[align=center]The Temple Mother - Part One
by [[email protected]]PumpkinBelly[/email][/align]

Click went the carabiner into the bolt nailed into the big wall. Megan Sanders pulls the rope threaded through the belay device on her harness a bit to test it. She wants to make certain there is enough give not to pull her too close to the rock face while at the same time keeping her secure from a potential fall. She pulls herself up the wall using finger jams, cracks wide enough for three of her fingers at a time but too narrow for the width of her hands. She enjoys the challenge of having to find these points to pull herself up the wall. Although she has a knack for climbing at a young age of twenty three, she never takes a chance with her safety and decides to rest before getting too tired.

Megan sets up her portaledge hanging tent and pulls her trim body inside of it, dragging her bags of supplies, clothing and food in with her. She finds a can of Vienna sausages, bag of rice crackers, and a jar of apple butter to have a quick meal sitting cross-legged while staring at the unfolded map beside her. A drop of sweat worms its way down the left side of her face and she takes a blue-and-white handkerchief out of her backpack to dry off. The soft cloth soaks the sweat from the hairline of her dark brown, shoulder length locks. She arranges her hair back with a tie to keep her hazel eyes clear for continued perusal of her maps.

Based on the route she's currently following, the top of the wall should be about twelve hundred feet further along. And then Megan realizes she will step into legend because she's entering high country in Tibet on the precipice of a range in the Himalayan Mountains that had rarely if ever been traversed by people in the last two thousand years. Her plan is to find the land of Shambhala, part of the lost Shang Shung kingdom which ruled Tibet for centuries in ancient times.

Studying the copy of the high orbit satellite photos, Megan can see the northeastern ridge where she's currently resting, but the areas covering the high mountains and plateaus are all dark and hazy, like the cameras failed when trying to snap shots of those regions.

An ancient legend pops to mind,
"Any interloper into the realm of Shambhala will be enshrouded in an interweaving cloak of concealment when breaching the protected edges of the great kingdom. A visitor not previously granted leave to enter by the king has not found their way back to the outside world without gaining special dispensation from the throne, which is almost impossible to attain. The trespasser becomes a vassal of the throne, subject to the king's wishes, for the rest of time. Although neighborly and generous, the king suffers no fools and his vassal will be required to contribute to a plan which will benefit the realm."


Megan shakes her head while thinking stories like that were purposely created to ward off attackers when large armies were in short supply. She settles back and drifts off to sleep.

Megan tightens her closed eyes after awhile and slowly cracks them as sunlight unexpectedly shines on them. She's amazed as she realizes that she's no longer in the hanging tent. She's resting propped up with pillows behind her back in a large square king sized bed in a tan-colored stone walled room with red and blue drapes on the windows and multifaceted rugs on the floors. Dark wooden chairs, small tables and shelves line the walls around the bed. The shelves contain very old manuscripts and books. Her eyes fall to the silk covered mattress and is drawn to the sight of her body. A large round belly rests under a gold colored tent-like gown wrapped around her frame. Small swirls of silver are scattered across the length of the gown providing a compliment to the gold background. Double-E sized breasts rest on top of her belly. The front of her round bulk rests just past her bent knees, which are cradling her middle. She feels her popped out, incredibly sensitive belly button rubbing the front of the gown. Her lower back is bent forward and aches constantly from the strain of her heavier gut. She brushes her right palm on top of her now massive middle and feels a tiny flurry of movement from underneath her fingertips. "I'm pregnant? How can I be pregnant?!" she astonishingly wonders as both of her hands feel around her belly and the movement inside of her becomes more excited. "I'm so big, am I carrying seven or more babies?" she thinks as she leans back and moves her hips as best she can. Shifting positions is difficult with all of the added weight.

Patience and determination aid Megan with slowly sliding her legs around to hoist herself up on the left side of the bed. The added effort requires her to take time to rest and catch her breath before continuing. After a short while, she leans back and pushes up off of the bed with her arms and her belly rises first while being pushed up by her hips and knees. She straightens up beside the bed for a second before widening her stance and leaning back with both hands supporting her lower back to accommodate the weight and size of her belly. She looks down with raised eyebrows and a shocked look on her face as she realizes the floor below her and her feet are completely hidden beneath the enormous paunch hanging from her front. She rubs and pats the sides of her massive, slightly moving belly and shuffles her feet forward in an uncertain motion while trying to ascertain her new center of gravity. She quickly finds it while at the same time coming to understand that her hips have settled, transforming her once smooth walk into a gently rolling waddle.

Megan notices a window a few feet from the side of the bed. The left side of it is open allowing a gentle breeze to slightly cool the room and interesting smells to reach her from the outside. She ambles slowly over to the window and looks out on a breathtaking vista of a city stretching out to the far horizon. The window is on the third floor of a building facing a great market center covering ten square blocks. Three ox-drawn carts piled high with vegetables, chopped meat, and various kinds of bread are rolling along on the street below. One row of covered tables is filled with eels, salmon, crabs, lobsters, mussels, hens, goats, armadillos, and cow meat. Another row of tables displays rice, black beans, fresh cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes, Chinese cabbage, ginseng, okra, green onions, green and black olives, cantaloupes, honeydews, watermelons, apples, oranges, lemons and limes. Another row has various small food vendors providing fresh cooked meals for interested patrons, of which there seem to be many dozens milling about and wandering between the rows of packed booths.

Megan's eyes widen and her lower lip trembles as she subconsciously rubs the side of her belly, trying to calm the constantly bustling babies inside of her. Her mouth waters and a small grimace tightens her jawline. She yearns for some of that food to stuff herself with as the fragrant aromas wafting from the fire-heated ovens and pans tickle her nostrils. "How long has it been since I last ate?" she thinks as she stands at the window almost spellbound by the gastronomic tapestry laid out below. "...or has it really been that long?" she thinks as her eyes drift back to pondering the presence of the enormously globular middle that has replaced her formerly toned abdomen. She considers the almost surreal nature of her greatly enlarged figure as she takes her situation into account.

Megan turns ponderously around and rests her noticeably larger behind on the wide window sill. She leans her head back against the glass of the locked right pane with her eyes closed. After a few restful moments, she opens her eyes, looks around and thinks, "Where am I? What is this place? Why do I resemble Gaia the Earth Mother, and how did this happen to me?"

The young mother-to-be slumps down for a second, then raises up and pushes herself off of the window sill to her feet. She looks out of the corner of her eye at the market place and then starts waddling slowly forward over to a coat rack by the door. In the rack she finds an embroidered blue shawl and a large wooden cane that she can use to help support herself and prevent from accidentally overbalancing and falling. After arranging the shawl, she sees a mirror over to the left side of the door mounted over a dressing table and chair. She steps over to it and her mouth falls open in shock. In the mirror stands the biggest pregnant woman she's ever seen in person, and it's herself! Her moving image puts her unexpected condition into stark relief for her. She can't believe the extent of her increased belly size as viewed from this perspective. She turns to her right to look at herself from the side and realizes she's so thick from front to back that she no longer fits in the mirror while standing close to it. She slides her feet to the right placing her around seven feet further away from the mirror. She finally reaches a point where she can see all of herself and still almost can't comprehend what she's seeing.

Megan's hands glide slowly across her now enormous waistline, which looks like it's grown to measure about one hundred twenty or even one hundred thirty inches. "Just exactly how big around am I?" she wonders as her eyes trace the distance around her considerably enlarged middle. She wishes a tape measure is handy but can't imagine where she would find one. She sees no drawers or cabinets in any of the room's furniture and nothing resembling one laying on an open shelf. She frowns disheartedly and then perks up when more delectable smells reach her from the window.

"I may be turning into a giant cow, but I have to get something to eat soon. I'm starving!" she thinks. Megan turns and waddles over to the dark wooden door. The handle turns without a problem seeming to indicate she's not a prisoner, just a hugely pregnant woman who up until a short while before was resting in bed. She continues into a short hallway with a window at the end. She walks down the hall, reaches a door to a stairway on the right end and proceeds very slowly. She turns to guide herself down the stairs sideways by holding the bannister behind her. Even by carefully proceeding this way she can barely see where the next step is past the bulging right side of her unbelievably huge belly. She has to stop, lean over just far enough to see where to step, then straightens back up to move down once more. She does this on the off chance that there could be a broken stair that she'll have to step over to avoid, all of the while praying that she doesn't miss a broken one and accidentally falls through it! "I just hope all of this effort is worthwhile by the end of my trek and I can eat something! All of this extra effort just to walk down some stairs because my belly is so big I can barely see past it is pretty disconcerting," she thinks. "Hopefully I won't be this big for too much longer. Come to think of it I may grow to a point where I won't be able to use stairs for awhile. Whoa, wait a minute, don't start daydreaming in that direction, just work to reach the door to the market and then eat. It's simple, right?" she groans to herself while rubbing the side of her belly to try to calm a moving baby and working to catch her breath again.

Megan rests in place on the stairs several more times along the way. After awhile, she finally safely reaches the door at the bottom of the stairs and proceeds through it straight to the marketplace. She waddles slowly forward, marvelling at all of the large, food-filled tables. She goes over to the closest food vendor on the right side of the street and sits down gently in a chair. She puts her palms against her lower back and pushes against it to arch and stretch her back to try to work out a kink and to relax. She smiles at a young woman who rushes over to her and politely asks, "Do you have a menu?"

The waitress smiles, leans over and wraps Megan in a warm hug. She leans up and asks, "How are you? I haven't seen you for weeks? Let me look at you! Oh, you're getting so big, you're so beautiful!" The waitress grins while rubbing and patting Megan's belly.

"Do you know me? I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'm lost and am having trouble figuring out where I am," she says.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the waitress says, "I didn't realize that you must have recently become sick enough to temporarily lose your memory. You're Megan Sanders, who came into the kingdom nine months ago without permission of the king. You were attacked by the gargoyles and dragons who guard the realm based on their protective instinct. At the time, they had no idea you meant no harm, and as soon as they realized you weren't a threat they stopped attacking you. The problem is that by that point you were already badly injured. You're actually fortunate they didn't kill you."

A look of surprise appeared on Megan's face. "Thank you very much for telling me that. Who are you, ma'am?" she asks.

"I'm Ariella Xingcho," the waitress replies with a gentle smile. Ariella's long brunette hair falls to her thin shoulders and her smiling blue eyes give a trusting impression to Megan. "I helped take care of you after the king pronounced his decree for your violation of the kingdom boundaries," she says.

"Decree? What decree? Did I break a law by coming here?" Megan asks.

"Yes, you did. No one is allowed entry into Shambhala without the king's permission. Anyone who comes here without his blessing becomes his vassal, which is what you have become. His decree is that you would be the new Temple Mother, bringing life and joy to this place, which has been missing for far too long since we lost the last Temple Mother due to extreme age."

"I'm the Temple Mother?" Megan asks. "It's likely a rhetorical question, but I'm probably correct in guessing that's why I'm so incredibly big and pregnant?" she added with a quizzical look on her face.

"Yes! Your pregnancy is connected to your role as the Temple Mother. Your position is a revered one, only granted by the king. The woman who is chosen to become the Temple Mother grows heavy with a great multiple-birth pregnancy. She will continue in this role, perpetually giving birth and getting pregnant again with multiple babies each time, for the rest of her fertile life. It's a terrific responsibility, though it can seem overwhelming at times."

"I'll say. Can I never leave here?" Megan asks. A sudden fear crept into her heart at the thought of never seeing her home again.

"No, not unless the king says you can leave, but it's highly doubtful he will allow it. The Temple Mother is the most valuable woman in the Imperial court after the queen. When a new one has been selected in the past, she has always lived out the rest of her life here," Ariella adds.

Megan closes her eyes and places her hands over her face. Tears roll down her cheeks and she sobs.

"I'm sorry, honey, I didn't mean to upset you. You must remember that you are very important to the future of this kingdom and we all very much want to take care of you," Ariella says while gently patting Megan's middle.

Megan slowly dries her eyes while remembering she's fallen into the legendary trap she was thinking about before falling asleep in the hangaway tent months before. She has become the vassal of the king of Shambhala, and that means she's probably going to be massively pregnant for nearly the rest of her life! It's funny how the rest of her recent past is obscured yet this point comes back to her.

"Ariella," Megan begins, "I figure if you helped take care of me, and I've been here for nine months, then we must have gotten to know each other relatively well? I hope so because I would appreciate it if you could please bring out some food and go over things with me, if that's ok?"

"It's more than ok, it will be a privilege and a pleasure to help you get back to yourself again. Yes, we became friends before your memory loss, and I'm very glad you're my Temple Mother," Ariella says. "Just a minute, let me get some food and we'll talk!" she adds with a nod and grin.

Ariella gets a large pot of fresh brewed black tea, grilled shrimp lo mein with steamed Chinese cabbage, boiled asparagus, a bowl of cherry tomatoes, chick peas, and sticky buns for dessert. Ariella pours the tea into two small cups and arranges the food into heaping piles on two plates, though Megan's plate is noticeably more packed with food than Ariella's. She sets both plates down and comfortably sits down facing Megan.

Megan's eyes bulge and her mouth waters at the sight. She bows her head and prays for a moment, then heartily digs into her meal with a smile. "Thank you very much for this wonderful meal!" Megan says between bites. "You're welcome," Ariella replies.

After eating for awhile, Megan's large helpings of food have disappeared inside of her. She leans back and happily rubs her huge belly with a grin. She marvels over the tremendous bulge reaching to several inches past her knees. She's so big now that she has trouble sitting up straight. Doing anything while resting on her posterior at a table other than either reclining back almost as a passenger or escort along for the ride with her incredibly prominent belly resting in front of her or leaning forward to shovel food into her mouth has become a noticeable chore for her. She catches her breath and says, "I can't believe how hungry I was, but I guess that's the price of being as pregnant as I am now. Do we know how many babies are inside of me?"

"It's only a guess, but it's generally believed that you have eight growing in there," Ariella says with a smile.

"Eight, amazing..." Megan says while holding the side of her gravid middle. "And what exactly happened after I was attacked?" she adds.

"You were brought before the king by the perimeter wall guards after the gargoyles and dragons backed off. It was surprising that you knew the way to greet the king with proper respect. He said that he appreciated your attitude and preferred that you become his vassal to help the kingdom rather than harm being done to you for the mistake of having entered the kingdom without getting his permission first. After all, Shambhala is completely cut off from the outside world, has been for many centuries, and I'm pretty sure barely anyone on the outside knows our ways anymore. We no longer have embassies in other realms where you could even have asked for his permission to enter, so it's just one of those situations that has to be dealt with in the best way that we know how to do," Ariella says.

"And who is the father of my babies?" Megan asks with a slightly concerned look on her face.

"He's one of the king's sons, Elidar, who volunteered years ago to become the Matron Bearer if we ever attained a new Temple Mother. The Matron Bearer is a nobleman, in this case one of the princes, who mates with the Temple Mother and takes care of her. He fell in love with you while you were being prepared for your role as Temple Mother, so he was definitely suitable for it, especially in your eyes at the time," Ariella says.

"Wow, I have a loving husband who I grew to love? That's comforting to hear," Megan says with a smile. "I hope I remember how I felt about him soon. I have a feeling I could really use his support in another month especially because I believe I'm not going to be able to walk by that point!" Megan laughs.

"To be fair, most Temple Mothers have eventually grown too big to get around on their feet because they carry so many babies during each pregnancy. Also, those pregnancies have always been very close to each other, so a Temple Mother usually doesn't have a chance to lose her baby weight from a previous pregnancy before she starts growing again for a new pregnancy. I don't remember any of them ever getting too fat, but the added baby weight in their typically very large bellies--she says while glancing with a sympathetic smile at Megan's middle--did make it a hassle for them to move and get around by themselves over time after several pregnancies in a row. They all got into the habit of using special carts or other wheeled wagons to maintain their mobility. And their husbands have always been very supportive of them," Ariella grins.

"Do you know how far along in my pregnancy I am?" Megan asks.

"Yes, you're about six months along, so there's a good chance you'll be using a special cart to get around in about a month or so," Ariella says. "Don't worry, Elidar will help you build it, and he'll make sure you're comfortable using it. He won't leave you stranded in your home. In fact, you two may wind up moving because don't you both live on the third floor of the building across this square?" she asks.

"Yes, I came out of that building over here behind me. It took me a long time to get down that staircase safely because I was having a hard time seeing around this," Megan answers while rubbing the sides of her belly. "I kept having to stop with each step while coming down sideways to make sure everything was ok with the stairs and I wouldn't accidentally fall. I couldn't see past my belly going forward. And my husband wasn't up there with me awhile ago. Do you know where he is?"

"Elidar left earlier to go over to the palace. He stops by either here or at one of the other vendors early to get a quick bite of breakfast prior to leaving. He told me this morning that you weren't feeling well and were resting. He said he had to take care of something and preferred not to disturb you so that you could rest and recover. I've been concerned about you for awhile though because you used to enjoy taking walks around the city, checking out the market and getting something to eat here, but you've been out of sight for at least a couple of weeks," Ariella says.

"Really? Well, it must've been worse than either of us thought if I've been stuck in bed for that long and I woke up this morning barely knowing who I am and forgetting about my life here," Megan says.

"I have actually heard of that before, where someone will get a sickness they have trouble shaking for a week or so and it messes with their memory for awhile," Ariella says, "But the good thing about it is that that kind of illness usually doesn't last very long and clears up on its own once the body has a chance to fight it off. It just takes time."

"Maybe it's something similar to the flu or another ailment common in the West. I wish I had access to the Internet. If I did, then I could look it up online," Megan says.

"Online?" Ariella asks, "Is this more of that mystical 'technology' stuff you told me about before that sounded like alchemy and wizard spells?"

"Yes, it's technology," Megan says, "There's nothing mystical about this though. It's just a lot of storage devices connected together that have information recorded in them. It's like having a whole lot of books stored together inside of small boxes to make the information easier to find. You can pull the information out of the boxes using a small tool instead of having to climb up and down shelves and search through a lot of printed books yourself. And, if you think about it, it's a better idea for someone in my condition because I'm so big and heavy now, and with my back and hips the way they are, I definitely should not be climbing up and down ladders and carrying down large books, should I?" Megan asks.

"Yeah, if it would put a lot of large, heavy volumes into a small box to make it easier for you to get to the information, that would definitely be a better idea," Ariella agrees. "Of course, we have nothing like those devices here."

"Exactly," Megan says, "If I could someday get permission to go back to my old home..."

Ariella looks alarmed and says, "No, you probably won't be able to..."

Megan stops her and says, "I'm not talking about forever, Ariella. I mean go there for a short visit and then return. My home and my life are here now. I couldn't bring myself to leave and stay away forever. Of course, as I get my memory back, and have more pregnancies, it might very well be more trouble than it's worth to go back to my old home even for an allowed visit. That's presuming I could get permission for it. I'm not completely giving up on the idea, but I have to admit I really don't see it happening any time soon. Not with me like this," Megan smiles while looking down and patting her belly. "I'm in no condition for a trip, but I promise I'll share stories of my old home with you someday. I can do that easily enough," Megan says happily.

"Yes, you can, and I'll look forward to it," Ariella says.

"I'm changing the topic back to something that could help me spark some memories. Why does the Temple Mother exist? What's the purpose of the role?" Megan asks.

"The Temple Mother brings prosperity, joy and protection to the kingdom. She's a symbol of hope for a better future. The story has it that Ekajati, the goddess who is the mother of the mothers of all Buddhas, visited the kingdom ages ago and created a blessing which covered the whole region. This blessing was endowed in an agreement with the king at that time, who wanted as most rulers do for his realm to be strong and protected. The agreement was that the king would choose a woman who he believed carried a strong spirit of vitality within her. He would order that she undergo a special preparation of ritual and change designed by Ekajati which would cause that vitality to blossom inside of the chosen woman and physically remake her into an embodiment of absolute fertility. After her change, she would be called the Temple Mother, she would perpetually experience multiple-birth pregnancies for the rest of her life, and her physical well being would be a symbol for continued prosperity and happiness throughout the kingdom," Ariella explains.

"That's some story. There has to be a catch though, doesn't there?" Megan asks.

"I noticed that about you before that you're quick," Ariella teases. "The goddess made it to where as long as this realm is under the protection of the blessing of the Temple Mother, even when we have had long periods without one, an aura for the blessing built up into a mystical protection barrier for this place. The protection is controlled by the king, which is why someone has to have his permission to enter the kingdom. It's actually not only a law. It's tied into the reason why we have the Temple Mother in the first place. It prevents anyone from seeing into the land from the outside without physically pentrating the boundaries. It's why we've been isolated for so long, but as long as the blessing exists we prosper," Ariella finishes.

A slight pain strikes Megan's temple. She grimaces, clutches her temple and her eyes open wide as memories start returning to her, spurred on by the conversations with and stories told by Ariella. "Whoa, some of my memories from earlier this year are coming back to me," Megan says with surprise. "You're right, being the Temple Mother is a commitment I take very seriously, and I'm grateful to the king for choosing to give me this wonderful gift," she says while smiling down on and cradling her enormous belly. She leans over as best she can and manages to softly kiss the top of her massive gut and looks back up to smile again at Ariella.

"That's more like the Megan I recall from the Temple. I helped you in the time when you were going through the rituals and the goddess was physically changing you to have the body you do now. I'm so glad you're starting to regain your memories," Ariella says.

"I am, too, and it seems almost unreal now that I'm beginning to remember all of what happened to me over the course of this year. It's almost like something out of a dream..." Megan muses softly.


To Be Continued...

This is the start of something great...

[align=center]The Temple Mother - Part Two
by [[email protected]]PumpkinBelly[/email][/align]

After some of her memories started coming back, Megan starts sorting through them while sitting there. Ariella sat quietly giving her friend time to come to terms with her memories.

Megan quietly journeys back in her mind to nine months ago when she was completing her climb to the top of the big wall where she had camped in her hangaway tent. She remembers she finally made it to the precipice a few days after having fallen asleep in the tent. After having walked inland on the precipice for about a day, she saw a distant landscape covered with heavy fog with green trees and a river flowing into an area obscured by the mist. She walked along the river for what seemed like five miles or so until she came to another smaller rock wall with a cave which the river flowed into. On either side of the cave were large statues, one of each kind, of gargoyles and Oriental-style dragons. This was strange because she had never seen this combination of ornamentation in any other ruins or ancient city. She stepped closer and was astonished when the "statues" started moving.

Megan's eyes widened and her mouth fell open in amazement as the gargoyles growled and leapt down from the rockface. The dragons came away from the rockface after the gargoyles and one of each kind of creature sat on each side of the river staring at her with glowing red eyes. The gargoyle closest to her approached, bellowed and reached out a huge hand to swat her out of the path leading to the cave. She flew through the air and struck the rock close to where the creature had been standing a minute before. This knocked the wind out of her and cut her back in a few places. She curled up on the ground by the wall and tears rolled out of her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, please don't hurt me...." she cried to the creatures coming towards her.

The gargoyle that had knocked her against the wall came over and stared at her. Its eyebrows went up and a thoughtful expression appeared on its visage as though it realized Megan wasn't a serious threat. The gargoyle opened its mouth and asked in what sounded like Old Chinese, "Why have you invaded this place, small weak one?"

Megan's eyes widened. She had extensively studied several of the oldest languages she could find record of in anticipation of the possibility for meeting people who had been isolated for millenia and she responded, "I came here to see this place because I am a scholar, not a warrior. I wish to harm no one, only to learn respectfully..." she gasped. She felt battered and didn't know if any of her bones were broken. She clutched her chest and grimaced in pain.

The gargoyle leaned over and gently picked her up in its large hands. The other gargoyle and dragons looked confused by this interaction because they had expected to do battle. The gargoyle holding her said, "I am Shivaryon, great protector of the kingdom of Shambhala. It is my duty to take you to the guards who will carry you before the king." Megan shivered in fear after hearing this. "Do not worry, little one, no harm will come to you for I see that you have a kind spirit," Shivaryon added with a smile.

Shivaryon proceeded forward towards the wall beside the river. He moved slower as he approached it and Megan was surprised to realize that the stone of the rock face was transmuting into mist that allowed him to continue walking through it. He continued walking for a few minutes until he came to an ornately carved, thick fortress-like stone wall with towers every thousand or so meters along the edge, somewhat similar to the construction of the Great Wall of China, though this ornamentation looked considerably older, more elaborately designed across its structure and larger. The wall stretched into the distance on each side so far Megan couldn't see where it stopped.

"What are you doing here, Shivaryon?" asked Jimilyon, captain of the wall guard of Shambhala. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes, Jimilyon, something is wrong in the form of an assumed invader, who actually happens to only be a trespasser without leave of the king. She was accidentally injured when I swatted her before realizing she meant no harm in coming here. She needs a healer and then she must be taken to the king by your guards, so I brought her here," Shivaryon responded. He leaned down and gently laid Megan on the ground in front of the guard captain.

Jimilyon squatted down, held the side of Megan's face, and said, "I will take you to a healer to treat your wounds, and then you will be taken before His Majesty King Erilchiu. No harm will come to you," he said. "Guards!" he added with his left hand raised. Four men hurried out of a quickly opened large iron and bronze door in the ornamented wall. They moved Megan onto a stretcher and carried her through the door.

Megan remembered having been carried through a mazelike collection of passages inside of the wall before reaching another door like the one on the outside. Jimilyon was still ahead of the stretcher. He unlocked and opened the door ahead of them to reveal a walkway on the avenue of a large and ancient city. Horses pulled wagons down streets created using smooth stonework fitted very tightly together and engraved with names and markers along the way to signify the locations. Megan was astounded to see buildings fifteen stories tall surrounded by other smaller structures. Beautiful statues of people, dragons and cranes surrounded an ornate fountain in a square down on the left side of the street the guards were following. They took her through a doorway in a building beside the fountain.

