Rabbo II-Chapter 4, Part B

By Mark Crocker

Rabbo awoke to the bright sun light streaming in though the bedroom window almost blinding him with the bright light.

Rabbo was about to slip out of his body when he heard giggling and Athena’s bed thumbing against the wall. So he lay still not wanting to bother Athena while she had fun. Then Rabbo remembered that Bastet was not at the house anymore so he turned and looked at the bed.

On the bed were Wenna and Merryn jumping up and down. They bounced up and down their blond hair floating out in a golden halo. As they jumped up and down they seemed to go higher and higher with each jump.

Rabbo started to get worried that they would end up falling off the bed and hurting themselves so he sat up and was about to say something when the door opened and Athena stood in the doorway.

Athena walked over grabbed the twins around the waist and dragged them down and kissing them playfully.

Wenna wrinkled her nose and looked at Athena. “You smell funny mommy”.

Merryn looked at Athena and put her hands on her hips. “Naughty mommy no cloths” and with that Merryn leaped on Athena and rolled around on her giggling wildly.

Athena slipped off the bed grabbed both Merryn and Wenna and walked out of her bedroom to the bathroom.

Rabbo slipped of the window sill and hopped down to the bathroom to clean his teeth. But once in the bathroom he was stopped from cleaning his teeth by Wenna who splashed him with hot water.

So Rabbo hopped up on the edge of the bathtub and splashed Wenna back.

Merryn grabbed Rabbo and pulled him into the bathtub with a loud splash. She then started to try and wash him as he swam around in circles.

Athena who was standing under the shower head washing herself watched as the twins tried at first to wash Rabbo and then each other.

Rabbo climbed out of the bathtub looked over at Athena as she showered and the slipped back into the bathtub and swam over to Wenna.

Athena stepped out of the shower and dried herself before she reached down picked Rabbo up and dried him. She then grabbed one of the twins dried her off and sent her to her room to get dressed. Then she grabbed the other twin and dried her before sending her off to get dressed as well.

“How do you tell them apart” asked Rabbo referring to the twins.

“Wenna has longer legs like her father and her hair is darker. Merryn’s nose is more button like and more like my nose” said Athena.

Rabbo went down to the kitchen where he found Merwyn cooking breakfast.

“Merwyn last night you celebrated the twins naming themselves. Why did they not have names before” asked Rabbo.

Merwyn looked thoughtful for a moment “it was belief on Sirius by certain groups that when a child was born its spirit was not attached until it had a name. But as the spirit came from the other world it already had a name from that world. So they would wait until the child named its self. Much as the twins named themselves. Hmm I see by the look on your face you don’t understand. Let’s say I was to die. Where does my spirit go? Well it goes to another life in what we call the other world. It’s the same as this one apart from it’s not on the same plain of being as the one you and I are currently on. When you are born there you have the name that you had in the life you just left. Now sometimes you are born into the other world as a different gender than the one you had in your last life so that you can understand what it’s like to be a different gender. When that happens you have a gender name change. Lets say in the other woman Athena was a man her name would be a male version of Athena. Something like Arthur or if I was reborn in female form I would be something like Umm Merline. So when you are born into this world you spirit picks the name closest to the name you had in the other world if there is a gender change. Now if there is no gender change you keep the same name. So if Wenna was Wenna in the other world she would be Wenna here in our world. I am confusing you Rabbo? Anyway when the spirit starts to wake up it remembers its name. Now let’s say we used the same custom the people on this planet do and give a name to a child it would confuse a child. But here as they don’t have the same abilities we do and that they have not advanced that far on the spiritual level it does not matter but in about five thousand years it might? That is if they make it to that point. Once that happens things might change. Does that answer your question”?

“Umm I think I understand. This other world do you remember your life there” asked Rabbo.

