Chapter 62

~Eliana~

In five days from now, it was going to be the full moon. I was so thankful that I was able to process all the documents I needed to come to Los Angeles very quickly, and after Ian and I had said our goodbyes, we had decided it was time for us to come home.

Ethan, the regular customer guy had taken over my job. He had experience with working at a coffee shop, and when he had helped me out the other day, he had felt like doing the job all over again, so, I wasn’t really going to be missed in the coffee shop. If anything, Ian was the one who was going to be missed. He had a way with words, and everyone loved a cute and adorable child.

“Mum, does anyone know we are coming?” Ian asked, rubbing his eyes and yawning out loud.

He had been trying not to sleep since we had boarded our flight. According to him, he did not want to miss out on any experience, and even now that we were in a cab, on our way to the Lake House, where Elvira had said they now lived in, he still was trying so hard not to fall asleep.

“Elvira knows,” I told him.

“Elvira, Eleanora, Elio, Eliana,” He said, thoughtfully. “Mum, why is it that every one of your names starts with ‘El'?” He asked, looking at me, with curiosity apparent in his eyes.

A smile appeared on my face. “To be honest, I had been wondering when you were going to ask that question, being the inquisitive person that you are. Well, my parents just decided to give us names like that, and I do not know why,” I replied.

“I think it’s cool,” He said.

“I think so, too,” I told him, pinching his cheeks.

He chuckled. “Are we almost there?” He asked.

I looked out the window, wearing a smile. “We’re here,” I told him.

The car screeched to a halt, and the driver, who had been silent all this while, alighted from the vehicle, and went to the trunk of the car to help us with our luggage.

I opened the door, and stepped out of the car, same with Ian, then, I went to assist the driver to bring out our luggage from the trunk of the car.

“Thank you very much,” I told him, as soon as he was done.

“I’m low on cash, but I can go inside instead to get some money from my sister, or will you prefer it if I transferred the money?” I asked.

“I’ll prefer a wire transfer,” He told me.

“Okay, then,” I said, bringing out my phone from my hoodie's pocket. “Here, fill in your account details,” I said, handing over the phone to him.

When he was done, I transferred his payment to him, and received a debit notification on my phone. “I have just been debited, have you gotten the alert yet?” I asked.

Before he could open his mouth to speak, his phone beeped, and he reached out to check the notification. “Just got it. Thanks ma’am,” He said.

“You’re welcome,” I said.

We watched the driver get back into the car, and as he drove off, Ian waved at him.

I heaved a sigh, wondering how I was going to go into the house and act all normal after six years of not even speaking to my parents. I had spoken to Eleanora a few times, while Elvira and I spoke on the phone at least, once in a month. Elio had surprised me by calling me twice; the first year I left, and last year. I was sure my parents had my number, but since they didn’t bother to reach out for reasons best known to them, I decided not to call or send a text message either.

Ian must have noticed my uneasiness, because he entwined his fingers in mine, and when I looked down at him, he smiled up at me. We were standing in front of our one-storeyed lake house, and all I could remember was the last time I had been there. It was when Alistair and I had decided to spend the weekend together, and although it was only known to me, it was in this house that Ian’s seed was sown.

“Oh my goodness, Eliana,” Elvira squealed, as she suddenly showed up, coming from the back of the house before laying her eyes on me.

I wrapped my arms around her, and hugged her tightly. She hugged me back, rambling about more than enough for my ears to hear.

We let go of each other, and she cupped my face in her hands, looking into my eyes like she wanted to make sure it was really me. “I can’t believe it’s really you. I thought I’d never see you again,” She said, wearing a broad smile.

“Well, what can I say? Obviously, you thought wrong,” I said, with a giggle.

“I really did,” She said, then her eyes diverted, and she saw Ian.

She opened her mouth wide, apparently surprised, as she left my side, and bent before Ian, who looked at her with curiosity.

“My goodness, Eliana. You had Alistair’s carbon copy, and you didn’t even bother to tell me?” She asked, and I could tell that she was annoyed that I had hidden the knowledge that I had Alistair’s child away from her.

“I’m sorry, Elvira. There were so many shitty things going on in our family, and I could not add my own problems to it,” I said.

“For crying our loud, Eliana, it’s been six years. We’ve all moved on from what your stupid ex did to us. You mean, you couldn’t tell us that we had a new member in the Venator family all this while?” She asked.

I shrugged. “Fine, I apologise. Why does that even matter? What’s important is the fact that we are here now, and we’re not going back anytime soon,” I said.

“You’re not going back ever again, not anytime soon. Why do I even care? You can go if you like, but my nephew isn’t going anywhere,” She said, in a firm tone.

“Whatever you say,” I told her, minding agreeing with what she had said. It wasn’t like I wanted to go back in the first place, I just didn’t want it to be like it had been my own decision to stay back.

“How are you, my love?” She asked Ian, touching his cheek.

“I’m very well, and you?” He responded, wearing a small smile.

“I’m doing excellently well. What is your name?” Elvira asked.

“Ian...Ian Venator,” He replied.

Elvira pulled him into a warm hug, and patted his back, before letting him go, then, she stood up from her bent position.

“At least, you had the sense to give him our surname. Come on, let’s go inside. I didn’t tell anyone you were coming, so that I could surprise them,” She said, and started walking away, dragging along two suitcases with her.

I was dragging two as well, while Ian carried the duffel bag.

“Isn’t that too heavy for him to carry?” Elvira asked, shooting a glance at him, as she headed inside.

“That’s fine. I have super...” He started, but I cut him off.

“Shush,” I said, stopping right in my tracks.

