Read Online Hara's Legacy by Bianca D'Arc - Free Book Online Page B

“It’s got to be one of you then.”
    Justin stood from the table, knocking his chair to the floor behind him with a clatter. “And what about Jane? I want no part of this, Caleb. It’s bad enough you sent me to the village into the arms of that cold bitch so she could do God knows what to my son.” His voice broke on that thought and he turned to flee from the room, but a soft hand stayed him. It was Jane of course, feeling everything he felt, sympathizing with him and trying to make it all better. But this was something even she couldn’t fix.
    -54-
    “I’ve already agreed, Justin. I can’t stand to see you two suffer anymore. I suffer with you, you know.”
    “God, Jane,” Mick stood too, shock clear on his face. “Think about this!” She turned to him, not releasing her hold on Justin. “I have. I love you all, don’t you get it?” Her voice rose as her frustration grew. “I can’t bear to see you in pain. Any of you. I know times have changed. If we were back in the old world, I would have been happy to live out my life monogamously with any one of you. But we’re not in the old world. We can never go back to the old ways. Caleb helped me realize that. His visions have helped him accept it too. We’ve both talked this over and we’ve agreed that since I love you all equally, I should be allowed to express that love equally. As should you.”
    “Caleb, talk some sense into her!” Justin ground out, desperate both to have her let go of his arm and to pull her tighter against him. He was confined to do neither as both would hurt someone he loved. To push her away would hurt her. To pull her in would hurt Caleb. It was a no-win situation.
    Caleb sighed and Justin squirmed inwardly. He knew that sigh.
    “I’ve lived with this gift all my life and haven’t always liked what it’s shown me, but I’ve learned to make peace with what came. As have you all.” Caleb looked at each of them in turn. “Mick, there is no other woman in your future. I’m sorry. I haven’t wanted to tell you that. Especially since Jane probably should have been yours from the beginning. But that’s my sin.”
    “Come on, Caleb. Even I know you can’t see the past, only the future. There’s no way you could know that Jane and I should have been married any more than Justin and Jane should have been. The past is past. We have to live in the now and the future. That’s where your gift comes in handy. It’s saved us in the past and it will save us now. If I live my life alone, well then, so be it.”
    “But you won’t live your life alone. You’ll share it with us. With Jane and me and Justin.”
    -55-
    Mick nodded. “Just like we do now.”
    “No, not exactly. We all have to change and grow and accept that we are all each other will have for some years to come. At least until the children get older.”
    “Children?” Justin asked. “Whose children?”
    Caleb looked around the room. “Yours, mine and Mick’s.”
    “But if there’s no woman for me—” Mick was thinking out loud when his eyes grew angry once more.
    “Oh no. I am not forcing myself on Jane because you had a warped vision.”
    “Who was the mother of my child?” Justin asked quietly into the angry silence.
    “Children,” Caleb corrected him. “You’ll have more than one. You’ll have several with Jane too.
    Starting with the one that will be born about nine months from now. I’m sorry, Mick. This first time, it has to be Justin because of Mara.”
    “I think I’m going to be sick.” Mick said, clearly not censoring his words.
    “That’s nice. The idea of giving me a child makes you sick, Mick? Well hell, don’t wait around for your turn. You’re not getting one!”
    Mick looked astounded, then hurt. “Janie, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. It’s just—”
    “All so different than what we expected our lives to be in the old world.” Caleb finished his brother’s sentence, effectively drawing all attention back to