Chapter 4: Holiday Traffic

Why Dr. Livingston left without actually coming after me was a bit of a mystery in and of itself. Many suggestions were made: he just wanted to know more about me, he was verifying some of the information he got from Professor Belton, or I had done something he wasn't expecting. For that matter, all of those ideas made sense.

No matter the reason for Dr. Livingston's sudden departure, it put much of the urgency I had tried to convey to my girls into all of us. Everyone chose to meet either at Jeri's house or Savannah's house.

Mandy, Chloe, Yvonne and I went to the latter. Chloe drove, Mandy rode shotgun and Yvonne sat in the back seat pressed against me. Yvonne had been so shaken she hadn't bothered changing. She just threw a few things into a suitcase, put on a long coat and got in the car. Chloe didn't say anything during the drive or even after we arrived. Whenever I looked at her, she smiled back at me. I had an idea of what she was thinking but felt it might have drawn Dr. Livingston or someone worse to us if I opened our marks just to verify.

That idea made me think. What if using my abilities helped Dr. Livingston find me? Was it possible? If so, I would wait until I got on the plane and use them again, drawing him and anyone else looking for me in such a way from the rest of my girls. I didn't tell anyone this because the rest might object. I didn't want anything happening to them, but at the same time they wanted me safe as well.

After we arrived, Yvonne went to change, Chloe sat serenely on Savannah's couch, and Alexandria was helping Savannah get packed for her trip. Mandy had come in too and Alexandria's girls were asking her all kinds of questions. The girls had been to the underground complex a couple of times and Mandy had always enjoyed watching them. The girls had been curious about Mandy's appearance from the first time they saw her, and with the kind of energy Mandy had, she could roll around and play with the girls, keeping them entertained to the point of not wanting to leave. It surprised me that Mandy had taken to them so easily. Then that idea of having children with my women making our bonds stronger surfaced again. Was it possible she had already known that, even on a subconscious level?

It was another question, but not as important at the moment as all of the others I had. So, I sat with Chloe and watched Mandy. Yvonne came out wearing a dark red sweater, blue jeans and tennis shoes. The long coat was over one arm and the outfit she had been wearing in her hand. She sat next to me and curled up again. The memory of Dr. Livingston's invasion was still very vivid within her mind. I was sure I could help her anxiety, but again, the idea of being tracked by my abilities made me hold off.

Because Savannah was flying with us, we went to her house first, rather than straight to the airport. No, Savannah wasn't bound to me and honestly may have only been in any kind of trouble due to association. However, her trip was for a different reason all together.

Savannah's ex-husband, Nathan, lived in Virginia with their two boys, Tom and Mikey. Those two were just a year older than Alexandria's girls each, and Savannah hadn't seen them in over a year. Two weeks prior to Winter Break, Alexandria told me in confidence that Nathan was engaged. Savannah had taken the news hard. Her normal confidence had been vastly diminished, but she felt that at least seeing her boys again would help her. Alexandria and the rest of us agreed, so the planned trip Mandy and I were taking would coincide with Savannah's trip to see her boys. She had known that Nathan had taken her dedication to her sister bad enough, but it was like rubbing salt in the wound with the news of his engagement.

I transferred everyone's luggage to Savannah's van. Chloe left her car keys with Alexandria so she had a way of getting around with the girls. The Toyota Camry would have been crowded with the five adults whereas Alexandria and her girls fit it comfortably.

One by one Alexandria and her girls gave us all hugs. Alexandria saved me for last.

As usual, her girls started giggling when we kissed. I had since learned to ignore them, but I would still pull away with a tinge of blush.

Alexandria looked at me somewhat seriously. "You'll keep an eye on Savannah, won't you?"

I nodded. I had agreed that Savannah may need comforting if things went bad during her visit, but I had promised myself to not let things get out of hand. I nodded. "Yeah, I will. Hopefully, there won't be a need."

"I know, this is worst case scenario, I'm sure," Alexandria said with a smile. After one last kiss, I got in the side of the van.

Savannah was driving, Chloe rode shotgun, Mandy sat in the driver's side captain's chair and Yvonne was curled up on the bench in the back. I took the captain's chair next to the side doors. Yvonne looked nervous but smiled when I looked back at her. Chloe was busy looking for a good station on the radio and Mandy was staring at me.

From Savannah's house, we got to Interstate Highway 30 within a few minutes. Mandy had been right about traffic. Apparently many holiday travelers were out and on the highway. Savannah and Mandy had worked out an alternate root, but that would require getting off the highway, and that wasn't going to happen very quickly.

Feelings from our sharing still lingered. I was still anxious, and I was sure the girls probably were too. We needed a distraction, but I couldn't think of anything to talk about that wouldn't raise everyone's nervousness again.

I caught sight of Mandy pulling off her hat and her ears twitching with relief. That reminded me.

I pulled my laptop out of my backpack and booted it up. Mandy noticed and apparently knew what I had in mind. She asked, "You had mentioned an idea a couple of days ago, what was it? Or did you forget?"

I shook my head. "Nope, didn't forget." Mandy and I had been discussing her appearance and how Mom and Dad would take to it. Even though I could have easily saved her profile, wiped away the code Vikkor had applied to make her look and act as she did for while we were in West Virginia, and then re-apply the code when we returned, Mandy had refused.

"What if I turn on you because part of that code allows me to accept you like I do?" she had argued. I hadn't been able to disagree, however, I didn't have a high enough level of understanding of the code to isolate the portions affecting her mentally and keep those.

I was looking at the code again, trying to decide how to proceed. I knew what I wanted, but wasn't sure if I could get the results.