Tribes

Meren had needed to find a quiet little hidey-hole to simply relax, think, regroup. These past few months had been hectic. Holidays galore. Old friends finding their way back home. New lives quietly slipping in to this wild and wonderful world. Family doubling, tripling in size in no time flat.

The dark-haired Lady sat in the hayloft of her Broodmare barn, cloak pulled up around her as she had opened the loft bay and was looking out over the land put in her charge. Home. The most beautiful sight ever. Not because it was lush green and thickly dotted with magnificent Arabians, because it wasn't. The landscape was rather bleak. Grey and white, some browns. The horses all kept very close in, milling about in the large paddocks. No, the beauty existed because it was Home.

Two things meant the world to her. Home of course, and family. She had an interesting one to say the least. Hobbie and Elspeth could be her parents, as close as they had become in their time together. Merens son and daughter, were gifts. They also had come to find each other in a time of need and fit in just like other pieces of the same magnificent puzzle.

Even the animals were family. Beloved Raj, no greater guardian a child could ask for. No better friend Meren has known. Bobbie-boy, Baster, Rowdy, even little Michelle had earned the right to bear the name of Anwa.

Arms curled tighter around her drawn up knees, her chin resting against them. Anwa. That name would change soon. The day she steps up beside Michael Darkrose and joyously agrees to be his wife, to share his name, his life, and to combine their worlds into one, Anwa would be secondary. She did not mind in the least.

Michael, bless his gentle soul, wanted Odette to like him enough to maybe accept him as father. The loving child had taken him to heart the first time she met him, and told him to stop acting so silly and just be himself. Kevin, she could see him accepting Michael for who he is. However, the boy had stepped up and agreed to carry the Anwa name as his own, in honor of his Mother. He would not change that oath now.

Meren had been allowed to share the joy of Michaels reunion with three of his children. Diana, so driven, dedicated, and yet still searching. They were so close of an age, they could be sisters, instead of mother and daughter. It was for certain they were friends.

Morrigan. She was her father all over again. Bright, energetic, inquisitive to the point of being a danger to herself at times. She kept life in the Manor hectic, and it was good.

Macbeth Darkrose, youngest son of Michael Darkrose. A tiny replica of his father, but at the same time, so different. Serious, almost brooding. Everything had a question, and every question needed an answer, and if he could not find it, he would create it. Magic ran through him as strongly as Darkrose blood.

The sun had reached a level now that set the fields to sparkling delight. Mornings were the best. This morning one of The best yet. Just the day before, Diana, Morrigan and Macbeth had invited her to lunch at her own table. They had come to a mutual decision. Meeting of minds and hearts. Meren had been told in no uncertain terms, they wanted her to be their mother. With tears in her eyes and laughter in her voice, she embraced the trio and accepted. The children had made official, what had already been happening these months. They were a family.

As the sun rose, so did she. Straw brushed from her clothes, she could not stop smiling. There was one more important thing to do to make this dream complete. Jack. Everyone in the "tribe" as Aly called them, wanted him as a member. Now it was up to him to choose what he wanted. Maybe he would like to have lunch with her today.