“Some believe that we do and that in our dreams our life in the other world talks to us about our life in the other world and what we learnt. Others don’t. Some such as myself believe how we act in this life affects us in the next. Let’s say I was someone like Toner who wanted to enslave those that did not have the mental abilities that he and others like him had myself included. Well in the other world those that he had killed or fought against him and his followers would enslave him. Which if you ask me is wrong as it does not stop the cycle of hurting each other. I believe that we have to break that cycle and stop hurting each other and work together. I once had a group of friends that once believed very much as I still do but the war changed them only I was too busy fighting for what I believed in and did not see what that fighting was doing to them. Nor did I see what a few of them were turning into. When you see such horrors as they did you can’t help but become hardened to it. And after a while it does not bother you and you start to do the same things to those you are fighting against that they did to you or your friends. And slowly you become like them” Merwyn paused lost in thought.

Rabbo was about to ask another question when Merwyn spoke so softly that Rabbo almost did not hear him.

“I had to fight if I had just stayed teaching I would not have lived up to the very thing I preached and when I die I will have to face those that I killed. Was I right or wrong to preach what I did and send so many to their deaths and to kill so many in battle. I even had to kill some of my own men so that others could live. I asked them if they would die to save their friends and they said “yes” but I killed them by my order. At times I think I am no better than Toner” the tone in Merwyn's voice was so sad and hopeless. “What I did was it right or wrong”?

“Dad stop that” said Athena standing at the bottom of the stairs with one twin on each hip.

Merwyn looked at Athena and smiled weakly. He placed the cooked breakfast on the table and sat down.

“Dad you did the right thing” said Athena with a hard tone in her voice.

“Did I? Sirius is gone and is dead. Did any of it matter”?

“Dad stop that. You did what you had to do. You did what was right and just” said Athena in more of a pleading tone of voice.

“Darling I wish I could make it stop. I hear them in my sleep. I see them in the woods. I see them in the faces of the people in Athens. I wish I could make it stop and forget it all” said Merwyn in such a soft voice that even Rabbo had to strain to hear.

“Dad I need you. That’s why I took on the role I did. I love you dad and need you to stay here. You can’t start fading on me” then very softly Athena said “I need you here for our children”.

Merwyn stood up picked up his uneaten breakfast and walked over to the cool storage room without saying a word.

Athena looked at the twins who though the whole entire discussion had sat very still and had not said a word.

Merwyn walked out of the cool storage room and went upstairs.

Athena turned to her breakfast and started to eat. At the same time she fed the twins who where spreading food around the table.

“Rabbo when I finish eating and the twins have had their fill I will need you to look after them. There is another book my mom wrote for me when she was first sick. It’s in a box under my bed. Get it and start reading into the twins so that it keeps them busy. If they start to get tired let them nap in the living room”.

“Ok” said Rabbo still very worried about Athena’s comment about Merwyn fading. He was about to ask when Athena gave him a look that he had come to understand as “I have things to do and I don’t want to talk”.

“Please eat your breakfast properly Wenna and you to Merryn” said Athena.

“Sowe mommy” said both twins.

Rabbo finished his breakfast first and rode upstairs and located the box with the book in it under the bed. He pulled the book gentle out and then rode back downstairs.

As he hopped back into the kitchen he saw Athena standing with her hands on her hips explaining to the twins that Rabbo was going to be in charge “And if you give him any trouble I will spank your little butts so you can’t sit down for a week. So behave”

“Yes mommy” said the twins.

Rabbo hopped into the living room and put a couple of fresh logs on the fire. He then sat in Athena’s chair and pulled the book onto his lap using his feet to rest the book against.

Athena brought the twins in and told them to sit down and listen to the story that Rabbo was going to read them.

Rabbo started to read the story which was about two sisters that lived by a delta in a land that was hot. The first chapter was how the older girl who had been without a sister found out that her mother was going to have a baby and how excited she was about having a little sister or brothers. It went on though the whole pregnancy telling the story how the little girl looked forward to the baby coming.

At first Rabbo thought that it was about Isis and Bastet and based on their lives but when Rabbo started the second chapter he realized that it was more wishful thinking of a young woman that wanted a younger sister or brother and was in fact an only child.

After about an hour and thirty minutes the twins started to get bored so Rabbo thought it would be a great idea to go outside and play in the snow with the twins.

