Chapter 33

New characters introduced in this chapter:

Seamus Patrick O'Connell

Pat and Sheena's Son, born 6 November 2052, red hair, gray eyes

Mark Michael O'Connell

Mike and Shannon's Son, born 6 November 2052, red hair, green eyes

Kellen Conroy O'Connell

Pat and Cathleen's Son, born 6 November 2052 red hair, blue eyes, dual Talents

Kennard Curran O'Connell

Mike and Clare's Son, born 6 November 2052, red hair, green eyes, dual Talents

The Eternal Flame suddenly appeared in my living room on the evening of 2 February, as we all relaxed there.

"So little Mages, you are disappointed by your inability to get pregnant over the last three months," It said in a Fatherly voice to our Irish Wives, and to Clare and Cathleen in particular. "Do not despair. It has not been your fault. I am the one that has canceled your efforts. The Time and Conditions were not yet right for any of you to get pregnant until now. Things have now progressed to my satisfaction, and you will all be pregnant in a few days. I wish all of you and your progeny good health and a happy life," It wished us before disappearing.

As soon as the Eternal Flame had vanished, our Irish Wives were instantly all over Pat and me. My two Irish Wives hauled me upstairs and into bed for a long night of love and sex - especially sex. Pat and his Wives had also disappeared, and I assumed for the same reason. Gretchen slept in with our Daughters that night to give us some privacy.

"Is this what you have been worrying about for the last three months?" I asked them when we had finished for the moment.

"Yes!" Shannon answered in a voice full of relief. "After Gretchen had her babies, we each just had to have one of our own to love. Just holding hers was enough to get us started, but we always had to give her Daughters back. We wanted babies of our own," she finished, in a voice full of desire.

"Cathleen and I have tried so hard to get us all pregnant," Clare said in a voice near tears from my other side. "Nothing that we tried worked, and we were getting desperate. Now we know part of the reason why nothing worked, but certainly not everything." I turned and held Clare until she was better.

"Yes! Just what did the Eternal Flame mean by 'the time and conditions weren't right yet'?" Shannon asked.

"I have no idea, and it doesn't appear that He is ready to tell us. When the time is right, He will, hopefully, tell us what He meant," I told them, not having a clue what the Eternal Flame's intentions were.

We didn't get up until late the next morning having slept very soundly after the sex and the shower that we had taken together afterward. My wives had insisted on more sex this morning, as they were determined to get pregnant as soon as possible. Gretchen was up well ahead of us, and had breakfast ready when we finally got downstairs.

Over the next week, our four Irish Wives wore Pat and me out. We also had to take care of Gretchen's and Petra's needs during this time.

Finally a week or so after the Eternal Flame had appeared, Pat and I returned home to find our four Irish Wives dancing around together in the large parlor at his house with our other two Wives looking at them like they were crazy, while breast feeding their Daughters.

"We're Pregnant!" Sheena called on seeing us. All four of them stopped dancing, and came over to us for a big hug and a kiss.

"Yes, we four are all pregnant!' Clare assured us with a smile, cutting off our question that we both had about the word all. Pat and I had an announcement of our own for them.

"Before you get too large with those babies, you four need to be tested to establish your Rank and Position in the Magic community," I informed them.

"You have been studying since last spring. It's definitely time," Pat added in agreement.

"But," I added to ease their worries some. "You won't have to wait in line like most applicants. Pat and I have arranged for you to be privately tested on Thursday, February 15th," I finished much to their surprise. From their facial expressions our Wives looked like we had dropped a bomb on them.

"We aren't ready!!" All four of them screeched together in high voices.

"You are all ready enough for testing to at least the rank of Master. Brian wasn't exactly sure how to test Clare and Cathleen, but Pat and I will go along to testify to what we have seen them do," I told them.

"What about Gretchen and me?" Petra asked very quietly.

"We thought that you might want to study some more, and wait until our Daughters are a little older and don't require so much of your attention," Pat told her.

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea. We are a little busy with the four of them," Gretchen added in agreement.

All of our Wives were back hitting the books that evening and every evening until the 14th, which was Valentine's Day. We had a small party then, and an evening filled with love and sex to relax them for the testing the next day.

In the Otherworld the next day, Shannon and Sheena were the first to be tested. Brian had actually managed to get two other Senior Masters to agree to sit on the panel with him. Pat and I were sure that it was no small demonstration of his persuasiveness, as most Masters and Senior Masters were not inclined to sit on panels that tested the O'Connells. There were still stories from the time of our Mothers and Aunts that left them uncomfortable. They needn't have worried, as Shannon and Sheena passed their Master's test easily.

After a break for lunch, it was Clare and Cathleen's turn to be tested. They were very nervous, but Pat and I accompanied them to the Grove for the test. They would be tested together, unlike Shannon and Sheena, who had been tested separately.

On being told to enter the Grove, we four approached the testers, stopped in front of them, and bowed.

"The applicants will state their names," Brian told them formally.

"I am Clare O'Toole O'Connell."

"I am Cathleen O'Toole O'Connell."

"I see that you ladies are Earth Mages from the vines and leaves on your arms. Are you the ones that created the flowers here last August?" the Senior Master on Brian's right asked.

