Chapter 90

~Eliana~

Adjusting the dark sunglasses I was putting on, I made my way to the cemetery, wearing a black knee-length dress, which was straight and had a little slit at the back, with long-sleeves. The dress hugged my body tightly, and my black strappy heels made their usual clink-clink sounds, as I walked to the grave I was visiting with pink orchid flowers in my hands, which was a symbol for “I will always love you”; a meaning which was universal for all who knew about pink orchids.

Over the last three months, I had learnt to maintain the smile I had on, and not wallow in self-pity, grief and hurt. I knew it was going to be fine, and I had to remain strong for my son, Ian, and my unborn daughter. Yes! I was pregnant for the second time for Alistair. Just like he had predicted, the sex we had had in the bathtub had resulted into a baby, and hopefully, this time around, the child was going to be a mini version of me.

I stopped in front of the grave, and blinked back the tears that had welled up in my eyes. I removed the dark sunglasses, and placed it on my hair like a hairband, after brushing the hair with my fingers. I had decided to grow my hair long again just as Alistair had wished, and even though it had just been three months since the unfortunate incident had befallen us, the hair was already touching my back.

Heaving a sigh, I shook my head sadly, and placed the flowers by the grave, forcing a smile. I still had a lot of work to put in into forgetting what had happened, and just try to live with it.

“Hey, how are you doing?” I asked, obviously expecting no reply.

I continued to speak, hoping that the stories passed down to generations that your loved ones above could hear us when we spoke about them, were true. They were always lonely and needed someone to speak to them, and inform them about what was happening.

“I trust you’re doing well over there. I know that you weren’t the best person ever, but you weren’t bad either. You just did and believed what you felt was right, and I’m sorry that you had to die just like that,” I said, then hiccupped.

“I’m sorry that I haven’t been visiting, but since I am here today, I’m going to tell you all that has been happening in your absence. So, I’m going to start with the bad news. Um... Sam was arrested and tried by a court of law, after which he was sentenced to prison for kidnapping and being an accomplice in the crime of murder. I don’t know if that’s really a bad news. I mean, Sam was a dickhead, and he deserved even much worse punishment than that. He claimed to have still saved us, because at the very last minute, he stopped Jennifer from harming Carrie or the baby, and kicked away her gun so that she was defenceless. I think my speech had worked, and that’s why he had done that, but I’m never going to forgive him for trying to kill my child in the first place. He can rot in jail for all I care,” I said.

I then sat on the bench in front of the grave, and crossed my legs, after which I brought out a bottle of alcohol, opened it, and took a large gulp from the bottle.

I cleared my throat, and continued. “I guess it’s time to tell you the good news now. I can’t guarantee that you’ll like all that I am about to say, but I really hope you do. As for Aunt Melissa, she learned to accept who she is, especially after seeing that she was called a monster despite the fact that she hasn’t changed in her heart, but was just judged because of her new appearance. She still likes to hunt, but instead of probably joining the police force, she has gone back to New Mexico with a few other relatives, in order to start her own pack: The Venator Pack. She hopes that she’ll be able to make use of her new abilities to hunt werewolves who have gone astray, and are using their abilities for bad.

“However, Denzel chose to remain in the Crimson moon pack, even though he has returned to London, to continue his life over there. As for Uncle Ray, since he is a doctor, he is still learning how to fully be in charge of his powers, because being close to blood could trigger his transformation, which will send a wrong message to everyone, and disclose the existence of werewolves,” I said.

I chuckled, suddenly remembering something. “I forgot to add that Santana and Uncle Aiden have blatantly refused to just accept themselves for who they are, and they still plan on fighting against supernatural creatures. They came to my parents to ask them to join in their fight, seeing what they had been turned into. They challenged my parents to fight with them to have revenge on the werewolf who slept with their daughter and gave her a werewolf son, as well as the creatures who had reduced our family into nothing,” I said.

Taking another large gulp of the alcohol, I began to laugh out loud, then stopped, immediately I saw an old couple at the next grave giving me a cold stare. It wasn’t normal for someone to be laughing at a cemetery, and I could understand their annoyance, especially if they were still mourning the recent death of a loved one.

“Do you know what then happened? I was forced to tell my parents the truth about everything, and surprisingly, they felt sorry and remorseful. They understood why they had been punished by the only man I had ever loved, and they wished they had told him how sorry... how very sorry ...that they... that they were...” I said, with my voice breaking, and I couldn’t help it anymore, but just began to start crying.

My heart was aching, and the tears didn’t seem to want to dry off anytime soon. I couldn’t pretend that I was fine any longer. I had been through so much, and the burden was just getting heavier and harder to carry on my shoulders.

I sniffled, then with a tissue paper I had gotten from my bag, I blew catarrh from my nose, and used a cleaner one to wipe my tears, trying my best to maintain a calm composure.

“Moving forward, Carrie is pregnant with twins, two handsome boys, and even though she is delicate and has to be under treatment every now and then owing to the fact that she almost died and hasn’t fully recovered from what Jennifer did, we know and trust that she is going to have a safe delivery. The werewolf thing had taken her by surprise, but she had been quick to forgive me and her husband for not telling her the truth. She keeps on asking more and more questions, and just wants to know everything. Also, she has been taking ice cream a lot these days, although it’s not vanilla flavoured. Anyways, I believe Ian is going to be good friends with her twins, and they could go out to an Ice cream shop to have ice cream together all the time.

“Meanwhile, Ian is doing really well in school, and he has made so many friends and all his teachers love him, because according to them, he’s a sweet child. I guess Toronto, Canada, had never just been the right place for us, considering all the love he’s getting here in Los Angeles. Thankfully, I had been there to witness his first full moon transformation, and I know what and what not to do whenever the full moon comes. I may not know much about his abilities, but Garrett has been such a sweetheart, and has been teaching him how to efficiently use and master his abilities. He’s never going to be as good as his father, but he’s trying his best, not only in teaching Ian, but in also running the Duke Group for the time being,” I said.