Outside it was still cold but Rabbo made sure that the twins put on the thick boots made with the fur that had bushed out of him in the summer months when it was hot. He then made them put on their thick winter pants as well as a jacket and gloves.

Rabbo lead the twins outside and told them that they were to make big snow rabbits and that he would sit on the stump and model for them.

The twins thought it was great fun building snow rabbits and they soon got very good and making huge rabbits that soon dotted the snow covered lawn.

Rabbo checked them often making sure that they were warm and after they had built the fourth giant rabbit he thought it best that they all go inside and have something warm to drink and that a nap for the twins and himself was a good idea.

So he lead the twins back in and made them warm milk and sent them into the living room with a cookie each that had been in a jar on the counter.

Rabbo went into the living room and placed a couple of logs on the fire as it had burnt low while they were outside. He then returned to the kitchen to get his milk.

Athena walked down the stairs wearing just a pair of white stockings she walked over to the storage room that the wine was kept in and got a skin of wine. As Athena turned around she saw Rabbo getting his milk.

“Hope you are giving warm milk to the twins too” asked Athena. “Are they being good”?

“Oh they have been very good. We built giant rabbits on the lawn and I read to them until my throat was sore” answered Rabbo. “How is Merwyn”?

“Better” laughed Athena. “I think that living here reminds him of home sometimes and as much as he loves it here it can depress him”.

Rabbo noticed that Athena had a blush around her cheeks throat and that her lips seemed fuller than normal and very red.

“You ok” asked Rabbo. “You seem very hot”.

“I am great” giggled Athena.

Athena then turned around and walked back up the stairs giggling to herself.

Rabbo hopped back into the living room and sat down to drink his milk and to watch the twins eat their cookie and drink their milk.

When they had finished they yawned so Rabbo told them to lay on the couch and take a nap.

Rabbo got a blanket and placed it over the twins then hopped up on the couch and curled up next to their feet so he could keep any eye on them. But after a while Rabbo found that his eyes were too heavy to keep open so he dozed off.

Rabbo woke with a start and looked around. The twins were still asleep and snoring softly. He was not sure what had woken him up so he listened and hear a faint thumbing sound coming from the back of the house. As he listened it stopped and then started again changing tempo.

Rabbo slipped off the couch and hopped into the kitchen where the rabbit kittens where chasing around after each other. Mischief was sitting cleaning Rabbo’s mother’s ears while Cat was sitting on the back of Merwyn's chair watching the rabbit kittens chasing around.

Rabbo hopped back into the living room just as both twins where waking up so he grabbed the book and started to read again.

It was about forty five minutes later when Athena came walking into the living room wearing her cheeky robe and stockings.

“Rabbo what would you like for dinner” asked Athena.

“I wants homlet” said Wenna.

“With eece” said Merryn.

“I was asking Rabbo not you two” said Athena in a soft gentle voice.

“Omelet sounds good” said Rabbo winking at the twins.

Athena left the living room and went into the kitchen where she started making cheese omelets for dinner.

It was about dinner time when Merwyn came down the stairs to join them for dinner.

Rabbo had to admit that Merwyn did look better and whatever Athena had done to him made him look a lot more cheerful than he had at breakfast.

At dinner the talk was light but it was clear that there was a lot of talking going on between Merwyn and Athena on the private mode.

“It is going to be clear the next few days I would like to see how Helena is doing” said Athena.

“It might be nice to have her and her daughter here for a few days. It would give you female company” said Merwyn almost laughing.

Athena started to laugh so hard that she almost choked on her omelet. Then she looked at Merwyn smiled shyly.

“How is Helena” asked Rabbo.

“Last time I looked in on her she was busy counseling a grieving mother. Who has lost her son” said Athena.

“I better clean a pathway though the woods then” said Merwyn.

Dinner was finished and Athena and Merwyn sat and played games with the twins until it was time for them to go to bed.

The twins kissed Merwyn Rabbo and then Athena good night before they started the long climb up the stairs to their bedroom.