"What brings you here?" inquired a man behind a desk in the room they entered.

Jimilyon answered, "I bring a young woman injured by accident in hopes that you can heal her. Will you please help her?"

The Ayurvedist (doctor) examined Megan. He removed her torn clothing and treated abrasions on her back and arms with a solution from his desk, followed by having wrapped her torso in bandages and given her a clean gown and belt to wear. He then gave her a cup of liquid to drink. Megan swallowed it down, finding that although it tasted bitter it made her pain lessen within a few moments and she started feeling generally better after that, much to her relief.

"Thank you very much for helping me," Megan said with a smile.

"You're welcome," the Ayurvedist said with an answering smile.

Jimilyon guided Megan outside to a waiting carriage, which one of his guards had fetched for their use during her treatment. He and Megan were taken into the heart of the city to the palace of the king, a gigantic intricately carved structure inlaid with gold, silver and various gemstones. Although they did not move, two ornately carved Oriental style stone dragons rested on each side of the entrance gate with large rubies for eyes, as well as gold and silver scales having stretched the length of their bodies. The wagon passed through the gate and went by another large fountain before reaching the front door.

"Wait here for a moment. I must prepare the way for you to see the king," Jimilyon said.

Megan was stunned by the existence of this place. She had expected a small village with a tiny group of people cut off from the rest of the world. This city was an ancient metropolis of the first order surpassing anything she had ever read about or heard tell of. It's possibly a surviving wonder of the ancient world, which no one else knows about! She was excited, scared and almost overwhelmed by having reached this point. She broke out of her momentary reverie when Jimilyon returned and said, "Come this way, you are going before His Majesty now."

Megan stepped slowly out of the carriage and followed closely behind Jimilyon. He led her into the large honeysuckle wreathed front doors which had the most unusual statues on either side of them. Megan stared at two beautiful, delicately worked jade carvings of a massively pregnant, smiling young woman. The statues were identical representations of a woman full term with at least quadruplets or quintuplets; it was hard to tell for certain. The subject of the work was so big at the time of the carvings she appeared ready to give birth at any moment. "Who is this?" Megan asked while her fingertips gently brushed the front of the right statue's belly. "That's a memorial to Jada, the first Temple Mother. This is a representation of her during her first sacred pregnancy. She had a total of sixty multiple-birth pregnancies in her lifetime and gave birth to over five hundred children. She was a beautiful treasure of a woman, and she is missed to this day," he said.

Jimilyon smiled at the statue and then rubbed the middle of Megan's back and said, "This way, the King is waiting." Megan looked up at his face and nodded to continue into the palace since she would follow. He opened the door and stepped inside. Megan looked wonderingly at the statue of Jada to the right of the door for a second longer and rubbed the large belly one more time prior to following him in. Megan didn't understand at the time who the Temple Mother was, why she had had so many babies or why there was a memorial to her in front of the palace, but she had the strangest feeling that she would discover the answer to all of those questions much sooner, and quite differently, than she had expected to.

Megan remembered having thought back to her studies to recall the proper way to respectfully approach an ancient Far Eastern king. She looked down and approached slowly with her back straight. She bowed before him after Jimilyon introduced her. She continued looking at the throne room floor because she did not wish to appear arrogant or otherwise disrespectful. She waited until King Erilchiu greeted her and gave her permission to speak.

"Please look up, young lady. Thank you for coming in to talk with me today. I understand you entered the edge of the kingdom without having sought permission of the throne?" Erilchiu inquired.

"Yes, Your Majesty," she began carefully, "I apologize for the transgression. I meant no disrespect. I did not have a way to ask permission, and I also did not know that I would have to. The realm of Shambhala is only depicted in the outside world as a tale of legend and even then very little is known about it. There was a great probability that Shambhala, if it had once existed at all, no longer could be found on this Earth, so I did not heed the ancient warnings which still exist in some writings. I am sorry for this and would appreciate the chance to learn here in this wonderful place, if you would give me leave to do so, Your Majesty?" she asked.

"You seem to be a kind-hearted, learned person. Due to your respectful nature, I am willing to spare you hardship. Still, due to your having entered the kingdom as you have done without permission, I am choosing to give you a position in my court as my most prized vassal. From this moment forth you are this kingdom's Temple Mother. You will be taken into the temple to be trained and prepared in the ancient rites of Ekajati, which will encourage your body to grow into a focal point of absolute fertility and joy! After your physical changes, you will proceed to become pregnant and will continue giving birth and becoming pregnant again for as long as you continue to live in my realm as Temple Mother. Do you understand my directive, Temple Mother?"

Megan was stunned by this pronouncement. She was going to become perpetually pregnant by the King's command? "Wait," she thought, "I don't have any other choice. To remain here with his blessing I have to be his vassal. Being his vassal means I have to serve an important duty which he chooses for me, and what duty could be more important than being a Temple Mother? I'm going to get so fat..." she sulked inside to herself but made certain to smile before having said, "Thank you very much for this great honor, Your Majesty."

"You're welcome, young lady. Now, where's my son? Elidar!" the king yelled.

A handsome young man came running from the other room. "What is it, father?" the king's son asked.

"Elidar," the king said, "I would like for you to meet your future wife, Megan Sanders. Megan, this is your soon-to-be husband, my son, Elidar. I will give you two time to get to know each other."

Megan and Elidar were led to a room farther into the palace and left alone together. Megan smiled and asked, "Elidar, why did your father say we're to be married when we just met each other? I hope I can fall in love with you, but I would like to know what's happening, if you don't mind talking with me about it," she said.

Elidar says, "I'm sorry it happened the way that it did, but my father's pronouncement can only mean one thing, that you're to be the new Temple Mother. If that's the case, then I have to marry you because I pledged long ago to become the Matron Bearer".

"The Matron Bearer, what's that?" Megan asked.

"The Matron Bearer loves and cares for the Temple Mother. He helps her fulfill her promise to remain pregnant throughout her fertile life, and he supports her when she grows big with babies. I always thought of it as a wonderful honor that I was not certain would ever come to pass. It's been many years since the kingdom last had a Temple Mother. I have to be completely honest with you though since you're here now. The truth is I've always been turned on by pregnant women and the thought of loving and caring for a woman who's going to be pregnant almost for the rest of her life is an incredible life uplifting event for me," he said while looking into her eyes and holding her hands.

"So my growing huge won't make my body look disgusting to you?" she asked.

"Far from it. I'll have trouble keeping my hands off of you because you'll excite me so much!" Elidar said with a big smile.

Megan smiled and immediately leaned over and kissed Elidar on the lips. He kissed her back and they held each other for a few minutes. She put her head down on his right shoulder and said, "I don't usually move quite so fast, but considering I'm getting ready to become the mother of your children and I'm going to be hugely pregnant most of the time this is probably as good a time as any for an exception to that earlier rule about how fast to move," she added with a grin.

"You're right, but don't worry, it will still take some time for our relationship to develop," Elidar said. "Before we can be together, you have to go through the Temple rituals to prepare yourself physically for the role Ekajati wishes for you to hold in our kingdom. Your body will be transformed into that of the Temple Mother. Based on the past accounts, it usually takes a few months for a woman's figure to blossom in the correct way so that she is ready to mate with her husband."

"Rituals? Are you allowed to share those with me?" Megan asked.

"Of course. You will enter the Temple of Ekajati and stay there for three months. During that time, you will be blessed in the ancient way of prayer, meditation, and daily exercises. The exercises are to prepare you for the task ahead of carrying many babies by strengthening your back and lower body. You will also have to drink a pot of the tea of Shankoon each day. This tea was brought to us by Ekajati, and it causes the new Temple Mother's belly to grow enormously big prior to her first pregnancy. Her belly size is a result of the tea encouraging her womb to grow larger so that she becomes more easily able to carry greater numbers of babies during her pregnancies. The tea combined with the ritual exercises also increases her fertility to make it easier for her to conceive." Elidar said.

"Wow, if my physical changes are going to do all of those things to me, I can imagine I'm going to become very aroused on a regular basis. I guess I won't have to go far for help in that area, will I?" she smiled up at him before giving him another long kiss on the lips. She snuggled up to him after the kiss and he kissed her gently on her forehead before laying his cheek on top of her head.

Megan remembers having been taken to the Temple of Ekajati, a beautifully engraved large square grey stone building with glass windows, a massive garden, three fountains and a ten foot tall full color statue of Ekajati outside of the main portico with her flowing leg-length dark blue hair and glowing jewel blue eyes. The most interesting part about the eyes were that they were intricately carved in the form of a beautiful woman's eyes and small jewels were worked into the engravings only to give the effect of color to the pupils, unlike other statues Megan had seen where a whole jewel made up the eye. Whoever had done this work was a master craftsman who would've greatly impressed modern-day artists. The effect caused by the high quality of the workmanship brought a resonating quality of life to the statue where people claimed to feel Ekajati in its presence.

Megan was led into the temple to her bedroom. She was introduced to her new spiritual sister in the temple, Ariella Xingcho, who would help her perform the rituals of Ekajati, assist her with becoming used to the premise of her body growing into that of the new Temple Mother and learning about the kingdom of Shambhala. Ariella was a priestess of Ekajati whose duties were light as long as they awaited the choice of a new Temple Mother by the king. With the choosing, Ariella knew she would take care of and guide the new Temple Mother until she was ready to begin her duties. "Welcome Temple Mother," Ariella said with a bow before walking with her to her new bedroom. Megan turned back to encourage Elidar to follow her, only to have him say, "This path is for you alone, sweetheart. I will be welcomed into the temple later after your body has finished changing based on the will of Ekajati. I promise that I will visit you and we will be married in this temple as soon as you have finished becoming the Temple Mother. Take care..." Elidar finished his comments by planting a soft, long-lasting kiss on Megan's lips and telling her that he would look forward to seeing her again. She watched him leave with a soft smile on her lips, then placed her hands on her hips. She turned on her heels and headed inside of the temple.

Megan settled into a daily ritual of rising at the crack of dawn, practicing meditation and prayer, then having a pot of Shankoon tea. She went through her back and lower body exercise regimen three times per day. The only clothing given to her which she was expected to wear were huge tent-like gowns that were far too large for her. "I guess I'm going to grow until these fit?" she asked Ariella. Ariella smiled, rubbed Megan's belly and said, "Yes, during this preparation period your belly will fill out to make you look like you're carrying at least four, possibly five, babies due to your increased womb size. And then when you get pregnant you'll grow to at least twice that size because usually a Temple Mother carries between eight and ten babies per pregnancy." Megan's eyes widened at this news. "Either way these gowns will fit you without a problem because they're stitched to compliment your body after you've grown a large belly. True you will feel like you have an excessive amount of extra material until your body finishes filling out, but it won't take long until they're comfortable," Ariella added with a smile.

Over the course of the next two-and-a-half months Megan's belly grew at an astonishing rate, filling out her gowns, forcing her hips to settle and turning her walk into a waddle. Getting up each morning became more of a struggle for her as her body changed, but she couldn't help but think she wanted this preparation period over quickly. If she was going to get pregnant, then she wanted to do it as soon as she could.

The old adage about absence making the heart grow fonder seemed to be the key with Megan's future relationship with Elidar. She got along with him well during the short time they had spent together at the palace, and she was looking forward to being with him more and more as the days passed and her steady growth was a constant reminder of her upcoming reunion with him. She kept reminding herself that she would see him again when the growth stopped. Something to look forward to anyway.

Megan sat up slowly on the side of her bed as the three month mark rolled around. Ariella measured her and confirmed that she had finally stopped growing. Ariella helped Megan through the final ritual of rubbing her great belly in oils and going through an afternoon of prayer to ask for blessings on the path to the first pregnancy, and then an invitation was sent to Elidar.

Elidar arrived at the temple on the following day. He walked inside of the front hallway and was greeted by Ariella. She escorted him into the prayer hall at the center of the temple. Sitting on a bench in the back center of the hall was Megan dressed in a white gown with purple accents. She was reclined back on a bench and her belly was cradled between her legs with the front curve of it almost to her knees. She looked breathtakingly stunning. She smiled when she saw him. He went over, knelt down on a padded kneeling block in front of her and took her hands with a smile. Ariella retrieved a book from a shelf behind them and came back over to perform the marriage ceremony.

"Let it be known that we arrive here on this day to join these two in the bond of holy matrimony. May they be blessed in their union and always know happiness in their family to come," Ariella said in a brief version of the ceremony. A few other blessings were spoken followed by a long kiss. Ariella then said, "Congratulations, Temple Mother and Matron Bearer on your marriage! I hope you enjoy your honeymoon!"

Megan smiled and then slowly pushed herself up to a standing position. She took her new husband's hand and led him to her sleep chamber. After locking the door, she noticed he was rapidly disrobing. She stepped over to the bed and he untied her sash and helped her unwrap her gown to slip out of it. Once nude, they proceeded to explore each other. Elidar kisses down Megan's neck while rubbing the sides of her belly. He brought his hands up to gently massage the sides of her breasts while he breathed across the skin of her upper chest going left to right and then planted small, quick kisses across it going back from right to left. He dragged his teeth carefully over the top of her left breast and then flicked her left nipple with his tongue followed by a repeat on her right breast. Elidar moved up and kissed her on the top part of her left ear followed by a tiny nibble on her earlobe, while at the same time caressing her right ear with his left hand. He then moved to her lips and kissed her passionately while his hands found their way back to her belly and made large curving massaging motions on either side of her wonderfully prominent gut. Elidar climbed into bed behind Megan and pulled her gently back on top of him. He leaned her forward until he could see down between her legs. Once positioned behind her, he pushed himself into her while he held his arms to cradle her amazingly huge belly.

Megan felt Elidar's hardness thrust into her and felt his arms cradling her belly and his hands gliding up to massage her breasts some more. He kissed her neck behind her left ear and told her how much he loved her. She leaned her head back on his right shoulder, turned her mouth to his right ear and said softly, "I've fallen in love with you, too. I've wanted this for so long and I'm so happy that we can finally share it. I want you to fill me full of babies, sweet man."

Megan rocked on Elidar until he squeezed her sides and he pushed himself a couple of inches inside the top of her vagina. At the same moment, he pinched and rubbed her popped belly button. This combination of sensations caused a white-hot feeling of intense pleasure in Megan. She felt him climax and release himself into her. She reaches back and kisses the side of his neck while pulling on his lower back on both sides. The room suddenly turned white around her and she unexpectedly felt herself instantaneously move to another place.

Megan found herself walking in a beautiful garden and saw the ancient city in Shambhala off in the distance. Her belly was noticeably bigger as though she was already pregnant, but Elidar was gone. Tears rolled down her cheeks because she didn't want to be taken away from her beloved at their happiest moment where he helped her become pregnant for the first time. She reached a fountain and standing there was a beautiful young woman with incredibly long dark blue hair and vibrantly blue eyes smiling at her.

Megan bowed respectfully and said, "Ekajati, I am your Temple Mother Megan. Why did you bring me here?"

"Do not worry, child," Ekajati said, "This is only for the briefest of moments to let you know that your body has been blessed and that you are now pregnant. You are actually still with your beloved in the temple. I could not take you away from your happiness, only change your perception for a second so that I could talk with you. In a few more moments this will seem like a short dream. I wanted to tell you myself that I am happy that the king chose you to be the new Temple Mother and I will help you and encourage you through your life of continued pregnancies."

Ekajati smiled and patted Megan's belly, then drew her into a warm hug. "And there is something else you should know, my child," Ekajati said, "I love you and I will always be here for you." Ekajati kisses Megan's cheek, gives her a gentle blessing, and then suddenly Megan is back with Elidar.

Megan goes forward onto her hands and knees, and Elidar follows her since he's still inside of her. She turns onto her left side and pulls her hips forward to pull Elidar out of her. She then settles herself against him and puts his right arm around her belly.

"Honey, we did it, I'm pregnant," Megan said.

"How do you know?" Elidar asked with wonder in his voice while stroking her belly.

"Ekajati came to me in a vision when we climaxed. She said that she loves me, blessed me and told me I am pregnant," Megan said and then a wide smile blossomed on her lips.

Elidar sat up behind Megan and a look of stunned happiness appeared on his face. He was staring at Megan's beautiful face with a whirlwind feeling of joy. He felt a little dizzy and sat back on the bed. Megan became a little concerned and turned herself over to rest facing him with her great newly pregnant belly between them.

"What's wrong? We've succeeded in making me pregnant and we have Ekajati's love and blessings over this," Megan said. "Come here and cuddle your fat girl, sweet boy," she teased him.

Megan pulled herself closer and snuggled up to him. He immediately became hard against her belly, which made her happy and spurred her next thought into action. "Hm, that's a very interesting thing, something is telling mommy that daddy wants some more of her loving attention..." she continued teasing him with a mischievous smile on her lips. Megan pulled herself up slowly using her right arm and raised up on her knees. She pushed Elidar onto his back, then raised her left leg while holding her weight up with her arms. She brought her left leg down on the other side of his legs so that she was straddling him. She inched forwards on her knees up his legs. She lined herself up with Elidar's hard member and pushed herself down in exactly the right position so that the end of his cock was again pushing into the space a couple of inches inside of the top of her vagina. She smiled and gasped when she felt that incredibly wonderful pressure inside. She leaned back on her feet folded under her and gave Elidar a full vision of his hugely pregnant wife's belly rocking gently forwards and backwards as she rode him. His hands found their way to her breasts where he massaged them happily, gently brushing her nipples with his fingertips, never too hard, just enough to give her added pleasure and for his own enjoyment. He lowered his hands to massage either side of her belly and then pinched and rubbed her popped belly button again. He leaned forward, managed to reach her belly button with his mouth and gently suckled it. Megan squealed and continued riding her sweet husband while he pulled gently on and stimulated her very sensitive belly button by gliding his tongue back and forth across it. He drove her crazy by flicking his tongue against it and swapping off with gently nibbling it between his teeth. After a few more moments they reached a crescendo again, she and Elidar both climaxed and he released himself inside of her. The combination orgasm between her vagina and belly button caused Megan to moan in response to a brain shattering amount of pleasure, and then she leaned forward and collapsed in bed to Elidar's right. He cradled her upper body in his right arm and wrapped his other arm around her enormous middle. He planted a warm, long kiss on her lips. She caught her breath after the kiss, her lips stretched into a grin and she asked in a dreamy voice, "Was that good for you?"

"What are you kidding me? That was better than I've ever dreamed possible! You're wonderful, honey!" Elidar said while smiling back at his beautiful pregnant wife.

"I'm glad you're happy. I'm happy, too, and I love you," Megan said.

"I love you too, sweet baby," Elidar said with a smile. He caressed her cheek and pushed his upper body closer to allow her to lay her head on his shoulder. They both drifted off to sleep.

Megan came back to the present in the cafe with Ariella with a wide smile on her face which also showed through her eyes. She says, "I love my husband very much and I know he loves me. Now that I'm coming back into my right mind again, I want to see him. Do you know when he's going to be back from the palace?"

Ariella says, "I apologize, but I don't know when he was planning on returning. I recommend that you go to the palace if you want to see him. I'll be glad to help you get there."


To be continued . . .

more please

[align=center]The Temple Mother - Part Three[/align]
[align=center]by PumpkinBelly[/align]


Ariella leaves the table to go summon a carriage for a trip to the palace. While awaiting the transportation, Megan’s memories continue returning to her and fitting back into place like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle reassembling itself in her head.

The returning memories cause Megan to realize that she and Elidar’s relationship took some time to develop. It did not happen as fast as she initially recalled because while she was in training to become the new temple mother, she had taken advantage of the fact that there were no locks on the temple doors to sneak out many times at night to go back to the palace to spend time getting to know Elidar as well as to learn more about the kingdom.

Megan began her explorations three weeks after starting her temple training. She felt rested that evening due to having had good experiences with meditation. Around 10:00 PM that night, she took out her custom-made maternity pants and shirt set that she had convinced Ariella to help her make so that moving around would be easier both during and after her body finished growing.

Ariella had told her earlier with a grin, “Now, don’t think that you won’t be required to wear the traditional gowns of the Temple Mother just because of these new clothes”. Megan answered, “I understand that I have to wear the gowns for ceremony, but I don’t feel that it would be practical for me to wear them all of the time. I’ve grown up as a very active person, climbing mountains, playing sports, and I always had to wear comfortable clothes so I could move easily. Gowns don’t permit easy movement for a woman in terms of outdoor activities like gardening, building or any other kinds of physical labor. I just want something that I can move in while doing physical activities I’m still able to do without feeling restricted. I especially want this for after I’ve grown big. I imagine my increased weight and size, especially during my pregnancies, will limit my physical activities, but I want to be as comfortable as I can be so that I can do as much as I can when I’m able to outside of official appearances and court visits, of course”. She snapped the last comment with a teasing grin and a movement of her left hand up to her forehead as though she almost can’t imagine being required to do such grandiose activities as being part of a royal court. Ariella smiled while shaking her head and said, “Your views about the roles of women in society certainly are different from anything I’ve ever been exposed to. Though I will admit that a woman does have to be able to perform physical labor in many situations in the home and in living her life. Perhaps this kind of outfit would be a good way for you to dress if you feel you can still be physically active while being the Temple Mother. I hope it will work for you”.

Megan smiled as she pulled on the dark blue pants followed by the blue, white and black shirt. These clothes were designed based on Megan’s memories of western maternity clothes. She valued them because the Shankoon tea had already caused her belly to grow out to the size of a woman around five months pregnant with a single baby. She also noticed a few inches added to her hips, a fuller and growing behind, as well as her breasts having grown from A to C cups. She was happy that her body was blossoming under Ekajati’s plan. She stood up and happily discovered her new clothes were comfortable and easy to move in.

Megan slipped quietly out of the back of the temple and proceeded to follow the road back to the palace. When she arrived, she moved carefully along the walkway beside the wall at the edge of the palace grounds. She reached the dragon gate and was curious to have seen no guards present. She proceeded down the western side of the palace until she reached the door that Elidar had shown her during her first visit which they had used when he gave her a tour of the grounds. She carefully opened the door and went inside after having found no one in the hallway either.

The hallway was lit by small oil lamps hanging from the ceiling. Megan walked down the hall to the study in which she had first spent time with Elidar. The study door was open and she could see Elidar sitting on the far side of the room reading. She leaned over and crept silently around the edge of the room until she could gently ease herself onto one of the large chairs sitting opposite from Elidar’s couch. After a moment, she said, “Hi stranger, it’s nice to see you again” with a big smile. Having been absorbed in his reading, Elidar was startled for a moment and then smiled. “How did you get in here?” he asked. Megan grinned and said, “It really wasn’t hard. I followed one of the paths that we took on my earlier tour. I decided to go on a little exploration trip out of the temple after I got my new clothes. What do you think?” she asked as she hopped up and spun around to show him her new outfit. He smiled and said, “I like your clothes. I also like that your body is already growing more beautiful.” Megan nodded her head and said, “That Shankoon tea is excellent stuff. It tastes great and is working without any problems for me. At the rate my body is changing, I’m probably going to be rather big by the end of three months, but if I continue feeling the way I do now I won’t have any issues with it.”

Elidar asks, “So you’re feeling better than you thought you would?” She stretches her arms over her head with a smile, brings her hands down to hold either side of her belly and says, “I never expected to have as much energy as I do now. It seems like the bigger I grow the better I feel. Although I’m not expecting yet, I’ve thought for years that I might have problems with having a family someday. My view is based on what I observed while my mother was pregnant with my little sister, Emma, back when I was ten years old. I remember how big and round her belly grew, how she became slower, had less energy and cherished the times during the last months when she would prefer to do nothing other than resting in my father’s arms or sleeping. She told me that carrying me and Emma were tremendous blessings for her, but neither of her pregnancies was easy. Perhaps the role of Temple Mother will be a blessing for me in another way. It’s possible that my changed body will make pregnancies easier for me, and if that’s the case, then I’ll be very glad for it.”

Elidar said, “I hope you have that kind of positive experience with it. I’m glad you’re here because I wanted the chance to really get to know you before we start building a life together”. Megan said, “I agree. I want us to be able to trust each other as friends and have that friendship grow into love. I like to think that’s possible, don’t you?” He says, “Yes, I think it’s possible. And I’m glad that you chose to walk here so we can visit”. Megan was happy to hear this. She relaxed and asked, “Where would you like to start with getting to know each other?”

Elidar asked, “As a scholar, did you ever give serious thought to something like your becoming the Temple Mother happening to you during your travels to distant lands?” Megan looked thoughtful for a few moments and said, “I did my best in my mind to put myself into the kind of position I’m in now to consider what that would mean for me and how I should respond to its effect on my life. Despite having thought about it from a scholarly perspective, I can’t say I fully considered it before, primarily because this entire scenario is like something taken out of a dream or a fantasy. The rest of the world has changed significantly over the past few thousand years, and while there are still parts of the world where people hold others in slavery, or force others to live in a position they did not personally choose for themselves like an arranged marriage or a marriage to seal political alliances, the idea of me becoming the physical embodiment of fertility and joy to satisfy an agreement made between a goddess and a king thousands of years ago to keep a kingdom safe and prosperous would never have occurred to me. Now that it’s happened though, and my body is changing so that I will experience perpetual multiple-birth pregnancies almost for the rest of my life, I must say that I’ve accepted it far better than I thought I would. I like this place, I like you and your people, and the biggest gift to me is that I studied the kind of society that exists here. I knew what to expect before your father decreed that I would become his vassal, and in so doing become the Temple Mother and then marry you. These life-changing events could overwhelm me if I allowed them to, but I’m choosing to live my life calmly a day at a time. I want to remain happy in my life regardless of what’s expected of me.”

