because Jer and I were relying mostly on Google and YouTube videos. Which offered no help because then we ended up watching makeup videos, bloopers, or some other stuff that wasn’t a DIY video.

“How do you two even manage to get anything done? One of you has the attention span of the squirrel and the other is distracted by shiny objects.” We both turned and scowled at Sullivan as he was hauling wood into our Apothecary/Greenhouse. He sighed and took off his shirt and wiped his brow. He had a tattoo of Chinese Lanterns and a Tree on his back.

Jer and I always wanted to see the tattoo in all its glory and we thought it was kind of a girly tattoo for him. It was beautifully done and we would only see glimpses of it. He seemed to keep it hidden for a reason and it wasn’t out of embarrassment. He caught Jer and I staring at the tattoo and he sighed.

“You two have been wanting to see it for a while and I know you want to ask. Do you have beer in the cooler?” We both suddenly felt slightly guilty about wanting to know the story about the tattoo. Sullivan was an enigma, he told us about his travels but there were some things he was tight-lipped about but we didn’t push the subject but our curiosity drove us mad.

“You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want.” Jer nodded and I handed him a beer. He sighed and raked a hand through his hair making his abs ripple. I saw Jer swallow and I elbowed him in the side. He gave me a dirty look and I stuck my tongue out at him.

“No, if I don’t you two are probably going to stare a hole in me or hold me down and torture me until I submit. Normally I am into submitting, but Jer looks like a kinky bastard that would bring out a car battery.” My jaw dropped open and Jer started choking on his drink as Sullivan shot us a cheeky grin.

“Touche’ but I don’t usually bring out the car batteries until later.” He winked and I just shook my head. We were all quite comfortable with each other and while both Jer and I were attracted to the younger Mackenzie because let us face it he was major eye candy, there still wasn’t that heat.

“So the tattoo is slightly girly and before you say anything I know it is and I have seen the looks you two exchange, do you guys have some sort of Jedi mind connection or something.” I shrugged and Jer just grinned.

“The force is confused with that one, her mind is more like a maze of useless information and naked men.” I elbowed Jer again and rolled my eyes.

“I was serving in Afghanistan and well I was on recon when I found that my unit was under attack, we were a small unit and were just supposed to go in gather information, and try to rescue any women and children.” His eyes grew distant and I could see the pain etched on his face.

“We were under attack, there were kids with guns shooting at us and we tried to tell them we were helping but they wouldn’t listen. I lost most of my unit and I was wounded badly and they discharged me.” He took a long swallow of beer and stared at us with a sad smile.

“I went to an old tattoo artist friend and he covered up my scar with the tree, and the lanterns represent the men and women in my unit that I lost. The tree is a symbol that even if I die, there will always be a seed to grow into another tree. The circle will continue. I am the tree and I will hold the memories of my comrades and I will help others remember their contribution as well.” Jer sniffled and I wiped at the tears in my eyes as he drained the rest of his beer.

Jer got up and ran over to hug him and I did the same we just squeezed him until he tapped our arms to tell us to loosen our grip on him. I could see the scar tissue under the ink of the tree, it gave the tree a more realistic appearance and it was beautiful.

“Guys, I can’t breath come on let me up.” Jer and I let up but we still hugged him. We both looked at each other and nodded, he was family and we would do anything to protect the younger Mackenzie. Gregor was family still, but he was family that betrayed us, even if he had his reasons. But if he needed us we would come to his aid.

“Well should you tell him or should I?” Sullivan looked at Jer than me and I shrugged, I knew Jer was ever the one for drama so I let him do the honors.

“Sullivan Mackenzie, welcome to our twisted little family if you want to be a part of it. You can call me Mommy Jer and she is Dada Anna.” I scowled at him, he blew me a kiss and Sullivan snorted then let out a guffaw.

“I will gladly be a part of your family but I am not calling you Mommy Jer maybe I would call you Daddy but I think Daniel would neuter me.” We both laughed and hugged Sullivan again, but I still couldn’t help thinking of poor Caleb and what he must be going through back in England. Things were getting back to normal for us though, I was just wondering for the other shoe to drop and kick us in the butt.