Athena watched very carefully to make sure they did not fall and to catch them if they did.

Athena turned back to Merwyn and refilled his wine glass before she stood up. “Let’s go to the living room and talk. The dishes can wait”

Rabbo sat down by the fire and was joined by mischief soft eyes and the rest of the rabbit kittens.

“Dad I was thinking that when Helena is here you should spend sometime alone with her. After all she likes you” said Athena slyly.

Merwyn laughed “she is confused. Not sure if I am human or a god. I can’t blame her really as we do seem to have god like powers to these people. Not that we are gods. Beside she has that whole oath issue about not taking a man into her bed. But you had plenty of fun with her”.

“Yes I did” said Athena blushing again. “But I know away around her oath not to take a man into her bed”.

“Oh aye” said Merwyn.

“Yes it all in the wording. Not to take a man into her bed. Well dad as you don’t sleep in a bed and if you did it would not be her bed. But as it is you sleep in that pile of cushions so it’s not really a bed” said Athena shyly.

Rabbo sat and listened as Athena laid out her plan for Helena and then pointed out that Helena had Sirian blood in her so it might be possible to get her pregnant and if anyone asked her she was pregnant by a god and that would explain anything that the child might be able to do.

Merwyn answered with the whole Ra issue and if he found out there could be some major problems as Ra would feel threatened and might move against them. Plus there was the issue of the few people on the forth planet and that it was very possible that they might head their way which would open up more problems.

As they sat talking more and more of the wine skin was drunk and it started to become clear that Athena was feeling drunk and playful.

Athena slipped off her robe complaining that she was getting hot. Then she stood up and started to dance slowly.

After she refilled her glass and took a breather from dancing she got up once more and started to dance again and almost tripped over Rabbo and landed in Merwyn's lap.

Rabbo now was feeling tired and did not want to be stepped on so he got up and shooed his children out of the living room and hopped over to his elevator and rode upstairs to Athena’s bedroom to sleep. He weakly climbed up on the window sill and lay down on his cushion to sleep.

Rabbo woke up once during the night when Merwyn carrying Athena came into the room and placed her in her bed.

Rabbo woke up to someone poking him with a finger and when he opened his eyes he said two pair of bright eyes looking at him so close that he almost jumped out of his fur.

“Shhh be quiet or you will wake up your mom” said Rabbo as softly as he could.

The twins giggled and lightly ran out of the bedroom hardly making a sound as they did.

Athena laid sprawled out on the bed snoring softly into her pillow.

As Rabbo hopped out of her bedroom Athena opened one eye and looked around to make sure she was now totally alone.

Athena sat up in bed and crossed her legs and focused on Bastet.

“Psst. Darling” said Athena on Bastet’s private mode.

“Yes my beloved” answered Bastet on the same mode.

“Did you listen yesterday morning when dad had his melt down”?

“I heard it. Is he really that bad” asked Bastet.

“Yes darling. But I think our plan is working” said Athena not sure if it really was working.

“I hope he did not pick up on your mistake”

“Which one” asked Athena?

“When you told him that you wanted him to stay for “our children” I just hope that he was too deep in thought to hear that” said Bastet in a worried tone. “Hold on a moment Solee is waking up”.

“I wish you had been here with us last night. I could have used an extra hand”

“I bet” laughed Bastet. “Did you suggest Helena like I said”?

“Yes and I hope she is willing. Besides dad is right I need a females touch too. Let’s hope that Helena will accept my way around her oath. The last time we tried she got scared at the last moment and well it did not work the way I wanted. But I got more than I bargained for”.

“Oh really! I though she had” said Bastet in surprise.

“Darling I love and miss you. I so wanted to snuggle with you and kiss you and be with you” said Athena.

“I know darling. Maybe this spring I will come? Or you could come here for a few weeks” said Bastet.

“I better get up and dressed. I should check on my twins”

“As should I” said Bastet.

“I love you my beloved” said Athena as she started to drop out of the link with Bastet.

“I love you to my heart” Bastet then gentle broke the link.

