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thecandywrites · 2 years

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Jewel Of The North Chapter 13

I know, I know. Another Hot Minute for this story. But to be fair, my life is this.

But this has been sitting in my drafts for...way too long. And I've actually had this as the first part of the last part of the story..which was 27 pages and that was just way too much to try to cram it all in. So I'm breaking it up. Yes. Those are pictures of plane crashes. Yes. Noah crashes his plane, with Zara and the kids on board. Yes. I'm evil. And A Dramatic Bitch. But I promise, it really brings everyone together and if they can get through this, and the other Murphy's Law level of 'everything that can go wrong goes wrong', they can get through anything by relying on each other and working as a family and a team.

Enjoy!

Jewel Of The North

Chapter 13

“That went well, for once.” You teased Noah as you all drove back to his house, all the kids still riding in the back, talking and enjoying the scenery as Sakura was pointing out who lived where along the way.

“Yeah, because Alorna wasn’t there.” Noah laughed as he had you under his arm as you happily helped put the truck into gear for him since it was a manual gear shift. So he could keep his arm around you.

The official documents laid in a folder next to you. The folder contained not just certificates from all the clans that contained “shares” of tribal lands to you, but also to both of your children as “recompense” for them believing the lies Doug and Alorna told about you. Especially since once it was investigated and their claims had proved false. Justice was served. In the form of Doug and Alorna in jail, awaiting trial. And you and every member of your immediate family, both present and soon to be future- having their due recompense. It also contained official apology letters from each clan and invitations to attend every summer solstice event from now on. Which you had accepted with grace from Noah’s parents as well as Neena’s.

“Exactly. And John was much better. And the kids, the poor things, they act like it’s no big deal to have their mom in jail.” You mused.

“It’s not the first time Alorna has been in jail in their lives, and I’ll bet it won’t be the last either. But it is the first time that no one has enough money to bail her out. Which is nice, that means that our peace gets to last at least a little while.” Noah grinned.

“Yeah, the peace was nice but I still feel bad for her kids though.” You murmured.

“Well there is not much we can do about her kids, but it serves Alorna right for defaming and maligning you.” Noah insisted.

“Plus, Ellie and John have had an affair going on for months now. And now that Alorna is in jail and officially moved out and is staying out this time, John and Alorna are finally getting a divorce. That means that Ellie and her kids got to move in with John and they’re happy and the kids get along. So that worked out.” Noah informed you.

“Yeah, it was still weird seeing John though.” You muttered since John was just a little excessive in his apologies and trash talking his ex wife.

“Yeah it was, I think we’re better off by not getting too close to him.” Noah reassured you.

“Agreed, nothing against Ellie and their kids, just...until John isn’t weird, let’s give them a wide berth.” You readily agreed.

“So you gotta work tomorrow?” You asked him, changing the subject.

“Yes I do, it’s gonna be a long day tomorrow too.” Noah admitted.

“Well I think you’ll have plenty of help if you want it.” You mused.

“Nah, you guys need your rest, sleep in tomorrow, finish getting adjusted to the time change and then the day after should be a light day work wise, let them ease into it.” Noah suggested.

“Many hands make the workload light.” You reminded him.

“And plus if you have extra hands tomorrow to make the workload light, tomorrow and the day after that, that means that we could, potentially, get some work done early and possibly go fishing some more after work tomorrow. And if you want the kids to get a good taste of just how hard you work and how much is involved, don’t you want their snap shot on your life to be you on your busiest days with the heaviest loads? Don’t you want to impress upon them how much of a real job and real work it is?” You tempted him.

“True, and there are about three to four varieties of salmon that are running.” Noah admitted.

“So is that a yes?” You prodded.

“It’s a yes.” Noah readily agreed before he took his arm off your shoulders to open the window behind your head.

“Hey.” Noah called back to them.

“Yeah.” they all answered.

“Who wants to go to work with me tomorrow?” Noah asked.

“I do!” Both of your kids eagerly accepted.

“Well that settles it then doesn’t it.” You beamed.

“It does.” Noah nodded before he pulled into his driveway as the kids raced upstairs to get ready for bed so they could get some sleep to wake up early enough to go to work while you went ahead and got in the fridge and got a broaster out out and began tossing some moose meat, vegetables, broth and spices in to cook overnight so that you would have at least lunch ready for tomorrow as Noah came in and put his keys on the hook and simply came over to the kitchen and leaned against the door way, smiling serenely, watching you doing something so simple yet complex yet humbly domestic. He had forgotten how beautiful you could be in these candid moments. Just doing something simple and to some it could be described as mundane. But to him. It was such a beautiful sight. Just you, being a mother, making food for your family, humming to yourself as you did it and moving about in this kitchen as if it were your own, because it was.

“What?” You asked when you looked up and saw him watching you intently.

“Gods you’re just so beautiful Zara. I almost forgot just how breathtaking you could be. You are where you’re meant to be, in this moment and all I can think of is...how humble this setting is for a jewel like you.” Noah murmured.

“Aww, thanks, and likewise. But what I’m worried about is you seeing the setting I usually set myself in and think of yourself as not being good enough to settle in it too. Because nothing could be farther than the truth. I want you to feel just as comfortable there as you do here.” You professed.

“Well I doubt that’s going to be a problem. Even though John kept on insisting that it’s “a mansion”. But from what you’ve shown me, it’s just a house, granted a big one. But a house all the same. I wouldn’t consider it a mansion unless you keep like a full time housekeeper and a butler and a personal chef and all that.” Noah waived off which got you to chuckle in amusement.

“Well I don’t have a butler. And I love to cook for myself and my family too much to have a personal chef. But I do have a maid service that comes about once a week to help out just to keep things from descending into complete chaos. To do things like vacuum, scrub toilets and dust. And do a few loads of dishes and laundry and make sure any or all the food in my pantry doesn’t expire before we can eat it. Or make sure that nothing grows mold or anything in the fridge. And I do have a landscaping outfit come out and take care of the landscaping for the house and the business, because that’s a tax write off for the business too. And I do have a hay field that I pay a farmer to run for me and bale it up and put in my barn for me for the horses and stuff because I’m too busy with work to do it myself. But that’s it, otherwise we manage everything else just fine.” You explained.

