A series of pleasant surprises (part 2)

You begin putting on some clothes and Dawn fades away. From the smile on her face you are betting that she's telling everyone the news. You feel a bit sad about not being there to tell everyone with her, but you remember moments in your life where your own excitement took over rational thought. Plus you figure it is Dawn's right to tell people as she sees fit. She's the one who would be carrying the child after all. You finally get to putting your shoes on when you hear a knock on your door.

"Come on in" you call out. The door slides open and there are the girls staring at you expectantly.

"Dawn just informed us of something" Annabel states as the girls filter into your room.

"Well it's true" you begin and you pause to see the excitement build in their eyes "there are two Brontosaurus heading our way that I plan on taming" you reply with a smirk.

"Really" Jane exclaims sounding very excited. She takes a moment to look around at everyone staring at her. "I mean...you know that isn't what we are talking about" she amends her statement making you chuckle, but you know you shouldn't toy with them anymore.

"Yes. Dawn can potentially get pregnant. I've agreed to try to remove the spell that is preventing it from happening, and if I'm successful we'll try to have a child together" you tell them. You are met with silence for a moment before the girls break out into squeals and talking over each other. Right now though you are only concerned about one of their reactions. Looking through the crowd of girls you see Yvette standing behind them. You crane your neck to see what she is doing. Tears are streaking down her cheeks, but your heart soars when you see her smiling at you. You open up your arms and she rushes forward into your waiting embrace. Dawn appears next to the two of you, and both open the hug to pull Dawn into it. You can't help but shed your own tears as the two women sob into the embrace. You don't know when the others stopped chatting and started watching the three of you, but it was clear from the looks on their faces that they were all happy for the three of you.

"I was worried you might feel differently about the news" you softly tell Yvette.

"Well hopefully our child will get their smarts from me" Yvette smirks up at you "examine our bonds" she adds after a moment. You close your eyes unsure of what you might find. You'd almost forgotten about the bond. It was a constant in your life right now, always making you feel loved, and you felt a little angry with yourself for taking it for granted. Focusing on the bonds you almost fall backwards if it hadn't been from Dawn and Yvette holding you tightly. It isn't necessarily blinding as if you are staring into a sun, but the energy of love radiating in the room is staggering. You take a moment to get used to the sensation, and finally you are able to focus even more. The bonds spread between every person in the room, as if a giant spider wove a web of love using each of you as a connection point, and pulses of love spread along the web with each person's heartbeat.

Looking at the bond connecting you to Yvette it is clear you were being silly about thinking she might be upset somehow. There is no jealousy, there is no fear, there is nothing but love and excitement flowing from her. There can be no doubt how all of them feel, and you bask in the pleasant sensation of unfiltered love. You don't even think you would truly know how to describe what you see and feel to anyone who asks, but you do know you could focus on these bonds for hours, and you are tempted to do so. Finally you feel your shoulder being shook and you open your eyes.

"Just like staring at your source of magic you can get lost within love as well. When it is powerful enough that is" Nadine states. You realize she was the one who had shook your shoulder. You can see the concern in her eyes, but also something else. Sadness.

"Are you ok" you ask Nadine. She smiles, but you can tell it is a **** smile.

"Do you remember when we first met I told you I had to turn my innate ability to detect magic off while I was around you" Nadine asks. Her question hits you like a ton of bricks if she's implying what you think she is.

"You're cutting yourself off from our bonds" you ask her almost stunned. Nadine looks up at you clearly ashamed.

"What's happening? What do you mean" Rene asks. Looking around the group it is clear everyone is confused, but also very concerned.

"Nadine and I are sensitive enough with magic that we can actually sense it, and see it moving around behind the scenes. When you focus on our bonds what do you see" you ask Rene. Rene and the group close their eyes for a moment.

"I don't see anything, but I can feel it. It's amazing" Rene replies, and the group nods their heads in agreement.

"Nadine and I can see the bonds. However, Nadine is much stronger when it comes to sensing magic than I am" you explain.

"But aren't we talking about the bonds of love we share? Not magic" Jane asks interrupting you.

"Er...yes, but there is a relationship between love and magic. They are almost the same strangely enough. Magic comes from another reality, or something like that, and is syphoned through us in order to cast a spell. It's like a well that we dip into. Only with love, we are the wells. It originates with us instead of some other reality. At least that is my interpretation of it. I was admittedly a little distracted when Nadine was teaching me about magic" you say and wink at Nadine. Nadine smirks in return.

"That is an apt description of it. I am too sensitive to it, and I have blocked the connections" Nadine says as her smirk turns to a frown.

