CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“Riley? Can you come and look at this?” asked Suzette standing over the super-powered microscope.
“Sure. What are you seeing?” she asked. She looked at the things on the counter and frowned. “This is from Blythe’s bloodwork and the samples from her sister’s remains.”
“Yes. It didn’t make sense to me that when Isaac knew Olive wasn’t a subject that he would kill her anyway and want to come for Blythe.”
“So, you took a closer look?” frowned Riley. Suzette nodded, biting her lower lip. “Suzette, you shouldn’t have done that without talking to Blythe first. She deserves to know what we’re looking at when it involves her own family.”
“It’s alright,” said the soft voice at the door. “I don’t mind. I was curious as well. That’s why I’m here. I was going to do my own set of tests to be certain of what I thought was true.”
“Your parents weren’t related but they did carry unusual proteins and enzymes in their system. Nothing like what Isaac is searching for but a different kind of marker,” said Suzette.
“High intelligence,” nodded Blythe.
“Yes. On the autopsies of your parents and your sister, the brain tissue showed high degrees of activity in all parts of the brain. I would suspect if we did a scan of your brain, we would see the same thing. The things you know, the topics and subjects that you’ve absorbed so readily in your short time here, prove that you have a brain worthy of study. ” Blythe smirked at the two women.
“Could we wait until I’m gone to do that?” she grinned. Riley and Suzette laughed, shaking their heads.
“Honey, we don’t want to cut into it, we want to look at it on scans. We did the same with Thomas and May and a few others here. We’ve got an unusual number of geniuses here. We’re used to this,” said Riley.
“Well, I’m not. Or at least I wasn’t before. Before coming here. I tried to hide my intelligence. My parents didn’t want me to stand out in that way. They said any attention might be dangerous for us. So, I hid my intelligence as best I could and so did my parents.”
“You never really went into detail of what your parents studied or did here in the U.S.,” said Riley.
“My father studied human DNA,” she said shyly. “He gave it up when they moved here, not wanting to draw attention to himself. Instead, he went to work as a janitor in the hospital. When he could, he offered insights or suggestions and soon the staff understood he was something different.
“My mother, she was brilliant in her own right. She studied chemistry and engineering. She worked as a teacher of mathematics and loved every moment of it.”
“You should be very proud of them both,” smiled Suzette.
“I was. I am. I only hate that my sister didn’t have the opportunity to find her own path as well.”
“At least they’re together, child,” said the voice of Irene.
“I hope you’re right, Mama Irene,” smiled Blythe.
“I am right. They are happy and together again at last. Your parents are with their parents, and they have forgiven them and understand why they had to do what they did. They want you to live your life and be happy, child.”
Blythe’s tears flowed freely now with the weight of her family’s fate alleviated from her heart.
Riley wrapped her in a hug, Suzette and Irene doing the same.
The feeling of warmth and love flowing from the three women caused Blythe to practically lose her breath.
She pushed back, laughing at their smiles.
“I don’t know that anyone has expressed so much love to me in such a short period of time,” she smiled.
“It’s a specialty of Belle Fleur,” grinned Irene. “We know how to cook, how to make babies, and how to love.” The women all laughed, nodding at her.
“And plan weddings, from what I hear,” smirked Blythe. “I have it on good authority that when Logan returns, we’re going to be married. How do I begin with this task?”
“Oh, you’ve come to the right women,” grinned Riley.
“No one on this planet can plan a wedding as fast as the women of Belle Fleur. I do believe that Sira and Wesley still hold the record at just a little over three hours from time of introduction to time of ‘I do’. But there’s still time to break that record. ”
“Three hours! How is that possible?” gasped Blythe.
“Well, now,” said Irene. “Sira’s uncle was plannin’ to marry her to gain control of her land and tribes. She’d convinced him to let her get her law degree and she was doin’ just that but she was also tryin’ to help my boys stop him and all the evil in that part of the world.”
“That was very brave of her,” whispered Blythe. “If her uncle had caught her, she would have died a most painful death.”
“We know, honey,” said Riley. “Instead, Pigsty, um, Wesley convinced her to meet them at a park and when she told them her story, he said there was no other option but marriage.”
“And they’re still married?” she asked.
“Still married,” smiled Irene. “All these years later and they’re more in love than ever before.”
“How many children did they have?” she asked with excitement.
“Oh,” said Suzette, “her uncle made sure she could never have children. He wanted to marry her, kill her, and inherit it all. He wanted no children in the way.”
“I’m so sorry,” said Blythe. “Could the pond not help with that?”
“Her body was destroyed in that way,” said Irene. “The pond can provide many miracles but it cannot grow things back that were removed. Like Clay’s leg. It didn’t grow back but the phantom pains stopped and he was able to make his other leg stronger. That was the miracle.”
“I think it’s all a miracle,” said Blythe. “I think all of you are so used to miracles happening, that you don’t see the beauty of everything around you, every single day. It’s magnificent.
“The care taken in the homes, their design and décor; the love you all feel for one another as if you’re all related in blood. The food you share, the adventures, and yes, the tragedies. It’s the way you love one another but also love the animals.”
The women all laughed, shaking their heads.
“I admire you all so much and I’m so grateful to be included in your fold, your family.
I’m terrified of what’s happening with Logan right now but I also know that the others will take care of him and he’ll come home to me.
” The three women smiled at the younger woman, nodding.
She took a deep breath and walked toward the door.
“He will come home to me, right?”
“He will, honey,” said Irene. Blythe nodded again, smiling at them.
“You can scan my brain tomorrow all you want. I’d like to know what’s going on up there as well.”