“Nice. Honestly I think if more people could afford that kind of help, I know they would get it in a heartbeat. And there is nothing wrong with getting help when you need it.” Noah insisted which made your eyebrows raise in surprise and start laughing.

“Can I get you a mirror so you can say that to yourself?” You gently teased as he opened his mouth to argue but his argument died on his tongue and instead playfully narrowed his eyes at you as he scrunched up his face and laughed with you.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, haha, I get it, "big strong tough guy doesn’t ask for help" is preaching to you, the one who actually took the initiative and not only asked but got the help she needed.” Noah readily admitted, seeing the irony.

“And you said it yourself, that there was nothing wrong with asking for help. And because you said it, I get to hold you to it.” You insisted as you finished up and put your spices away and cleaned up after yourself and made sure that the broaster was actually on so it would cook overnight.

“Well as a matter of fact, I do need help.” Noah insisted as he came over and roped you into his embrace.

“With what? Taking your clothes off?” You guessed with a licentious grin.

“How did you guess?” Noah teased you.

“Just had a feeling. Also that’s a pretty big hint.” You teased back as you rubbed your pelvis into his to feel his hard cock press between you before you pulled out from his embrace and took him by the hand and led him upstairs. Then you put the kids to bed, Skylar and Sakura sleeping in the same bed. With Zane taking an air mattress on the floor. You gave them all kids melatonin gummies before you went to bed with Noah. Replacing the last memory you had together in this bed with a new one, and a much more pleasant one at that.

The next morning, Noah and yourself got up extra early and you put the cooked down contents of the broaster into to go containers and lunch boxes for everyone and set the broaster pan in the sink to soak in soapy water for the day.

Then Noah and yourself then got your family up and went over with all the kids how to pack proper overnight bags for the plane that were also emergency go bags and a emergency prepardness kits and bushcraft kits all in one huge backpack that had special flotation packs on them so that if you needed to jump out of the plane and parachute down into the water, the flotation devices would both keep the packs and the kids from sinking and would be a flotation device to help them swim to shore while everything in the kits would be safe from getting wet, or catching fire.

When you had told Noah, you liked to be prepared, he did not think you would take this to quite this extreme but everything in these things was extremely practical. And the fact that you got him and yourself the same things too. It would ensure that even if you all got seperated, they could find each other and especially if you were straded somewhere, you would all be ok until you could get rescued.

You had already packed a whole crate of things just for this occasion. Each child had everything that they needed to actually be stranded for a couple of days for up to a week, and could in theory, be alone by themselves and still be ok and defend themselves. Sakura was already used to the concept of an Arctic Tundra Survival Kit and bushcrafting. And your children were already familiar with the concept of go-bags in case of emergencies. Like tornadoes or other natural disasters and were happy that they basically had another go bag just for Noah’s plane and the Arctic Tundra. But these go bags were bigger and had a lot more to them because being stranded in the Arctic Tundra had its own challenges and you had made sure that you and they could be prepared for anything and everything. You made sure that each bag had enough supplies that even if it was winter, everyone would stay warm, safe, well fed, clean and cared for, for at least a week.

Then you all left and found good places for your go bags in the plane. Noah had already put extra parachutes for everyone in the plane. And he walked them through how to put them on and how to work them as well. And then he went through what to do in case of a crash landing. He showed everyone how to get the emergency doors open. Where the fire extinguishers were. Where the satellite radio was. Even though their bags already had special two way radios in them too so they could always stay in touch. And the satellite phone. And in the case of a crash landing, to put their go bags on backwards on their chests to put the parachutes on their backs. Then you all did a safety drill so that everyone felt safe and confident in their own individual abilities to stay safe on the plane.

Then he got everyone situated before you had Zane take his turn first in the cockpit and started your day for flying with Noah. To your delight, it was in fact a very busy day. All the kids and yourself took turns in the co-pilot seat and “flying” the plane for a few minutes each time. The whole plane felt like a constant conveyer belt of goods getting loaded and unloaded and then reloaded again several times over.

Sheshna, the owner of High Jacks was super happy and excited to see you again for breakfast since she was your first drop off spot and especially to meet your kids. She was happy to get a free extra long back and shoulder rub in exchange for breakfast on the house for your whole family. Your kids devoured the crab omelets and thought the berry pancakes were the best they had ever had in their lives. Zane sweet talked Sheshna into the recipes for the pancakes and the omeltes so he could make it at home. Which Sheshna, for once, agreed to in exchange for a couple of recipes from Zane which he was happy to barter for, as Zane was happy to write down the recipes that he knew by heart.

“So, ‘just the pilot’ huh?” Sheshna teased Noah after she hugged everyone goodbye and Noah was holding the door open for all of you which got him to laugh and blush.

“Turns out she was in the market for more than a pilot.” Noah tried to shrug off but his smile was bright and happy and bashful as always.

“Uh- huh, I expect to see them as regulars from now on.” Sheshna wagged her finger at him.

“You will.” Noah vowed before he gave her a hug and left himself before you went to the same Tavern for dinner and thankfully once they saw that you came in with your family and learned that Noah had snagged you himself, thankfully you didn’t get over a dozen drinks sent to the table this time. But that didn’t save Noah from some good natured teasing and jeering that he still bagged the prettiest daughter of the Arctic Tundra, again.

The kids did surprisingly well, all day long. They got along beautifully. Just like they had ever since they had first met face and face and they all worked together as a team with Noah and yourself. By the time all of you made it home, he gave them each a hundred dollars as you all staggered into the house, tired and exhausted but well fed and happy.

“What’s this for?” Skylar asked.

“You guys worked really hard, it’s only fair that you get paid too.” Noah answered.