Elidar said, “That’s good to hear. I want you to be happy. And although you said you had learned about kingdoms like ours in school, I am curious about what the land you came from is like. Will you please describe it for me?” Megan smiled and said, “I come from a country called the United States of America. It is a country composed of many individual regions called states. There are fifty states, and the one where I lived is called Georgia. It’s on the east coast of a continent called North America on the other side of the world. I was an assistant professor of archaeology at a school called the University of Georgia, the primary campus of which is in Athens, and I mustn’t forget to mention that it’s the home of the Bulldogs.” Elidar looked a bit confused and asked, “Bulldogs?” Megan said, “Oh, a bulldog is a breed of dog in the west. I’ve seen them in China, Hong Kong, and Tibet but I guess you don’t have any of them here. They’re the school’s mascot for the sports teams, like football, basketball, hockey, tennis, swimming, wrestling and many other physical activities that people do for fun.” Elidar said, “Oh, like playing goal ball between teams or horseback riding. Yes, we have fun physical activities here, but that’s the first time I’ve heard the word ‘sports’.”

Megan said, “Right, there’s not an exact translation for ‘sports’ in Old Chinese, even though your language is a more evolved version that seems to fall somewhere between Old Chinese and Sino-Tibetan. Much of it is still Old Chinese.” Elidar looked puzzled and said, “Old Chinese? We speak Cinocian here, which my studies have taught me was once a shared language between Shambhala, China, and Mongolia, even though the three kingdoms had different rulers we had a common heritage.” Megan nodded and said, “It sounds a lot like the western world. My ancestors came to the U.S. from different parts of the planet such as countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Elements of those other societies have been transplanted into U.S. society by immigrants over the years. It’s fascinating to study the similarities and differences between my old home and other countries.”

Megan talked with Elidar about archaeological digs she had worked, the advances in technology which gave people the ability to fly in airplanes or even into outer space, the personal computer and smartphones which made information storage, research and communication so much easier than in the distant past. Elidar said, “Some of the things you’ve described sound like what would be found in a fantasy book here. Going away from Earth to the moon or to Mars is almost unbelievable, but if people can fly above the ground in those airplanes, it would make sense that they would eventually find a way to leave the planet for brief periods. I would love to see some of this new world you’ve described to me!” he added enthusiastically.

Megan’s eyebrows rose when she realized something that she had not thought of before and she asked, “I know I’m new here, and I don’t mean to be disrespectful to your father or to you, but I wondered if it would be possible someday for me to go back to my old home with you for a short visit? I ask because I want my family to know I’m safe, and I want to either formally resign from my position at the university or become a scholar abroad for them if they’ll allow me to do so. I don’t want my family to believe I’m dead, and I really want to be able to share my new life with them if I can. I especially would like for my mother to see me pregnant and happy”. Elidar looked surprised and said, “I’m sorry, but I had not thought of this as a possibility before. In the past, Temple Mothers lived the rest of their lives in Shambhala, never leaving the kingdom again if they came from another land. There have only been a few from other realms, but they always stayed here.” Tears flowed down Megan’s cheeks immediately, her eyes became lost, and she put her face in her hands and sobbed. Elidar felt terrible for having saddened her. He said, “That has always been the tradition, but if you are only talking about a visit and you will return, I may be able to convince my father to allow it if I go with you. It would probably be easier for you to go either between the first and second or at the beginning of your second pregnancy. I’m sure you would prefer to still be able to move easily on the trip”.

Megan wiped her eyes, got up and went over to sit beside him. She said, “Thank you so much for saying that you will ask your father for permission for a visit. My life is here now. I could never leave this place forever. But there is one more thing that I must ask if he agrees to allow the visit”. Elidar asked, “What do you want?” She said, “I want the king’s permission to allow my family and perhaps my friends from school to visit Shambhala. It would be a request of the throne such as I would have submitted if Shambhala still had an embassy in another country. By asking in the proper way, those people could come here to visit without offense. Is this okay to ask?” Elidar smiled and said, “Yes, it’s very much okay to ask and I will either ask my father myself, or you are welcome to write a letter or ask him in person yourself if you prefer”. Megan squealed with happiness, wrapped her arms around Elidar and said, “You’ve made me so happy just by agreeing to talk with your father for me. I would also be very happy if you asked permission for the others for me as well. I will be glad to speak with the king if he prefers, and since the first is an unusual request, I agree to keep them between us”. Elidar smiled and said, “You’re welcome, and I thank you for keeping this between us since the first is a highly unorthodox request. Though in a way it’s understandable because like you said the world has changed a lot over the years. It would be a good idea for someone from Shambhala to go out to see the world as it is now for a short while. It’s probable that I could convince my father of the wisdom of allowing a visit for the purposes of my viewing these great changes of which no one here is currently aware. I have always believed that it is a good idea for a king and his family to find out about distant lands even though we have gotten out of the habit of doing so”.

Megan leaned back on the couch beside Elidar to relax and absent-mindedly started rubbing her belly with her left hand. Its growth made the skin somewhat itchy, but she imagined that it was not quite as itchy as her mother’s belly had been years ago. Elidar smiled as he saw what she was doing. He asked, “Do you mind?” as he leaned over close to her. She smiled and shook her head as he took the bottom of her shirt with his fingertips and raised it up to the top of her belly. Megan took the shirt and tucked it underneath her breasts to keep it up. She made certain her pants top was pushed down enough to finish uncovering her growing middle. She said, “Is this better?” Elidar said, “Oh, yes, it’s much better, thanks!” as he rubbed and patted the front of her belly gently. He leaned over and kissed the top of her belly, and then kissed her lips softly before leaning back. His gentle affection towards her encouraged Megan to enjoy her time here even more. He said, “Despite having grown up with the history of the Temple Mother, and the high examples set by each of those incredibly strong women, I’m still amazed by you. You’re intelligent, kind, and a pleasure to spend time with. I believe you’re an excellent representation of a well-educated person of the modern era, which makes me feel even more fortunate to be here with you. I hope we can continue these visits for the next couple of months?” Megan said, “I’ll be happy to continue visiting as often as I can, even though I will likely always show up late at night.” He said, “Late night is great. No one to bother us and you have an almost captive audience in me”. “Captive, huh?” she said with a rapidly vanishing mischievous smile dancing its way across her face.

Megan hurried back to the temple after she and Elidar finished their conversation around 1:00 AM. She pulled off her clothes and climbed quickly into bed.

Megan slipped into a pattern of handling her training, Shankoon tea drinking, exercises, and meditation each day, and then almost every night she would make her treks to the palace study around 10:00 PM. Elidar would usually be waiting for her with a regular pot of black tea, a snack, and a book as a starting point for their nightly talks. Megan grew happier as she spent more time with Elidar because even though he came from an ancient culture, he was very well read in the literature he had access to and an intelligent man who she was enjoying becoming friends with.

Five weeks after their first visit, Megan waddled into the study out of breath and lowered herself gently onto the end of the couch beside Elidar. Her hips had finally settled the week before forever altering her smooth walk into a waddle. She imagined that her gait would progress into a slow, rolling waddle during her pregnancies. She laid her head on the back of the couch and rubbed her larger belly, which by this point was resting between her legs with the front of it reaching just a few inches behind her knees. “I’m getting so big! I can only imagine what I’ll look like after I get pregnant!” she said while catching her breath. Elidar laughed and reached over to put his right hand on her right hand while it rested atop her bulging middle. “I think you look great!” he said. Megan looked at him tiredly with a tiny smile and said, “Thanks. I’m just grateful you’re biased in all of the right ways and remember to be kind to your favorite fat girl,” she gently teased as she worked to relax her aching back after having caught her breath.

Elidar scooted over next to her and slipped his left hand into the middle of her lower back. She felt him massage the kinks out, and he caused her to genuinely want to relax after the passage of her pain. She grinned and asked, “Where did you learn to do that? I feel like the luckiest gal around now!” Elidar said, “I’ve been reading a lot about how to best care for a wife, particularly when she’s pregnant…” Megan’s eyes became wide as her eyebrows travelled upwards upon hearing this. “Thank you for that. I think you’ll make a wonderful Matron Bearer for me, but I’m happier with the thought that you’ll be a better husband,” she said with a grateful satisfaction in her voice while rubbing the sides of her belly with her eyes half-closed, a peacefully restful look having crept into them.

Elidar wrapped his left arm gently around Megan. She snuggled up to him, her memory reaching back to the time when she saw her mother pregnant with Emma and resting in her father’s arms. She was comforted by the thought of following in her mother’s footsteps on the path to becoming pregnant herself one day soon.

These thoughts fall back into place in Megan’s working memory while sitting in the marketplace restaurant waiting for Ariella to arrive with the carriage. She has successfully come back to herself again and feels tremendously relieved by it. She smiles as she sees Ariella riding up on a carriage. Ariella jumps down, helps Megan stand and then climb into the carriage. Megan sits down on the back seat close to the far side window. Ariella grins as she leans over and pulls a handle on a wooden panel between Megan’s legs. Megan is surprised to see a padded box slide out from under her seat and then once out far enough it clicks into place at the same level as her seat. She is astonished when she realizes that the box has become a place to rest her greatly enlarged belly! “Thank you, Ariella! This is amazing!” she coos with delight. Ariella nods her head and says, “It’s a pleasure to serve you, my Temple Mother and my friend”.




To be continued . . .

[align=center]The Temple Mother - Part Four[/align]
[align=center]by PumpkinBelly[/align]

“Friends, we are gathered here today in remembrance of a fine soul in Megan Elizabeth Sanders. She came into this world as a blessing to her parents, James and Millicent, a little over twenty-nine years ago, and she was always a tremendously loving and encouraging support to her sister, Emma,” Pastor Brent Michaels said from the lectern behind the coffin.

Sitting in the sanctuary of Rosedale Baptist Church in Marietta, Georgia is a hall full of people who had known and loved Megan Sanders for her whole life. And now they are saying goodbye to her for what they believe is the last time. Megan’s mother, Millie, looks with a heartfelt longing at the smiling picture of her oldest daughter sitting on the easel beside the casket, which is closed with an arrangement of flowers on top of it. She thinks, “The pastor said that this is the best way for us to finally say goodbye and heal since we lost her over five years ago, but it’s so hard! We never found out what happened to her on that last trip she took to Asia, and we don’t even have her body to bury…” Millie sobs and her husband, James, takes her in his arms so she can cry on his shoulder.

Emma watches her parents consoling each other while tears run down her face. She has her shoulder-length dark hair tied into a ponytail, and she imagines her blue eyes must look awfully bloodshot by now with the amount of crying she’s been doing. She had not worn makeup today because she knew it would only get messed up within a few moments of entering the church. She thinks as she stares into the smiling eyes of her sister depicted in the old photograph, “Oh, God, Megan I’m going to miss you so much! I didn’t want Mom and Dad to give up on you, but they might be right. We last heard from you after you reached Japan just before embarking on your trip to climb that great wall in the Himalayas. I told you at the time that I thought you were insane making such a trip by yourself, and you reassured me like you always did that nothing was going to go wrong because you had faith that you would be okay. Well, sis, I think you got mixed up about this one…”

About an hour later, other family members and friends hugged and gave their best wishes to James and Millie as they made their ways out of the cemetery to find their cars and start for home. Emma is surprised when she feels someone hug her from behind and turn her around with a smile. “Hey, long time no see!” says Allison Freemont. “Same here, how’ve you been?” Emma says as another tear escapes from the corner of her left eye. “Oh, I can’t complain, I guess,” Allison says while stopping to wipe her right blue eye with a tissue. Allison had been Megan’s best friend when they were at university together both as students and later as colleagues. She has her shoulder length blonde hair braided on her right shoulder and is wearing a dark blue business suit with a white blouse and black bowtie while carrying her briefcase. Allison says, “You know, I still have the cell phone Megan gave me before she left. She and I had a standing agreement between us that if one of us ever became sidetracked or held up on a trip overseas, then we would find a way to call the left behind cell phone to leave a message with a special passphrase for the other person to know it was a genuine message. I’ve gotten into the habit over the last few years of turning it on and leaving it on my desk while I’m working with the small hope in my heart that maybe she would find a way to call me. This cell phone made Megan and I both feel a little more secure with the idea of traveling so far away,” she says with a shrug. “I just wish it had done a better job for us this time!”

Emma nods her head with a grin and says, “That kind of idea sounds exactly like Megan. She always was certain that the two of you could stay safe regardless of what end of wherever you might wind up. I guess she just had strong faith. I hope that stayed with her to the end.”

Allison says, “I’m sure it did. Megan wouldn’t be Megan without her hope and faith. Come on, why don’t you and I go do a little catching up? I’m staying around here for a few days, and I would enjoy the chance to visit!” “Okay, sounds great!” Emma responds happily.

Allison and Emma go join Mr. and Mrs. Sanders in a trip back to the Sanders family home to grab a bite to eat.

Meanwhile, back in Shambhala… Megan Sanders climbs slowly down from the carriage in which she and her friend, Ariella Xingcho, had been riding. Once groundside, she makes certain her shawl is still on her shoulders and her walking stick is firmly gripped in her right hand. Ariella walks over beside her and asks, “Are you okay?” Megan smiles and says, “Yes, I’m okay. I’m so big now that it makes me feel better before setting out to make sure that all of my parts and pieces are in order. Let’s get going, shall we?”

Megan starts walking through the dragon gate with her walking stick supporting her on her right side and Ariella holding her left arm. Her slow, but persistent rolling waddle is getting her to the palace, and all she can think is that she will be glad when they finally make it and she can sit down again!

Upon reaching the palace main entrance, a guard steps forward and kneels before her in respect. She smiles and says, “Jobey, is that you? You’re such a darling. Come here to me!” The surprised guard stands up and waits while Megan puts her arms around him and hugs him. “It’s good to see you! I hope you and your wife are doing well!” she says with great happiness. The guard smiles and says, “Yes, ma’am, my wife is doing very well and so am I. Thank you for asking”. He bows again and ushers Megan and Ariella into the palace.

Ariella smiles knowingly at Megan from her left side and says, “You remembered him and his wife. Your memory has returned, hasn’t it?” Megan looks at her without turning her head and a devious little smile creeps into her expression. She says, “It may have popped back into my noggin’ like I had hoped since our talk encouraged it to do so. I’m glad that it came back though. I was initially afraid of sounding like an idiot when I didn’t recognize anyone,” she says with an edge of gratefulness to her voice.

Megan and Ariella reached the end of the hallway leading to the chamber of the Imperial Court after a few more minutes. Ariella instructs the guard to announce their arrival. The guard steps into the court and proclaims, “The honorable Temple Mother and Lady Ariella Xingcho arriving!” The guard steps back outside and closes the door behind them. Megan waddles over to the enlarged seat reserved for her to the left of the king’s throne. She slowly lowers herself onto it upon reaching it and is surprised when a small child comes rushing towards her from the opposite side of the room and quickly hops up into her arms. “Xanchi, what are you doing, sweet one?” She smiles and wraps the tiny boy in a loving hug. Xanchi is the youngest child of Eriela, Elidar’s younger sister. Megan had grown to love the child upon meeting him and had looked after him a lot after taking her place in the court.

“I’ve been looking for you, Auntie,” Xanchi says with a big smile.

Megan continues smiling and says, “I’m so glad you found me, honey. I’m very happy to see you!”

Xanchi snuggles up on top of Megan with his head laying comfortably on her right shoulder. She thinks to herself with a tiny amount of pluck, “I know he loves me, but my body is so huge and soft now I must make an enviable bed!” Megan quietly asks, “How has my sweet boy been doing? Have you been good with the other children in the playroom?” She softly kisses his forehead as she talks with him to comfort and calm him a little more.

Xanchi cracks open his eyes and says, “I’ve been playing and having fun, but I’ve missed you, Auntie. Where have you been?”

Megan pats his back and says, “Your Auntie has been very sick for a long while now. I only started getting better this morning. When I felt more like myself again, I made my way here so I could see you! I also wanted to catch up with your Unca, of course.”

Xanchi grins and says, “I know you miss Unca Elidar when you’re apart for too long. Can I ask you something, Auntie?”

“Yes, you may ask me something, dear. I’ll answer your question if I can,” she says.

“Is Unca Elidar the reason you’ve grown so big? Why is your belly as large as it is now?” he asks.

Megan rolls her eyes at the inevitable questioning of young children regarding the pregnancies of women in their families. It’s a foregone conclusion when women’s bodies grow and change with pregnancy around small children, those children become very curious about the entire process. Megan sighs and says, “This is really a conversation that you should be having with your mother, sweetheart. Suffice it to say, you are right in your assumption that your Unca helped my body change like this, with my help. We love each other very much, and our love caused me to grow like this because our babies are developing inside of my belly. There are eight babies in here,” she says as she rubs and pats the top left side of her middle with her left hand, “and I must do everything I can to take good care of them until they’re ready to come out of me and live with us. Does this make sense?”

Xanchi gets up and sits in the nook beside Megan while looking at her with wonderment in his eyes. “There are eight babies in your belly?” he asks almost as if he can’t believe it while in the same breath he realizes that it must be true as the only thing that makes sense given her incredibly increased size. Megan raises her eyebrows while smiling at him and nods her head in the affirmative. “Why don’t you try feeling of my belly? There’s a lot of movement in here as the babies reposition themselves for greater comfort,” she says.

Xanchi places both of his hands on top of Megan’s middle and gasps as he feels the babies moving inside of her. Small bumps indicating moving babies appear and travel along the surface of her belly and then vanish as the babies in question take up new positions inside of her. “How long until they come out of you?” he asks. “They will be here in about three more months. By then I’ll be so big that I’ll have problems getting around. Your Unca will help me build a wheelchair so that I’ll be able to move when it becomes too hard for me to walk on my feet. And, before you ask, I’ll still have a pretty big belly after my babies come. That’s something I’ve had to learn to live with as the Temple Mother, which I’ll explain to you more when you get older, ok?” she says. Xanchi grins as he realizes that he’s already learned something new and very special about his Auntie, which makes him feel privileged. “Thanks for telling me, Auntie. I’d better go before I get into trouble. I look forward to seeing you again soon! I love you!” he says. “I love you, too, honey!” she responds.

Xanchi stretches over and kisses Megan on the cheek before hopping down from the chair and running back towards the palace playroom. Megan shakes her head with another smile as she watches him go.

King Erilchiu smiles fondly as he watches Megan and Xanchi visit. After the boy leaves, the king leans over and asks, “You love him very much, don’t you?”

Megan looks at the king with a smile and says, “Yes, Your Majesty, he’s my nephew and I love him very much. I hope that he will get along well with my children after they start arriving. I have a feeling that they will all enjoy each other’s company.” The king grins, nods his head and says, “If the interaction between you and Xanchi is any indication of it, I believe you’re quite right when you say that the children will get along well”.

Megan smiles again as she looks up and sees a familiar face walking over to her with a concerned look on his face. Elidar walks over, leans over to hug and kiss her, and asks, “What are you doing here? You told me this morning that you were feeling terrible and wanted to rest in bed while I came here for the morning. I was going to join you again this afternoon. Are you okay?”

Megan says, “Don’t worry, honey, I’m fine. My sickness broke shortly after you left this morning. I was feeling quite groggy and not myself, and as Ariella will tell you,” she says while smiling at the young woman sitting next to her briefly before turning back to him, “I was having serious trouble remembering my life here since I arrived in Shambhala. My memory came back after we had a long conversation and I’m feeling much better as well! I made my way here because I missed you and wanted to see you”.

Elidar sighs and looks relieved when he hears this. “I’m glad you’re feeling better. Do the babies seem okay?” he asks.

Megan grins while rubbing the sides of her massive middle resting between her legs and says, “Yes, our babies are doing very well as far as I can tell. They’re moving, kicking and positively rambunctious sometimes! Despite its enormous size, I’m surprised my belly is not bouncing around with their activity inside of me. That by itself is an excellent sign that there’s nothing to worry about with regards to their health”.

Megan's eyebrows rise in surprise and a look of endearment with a tiny smile settles on her face as Elidar kneels down, wraps his arms around her, lays his head on top of her belly, closes his eyes and smiles happily. He rubs the left side of her belly with his right hand and gently kisses the top of it while telling their babies how much he loves them. He raises up from his kneeling position quickly to give his wife a passionate kiss on her lips. He rubs the side of her face and says, “I love you, sweetheart. I’m going to finish what I was working on in about ten minutes, and if you want to, then we can leave together”. “That sounds like a good plan, handsome,” she responds with a smile while bringing his hand to her mouth and giving him a kiss on it. He smiles and says, “Okay, I’ll be back soon!” He then rushes out of the throne room as fast as he can go.

Ariella shakes her head with a huge grin on her face. Megan asks, “What?” Ariella responds by saying, “I’m sorry. It’s just wonderful to see the love that the two of you share. I’m glad that it developed considering your tendency to sneak out of the temple at night to go courting your prospective husband”.

Megan’s mouth falls open and she says, “So you knew what I was doing?”

Ariella says, “Of course I knew! Prospective Temple Mothers who were not already married have been doing that for thousands of years. It’s why the doors are not locked at night. It’s an unwritten rule that we want the Temple Mothers and Matron Bearers to be happy in their new lives together, so we facilitate their getting to know each other, and hopefully their falling in love, by creating a situation where they can get together while no one else is around. Part of your training with regards to the meditation was not only to encourage you to use it to make pregnancy and birth easier to endure, but it was also for the purposes of giving you extra energy with less sleep so you would be physically able to go out at night and meet with Elidar. It really worked quite well if I do say so myself!”

Megan nods her head in understanding and asks, “I suppose this kind of happy subterfuge is only necessary when the Temple Mother and Matron Bearer are not already in a romantic relationship. How often did it not have to be used to encourage romance?”

Ariella says, “There have only been four times since the Temple Mother’s inception, including the first Temple Mother Jada, that the women in question were married at the time they were chosen, or volunteered, for the change. Jada was the queen who was married to King Aristol, the monarch who first made the agreement with Ekajati creating the role of the Temple Mother. She volunteered for the honor when she found out the agreement had been made. Her husband was not too keen on her taking the role at first, but she insisted that it was a part of her duty to keep their kingdom safe and she underwent the change as soon as she could. That throne you’re sitting in was originally built for her to sit in after she grew so big that she couldn’t comfortably sit in her original throne. It’s been kept in service especially for the Temple Mother by her command since she reached the age when she had to stop having babies”.

Megan looks at the oversized chair in which she’s resting and is somewhat amazed by this news at first. After a few moments, she realizes that it makes perfect sense. There are relics and rituals in many countries passed down from one generation to the next which have been perpetuated for centuries. This is another example of a tradition that has stood the test of time, and if the first Temple Mother was a queen then she had the authority to make certain to the best of her own ability that the position would be preserved for years to come.

Megan realizes something else with a sudden surprise, “Oh, my dear Lord, because I married Elidar it means that I’m a princess! Why didn’t I consider this before?”

Ariella shrugs her shoulders and says, “It’s always been important to you to do the best job you can in the role of the Temple Mother as the vassal of the king. You wanted to fulfill your expected duties appropriately, but it never seemed to register with you that you would become a princess of the realm upon marriage to Elidar. Your position as the Temple Mother was always foremost on your mind, but with good reason. I mean you’re expecting eight babies. That must be a pretty distracting set of circumstances for any woman, so I’ve got to say cut yourself a break. You’ve just gotten over a serious illness that robbed you of your memories for awhile, and being the Temple Mother will remain very physically taxing upon you for as long as you are having your multiple-birth pregnancies. Just keep everything in its proper perspective as you always have, and I believe you’ll be able to handle all of your roles nicely”.

Megan smiles and says, “You’re right. I feel a little surprised by the realization, but it’s something else that makes sense. And I feel oddly humbled by the realization of this role because I believe that it’s very important to show responsibility and caring in a leadership position, and I owe it to myself in addition to everyone else to do the best job that I can whenever my being a princess requires me to make a decision that could affect others. I don’t want to ever run the risk of letting anyone down, you know?”

Ariella smiles and says, “I know and it sounds exactly like what I expected you to say. You’re a very conscientious person, Megan, and I’m sure you’ll do a good job now that you fully recognize that you’re a part of royalty.”

Megan looks at Ariella, smiles and says, “Thank you for your friendship and your reassurance. Both help me tremendously!”

Ariella says, “My pleasure, Your Highness,” with a slight tongue-in-cheek edge to her words. Megan laughs and shakes her head again at her friend’s persistent humor.

Elidar finishes putting some books and other documents away, and he rushes back to the throne room where he tells his father and mother goodbye, proceeds to help Megan up from her throne, and with Ariella helps Megan waddle out of the palace to board another carriage bound for their home.

Over the course of the next month, Megan reaches the point where she’s too large to comfortably move around on her feet for long periods of time, so Elidar helps her build a wheelchair that will allow her to maintain some level of mobility through the end of her pregnancy.

While sitting in her wheelchair at eight months along, Megan has trouble believing the incredible size of her belly. The front of her belly stretches six inches past her knees while seated, and her popped out belly button sticks out and inch or so further still. The only reason she can still do anything at her weight and size at eight months is because the Shankoon tea did something other than giving her an oversized uterus and making her much more fertile. The tea had caused her heart and lungs to grow slightly larger and her circulatory system to expand out a bit. Not a whole lot of change, but just enough to give her greater oxygen processing capability and higher levels of energy than she had before. These enhancements increase her stamina and prevent her from getting worn out during her last trimester.

Megan convinces Elidar to work with her to find a new place to live before she becomes so big that she’s no longer able to handle going up and down the stairs. After searching for a time, they find an old, good-sized cottage close to the temple which was once considered an official residence for the Temple Mother. It was built especially for those Temple Mothers who followed Jada, and it had been designed with many conveniences for a mother-to-be. Megan falls in love with it immediately because it's all one level with no steps and many bedrooms for a growing family.