“What’s wrong, mum?” He asked, looking really clueless.

“Don’t tell anyone you have super strength. I forgot to tell you that my family isn’t friends with werewolves. You must keep your identity a secret,” I told him, in a low tone.

“Okay, mum,” He said.

“Good,” I told him.

“Are you guys going to keep chitchatting, or are you going to come in?” Elvira called from inside.

“Someone just asked who Elvira is talking to,” Ian said.

A smile lit up my face. “You’ve been doing a lot of super hearing these days. At least, you’d be able to tell me if someone is gossiping about me,” I said, and gave him a wink.

He chuckled, as we both resumed walking.

I heaved a sigh, and pushing aside every fear I had, I opened up the door, and we stepped into the house, after nodding at each other.

The first person we saw was my mother, who seemed really stunned to see us. She was holding a ladle, and had obviously just come out of the kitchen to see who it was that Elvira had been asking to come inside the house.

“Eliana,” She called, as the ladle fell from her hands, clattering to the floor.

“Mum,” I said, and moved closer to her.

“Oh my God, Eliana,” She said, and pulled me into her arms, sobbing gently.

I couldn’t remember when last I had hugged my mother, but somehow, it made me feel relaxed, and it seemed as though all the burdens that rested heavily on my shoulders had been erased. I needed to hug my mother more. It was the best feeling ever, and it was so heart-warming and soothing.

“Ellie?” I heard my father call from behind.

I withdrew from the embrace I was having with my mum, and turned around to see my dad, dressed only in shorts, with a newspaper in his hands, and I ran to meet him, hugging him tightly.

He chuckled, and stroked my hair, before letting me out of his arms, in order to stare at my face, which he had apparently missed seeing after six long years.

“I have missed you so much, my darling daughter,” He said.

“But you never bothered to call,” I said, blinking back the tears that were threatening to fall.

“Your father and I are so sorry about that. We felt that we were partially to blame for what happened to you, and since Elvira always told us you were doing fine, we didn’t want to contaminate your happiness,” My mum said.

“Exactly, Ellie. You’ve been through so much, and we just wanted you to be happy for once,” My dad said.

“I understand where you’re coming from. It would have been better if you had called though. Anyways, there’s no use crying over spilt milk,” I said, and we embraced each other, while Elvira stood at the corner of the room, smiling.

I withdrew from the embrace, and went to bring out Ian, who had been hiding at the back of the door. He was usually not shy around strangers, and I was surprised that he could actually be shy, when he was in the presence of his own family.

“Everyone, this is my son; Ian,” I said, introducing him to my parents.

“What? You had a son?” My mother asked, in surprise, with her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

“Yes, mum. One of the reasons I disappeared was because things were already so bad for us, and I knew it would get worse if it was discovered that I was expecting a baby for the same man, who had subjected me to public ridicule,” I explained.

“Oh my goodness. Does his father know about him?” My mother asked.

I shook my head, giving her a negative response.

“So, you’ve taken care of him for six years all by yourself?” My father asked, looking sympathetic.

“Taking care of a child like Ian is easy, and so, it hasn’t been a big deal,” I said.

“Oh, dear. You’ve gone through so much, but you should have told us about Ian. I know you’re making it sound like it’s been easy, but trust me, taking care of a child is never easy. It would have been much better if you had someone to assist you, but the most important thing is that both of you are here now, and that once again, your father and I are grandparents,” My mother told me, wearing a smile.

“Come here, my boy,” My father said, extending his arms to have a hug with Ian.

Ian ran into his arms, and my father took him in his arms, then threw him up in the air, after which he caught him.

“Dad, at your age, you have so much energy compared to me. I can’t even do that anymore,” I said, chuckling.

“I’ve had so many experiences, that’s why,” He said, finally putting Ian back to stand, as he giggled nonstop.

“How are you, my dear?” My mum asked him.

“I’m fine, grandma,” He said, smiling.

“You just won my heart with that smile of yours...”

“And his adorable brown eyes, just like Eliana’s own,” My father completed.

“Yeah. Remember when Eliana was young, and she always got what she wanted because she just happened to be blessed with beautiful eyes?” Elvira asked.

“Exactly, Elvira. Then, at a point, Eleanora just got really offended and asked her to always put on dark sunglasses,” My mum said, and we all burst into a fit of laughter.

“Aside from the eyes, he just had to look like that demon that calls himself Alistair,” My dad said.

“You shouldn’t say that in front of the child,” My mum objected.

“Don’t you need to check what’s on the fire?” He retorted.

“Listen, you’re not the boss of me, and...”

“Ian and I will just go inside,” I said, not wanting to hear any more of their unnecessary quarrels.

“Yeah. I cleared out the storage room for you yesterday. Let’s go,” Elvira said, helping me out with the suitcases.

“Is my dad really a demon?” Ian asked, with sadness laced in his voice, as we walked away.

“He’s not that bad,” Elvira answered, shooting a small smile in his direction.

I squeezed his hands in a reassuring manner, hoping he believed what Elvira had said. With the hatred my parents, especially my father, had for Alistair, they were only going to poison Ian’s mind the more. I wanted Ian to know his father had hurt me, in order for him to understand why he had been absent in his life all this time, but I didn’t want him to hate his father.

He was young, and carrying hatred in his heart at that age would only be a heavy burden for him. Alistair had been a jerk, but that didn’t change the fact that he had been sweet to me as well, and had been the first person to actually understand me.

No one was perfect, and even if I was never going to forgive Alistair for all he had done, I wouldn’t make an enemy out of his son...our son, especially now that he needed him the most.