“Yes!” Skylar, Zane and Sakura all cheered before Skylar and Zane put their money in their wallets before Sakura went and put her money in her piggy bank before they took turns getting showers, playing rock paper scissors to see who should go first, just like they had been doing this whole trip. After they were done getting showers, they all practically crashed into bed, barely getting the covers up and over themselves before their tired little bodies succumbed to sleep. No melatonin gummies or bedtime stories needed.

You quickly cleaned the broaster pan and then repeated your previous process, putting elk roasts in the broaster instead of moose this time. You changed up the spices but still added plenty of beef stock and other vegetables and put the lunch containers in the dishwasher to wash overnight as Noah did his paperwork and things for his business at the table.

“So how are things looking?” You asked Noah after you finished with the broaster and quickly wiped off the counter before you joined him at the table.

“Really good.” Noah answered as he diligently and honestly recorded each and every cent he made which only impressed you that he was still so honest and forthcoming. Even with his money. Which was a personality trait you highly admired because it bled through to every other area of his life.

“In the black?” You hoped.

“Very much so.” Noah smiled with a chuckle. “All thanks to you Babe.” He added before he leaned over to kiss you sweetly before he got back to going through his paperwork as you helped him sort the money by check and cash and Noah even had a special sack that he kept all of the gold that he got paid in along with a scale to weigh it all.

“That’s a lot of gold.” You noted as you picked it up and realized it was small but very heavy.

“Thanks. After I got back the first time, I got a ton of loads out to gold mining operations both on the sea and in the interior and they just outright paid me in gold. Granted the gold price was really low that week and those operations pay based on the average price of gold in a week. So I got a lot of it all of a sudden and it replenished the reserves I usually always like to keep on hand for emergencies.” Noah answered.

“That’s smart.” You praised.

“I do that too. But it’s with gift certificates. During the High Holidays, I can make 20-30 grand just selling gift certificates in a single month. And then when Valentine's Day and Mother’s Day rolls around, all of them get turned back in. So, while I make a killing during the High Holidays. I don’t let myself spend any of it and when the gift certificates get cashed in, then I pay myself for what they’re worth.” You revealed.

“Yeah but at least your gift certificates are always worth the same amount of money. Because the price of gold is always changing, it means that the value of what you have stowed away fluctuates by hundreds, possibly thousands of dollars, based on how much you have.” Noah groused.

“I take it, the last time you had to use it up, the price was low.” You ventured.

“That is correct.” Noah admitted.

“Was it for Neena’s funeral?” You asked as he nodded.

“Talk about adding insult to injury.” You muttered as he nodded again before you reached out and stroked his arm comfortingly.

“Well hopefully that won’t happen again.” You offered softly.

“It better not.” Noah insisted which made you snort a laugh. “Going through that once was already one too many times.” Noah added.

“I’ll bet.” You offered as you thought back to what you felt like when you lost Andy as you couldn’t help but shake your head a little, as Noah gave you a thoughtful look.

“Why are you shaking your head?” Noah asked.

“I'm remembering the advice I gave myself. To not look at the past with rose colored glasses." You answered with a bittersweet smile.

"How so?" Noah asked.

"I’m just remembering the flurry of emotions I felt the day Andy died. I woke up that morning so irritated with Andy. Because it felt like we just kept having the same arguments over and over and over again. He was bitching at me about how emotionally needy I was that I felt I needed the cats for emotional support. I was mad at him for not fulfilling those needs for me himself. And I was mad that no matter what I had tried to do over the thirteen years we were married to get him to just be nice to me. That’s all I wanted from him. I could do with less money in the bank account and having to clip a hundred coupons to save a few dollars for the food budget. All I wanted was kindness. All he wanted was obedience." You recalled as Noah frowned deeply at that. He still couldn't wrap his head around the idea of any man who would not treat you like the goddess you were.

"I remember how he was irritated with me because he took my lack of vigilance with cleaning the house as a sign I didn’t love him, and not seeing the truth, that was always overwhelmed by it all, I had two little kids who constantly destroyed everyting I tried to clean. Even now, there is always laundry to do. Always dishes to do. Always something. And while he occassionally helped out to do a load or laundry, he acted like he was owed all kinds of praise and sexual favors for doing the bare minimum while demanding that I do everything without so much as a thank you." You remembered as even now there was a bitter resentment in your tone.

"And the fact that I had cats that he had allergies to- didn’t help. His mother outright apologized to him in front of me that 'she was so sorry that I didn’t love him enough to get rid of the cats' and that 'if I was “a good wife” or “an easily contented one”, I wouldn’t need them to begin with'. And it was all my strength to tell her off that she fucked up rasing her sons so much that they couldn’t even show or express love and affection unless it was in the form of an insult.” You recounted as Noah frowned even more darkly. Because if Andy had been alive, he would have wanted to knock his lights out.

“She didn’t grow up with animals did she?” Noah asked.

“No she did not. And neither did Andy. Andy’s grandparents had a farm nearby and that was enough. Meanwhile before I married Andy. I didn’t sleep at night unless I had Kelly and Duchess sleeping with me.” You recalled, remembering your beloved dog Kelly and your cat Duchess.

“And then Kelly died of liver cancer the year before I met him and Duchess died of brain cancer a year after I married him. I brought Duchess with me into that marriage. And the only reason Andy liked Duchess is because she left him the hell alone. And looking back, I should have seen that as a sign. Animals are usually pretty good at reading people." You recounted.

"But at the time, all Olga would tell me about Andy when she met him was that 'if I married him, he would provide a large comfortable home and modestly comfortable and moderately lavish lifestyle and give me a beautiful family, despite his homely looks. He would protect me from harm from others and that he would give me everything I wanted, but would struggle to give me what I needed'. I was too young and stupid at the time to realize that my wants and needs were not the same things. And while he gave me a decent house to turn into a home for him. And he earned enough that I didn’t have to work. Granted I was always encouraged to work just so we had more income after Sky got into elementary school. He gave me protection, financial stability, and the basics- food, clothing, shelter. But the man had no idea how to sympathize with me other than saying “you’re family is crazy”. He had no idea how to care for my emotional and spiritual needs other than to hand me the sacred sculptures of the gods to hang on the wall and go “here, pray.” or “here’s a cat, let the cat give you the love you so desperately need”.” You recounted in the same condescending tone Andy always used as Noah just frowned deeper and darker the more you talked.

