Beauty and the Beast (45 page)

Vincent smiled down at his sister and nodded. “It makes me really happy to see that bush in the waking world again!”

As Vincent’s group chattered happily together, Letha, who was still wrapped in Tanimus’ arm as she carried Little Jacob said, “Is it my imagination, or is Dresden finally smitten?”

Tanimus chuckled, “It isn’t your imagination. Dresden is completely gone over that little Jamie!”

Letha giggled, “I wonder if she realizes that she is going to have her hands full with him.”

Tanimus laughed, “Actually, from what I have observed and felt from them, I think it will be the other way around. I believe that Jamie is going to keep him hopping.”

Letha smiled up at Tanimus. “That will be different!

Every girl and woman anywhere near his age over the years has tried to get Dresden’s attention and failed. I wonder how he will hold up under the reverse challenge.”

Tanimus was still smiling as he looked down at Letha. “I think that he will thoroughly enjoy every minute of whatever delightful trouble she gives him!” Letha giggled.

On their way to the home chambers of Tanimus and Letha, they passed through wide beautifully decorated corridors. The walls were so brilliantly polished, they appeared to be glazed. There were lovely sconces giving off soft light all along the way. Tapestries and paintings were hung everywhere. The floor was covered with what appeared to be thick blue cushioned rubber of some sort.

Vincent asked about the floor. “What are we walking on, Uncle Tanimus? It is quite comfortable, but I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Uncle Tanimus explained, “It is a rubber safety-padding we developed, which we spray on the floors in liquid form. We use a special process that eliminates the fumes that rubber usually produces. As it dries, it thickens into a nearly indestructible cushion on the floors. It is less fatiguing to walk on, and it prevents injuries to our children, if they fall while running through the corridors.” Tanimus chuckled as he continued, “We found it to be much simpler to develop this safety-flooring than to figure out how to stop the children from running through the corridors!”

They were all laughing as Father said, “We dealt with that problem by sewing thick knee and elbow pads into the children’s clothing. I seem to recall that Vincent was always the one wearing out his protective pads the most frequently.” Vincent chuckled.

Narcissa dropped back by Vincent and took his arm. He asked her, “Are you still holding up all right,

Narcissa?”

Narcissa gave him a joyous look and said, “Oh, Vincent, child, I am so glad that you brought me with you, so I could see all of this! These people of yours have truly built Zion here!”

Vincent chuckled as he looked down at her. “I think that you are right, Narcissa!”

Devin spoke up and exclaimed, “Elisia, all of the artwork on the walls and tables in these corridors is exquisite! Where did it all come from?”

Elisia smiled as she replied. “Every piece of art you see anywhere in our tunnels as well as in our homes and other chambers is all original artwork produced by our own community members. The art pieces have been created by both humans and Tandins as well as both children and adults.”

Vincent looked at his sleeping Catherine as he said, “It will be wonderful to wake Catherine up so that she can see all of this.”

As they continued their enjoyable trek through the lovely art galleries of corridors, they passed both Tandins

and humans. All of them showed their pleasure at seeing Father’s people in their world. They felt a very warm welcome from everyone here.

A new wonder of architecture was revealed to them as they entered the home chambers of Tanimus and Letha. Their doorway was fitted with a smooth blue metal sliding door, which slid into the rock doorway when Tanimus pressed the button to the left of it. As the door opened, the magnificent crystal chandelier in the center of the huge living room inside automatically turned on, filling the entire chamber with brilliant light.

When Tony stepped inside, his mouth dropped open, and he left the stroller by the doorway, walked to the center of the chamber, and slowly turned in circles as he looked all around the beautiful room. Everyone else was equally amazed. A wide balcony had been cut out of the rock walls all the way around the top of the room, and the cascading chandelier lit it as effectively as the main part of the room. The balcony was lined with book shelves overflowing with books. A magnificent stone stairway had been sculpted from a giant stalagmite leading up to the balcony. The gold safety railing around the balcony and down the sides of the stairway had an intricate leafy-vine design. The room was filled with glass-topped wooden reading tables, brilliantly polished wooden furniture with comfortable thick cushions, and plush rugs. The table lamps were works of art, and there were vases of fresh flowers. As in the corridors, there were tapestries and paintings on the walls as well as other lovely pieces of artwork on some of the tables. A brightly polished grand piano was on the left side of the chamber. It was a truly inspiring as well as a relaxing room.

