{"id":4076,"date":"2019-09-04T00:00:59","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T04:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4076"},"modified":"2019-09-03T23:26:59","modified_gmt":"2019-09-04T03:26:59","slug":"twenty-two-02-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4076","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-two – 02"},"content":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Kira’s point of view.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Teague exhaled a sigh, leaning forward to rest his forehead against hers. Little Seamus stirred in his arms, yawning, then seemed to drift back to sleep again. Teague choked on a laugh and Kira leaned back a little, her brow arching.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

He shook his head. \u201cJust\u2014sometimes I wish life was simpler. Everything\u2019s so simple for him. We take care of him, feed him, change his diaper, cuddle him when he cries, hold him until he sleeps. He doesn\u2019t have to shoulder the weight of the whole damn world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNeither do we,\u201d she whispered, reaching up to stroke his cheek with a damp hand. \u201cYou did your piece already, Teague. You did what you could\u2014we<\/em> did what we could. That part is over for us. Now we get to rest for a little while.\u201d Her stomach dropped, her throat tightening. \u201cRight?\u201d<\/p>\n

He squeezed his eyes shut. Her heart fell.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeague.\u201d She took his face in both hands, now, cradling it gently between her palms. He squeezed his eyes more tightly shut, tears sparkling along his lashes. Her words came as a croak. \u201cI thought we got to rest, now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s changing,\u201d he whispered bleakly. \u201cEverything I thought I knew\u2014I\u2019m afraid it\u2019s wrong, Kira. I\u2019m afraid I was wrong, that Phelan is wrong, that everything we thought we knew is suddenly different. We thought we knew what would come to pass. We thought we knew what was going to happen, the general path of things. But now\u2014now I\u2019m not sure anymore. I don\u2019t know why I ever was, how I could have been. Little things change so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut some things remain constant,\u201d she said, thumbs stroking his cheeks, his lips. \u201cSome things will always be. You both told me that. I believed you\u2014and I still do, Teague. I still do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can you still believe that when I don\u2019t myself?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause one of us has to keep faith,\u201d she said softly. \u201cThrough everything, one of us has to be strong. Right now, it\u2019s my turn. Someday, it\u2019ll be yours again. But not today. Not today.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Kira’s point of view.] Teague exhaled a sigh, leaning forward to rest his forehead against hers. Little Seamus stirred in his arms, yawning, then seemed to drift back to sleep again. Teague choked on a laugh … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[299,327,14],"tags":[150,171,170,302,149,148,168,147,165,301,146],"class_list":["post-4076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-7","category-chapter-22-book-7","category-story","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-kira-thomlin","tag-original-fiction","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-teague-vaughan","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-13K","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4076"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4077,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4076\/revisions\/4077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}