“He had no idea how to make love to me. Because all of his sex education came from porn. Because while he was a virgin when me married me. His ideas of sex and my ideas of sex were very, very different. And every time I tried to talk to anyone about it, all the advice his mother would give me is “don’t give him anything to get on you about”. Meaning, 'if you just keep the house perfectly spotless, your face painted with “natural” makeup so that it looked like you weren’t wearing any makeup at all. And that you were just naturally beautiful all the time'. Which is what his mother did. 'And if you never have an idea or an opinion that clashes with your husband and you’re always an obedient and submissive wife, and never blow the budget and can actually either save your husband money or make him money, you’ll never have any problems'. You know, the way housewives were expected to be like in the 1950's.” You recalled.

“And what I struggled with, was once he was dead, and once I literally had to have my parents, my inlaws, my adopted grandparents hold my hand through the whole process of getting his funeral arranged, getting his life insurance money and all that and invested. And once I realized that the world hadn’t ended and that I could actually do it all on my own. Which was something Andy always taunted me that I wouldn’t know what to do without him “handling everything”. That once I proved to myself that I could actually do it and could do it well. I felt guilty that I was so relieved he was dead and that I was free of him. And I had to put on this ‘sad widow’ act to his parents and family. Because to them, especially his mother, both of her sons were her little Prince Charmings. And just these ‘amazing catches of men’. Which wasn’t true at all.” You remembered as Noah stopped his paperwork to hold your hand in both of his and just listened attentively.

“Don’t feel guilty about losing Andy. Honestly, with everything you’ve told me about him, the universe did you a favor in killing him off for you so that you didn’t have to go through divorcing him. And may all the gods forbid- but if I ever even hint at acting like that or saying anything like that. You have my permission to tell me I'm acting like him and that should be enough for me to knock it off.” Noah comforted you.

“Will do. But I want you to promise me something.” You prompted as you fully turned towards him.

“What?” He asked.

“If I, for some reason, can’t make you happy or can’t love you the way you want to be loved and need to be loved, please tell me. But also, if after you tell me and I can’t compromise or find a way to make it work so that we’re both happy and we’re both getting what we need and want from each other, tell me and we can either get divorced or separated or whatever we need to be. I don’t want to spend another 13 years in resigned demoralized discomfit. And I don’t want you to suffer the same or feel that just because I currently have wealth, that you should put up with whatever bullshit I would throw at you. Or my kids would throw at you. I never want to flirt with your breaking point, or mine. If we have any arguments or fights about anything, I would really only like to have them once. And then for the problems to be equitably resolved the first time. I know that while we both have our own culture and traditions and backgrounds. And I know there are some that we don’t see eye to eye on- on both sides. But I don’t want those to be the hairline fractures that end up being cavernous cravasses between us. Could you do that for me? Promise me that you’ll tell me if you’re not happy?” You pleaded tiredly.

“Only if you’ll promise me the same thing.” Noah offered.

“Deal.” You nodded.

“Any hairline fractures right now? Are there any needs, wants or desires that you have right now that I’m not fulfilling?” Noah asked.

“Only my need to sleep beside you tonight, hopefully soon. It’s been a long hard day.” You smiled happily but tiredly.

“Yes Ma’am. All the paperwork is done. Let's get quick showers and get to bed.” He offered as he let go of your hands to close up his account book and put all of the payments away in the proper bank deposit envelopes.

“What about you? Is there anything…” You began to ask.

“Nope. Not a single thing. I’m still getting used to being this happy in every aspect of my life.” He cut you off which made you softly laugh.

“Good, me too.” You beamed back. Happy and relieved he felt the same way you did in that respect as he had you go up the stairs first as he made sure the house was locked up and all the lights got turned off before he quickly caught up with you and pinched your butt as you climbed the stairs which got you to softly squeal and laugh and hasten your pace.

“Damn your butt is too cute not to pinch.” Noah praised.

“Likewise.” You giggled before you had a quickie in the shower, because even though you both were tired, you weren’t going to turn down any opportunity you had to finally get made love to- right, and neither was he.

The next day however, after Noah flew all the loads he needed to and was on his way to fly all of you to a good place where the salmon were running, there was the unmistakable smell of an electrical fire in the cockpit. You smelled it first as it smelled like it was coming from right under your seat and you instantly smacked Noah on the arm to get his attention.

“Noah! There’s a fire! You need to land!” You yelled just as Noah’s instruments started going off and going berserk before you grabbed your bag that was between your feet and the money envelope just as smoke came up from your floor boards and tried to unbuckle to get out of there but the smoke was coming from right between you and Noah and the rest of the plane. Noah did his best to get on the radio and send off a mayday signal while he did his best to land in a nearby lake.

Which of course scared and freaked out the kids, who were thankfully buckled and once landed you threw your bags and stuff back through the curtain of smoke and bolted from the cockpit because where your feet were, was smoking and getting extremely hot. It melted the soles and toes of your sneakers which you hastily kicked off to keep your toes from burning any more as smoke started to fill the cockpit.

Skylar, Sakura and Zane were all screaming and freaking out and unbuckling and grabbing their gobags and parachutes and running towards the tail of the plane to get away from the smoke and trying to remember in their panic- what to do and how to do it.

Noah landed roughly into the water which caused all of you to fall down, as you all reached and held onto each other as you made sure you fell so that the kids landed on top of you so that they wouldn’t get hurt. Then you and the kids were scrambling to get to your feet as you were more concerned about getting all three kids to the safety of the back of the plane. All while Noah tried to turn everything off and and grabbed the fire extinguisher and put out the fire as much as he could. You were still working on getting a door open to get the smoke out of the inside of the plane.