The elevator at the back of the room opened, and Nina stepped off the car with her baby boy, Donner, in her arms. Nina was a golden-blond slender Tandin in her early twenties with her mother’s crystal-blue eyes, but she was quite tall. She was all smiles as she went to her mother, Letha, and said. “Mom, how would you like to trade babies?” Letha giggled as they exchanged baby boys.

Nina then approached Vincent with a smiling Little Jacob. She never took her eyes off the baby, and Vincent could see that Nina would have no trouble making an empathic connection with Little Jacob. Then, she looked up at Vincent and said with a giggle, “Well, Cousin Dear, I see that you have been very well taken care of!” He chuckled and hugged her. Then, she looked down at Catherine on her gurney. “Oh, Vincent, Catherine is absolutely beautiful! I can’t wait to meet her when she wakes up.”

Vincent smiled at his cousin. “She will be thrilled to meet all of you as well. I want to see your little boy, Nina.” Letha brought Donner to Vincent, and he took him and smiled down at the blond baby Tandin. “He looks just like you, Nina. It is such a blessing that these two are so close

in age. Thank you for offering to nurse Little Jacob while we work on waking Catherine up tomorrow.”

Nina smiled, “I am really happy to be able to help you and Catherine.” Then, she turned to Letha. “Mom, let’s take the babies up and get them settled in the nursery. Ill give Little Jacob a bath, and then I can take him to Vincent and Catherine when he needs to nurse until tomorrow.” Letha took Donner from Vincent as Nina told the others while she was grabbing the empty stroller, “I cooked a meal for all of you. Dad will show you where the kitchen is, so you can eat before you go to your rooms.” Then, mother and daughter took the elevator up to the nursery floor with the babies.

Vincent picked Catherine up off her gurney and turned to his uncle. “Uncle Tanimus, where is the nearest bathroom? I need to take Catherine there before I feed her.”

Tanimus took Vincent to a door just past the piano, and Vincent went inside with Catherine. Then, Tanimus turned to Tony, who was still standing in the middle of the room gazing around in awe. “Well, young man, are you hungry?” Tony looked at Tanimus and grinned as he nodded his head. “Why don’t we all go into the kitchen and see what Nina made for us.” Tony, Devin, Elisia, Charles, and Narcissa followed Tanimus through the doorway into the kitchen chamber at the other end of the living room.

The kitchen chamber was nearly as big as the living room, and it was equipped with every imaginable kitchen appliance for food preparation and storage. There were ample pretty marble counters over finely-crafted wooden cabinets and an elegant brass sink. Wooden cabinets lined the tops of the walls as well, and there was a long beautifully-crafted wooden dining table with matching chairs. Another large vase of lovely fresh flowers adorned the center of it. The room was filled with the wonderful smell of the delicious meal Nina had prepared, and the table was already set with beverages poured. When everyone was seated with their full plates in front of them, Tanimus prayed for a blessing on the food, and they all began eating with great enthusiasm.

When Vincent came into the kitchen with Catherine, Charles got up and pulled out a chair for him. Charles offered to help. “Vincent, you sit with Catherine, and 111 feed her for you. Then, 111 hold her while you eat. Nina made some marvelous soup for Catherine.”

Vincent smiled at Charles. “Thank you, Charles. That would be very helpful.”

Devin asked Tanimus about his home chambers. “Tanimus, how many levels does your home have?”

Tanimus replied, “Our home has a total of eight levels, and there are full baths on each level. There are five levels above this one, and there are two levels below this one.