"Yes, Master. That was our work," Clare told him formally.

"I see," the Master on Brian's left said. "What else have you done, and what can you demonstrate for us today?" he asked.

"I believe that Michael and Patrick O'Connell are with us to testify as to what they have accomplished in the past," Brian told the others before I could even say anything.

Pat and I spent quite a bit of time testifying in detail about the various things that the blond Earth Mages had done: healing the horses hoof and curing the children in Saulien; growing the hedge of thorns outside of Dijon; calming the horses and securing the Duke's Guardsmen on the way to Gray.

We also covered the cosmetics that they had created; the handling of the fireballs and the lava outside of Frankfurt. Then there was healing Gretchen's Father, Wolfgang, after the battle, and their ability to determine when a woman was pregnant and how many children she was having. Lastly we covered what they had done for our various crops the previous summer. The Masters had many questions, but were really impressed with what Pat and I told them.

The entire time that we had been giving this testimony, Clare and Cathleen had been standing together and holding hands. Pat and I had both been aware that they were using their Magic, and after a time what they were doing became obvious to us. Those on the panel were blissfully unaware of all of this.

"As a final testimonial to their abilities, I ask the Masters to turn around and see what they have done while we were speaking," I finished. The three Masters looked startled at my words and immediately turned to look behind them. Standing there was a young twenty foot tall oak tree in full leaf. All of the other oaks in the Grove were still barren of leaves.

"But there was no tree there when we started!" the Masters on either side of Brian said, stating the obvious.

"I believe that we can award these young ladies the Rank of Master Earth Mage. I would almost be tempted to say Senior Master, but we have no idea of what a Senior Master Earth Mage could do," Brian said with a smile. The other two Senior Masters quickly agreed with him. We returned home later that day with four Wives who were very happy with their new status.

During the first week of March, our four Irish Wives all started having morning sickness. They were very unhappy about this. This was also when our Mothers, Aunts, and Grandmothers, plus the rest of the family, found out that they were pregnant. Our Moms weren't overly happy about this, but accepted it as a fact. Our female relatives all knew how to deal with morning sickness. Clare and Cathleen were very happy that the cure was all natural. Shannon and Sheena were just glad that there was a remedy.

Our male Cousins, Pat, and I had already started work on the fields by then. St. Patrick's Day was on a Sunday this year, and the celebration had to wait until after services that morning. Our Wives didn't do any drinking this year, but they all joined in the dancing and singing. Gretchen and Petra had been taking instructions especially on the dancing from our Grandmothers, who were happy to have babies in the house again.

Easter, always a big day for Services, was on the 21st of April this year. On the 28th of April, our four female Cousins in the Other Reality went into labor, and all delivered their children in a short period of time. We didn't find out about this for several weeks; actually, not until they came to visit with their infants. Seamus and Sean now both have twin Sons and twin Daughters.

Our Aunts had previously persuaded us to take them to the Other Reality several times for visits with their Daughters, but they were very busy with teaching at the University, and overseeing our various businesses. Consequently they could spare very little time for visits. Their Daughters had visited here a few times also, but not after they all got large bellies from the twins that they were each carrying.

They looked better, slimmer now, and all had really great looking breasts. They were all breast feeding, naturally. I wouldn't want to live in a household with four sets of twins, not all at the same time. It was apparently a lot for our Aunts to deal with when they were here. Sean and Seamus had also come with them, but they were very quiet and only had a few ales with the rest of us. Apparently being responsible for two wives and two sets of twins each had made them much more somber.

May was a very busy month. Aside from our Cousins' visit with their children, Shannon and Sheena turned 17 on their birthday that month. We had a very quiet party that evening and some quiet loving later that night.

Pat and I also graduated from high school on Wednesday, the 29th. We didn't really have a prom, as it was just the two of us here that were graduating. We did have a small party with our Wives and a few people that we knew from our home-school classes. If our female Cousins had still been here to graduate, there would have been a big party, but they were in the Other Reality with their Husbands and children.

June brought preserves making time again, and Clare and Cathleen turned 16. Our Aunts were out of school for the summer, as they had no summer classes in Magic, and we took them to the Other Reality to visit with their Daughters for a couple of weeks after the jelly and preserves were finished.

In mid-August, Pat and I started as Freshmen at the University of Georgia in Athens. We had taken all of the required admission tests. With the memory required to be a Senior Master, it had been no trouble to achieve maximum scores on the various tests. We were paying our own tuition, as we had plenty of money from our share of the fines levied by the Eternal Flame on the Persians in the Other Reality. Plus we got a discount because our Parents and Aunts were professors there.

Unfortunately, we also wound up with a load of grief from some of the other students for a time, especially from some of the athletes. It turned out that Pat was the one that they chose to pick on the final time. It happened on campus one morning in late August.

"So you are supposed to be some kind of big hotshot Wizard, are you?" the first football jock, a really large fellow, demanded as he moved into Pat's personal space.

"Well, we don't think much of you Wizards. You all think that you're such hot stuff. Don't get in our way, or your Magic won't keep you from an ass whooping, boy!" the football jock continued as he punched Pat in the chest several times from close range with his second and middle fingers. The other two with him had moved in on either side of Pat at the same time.