"You can't feel these bonds then" Annabel asks. You can hear he despair in her voice, and it cuts you like a blade.

"No. It is ok though. Most people love without feeling these bonds. I love you all and I know you all love me. That is enough for me" Nadine states.

"Can't you just let in a little bit" Rene asks.

"No. A small hole in my defenses will allow all of it in. It is all or nothing" Nadine replies.

"That...surely you can do something" Dawn asks you sounding almost ****.

"There is nothing to be done. Love can not be manipulated like magic can be" Nadine says sounding resigned.

"That is not true! John did when he was removing my spell" Dawn says excitedly. Nadine's head quickly snaps to you.

"What does she mean" Nadine asks sounding doubtful.

"Well I kind of did. I didn't do it myself really. I could feel the love wanted to get to Dawn so I was able to channel it to her. It was more like I was used by love more than myself using love. I don't really know how to explain it better" you reply.

"You seem to have a propensity of doing things that others can't do" Nadine says smirking.

"I can focus on our bonds again and see what happens, but" you begin saying.

"But you can't promise anything. I know" Nadine interrupts you as she grabs your hand. The two of you make your way to the bed and take a seat together in the middle. You both kneel down facing each other and you hold out your hands to take Nadine's, but Nadine hesitates.

"This is kind of a waste of time isn't it" she asks and then takes your hands.

"Maybe, but we have some time to waste" you reply. Nadine smirks and then closes her eyes, and right after you close your eyes to focus on the bond.

You aren't exactly sure what to even do as the bonds start to show up. You take a quick look at Nadine. You would have never known she was blocking out the bonds. To you it looks just like the other bonds. You can feel it emanating from her, and it seems like she is accepting them. You focus deeper. It is almost as if you zoom in on the bonds focused on Nadine. You can see that the bond emanating from her is uninterrupted, but the bonds she would be accepting don't seem to quite reach her. Almost like an invisible shield protects her from it, but you aren't sure what you can really do with that information. Somehow it has to reach her, without overwhelming her senses.

You focus even deeper. It looks like billions of raindrops hitting a window and bouncing off. You can almost feel the bonds desire for acceptance. Its frustration. Its need. You want to help it reach her, but you still don't know exactly how to do that. It is almost like you need to make it understand to let in just a trickle, but it frustrates you that even if that could happen it would mean Nadine only experiences a fraction of what the rest of you can feel. It's like she needs polarized sunglasses or something you think to yourself and chuckle.

You suddenly feel enveloped, and you almost lose your focus. It is as if you are entirely underwater, only you can tell it is pure love. You start to hear laughter, giggling, moans, and incomprehensible voices. It would almost be scary if it didn't feel so safe. Your hand releases Nadine's hand and your arm raises into the air. You are not controlling it, but you decide to let it happen without fighting it. You feel your hand reach out and cup Nadine's cheek. A shimmer of love spreads from your hand, pulsating around Nadine's body. It becomes brighter and brighter, and you feel Nadine tense up.

"It's ok" you state, but your voice isn't your voice. It is the same mixture of voices you heard when you were enveloped. The brightness begins fading away leaving Nadine with a dull yellow glow surrounding her. You can feel Nadine relax, and still feeling like you're a puppet you pull her into a hug. Suddenly you are in control of yourself again, but you continue holding Nadine close to you as you realize she is sobbing into your chest. You continue holding her tightly as the rest of the group encircles the two of you in one big hug.

"I can feel all of you" Nadine finally states with tears streaking down her face "it's so beautiful...I had no idea" she adds.

"So you can feel the bonds now" Rene asks eventually.

"Yes...they feel...distant, but they are there, and I somehow know they won't always feel distant. The feeling will grow more and more powerful, but at a speed that I can...um...get used to. How did you do it" she asks you and looks up at you.

"I didn't. I just left myself open to what love wanted to do. You had cut if off and I could feel how **** it was to connect with you, and...I don't know. It was like it knew what to do itself, it just needed someone to I guess...act as a conduit" you reply. Nadine snuggles against you tighter.

"Here I was telling you not to get lost in these bonds...but now I'm wondering how I won't get lost myself" Nadine chuckles.

"We'll help keep your head above water" Annabel says giggling.

"So...about those brontosaurus" Jane asks after a few minutes making the whole group chuckle.

"Let's go see if we can make some new friends" you tell the group. The women individually disengage from the group hug and filter out of the room leaving you with Nadine for a moment.

"I look forward to some alone time with you" Nadine says softly as the two of you start heading for the door.

"Oh yah" you ask with a smirk and raise your eyebrow.

"I want to feel your love while we make love" Nadine says blushing shyly.

"Then we'll make sure that happens soon" you tell her.