Rheia made her notes and handed it back to him. "What hours are you thinking of for me?"
"How does a typical nine to five sound? We can rotate nighttime on-call hours," Adam offered.
"Sounds heavenly compared to my old schedule. Did you need help setting up the machines?"
"Yes, please. Beth tried to help but she didn't know what the machines did, so some of the room set ups aren't very logical."
Beth grimaced. "Sorry, Adam. You're right though, knowing what the machines are and what they do would make the difference."
"Don't be sorry, your organization of patient files and data input saved me weeks of work, it's not your fault you don't know what the machines do." He turned to Rheia. "The machines are heavy so I'll see if I can get some volunteers to help with the heavy lifting."
"If you can't find anyone, let Aiden know. He can check to see if one of the units can help," Meryn offered.
"Thanks, Meryn." Adam kissed her cheek.
Meryn turned to Ryuu and Beth. "You guys ready to go?"
"Yes, I'm ready." Beth stood and everyone walked to the door.
"Bye, Adam!" Meryn waved.
"Bye, hun." He turned and went back into his office.
"Let's go check on the men," Rheia said.
Beth frowned. "Don't you mean check on Penny."
Rheia grinned. "Nope."
Beth sighed. "Oh, dear."
*****
Bing!
Colton collapsed against Aiden, laughing.
"Motherfucker!" Quinn exclaimed.
Aiden snapped upright. "Quinn! Language! I know it's hard to believe because she's kicking your butt, but there's a toddler on the field."
Quinn blushed. "Sorry Aiden, Colton." He turned back to his defensive position in front of the Gamma bell tower.
Bing!
In the middle of the field, the Delta bell tower chimed.
Graham shook a finger at Aiden and Colton. "Y'all are cheating by using magic!"
Grinning broadly, Colton shook his head. "Sorry, but my baby girl is just that good."
Aiden turned to him. "Has she hit the Beta tower yet?"
Colton shook his head. Beta had done an excellent job of creating high partitions to keep out the small four-year old.
Aiden looked down at his watch. "Two-minute warning!" he bellowed.
The field grew louder as the trainees stomped, yelled and waved their arms trying to distract their assigned units. Colton looked at Aiden to see if he noticed. Aiden nodded. No bells had gone off after the two minute warning.
"She's going for Beta." Colton whispered.
"If she gets them, I'll buy her an entire cake." Aiden whispered back. Both of them stared at the Beta bell tower.
Aiden looked down at his watch. "Thirty seconds!"
Lorcan Ariav, the Beta Unit leader, bowed to them looking smug.
"She has ten seconds." Aiden stared down at his watch.
"Five, four, three, two..."
Bing!
"Sonofabitch! Impossible!" Lorcan turned around to see his bell swaying back and forth.
Aiden and Colton whooped and yelled, dancing jigs and laughing their heads off.
"Penny, come out, come out where ever you are," Keelan sang.
"Oh shit!" Colton heard Darian yell.
Colton turned and Penny was sitting on top of the bell tower. Instead of going after the well-defended rope she had gone for the bell itself. She was currently trying to get down but looked stuck.
"Penny!" The men all raced around the bell tower.
"Keelan, do something! Float her off!" Colton ordered.
"I'm trying, but she's an animate object, it's a bit tricky," Keelan snapped back, sweat running down his face.
One second she was trying to swing her leg over the rail and the next she was falling.
"Darian! Leg up!" Colton yelled and ran towards the fae warrior. Darian knelt down and cupped his hands. Colton stepped into his fingers and Darian flung him in the air. Colton flew up and wrapped his arms around Penny's body. He turned, but didn't have enough time to land on his feet. Holding her tight, they hit the ground and he rolled them. When they came to a stop, Colton sat up with her in his lap.
"Is she bleeding? Is she broken? I can't tell! Keelan, can you do something about the mud!" Colton yelled frantically.
Between Keelan and Quinn, Penny's face and clothes became spotless and her hair tucked back in a perfect ponytail.
Penny beamed up at him, her eyes lit up in excitement.
"Oh Gods, I think she's okay." Colton felt weak with relief. Hands helped him up and he walked back with her to the front of the training grounds. Penny pointed from bell tower to bell tower excitedly showing them the path she had taken. At the end, she stuck her tongue out at Lorcan and flexed her arms.
The men erupted into boisterous laughter. Colton was the first to collapse to the ground equal parts exhausted from worry and relief. Around him, the rest of the men sank down and rested against each other, it had been a long afternoon.
Penny went up to Aiden and held up two fingers. Opening one eye, he nodded. "I promised, didn't I? We'll start your two weeks tomorrow. Tonight, I'll let you choose from my stash of snack cakes." He winked at her. Hopping up and down Penny threw her tiny arms in the air.
The sound of tires crunching gravel had all the men turning to see that Meryn, Beth and Rheia had returned from the clinic.