The bottom level is essentially a guest house equipped with an efficiency kitchen, a bedroom, a full bath, and an heated spa-pool. That is where Vincent and Catherine will stay. We figured it would be easier for Vincent to care for her there both before and after waking her, until she is strong enough to travel back to your world. The level above that one is a guest suite where Narcissa will stay.” He looked at Narcissa as he said, “We thought that you would probably like to be near Vincent.” Narcissa smiled and nodded. “The top level is our master suite, and the one just below that is the nursery. Nina is going to stay with Donner and Little Jacob in the nursery tonight. Elisia’s chamber suite is just above this one. The level above hers is a guest suite with two bedrooms. The suite level below the nursery has Dresden’s bedroom and a guest bedroom. There are wooden staircases leading from both Dresden’s suite below and our master suite above the nursery into the nursery in addition to access by the elevator.”

Tony spoke up excitedly, “Oh good, I would like to stay in the guest bedroom below the nursery, if you think that would be OK with Dresden. Ill help listen for Little Jacob.”

Tanimus smiled at him. “That is what I thought you would like. That will put Charles and Devin in the guest suite above Elisia. There is an intercom system in our home. We rarely use it when we don’t have human guests. Ill show all of you how to use it when I take you to your suites. You will be able to buzz any room you want to talk to someone in. There are also telephones in every bedroom. We have already put the phone numbers beside the phones for the home chambers where all of your other community members are staying, just in case you would like to call and talk to them while you are here.”

Charles had finished feeding Catherine and was now quietly holding her on his lap while Vincent ate. Vincent was practically wolfing his food down. He was anxious to get his beloved little wife settled and comfortable in their guest accommodations.

Vincent had just finished eating when Letha came into the kitchen. “Vincent, if you are ready to come with me, I will take you down to the guest level and help you get settled in down there.”

Charles and Vincent both stood up, and Charles gave Catherine back to Vincent as he said, “Don’t worry about the gurney, Vincent. Ill load your bags onto it and come with you.”

“Thank you, Charles,” Vincent said as he carried Catherine out of the kitchen door to the elevator with Letha.

When the elevator landed two levels lower, they stepped out into the spa-pool chamber. The only lights on in the room were softly glowing shielded lights in a ring around the bottom of the pool. Letha pressed a button by the elevator, and full spectrum lights in the ceiling turned on, making it look like a sunny day. There was the soothing sound of water as it bubbled in the pretty sculpted rock pool. Smoothly polished rock ledges with body-shaped contours were in each corner of the pool submerged just under the surface of the water. Vincent closed his eyes for a moment and smiled at the thought of how easy it would be to bathe Catherine in this pool and how much good it would do her to have this type of water therapy.

Letha could see that Vincent was thrilled. “Vincent, this water is continually cycling as it flows from our waterfalls and then through our water purification plant, so the water is always fresh and clean. It passes through a geo-thermal heating system during that cycle, so the water is also always the perfect bathing temperature.”

Vincent smiled at his aunt. “Aunt Letha, this will be so good for Catherine.”

Letha then showed Vincent the full bath, the kitchen facilities, and the beautiful spacious bedroom which featured a king-size adjustable bed. She showed him how to use the intercom, and she showed him the telephone on the nightstand with the list of phone numbers beside it. Letha also showed Vincent how to lock the elevator doors to secure their privacy and told him that when they were locked, a “do not disturb” light would come on in the elevator when it reached his level. Then, she and Charles took Narcissa’s backpack off the bottom of the gurney and went back up in the elevator.

Vincent settled Catherine on the big bed temporarily while he unpacked and put everything away. He smiled at the large vase of pink, red, and white roses on the reading table. He figured that Elisia must have contacted Nina telepathically when she saw Catherine’s rosebush at Peter’s home. He was putting Catherine’s and his toiletries by the pool near one of the bathing ledges when his intercom buzzed. He walked to it and answered, and it was Nina. She said, “Vincent, why don’t I nurse Little Jacob for tonight, so you can take care of Catherine undisturbed? Then, we can help her to nurse him in the morning before you go to the healing chamber.”

Vincent was relieved by her offer. “Nina, that would be perfect. Even though Catherine is deeply asleep, I can still feel her fatigue from the trip. That would give me a chance to get her bathed and more relaxed, so she is resting better. By the way, thank you for the roses!”

Nina’s cheerful voice replied, “Elisia told me about the rosebush with the red and white blooms in Catherine’s room in your world. I thought those might make you feel more at home. Ill see you sometime tomorrow morning then. Sleep well.”