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+---- Thread: The Last Six Months (/thread-1624.html)
The Last Six Months - Ayden - 07-20-2024
Leaving San Antonino had been easier than Nikki thought it would be. Getting used to the new name -- that was always a challenge. She changed her stay at home look only slightly, adapting something more feminine and suburban housewife like. She made sure to stay on top of the high fashions for her age bracket and hip with the kids.
Her and Josh eventually found a home in a small town just north of the New Mexico border and the Southern Ute Reservation. It was quaint if you discounted the tent city that most of the town was made up of. But they had a house of their own. It was small, barely livable for the two of them, and now with a baby on the way -- things were about to get more crowded.
Nikki Haydensen was now three months pregnant with her first child -- it would be Josh's second, though they never told anyone that, it was their little secret.
Nikki was working at a local diner making very little money, but she wasn't worried about that. She had enough stored up as Ayden Hayes to work through whatever they needed going forward.
Her nightmares still plagued her. The blood and the sacrifices still kept her awake at night. And images of Connor, no Josh, dying were pulling at her restless nights more times than she could count. And now images of the baby held up high in her hands all akuna matta style and then stabbed in the chest or thrown from the top of some Aztec temple or another plagued her nightmares.
That was when Nikki and Josh went on a sight seeing tour just south of the Colorado border to the Aztec Ruins National Monument. Though her dreams resembled something from south of the border, Nikki called upon her ancient learning and knew some bits about the Aztecs.
Sadly the Monument was for the Pueblo Native Americans but it was still an interesting trip they took together. They vowed to do that more -- see the things they never got to see before.
It was a happy little life thought she did miss the job. She made a trip out to a gun range once a month. It was quite the drive to get there, but it was worth shooting the rifle in a safe environment. The loud pops and the feel of the trigger under her finger made her feel at home -- something Connor/Josh would never truly understand, but it wasn't her little secret. He knew. She told him it was just to stay sharp and not lose her edge. But it felt good to watch the bullet smash into the target down range. And she was good at it.