Although she does have more energy, and the convenience of living in the cottage, moving around becomes much harder as Megan continues to grow. By nine months, she wakes up one morning and calls out to Elidar to help her after she discovers upon waking that she can’t sit up by herself. Elidar goes into their bedroom and sees his wife’s enormous belly covered with sheets, completely hiding her upper body behind it. She says, “Honey, it’s true, I’ve finally finished changing into a baby mountain. You’ll have to pitch a tent on top of me to visit!” Elidar laughs and says, “You’re not a baby mountain, sweetheart. You’re just the very beautiful mother of my children who happens to need some help with getting up, which I’m happy to provide!” He leans over, putting his right arm behind her shoulders and taking her left hand in his to pull, and he slowly helps her get up into a sitting position on the bed. When she’s stable, he leans over and kisses her deeply on the lips while rubbing her back. Megan smiles at him and then she notices the front of her belly sitting between her legs and even with the middle of her calves. “Wow, it’s almost unbelievable how big I am!” she says with a hint of disbelief in her voice.

Elidar sits down behind her on the bed and she leans back against him. Elidar rubs the sides and top of her belly with both of his hands and says, “You’re carrying eight babies, honey, and you’re almost to term. When you give birth, your belly will go back to the way it was prior to your pregnancy.”

Megan rolls her eyes and says, “Believe that if you wish, but I expect that I’ll be noticeably bigger than I was then.” She smiles as she watches Elidar’s hands caressing as much of her middle as he can reach. “At least I’ll be able to get around on my feet again for a time, and I won’t be as much of a burden for you as I am now,” she says softly.

Elidar kisses Megan behind her left ear and says, “You will never be a burden to me. I love you and want to take care of you no matter how big you grow. Taking care of you and our babies is the most important part of my life. Please never forget that, honey”. He rubs and pats the top of her belly below her breasts with his right hand, and then he moves over to the left side of the bed and gets up.

“Do you feel up to going to the kitchen for breakfast? I made a nice chicken egg and pork sausage stew with chicken broth, minced onions, mushrooms and black olives that seems like it could be mighty tasty. It might even satisfy a certain enhanced appetite I’m reasonably familiar with that’s a part of the wonderful lady I love.” Megan grins at him and says, “Okay, you’re not exactly playing fair by whetting my very strong appetite with tales of a delicious breakfast stew. Please bring the wheelchair over so I can get into it”.

“Your wish is my command, my dear!” he says with added emphasis as he guides the wheelchair through the door and locks he wheels positioning the wheelchair beside the bed. He then takes Megan’s feet and lower legs to help her turn so she can slide over to the edge of the bed. After getting to the edge, Megan pushes up with her feet and legs to reach a standing position, and then she slowly turns around to sit herself down in the chair.

After getting comfortable in the chair, Elidar puts down the foot rests for Megan to place her feet on, and then he pushes her through the door, down the hall and into the kitchen. Once there, Elidar places a tray of bread and butter on the table, followed by a couple of bowls of breakfast stew. Megan’s bowl is larger than his. He sits down beside her where he butters a slice of bread for each of them. They dive into the food, and Megan says, “This is great! Let’s make this a regular breakfast item if you don’t mind?” Elidar nods his head and says, “I’ll be glad to. I’ve enjoyed having this before, and it’s relatively easy to make”.

Megan finishes her breakfast, rubs her belly and happily says, “Thanks, that really hit the spot for me! I think….” She stops suddenly and a surprised look of pain and stress appear on Megan’s face. Her head tilts forward and she clutches around her belly for a moment before a release of liquid is heard and Elidar watches Megan’s water break and flow into and out of the front of the chair. Megan scrunches her face up. “Oh, I think I just popped?! I knew I should’ve compared myself more to an overgrown balloon than to a baby mountain,” she says deliriously and then she clearly adds with excitement, “The babies are coming!”

Elidar grabs the bags they packed for Megan’s birth, and he goes out to prepare the carriage. He rolls Megan out to it, and he lowers a rope harness supported platform down after pulling it out of the side of the wagon. He puts Megan’s chair on the platform and pulls hard on the multiple pulley-mounted rope, which raises Megan up to the widened side carriage door, and she rolls herself aboard it. Megan had designed the contraption with just such a situation as the one she is experiencing today in mind, being so big that she can barely waddle, yet going into labor and having to get into a wagon to get to the hospital to give birth. Once Megan is inside of the carriage, Elidar climbs in and wraps straps around the locked chair wheels, pulls the lift inside the carriage, puts another locking protection strap over Megan to secure her in place. He kisses and hugs her, and then he climbs back out and shuts the door. He gets up into the drivers’ seat and proceeds to carry his wife to the hospital.

The carriage passes by the palace on the way to the hospital. Elidar has hoisted a flag on a post mounted on the front right corner of the carriage with a symbol indicating the Temple Mother is in labor and needs help. Five guards near the gate, including Jobey, see the flag, and they all run over to the carriage and hop aboard it as it passes by.

Megan is doing Lamaze breathing and unconsciously calling out to Ekajati for help. Ekajati hears her and materializes beside Megan in the carriage when they had almost reached the hospital. Ekajati smiles and says, “Do not worry, sweet child, I will help you through this”. Ekajati waves her hands and Megan is suddenly checked into the hospital, redressed in a hospital gown and in a bed in the special Temple Mother delivery room. Elidar is by her side, her Ayurvedist (doctor) is at the end of her bed, and her feet and legs are up in stirrups so she’s in position to go through labor. Ekajati appears again beside Megan’s bed and says, “Do not worry, this will not hurt very much,” and she waves her arms again. Megan is astonished as she experiences very little pain, and her babies start coming out of her relatively quickly.

Within two hours, the babies are born and laying on a baby bed together beside her bed. Elidar helps her lift two of them at a time, and they hold them together as each baby drinks from their mother’s breasts for a short time.

After the babies have been fed, Megan sleeps for a few hours, and then wakes up to see Elidar napping in the chair on her left side beside her bed. She smiles and brushes the right side of his face with her left hand. “Hey there, stranger. We did good, didn’t we?” she asks. Elidar’s eyes crack open, he smiles at her, and takes her left hand in his right hand to give a gentle kiss on the back of it. He follows this with saying, “Yes, honey, we did very good! And I’m so proud of you!” He leans over and carefully hugs Megan in a way to avoid accidentally pressing against her breasts. She kisses him on his left cheek, smiles and pats his shoulder as he moves back to sit in the chair beside her.

A few days later, Megan and Elidar have brought their babies home. They have four boys and four girls from this first pregnancy. Megan is very happy that the boys have their own baby bed beside another one for the girls nestled beside each other in the corner of the bedroom. She realizes that the babies will miss each other, so she makes certain that they have plenty of opportunities to be together with she and Elidar throughout the day while Elidar is at home.

Elidar helps Megan put the babies down to sleep on their fourth day home. As soon as they are done, he steps up behind her, wraps his arms around her, and says, “Would you feel like spending a little time together after the babies go to sleep?” She turns around, leans back and pushes her large pot belly into him with a smile. “I know exactly what’s on your mind, sweet boy. It involves seduction, and pumping this big old belly of mine full of more babies! I will be glad to go along with that plan if we can talk with each other and make some plans first. I want us to go back to my old home first before I grow too big to comfortably travel. And although the idea of being away from our children rips my heart out of my chest, I believe we won’t be gone that long, and we’ll get back a lot sooner if we can leave as soon as possible!”

She smiles as Elidar rubs her belly while thinking about the alternatives. Elidar says, “I think we should stay with the babies for at least a few months and then go on the trip. This will give us bonding time as well as allowing us to prepare for such a long journey. And, I’m willing to forego the idea of pumping your belly full of babies until we’re already en route to your old home. I figure if you become pregnant while we’re on the trip, then you won’t start growing big until around the time we get back. This is presuming of course that you only become pregnant with eight the next go around”.

Megan rolls her eyes and grins in a devious way. She says, “Oh, I know you, my deliciously perverse boy. You want to stuff me as full as possible on the next go ‘round. I’m willing to bet you would prefer to see me carrying at least ten next time. Am I getting warm with this statement by chance?”

Elidar shrugs and says, “You know me too well, dear. Suffice it to say I don’t want to see you grow so big that you’ll become miserable”. Megan throws her hand up to her forehead and says, “Sacre bleu! How dere you say dat wid a straight face!” in a purposely horrible imitation of the old animated character Pepe le Pew. Elidar laughs and says, “I can’t say I’m not tempted to be evil about it, but seriously, I don’t want to see you a prisoner in your own body….unless of course I get to take care of you….” Megan’s eyes bug out and her jaw drops with this statement. She says, “You are so wrong for that. Just for that I’m going to squash you like a little bug the next time I grow big! See how you like those apples, mister!”

Elidar takes advantage of this moment of distraction to pull her hand in a way that causes her to come over closer to him. He quickly plants a long, passionate kiss on her lips, which clouds her mind over nicely for a short while. Megan backs away a step and says, “No fair! Taking advantage of me after distracting me with your nonsense, what kind of a man are you anyway…” And he plants another long kiss on her lips. She steps over and collapses on the couch. “Ohhhh, hormones are for the birds sometimes!” she says as she shakes her head trying to clear it.

Elidar walks over to the couch, sits down beside her, and takes her into his arms to cuddle. She says, “Now this is more like it. I’m thinking about forgiving you so long as you remain good”.

“What if I don’t want to remain good?” he asks.

“Well, it’s like I said before, you’re going to learn very quickly what it’s like to be a squashed bug when I grow big enough to get you!” she says with a devious smile on her face. “Ha! If you even try, I’ll roll you back to bed, treating you like the giant ball you’ll resemble, before you can even think about getting close to me!” he says while wiggling his eyebrows at her mockingly. Megan looks back with an irritated expression and sticks her tongue out at him.

Elidar laughs, “Now that’s what I like to see, playfulness”.

“Oh, so that’s your explanation for sideways behavior around your very hormonally moody wife, eh? You want to get a rise out of me?” she asks with a sarcastic grin gracing her lips.

He responds, “I like to keep things interesting. If I didn’t keep up my act and allowed you to get bored, then I would never hear the end of it, now would I?”

Megan just leans back against him, smiles, and says, “You’re probably right about that. I wouldn’t want things to get too dull despite my occasional outbursts. All playing aside though, I think you’re right about having some bonding time with the babies. We can arrange to go after a few months, and we won’t be gone that long anyway. Perhaps three or four months, tops?”

Elidar nods his head in agreement and says, “Yes, three or four months would be sufficient time for you to make your contacts with family, friends and work colleagues, and we could make it back before you become too physically uncomfortable with travelling”.

Megan laughs and says, “You mean before I turn back into a parade float?”

Elidar stops and says, “You know I was only joking with you earlier. I love your body, honey, especially when you grow big. You become so cuddly when you’re like that, and I always enjoy holding you”.

Megan says, “Yes, I know you do, and I enjoy cuddling with you, too. It’s just when I do grow big, sometimes I feel unusually big, and it’s hard for me to be physically comfortable with myself when I’m like that. It’s a passing feeling for me which doesn’t last, thankfully, but it does happen sometimes. Hopefully I’ll get over the notion someday”.

Elidar adds, “I can think of a few ways to motivate you towards enjoying your time as a ‘parade float’ as you call it”.

Megan asks, “Oh, do you now, sage and wise one that you are? Pray tell me what you have cooking in that devious mind of yours?” She grins at him while wondering what he has in store for her.

“Nothing too elaborate past a nice body massage in our tub with candles in the evening to help you relax. This is after cooking a nice meal for you after having helped you feed the babies. This naturally is perfect practice for later after you become pregnant again,” he says.

She looks at him with a slightly bewildered expression and asks, “Although I’m grateful for the nice activities you’ve been describing, am I correct in what I heard that you’re going to help me feed our babies? While it’s a generous offer, I don’t see a pair of breasts on your chest that are up to handling the job”. She quirks a teasing smile at him with this last remark.

Elidar frowns and shakes his head with a disappointed look as he says, “I wasn’t talking about helping you with feeding the babies in that way, dear. I meant helping you the way I did at the hospital by holding them and making sure you’re comfortable while you’re feeding them. I can at least do that to make things a little easier”.

Megan smiles widely and says, “Yes, you’re right, that would be an excellent way for you to help! I appreciate your thoughtfulness in suggesting it, and I especially like the idea of the bath massage! You’re a good boy after all, sweetie”.

Elidar hugs her around her middle and rubs and pats her belly happily as he says, “I’m glad you recognize that, honey. Although I do love to tease you sometimes, I always want to be there to take care of you and our children”.

“I’m glad for your help. I believe I’m as used to this huge bellied perpetually pregnant body of mine as I can be, but it never gets easier having a belly that always rests between my legs while seated, with its front reaching my knees and its preceding me wherever I go. And I stay hungry, even though it’s to be expected. Fulfilling my appetite is fueling my production of milk for the babies, while on the trip it will once more be helping me along with another pregnancy. Despite your jokes before, I really wonder how many I’ll have the next time?” she asks as she leans against Elidar while enjoying his gentle rubbing of the sides and top of her belly.

Elidar says, “No one knows for sure. I mean we all know that Ekajati’s rituals and blessings have changed your body to make you tremendously fertile and capable of carrying more babies, far more easily than you ever could have before, but we never know exactly how many you’ll have each time. I will say that the most babies a Temple Mother has ever had is ten, but that was a rare thing when it happened. Most of the time Temple Mothers have six to eight babies, with some of them having had an average of between four and six at a time. Although it’s a lot, it’s not completely unmanageable, and you will never be without a great deal of loving support”.

Megan asks, “Will we have nannies to help us in the future? Ariella said that in the past each Temple Mother had nannies assigned to help take care of the children after she’s had a lot of pregnancies”.

Elidar says, “Yes, there’s always been a tradition of getting nannies to help take care of the Temple Mother’s large and growing family. Those nannies are approved by the head priestess of the temple, in this case Ariella, as well as by palace security. It is considered a very high honor to be chosen for the role of a Temple Mother nanny, but it’s always good to check the women out anyway to make certain they’re up for the job”.

Megan asks, “Palace security, eh? I don’t know how reliable that source is going to be. If I recall, they allowed a rather large bellied woman to sneak into the palace at night for a few months to spend time with the prince without saying a word about it. Wait, now that I’m thinking about it, was that more subterfuge to make getting settled in to the role of the Temple Mother easier for me?”

Elidar laughs and says, “Ah, I knew that you’d catch onto what was really going on sooner or later. Ariella told me about the conversation you and she had that day when you visited the palace after you were sick. I had been told that the temple doors would remain unlocked during your training to encourage you to venture out and hopefully come back to the palace to spend time for us to get to know each other. I made sure there were no guards to disrupt your nightly sojourns, and palace security was aware of what was going on. They had guards on station anyway, but they were placed discreetly to avoid interfering with your visits”.

Megan says, “That makes me feel better. I never saw them, so they must have been doing an excellent job with their duties”. Elidar nods his head and says, “Yes, they are quite good at what they do”.

“Well, kind sir, shall we venture forth to have that good meal, feed the babies, and then have an excellent time bathing and snuggling in bed?” she asks. Elidar answers, “That sounds like a wonderful set of ideas to me! Let’s go, honey”. He stands up and helps her get up from the couch. They proceed to have a good evening together.


A few months later Megan is waddling around getting her clothes and other items ready to go. She’s dressed in her dark blue and black ceremonial gown with the golden brooch amulet around her neck signifying her position as Temple Mother, an embossed image of a heavily pregnant woman adorning the middle of it with the title of “Temple Mother” in ancient Cinocian script below her. ‘As if this enormous belly of mine isn’t a significant enough symbol of my role,’ she thinks wryly as she makes sure nothing is missed out of Elidar’s and her room.

Ariella comes in and asks, “Are you about ready? Elidar has the rest of your items packed in the carriage”.

Megan smiles and says, “Yes, I’m ready, but wait, I almost forgot something”. She goes over to her dressing table, opens the top middle drawer and takes out a golden engraved tiara with beautiful artistic patterns and diamonds mounted in it. She places it on top of her head and affixes it with hair pins at the back to make it harder to remove. “The symbol of my being a princess, I mustn’t forget this,” she says while smiling. Ariella nods her head and says, “I’m glad you remembered it. It looks nice!” She takes Megan’s left hand, squeezes and pats it reassuringly with a smile. Megan smiles too and says, “Thank you for your friendship and your help”. Ariella says, “You’re welcome. I’m always glad to help!”

Ariella helps Megan get her last set of bags off the bed and carries them out to the carriage. Megan stops on the way out and takes each baby in her arms to kiss and hug them with a few tears. The babies smile and coo at her lovingly and she says, “You sweethearts be good while your daddy and I are gone. We will be back very soon! I love you all so much!” She puts both hands to her heart while smiling at them and proceeds out the front door with Ariella right behind her.

Ariella says, “I’m finishing training your first nanny, Genara, and she will be with me taking care of the babies while you’re gone. There’s nothing to worry about. Just take good care of yourself!” She hugs Megan and helps her get up into the carriage. Elidar hops up behind Megan and gets into the seat beside her after making sure she’s comfortable.

The carriage follows a road going back into town and past the palace. The trip takes about twenty minutes or so and Megan looks out the right-side window of the carriage to see a large gate in the wall around the kingdom ahead of them. The gate doors are made of bronze and iron, and they each look to be around four feet thick. Megan had not seen them before since this would be the first time she’s left the kingdom since arriving, and she arrived through an individual-sized door built for use by the guards. “These are incredibly impressive gate doors,” she says to Elidar. He says, “Yes, they were built many years ago to guard against invaders when Shambhala still had regular contact with the outside world. They are a reminder of that warring period in our history, and I hope we should never have to worry about war again. I would like to think we will always be protected from it with Ekajati on our side”. A very knowing smile graces Megan’s face as she says, “You may always be certain of that protection, dear. I know we will always have it”. He looks at her and smiles, and he takes her hand and squeezes it.

The great doors swing open and the carriage goes through the opening to the land just beyond the kingdom wall. The carriage makes a right-hand turn outside of the gate and proceeds along a road leading down out of the mountains and to the sea coast.

After a couple of hours travel time, the carriage reaches a pier which it rolls along for a few minutes, and then it enters one of the loading points on a large cargo ship docked at the end. The captain of the ship, Jolan, greets Elidar and Megan as they disembark the carriage. The captain bows and says with a large smile, “Your highnesses are welcome aboard my ship! If there’s anything which you need, please let me know. I will show you to your cabin myself and your guards may take position as you see fit. If my invitation is acceptable, you are welcome to join me for supper tonight”.

Elidar says, “Thank you for your kindnesses, Captain. We would be honored to join you for supper tonight. Let’s go ahead to the cabin so that my wife can rest until it’s time to eat”. The Captain nods his head and goes ahead of them, followed by his first mate who carries the smaller items of luggage.

Jimilyon, captain of the Shambhala wall guard, has joined the royal couple along with Jobey and five other guards. He says, “Jobey, I want you and Kelnar with me to guard the prince and princess. The rest of you will stay with the heavier luggage and other items being unloaded from the carriage. The drivers will then take the carriage back out of the ship and return with it to Shambhala. The reason for this is because the princess has said that roads in her old homeland are not made with horse-drawn conveyances in mind and she doesn’t want the animals to be injured. She said that she will arrange a means of transport once we reach port, which should be in about three weeks”. The men all nod in agreement and move to their assigned duties.

The trip by the cargo ship goes without incident. Megan and Elidar relax together in their cabin a few weeks after arriving on the ship, which has a queen-sized bed to accommodate Megan’s greatly enhanced figure. She’s laying on her right side with a pillow underneath her belly to support it and reading a newspaper. She’s shocked to find that the newspaper is a recent one with a date roughly five years after she went looking for Shambhala. She knows that she’s been in Shambhala for only about a year, so this does not make sense and is something she must figure out.

Elidar notices her perplexed expression and asks, “What’s wrong? Aren’t you glad to find a recent newspaper so you can find out a little about what’s been going on in the world while you’ve been in the kingdom?”

Megan says, “I’m grateful they had recent newspapers on board, but these dates don’t make any sense. I’ve been in Shambhala for roughly one year. According to the printing dates on these papers, they’re from five years after I went on my trip. How is this possible?”

Elidar thinks for a moment and then asks, “Do you think it may have something to do with the reason why we have been cut off from the rest of the world? Perhaps Ekajati’s barrier may be slowing down time for us in some way?”

Megan shrugs and says, “That may be the reason for it. I’ll have to ask Ekajati about it when I can. I wonder if the barrier is the cause of the time difference? If that’s the case, then what can be done to put Shambhala back in line with the rest of the world? I hope it’s possible to do so”.

A few days later the ship is docking at Savannah, Georgia. By this point, Megan is pregnant again and is very much looking forward to seeing her family. She helps Elidar and the guards get all their belongings together and they go ashore to the docking authorities to gain entrance to the United States.

The guard at the window smiles and asks Megan for her passport. Megan gives it to her. She is grateful to have salvaged it from her destroyed pack after she was attacked when arriving at Shambhala. The guard frowns when checking her computer based on the information in the passport. She calls a guard who draws his firearm and points it at Megan.

Megan is stunned at this response. She says, “Ma’am, I’m Dr. Megan Sanders of the University of Georgia archaeology department. I’ve been in another country without any means of communication with home for years.” Megan notices the perplexed expression on the guard’s face as she peers at her computer screen. She asks the guard, “What’s wrong?”

The guard says, “Well, Dr. Sanders, according to my computer you’ve been declared dead. You’re going to have to prove your identity by means other than just your passport before you’ll be allowed entrance into the country.”

Megan becomes very upset. ‘Dead? Why would they… wait, if I’ve been gone for five years with no contact, what else would they think? Rats, this is great. Wait a minute…’ she thinks. “Ma’am,” she asks the guard, “Do you have a phone I can please use to call one of my associates at the university who can prove that I am who I say I am?”

The guard says, “Yes, a phone call would be fine if it’s not international”.

Megan smiles and says, “No, it’s a call here in Georgia, thanks”. She takes the phone and dials the number for the phone she had left with Allison Freemont.

Allison hears the old cell phone Megan had left with her ring and she can’t believe it. She answers it and says, “Hello? Who’s there?”

A voice from the past says, “I went around the world in longer than eighty days and need your help to finish getting home. Will you please help me?”

“Oh my God, Megan, is that you?!” Allison says in surprise after hearing the old passphrase she and Megan had come up with years earlier to identify each other if they had been separated with no other means of contact. They had never shared the passphrase with anyone, so Allison knew it had to be her calling.

“Yes, Allison, it’s your old buddy back from the Far East, and I need your help to enter the country again. It seems someone said that I had died?” Megan says.

Allison says, “Yes, your pastor convinced your family to do that so that they could move on because you’ve been gone for so long. The university sent a rescue team after you a few years ago, but no trace of you was ever found so we all presumed that you had died. I’m very glad that we were wrong! What do you need for me to do?”

Megan says, “Please get one of the transport vans like the sports teams use for short trips and bring it down to the Savannah docks, dock seven to be exact. I’ll be there waiting. And, could you please bring my old university ID with you? You still have that copy of it in your desk drawer, don’t you?”

Allison grins and says, “Yes, Megan, I still have your backup ID and I will bring it with me. I’ll leave in a few minutes as soon as I can check out the van and I’ll be there in a few hours. See you soon!”

With that Allison gets Megan’s old ID, her materials, her own ID and her sidearm loaded in her pack. She hefts the pack and runs out to get the van. After getting the van, she drives off the university campus en route to Savannah. She has her cell phone plugged into a USB adapter cigarette lighter charger.

When she’s three-quarters of the way to Savannah, she dials Emma. “Hello?” Emma says. “Hi, Emma, it’s Allison. I’m on my way to see you later today, and I have a big surprise for you and your parents. Please make sure you are all there at around 7:00 PM. I’m bringing visitors for dinner”. Emma says, “Okay, I’ll make sure we’re all here waiting for you. Thanks, and I’ll see you soon!” Allison says, “I’ll see you later today, bye!”


To Be Continued…

[align=center]The Temple Mother - Part Five[/align]
[align=center]by PumpkinBelly[/align]

Allison is breathing hard and trying her best to keep her mind on the task at hand. Despite the call with the passphrase, she feels like she can’t fully believe Megan is back until she sees her again face-to-face. She drives the van into Savannah and follows her GPS navigator directions to dock seven. She parks the vehicle, locks it and walks as fast as she can to the entrance to the dock building. She goes inside of the building after taking a deep breath at the door.

When she gets inside she stops and her mouth falls open as her eyes bug out. Standing before her is Megan Sanders, wearing a traditional Oriental-style gown and looking massively pregnant! Tears flow down Allison’s cheeks as she walks slowly over to her very pregnant friend, smiles and wraps her arms around her. “It’s so good to see you again! I’ve missed you!” Allison says. “It’s good to see you, too!” Megan says happily.

The two friends move away from each other and Megan says, “I have to introduce you to my husband, Elidar. Elidar, this is my old friend I told you about, Allison Freemont”.

Elidar says, “It’s very nice to meet you, Allison,” and shakes her hand with a smile.

“It’s nice to meet you, too,” Allison says with a bewildered look on her face. She looks at Megan and asks, “Husband? You?” pointing back and forth between the two of them. Megan grins and nods her head.

“That explains your very healthy condition, doesn’t it?” Allison says as she beams while gently patting Megan’s belly. Megan says, “Yes, I’m pregnant because my husband and I have a very healthy marriage, and a very enjoyable love life. And before you ask, Elidar and I already have a family back in our new home. I’m actually expecting for the second time”. Allison’s mouth falls open in shock over this. She recovers quickly and says, “I’m very happy for you both. I’m just surprised is all”. Megan grins and says, “I figured you would be, sweetie. Let’s get this business about my identity squared away and get back to my family’s home, huh?”

