Welcome to Gaia! ::

"At any rate," Adonai smiled warmly, rising to his feet once more, "if you're finished, Cindy, we should be heading back. Shael will have a hot lunch ready for us, I'm sure, and Rhea needs-"

"A nice hot bath!" Rhea exclaimed, interrupting her father. "I love nice hot baths! Especially in the winter when it's cold outside! They make me feel like I'm in a nice warm hug, they make me warm all over!"

Adonai laughed. "Say goodbye to your friends, Rhea, and let's go."

With a gleeful look in her eye, Rhea let go of Cindy and ran off to say goodbye to the other children.

Adonai chuckled. "We are very proud of her," he admitted to Cindy, "though we don't tell her so. Still, I think she knows it. She's smart, she's a hard worker, she's enthusiastic ... eager ... she's everything we could ever have hoped. We could not ask for more from her."

He watched as Rhea ran around, hugging one child after another while she bid them farewell. "And she has given us hope," he added in a quiet murmur.

Adonai chuckled softly to cover up the fact that he was slightly embarrassed, though he didn't know why. He had a wonderful family full of love and peace - he knew it was more than some people hoped for, it was nothing to be embarrassed about. It was just something about the way she was looking at him, or perhaps it was the reminder of how he had felt about her when he had been so young.

"We have been blessed," he said simply.

It was only a few short minutes later when Rhea reappeared, already wearing her cloak and with Cindy's draped over her arm.

"Here you go!" she said brightly, holding it out for her teacher to take. "I'm all ready to go and the children are all ready for me to go!"

She looked up at Adonai innocently. "Papa ..."

"Yes?" Adonai asked, though from the tone of his voice it seemed that he already knew what she was going to ask.

And he was right. "Can I ride on your shoulders?"

Adonai chuckled. "Sure, but only once we're almost home, it's too hard to walk on the snow with you on top of me."

Rhea giggled.

"Let's gooooooooooooo!" she cheered, bolting from the room and out the door.

Adonai laughed. "At least she'll be ready for bed early tonight," he grinned. "Come on, let's head back."


By the time they reached the valley clearing once more, it had begun to snow softly. Rhea, on Adonai's shoulders, spread her wings to try to catch the flakes in them.

"Off you go now," Adonai chuckled at Rhea, setting her down on the snow at last, giving his shoulders a rest.

"Papa!" Rhea pouted. "You made me dump my snow!"

He grinned at her and put one hand on her head. "You couldn't take it inside with you anyways, you have to put your wings away," he reminded her. "Besides, Mama wouldn't be happy if you brought it into the house, it would just make everything wet. Now go inside for your bath, like you said you would."

With a sigh, Rhea obeyed.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Adonai said sincerely, smiling as he followed Cindy inside. Rhea was already out of sight, and he could hear her footsteps on the stairs.

"Welcome back," Shael's voice greeted them from the hallway, and a moment later she stood in the living room with them and was reaching out for their cloaks. "You look as though you enjoyed your trip, how did you find everything?"

She looked at Cindy warmly.

"I wish I could see them," Shael smiled, taking both cloaks and motioning for the two of them to follow her to the kitchen. "But it's impossible for me to go out during the winter."

"You do know that Mother has often told us of something that could heal you completely," Adonai pointed out, hands in his pockets as he walked, "and it wouldn't cause you any more pain."

Shael frowned. "And I've told both her and you that I'm not interested," she replied crisply. "This is what I am, who I am, and there is no need for change. Things don't need to change. I don't need to change."

And so what if she miraculously regained her ability to have children? Rhea would cease to be the miracle that she was for them, and that especially was something that she refused to give up. She had already resigned herself to the fact that she would never bear another child, and that she would have a few months of pain in the winter, and it didn't bother her.

"Would you like a hot drink?" she asked Cindy, changing the subject entirely. Her smile was warm once more, her face filled with happiness as if the moment before had not even happened. "Hot cider, perhaps with cinnamon or something? Tea?"

Shael nodded. "Tea it is, then," she smiled. "Adonai?"

"Hot ale for me, please," her husband said meekly.

Shael smiled again. "Why don't the two of you get some dry clothes on," she suggested, "and by the time you get down here again your drinks will be ready for you. And Adonai, can you send Rhea down for her bath? It's ready for her."

"Sure thing," Adonai murmured. "Though she was looking forward to it, so I'm sure she's just run upstairs for a clean set of clothes. I did hear her running up when we came in."

And just then he heard her running back down again.