Chapter 5

It was nearly a year later, and John was looking out his bedroom window at the paddock as he'd done so many times in the months since his return, when he saw something that shocked and excited him.

"They're back!" he yelled downstairs, as he took the steps two at a time, nearly breaking his neck in his rush. His heart was in his throat as he ran to the paddock, because the party was heartbreakingly smaller than it had been the last time.

Lisa had been in the kitchen, but he still managed to get out the door before her, and they raced to the paddock.

There were no "horses" this time, which didn't upset John in the least. What did upset him was that Matthew and Andrew were missing.

The party members that were present all looked unharmed, and Sarah in particular looked radiant as she met his eyes. John's heart soared as he swept her up in his arms and kissed her, then sank as he realized what he'd done to Tina. He looked at her, intending to apologize, only to find Tina hotly kissing Lisa, their mouths grinding together.

John looked down at Sarah, to find an odd mix of emotions on her face. He saw amusement, and love, and a touch of fear.

"I guess it's obvious that we're glad to see you," John said brightly. His voice softened as he continued, "But you look like something is wrong, and I don't see some faces I hoped to see again. Tell me what's upset you, and what's happened to you since you left us."

Sarah swallowed hard, and said, "We made our jump, and arrived unnoticed, and Matthew's plan worked to perfection. The only flaw was when Andrew was killed when we allowed our enemy to 'capture' us. But even that helped us, by adding to the over-confidence of the guards and the enemy, when we were brought before him.

"Matthew tricked our enemy into a magical duel, then cast two spells the enemy wasn't expecting. The first spell bound their lives together, so that one's death would cause the other. Before the enemy could break the spell, Matthew cast the second one, that stopped his own heart."

John felt his eyes grow damp, and looked over at Lisa. She'd obviously been listening, because she was openly crying.

Tina picked up the tale, "With the enemy dead, his command structure fell apart; he'd used too many mind-control spells, and without the cages their minds had been held in, most of his commanders were barely able to control their bladders, let alone an army. Our troops easily bested them, with much less loss of life than we could have hoped for.

"Because of your help, only a few hundred lives were lost, where it could have been a thousand times that. If for no other reason, we would have been sent back, to offer you the thanks of our world, and all the rewards we could offer. But Sarah and I each had two additional reasons to want to see the two of you again."

Tina looked at Lisa, and said, "When I told you that my marriage to Sarah would not be harmed by sleeping with you, I sincerely believed it. And when I told John that Sarah sleeping with him would not harm it, I was also sincere. However, I was wrong in both cases."

Sarah took up the tale again, and told me, "I still love her, and always will, but I no longer think of her as my wife. I love you, and want to be yours and have you as mine."

Tina looked into Lisa's eyes, and told her, "And I love you, and always will, and want to be yours and have you as mine."

John's eyes narrowed slightly at the use of identical phrasing, and his thoughts raced for a second before he replied, in a very formal tone.

Gazing into Sarah's eyes, he said, "I love you, and I always will, and I accept you as mine, and offer myself to you, to be yours henceforth."

Sarah's eyes showed relief, but there was still a little fear as well. "Before I accept your oath, there is one more thing you need to know. That belt I wore had a flaw I did not understand. It was not intended to prevent all pregnancies, only those caused by rape. The spell, once triggered, lasted only a day. When we lay together the night before I left you, I was unprotected."

Tom stepped up to them at that moment, and offered a small bundle to Sarah, who pulled herself from John's arms to accept it. Holding it carefully, she turned to John and showed it to him.

"This is your son," she said simply.

Connie was offering a similar bundle to Tina, who then said to Lisa, "And this is the daughter I stole from you, asking a question I knew you didn't understand, hoping to trick you. Matthew was vexed after he'd implanted me with our child, when I finally admitted that I hadn't explained the custom to you before asking. But the deed was done, and I'd gotten what I wanted. I felt that I'd betrayed Sarah, but she understood, saying she was only sorry she hadn't gotten the same thing from John. What was worse was that I eventually realized that I had betrayed you as well."

"I was more pleased than I can say when I realized I was pregnant with your child," Sarah told John, "But as happy as we were to be pregnant with the children of our lovers, those pregnancies and the resulting children only reinforced the loss we felt that you were no longer with us."

Tina addressed both John and Lisa, and said, "We can only hope you can forgive our mistakes and my deceit, and accept us and your children into your lives."

Lisa gathered Tina and her daughter into her arms, and said simply, "I do."

And John did the same thing with Sarah and his son, and said the same thing.

Once the worst of the emotional storm had passed, John waved Connie and Tom over from the corner of the paddock they'd retreated to while the lovers settled their issues, and said, "Come on in. This calls for a drink."

Once everyone was settled inside, John took his son in his arms, and looked into his eyes. "What do you call him?" he asked Sarah, mindful of the comments about true names and common names that Matthew had made the previous year.

"I call him John," she said, blushing, "But it is not unusual for a baby's common name to change, especially in a situation like this."

John blushed in turn, and said, "You know, I never knew what you called yourself, really. I just gave you a new name, and never thought to ask what to call you in private."

Sarah smiled at him, and said, "Before we came here, I was called Mithna, but I loved the name that Lisa picked so much, and the memories of you calling it out in passion, that I kept it. Changes in name after a mission such as we undertook are also common. Tina, Connie, and Tom made the same decision."

She lowered her voice, and said, "Later, in private, I will share with you my true name, and the true name of our son. We will use them to bind ourselves together, in love and marriage."

John adopted an equally low tone, and said, "Speaking of marriage, and love, I've got some bad news for you. While I would not be the least bit upset if you and Tina maintained your physical relationship, I'm afraid Lisa has a jealous streak. She won't be bothered by hugs and kisses, or by your history, but she absolutely will not deal well with it if you take it further."

Sarah replied, "That's not going to be a problem. I only made love to Tina because she needed it; I enjoyed it, you understand, but it didn't fill a need in me. And her affections were a pleasant distraction from a need I no longer felt free to fill. We haven't been intimate for a long time, because Tina felt like she was cheating on Lisa, even if she couldn't admit it to herself."

John wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but he did overhear what sounded like a sign of relief from the other couple, who'd fallen into a similar private conversation. When he realized that, he looked guiltily at Connie and Tom, and found them silently laughing at him and Sarah, and at Tina and Lisa.

Lisa, brash as always, said, "Sorry about that; love is beautiful, but it does get kind of gooey once in a while."

Something flickered in Tom's eyes when Lisa used the word love, but it was gone before John had a chance to identify it.

Lisa suddenly froze, and looked down at her daughter, then up at Tina.