Hiraeth [GxG]

Chapter 26

Sometimes I wish my life was written down in a book, so I could look further along and prepare for certain events in my life. Maybe I could even prevent them. If I had known that this doctor would do what he did, I would have found him in advance and killed him before he could do any damage. I would have prevented Alyx from getting sick and Mila healing her and becoming sick herself. I would know if I would lose Mila, and I would know how to cure it before that would ever happen. But of course, life can't ever be that easy, can it?

The kids had already left to go to school. Anita has basically moved in at this point. I'm not opposed to it, and I don't think I could do any of this without her being here. I had just gotten ready for work and was heading to the door. I was so excited to go to work now because I would always see Mila. As soon as I opened the door, I was greeted by Chloe.

"Oh, hey. What are you doing here?" She barged into the house and was pacing a little bit.

"Okay, hear me out." She was pacing and looking down at the floor, not making eye contact with me. "What if I told you I might know a way to save Mila and everyone else?" I went up to her and stopped her in her tracks immediately.

"What do you know?" She finally looked up to me and backed away.

"So, I was telling Jazmine this story right before she went to bed that my mom had always told me, just as her mom before her. So on and so forth." Her hands were waving everywhere.

"The point, Chloe?" I was a little impatient by this point. She could tell me the backstory later.

"Right, sorry. Anyways this story has been passed on for generations and apparently is supposed to be real." I gave her a look and gestured for her to get on with it. "So the story talks about an ancient witch who supposedly lives deep in the forests of Alium. It is said that she is all-knowing and can see everything. She can see the past, present, and future." I kind of gave her a look that showed my disbelief.

"So folklore passed on from generations and generations about an all-knowing ancient witch, who may or may not be real. And if she is real, she may or may not be alive. This is your plan? To find this witch?" She shrugged.

"I told you that it might sound crazy. My mom swears that there is truth to it. She says that there is truth to every story passed down from generation to generation. Besides, if she is real, then she will still be alive. It says in the story that she is the only naturally born immortal witch." I was still in disbelief, but if it was real, then this witch would know how to save everyone.

"Fuck it. I'll do it. I'll search for this witch. I just need to get approval from the council to go." Chloe gave me a surprised look.

"I'm surprised you're just going to run with this. I thought it would take longer to convince you to try this." I shrugged.

"I don't have any better ideas, and my doctors and scientists haven't come any closer to a breakthrough. Now, I need to go to the council and make sure I can go." She followed me out the door quickly and started to head to the passenger side of my car.

"Umm, Chloe, what are you doing?" I was very confused.

"You are going to be asking the council if WE can go to Alium to search for this witch.
She emphasized the "we" in her sentence, and I shook my head no at this.

"Absolutely not, Chloe. You are pregnant." She scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"I'm going." I was about to argue with her again, but she cut me off. "Get in the fucking car Emma, now! I'm going with you, and that is final. Julian already tried to talk me out of it, but I put him in his place too. Do you want to piss me off more, huh? Do you want to piss off a pregnant woman?" I put my hands up in surrender and rushed to the car. God, she is fucking scary.

I could feel Chloe still fuming a little bit about our argument. I don't know what it is with pregnant women and the word no. It's like they are mortal enemies. As much as I don't like the idea of her going on this journey with me while she is pregnant, I am not about to argue with her anymore on the matter. I'm sure Julian doesn't like it either, and I'm also sure she had him running for the hills with his tail tucked behind his legs when she put him in his place.

"Alright, first let's go get approval from the council, and then we will tell Mila what's going on." Chloe nodded and got out of the car quickly. She was already halfway to the doors before I had climbed out and locked my car. Damn, she's on a mission.

"Hurry up, Emma! Your wife's life and everyone else's is on a ticking clock." She snapped at me, and I knew this was an order. I kicked myself into high gear; no way was I going to get further on her bad side.

"So, you want to go to Alium in search of a witch that may or may not exist, but if she does, she may know how to cure everyone. Am I getting this right?" I felt extremely scrutinized at this point.

"Mhmm. That is the plan." They looked from me over to Chloe.

"And you are going to go on this journey with a pregnant witch." I looked over to see steam practically billowing out of Chloe's ears. I just put my hand in front of her to keep her from saying anything that upset the council.

"Yes. She is the best shot we have at finding this witch." The one council member that was questioning us fully sat back in their seat and turned to the rest of the council members. They all started whispering amongst themselves. The main council member then turned to me.

"Fine, you may both go. Go get tested and prepare for your journey." With that, they just waved me off. Chloe and I immediately started to head to the lab to tell Mila what was going on.

"You are going to what?" She looked over at Chloe, mortified. "Girl, you are pregnant! What about your child?" Chloe crossed her arms.

"Are you insuitanting that I want to get my unborn child hurt?" I saw Mila gulp and look at me nervously.

"No, umm, not at all." Mila was struggling to find words at this point.

"Good, because if you had, then we would have a serious problem." Chloe had a dark expression on her face. "I'm not going to argue with you too like I already did with Julian and your wife. I'm going, and that's final." She waved her hand between the both of us. "Now, say your goodbyes; we need to leave immediately. There's a ticking clock that unfortunately has an expiration date." She snatched the keys to my car out of my hand. "I'm headed to the car. Goodbye Mila, I love you." Mila was stunned as Chloe walked away.

"I love you too." She shouted after Chloe. "God, she is scary. Was I that bad?" I gave Mila a look.

"I'm not going to answer that." I then sighed and put my hand up, meeting hers. "I love you so much, my love. Don't worry; I'll be back in time." She gave a sad smile.

"I believe you. I'm going to call my mom and tell her what's going on. Also, I want to homeschool the kids for now. I don't want them getting sick." I sighed out in relief.

"I was getting around to asking you if you wanted to do that too. I'm glad we are on the same page. Your mom will be okay with homeschooling them?" Mila nodded.

"Yeah, she'll be fine. We will all be okay till you get back." I gave her a sad look. "Don't worry, my love. I'll be here when you get back, okay?" My heartfelt heavy leaving her here.

"Okay, I'll hold you to that. I love you." I looked over my shoulder then back to her. "I better get going now, or Chloe may kill me." She nodded frantically with wide eyes.

"Yes, you better go. I love you too." I blew her an air kiss. She caught it and brought it to her heart right before giving me one in return. I made the same gesture of catching it and bringing it to my heart. Walking away from her was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do at this moment. It felt wrong, but I knew it was in hopes of saving her life and everyone else's life.

Mila called me on the way over to the portal, and apparently, Julia is taking Asha out to be homeschooled. Even Chloe called Julian and asked him to do the same with Jazmine. As we walked towards the portal, Chloe and I held up our IDs for the guards to see. The guards then nodded at us and opened the portal up for us.

"Do you really think we'll find them?" Chloe shrugged.

"No, but I sure as hell hope so. Now come on." She grabbed my wrist and took us through the portal. Alium, here we come.