Athena opened her eyes and looked around for her robe but could not see it anywhere. Then she remembered that when she was play acting drunk she had taken it off and it was in the living room.

Athena had to hold herself back from skipping down the hallway and then down the stairs as she did not want to seem too happy. Yet inside the thought of Bastet possible coming to visit in the spring filled her with such joy that it was hard to contain.

In the kitchen she was surprised to see just Rabbo finishing his breakfast of nuts dried fruit and old dandelion leaves.

“Where is Merryn and Wenna”?

“Outside helping Merwyn move snow the last I saw they had cleared a pathway to the woods” said Rabbo between mouthfuls of food.

“Oh hope they are dressed warm” said Athena walking to the door and forgetting about getting her robe.

“Yes I made them dress up warm like I did yesterday” said Rabbo.

“Oh good”

Athena walked to the kitchen door opened it and walked out into the cold morning air totally naked.

Athena quickly stepped back in and looked at Rabbo and then laughed.

“Brrr it is so cold out there. Ok so I was stupid for a moment and forgot I was naked”.

Rabbo laughed as Athena walked over to the fireplace to warm back up after her brief trip outside into the cold morning air.

“Do I have to baby sit you too” snickered Rabbo.

Athena stuck her tongue out like a little girl as she rubbed her legs to get the blood flowing again.

Rabbo hopped down the pathway with Athena at his side wearing the cloak that Merwyn had gotten him almost two and a half years before.

The cloak was nice and warm and he was very glad of it as the pockets had carrots in it as well as a small knife.

Athena was dressed in thick heavy winter pants with a thick heavy sweater and a long white cloak with fur trim.

They both walked for about forty five minutes before they reached Merwyn and the twins who were about halfway though the woods clearing a pathway to the temple that Helena was at.

The twins were sitting together munching on a thick sandwich that Rabbo had packet in a small back pack that Merwyn had been using.

There also was canteen of water as well as a blanket extra pants, socks, gloves sweaters and a couple of more sandwich’s.

“Oh my you have done a lot so far” said Athena.

Merwyn turned and looked at both Rabbo and Athena and smiled before he turned back and lifted a huge section of snow that was about thirty feet by ten feet by three feet.

As Rabbo and Athena watched the huge section of snow lifted up and broke apart coming to land on either side of the pathway that Merwyn was making though the woods. Then another section of snow lifted up and did the same thing as Merwyn moved forward though the woods.

The twins got up having finished their sandwich and looked up at Athena.

“Mup pleassse” said Wenna. To make her point Wenna lifted her arms up to be picked up by Athena.

Merryn looked at Wenna and then at Athena before she walked down the pathway towards Merwyn. As she walked down the pathway Rabbo noticed that her boots did not seem to be really touching the ground.

“Umm Athena” said Rabbo not to sure of what he was seeing.

“Yes” said Athena.

“Merryn feet don’t seem to be touching the ground” stated Rabbo.

“What? Oh you are right” laughed Athena. “That takes strength and power at her age”.

“I think she is going to as powerful as her mother or grand mother” said Merwyn as he stopped working for a moment.

“You think so” said Athena smiling.

“I do and I think that if her mother was to put her mind to it she could be really powerful and do far more than she does” said Merwyn dryly.

Athena stuck out her tongue and looked at a hundred foot section of snow and blew a raspberry at the snow. The section of snow suddenly lifted up and blew apart scattering fresh snow on either side of the pathway.

Merwyn laughed and looked at Athena. “Show off”.

Athena smiled sweetly and started to clear a long pathway though the snow. Soon she had cleared a long section and was well past the meadow where Cat’s wild cat girl friend lived with her latest set of kittens.

Rabbo kept an eye open for the wild cat but it was clear that she was either in her den or staying away from where Athena and Merwyn were busy working.

The twins where getting cranky and tired so Athena stopped helping clear the pathway and turned and smiled at Merwyn.

“Dad I think I better get these two back to the house as they are cranky and it’s a long walk back to the hours. Would you like me to cook you something special”?