Just as you managed to kick the door open and got all three kids to lay down on the floor and stick their heads out to keep from inhaling any more smoke, along with yourself as all of you were coughing horribly from the smoke. Then Noah finally got the electrical fire under control but was inhaling a lot more smoke and started coughing up quite a bit. As you could hear him more than see him as you worried he was still standing but braced against the galley as he coughed and coughed and coughed before he fell to his hands and knees and you could see just how red the whites of his eyes were as he could hardly breathe he was coughing so hard.

You yelled for Zane to help you drag Noah back from the cockpit since he was already on his hands and knees as the smoke gathered at the ceiling of the plane. Zane and yourself managed to crawl to Noah and then help get him to the door where he could breathe fresh air as smoke billowed out of the door of the plane as you and Zane then went to the back of the plane and got the second door open so that the interior of the plane wouldn’t fill with smoke as you got Skylar, Sakura and Zane to climb out of the plane and sit on the special pontoons which were the plane’s water landing gear before you went back to Noah who was still coughing.

"Noah! What do I do?" You asked as you fought to keep your head and wits about you.

"Kids!" He coughed.

"They're outside, on the landing gear so they don't inhale any more smoke. They’re ok. What else do I do?!" You demanded worriedly, praying he hadn’t breathed in too much smoke.

"Radio!" Noah kept coughing.

"OK." You nodded as you went back to the cockpit but everything was fried and nothing was functional. But then, right as you heard Noah hurl from coughing so bad. Which got the kids to start getting sick before they all threw up in the water. All the kids were wailing as you got the satellite phone, since that wasn’t damaged and called Noah’s dad Ukluk.

But Ukluk was leading a group of hunters and wasn’t in his plane and therefore couldn’t hear the phone ringing. So you put the phone next to Noah and got the rest of the emergency bags down as the last of the smoke finally left the plane before you noticed the plane was starting to sink towards the other set of pontoons since the other side’s pontoons had been punctured and were now taking in water causing the plane to tilt in the opposite direction which made the kids all scream as they clung to the other pontoon and landing gear so they wouldn’t fall into the water as the pontoon suddenly raised out of the water.

Thankfully there wasn’t any cargo in the plane itself to shift, other than you. But since you were barefoot, ignoring the burns on your feet and the plane leaning to the other side forced to you to body slam into the other side of the plane as things in the cupboards fell out and fell on you as you yelled in pain and started cussing. But you still managed to climb your way to the kids and helped them climb up and get back into the plane’s fuselage and got all of them to at least get their emergency packs out and set aside the parachutes since they didn’t need those. Noah was using the phone and called every number he could think of before he got in touch with Tim Baker, who was a semi retired pilot as you did your best to hush and calm the kids so that Noah could talk on the phone.

“Where do you think you are?” Tim asked as Noah did his best to try to remember exactly where he had touched down at as Tim promised to get in touch with Noah’s family and the other pilots to come and help before Noah managed to get over to you.

“Ok, who’s hurt?” Noah asked as he took his first aid kit that had already fallen from the cupboard and landed near you.

“Mom.” All the kids answered.

“Where?” Noah asked you.

“I burnt the bottoms of my feet from the fire. It melted my shoes and singed my socks.” You answered as Noah got some burn cream out as all the kids did their best to put the cream on your feet and bandage them up, Zane having the most experience with foot injuries as he took the lead in bandaging your feet.

“You’re really good at this.” Noah noted.

“I’m in ballet, where dancers routinely injure their feet on purpose. Of course I’m good at it. I’ve had lots of practice on myself and the other dancers.” Zane cracked a grin through his tears but happily accepted the pat on the back from Noah all the same as he carefully bandaged your feet.

“Ok, who else is hurt?” Noah asked.

“You are, you inhaled the most smoke. There’s an inhaler in my first aid kit as well as all the kids, that will help with that.” You answered as Zane went through his own first aid kit and handed Noah the inhaler as Noah happily took it and took a few puffs from it which helped to alleviate some of it.

“Who else?” You asked as you looked to the kids.

“My tummy hurts.” Sakura whined as she nuzzled into your side tightly.

“Well you threw up. First, get in your bag and change out of all the clothes that all the puke got on.” You suggested before all the kids got their packs and went to the back of the tilted plane and used the cold room to get changed before they came back, changed and now wearing their coats and warmer clothes from their packs. While they had been gone, you peeled off your own clothes that had gotten the kids’ puke on them. Noah helped you get changed into clean clothes yourself before Noah got your own coats from your own packs and put them on now that the doors were open and the chill in the air was making the whole plane cold.

“Are you sure you’re ok otherwise?” Noah asked worriedly.

“Yeah, my feet will heal. What I’m worried about is your lungs, are you ok otherwise?” You asked him worriedly.

“Yeah, I’m just so sorry this happened in the first place. I knew I should have replaced all the wiring last year and not just the worst of it. Now I have to replace all the wiring and all the electronics if the plane is even salvageable.” Noah lamented as he sat down next to you and held his head in his hands.

“Guys I am so sorry this happened. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This was one of the worst case scenarios. The last thing I wanted was to give you guys another traumatic experience. I wanted you guys to trust me not to hurt you guys or allow you guys to get hurt, and I failed and I’m so sorry.” Noah apologized profusely to you and your kids through his own tears before Noah was surprised when all of you formed one big family hug.

“It’s ok Dad, accidents happen. You at least did your best to prepare us. And at least we knew what to do. And at least we had our emergency packs and parachutes even though we didn’t need the parachutes. We’re just happy you’re not hurt any worse than you are. You saved us by having us land in the water instead of in the trees which would have ripped the plane to shreds with us in it. And seeing as how it’s just half of one of the pontoon's that’s flooded, that means that we’re not sinking completely. It’s salvageable. And while I know you were really looking forward to remodeling the houses, the plane takes priority. And if it’s not salvageable, we can get a new plane. I don’t know if you know this but mom is loaded, and she can buy you a fleet of planes if you let her.” Skylar soothed as she wiped the tears from his eyes and clung to one side of him as Sakura was in the other which made all of you start laughing despite the circumstances.

“Yeah, but your mom shouldn’t have to pay for my mistakes or shortcomings.” Noah gently argued.