Allison steps over to the window and shows her own and Megan’s UGA IDs to the guard and says, “I’m here to officially say that this is Dr. Megan Sanders, who was an assistant professor of archaeology at the University of Georgia. Her declaration of death was an error because she was stuck overseas somewhere that we couldn’t contact her and she was presumed deceased. We will be filing papers to have her brought back to life in the eyes of the law as soon as possible. Will you please grant her entrance back into the United States?”

The guard smiles, gives Allison a few forms to sign, and says, “Yes, Dr. Freemont, your friend, Dr. Sanders, may reenter the country. You must sign for temporary visitor visas for her friends though”. “Of course, it won’t be a problem”. Allison finishes filling out the paperwork which establishes visitor visas good for up to six months for the men traveling with Megan. She gathers the paperwork into a folder, sticks it into her bag, and then walks with Megan out to the van while Jimilyon and Jobey work with the other guards to help Elidar move their belongings onto a cargo hauling cart to push out to load into the back of the van.

Megan puts the front passenger side seatbelt on and realizes she thought a long time ago in Shambhala that she might never do something like this again. Allison climbs into the driver’s seat, while Elidar gets into the seat behind Megan and he and the guards put their seatbelts on with Allison’s help. Allison smiles, cranks the van, pulls out of the parking space, drives out of the lot and gets on the road to Marietta, Georgia.

Elidar is amazed and asks, “Megan, this is one of those horseless carriages you were telling me about, isn’t it? What operates it?”

Megan smiles and says, “It’s a combustion engine under the hood that operates using gasoline made from refined petroleum. It’s a liquid with great energy potential that burns in the engine making the vehicle move. I’ll have to get some schematics to show the technology to you later. I think you’ll enjoy learning about it”.

Allison asks, “Megan, you have to tell me, where have you been all this time? What did you find?”

Megan takes a breath and calmly says, “You probably won’t believe me. I can barely believe it myself, and I’ve been living there all this time. To put it simply, I discovered the lost ancient kingdom of Shambhala, which exists on a plateau in the heart of the Himalayan mountains. The kingdom is a fully intact wonder of the ancient world, which is a home to many millions of people groomed in a culture older than most of recorded history. My husband, Elidar, is the son of King Erilchiu of Shambhala, which means he is a prince of the realm, and as his wife, I am a princess of Shambhala. Does that answer the most pressing of your questions?”

Allison’s face goes blank and her voice catches in her throat. When she gets herself back under what she erroneously believes is a semblance of control, her mouth begins uttering, “Huh, huh, do what? You were where, and you’re a princess?!”

Megan shakes her head while grinning and says, “I knew it would be this way. Your brain is going into overload about this. Don’t worry, I got permission from the king to take you and my family back with me. You’ll see that everything I’ve told you is true. We can take computers, cameras, and other recording devices to do a full historical analysis of the region for the university if the department will accept it with me being named back as a scholar abroad or something along those lines. In simplest terms, I’ve made the archaeological find of a lifetime, and we have a lot of important work to do! Allison, I’m going to explain the changes in my life to Mom, Dad, Emma and you as soon as we get settled in after reaching my family’s home.”

Allison responds more coherently after a few minutes of allowing what Megan had told her to sink in. “Okay, I’ll stay and hear you out, but dear Lord, girl! This sounds almost too good to be true. You found a lost wonder of the ancient world, and you’re a princess? Don’t get me wrong. I’m extremely happy if it’s all true, but it’s pretty hard to believe. You have to admit that even you wouldn’t have believed a story like this before you left on your trip.”

Megan shrugs with a smile and says, “Too true. I probably would’ve laughed myself silly on considering the notion to have even had a small trace of reality. But it is a dream come true for me, Allison. And there’s another part I haven’t told you yet that’s related to my pregnancy. A part that you will probably find the hardest to believe of them all. I’m sure you’ve noticed how big I am?”

Allison looks sympathetic and says, “Hon, it’s kind of hard not to notice considering how small you were before you left. I am curious about it, but I figured you would share with me about your condition when you were comfortable doing so. I wasn’t going to press you about it”.

Megan says, “I very much appreciate that, Allison. You know when to push and when not to. However, I am going to share the true reason behind my body changes with you at the same time as I do my family. I want everyone to know what’s happening with me and why. I just hope everyone will accept the explanation for what’s happened to me as I have.”

Allison notices that Megan looks a little troubled by her last statement. “Does the idea of explaining what you experienced upset you?” she asks. Megan looks up, shakes her head, and says, “It doesn’t upset me as much as it concerns me that people I love will be able to understand my point of view when I explain it. I don’t want everyone to suddenly think I’ve lost my mind because they’re failing to comprehend what my experiences mean to me from my personal perspective. My mental faculties are still very much intact. It’s just that so much of what has happened to me in the recent past is based upon traditions that date back thousands of years to a time before much of what we recognize as history was ever archived. This element by itself makes much of what I’m going to share difficult for someone from Western society to grasp. I hope I’m up to the challenge of clearly explaining everything.”

Allison smiles and says, “I would like to think that my best friend the professor would be set to share this with the world, like it or not!” She says this while using her right hand to hit the top of the steering wheel for emphasis and a mock serious look upon her visage as a means of cheering Megan up. Megan laughs with delight at this. “See, I’ve very much missed that devil may care cavalier attitude of yours when I was down. You managed to cheer me back up. Thanks!”

Allison grins deviously and says, “No problem. With a few of the things you’ve already said in this van, I believe detailed explanations are excellent things that I am going to welcome with open arms! No pun intended.”

Megan says, “Good, then I’ll get set for when we reach my family’s home. Do you think we’ll be there in a couple of more hours?”

Allison looks at the clock and realizes they’re leaving the north side of Macon on Interstate-75 en route to Atlanta. “Yeah, that sounds about right barring the oddities of traffic patterns around the cities, particularly in Atlanta.”

Allison notices a few minutes later that the men in the back of the van have fallen asleep. Even Megan is sitting with her eyes half open with a dazed look in them like she’s about to drift off herself. Allison touches Megan’s left shoulder with her right hand and says, “Megan, are you okay?”

Megan comes awake again and says, “What? Oh, rats, my internal clock has grown used to time on the opposite side of the world, and now I’m having trouble staying awake.” She looks behind her and her eyebrows go up with a small look of surprise. She says, “The men are even worse than me, and that’s saying something considering how pregnant I am!” She slumps down in her seat, shakes her head and says, “Look, it will probably be better if I catch a nap so as not to collapse after we get there. Nighty-night.” She closes her eyes and drops off to sleep.

Allison shakes her head with a whimsically ironic smile as she speeds ahead towards their destination.

The winding road takes Allison and her passengers through Atlanta and several other communities, as well as causes them to be delayed in traffic for an additional forty minutes. The sunlight blankets the landscape as far as the eye can see, and the land in the immediate area of Atlanta is covered by interconnecting and overlapping roadways, elevated railroad tracks and bridges in addition to buildings of every size, shape and type.

Allison starts breathing a sigh of relief after they pass the Georgia Institute of Technology campus and she sees the old 1996 International Olympic Games sign over off the right side of the highway. Just past those are the AT&T building, the Georgia Power building, the Hyatt Regency Hotel, the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, the Atlanta Hilton, MARTA train and bus stations, the Peachtree Center Mall, as well as a plethora of other midtown restaurants and shopping centers. Her mind stretches back to an old convention annually held in this area pleasantly referred to as Dragon*Con where she and Megan wiled away a few summers in their youth gaming and doing generally crazy things for which none of their parents would’ve approved. She grins as these fond memories come back to her, and then she realizes that this point in the road means she’s close to being on the way out of Atlanta towards the turnoff point to Marietta down at the Delk Road exit. It’s still about fifteen miles away, but it’s considerably closer than they were a few hours ago!

About twenty-five minutes later, Allison is driving the van onto Megan’s old home neighborhood on Whitlock Drive and she finally stops at number 162. She pulls into the long driveway which is paved up along the left side of the property and two story red brick house. Megan’s parents both worked as investors and had made a good living prior to the economic downturn of the mid- to late-2000s. Fortunately, they had pulled their money out of several investments before they had gone sour and managed to salvage most of their portfolios, so they were still in good financial shape.

Allison parks the van, and gets out of the driver’s side as quietly as she can. She walks around the front of the vehicle, proceeds down a sidewalk off the driveway which goes to the front door, and she walks over and rings the doorbell. After a few moments, the front door is opened and Emma Sanders stands there smiling at her. “Hey, how are you doing?” she asks as she steps forward to get a hug. “I’m well,” Allison says with a smile, “but I have a very special guest here to see you. I should help them get down from the van. Just a minute.”

Emma shrugs and watches as Allison runs back over to the van and opens the front passenger door. Allison is speaking with someone who Emma cannot see for the van door and sunglass windows. She watches Allison help whoever it is unfasten a seatbelt, climb down out of the van and shut the door. Emma sees that it’s a very pregnant young woman in an Oriental gown with a tall wooden walking stick. The woman looks familiar…. “Oh, my dear God?!” Emma says as she realizes who she’s looking at. Before she realizes what she’s doing, Emma is running down the sidewalk and over to the young woman in question. She throws her arms around her and starts kissing her and saying, “Oh, I’m so glad to see you! I love you so much!” as well as other pleasantries until the subject of said affections finally says, “Stop! Stop! I love you, too, Emma!” Megan looks at her little sister with a hint of amazement in her eyes and she says, “My goodness but you’ve grown since I’ve been gone! The last time I saw you, you were thirteen years old, and now you look like you’ve just turned eighteen? You’re so pretty, honey, and it’s so good to see you!”

Emma laughs and says, “Yes, I’m eighteen, and I’ll be nineteen in about five more months. You’re twenty-nine, sis, and you look almost the same as you did before you left apart from your incredible belly. How many babies are you having anyway? And I have to say congratulations about this and ask when am I going to become an Auntie?” she grins. Megan smiles and says, “You’re actually already an Auntie, honey, to the eight children I gave birth to a couple of months ago!” Emma stops speechless for a moment with a look of shock on her face and says, “Do what? You had eight babies a couple of months ago and you’re pregnant again? And no offense, honey, but you’re so big! What gives?”

After hearing the news about Megan’s growing family, Emma takes a much closer look at her sister’s body and sees that Megan’s belly dominates her frame like she’s full term with quintuplets at least already. Emma moves her hands to rest gently on top of Megan’s huge middle and is surprised by how firm it feels, though she doesn’t feel any babies moving yet, which is another odd thing given her size. She feels a little dumbfounded about it.

Megan giggles, shakes her head and says, “Don’t worry, sweetie, I’ll explain everything over supper. Despite what you might be thinking, there’s nothing wrong with me. My body is supposed to be like this. Emma looks back into her sister’s eyes and asks with confusion, “It is? You mean you’re always this big now? What?” Megan says with extra reassurance in her voice, “Shhh, you’re so inquisitive, but be patient and you’ll learn everything about what’s going on with me while we eat!” Megan takes her sister into her arms and gives her a hug, kisses her cheek and tells her she loves her. Emma does the same and relishes the feeling of hugging her sister again after so long.

Megan releases Emma from the hug, rubs the side of her face gently with another smile, steps back a little and says, “Right now, I want you to meet your new brother-in-law, my husband, Elidar. Elidar, this is my little sister, Emma.”

Elidar walks over to Emma and gives her a hug. “It’s very nice to meet you, Emma. Your sister has had some very nice things to say about you. I’m looking forward to knowing you.” Emma smiles and says, “It’s nice to meet you. I’m looking forward to talking with you, too!”

Emma realizes that while talking with Megan and meeting her new brother-in-law, six more men have stepped out of the van and are either flanking Megan and Elidar or working to get items unpacked from the back of the van. She asks, “Megan, why are these other people with you? I understand the part about you bringing your husband, but what’s going on?”

Megan looks at her sister and says, “They are the guards assigned to protect me and Elidar. This is part of what I planned to share with you, Mom, Dad and Allison over supper, but I want to tell you now so you won’t feel as strange about letting them into the house with us. Part of the reason why I’m dressed the way I am, and the guards are here, is because Elidar is a prince of a Far Eastern kingdom I found on my trip years ago, and as his wife, I’ve become a princess.”

Emma’s eyes widen with this news, and she puts her right hand over her mouth. She sees the seriousness in Megan’s eyes and asks, “You’re being serious about this. You’re not joking, are you?” Megan shakes her head and says, “No, honey, I’m a princess of the Kingdom of Shambhala, and the guards are here to ensure my and my husband’s safety by the order of the king.” Emma shakes her head with a hesitant smile and says, “I never dreamed that you would ever come back to us like this, Megan. I’m happy you’re alive and pregnant, but you’re a princess? This is entering into fantasy, isn’t it?” Megan shakes her head again and says, “No, sweetie, you know that there are princes and princesses in Europe and other parts of the world. Those people hold their positions for roles within the forms of government in those countries. The place I found on my trip, and where my and Elidar’s home and family are now, is a kingdom with a royal family, which I’ve become a part of. The difference is that this is a classical version of royalty where the members of the family are the direct rulers of the people without a parliament or other governing body being present. And, yes, I know this is unusual to hear given what you and I grew up with here in the States, but it’s okay. There’s nothing menacing about it. The king and queen, my In-Laws, are loving people who do a good job as rulers because they care about their subjects. Please don’t fret about this, Emma. It’s just another role in my life that I have responsibility for, and I’m doing the best job I can with it. I like to think you’ll get used to this news with a little more time.”

Emma smiles again more naturally than before and says, “You’re right, it’s just surprising for me because it’s not the kind of thing I’m used to hearing. My sister, the princess! But I will get used to it. I just hope I get to see this new home of yours someday!”

Megan grins and says, “That may happen a lot sooner than you currently expect it to”. Emma looks confused for a second. Megan says, “Let’s stop dawdling here and get inside. I need to sit down and we have to break this news to Mom and Dad”.

Emma’s eyes suddenly open wider with worry and she says, “Oh, no, Mom! She was so upset at your funeral and for so long afterwards. Dad wasn’t much better, but he dealt with it outwardly better than she did and held her whenever she cried for you.” Megan looks sad when she hears this, and then says, “In that case, Allison, could you please go inside and start preparing my parents carefully for the news of we visitors for supper, and I’ll start making my way inside with Emma and Elidar, okay?”

Allison nods her head, smiles and says, “Not a problem, I’ll run inside right now!” She jogs over to the door and quickly disappears inside the house.

Megan smiles, makes sure her shawl is in place on her shoulders, takes her walking stick in her right hand, motions for Emma to take her left arm and for Elidar to walk with his hand holding the back of her right shoulder. She says, “Jimilyon, do you and Jobey want to precede us inside for fear of assassins, or are you going to follow us in?” Jimilyon steps over and says, “We will go inside first only as a standard precautionary measure, Princess, and the other guards will follow you in. Are you ready to go in?” She smiles and says delightedly, “Yes, I am. Off to supper we go!” Megan waddles over to the front door and goes through it right after Jimilyon and Jobey go in and then look back out to them with smiles on their faces indicating everything is okay.

While Megan is talking with Emma about the kingdom, Allison reaches the kitchen and sees Millie Sanders laying out the long table in the dining area in the corner of their large kitchen with place settings for six people based on Emma’s earlier news about impending visitors. Millie brings the freshly prepared fried salmon patties, mashed potatoes, bowl of white gravy, a bowl of mixed chopped carrots and English peas, and another bowl of white hominy and arranges them on plate holders along the table’s center. She makes sure there’s butter, salt and pepper present as well. She will wait to get the glasses of ice when everyone sits down so it won’t start melting early, and she makes sure the jugs of sweet tea are ready on the counter. She feels like she’s just about ready to serve when she sees Allison standing in the doorway.

Millie grins at Allison and asks, “Are our visitors here yet? Emma said to make sure the table is set for six people with a proper Southern-style meal, and fried salmon croquettes is pretty traditional for any Southern table.”

Allison smiles and says, “Yes, ma’am, I just arrived with the rest of the visitors, and they’re on their way in now.” She steps over and takes Millie in a half-hug by laying her right arm behind her shoulders and says, “One of the people I brought is technically not a visitor. It’s someone you know very well, and someone you’ve been looking forward to seeing again for a long while. I just want you to take a breath and prepare yourself, okay?”

Millie looks at her with some confusion and then says, “Honey, I’ll be fine. Whether I know them or not, as friendly visitors to my home, they’re welcome at my table. Please ask them to come on in and sit down to eat! And please do me a favor and holler upstairs for James to get to the table. He’s gotten into a bad habit as we’ve gotten older of having to be reminded when it’s the proper time for civilized people to eat their evening meal. I’m sure if you tell him, then he’ll be down in two shakes.”

Allison nods her head and says, “Not to worry, I’ll holler for him now.” She runs out of the kitchen, stops at the end of the stairs and hollers, “Mr. Sanders, it’s Allison Freemont, and I’m here with the visitors. Your wife wanted me to tell you to come on to the supper table!”

James hollers back, “Ok, I’m coming down now. I’m glad you all made it!”

Allison turns around to see Jimilyon and Jobey stepping inside. They both smile at her and then turn around to tell the others that it’s okay to come on inside.

Allison steps over to the door as Megan Sanders waddles through the front door supported by her walking stick, sister and husband. She says, “Honey, your mother is steadfast that she’s okay. I didn’t tell her that you’re here, only that you’re someone she knows and has been waiting to see again for a long time. Be prepared if she gets emotional, huh?” Megan smiles and says, “Okay, thanks for the warning. I’m ready”.

Millie is filling the tea glasses for herself, James, Emma and Allison when Megan enters the kitchen. She doesn’t notice her daughter. Megan waddles slowly over behind her mother as Millie sets down the fourth filled tea glass on the counter and says, “Mom, I’m finally back home”.

Millie stiffens up suddenly, her eyes open wide with shock and she turns suddenly around to see the face of her firstborn standing beside her. Tears roll down both of her cheeks and she steps forward to wrap her arms around her daughter. Megan smiles, kisses and hugs her mother deeply. They separate after a few moments, and Millie’s expression changes to one of shocked happiness when she sees that her daughter is pregnant. “Oh my Lord, you’re here and you’re going to be a mother! I’m so happy, sweetheart!”

While Millie is starting to ask Megan about her pregnancy, forgetting that she was missing and jumping right into talk about family, James steps into the kitchen and sees his daughter standing there. He runs over and wraps his arms around her as best he can from behind and kisses the back of her left cheek while hugging her. Megan laughs and says, “Hey, Dad, I’m back!” He says, “I see that you’re back, kiddo, and you’re getting ready to have a family of your own! I’m so happy, baby! Let’s sit down and talk about everything while we eat, huh?” Megan laughs again and says, “Yes, sir, that sounds like an excellent idea!”

Megan, Elidar, Allison, Emma and her parents all make their way over to the table and sit down. The guards arrange themselves around the room, down the entry hall and beside the front door.

Millie notices the extra men and asks Megan, “Aren’t your other friends going to eat now, too, dear?”

Megan says, “No, Mom, they’re here as protection for me and my husband, Elidar, because he’s a prince, and as his wife I’ve become a princess of a kingdom. It’s the Kingdom of Shambhala, the place I was looking for on my last trip to Asia. They will eat in stages as soon as we’re finished with our meal”.

Millie and James both show surprised expressions at hearing this. Millie shakes her head and says, “My goodness, my little girl is a princess?! I almost can’t believe it.”

Elidar says, “Please believe it, Mrs. Sanders, because what Megan is saying is true. Shambhala has been cut off from the rest of the world for thousands of years, and your daughter is working to make us a part of the rest of the planet again.”

Millie smiles at Elidar while asking Megan, “Okay, I’m glad, but please tell us everything about what happened to you, baby.”

Megan takes a bite of salmon croquette to relish the flavor for a second and then goes into a detailed explanation about having found the entrance to Shambhala, the gargoyle swat that could have killed her, the decree of the king making her his vassal, her duty to be the Temple Mother, her experiences with Ekajati, and her place as a princess of the realm. When she is done, her family and Allison all look absolutely stunned even though Allison and Emma heard bits of it earlier.

Megan closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and asks, “Is everyone okay? You all look like I just grew another head and am babbling like I’ve lost my mind. Please don’t go that way with me about this. It’s real and an important part of my life. Talk to me!” She makes the last statement with a touch of impatience in her voice because this is what she feared would happen earlier in the van.

Emma swallows and says, “Dear Lord, what do you expect, Megan? We’re all thrilled that you’re alive and sitting here with us again, but most of what you’ve told us is like something out of a fantasy movie. It’s stuff you never would have accepted yourself before you went on your trip. Now you want us to accept it with no evidence other than you being here?”

Megan says, “I want you to accept it because you love me and you believe that I’m being honest with you. I’m not making any of this up.”

Elidar comes to her defense by saying, “I’m from Shambhala and everything Megan has described is true”.

Millie asks James as though Megan isn’t present and can’t hear her, “Do you think we can get her a good psychiatrist, someone who can help her with this?”

Megan gets a look of extreme anger on her face. She’s angrier than Allison can ever remember seeing her before. No one knows it, but Megan reaches out with her mind to Ekajati, asking for her help with this if she’ll give it. Within a few moments the ethereal voice of Ekajati says, “I am here, my child, what do you request of me?”

Everyone at the table other than Megan is astounded as the beautiful lady with blue eyes and hip-length straight blue hair appears standing behind them. Elidar stands, walks over behind James and kneels before her. Ekajati shakes her head and says, “Do not worry, my child, I am here to help. You may return to your seat.” Within a second of saying this, Elidar is back in his seat beside Megan. Megan smiles at him and looks over at Ekajati.

“Ekajati,” Megan asks, “please explain to my loved ones that everything I have described happened to me”.

Ekajati smiles and says, “So mote it be. My Temple Mother Megan speaks the truth. She found the ancient kingdom of Shambhala, and she lives there now as its Temple Mother and one of its princesses. She is mother to eight babies, and another eight babies are currently developing inside of her. She is here to make peace with her old life and invite you back to share in her new life with her. Do not make this into a vain attempt on her part. If anyone here defies my request, then Megan, her husband, and their guards will be transported by me back to Shambhala and you will never see any of them ever again. Am I understood?”

Megan’s parents look a little terrified, and Allison is afraid of what might happen should she accidentally say the wrong thing. Emma stands up, turns to face Ekajati and speaks on behalf of the group, “We understand. You are all the proof that is necessary to make Megan’s story true. We meant no disrespect. We live in a society where many people become confused and share wild stories which they believe are true but are false without their knowing. We thought Megan might have been through a stressful time which was making her spin a wild tale for us. Please don’t take her away from us again. I couldn’t bare it if we lost her forever, especially not if we are the cause of sending her away.” A small tear escapes Emma’s right eye and she holds her arms tightly under her breasts in a protective gesture while awaiting Ekajati’s decision.

Ekajati smiles, walks over and takes Emma in a hug. She then kisses Emma on her forehead and Emma is so overcome by the positive energies radiating off Ekajati that she passes out. Ekajati laughs and gently lowers Emma back into her seat. “Do not worry about her,” Ekajati says, “she will be fine in a short while. In fact, my dear Temple Mother, I sense that your sister wishes to follow in your footsteps.” Megan’s eyes openly widely and she wonders what Ekajati means by this. “If you need me for anything else, then please let me know, Megan. Farewell!” And with that, Ekajati vanishes from the kitchen.

“Oh, wow, that was intense.” Allison says. “That’s an understatement if ever I’ve heard one,” James says in response.

Megan says, “I told you that I was being honest about what had happened to me. Thank God for the idiocy of Western society. We have so much lying going on over here that it’s hard to believe someone who’s telling the truth. I can forgive that though if you can promise me that you’ll have open minds when talking with me about my life.”

Millie is kneeling beside Emma and making sure that she’s okay. When satisfied, she looks up and says, “I’m sorry, honey, for having doubted you. I promise that I will do my best to remain open minded about your life from now on. I’m sure that I’m speaking for everyone here.” Allison nods her head and says, “Yes, most definitely. You deserve better from me, and I’m sorry I doubted you, Megan.” James looks at his daughter and asks, “Can you please forgive me, honey? I’m sorry about this, too.”

Megan smiles at each of them and says, “Yes, I forgive you because I love you and I believe you meant nothing ill towards me. You were worried about me, and worry can sometimes lead to poor decisions which in this case are better off forgotten.”

After recovering from Ekajati’s visit, Millie looks at her daughter and says, “You had eight babies, and now you’re carrying eight more? Oh, my goodness, can we talk about that?”

Megan rolls her eyes, slumps down in her chair, and says with a slightly deflated look on her face, “Yes, Mom, why don’t we talk about that for a little while. I’m the Temple Mother, which means that I will be having babies for my entire fertile adult life. The life force of myself and my children is tied into Ekajati’s spell that strengthens the shield protecting Shambhala from invasion. The more babies I have, the stronger the barrier becomes.”

Megan continues by saying, “This is something I have to do as the vassal to the king. Having agreed to accept my duty as the king’s vassal means I must do what the king orders me to do. He ordered me to become the next Temple Mother for protection of the realm. This is very old-fashioned, old-world law at work here, and I had little choice in the matter at the time because I accidentally broke the law by entering Shambhala without getting the permission of the king first. And yes, I know there was no way to ask permission, but that doesn’t matter. Ignorance of the law doesn’t save criminals from the courts prosecuting them for violating its conditions here in the States either. If I had not agreed to become the king’s vassal, then I would have been jailed or put to death.”

Millie says, “So you were forced into it.”

