After a long meeting with Konstantin and Elders of the Lebedev family, Sarah and Sophia left them with several topics to think about, and a note that they will meet on the next day.


    Aiden went to y with the dogs because he needed a break from anything mentally strenuous. Sitting in meetings is not something he is used to doing, and he found it suffocating.


    Jeff went to continue his work rted to the White corp., and the two Hill sisters went to check on JoAnna and her progress with Vasily.


    "I am going through the results. Give me a minute…", JoAnna mumbled while staring at theputer screen. She pinched the roof of her nose, to release the strain that thest few hours brought on her.


    After several endless minutes, JoAnna turned to her sisters and her expression was not good.


    "Will you say something?", Sophia spoke, cracking under the suspense of the news that is about toe.


    JoAnna pursed her lips and it took her some time to speak. It''s not that she didn''t know what to say, but it was not easy, and on top of that, she needed to put it inyman terms so that her sisters understand. "Uhm… Vasily is missing a piece of his brain and skull. Honestly, it''s surprising that he is alive. I can fix the skull, but there is nothing I can do about the brain. Currently, other than reflex functions of breathing and heartbeat, he is not responsive."


    Sarah and Sophia stared at JoAnna and waited to hear more.


    "As you can guess, he is in aa and there are no guarantees that he will wake up. And even if he wakes up, he might be missing his memories, or be mentally retarded."


    "We are not giving up on him.", Sarah said with a frown.


    "Of course, not.", JoAnna responded. "I am not saying that we should give up, but we should be realistic. The scenario where he opens his eyes and everything is normal is not very likely. Vasily has a swelling that needs to subside before I can do the surgery and fix his skull. After that, we will keep him on the machines and hope for the best. I already gave him a dosage of antibiotics and anti-inmmatory medicine. Within two-to-three days, he should be good enough for me to start scanning his head and design the missing pieces. Felix will help with that… We will need to transport him to Los Angeles…"


    Sarah, Sophia, and JoAnna agreed that in the next few days, JoAnna will focus on Vasily and Sarah and Sophia on sorting out Lebedevs.


    If nothing unexpectedes up, in three days, they will return to Los Angeles so that JoAnna can use the facilities of the LA Medical Center in treating Vasily. Sophia will stay in Los Angeles, and Sarah hopes that the major points with Lebedevs and Voronins are sorted out so that she does not need to return here, not soon at least.


    Once their chat was done, JoAnna and Sophia left the medical room.


    ...


    Aiden found Sarah standing next to Vasily.


    "Hey…", Aiden called while wrapping his arm around Sarah''s waist.


    "Hey…", Sarah responded and leaned her head on Aiden''s shoulder without removing her gaze from the motionless Vasily.


    "I heard from Anna that in three days we are taking him to Los Angeles."


    "Mhm…", Sarah confirmed with a hum. "I want us all to go back home. Maybe we can n for a vacation.", Sarah spoke in a whisper as if she is afraid to wake up Vasily.


    "How about we go to our ce in Fairfield for a few days? The apartment where it all began?", Aiden suggested, making Sarah smile.


    Mental images shed in front of her eyes of Aiden cooking for her, and them watching movies until she sleeps off and he carries her to the bed… in the apartment where he hugged her for the first time, and she hugged him back.


    "I would love that.", Sarah responded. "We should also start working on transforming our bat cave into a safe house."


    Aiden craned his neck to see Sarah''s face. "You are serious about it?"


    Sarah narrowed her eyes. "You thought I was joking?"


    "Honestly… yes. We have so many ces that are already functional, and two of them arepletely independent inds. Is there a need to build another one?"


    Sarah nodded, confirming that they need another safe spot. "The problem with existing ces is that someone knows about them. And when I say someone, I mean outsiders. I want us to have a ce that only us know about."


    "With Lebedevs under your control, and Voronins dwindling, do you think that anyone else can force us to go into hiding?"


    Sarah''s brows furrowed as she remembered Nick and Marija. "This is not about how big our enemies are. As long as we are enjoying our status and names, someone will find faults with it and they will want to take what does not belong to them. You can''t deny that no matter how much we prepare, we are vulnerable." Sarah wrapped her arms around her t belly. "With the baby on the way, I want to know that we have a safe spot, a ce no one knows about... even though I hope that we will never use it."


    Aiden nodded. "Alright. We will start designing our safe bat-cave. If we n properly, it can be done before the babyes."


    Sarah smiled. "I would like that."


    …


    Sarah and Aiden gathered all their kids in the living room, to share information that they are heading back home in three days.


    Everyone was visibly excited. Not so much about going home, but about the significance it carries, because it means that they dealt with the trouble and they can all enjoy the rest of the summer, how they originally nned.


    "We are nning in August two outings for everyone that will include time at the White Rock Lake, and the other destination will be a secret.", Aiden announced, making the kids cheer with joy.


    At the mentioning of the White Rock Lake, Hande leaned on Ade and she had a big smile on her face. That is the ce where it all began for the two of them. She fell off the boat, and Ade saved her, and they shared a cake (and an indirect kiss), and she kissed him (on the cheek), and it was wonderful. As if he can read Hande''s mind, Ade wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. She looked up at him and saw that their smiles are matching.


    Another couple got closer to each other when Aiden brought up the White Rock Lake, and that were Zack and Masika. They both remembered the scavenger hunt, when Masika got scared at the sight of a floating head (the hologram) and she jumped into Zack''s arms, and somehow… that is when they started acknowledging their feelings for each other.


    "Will we have events and prizes?", Allen asked excitedly.


    Aiden waved and waited for them to settle down before answering: "We just started nning, but soon you will find out more. We will definitely have some activities nned, and you are wee toe forth with suggestions. As usually, there will be organizationmittees. However, before we dissolve in a celebratory party-mood, there is still a lot to do here. Tomorrow, let''s focus on finishing sorting out things that we got from the Voronin family, so that day after tomorrow we can rx with a nice barbeque party in the evening before heading back home…"


    "Will you reveal the gender of your baby then?", Imani asked. She heard from JoAnna that Sarah and Aiden are interested in finding out the gender, but the parents themselves don''t know yet if it''s a boy or a girl in the oven.


    Sarah and Aiden exchanged nces before Aiden nodded, making everyone burst into chatter. It was obvious that they started betting if it''s a boy or a girl.


    Sarahughed and leaned on Aiden. It was a while since she was this rxed, and she hoped that it willst.


    ---


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