“Hey, we’re a family now. We stick together and take care of each other and when one of us falls, the rest of us pick them up. This time it’s your turn, who knows who will get the next one.” Zane offered. “But not it!”

“Not it!” The rest of you echoed which got another round of laughter. Which got Noah to stop crying and the fact that he was crying, spoke volumes about how sensitive and kind hearted he was which your kids adored seeing.

"Hey, what doesn't kill you, gives you a dark sense of humor and potentially self destructive coping mechanisms." Skylar teased which got some more soft chuckles from everyone.

“Noah, I know this plane is like another baby to you. However, in the big picture, it’s just a plane. Planes are replaceable, you, me and the kids are not. And from where I’m sitting, we’re ok. Sure we are going to need a lot more therapy because surviving a plane crash is traumatic. At least we were prepared. At least we all had emergency kits and medical kits in those emergency kits. At least none of us broke a limb, or worse, or got a concussion or died. We are all alive and besides some cuts, bruises and burns, and some smoke inhalation, we’ll be ok. You were able to contact at least someone. That means help is on the way." You comforted Noah.

"It’s like being stranded on the highway with a broken down car, but bigger and more complicated because it’s a plane, on a lake, in the middle of nowhere. But it could be so much worse. I’m grateful it’s not worse. I think if we can weather this just like we weathered the storms at sea, we’ll be ok. We have each other, and we have enough food and water to last us at least five to seven days, if not ten. I doubt it’ll take three to five days for someone to find us and rescue us. In fact I would guess it’ll be more like three to five hours, probably several hours at the most. And then we’ll all be safe back at home.” You reminded him as you got into your own pack and pulled out boots and gingerly put on socks and then put on boots over your burned, and bandaged feet to protect them.

“What’s this in your pocket dad?” Skylar asked as something was bulging from his pocket.

“That’s your mom’s engagement ring. Once we landed, I was going to propose to her but now…” Noah began, feeling like now was the worst time to do such a thing.

“Well now is a good as time as any Dad. If we just survived horrible storms on the cruise ship and a plane crash, do it now before anything else can happen.” Zane encouraged him with a laugh that got all of you to laugh.

“Are you sure? I feel like right now is the worst possible…”

“Do it! Do it! Do it!” All three kids chanted.

“It’s the best time. For the love of all the gods, just propose to me before anything else happens.” You encouraged him with a laugh before Skylar and Sakura got off as the girls kneeled at his feet before Noah knelt next to you.

“I’m sorry I didn’t do this before everything went to shit today. But would you marry me Zara?” Noah asked as he fished the engagement ring box out of his pocket and presented it to you.

“Yes I will.” You happily agreed as you gave him your left hand so he could slip the engagement ring onto your finger. Then you kissed him and giggled when your kids all ‘awwed’ in response.

“I love you.” You urged him.

“I love you too, and I love you, and I love you, and I love you.” Noah said as he went around to all the kids and hugged them, giving Sakura and Skylar fatherly, affectionate kisses on the cheeks as Zane and his sisters giggled and laughed and hugged him back.

“We’re a family, families stick together and work together.” Skylar insisted brightly.

“So how do we work together- to get out of this?” Zane asked Noah, without a hint of judgement, but rather resolve and determination which was immediately mirrored in the girls and yourself.

“Well the smoke is out of the plane. And we still have some light left. Let’s see what we can do. Maybe by a miracle, we can pin point at least what wires need fixing and hopefully not all the electronics are fried. At least we’ll start to know how big of a problem we’re looking at.” Noah answered.

“Ok kids, you heard Dad. Put on your gloves guys, just in case it’s still hot, we don’t want your hands getting burned. And then you should put on your head lamps and let’s light the lanterns so we can see what we’re doing better in here. Just in case the light fades before we’re rescued.” You suggested before you got out a notepad and a pen and handed them to Noah before he got up and went and got his onboard tool kits and opened them up.

And thanks to Skylar’s smaller size and more aptitude and skill with tools, she was able to get in the foot well and use the screwdrivers and such to unscrew the metal panels and get them out of the way with the help of her forehead light to light up what she was looking at. And her own smaller sized work gloves to keep her hands safe meant she could literally grab screws and panels with ease..

“You know, I never thought the last few years on my grandpa’s construction sites, my uncle’s construction sites and my other uncle’s mechanic shops would be paying off in an airplane cockpit in the Arctic Tundra.” Skylar practically giggled as she happily unscrewed everything she could find and was yanking things out with her work gloved hands and handed it back to Noah who was putting the burned wire into a trash bag which got everyone to laugh again while Sakura stayed with you, cuddled and huddled with you under a blanket to keep you warm and safe.

“And who would have thought Zane’s ballet training would do the same for Mom’s injuries? Because Mom is right, a plane is just a plane, all of you are irreplaceable. Especially Mom who pushed through her own pain to make sure all of us were safe and out of danger. Because Zane knew exactly what and how to heal Mom’s feet.” Noah praised which got Zane and yourself to both smile proudly and blush bashfully at the praise.

“Thanks Dad.” Zane offered as you were in a similar state, seated by the tool kits and pulling out all the different tools needed as Noah was orchestrating the efforts before the satellite phone rang and it was Noah’s dad Ukluk.

“Hey Dad,” Noah answered as he grabbed the now barred corroded wires with his own gloved hands and once a trashbag was full, handed it off to Zane to put in the back of the plane and get a new trashbag from the roll.

“Are you ok? I heard the plane caught fire and you crashed.” Ukluk asked as he hastily was packing up his own little plane with supplies as the rest of the family was near frantic at the news.

“Yeah, we’re all ok. The wiring in the copilot seat failed, corroded and caught fire. It burned the bottom of Zara’s feet. But she got out of the cockpit before it burned her feet off and got all the kids out of harm’s way and kicked the doors open to let the smoke out. And after I used the fire extinguisher, she and Zane pulled me out of the cockpit and at an open door so I didn’t inhale too much smoke. We’re banged up a bit, and the left pontoon got punctured on some trees and is taking on a little bit of water so we’re sitting on…” Noah said as he estimated about where he was and what his last heading had been before the instruments had gone haywire before the crash.