Megan shakes her head and says, “No, it wasn’t like that at all. The king gave me a choice. I made the decision to accept the role of the Temple Mother so that I would survive and have a chance at continuing to live out my life. And I’m grateful for it. I have eight beautifully sweet babies I love waiting for me back at my home, Mom. And I’m carrying eight more little ones inside of me, and I love them, too.” Megan turns towards Elidar, takes his hand, and says to her mother, “And I’m married to a good man I love who is doing an excellent job of helping to take care of me and our children, and I’m grateful that he’s part of my life.”

Millie shakes her head with a gentle, non-confrontational expression and says, “I’m sorry, honey, I keep trying to find fault with how you reached this point in your life, but the truth is that you remade a bad situation into a good one by building a new life for yourself and never stopping being the person you were before. I’m very proud of you for the decisions you made, and I’ll always love you.”

After the long conversation at the kitchen table following a pecan pie dessert which Megan enjoyed a lot, Megan whispers to Elidar, “Let’s go to my old room upstairs. Emma said that my stuff was cleaned out of my campus apartment with most of it, including my old bed, having been stuck there. We can get some sleep. I’m so tired.” Elidar agrees and helps Megan get up.

Millie asks, “Do you want to go to bed, dear? Your bed is already made for you, and I put everything away in your bathroom.”

Megan smiles and says, “Thanks, Mom. Elidar and I are going to visit for a few minutes and then go to sleep. We’re both awfully tired.”

Millie smiles and says, “Please let me know if either of you need anything.” Megan says, “Okay, thanks!” She quickly waddles out of the kitchen and starts up to her old bedroom as fast as she can go with Elidar, Allison, and then Emma following her.

Megan pushes the door open to her old bedroom and is surprised to find it arranged like it was back when she was in high school. Her oak queen-sized bed is in place and is made with her last set of bed linens from the apartment, including a red-and-black UGA pillow with a picture of a smiling bulldog on it sitting in front of the other pillows at the head of the bed. Her two oak barrister bookcases containing her university textbooks, note binders, dissertation and doctoral thesis are underneath the windows on the right side of the room. Over her bed and on the walls on either side are her high school diploma, bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and doctorate along with a few other certificates and awards. Her oak dresser, dressing table and mirrors are in place on either side of her bathroom door. Even her old clothes are cleaned and hanging in the closet and folded in the dresser drawers. She’s amazed that everything is here and back in the places where she would have arranged things had she decorated the room herself.

She goes into her bathroom, finds a new toothbrush in the medicine cabinet and considers it along with everything else she’s seen in her room, ‘My goodness, Mom outdid herself on this. Wait, this was her way of keeping the memory of me alive after I was gone. She couldn’t stand letting me go, so in this way she could keep me around. Oh, well, at least strange mourning practices can come in handy sometimes.’ She opens the toothbrush, brushes her teeth, and places the brush into her old toothbrush holder. She then goes in and lays down on the bed to relax and visit before calling it a night.

Allison and Emma are sitting in wingback chairs on either side of her bedroom door. Emma smiles and asks, “Comfortable?” Megan sticks her tongue out at her because she knows Emma is sarcastically teasing her. Elidar helps her get propped up on some pillows to make it easier for her to talk. He then says, “Honey, I’m going down to make sure the guards are eating. I’ll be back in a little while.” He kisses her, kisses and pats her belly, and slips out the door very fast.

Allison watches him go and smiles at Megan. “Wow, he’s good. He knew that you’d feel more comfortable talking with us alone and made himself scarce.”

Megan says, “He’s always been very thoughtful like that. But he’s my husband, and I’m not going to hide anything from him. He wants me to have a chance for girl talk, which exists everywhere.”

Megan asks Allison, “So, I know the situation with my return was dropped on you suddenly, but do you think there’s a chance I can get in to talk with my supervisor and the department chair soon? This project with Shambhala is very important to me, and I want to see it through.”

Allison smiles and says, “We’ll have to go there and find out. I don’t know what their schedules are like right now, but I’d like to think given the nature of this project that they would be keen to meet with us as soon as they could. Besides, we should first handle the little roadblock of the fact that in the eyes of the law you’re dead. Once you’re legally back amongst the living, we can handle the rest of it without a problem.”

Megan grins and then asks Emma, “Hey, squirt, Ekajati gave me some interesting news right after you passed out downstairs earlier. She told me that you wanted to follow in my footsteps. What did she mean by that?” Emma looks a bit uncomfortable and fidgets. She glances at Allison, then back to Megan with worried eyes. Allison leans forward and says, “It’s only between us, Emma. I know that no one would ever believe what happened to us downstairs earlier, and I sure don’t want to share it past our small group!”

Emma sighs, looks at Megan and says, “It has to do with the conversation you and I had back when I started puberty, remember?”

Megan’s eyes open wider as she remembers back to a talk she had with Emma when Emma was 13. “You want to do that now?”

Emma says, “Not right away. I still want to do it someday, and given your physical condition, I guess that that’s probably what she was talking about. She was comparing my desires to you because you’re the Temple Mother and will be pregnant for the rest of your fertile life.”

Allison says, “I’m sorry, but what do you mean? Do you want to be a Temple Mother, too?”

Emma smiles and says, “Not exactly. Ever since I started becoming a mature woman, I’ve wanted to be a surrogate to help women who couldn’t have babies to have families. Of course, if I could do something like what Megan’s doing, then I would enjoy that a lot as well. What it boils down to is I’m a closet maiesiophiliac. Do you know what that is?”

Allison thinks for a few moments and then has a look of realization appear on her face before saying, “Does it happen to have something to do with your liking pregnancy and the idea of being pregnant?”

A smile appears in Emma’s eyes as she nods her head and says, “That’s it exactly. I love pregnancy and the thought of me being pregnant. I want it for myself badly. And before you say a word Megan, no, you are not turning me on right now, that’s gross.”

Megan smiles innocently while throwing both of her hands up in a stop gesture while saying, “I wasn’t going to say anything along those lines. I agree with you that the concept of my body turning you on would be gross because we’re sisters. Yuck. What I was going to say is that I can see where you might be envious of me for attaining a condition you’ve always dreamed of for yourself. I’m sure that it will happen for you someday, Emma. I believe that, and I always want to be supportive of you concerning this desire of yours. Please remember that, and I won’t make fun of you over it. A desire connected to pregnancy is too private and personal for any woman to have, and it’s always important to take it seriously.”

Emma says, “Thank you for saying that, Megan. It makes me feel a lot better.”

Megan says, “You’re welcome. Come over here please.”

Emma gets up and walks over to the left side of Megan’s bed beside where she’s laying. Once there, Megan smiles, puts her arms up and encourages Emma to lean over for a hug and kiss. “I love you, sweetie! And when Allison and I finish getting our research project for Shambhala together, we’re going to take you, Mom and Dad back over there with us so you can visit my babies and meet the people in my new home, okay?”

Emma smiles and says, “I would like that a lot, thanks!”

Megan adds, “You’re welcome. And, there’s a conversation you and I should have together with Elidar because I just remembered that you and he share an interest which could help you to become closer. Naturally, I want you and he to get along, and what I’m thinking about can only help. How about we have that talk tonight when he comes back?” Emma answers, “I’m game for it if you think it will help”.

Once Emma goes back to her chair, Megan asks Allison, “Do you think we can go to the court tomorrow to start working on bringing me back to life?” Allison rubs her right eyebrow and says, “We should go to the university and start the paperwork through the school because this has happened before where a professor vanished, was declared dead but was eventually found again and had to be legally brought back to life. The division office should have an outline of all of the papers we’ll have to file to take care of it as quickly as possible. Am I correct in assuming that you have to get back to Shambhala in about three or four months?” Megan nods her head and says, “Elidar and I agreed that we would head back after four months because I start growing early in my pregnancy. By six months, I’ll be so big that I’ll start having trouble walking extended distances. By seven months, I’ll have to use a wheelchair to get around. I don’t want to be over here by then because I will grow physically too large by that point to comfortably get back home, and that’s unacceptable to me. I miss my babies, and I don’t want to be away from them any longer than I have to.”

Allison nods her head and says, “Okay, we’ll work on fast-tracking everything then. This means that the first stop you and I will make tomorrow is to see your pastor to tell him the bad news.” Her mouth quirks into a goofy grin with this last statement. Megan sighs and says, “Ah, yes, the funeral and declaration of death, which was his idea in the first place. I can’t fault him for it though because I vanished without a trace. It probably would be faster to show him that I’m still alive so he can do whatever paperwork that he must do to help restore me to living status again. My belly will probably be enough to scare him into doing the paperwork without me saying a word!” Emma, Megan and Allison look at each other and giggle profusely after this last comment.

After a few more minutes, Elidar returns and climbs into bed beside Megan. She smiles at him and holds his hand. Allison sees this and says, “I’m going to catch some sleep in your guest bedroom down the hall, Megan. I’ll see you in the morning. Goodnight!” Megan responds, “Have a good night, Allison!”

As soon as the bedroom door closes behind her, Megan asks Emma to climb onto the foot of the bed. Emma folds her legs up and sits at the foot of the bed. Megan says, “Elidar, please tell Emma what you told me when we first met. Don’t worry, I have an important reason for asking this.”

Elidar looks at Megan and asks, “Do you mean the reason why I find you sexier the way you are now?”

Megan smiles and nods her head.

Elidar looks at Emma and says, “The reason why I married your sister is because I agreed long ago to become the next Matron Bearer, or mate to the Temple Mother. This decision stems from the fact that I love pregnant women.” Emma looks at him in surprise.


To Be Continued…

[align=center]The Temple Mother - Part Six
by [[email protected]]PumpkinBelly[/email][/align]


Emma smiles after a few moments and asks Elidar, “So you’re a maiesiophiliac, too?” Elidar nods his head and says, “Even though this is the first time I’ve ever heard that term before, if it refers to admiration of and attraction to pregnant women, then I must be one. Your sister’s body turns me on, and I’m very happy to be with her!”

Emma laughs and says, “That’s great! You’re her husband, and I’m glad that she’s physically attractive to you in addition to you loving her. I’m also happy to hear that you and I have this interest in common. I’ve read online about men who find pregnant women attractive, but to think my own brother-in-law would share the interest with me? That’s amazing!” she says as she smiles widely at both Elidar and Megan.

Megan smiles somewhat deviously at Elidar and says, “Thanks, honey, we’ve liberated her!”

Elidar grins back at Megan and they both watch as Emma leaps backwards off the bed and lands on her feet, grinning and doing a small curtsey. “With that wonderful news, which I will very much enjoy talking with you about later, Elidar, I will bid you both a very good night as I go to sleep myself!” She skips over, slips quickly through the door and closes it behind her.

Megan shakes her head while continuing to smile and says, “Some guy out there doesn’t know it yet, but he’s going to be very lucky when she becomes his wife and the mother of his children. I’m looking forward to seeing that someday”. Elidar says, “I will enjoy watching that happen, too!”

Elidar removes the added pillows from behind Megan’s back and helps her change to get ready for bed. He puts on his bed clothes, turns out the light, helps Megan get comfortable with her belly support pillow, and climbs under the covers behind her so that she can rest her behind up against him while he puts his arm around her wonderfully enlarged middle. “Good night, sweetie,” he says as he kisses her. She says, “Good night!” And they both quickly fall asleep.

The following morning Megan is waddling around the kitchen wearing her old robe draped over her nightgown. The robe is far too small for her now given her larger belly, breasts, hips and behind, but she likes having it on again whether it fits or not. She gets herself a tall glass of orange juice, fixes some scrambled eggs, bacon and toast, and sets them on the table. She then fixes some more food for Elidar, who comes bounding in after her and says, “Although I thank you very much for fixing breakfast, you didn’t have to do it, you know?” She grins and says, “I know you love to be the house cook, dear, but we’re in my old family home and I’m enjoying myself by waking up and making breakfast here for the first time in years. Please enjoy it with me!” He says, “Okay,” followed by a kiss and hug around her belly. She found the morning copy of the Marietta Daily Journal laying rolled up on the front porch and brought it in to the table to read while eating.

James and Millie come into the kitchen with some surprised looks on their faces as they see their daughter and son-in-law eating breakfast, Megan’s reading the newspaper, a fresh pot of coffee has just been brewed on the counter, and a couple of plates of freshly cooked scrambled eggs, bacon and toast are on the stove for them. Millie looks at Megan and asks, “Thank you for this, but why?” while shaking her head. Megan grins at her mother and says, “It’s the same reason I gave Elidar,” pointing at Elidar while adding, “This is the first morning I’ve had a chance to fix breakfast in my old family home in years, and everyone should just take time to enjoy it with me!” She has a determined look on her face as she makes this last comment followed by a satisfied smile.

James says, “Don’t complain, Millie. If our girl wants to cook breakfast, then why should we say anything other than ‘thank you’ and sit down with her to enjoy it!” He smiles, grabs his plate and a cup of coffee, and proceeds to sit down beside Megan and grabs the sports page while he’s at it.

Millie shakes her head with a small smile, pours a cup of coffee, and takes it and her plate over to the table to sit down with her family to eat.

After a few minutes, Emma walks in with Allison a few seconds behind her. Megan says, “Sorry, guys, but I wasn’t sure when you would be up and I also wasn’t a hundred percent sure what you would want to eat”.

Emma grins, says “No sweat,” and gets a bowl out of the cupboard, followed by a packet of instant apples and cinnamon oatmeal, and her breakfast is ready in a few moments. She gets a tall glass of grapefruit juice and joins them at the table.

Allison fixes a big bowl of buttered grits and bacon, gets a cup of coffee and joins them, too.

Allison shakes her head with a smile as she sits down and says, “Don’t worry, Megan, you and I have always been varied with our eating habits to start the day over the years. It’s no big deal because your mother has enough in this kitchen to satisfy anyone”.

Millie smiles and says, “Thank you, dear, I do try”.

Megan giggles at their camaraderie over having the proper food available to make a satisfying breakfast, and then she asks Allison, “Do you want us to go straight to Athens, or do you think we should swing by the church first?”

Allison says, “I think we should go by the church to get your pastor prepared, then go to Athens, and then get the pastor to sign whatever is needed later. You have to do your resurrected stage walk for him to get him properly motivated and in the right frame of mind, remember?” She grins and takes a sip of coffee with this last comment.

Megan says, “Ha, very funny. Even though you’re right about getting him properly motivated for filling out the paperwork. I wonder where I put my fishnets and sexy lingerie? Well, I’ll figure something thoroughly unnecessarily wrong out; I usually do.” Allison’s eyes open wide and she says, “Oh, you’re still as sneaky as ever, but are you sure your old fishnets will still fit?” She looks at Megan’s larger hips and thighs while asking this question. Megan sighs and says, “Ok, so I’m big and profoundly maternal. There’s got to be some way for me to be inappropriately naughty to share with our pastor how I truly feel, isn’t there?” Allison places her left hand against her temple and shakes her head since she can’t think of one.

Emma quickly says, “We can always go to a costume shop to find out if they have something in Megan’s size that she wants to wear, can’t we?”

Megan laughs and nods her head in agreement with Emma’s idea, but then she thinks about it for another minute and says, “Much as I’d like to take the time to get back at the pastor with an elaborately naughty prank, the truth is that we don’t have any time to spare. It’s going to take an unknown amount of time to bring me back to life before the law, and I must spend every moment on that because we’re only going to be here for about four months before going back to Shambhala.”

Allison says, “She’s right, Emma. As much as we might enjoy watching Megan waddle seductively into the pastor’s office while wearing a black maternity teddy, fishnets, and possibly even carrying a bullwhip for an extra good show, it probably would take too much time to put together, but thanks for the good suggestion anyway”.

Megan looks at Allison with a sneaky smile on her face and raises her orange juice glass to her. Allison smiles and raises her coffee cup in return. Emma grins at them both and keeps eating.

Millie rolls her eyes and says, “Seriously girls, you would really do that to our pastor?”

Megan looks at her with a smile that shines out of her eyes as she nods her head while working on her breakfast. Allison and Emma laugh at each other with huge smiles on their own faces.

Millie shakes her head and says, “That’s just terrible. In retrospect, it’s not enough of a response in my opinion, but sometimes the young are just too inexperienced, isn’t that right, James?” He nods his head and says, “Yes, they must learn more cunning ways from older and wiser heads, but they usually don’t listen”.

Megan’s eyes open wide and her mouth falls open in shock as she hears this kind of tomfoolery coming from her parents’ mouths, as it’s a mighty rare event. Emma looks like she’s fallen into the Twilight Zone as she looks across the table with a profoundly questioning look on her face.

Millie looks up with an expression of outright deviousness and an evil smile on her face. She says, “I would dress all of you up as a gang of sexually deprived miscreants with Megan as the ringleader, and you would take over the pastor’s office and demand that he do your bidding or else. The poor dear would likely have a coronary, but that’s what you get when you mess with the wrong girl”. James nods his head and says, “Right on, sister, that’s tellin’ ‘em! Don’t forget to add the flamethrowers in for an extra kick!” Millie says, “Right on!” and gives James a high-five.

Megan, Emma and Allison all look at each other with severely weirded out expressions. Megan decides to get in on the act by asking her mother with a slight gruffness added to her voice, “Ok, boss, but you want us to do it in a way that doesn’t lead back to you, right?”

Millie looks at her with a serious seeming expression and says, “Of course, you never leave a trail back to the brains of the operation. Have I taught you nothing over the years?”

Megan meekly answers, “Yes, Mama, I’m sorry for having forgotten my training. Please don’t beat me for stepping out of line”.

Elidar looks at Megan and her parents like they’ve lost their minds. Emma taps his arm, leans over and whispers to him, “They’re joking with each other. Don’t believe a word of it.” Elidar raises his eyebrows and whispers back, “Okay, if you say so”.

Millie looks at Megan and says, “I would never beat you, dear, especially not while you’re pregnant. I’m simply saying there’s a right way and a wrong way to do something. You needed a reminder, and that’s all I have to say about it”.

James pipes up and says, “She’s lying, of course, but she doesn’t want to talk harshly in front of the little one.” Emma gets a shocked look mixed with a smile on her own face and says, “Little one?! Who do you think you’re talking to, Obi-Wan, the innocent girl down the street who cries when she spills her milk?! Uh-uh, I don’t think so. I’ll be the one using the flamethrower for Miss Mother-of-the-Year sitting over there when she cracks her bullwhip calling for it!”

Megan laughs and says, “You tell him, girl! Woo-hoo!” Emma smiles widely at her.

Their father smiles and shakes his head. He says, "I might have been hasty in my earlier comments about the inexperience of the young, heh-heh!" Millie smiles and shakes her head at her family before saying, "You never know, dear. One must wait to see the results of the young ones’ work after all!"

Megan looks at her mother and says with slight menace added, "Hm, is our 'boss' asking for it? Oooo, I'm getting excited by the prospects!"

Millie looks back at her and says with a teasing smile, "Oh, give me a break, dear. You're so big now you'd never catch me if I really wanted to get away from you!"

Megan says, "Hah! Try me, oh sage and ever-knowledgeable one. I have ways that I've used on the children in the palace nursery that allowed me to get the best of them regardless of my weight and size."

Millie says, "With little children? That I might believe, but it's hard to think they didn't leave you behind in the dust! I can imagine you, a mountain of bulk with the children laughing and playing all around you while throwing toys and other things all over you! This while you’re sitting there upset because you're too busy imitating Jabba the Hutt to be bothered with moving. Yes, I can imagine that scene quite well!"

Megan looks at her menacingly and says, "Like I said, 'boss', just try me. You'll find I'm far more manuverable than you can imagine with that rather limited mental landscape you're working with. Of course, age does have its mental downfalls for some..."

Millie opens her eyes widely and says, "You evil girl! Why I oughta..."

James puts his hand up and says, "Stop you two! We've had enough playtime for one morning. Be nice and make up because I know you both love each other too much to get worked up over a bunch of nonsense!"

Megan and Millie look at him for a moment and then back at each other with more relaxed expressions. Megan says, "You're right, Dad. We do allow ourselves to get too riled up over idiotic things sometimes. It's better to stop." Millie nods her head and says, "Yes, you're right, honey. We should start acting more adult again." She sticks her tongue out at Megan after saying this, and then Megan responds with a goofy evil face of her own before grinning and shaking her head.

Emma whispers to Elidar, "They do get into it sometimes, but it's all harmless. You'll get used to it after awhile." Elidar says, "With some of the conversations Megan and I have had, I'm sure you're right!"

Megan decides to pick up a business suit at a local maternity shop to wear to the church, on the university campus and if she must go to court. She stops at Mother’s Morning Maternity boutique in Cumberland Mall, and Allison and Emma go in with her.

“Come on, Megan, won’t your dress gown or other casual maternity clothes work for this? I mean you’re extremely pregnant. Won’t the people meeting with you want to help you just because of your condition and can’t you encourage that kind of view to your advantage?” Emma asks. Allison winces a little at the naiveté of those last comments. She thinks some people might try to take advantage of Megan due to her unusually pronounced pregnancy with no return benefit for Megan. She agrees with Megan’s position to put the best Western-style foot forward to try to impress upon the people she will meet with that she should be taken seriously.

Megan steps out of the dressing room for a second, grabs a couple of more pairs of pants to try on and steps back inside. She tells Emma, “Although I do appreciate your trying to help, Emma, I don’t believe using my pregnancy to engender sympathy will work. I like to think that we live in a time where people no longer hold prejudice towards others for physical differences, or erroneously believe that a woman in my condition can no longer work. However, people generally have their own shortcomings, which vary widely. I won’t consciously encourage others to think of me in a way that could result in my being viewed as a weaker person or one that can easily be taken advantage of. Do you understand what I mean?”

Emma says, “No, I thought it could help as a supporting point, but now that you mention it, and I stop to think about it some more, you’re probably right.”

Emma goes on to say, “You’ve always been an incredibly strong and capable person, in my humble opinion, Megan. You were right that night in the kitchen with Ekajati, and Mom was right when she commented on it later, that you’re still the same intelligent, forthright, and determined person you’ve always been. You had a situation years ago in Shambhala that some people would’ve been hopelessly overwhelmed by. You took responsibility for the situation, for yourself, and you made the choice to become the new Temple Mother by the king’s command. You chose to continue living your life in the best way that you could. I can never see someone succeed in socially remaking you into a weaker, less capable person than you are simply because you’re so pregnant! If you’re more comfortable leaving your pregnancy out of the conversations and doing it the way you described, that’s good because you can’t do something you don’t feel comfortable about”.

Megan stops for a moment and looks at Emma. She puts the pants down on the bench and waddles over to her sister. She smiles, takes Emma’s right hand and places her left hand gently on Emma’s right cheek. She has a look of caring on her face as she says, “My goodness, do you have any idea how much you’ve grown up deep down inside? I’m so proud of you, sweetie!”

Emma grins, “Well, thanks, but I have a strong example in you to live up to. And I’m so glad you’re a part of my life again!”

Megan smiles more widely, pulls Emma closer, steps to Emma’s right side so her belly won’t get in the way quite as much, and pulls her into a hug from the side. “I love you so much! I appreciate your support for me in every way. Okay?” Emma smiles, a small tear escapes her left eye, and she nods her head while saying, “Okay, sis”. Emma holds and rubs the back of Megan’s shoulders and Megan kisses Emma on the back of her right cheek with a small rub and pat of her right shoulder as she steps back from the hug.

Megan wipes her own eyes as she realizes she’s crying a little bit, too. She laughs, rubs Emma’s belly and says, “Taking a lighter note, I’m looking forward to the day when you look more like me and I’m helping you find new clothes!” Emma looks down and says, “That’s a very nice thought, but you need to find a good set you’re comfortable with! I’m going to step back out so you can try on some more stuff”. Emma steps back outside of the changing room to give Megan some time to go through the clothes.

Megan quickly sorts the clothes on the bench and decides to try on the dark gray pants with black pinstripes. They pull up smoothly with no tightness around her hips, thighs, crotch or belly. The pants are large enough that their front comes up to just above her belly button. The nicest part is there’s added support for her belly while standing, like a support belt built right in! The pants are also cut in the right way to fit her body without making her look frumpy. They flatter her figure, which is something extra special. They even pass the final sit-down test without straining or tearing, and they remain comfortable while she sits on the bench across from the mirror in the changing room. She decides that she very much likes them!

Megan decides to get a second pair of the pants and gets two matching jackets having suit-like lapels, two white button down maternity shirts and two dark navy long style bow ties. The jackets are cut in a way that they button and drape over her front in a flattering way. She puts the first jacket on over the shirt, followed by the tie, grins happily at her reflection and thinks this will work. She takes the tags off to pay for the items and steps out of the dressing room wearing her new outfit.

Allison smiles and says, “Now you look like a professor again!” Megan grins at her, then takes her Temple Mother brooch, adjusts her necktie and pins it over the tie in the middle to make it more easily seen. She places her princess tiara back on top of her head, packs the rest of her clothes into a spare bag and goes to check out.

Allison handles the store charges with the understanding that Megan’s parents will pay her back. This is because Megan’s savings and checking accounts will be restored after she’s legally back from the dead.

Megan climbs back into the front passenger seat of the van with Elidar’s help. He, Jimilyon, Jobey, and the other guards had all tagged along with them and had waited while the ladies shopped for clothes. He and Emma climb into the seat behind Allison and Megan, and everyone gets buckled in while Allison cranks the van.

Megan smiles and says, “Next stop, Rosedale Baptist Church!” Allison puts the van in gear, backs out, drives out of the lot and gets on the road to the church.

Allison had verified by phone earlier that Pastor Brent Michaels would be in his office today. She asks Megan, “So, I take it that you’re going to take the proverbial bull by the horns with Pastor Michaels?”

