Page 101 of Trouble Comes in Threes

I smiled up at him. “Sounds like a plan.”

I rocked Liam about ten minutes longer, then put him to bed. Next, I checked on all the kids, ending with Ashley. She was still awake, and she gave me an extra-long hug.

“Were they the people from your nightmare, Aunt Rose? You didn’t answer earlier.”

I could have lied but decided she deserved the truth. “Yes.”

“But it was just a dream,” she said. “Not a vision.”

“I know, but Uncle Joe thought it was a good idea anyway.” I paused. “I know it’s been a while since I’ve asked…” I paused again. “Have you had any signs of having visions?”

“No,” she said quietly. “But you said Mommy didn’t have them either.”

“You’re right. She didn’t. And I got mine when I was younger than you, but I didn’t really have help with them. I had to figure them out on my own. If you get them, I don’t want you to be alone with them like I was.”

“Will Hope or Liam have visions?”

That was a question I’d been asking myself since I was pregnant with Hope. But so far, she hadn’t shown any signs of having visions. I hoped she didn’t. Liam either. Sometimes my visions were a blessing, but mostly, they were a curse.

“Did your mommy have visions?” Ashley asked.

I hadn’t been prepared to have a conversation about visions, but Joe could wait a few more minutes. “No, she didn’t, but my grandmother did. They used to call her the Oracle of Lafayette County.”

“She didn’t help you?”

“My daddy was older when he had me, and his mother was older when she had him and Aunt Bessie, so she died before your mommy and I were born.”

“Oh.”

We were quiet for several seconds. I was about to get up and tell her goodnight when she said, “Do you see lots of bad things?”

While she knew I had visions, I didn’t talk about them much, but I wasn’t surprised she was pressing me, given the situation. “No, Ash. I mostly see good things.”

“But you do see bad things,” she pushed.

“Yes, sometimes I see bad things.”

“Do the bad things scare you?”

“Sometimes,” I admitted. “But I can stop the bad things from happening if I try hard enough.”

“And you saw something really bad last night?”

I hesitated. “Yes. I don’t understand how, but I think I had a vision in my sleep. You’re right. Uncle Joe had Mr. Tony come over so we could try to figure out who the people are and try to stop it from happening.”

“Someone got hurt?”

I hesitated again before telling her the truth. “Yes.”

She shuddered. “I’m glad I don’t have visions.”

“Me too.”

I leaned over to kiss her goodnight, but she said, “Why did that woman look like you?”

“I don’t know,” I said, sitting back up. “But I promise that she wasn’t me.”

“She looked a little bit like Mommy too,” Ashley said quietly.

---