“...but thank the gods Zara likes to be prepared. All of us had our go emergency preparedness go bags and first aid kits and all kinds of things. Zane patched Zara up. Skylar is in the cockpit tearing this apart like a beast. And Sakura is keeping Zara warm. It’s a testament to how good of a mom she is and how great the kids are because after the initial scare of the crash, we’re all tackling this thing together.” Noah praised to his dad with a proud smile.

“Oh thank the gods.” Ukluk breathed in relief as did everyone else who stopped to overhear the conversation.

True to your own prediction it only took a few more hours before Ukluk and Nago both flew their own personal planes to the lake and landed and taxied over to you before they got out their inflatable rafts and went over to where you were.

“Ok, who is hurt the worst?” Ukluk asked.

“Zara.” Noah answered.

“Noah.” You answered at the same time.

“I burned my feet, but he inhaled a bunch of smoke from the fire.” You clarified as you continued to hand off tools to Noah who then handed them to Skylar who was still knee deep in plane parts. And despite the crash, was loving every minute of pulling this plane apart. She estimated that she would have even more fun putting it back together, once they somehow got the plane back home. Wherever and whenever that would be.

“But does anyone need to go to the hospital?” Ukluk asked.

“Nah, I’m good.” You shook your head no.

“Noah?” You asked as he shook his head no.

“Nope, I’m good. That inhaler did the trick, I’ve used it a few times and after coughing up a punch of sludge, my lungs feel fine. I’m good. Embarrassed by the catastrophic failure and mentally kicking my ass for not replacing all the wiring instead of just the pilot’s side of wiring when I had the chance.” Noah confessed with an embarrassed flush to his cheeks.

“Well, hindsight is 20/20 and poverty charges interest.” Zane noted as he sat next to Noah, helping him bag up burned up wiring and other components while also handing off tools from you to Noah to Skylar as she needed them. And then taking the burnt wiring from Skylar to Noah to inspect and then bag up again.

“How do you mean?” Nago asked Zane.

“Well, if you don’t have the money to go to the doctor to get a cough looked at, or take a sick day when you have a cold or the flu. You’ll have no choice but to be down and down for a long time when you have to be admitted to the hospital for when the flu turns into pneumonia. Or if you don’t have money to go to the dentist to get a cavity filled when you notice a little sensitivity, well it’s going to be a lot more expensive when the whole tooth gets lost. And you’ll need a crown and a root canal later. Not having the money to take care of little problems in the present- just because they aren’t dire urgent needs in the present. It leads to problems being ignored until they do turn into dire urgent needs and by that point they’re so bad that they always end up costing you way more later than not spending any money on them in the present. Because by the time you get to it later, the problem is always much bigger and much worse, thus it charges interest. And at rates that check advance places would be ashamed of.” Zane explained.

“We’ve all seen it. For me, I’ve seen it when a small leak leads to whole sections of pipes bursting when it freezes in the winter. When a slow drain leads to a massive clog and the whole plumbing system backs up into the house. When a small termite problem is actually gigantic and the only thing holding the floor up is a three floor joists that are only partially compromised and the subfloor. Or that dark spot under linoleum is actually hiding a gigantic black mold spot that is eating it’s way underneath an entire bathroom floor. And the mold eats the subfloor. so now the whole bathroom has to be replaced. Or not clearing out your dryer vents regularly and the build up of lint in the vent catches the house on fire.” Skylar continued to give examples.

"I've seen it in clients who have no health insurance, or who ignore an ache or a strain in in a muscle, and then the muscle tendon tears and they have to have surgery. Or diabetics, not watching their insulin or diet, and then lose a foot or so much more. Or not fully resting after an injury because they need to go back to work to earn money and they end up re-injuring themselves and doing it so much worse than initially." You supplied.

“Noah, the way you described it to me when we talked about it, was you had a choice. Your choice was to replace all the wiring or just the pilot’s side and feed yourself and Sakura for the winter. But that you couldn’t afford to do both. For any parent, that’s a no brainer decision.” You comforted Noah.

“And I thought that I would have this winter in the Great Lakes to fix it before it did this to me. But I figured and guessed wrong.” Noah confessed.

“So now we just need to figure out how bad this problem is. See if the plane is salvageable. And if it is, great, we’ll figure it out. If not, it sucks but last I checked planes are replaceable, even as special and sentimental as this plane is to you. But people are not. And when we get back to civilization, we can go plane shopping if we want to or need to. And then we can all get some good ol’ fashioned therapy for surviving a plane crash. Which as awful as it was, could have been a lot worse. I’m just grateful it’s not worse. We are all walking away from this wreck.” You added with a reassuring smile to Noah.

“Granted, I will be doing so very gingerly, but I’ll be walking away just the same.” You teased which got everyone to laugh.

“My guess is because he was switching the controls from pilot’s side to copilot’s side so we could all have opportunities to fly the plane for a few minutes in the air- is what taxed the already delicate wiring. But, woulda, coulda, shoulda.” Skylar noted with a shrug as she pulled out more and more things that she saw were damaged before she found the piece that started the blaze in the first place.

“Ok Dad, I think this is what caused it. All the flames and burnt things are all centered around this.” Skylar said as she unscrewed it and untangled it and heaved it up and handed it to Noah.

“And that would be the…” Noah rattled off exactly what it was with a heavy sigh.

“And you’re exactly right Sky. Because this is basically the switch to give the control of the plane from the left to the right.” Noah praised as Skylar and everyone else nodded in understanding.

“Yeah, you kind of need one of those to fly the plane Noah.” Nago lightly teased his older brother.

“Yeah,” Noah sighed as he looked it over.

“So do you want me to pull everything around it out too since it’s all damaged and burnt to hell?” Skylar asked.

“Yes please. Get everything that you can reach and safely lift- that’s burned and damaged- out.” Noah said as he wrote down what the piece was and then continued to list off all the pieces that he would need to replace what had been damaged by the fire and stuff.

