Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm

I felt like I was about to crawl out of my skin, and truth be told, I expected this to happen a lot sooner than now. I was never one to be around people for long periods of time. I made me absolutely exhausted and more than a little snappish.

Of course, before I wasn't able to be snappish, but that wasn't a factor in this life.

"I'm going into my space for a while," I told the boys once we got out of the conference room and into the hallway. I knew that they wouldn't really notice me gone, thanks to the time difference, but I still wanted to let them know.

Wang Chao looked at me, his eyes lightly narrowing before returning to normal. "Do you want one of us to go with you?" he asked, because… of course, they could follow me into my space. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I knew I was going to snap but I didn't want to take it out on the boys. They hadn't done anything to deserve it after all.

"I think that might be the worst thing you could do right now," I confessed with a sigh. I loved the fact that I had a part of them inside me, I really did. But learning that my private space was no longer as private as I thought it was, would take me some time to get used to.

"If you are sure," he said as he continued to study me. I nodded my head. "You won't even know I am gone," I joked.

"I somehow doubt that, Sweetness," said Liu Yu Zeng as he came up beside me and gave me a kiss to my forehead. I melted a bit, but it was not enough.

I smiled at them all before I flashed into my space.

----

In my last life, and even in my first, I had always wanted one of those cool spaces that were in all the novels. Not the kind that seemed to result as one of the powers from a meteor, but like those found in antique jade. You know, the ones where it was just an empty room that they could use to hold supplies but nothing else.

No, my dream space was one that looked like an alternate dimension with a building, fields, and streams. When I woke up in this life and realized that I had gotten what I so desperately wanted, it quickly became apparent that I needed to be more careful about what I wished for.

Ignoring the house, I went along to the back of the property where there were fields, mountains, and a big lake. This was the biggest of three bodies of water on this property and I absolutely loved it. I mean, it could use a pergola, but that was something that would come in time.

Sitting on the shore, I put my feet into the water and watched as some of the fish that I had put in started to circle my toes, wondering what intruder had come into their space.

I leaned back, laying down on the soft grass, and stared up at the sky. I needed this time to decompress.

My instincts were battering against me, my flight, flight, or freeze was playing havoc with my mind and I was just done.

I closed my eyes and felt the cool breeze as it tickled my skin, my body relaxing more and more. I should have come in here sooner, but I either forgot that I had this place until I wanted cake. But maybe I just thought that taking a few minutes to myself made me weak.

I scoffed at myself for that thought. I think taking that beating by the zombies yesterday should be enough to prove to myself that I was not weak. But that also didn't mean that I had to be strong too. I was a woman, I could be strong, weak, emotional, and stoic all in the space of 10 minutes. That was one of the advantages of being me and I would not apologize for taking what I want and needed.

I felt a slight weight climb on top of my chest and a purring motor start. I chuckled and reached down, scratching Hades behind his ear in his favorite spot. "Haven't seen you in a while," I said, refusing to open my eyes. He just purred harder, my chest vibrating under his assault. "I take it you are no longer upset with me?" I asked as I petted him from his fluffy ears all the way down to his tail.

There was a brief pause in the purring to let me know that not all was forgiven, but it quickly restarted. I let out a low laugh as I opened my eyes to see a beautiful black cat that was practically the length of my torso. "And you have clearly been looking after yourself quite well if you have gotten this big."

Meowing in response, his ears flicked forward and backward with my words. "Once I find a new home for us, I'll keep you with me, or even keep you in the trailer if you promise not to run away. I don't want anything to happen to you," I said as I continued to pet him.

This was what I needed, some time to myself to decompress. But I had other important things to do while I was in here… starting with baking some more cakes, squares, and cookies. I especially wanted some nanaimo bars, authentic nanaimo bars, not the crap that they sometimes try to pass for nanaimo bars. And then after I could go for some lemon bars, butter tart squares, carrot cakes, chocolate cakes… what else should I make? I had all the time I needed, so I might as well make the most of every minute.

Sitting up, Hades let out a meow of protest as he fell off my chest and onto the grass beside me. I was quickly forgiven/forgotten as the fish in the pond commanded his full attention. I chuckled as I stood up and walked towards the house.

I quickly changed into a lightweight white dress, I left my feet bare as I walked into my kitchen. Putting on the same black and white polka dot apron that was my favorite, I pulled out my cookbook.

Without access to the internet, I didn't have all of my recipes, but those that I loved or made a lot were carefully written down in a book so that I could always have them on hand. Opening it up, I grabbed everything I needed for the nanaimo bars and got to work. I had a lot of things to make before I left my space and dealt with the chaos outside.

----

"I'm back!" Li Dai Lu said as less than a second passed since she had told Wang Chao and the others that she was going into her space for a little while. "Miss me?" she asked as if were even a question.

"Like you wouldn't believe," said Liu Yu Zeng as the men started to head out of the hallway and towards their trailer. People were still streaming out of the conference room, but they were not going to wait. Li Dai Lu might look much lighter and happier; however, they weren't going to take any chances.

They hadn't been taking as good of care of her as they should have. Seeing how she looked now, it was incredibly clear just how run down she had been. "Have fun?" asked Chen Zi Han as he put a hand around her waist and guided her down the stairs and into the outside.

Before she could open her mouth, her name was called out causing everyone to turn around and look at the man. "You are getting in way over your head," said Li Shoi Ming as he strolled towards their group. Yang Meng Yao was hurrying closely behind him, her eyes never leaving Wang Chao.

"Should never have come out," she muttered under her breath causing the men around her to straighten up. "And how am I getting in over my head?" she asked as she leaned against Chen Zi Han.

LI Shoi Ming looked back and forth between her and the other man before turning his attention to Wang Chao. "Are you okay with this?" he asked with some confusion. There was no way he would ever be okay with his 'wife' touching any other guy. Wang Chao just stared at Li Shoi Ming, not bothering to answer him.

"What do you want?" asked Li Dai Lu clearly becoming more and more tired. Wang Chao wondered if that was because of her body healing so rapidly or if there was another problem that they didn't know about.

He lightly scoffed in his head. There was apparently a lot that they didn't know about. But he trusted her. If she said that she would tell them later, then she would tell them later. He just had to be patient.

He was not leaving her side so there was no need to push.

"I want you to go back to City A with me," said her cousin as he stared at her.

"No," was the simple reply. Wang Chao had had enough. He wasn't used to this power, but he might as well practice it more. With a wave of his hand, he stopped time for everyone but the five of them giving them the chance to sneak away before there were any more interruptions.

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