“That’s ok sweetheart I will keep going until I get to the temple” said Merwyn. He then turned to Rabbo. “You better get along home too as Athena could use a hand with those two cranky hellions”.

Athena placed each of the twins on one of her hips each and then levitated herself and started to float fast back down the pathway that had been cleared.

Rabbo had to run fast to keep up with Athena and the twins and by the time he got back to the house he was panting hard from the long fast run.

“How far was that” panted Rabbo.

“Oh about three to four miles” said Athena not even out of breath.

“And that took us how long to get back” asked Rabbo gasping for breath.

“Maybe twenty minutes at most” smiled Athena.

“And it took us about forty five minutes to walk to were Merwyn and the twins where which was what? Two miles” said Rabbo taking a deep breath.

“About that” smiles Athena as she opened the door and walked though the kitchen into the living and placed the nearly sleeping twins on the couch.

Rabbo went to the fire and put a log on the glowing embers and started to use the bellows to get the wood burning again.

Soon the fire was popping and hissing as the flames licked around the log that Rabbo had placed on the fire.

Rabbo looked over at the twins as Athena slipped their pants and jacket off so that they would not overheat while they were sleeping. She then placed a warm blanket over them then leaned down and kissed them gentle on the forehead as they drifted off to sleep.

Rabbo looked back at the twins and thought how lucky there where that they could sleep pretty much anyplace.

Rabbo hopped up onto the couch and snuggled next to the twin’s feet.

Rabbo awoke to a foot pushing gentle against his body and he could feel a toe nail digging into his fur and catching.

Looking around though sleepy eyes Rabbo noticed that the fire was burning low. So he slipped off the couch and hopped over and put another log on the fire.

As the log caught Rabbo saw Athena in her chair sowing a new long toga for one of the twins.

The toga was pale red with a bright blue trim around the edge. The waist was being pulled in so that belt loops could be added so that which ever of the twins would wear the toga it would fit well and comfortable.

Rabbo hopped into the kitten and his mother was sitting cleaning the rabbit kittens that lay in a heap by the kitchen fire. He also noticed the odor of bread and looked around and saw Athena huge bowl she used when baking bread.

Athena came walking in to the kitchen and went over and started kneading the bread dough before she put it in pans for a second proofing. She then walked over and had to step gentle over Rabbo’s mother and the rabbit kittens to check the temperature of the oven in the fire place.

Athena then stood back closed her eyes for a moment then looked down at Rabbo.

“Merwyn will be back soon. He is at the temple with Helena and I think they will be coming back here for the night” said Athena with a sly smile on her face.

“Are you going to make something special for her” asked Rabbo knowing that Athena would be.

“You know that answer. So why did you ask it” said Athena flatly.

Rabbo laughed and hopped into the living room where the twins were just starting to wake up after their nap.

It was just before dark when Merwyn Helena and Diana came walking up the pathway to the house.

Diana was riding on Merwyn's shoulders. Both Merwyn and Helena had back packs on that looked like they were very heavy.

As they entered the warmth of the house the twins squealed in delight at seeing the friend Diana who they had not seen since early fall.

The children were allowed to play until dinner time when they were seated at the table next to an adult that would keep an eye on then and help them eat.

Diana was a sweet little girl with long black hair that flowed down her back. Her skin was of an olive complexion and her brown eyes glowed with an inner light.

Dinner was fresh version with a red wine sauce, pasta and vegetables that had been frozen and then cooked.

By the time dinner was done the children where getting cranky and tired so Athena and Helena took them upstairs to be bathed and then to put them to bed.

Merwyn sat in the living room talking about the day’s actives when Athena walked in dressed in a short skirt with a tight halter top and white knee high stockings.

Athena turned and looked at the door way and said “Now for your pleasure here’s Helena”

Helena walked in shyly wearing a very short mini skirt and very tight halter top. She walked over to Merwyn and stood before him and bowed.

Athena came over bring wine goblets that had been left on the table. She refilled Helena’s and her goblet before they both sat down on the rug together.