Skylar, rather gleefully began unscrewing everything and in quick order, had gotten everything else that even had a hint of fire damage- out which impressed Nago and Ukluk very much that she was a natural.

“Ok, I got everything that looked burnt or damaged- out.” Skylar announced as she handed back the last of the melted wires and burnt pieces to Noah for inspection before Noah took notes of what it used to be and then put it in the bag that Zane was holding before he handed you back all of the tools to put away.

“So? What’s the damage?” You asked Noah before Noah rattled off what had been burned and what would need to be replaced and what it would take to get the plane just functional enough to fly it out of there and fly it to the closest hanger and did some quick math and the answer was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“And how much is the plane worth?” You asked.

“Much less.” Noah admitted.

“And how much would a plane this size cost brand new?” You asked him.

“About a few to several hundred thousand dollars more than all the cost of repairing it.” Noah answered honestly.

“Ok, so how much is this plane worth to you? What is it’s sentimental value? Because you and I both know that certain sentimental things have value that can’t necessarily be quantified by a dollar amount. So is it worth it to you, to try to fix it? Or would it be better for you to try to get this thing to a junkyard? Because I doubt you can leave it here because it’s a risk to the pristine environment. Would you rather turn it into your insurance and collect any insurance you have on the plane?” You questioned as Noah thought it over but didn’t give you an answer because honestly, he had the bare minimum as far as insurance went.

“Tell you what, let’s sleep on it. It’s been a long day, hell a long and hard week. Let’s just get out of here, get home, sleep on it, try to price out our options and see where we are then. And if we have to get you a new plane to at least try to finish out the season for your customers, we will. We made it this far and we’ve gotten through this much, and we agreed that we’re in this together. So let’s figure it out together and get through it together.” You encouraged as you could see Noah was still in a state of being overwhelmed by how much it was going to be to fix his plane.

“Good idea.” Noah nodded in agreement as your family did rock paper scissors to see how you all were going to be split up between Nago’s plane Ukluk’s plane to fly it back home. Which cracked Nago and Ukluk up. Then Ukluck and Nago got you and your kid’s to their planes then helped Noah lock up his plane before they injected styrofoam into the partially sunk pontoon so the plane wouldn’t sink into the water until they could come back to it later.

“You got one hell of a good woman and mother.” Nago praised his big brother in the boat as Nago, Noah and Ukluk were in the same inflatable boat going around the plane and noting what damages the exterior of the plane sustained.

“Thanks,” Noah smiled appreciatively despite the circumstances.

“Like even if she didn’t have a penny to her name. The fact that she handled that so well. And the fact that her kids were right there helping and understanding the situation without judgment. And instead of crying in a corner, they were right there willing to help and work together and solve a problem. That, in all fairness, shouldn’t have been their problem to solve. But because you all are just one cohesive unit, meant that one’s problems could be helped and solved by everyone pitching in. It sings the highest praises about Zara as a woman and a mother and a lot about her kids. The fact that they knew that shit happens, and that ‘poverty charges interest’. Which is one hell of a lesson and a principle. They all gave multiple examples of it too- it says that they’re really great kids too and have already learned so many life lessons, even for as young as they are. I think you’re going to be just fine Noah. With a woman like that by your side and kids like that in your family, you can’t go wrong.” Ukluk consoled his son.

“Thank you. Please tell Zara that too. I got really lucky. Even in the unluckiest of circumstances. If it wasn’t for Zara's boderline obsession with always being prepared for worst case scenerios. And having those emergency disaster preparedness packs for each and every single one of us. We would have been screwed. If wasn't for Zane’s ballet history and working with feet professionally, he knew exactly how to heal and patch up his mom’s feet and help heal her best. And he kept very calm and he kept the girls safe. Because the moment there was smoke, he was grabbing both of them and getting their packs and on towards the back of the plane where it was safest. And because he was calm the girls were calm. Sakura thankfully listened and obeyed Zane and was trying to get Zara and me to safety too. Skylar, I feel like she was born with a screwdriver in one hand and a hammer in the other. She was amazing in that cockpit tearing stuff out. And even though she’s never seen, much less worked on a plane’s systems- because of her uncle being a mechanic, she still figured stuff out on the fly. literally and figuratively. And because of her small size and nimble fingers, even in thick work gloves and the only light coming from her own head lamp, she did more work in just a few hours than most could in a day or two.” Noah readily admitted, rather proudly.

“Well, tonight, just rest. You’ve done more than enough work for today, we can pick it back up later.” Ukluk suggested before they got into their planes, deflated their inflatable rafts and then loaded up and flew home. Ukluk made a point to repeat his previous praise to you as he flew you and Noah back while Nago got all the kids, which you really, deeply appreciated.

Once you got back home, Noah helped you get in the house since you had to walk on your heels since your toes were very tender to walk on since they were already blistering from the burns. Then Noah made a very late dinner as the kids pitched in and helped make it with him as you sat on the couch with your feet propped up by pillows. Once dinner was done, all of you went to bed, tired and exhausted.

Noah had to carry you up the stairs, which you didn’t mind one bit. Despite your aches and pains and cuts, scrapes and bruises. All of you were just happy that all of you made it back safe and as sound as possible. And that none of you were hurt worse than you already were. Then all five of you got into your bed with Noah and yourself so that you could all cuddle together. Just like you had done on the cruise ship as the kids slept in the middle while you and Noah happily framed your little family in as you reached across your children to hold each other’s hand.

“We have one hell of a family.” You praised to Noah tiredly as Sakura was cuddled up with your chest and used your arm as her pillow. And Zane was spooning Sakura while Skylar was nestled into Noah’s chest and sleeping so happily and contentedly in her Daddy’s arms.

“Yeah we do. Goodnight Babe. I love you.” Noah murmured tiredly.

“Love you too. Goodnight Love.” You cooed sleepily back before Noah and yourself fell asleep too.

#Jewel Of The North #modern orc love story #Arctic Tundra #Alaska #orc love story #Alaskan Bush Pilot x LMT #Orc style #orc blended family

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