Esther6

"Mom, what is this place?" Josh asked. "This is a bomb shelter that was built just a year ago. It was built to protect the royal family from any wars that may happen.....not that there is a war happening right now. There isn't, this is just for safety." Mom said, thinking she might have said too much. "Mom, you don't have to worry about telling me the truth. I'm 11 years old, I can handle the truth. Please don't lie to me." Josh said in a very mature manner. "You're right Josh. You're old enough to handle what is really happening. From now on, I will make sure that I tell you exactly what is happening if you ask." Mom responded. "Now, let's see our rooms, shall we." Mom said as she led us to our rooms. Josh and I shared a room on the right side of the living room. Next to our room was a bathroom. Next to the bathroom was Angie and Jeanie and next to them was a bathroom. Across the room from us was Mom's room. Next to her room was Kenton and Jodie's. Next to their's was the bathroom. Next the bathroom was Aunt Isabel's room.
We were there for only one week when one day, Aunt Isabel started to feel pain in her stomach. "Oh boy. I think this is it! I'm going to have a baby!" She said excidedly as she lay down on the couch holding onto her swollen belly. "Okay, calm down. I don't want you getting too excited. Stay calm. Does it hurt?" Mom asked her. "Yes, but only a little." "Okay, um.....Josh, go get the baby blanket for when the baby comes out." Mom told Josh. Suddenly Aunt Isabel gave out a loud yell."Aaaaaahh! Okay, that one hurt! They're getting more intense. Ouch, ouch, ouch!" She moaned through her contraction. It almost hurt to see her like that. Angie held her hand, wincing from the pain of her mom squeezing her hand. Many hours had passed and Aunt Isabel's pain got stronger by the contraction. "Esther, can you put Kenton to sleep please. He's getting tired." Mom asked me. "Sure. Come on Kent." I reached out for Kenton's hand and led him to his room. I closed the door behind me and lifted his blanket so he could jump in. "You ready to go to sleep?" I asked him. "Yup! Anty Is is very sad. She's crying." He told me with a concerned look on his face. "Oh, don't you worry. She's just going to have her baby, your cousin! Are you excited?" "Yeah! I play with him?" He asked. "Yup. You'll be able to play with your cousin all you want. But now, you have to go to sleep. Say your prayers." I said. "Kay. Dear Jesus, thank you for giving me a cousin. Help Anty Is to be happy and not cry. Jesus name, amen." "Amen. Night night." I said and I walked out the door.
When I walked out the door, I saw Aunt Isabel with her face quenching. She was pushing with all her might. I heard mom coaching her along."Come on Is, you can do this!" "No I can't! It's too hard." Aunt Isabel started whimpering as her strength deteriorated. But she didn't stop pushing. She kept on going and in half an hour, a baby boy was born. Joshua asked Aunt Isabel, "What are you going to name him?" "Jordan Charles. He's named after my father, Jordan." "But, I thought grandpa's name was Jor ......oooohhhh, I get it! Jor is short for Jordan. I always thought Jor was a weird name. It makes so much more sense now. Jordan. Cool!" Josh said as his face lit up. Aunt Isabel stayed on the couch all night and into the morning, holding Jordan. Once morning came, she talked to Uncle Michael over the hologram. He was extatic that he had a son. "I'm so sorry I couldn't be there for you. I'm sure it took all your might to deliver him." He said. "Are you kidding! He almost killed me! I'm still in pain." She complained, "But, it was all worth it. We have a son now, and that's all that matters. Oh, here are the girls. Say hi to daddy, girls." Jeanie and Angie looked at the hologram and said in unison, "Hi daddy!" They talked for a while longer and then lost contact. We couldn't keep the signal for very long for fear of enemies discovering our location. Mom had a little talk with dad as well. I said hi, but that was all. I was still angry at him for leaving me. When I saw dad's form in the living room, I wanted to run up to him and give him a great big hug. But I knew he would never be able to hold me until the war was over. I walked away from the image into my room and closed the door and locked it. I wanted to be aloneI climbed onto my bed and dug my head into the pillow. I started to cry and wasn't able to stop. The sobs came out, painfully hard and long. I knew they could hear me outside, but I didn't care. I didn't want to be with anyone.

~~ 2 years later~~

It was my birthday when we got the signal that the the war was over. Kore had been killed and his army, defeated. Peace returned to Antar, along with freedom. Freedom from our cell we called home. I was so sick of living in that hole in the ground. It was for that reason only that I was thankful dad was coming to take us home.
"Is everyone ready?" Mom asked us. "Yes mom." Josh said with an annoyed sigh. Mom had been pestering us around all day, trying to get us ready for dad and Uncle Michael's arrival. Outside, we could hear the hover ship approaching. Aunt Isabel ran outside to see if it was the Royal ship. It was. "They're here!" She shouted. Everyone ran outside to see the ship land. I walked behind them, trying to hide myself behind Joshua. The ship landed and the door opened. Out came Uncle Michael. He was so much more built up since two years ago. His wife ran towards him, embrasing him with all her love she had for him. Angie, Jeanie, and Jordan ran towards him and he hugged them all at once. He picked up Jordan and took a long look at his son. He had missed two years of his son's life and he was going to make up for it. Then, out came him. The one whome I called father. His face looked worn, but even so, it shone brilliantly when he saw us. Mom ran to him and he picked her up, swinging her around. They kissed eachother and my face quenched. 'Oh please! Get a room!' I thought. It had been so long since I'd seen them kiss, I thought it was gross. Mom said to dad, "Don't you ever leave for that long again! I missed you so much!" "Don't worry. I missed you too." Dad said while trying to keep back his tears. He looked over at us, his children. He came towards us and Josh ran to him. "Dad! I missed you so much!" Josh said with a big hug. Dad picked up Jodie and Kenton. They had gotten so big! Kenton was now 4 years old and Jodie was 2. After giving them each a kiss on the forehead, he set them down and turned to me. " Hey, baby. I missed you." He said to me. Baby. It was so long since anyone called me that. "Hi." Was all I could say. Half of me wanted to break down crying and let him pick me up and hold me. The other half didn't even want to look into his eyes, wanted to show him how much he hurt me. That side won. I kept my head down and stepped back. Dad's smile faded and he bent down on his knees. "Esther. You know I wouldn't have left you if I didn't have to. It was my obligation to tend to the war. Please, forgive me. I love you so much." Dad said, his voice pleading for me to give in. I was close to collapsing into his arms, but I held still. "You left me." I said. "I'm so sorry. One day, you'll understand why I did what had to be done. Please baby, forgive me." He asked. My eyes filled with tears and my lips quivered. Suddenly, my knees buckled and I let myself fall into dad's arms. I burried my face into his chest. "Oh daddy, I missed you so much! I got so angry at you for leaving me. I never wanted to see you again. Please don't leave me again." I cried. He hugged me and picked me up. He carried me over to the ship and climbed in. I sat on his lap the whole way home. Finally, we reached home. Home.

~~8 years later~~

I was sitting at the front of the room, beside dad. He was talking about the food increase on Antar and how they were all going to distribute it. "I believe it would be wise to give some of our extra food to our neighbouring planet, Rameth. They have less food distribution than normal this year and could use some help. Plus, this could help with our status in the Galectic Alliance. We would get good reports this year if we help Rameth." Dad said. I looked over to Joshua and he looked back. We agreed with dad. Antar was doing so well and we just wanted it to get better. When we voted, everyone agreed with dad. Soon, the meeting was over and we all left for home.