Megan grins at her while rubbing her belly with her right hand in a circular motion out of habit. She says, “You could very well put it that way. I’m going in there and saying in no uncertain terms that I want his help to put things right again. I also have to ask his help with one other thing I almost forgot about.” Allison asks, “What’s that?” Megan looks out the right passenger side door window and bites her lip before answering, “I need a marriage license to make mine and Elidar’s marriage legal over here. It should be purely a technicality, but except for ours’ and our friend Ariella Xingcho’s words for it, there is no legal documentation proving our marriage because Shambhala has ceremonies and recorded entries of marriages in the temple records, but they’ve never had such a thing as a marriage license. Hopefully, it won’t be a problem.”

“Elidar,” Megan asks, “please come into the church with us when we get there. I would like for you to meet the pastor. He’s a nice man who tries to do the right thing for his parishioners, and I would like to think that you and he will get along.” Elidar smiles and says, “It’s not a problem, honey. I’ll be glad to go in with you and meet him.” Megan breathes a sigh of relief and says, “Thank you, because after we finish at the church, there’s a place I would like to introduce you to with Allison’s assistance of course”.

Allison looks at her questioningly. Megan asks Elidar, “I told you long ago about American Southern foods like our famous fried chicken?” Elidar thinks back and then says, “Oh, yes, you described it to me, and we even tried making some one time but were missing a couple of the ingredients.” Megan nods her head while laughing and says, “Yes, that was sad, but I want to take you to lunch at a landmark restaurant here in Marietta usually referred to by its nickname of “The Big Chicken”.” Elidar looks confused and asks, “We’re going to eat inside of a giant chicken?” Emma, Megan and Allison all giggle over this and Megan says, “No, sweetheart, that’s a nickname for the building. It’s a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant that serves fried chicken and related dishes. It has a large sign out in front with the restaurant name on it and at the top of the sign is a robotic chicken head with a face that changes, which makes the sign resemble a huge chicken. That sign is why people nicknamed the building, “The Big Chicken”. It’s a little silly, I know, but I want to share it with you, especially since we have to eat lunch anyway”. She looks at him with an innocent little askance expression and big wide eyes, causing her to resemble a small child, which has the effect of melting his heart. He smiles and says, “Ok, we can go eat at the big chicken for lunch”. Megan says, “Yay! Thanks, hon!” Elidar shakes his head, leans over and kisses her, and then sits back in his seat.

Allison raises her right eyebrow with a grin at Megan followed by a tiny headshake upon observing the slightly romantic silliness displayed by her friend towards her husband over visiting the restaurant for lunch. “At least I know they’re really in love, which is nice. I’m glad she’s happy. I wish I could find that kind of relationship someday with a nice man. I’ve got to get my mind back on the task at hand of helping Megan though,” she thinks to herself as they reach the church parking lot.

Allison parks the van in a space in front of the church, and she, Megan, Elidar, and Emma all get out of the van along with Jimilyon, Jobey, and Keldar to guard their group. The other guards are assigned to watch over the van while they’re inside the church.

Megan leads the way and uses her walking stick for support. Inside of the church Megan goes to the elevator door and presses the button beside it. Elidar and the other Shambhalan men look confused until the doors open, and then Elidar asks, “Megan, what is this?”

Megan looks at him and says, “It’s an elevator that people use to ride to different floors in multilevel buildings instead of having to use a staircase. Pregnant women especially love them because it makes moving between the floors easier on our hips, legs and lower backs when we can avoid climbing staircases to get there. I told you about this. There’s nothing to it. We climb aboard and get out of it when we reach the pastor’s office up on the third floor.” She smiles while standing in front of the door to keep it open. Elidar and the other men step inside, the doors close and then the elevator moves them up to the third floor.

When the doors open again, the men walk out of it as fast as they can. Megan shrugs, shakes her head with a tiny smile of bemusement on her face, and she waddles across the hall to the pastor’s office. She goes through the door and immediately hears, “Oh my God?!” from her right. She turns her head and sees the church secretary, Jennifer Morgan, staring at her like she’s a ghost. Megan smiles, goes around the desk, leans over and gives Jennifer a hug and a kiss. “Hi, Jenn, it’s good to see you again. Can we please see the pastor?” she asks innocently with a big smile. Emma and Allison both laugh.

Jennifer says with a freaked-out expression while stumbling over her words, “You died. They told us you died. We had your funeral. I’m glad to see you again. Let me get him…” Jennifer fumbles with the telephone and calls the pastor’s office to tell him visitors are here and she’s sending them in to him now. In her surprised confusion, she forgets to mention who the visitors are.

Megan says, “Thanks, Jenn. Hope we can talk sometime soon,” and she adds another big smile at the end. Megan waddles through the door with Elidar, Emma and Allison following her.

Pastor Michaels smiles without looking up, quickly finishes something that he’s writing on his desk prior to greeting them. He lays his pen down, stands up, and finds himself facing the recently deceased Megan Sanders, and not only is she standing in front of his desk, but she’s pregnant! Pastor Michaels has a blank look on his face because he’s absolutely stunned by this.

Megan smiles at him while she and the people with her sit down in chairs in front of his desk. A man the pastor has never seen before bows to him, and then takes his right hand with a warm smile while saying, “Hello, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Prince Elidar of Shambhala, and your parishioner Megan Sanders is my wife. She wanted us to meet.” Megan holds her right hand over her mouth while she watches this spectacle the pastor is going through. The Pastor recovers after a few moments, smiles and says, “Hello, it’s very nice to meet you. Welcome to the church! Please have a seat and let’s talk.”

Megan looks over at Allison and says as though the Pastor isn’t there, “You know, the costume with the fishnets, maternity teddy and bullwhip might have worked out better than I first thought. I probably would’ve worn a bowler hat and eyepatch, maybe a spiked collar on top of that just to liven it up a bit. Too bad we didn’t have the time to try it!” She snaps her fingers and winces a bit after this statement. Allison and Emma grin at her and then at each other. The Pastor sits back down with a dumbstruck expression after hearing this last comment.

Megan turns to the Pastor and says with a slightly devious smile, “I’m sorry, Pastor Michaels, I’m trying not to be too naughty in church, but I just couldn’t help speaking my mind. My hormones are at work on my mood, and I hope you understand that part of it. I know I shouldn’t blame you for what happened. I disappeared without a trace to a part of the world that doesn’t have electricity or any form of communication with the outside. I was stuck there for years. You were trying to do the good thing of helping my family move on after I was gone. But I’m strongly reminded of the passage from the Bible that says, ‘the road to Hell is paved with good intentions’.” Her smile vanishes as she calmly continues, “I’m here because I need your help with getting myself restored to life in the eyes of the law so I can get my life back on track. Will you please help me?”

Pastor Michaels gets his voice back after a few moments and says with a smile, “Megan, I’m glad you’re alive, married and having a family. I’ll be glad to help you with getting your life restored in the eyes of the law.” He clicks the button on his telephone and asks, “Jennifer, please get the paperwork for nullifying a death certificate as well as the copy of the death certificate for Megan Elizabeth Sanders. I’m helping her to get this error involving her death fixed.”

Jennifer says, “Yes, sir, I’ll bring the paperwork to you right now”.

Megan smiles happily upon hearing this. She calmly adds, “Pastor Michaels, besides legally restoring me to life, I wondered if you wouldn’t mind helping my husband and I with a marriage license? I know all countries are supposed to generally respect all other countries with regards to marriage ceremonies having been performed, but the Kingdom of Shambhala vanished before most of history was ever recorded. The kingdom doesn’t have any documents showing marriages have taken place except for a record in the archives of the Temple of Ekajati, which is not a legal recording. Would getting a license for the state of Georgia be possible since we were married five years ago?”

Pastor Michaels smiles and says, “Under most circumstances, your marriage would not be questioned. However, given what you just said that there is no legal documentation recording your marriage, I don’t see a problem with signing a marriage license for the state of Georgia so that your marriage is recorded here purely for bookkeeping purposes should you ever have to prove its existence before the court. The original date of your marriage will be entered along with an addendum about its having taken place in a foreign country with no original legal record made.”

Megan nods her head, smiles and says, “Thank you very much for that, Pastor Michaels”.

“You’re welcome. I’m happy to help, and the legal restoration of your life should only take about a month or two depending on how fast the state and federal government offices finish processing it,” Michaels says.

Allison says, “Megan, if there are other forms to be filled out regarding your death nullification, then we can bring them back here next week after visiting the UGA campus in Athens.”

Pastor Michaels says, “A death certificate nullification can be filed using a standard office of the clerk form for the state, and a federal court judge can sign the federal court form which wouldn’t take too long to obtain. The federal form is usually what takes the longest of all the paperwork though at about a month or two after it’s been filled out, which is the primary basis for my original estimate for the time it will take to finish processing. It won’t be a problem though”.

Pastor Michaels asks, “Megan, you’ve been living in the Kingdom of Shambhala? Where is that? I’ve never heard of it, and may I ask how you’ve been these past five years?”

Megan says, “The Kingdom of Shambhala is a place nestled on a large plateau in the middle of the Himalayan Mountains, which has been hidden there for thousands of years. The reason I vanished the way I did is because I went on a trip sponsored by UGA to look for it. I wasn’t expecting to find much other than perhaps some ruins or a small village with a few people living in it. What I found was a kingdom which is home to many millions of people, who are living in a preserved wonder of the ancient world. Everything there is as it was before the kingdom vanished. There is no electricity, no means of electronic communication with the outside world, no postal service, so it’s very much cut off from the rest of the planet. I did not even realize how long I was there prior to coming back. I’m currently making plans with my friend Allison Freemont to setup an expedition back to Shambhala to do a full historical analysis of the kingdom for UGA.”

Pastor Michaels says and then asks, “That sounds wonderful! And how is your new family? Good home life, good health?”

Megan smiles at Elidar, takes his left hand in hers, and looks back at the Pastor to say, “Our family is a blessing! We have eight sweet babies born several months ago, and I’m expecting eight more babies now. It’s the most wonderful part of the entire experience for me!”

Pastor Michaels’ mouth falls open in shock, but he recovers quickly and says, “God certainly provides unexpected blessings when we least expect them! How far along are you?”

Megan says, “I’m only a few weeks along this time.” She rubs the side of her belly which is resting between her legs, the front of it reaching her knees. “I know that I look like I’m farther along than I really am, but I grew really big with my first set of babies. My body has taken on a perpetually pregnant look. I won’t start noticeably growing big with this pregnancy until I reach six months, but by then I’ll be back in Shambhala. I’m not going to take the chance of staying over here until I grow as big as I grew during my first pregnancy at around six months because if I do, then I won’t physically be able to make it back to Shambhala again until after I give birth. I miss my babies, and I don’t want to be away from them for too long. I also promised the king that I would return after about four months, which is an important promise for me to keep as the king’s vassal.”

Pastor Michaels looks concerned as he asks, “You’re the king’s vassal? Is that hard for you?”

“Well,” Megan says, “it’s not the easiest duty in the world, but I’ve learned to live with it. I made a promise based on a choice which the king gave to me after I accidentally broke Shambhalan law by having entered the kingdom without permission from the throne, and it’s important to me that I honor the king in keeping the promise I made to him. He is my father-in-law now after all, and I wouldn’t want to let him down on that side of things either.”

Pastor Michaels smiles and asks, “What is that brooch you have on? That looks like an engraving of a pregnant woman on it. Is the brooch connected to your new place in Shambhala?”

Megan smiles and says, “You’re very observant, Pastor Michaels, and you’re correct in assuming that the brooch is connected. Pastor, this is going to be somewhat difficult for me to explain, but by the king’s command in becoming his vassal, I’ve taken on the role of the kingdom’s Temple Mother. This brooch is a symbol of the role. The role of Temple Mother is based on an agreement made thousands of years ago between King Aristol and an ethereal being named Ekajati. She was the guardian protector for the region, and the temple there was built in her honor. The agreement was that a young woman would be offered to Ekajati to become an ultimate focus of fertility and joy for the whole kingdom. The woman in question would undergo ritualized training that would physically transform her into the focal point for Ekajati’s power on Earth. The Temple Mother’s life, and the lives of her children, would channel Ekajati’s power into a great defensive barrier that would protect the kingdom from invasion. The Temple Mother must continue having babies for the rest of her fertile life, so I will continue having pregnancies for the next few decades or so.”

Pastor Michaels’ eyebrows go up in a look of sympathy as he says, “I’m so sorry. It sounds like you’re a prisoner and being used against your will.”

Megan shakes her head while continuing to smile and says, “No, there’s nothing for you to be sorry about because it isn’t that way at all. I broke the law over there whether I meant to or not. I had to answer for that crime. It was either I chose to become the king’s vassal and accept the role of the Temple Mother, or I would have been imprisoned or put to death. I wanted to continue living my life, and I made the decision to accept this role in keeping with the law of that land. I was not forced into it. I am not a prisoner or a slave. Please do not ever think of me in those terms. I would be seriously insulted if you were to think that way about me.”

Pastor Michaels relaxes, smiles and holds up his hands while saying, “It’s okay. I didn’t understand at first, and I appreciate you having explained it to me. I promise that I won’t think of you as though you’re a prisoner. You’re a saved child of God who just happens to be a princess of another land now, as well as a happy mother and mother-to-be. I won’t pretend to understand the rest of it because that’s a role of responsibility that you’ve accepted for your life, and it’s not something for me to judge you over. The only one who can judge you is the Lord, and I know that you still have faith in Him, right?”

Megan’s face blossoms with a huge smile as she says, “I always have strong faith in the Lord, Pastor! He’s the reason why I’ve survived. My faith in Him is one of the key points that gave me the strength to accept the responsibility of becoming the Temple Mother and to continue living my life in the best way I know how to do!” She says this while rubbing the sides of her tremendously round belly.

Megan explains her duties in the Shambhalan royal court, as well as her happiness in helping to take care of the children in the palace nursery. She also tells the pastor of her young nephew, Xanchi, who she loves and misses as much as her own children while being away from her new home.

After she’s done, Pastor Michaels says, “Megan, thank you very much for sharing your story with me today. I believe that what you told me is an encouraging tale of strength and determination. I would like for you to be at church this Sunday so that the congregation can find out you’re alive and have returned to us at least for a short while to visit. Would you mind coming to church?”

Megan smiles and says, “I would be happy to be at church on Sunday. And I promise to behave on that day”. Elidar smiles as he hears this but remains silent to avoid any mischief with his wife.

Megan pushes herself out of her chair and into a standing position in front of the pastor's desk, and then she goes around, stands beside him and says, "Thank you for taking the time to meet with us and help us today, Pastor Michaels." He stands up and she hugs him. He smiles, steps back and says, "You're welcome, Megan. I'm very happy that you're alive and well. I hope you and the rest of your family remain living and well for many years to come. Take care and I'll look forward to seeing you again soon!" She replies with a big smile, "Take care, and I'll see you this Sunday!"

Megan, Elidar, Emma and Allison make their way out of the office and go back out to the van. Megan says, "I'm glad that that went very well. He's still a good man." Allison grins, "I loved it when you let slip your purported plans to show up in that costume. I thought he was going to stroke out for a second there!" Megan laughs and says, "Jokes aside, I'm glad that in the end he took it as the joke I meant for it to be. Besides the time it would've taken to put the costume together, I knew after thinking about it that my showing up like that might have caused him to have a heart attack or something else bad, and I would never want to run the risk of that happening!"

Allison smiles and asks, "So, on to the Big Chicken then?"

Megan says excitedly, "Yes, on to the Big Chicken!"



Megan grins as she rubs her pleasantly stuffed belly after getting comfortably situated in the van’s front seat again following a thoroughly satisfying meal. She looks back at her hubby and asks, “Did you enjoy it?”

Elidar looks at her and says, “Yes, I enjoyed it. The chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, biscuit, everything was wonderful! Thank you for suggesting that place for lunch!”

Megan says, “You’re welcome, dear!”

Allison looks at her and asks, “Are we ready to go to Athens?”

Megan says, “Yes, I’m about as ready as I’m ever going to be! Even though it’s going to be a little strange to be back at UGA again, I’m looking forward to getting there.”

Allison puts the van on the road and settles them on a course to the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Georgia.



After three hours, the van follows the entrance road to the university campus and eventually makes its way to the parking lot for the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Allison parks the van, runs around to the other side and helps Megan climb out of it again. Megan checks herself and gets her train of husband and guards into some semblance of order.

“Jimilyon?” Megan asks. “Yes, Your Highness?” Jimilyon responds attentively. Megan smiles and says, “I know that you and your men are the best security in the kingdom, but please don’t kill anyone while we’re here, okay?” Jimilyon nods his head and says, “We will not kill anyone, ma’am, but that does not mean we will not maim or otherwise severely injure someone should we have to.” Megan’s eyebrows rise and her lips bunch into a bemused expression before she says, “Good man. On we go!”

Megan uses her walking stick for balance and waddles up beside Allison. She makes sure that she has her UGA ID clipped to her collar as she, Allison and the men make their way through the entrance doors to the college building. They make their way up to the third floor via an elevator, with Megan shaking her head emphatically against the idea of using the stairs, and they walk down to the end of the hall on the left to the Anthropology and Archaeology offices.

Allison walks in first and asks the graduate student working the front desk to have the van returned to the garage and then when would it be possible to see Professors Jim Steiner and Alex Walraven?

The graduate student, Lana Jacobs, says, “Dr. Freemont, the computer shows that Dr. Steiner will be available in about thirty minutes, and Dr. Walraven will be out of class about thirty minutes after that. They both have some free time after their classes. Do you want me to put you down to see them both?”

Allison smiles and says, “I want you to do me a favor and send a message to them asking for a meeting between them, myself, and Dr. Megan Sanders as soon as possible. It’s a matter of some urgency.”

Lana says, “Yes, ma’am, I’ll send the message to their e-mails right now and place the meeting on their calendars.”

Megan asks, “What did they do with my office? Did it get reassigned?” Allison grins, shakes her head, and motions for Megan to follow her. Before they take three steps, Lana stops them and says, “Dr. Freemont, I’m sorry, but you’re not supposed to take unauthorized people into the back part of the office due to the security regulations protecting items returned to the lab by research expeditions.”

Allison steps over to Lana, takes out her UGA ID, grabs Megan’s from her collar, and hands them to the grad student. She says, “Please scan these IDs into the admittance program for me, Lana.”

Lana scans Allison’s ID and then scans Megan’s. The computer goes berserk and starts flashing warning messages when Megan’s ID is scanned into the computer for the first time in over five years. Lana gets upset and says, “You can’t proceed further! I’m calling campus security!” She puts her hand on the telephone and Allison places her hand on top of the grad student’s wrist, stopping the call. “What are you doing, Dr. Freemont?” Allison looks at Lana and says very calmly, “This is Dr. Megan Elizabeth Sanders. Do you happen to remember her from the UGA memorial that was conducted last year?” Lana looks at Megan’s face very closely, her eyes open wide, a hand goes to her mouth as a shocked expression settles itself upon her countenance. “Oh my God, she died while on a research trip for this office! Wait, how is she here?!” Allison and Megan grin at each other.

Allison says, “She’s here because we were all wrong two-and-a-half years ago when we thought that she had died. She was trapped overseas in a place that doesn’t have electricity, telephone, television, Internet, cell phone towers, shortwave radio, or any other means of communication with the rest of the world. She just managed to make it back home via a cargo ship which docked at Savannah yesterday. She’s here to make her report and prepare to assemble a new research project for the university. Is that clear enough?”

Lana sits down, catches her breath and says, “Yes, ma’am, that’s clear enough, but we’ll have to get her ID fixed. It was taken out of the system when she was pronounced dead. Please have a seat over there and the professors will be here in a short while. Also, give me Dr. Sanders’ ID, and I’ll work on getting it fixed while you’re waiting.”

Allison gives her the ID and motions for Megan and Elidar to follow her over to some chairs to wait. Jimilyon and the guards take up positions covering the doors exiting the room.

Megan grins and whispers to Allison, "You still know how to put on a show to encourage that things get done in a timely fashion. I'm glad though because I'm looking forward to people generally recognizing that I'm alive and well again, and that there's nothing to worry about." Allison smiles and says, "Why go any other way than the most productive? Besides I'm glad you're back, and the faster we can get things worked out the better!"

After twenty minutes, Lana has worked some magic with the UGA computer and successfully restored Megan's ID to active status again. She's also convinced the school computer to be updated to show that Dr. Megan Sanders is alive and on the staff again! She breathes a sigh of relief as her hacks save to the system without bother. She looks up with a smile and asks, "Dr. Sanders, could you please come here?"

Megan looks up with a smile and then pushes herself up out of her chair to waddle over to Lana's desk.

Lana smiles and says with an apology in her voice, "I'm sorry about asking you to get up. In your condition, I'm sure that the chair is far more comfortable! I sympathize because I just had a baby a few months ago. Congratulations on yours!"

Megan smiles and says, "Thank you very much, and congratulations on your own little one! Babies are such tremendous blessings, aren't they?"

Lana's smile grows wider and more relaxed as she says, "Yes, they are! I love my little boy so much! Is this your first, or are you building a family?"

Megan says, "Thanks for asking. I have eight sweet babies that I gave birth to several months ago waiting for me back at my new home, and I'm currently carrying eight babies. It's a lot of work, but I love them all so much that I wouldn't have it any other way!"

Lana is amazed and says with another smile, "Oh my word, that's incredible! Please, Dr. Sanders, here's your ID. It's been restored to fully operational status again. Your security clearances have been restored, and you're also listed again on the active staff roster of the university."

Megan looks at her with a happily amazed expression. She waddles around the desk, motions for Lana to stand, and she gives Lana a hug. She says, "Thank you so much for your help! You're a very sweet lady, Lana!" Lana returns the hug and says, "You're welcome, and welcome back, Dr. Sanders!"

Megan stands back from the hug and clips her badge back on her collar. She waddles over and sits down again beside Allison. Allison asks, "Well?" Megan says, "Well, thanks to our kind friend Lana, I have been restored to life in the eyes of UGA, my security clearances are restored and I'm back on the active staff roster again!" Allison looks at her with wide eyes and then says, "Thank God! I hope there won't be any issues with that part of it!" Megan says, "You and me both!"


To Be Continued…

The Temple Mother - Part Seven
by PumpkinBelly

Dr. Jim Steiner hears a beep from the laptop on his desk which he knows is an urgent message because none of the others are set to give an audio arrival warning.  He takes off his horn-rimmed glasses, closes his bloodshot brown eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose while leaning on the podium.  His dark brown hair has a light amount of gray coming in at the temples which is an element of too many nights spent working on research grant proposals when he should have been sleeping.  He’s waiting patiently while his Paleontology 304 students work to finish their test over the third unit covering chapters ten through fifteen in the primary textbook, seven through twelve in Dromedary, and his lecture notes with a few recommended side readings included as well.

The last three students turn in their tests and leave.  He opens his eyes, puts his glasses back on, gathers the papers, books and other materials into his briefcase and closes it.  He starts to close his laptop when he sees something impossible displaying on his e-mail box which has been copied to a meeting on his calendar following this class, “Urgent meeting in conference room B with Dr. Allison Freemont and Dr. Megan Sanders after current class”.

“What in the name of all that’s deep fit and holy has that young woman been smoking? This can’t be right?!”

Steiner becomes aggravated as he closes the laptop, places it and related PC items in his travel bag, and picks everything up to leave the classroom and head for the department office.

Steiner thinks as he’s walking towards the elevator, “Megan Sanders was one of my best students and a good colleague after she started teaching and working on research projects here.  Her loss was a terrible blow to the department and to the university! Why would that graduate student have sent me a message with her name on it when everyone knows that she disappeared without a trace all of those years ago? And she even copied Alex on the note, too. I’m going to take this out of her hide if it’s a joke!”

Steiner slams his hand on the button, the doors whisper quietly closed and the elevator takes him up to the fourth floor.  He walks down the hall, reaches and walks through the office door, and focuses upon the young woman behind the desk, blocking out everything else around him, while belligerently asking, “What in the hell is wrong with you?! Do you have no respect for the dead? Do you want me to take you out of here in a way that will prevent you from ever returning to grace this place with your profoundly immature presence again?!”

Lana frowns, looks him straight in the eyes and says with a knowing smirk, “Sir, you had better visit the conference room before you say another word.  I wouldn’t want to report your unnecessary browbeating of me to the dean, now would I?”

Steiner’s mouth falls open and he says, “Who do you think you are? I’ll take you to the dean myself and have you tossed out on your butt so fast it will make your head spin!”

Steiner’s combination of ranting and focusing on Lana caused him to miss the young woman who came out of the conference room towards the front desk.  Megan Sanders is waddling towards Lana’s desk with her eyes on Steiner and a very serious look on her face.  She quietly stops beside Steiner, turns towards him and says with a sarcastic smile, “By God, you’re still an unbelievable blowhard, Jim.  Won’t you ever outgrow that tendency to spout off at the mouth before you know what’s going on?”

Steiner looks towards the sound of Megan’s voice, her presence registers for him and he is so surprised by her being there that he drops everything he’s carrying.  His mouth falls open, his eyes look lost, and he says, “Megan, is that you?”

Megan smiles, goes over, hugs him and gives him a kiss on his right cheek.  “Yes, Jim, it’s me! I’m back from beyond the veil with a project that’s going to knock you into your next lifetime, and it’s all mine! Won’t you come into my parlor so that we can go over things?”

Jim’s eyebrows go up and he smiles at her.  “Oh, Megan, thank God it’s really you.  I’m so glad you’re alive and back!”

Megan grins and says, “Thanks, it’s good to be back, and it truly is good to see you again.  I’m looking forward to getting your reaction to my project, so let’s go talk about it.”

Lana hops out from behind her desk to pick up Dr. Steiner’s forgotten dropped bags and hands them to Megan.  She takes them with a smile and a nod as she guides Steiner towards the conference room.  Once inside of the room, Megan asks Steiner to sit down on the side facing the door.  She sets his bags down on the table beside him, and then she goes around to the opposite side of the table to sit down, which indicates that she’s in control of this meeting.

