Our beginning

Texas Bound

After news of the storm had traveled to Texas she insisted that she needed to be with us and we started finalizing our trip down there. I wasn't sure if I was ready to leave main majority of my family behind but I had already picked who I was bringing with and who would be best to stay at home to tend to my world that was protecting all the little animals and children. This was going to be an extremely hard day for all of us in many ways but we couldn't just leave Cheyanne and Maverick down south, so far away and with out anyone to help her if and when things were to get worse. I wanted to see how bad things were in other areas of the country anyways so it was time to get this done and bring them home to safety. We would be taking my camry since it was great on gas, plus fast and small that way I could get in and out of pretty much any situation. To be honest, with the snorkel, my front and rear guards and since we made it 4 wheel drive I was pretty sure there wasn't much that could phase my car.

Brian had brought me the letter already opened and was so excited that he dropped it on my lap, smiled and ran off to finish packing. I looked at it lovingly and slowly glanced at the doodles she had sketched all over the place, then I started to read.

Mama,

I just got your letter and I'm hoping that we'll still be here by the time you arrive. The ground split through most of Texas and there's a river blocking us from the southern half. I know that you'll at least be 3 more days so I'm going to make my way to Brown and will see you at the library, I'll be there every day from 11 to 2 waiting.

The weather's been crazy here and we're pretty scared, I hope you get this soon.

Loving you always

You're Daughter,

Cheyanne

please hurry I don't know how long we'll be able to do this alone!

My heart was beating so fast as I read her short letter but it was a start to getting there and finding her, hopefully she was there when we got there. It's go time. This is all I've been waiting for.

As I walked up the stairs I could hear laughter and rough housing out on the porch, the smell of the bonfire out front filled the house and I was glad the last sounds I would hear as I left was happiness. My car had been packed for at least a week and I prepped food multiple times knowing that it would be eaten at any time I decided to pass it out. I had made sure everything would go perfectly even if it wasn't perfect and of course my right hand lady was coming, my Kena dog.

"When do we leave?" Luke asked as soon as he noticed I was coming out to the porch. From the looks of it he had been in a wrestling match with Brian, they were both laying on the porch smiling and laughing. Johnie glanced towards me and ran to throw his arms around me, it was apparent that he was going to cry so I scooped him up and kissed his face repeatedly until he laughed. "I promise, I'll make this as fast as I possibly can and you don't have anything to worry about. You already know this house is a steal trap for anyone that doesn't know their way around." I whispered to him. "Don't you worry and each night all you need to do is look up at the moon and know that I'm looking at it too."

"I love you so much Mom! Why can't I come with?" he whimpered.

"You have to be here to help around the house and anyways, it's too dangerous. Not to mention Dragon wouldn't stay around if you left that long so you'd loose your cat."

"Ok I'll stay."

"Good boy, I love you!" as I ruffled his hair.

"I love you too!" he squeezed me harder.

"We're leaving as soon as you two are ready. I've been ready for weeks... all I have left is to get Kena in the car and you guys." I replied to Luke.

I looked around for my husband and met eyes with him, he already knew I wanted him to follow me so as I turned to go back in the house I could hear him giving orders on what needed done while he was saying farewell for now.

As I walked upstairs to my bedroom, I glanced around knowing that this could be the last time I ever see my home. The next few days would feel like an eternity and I didn't know what to expect in anyway so I had planned for every escape I could think of.

I got to the hallway and turned into the bathroom, turning warm bath water on and tossing an essential oil mix into the tub as I undressed. As I got ready to peel my shirt off I felt a gentle hand caress my side and then the other move my hair from my neck and soft kisses going from my neck to my shoulder then down my spine as he undressed me the rest of the way.

We both knew this could be the last time we touched in a long time, we didn't know what the future held for us other than that we would find each other no matter what happened and we needed our family to be as whole as we could make it.

I slipped into the water and we laid there in his arms for a bit before turning over to face him. Looking into his handsome face, I stared into his eyes memorizing each curve to his iris and pupil. He had beautiful hazel eyes so they were seldomly the same but when he held me in his arms it seemed they were almost always a gorgeous mixture of blue and green around golden flaring sun around his pupils. I always loved to look into his eyes.

I moved myself around playing in the water as he watched me, I had always dreamed of building this bathroom and it was my favorite room once it was finished because the tub was huge more like a small swimming pool. I swam back over to him to put my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck, leaning in to kiss him passionately. He put held my butt cheeks in his hands and shoved himself inside me, knowing exactly what I wanted. We kissed and grinded ourselves together until we had used up all of our energy then he laid me back on top of him in his arms and massaged my thighs as he kissed my neck.

"How long are you estimating this trip to be? I need to keep myself and everyone else busy so that your absence isn't noticed as much, you know you're the glue to this household. You made enough prep food to cover yourself and Kena for the trip right? and you have everything you'll need to not get sick again?" he sounded worried but was trying to hide it.

"I've planned and planned to the point where I should have everything plus some pre-planned. If all goes as planned, we should only be gone for 4 day but I'm going to be realistic because we both know my life never goes as planned and tell you to prepare for us to be gone maybe a week but hopefully less." I tried to sound confident but I'm sure he knew better than that.

As I drained the tub, he wrapped a towel around me and we made our way to our bedroom. I had already laid my clothes out that I planned to wear for the journey. I gave a little whistle and Kena appeared from her room that we had made out of an extra closet ready for her harness and gear to get strapped on. She knew when I put on my boots and strapped my throwing knives to myself that we would be taking a trip together and watching each others backs. Everyone worried a bit less about me if she was at my side but I would have felt better if she was here protecting my family.

When we got downstairs things felt as if no one was ready for this, even though we had planned and rehearsed over and over. I wrote a note for them to tell where everything was and I had prepped enough food to cover them for a month, including everyone's favorites.

Mark brought my car around front and we all said our goodbyes, the boys were annoyed that my dog got the front seat but I was more humored than anything. After hugging and kissing almost everyone, my love approached and I ran to his arms with tears in my eyes. This would be the longest we had been apart and it would be hard on all of us. It felt like an eternity before we let go but he carried me to the front seat and said, "Bring those kids home safe, I'll hold the fort down the best I can while you're gone. Hurry home, we're all going to miss you." then he leaned in to pat Kena's head, "Keep Mom safe and bring her home girl, I'm trusting you to protect her." she wagged her tail and smiled.

I would never be fully ready to go but it was time to do what I had to for my daughter and grandson.