Steiner suddenly realizes something he missed before, “Are you pregnant, Megan?”

Megan stands back up, turns to show off her belly, and asks, “Whatever made you think that Jim, this old thing?” She grins while rubbing her hands over the front swell of her massive middle which precedes her by three feet.  She adds with a very mischievous grin, “I’m only expecting eight babies, so nothing to worry about.”  Steiner’s jaw drops open in a way that makes it look like it would detach from his head if he wasn’t careful.  Unintelligible mumbles are coming out of his mouth like he’s trying to say something but not getting very far in doing so.  Megan looks at him with a sad expression and asks, “Hm, are you distracted not only by my being alive but especially by my belly? Methinks you are at that. My belly has grown into quite an eye-grabbing feature that in many cases leaves people breathless.  How sad it must be for you that it has you so spellbound. And thank God its existence makes it easier for me to control the room.” She adds the final comment with absolute seriousness in her voice as her smile vanishes.

Allison’s eyes widen and she purses her lips as she watches Megan pull off a highly effective manipulation trick on Steiner.  Steiner is shocked senseless both by the fact that she’s alive and by how pregnant Megan is.  Allison knows that Steiner is such a blowhard that he’ll come out of his mental funk soon, but he must be pretty far gone for it to be lasting this long.

Allison jumps in her seat when she hears the ruckus coming from outside the door right after Steiner's initial reaction to what's going on. She thinks to herself, "Great, and now the rest of the afternoon's entertainment has arrived. I hope Megan can calm him down, too."

“What the hell do you mean scheduling a meeting for me with Dr. Sanders! She’s dead for goodness sake! Can’t you keep up with anything?” a loud voice shouts from outside the conference room door.  Megan looks at the door with a rather whimsical expression on her face.  Lana’s voice is heard directing the shouter to the conference room and asking the person to stop making such a racket.  More grumbling is heard as the person making the racket stomps over, pushes the door open hard and storms in.

Megan looks straight into his eyes and says, “Hello, Alex, long time no see.  At least now we can get started.  Please sit down with us.”

Dr. Alex Walraven stops and his breath catches in his throat.  His eyes look lost for a moment, he shakes his head and says, “No, no, you can’t be here!?”

Megan says in no uncertain terms, “Alex, stop acting like a goof and sit your butt down now! I am here. The rescue team you sent after me was wrong when they assumed I had died.  I was trapped in the place I was searching for on my trip and have finally managed to find my way back here.  Deal with it.”

Alex closes his mouth, walks over and sits down beside Steiner.  His eyebrows scrunch in worry and he starts lightly patting Jim on the left side of his face while saying, “Hey, Jimmy, come back to us.  It’s okay.  She’s really here and it’s not all a delusion.”  Steiner shakes his head, gets a grip on himself, smiles at Walraven, nods his head that he’s finally okay, and they both turn to face Megan.

Megan smiles and says, “Thank God, reason returns and now we can talk like serious researchers.  I’m here to make my report about what I found on my trip to Asia.  And I honestly must say that it’s like nothing you can even hope to have imagined.  To put things simply, I succeeded in finding the lost Kingdom of Shambhala, which is located on a large plateau in the Himalayan Mountains.  The kingdom is home to many millions of people and is a preserved wonder of the ancient world.  The reason why I vanished without a trace for so long is that I accidentally broke the law of Shambhala by having crossed its boundaries without attaining permission from the throne to have done so.”  She goes on to explain about having been chosen to become the king’s vassal to answer for the crime of having entered the kingdom without asking permission of the throne, as well as her roles as the Temple Mother and a princess of Shambhala with the same kinds of descriptions shared with Pastor Michaels.  

Dr. Steiner asks, “Oh my gosh, you really became a part of their culture.  You have to go back there in a few months or so, don’t you because you can’t stay away for too long?”

Megan nods her head and says, “That’s true.  I must return to Shambhala based on my duties as the king’s vassal, plus my having become a princess of the realm in addition to being the Temple Mother, but those are not the primary reasons I have to return although they are all extremely important ones.  The main reason why I must return is because my babies are back there, and I miss them.”

Alex says, “So, you wanted to give us your report, and I’m glad to see that you are alive, Megan, in spite of how I was acting earlier. Sorry for that by the way.” He looks at her sheepishly with this last statement.

Megan smiles, gets up, and proceeds to go around the table to him.  She sits down on the edge of the table while facing him and says, “I know you hate for your daily schedule to be interrupted at the last moment, and I do appreciate the apology.  I am telling the truth though.  The Kingdom of Shambhala is a real place where I’ve been living these past several years, and I want to do a full research project on it for the university.”

Steiner crosses his arms and says, “While it’s great to have you back, Megan, there is no funding available from university sponsors for a project like this.  You were fortunate that there was enough money in the research fund for the trip you took.  And I might add that that trip was only because of your incessant curiosity about that region of the world and no one else was interested in going at the time.” He smiles sympathetically for a moment until Megan grins and says, “Oh, money is not an issue in this case, Jim.  The money will be taken care of by my parents’ company, and the companies of their friends.  I’ve already discussed this with both of my parents and they agreed that since my life is now in Shambhala that I have a right to study it for the benefit of myself and this school.”

Jim looks shocked and says, “There’s no precedent for a professor in this department to do such a thing.  And even if there were, you’re not on the staff here anymore, so you couldn’t do it if you wanted to!”

Megan shakes her head while smiling at him and then reaches behind her to key the intercom on the panel in the middle of the conference table.  “Lana, would you please bring the portable ID scanner along with your laptop into conference room B? I want the computer set to scan my ID for the purposes of identifying me.”  Lana says with a grin in her voice, “Right away, Dr. Sanders!”

Steiner crosses his arms and shakes his head with a knowing smirk on his face.  Alex looks at Megan and says, “You’re only going to embarrass yourself.  Your ID hasn’t been used in years.  It will probably set off every alarm in this place and wind up getting you arrested.”  Megan pushes her hands into her lower back to stretch a bit and says, “We’ll see, won’t we?” with a knowing smile on her own face.

Lana brings the laptop and scanner in, plugs everything in on the end of the conference table, and Megan goes over when the system is powered up with the scanner program loaded.  She removes her ID and holds it under the scanner.  The system hums, processes for a few seconds, and then an employee record with a photo belonging to Dr. Megan Elizabeth Sanders appears on the screen with a notice that she is an active professor on the university staff assigned to the archeology division with full security clearances for the research labs and storage areas.

Steiner and Walraven look stunned.  Steiner says incredulously, “How is this possible? You’ve been gone for years, presumed dead, and you come back like nothing happened?! I don’t believe it!”

Megan looks at him with an expression of calm seriousness before saying, “Believe it, Jimmy boy.  I’m back, and the truth is that I did not die.  I was stuck in the place that I had been looking for, and I shouldn’t have my entire life taken away from me simply because of an incident that was beyond my control.  And besides, there’s far more to this than either you or Alex are aware of.  I have to be honest with both of you about this even though you likely will not believe me when I explain this.”  She takes a deep breath and asks, “Both of you take a breath and calmly look at my face.  Ignore my belly because it’s not relevant to this part of the conversation.  Look at my face and tell me what you see?”

Jim has a highly skeptical expression on his face, but he looks at her closely for a minute.  Walraven does the same until he looks as though he realizes something he missed before.  He says, “Oh, wow, you haven’t aged! You look almost the same as you did before you left.  How is this possible?” Steiner shakes his head, looks at her more closely and says, “It’s not! You should be about five years older, but you look practically unchanged! What’s going on?”

Megan closes her eyes as a satisfied expression graces her face.  She nods her head and says, “What’s going on is that somehow there’s a temporal warping effect present in Shambhala that’s causing time to move far more slowly inside of the kingdom than it does in the rest of the world.  For me, I was only in Shambhala for close to a year, but to the rest of the world, I was lost for a little over five years.  I didn’t find this out until I got my hands on some recent newspapers on the cargo ship I traveled aboard to get back to Georgia.  Part of the project that I want to work on in addition to doing a historical analysis of the region is to find out why this warping is taking place and what can be done to stop it.”

Steiner grimaces, shakes his head again and says, “That sounds like something more fitting for the physics department.  You have no training or experience to warrant an investigation like the kind you're describing.”

Megan looks at Steiner with patience before saying, “I am the Shambhalan Temple Mother, which means I am in a position that leads me to believe I know what’s causing the warping.  I have to talk to someone else who I believe is the basis for it. In fact, given your understandable reaction to this last part of my proposal, I'm going to ask the subject of my inquiry to visit us here now."

Alex looks at her with a quizzical expression and asks, "How can you do that? They would never get here in time, would they?"

A few seconds later an ethereal voice says, "Au contrere, it is easy to travel when one is not encumbered by physical limitations." A beautiful, trim woman with blue eyes and hip length straight blue hair steps out of nothingness into the room. Jim's and Alex's eyes bug out and Alex asks, "And who are you, ma'am?" She looks at he and Jim and says, "I am Ekajati, the protector of the realm of Shambhala. I have commonly been referred to as the mother of the mother of all Buddhas, but my role as protector is why I have arrived here today. I was asked to come mentally by my Temple Mother, Megan."

Megan smiles and says, "Thank you very much for coming here today, Ekajati.  I told you long ago that I trained to be a professor at the school called the University of Georgia, which is where we are. These gentlemen are Professors Jim Steiner and Alex Walraven, who are good friends I've worked with before on research projects.  I'm currently reporting to them about my experiences of having found Shambhala and how I've become a part of Shambhalan culture.  I am also working to put together a research project to do a historical analysis of Shambhala for the university after I return to the kingdom.  The main reason I've asked you to visit us today is that I have to find out, am I correct in my assumption that the temporal warping taking place in Shambhala is being caused by the protective barrier that you're generating?"

Ekajati laughs and asks, "Why would such a thing as the passage of time in the kingdom be a concern to anyone?"

Megan says, "It's a concern because the temporal warping has cut the kingdom off from the rest of the planet.  Protection is one thing, but isolating the region from everywhere else can have drawbacks.  I want to be able to communicate with people back here in Georgia after I return to Shambhala, and I can't do that as long as the warping is going on.  Do you know why the warping exists?"

Ekajati calmly says, "The barrier warps time in your reality because my power is being principally channeled through your body, Megan.  It has always been this way with the Temple Mothers since I made the agreement with King Aristol thousands of your years ago.  My power goes through the Temple Mother and is then amplified in a chain by passing through the children she gives birth to.  There has never been another way to channel my power to create and strengthen the barrier."

Megan thinks for a few moments and then she realizes something.  She asks, "Could it be that the primary way of channeling your power, using the Temple Mother and her children alone, is the reason why the warping is taking place? Isn’t it possible that your power could be balanced out by having multiple women and their children involved in the distribution?  They would all be tied together for the cooperative distribution of your energy, but the path of your energy would not be as tightly focused as it has been to the present day.  Does this idea sound like it could work?"

Ekajati thinks for a few moments, walks around the room, and then turns back and says, "That's possible. I had not considered it in those terms before, but having more than one principal point to start off with for channeling my power and then tying all of those points together could balance it out as you say to stop the warping from taking place. It will also remove part of the protection for the realm by putting it back into sync with the rest of the planet again."

Megan says with reassurance in her voice, "It's okay.  The barrier will still be protecting the kingdom.  Presuming we can successfully place the kingdom back in sync with the rest of the world, the reconnection to the international community will provide important benefits for the people living there.  Access to sources of education in other parts of the world, and getting in touch with people in other regions would be very beneficial for everyone in the kingdom.  I would be happy to build a new sisterhood of the Temple Mother with your blessings to accomplish this."

Ekajati says, "I give my blessings for this if you believe eliminating the temporal warping will add positive elements for living life in the kingdom, Megan.  And I will always be available to help when you need for me to be."

Megan smiles, bows, and says, "Thank you very much for your help, Ekajati."

With this Ekajati vanishes as abruptly as she had arrived.  Walraven shakes his head and says, "Oh my gosh, you brought back mythical beings with you, too?!"

Megan shakes her head, laughs and says, "Only Ekajati, Alex.  And it's because I'm her Temple Mother, and she's a real being who exists and is protecting my new home."

Jim Steiner draws a deep breath as he looks at Megan and says, "Okay, Dr. Sanders, you have my vote on your research project covering the Kingdom of Shambhala.  You will still require a liaison to the university, which I believe Alex will be willing to do unless he has some kind of unknown objections to it."

Alex shakes his head and says, "The only issue I may have is my wife, Sara.  If I'm going to be assigned overseas for an extended period, then she'll have to make arrangements to go with me.  She's a clerk in Judge Walters' office over in the law college, so I'll have to talk with her about it.  I hope it won't be a problem.  I'll let you know as soon as I can."

Megan quirks her left eye and asks, "Is Sara Bradley your wife, Alex?"

Alex smiles and says, "Yes, she and I decided to get married soon after you were presumed lost, Megan.  In a way, your death gave us a strong encouragement to stop beating around the bush and finally marry.  We love each other very much, and I couldn't get along without her."

Megan smiles widely, goes over to him, leans over and gives him a big hug.  "I'm so happy for you and Sara, Alex!" She leans back and says, "I'll have to talk with her myself, too, since she's another friend I've missed.  We have to have some time for girl talk, you know?"

Alex grins, shakes his head, and says, "Oh, don't I know how you ladies love your 'girl talk'.  Can't go without having some of that.  She's working today, so you should be able to catch her after we finish up here."

Megan says, "Thanks, I'll head over there in a little while".

Megan turns back towards Steiner and says, "I'll work with Dr. Freemont to write up the proposal for the research project to present to you by the end of the week.  We can go over the timeline and other parameters, as well as an initial list of the participants."

Steiner smiles and says, "That sounds like a good plan.  I'll meet you and Allison in my office on Friday afternoon around 2:00 PM, if that's okay?"  Megan smiles and says, "That sounds great, thanks!"  Alex smiles and asks, "If my schedule allows for it, do you mind if I join you?" Jim smiles and says, "Hey, the more the merrier!"

After the meeting, Megan waddles out of the conference room to the waiting area in the front of the office where Elidar and Emma are waiting.  They're laughing and talking, and Elidar is pleasantly surprised as Megan leans over and plants a warm kiss on his lips.  He grins, returns the kiss, and then asks, "Did the meeting go well?"  Megan says, "It went very well. I'm back on the university staff and am organizing a research project that I will work on back in Shambhala." Elidar squeezes her hand and says, "That's great! Where do you want to go now?"

Megan says, "I want to go over to the law college to visit with an old friend.  Her husband is going to come with us to try to lessen the emotional impact of my return for her.  In fact, here he is, and I'd like for you to meet him because he's an old friend I used to work with here."  Elidar stands up and turns to face the direction of the conference room as Megan turns and says, "Dr. Alex Walraven, I'd like for you to meet my husband, Prince Elidar of Shambhala; Elidar, this is Dr. Alex Walraven of the UGA Archaeology department."  Elidar and Alex both smile and shake hands.  Alex says, "It's very nice to meet you.  I hope you're having a good visit to the States and to Georgia so far!" Elidar says, "It's nice to meet you, too.  I'm having a very good visit.  It's hard to believe in some ways how far the rest of the world has advanced in some ways since the protection barrier isolated Shambhala.  Megan and I have had long, very interesting conversations about those changes since we met, but having the chance to view a lot of the changes myself is a very informative experience for which I'm glad."  Alex says, "I'm happy it's a good experience for you, and I hope that continues.  I would enjoy the opportunity to talk with you some about your life in Shambhala when you have time for it."  Elidar says, "I would like to talk with you about it when we have the chance to."  Megan grins at them both and goes with them as Allison comes out and they all proceed out of the office.

Dr. Jim Steiner closes the conference room door behind him and walks over the office's front desk.  He gets Lana's attention and says, "I apologize for having taken your head off earlier.  Dr. Sanders is an old student and friend of mine who I thought was dead.  She's right that I do have a tendency to go off the handle before I know what's going on."  Lana grins and says, "I accept your apology, Dr. Steiner, and I sympathize because I don't think anyone was expecting to ever see her again.  I'm just glad she's alive and well."  Jim smiles and nods, "You and me both! Have a good day!"  Lana says, "You, too!"  Steiner walks out of the office towards his next class meeting a couple of floors below.

At the front doors of the Franklin College building Allison says to Megan, "Oh, I accidentally forgot that I asked Lana to have the van picked up before we were done with it! I'll call the vehicle garage to stop them from coming since they haven't gotten here yet."  It only takes a few minutes and Allison says, "Ah, it's not a problem.  They were late getting over here anyway.  The garage dispatcher put us back on the reservation book to keep the van." Megan says, "That's good. I'm glad you thought of it because I don't think we'd be able to continue our travels with a group this size in your car."  Allison grins and says, "No, that wouldn't be a good idea."

The group piles into the van and drives over to the law college building.  Alex runs inside as Megan and the others unload so that he has a chance to give Sara a quick warning about Megan's return.

Sara Walraven is sitting at her desk with a frustrated look on her face and her medium brown, shoulder length hair is a mess as she leans over from her chair to pick up fallen binders and folders from the floor.  The storage shelf on her desk has a catch on it which had accidentally been knocked loose without anyone’s knowledge and had caused it to fall apart, dumping its contents on the desktop and the floor.  She finally gets the last binder from her feet when she sees her husband Alex come rushing into her office.  She looks at him with a puzzled expression because he’s supposed to be on the other side of the campus.  He stops in front of her, works to catch his breath and holds up his right hand to indicate that he needs a second before speaking.

Sara asks, “What’s wrong, honey? Are you okay?”

She stands up, walks over and wraps her arms around him to give him a warm hug and then gently kisses his lips.  She asks, “Better?”  He nods his head with a grateful smile and says, “Much better, thanks”.

“What brings you over to my office at this time of the day?” she asks as she brushes his blondish-brown hair out of his eyes while talking.

He says, “Sweetie, I want you to take a deep breath and calm yourself.  I have some excellent news for you, but I wanted to break it to you as gently as I could.”

Sara grins, shakes her head, and says, “I’m pretty relaxed, Alex, with the exception of my collapsed desk shelf frustrating me.  I have to reorganize my reference books again! What’s going on?”

Alex turns around and sits down on the edge of her desk, takes a breath himself and asks, “Do you remember your old friend, Megan Sanders?”

Sara’s expression changes to a troubled one, she bites her lip and nods her head as she says, “Yes, I remember Megan.  Why are you asking me about her?”

Alex smiles and says, “Well, dear, it looks like we were wrong about what happened to her.  She’s coming in to see you right now.”

Sara’s expression changes to one of shock and she asks, “What?! You’re joking, aren’t you? I mean she’s gone…”

At that moment, the office door opens and Megan Sanders walks through it.  She smiles, proceeds over to Sara, takes her in a hug and then gives her a kiss on the cheek.  “Hey, how have you been doing, Sara?” she asks with delight.

Sara’s eyes practically jump out of their sockets to accompany the level of surprise she has.  She shakes her head with a tremulous smile as she says, “Oh, God, Megan, it’s really you!”  She hugs her back and asks, “What happened? I’m so glad to see you again, but what’s going on and…” She stumbles over her words as she looks down and sees that Megan is pregnant.  A look of profound happiness wipes away her previous confused expression and she says, “Oh, wow, you’re having a family?! This is great! Let’s sit down and talk.”

Megan grins and asks, “Are you sure your boss won’t mind our taking the time to visit?”

Sara smiles and says, “Judge Walters? He’s a teddy bear when it comes to stuff like this.  I’m sure that he will be very happy to find out that you’re alive and well, and I’m positive that he won’t mind our catching up.”

Megan turns around and waves Elidar over from his waiting position behind her.  “Sara, I want you to meet my husband, Elidar.  Elidar, this is my other friend from school days long gone that I told you about, but she’s now Mrs. Sara Walraven.”

Elidar smiles, bows, and takes Sara’s right hand to shake it.  He says, “It’s very nice to meet you, Sara.  I hope that we can become friends, too.”

Sara smiles with additional surprise at Elidar while saying, “You’re Megan’s husband? I’ll look forward to talking with you.”

They all sit down and Megan tells Sara about her life since having disappeared on her trip to Asia.  Sara is shocked not only when she hears of Megan’s discovery but also that Megan has become an integral part of the previously lost society.  Sara had earned a doctorate in Paleontology but is working in the Judge’s office since no openings in her field are currently available at the university and she doesn’t want to relocate away from her husband to find work if it can be avoided.

Megan says, “Besides our getting caught up, Sara, Alex has something he wants to ask you about.”  Alex looks at Megan questioningly with this comment, and Megan smiles again while adding, “Even though it’s my project, you’re her husband, and you should talk with her about it first.”

Alex grins, nods his head in agreement, and says, “Thanks for your consideration about that, Megan.”  He turns to Sara and says, “Due to Megan’s having found the lost Kingdom of Shambhala and become a part of that society, she has attained a private sponsorship for a university research project covering the region.  Jim Steiner and I talked it over briefly in a meeting with her and your other old friend Allison Freemont, a short while ago over at Franklin College, and in the rough outline of setting up the project, Jim is assigning me as Megan’s liaison with the university since I’m still her supervisor for the department.  As a result, while the project is happening, it would be a good idea to relocate to Shambhala to work on it.  Would the idea of moving to the other side of the world for an undetermined amount of time be okay with you?”

Sara thinks for a moment and then a wide smile appears on her face.  She asks, “Are you kidding me? This sounds great! You’re going to be doing a research project on an area of the world that was considered a legend for thousands of years. I trained as a paleontologist, and I would love to have the chance to participate in the project if I can.  If I can’t work on the project, then I still think it’s an excellent chance for me to go and experience this place firsthand!”

After saying this, the information behind the project explanation clicks in Sara’s head, and she asks with some understandable confusion, “Wait, does this mean that you’re back on the staff here, Megan?”

Megan nods her head with a big smile and says, “Yes, if you check your office computer it will show me as an active staff member assigned to archeology.  The only thing that’s really holding things up at this point is I’m not fully legally restored to life yet.  My church pastor helped me with the forms for his office and the state form.  The federal forms have to be finished though, and the main thing holding it up is that the federal forms have to be signed by a federal court judge.”

Sara gets a devious grin on her face and slowly says, “A federal court judge did you say? I might be able to help with that.  Just a minute.”

She hops up and looks quickly through the stack of binders that fell on the floor earlier.  She finds a copy of the federal form for reversing a certification of death, and then she takes it with her into the office behind her.  A few minutes later she peeks back out and says, “Megan, would you please come in here?”

Megan smiles, nods her head, pushes up from her chair and goes into the inner office with Sara.  Sitting behind the large, antique mahogany desk facing them is Judge Matthew Walters, the dean of the law college, who is grinning from ear-to-ear as he stands up and holds out his hand for Megan to shake with an answering smile.

“Dr. Sanders, you’re alive?! It’s great to see you again! Sara just explained that you need help with coming back to life before the law, and I’ll be glad to help by signing the federal paperwork for you,” he says.

Megan says, “Thank you so much for helping me with this, Judge Walters! Did Sara by chance tell you the rest of the story?”

Judge Walters nods his head and then motions for Megan and Sara to sit down by his desk to talk.  He says, “She said that you’ve become a princess of the legendary Kingdom of Shambhala and have attained private sponsorship to do a university research project on the region? That’s an incredible story. Although Archeology is not my area, I’ll be fascinated to see the reports of your work over there.  I might even want to go over there to visit sometimes if it would be okay for me to do so?”

Megan smiles and says, “Not to worry about that, Judge Walters.  I’ll ask the king for his permission for your visit myself.  It’s not a problem, and I’m sure that he would appreciate the chance to speak with someone of your background with regards to how the world’s law systems have changed over the years.  I know you specialize in American law, but I also recall that you did extensive studies of the English, French, Swiss, and Norwegian legal systems while you were preparing for your doctorate.”

Judge Walters smiles and says, “You have an excellent memory, Dr. Sanders.  Thank you for your courteous offer to get permission for me to visit your new home.  I have to admit that it would be a pleasure to have the chance to discuss the history of law with the king of a soon-to-be not so legendary land.”

Megan says, “That reminds me, there’s someone else who I would like for you to meet.”  She gets up, rushes outside and gets Elidar.  She brings him into the office and introduces him to Judge Walters.

After the federal forms are signed and witnessed, Judge Walters scans the document into his computer to digitally send an encrypted copy of it to the federal court office to get Megan's legal return to life set into motion.

A few days later, Megan is reclining back on her family's old sofa in their living room with her husband snuggled up to her, her father drinking a cup of hot tea while sitting in his recliner reading the evening paper, and her mother sitting in another recliner to her father's left, working on a crossword puzzle. The 6:00 PM Atlanta news is on NBC with a report about a terrible hurricane in the Bay of Bengal on the other side of the globe.

Megan watches the report with a concerned expression for a few moments, then she speaks quietly to Elidar in Cinocian, "Hasn't the barrier always protected Shambhala from storms like this one?"

Elidar responds, "We've never had to worry about storms for as long as I've lived. I'm sure there's nothing to fear from this hurricane."

Megan smiles, draws Elidar's right hand to rest on top of her middle, and rubs it while watching and feeling two of her babies changing positions inside of her. An intensely joyous expression appears on her face, and she rubs and pats the left side of her belly with her left hand. She asks her mother, "Mom, would you please come over here for a moment?"

Millie Sanders looks up from her book, smiles, gets up from the recliner and crosses to sit to her daughter's left.  She gazes in wonder at her daughter's incredibly baby-filled belly and watches her unborn grandchildren move with barely restrained energy to move over from where they had rested before. She leans over and kisses the babies, tells them she loves them and then leans up to kiss Megan's left cheek. Megan smiles delightfully at her and returns the kiss.

---

To Be Continued…