I heaved a deep sigh, and flexed my knuckles. “As for me, I’ve just been taking life as it comes, writing scripts to keep myself busy, taking care of Ian, and engaging in YouTube cooking tutorials, even though it is practically a waste of time, since it is obvious that I just wasn’t destined to know how to cook. I can’t wait to have my daughter, and I’m quite anxious about it even though the due date is really far away, so basically, that’s how my own life has been going,” I said.

Suddenly, I heard someone’s throat make a sound. I turned towards the direction it had come from, and my mouth flew agape as I saw who was standing there.

Immediately, I stood up, and ran into his arms. He caught me, and began to twirl with me in his arms, before setting me down, looking at me with love and admiration in his sparkling blue eyes. My joy knew no bounds, seeing him dressed in a black tuxedo, designer shoes and dark sunglasses.

“I can’t believe you’re so happy to see me,” He said.

“Why would you think that?” I asked, looking surprised.

“You were explaining to your grandmother about how the past three months have been, and you didn’t even bother to say anything about me. I thought you had probably moved on,” He said, glaring at me.

“No, no, no. I didn’t mean it that way. I was getting to your part of the story. I was just saving the best for the last,” I explained, with a chuckle.

My grandmother had drank a deadly potion when she had been released, just because she couldn’t stand being the same creature she had spent her whole life hating, and even though she had made a lot of bad decisions, I wished she had seen the light before taking her own life.

He pulled me by the hand, and made me stand in front of the grave.

“What are you doing?” I asked, giggling.

“Say what you wanted to say about me to your late grandmother, since you claim to have had it in mind all along. What else are you waiting for? You’ve practically spoken about everyone else. It is my turn now. I’m all ears,” He said, folding his arms and pouting like a child.

“Okay, whatever. Well, grandma, as for Alistair, I had a nervous breakdown when he fell along with Jennifer. I thought that he was dead, I wanted to die right there and then, but then, I just couldn’t give up on him. I ran down with Ian, and while Jennifer was already dead, as she hadn’t survived his scratch or the fall, he was still breathing much to my amazement.

“I still don’t know how he did it. He was shot thrice with silver bullets which is meant to kill werewolves for crying out loud, and I think that it just wasn’t his time yet. He gave me a miraculous recovery sixteen years ago, and I think the Heavens just wanted to reward him for that. Something else that was miraculous and surprising also happened that day. Since Garrett was too anxious to drive, I took it upon myself to drive, and I did it, because I needed to save both Alistair and Carrie...”

“No one asked you that, Eliana. You’ve digressed to talking about yourself, instead of focusing on me,” He said, pretending to be annoyed.

“I am just happy that I finally regained the confidence to drive a car after so many years. I’m not making it about me, I’m just so excited,” I said.

“No one cares, princess. Stick to the topic,” He said.

“If you say so, babe. Anyways, his spinal cord was broken, and he had to be transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where he had been undergoing treatment, therapy and rehabilitation, which has been making me travel every weekend just to see his face and know how he is faring. He has been getting better, and I was told he was going to be discharged this week. I have even prepared my flight ticket, but he decided to surprise me by showing up today,” I said, making a strong emphasis on the last sentence, before turning to face Alistair, with my hands at akimbo.

“What is it?” He asked.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back?” I retorted.

“I wanted to surprise you, obviously,” He replied, with a smile.

“And how did you know I was here?” I asked, giving him a cold glare.

“I have been stalking you,” He said, wearing a sly smile.

“I guess I should get a restraining order against you, then,” I told him, turning away and feigning annoyance, even though I knew he was just joking, and it was either Carrie or Garrett who had informed him of my location.

He pulled me by the hand, preventing me from going, as I was made to face him.

My heart began to race faster than it already was, and I felt a tingling sensation in my stomach. My lips quaked, and I licked them, trying to comport myself.

He pulled me closer to him, then wrapped his arms around my waist, then slowly slid his hands to my ass, groping them firmly.

“People are watching,” I whispered.

“Let them watch. You’re the mother of my child, and my unborn child. Also, you’ll soon be my wife anyway, so, let them watch,” He said.

“I’ll be your wife soon?” I asked, surprised at his words, since he hadn’t even mentioned marrying me when he got to know that I was pregnant for the second time.

“Yes, if you accept to marry me,” He said, then without warning, he knelt on one knee, and opened a box, showing a heavy diamond engagement ring, which he had brought out from his pocket.

“Are you proposing to me in a cemetery? Do you want our love to die fast?” I asked, torn between being happy, sad or annoyed.

“No, princess. I didn’t plan on proposing to you here, but since I found out you were here, I thought ‘why not?’ This was where our love story began, and I wanted it to blossom here, too. I want to make a vow before all the spirits here that I will never do anything to hurt you, and I will always be by your side to care for you, honour you and respect you. I promise not to make you cry, fight the world for you, stand with you no matter what the situation might be, and love you and only you till the day I take my last breath. Miss Eliana Venator, will you make my life worth living by giving me the honour to be your husband? Will you marry me?” He asked, looking more sincere than he had ever been.

A drop of tear fell from my eyes, and they soon welled into what could start a small pond. I had imagined and dreamt of this, but I had never thought that it was going to be so emotional and beautiful.

“Oh, Alistair. If I had to write the definition of my life in one word, it will be your name. I thought prince charming only existed in fairy tales like Cinderella, but you are even more than that. You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me, and knowing you is the greatest honour I have ever been bestowed with. I can’t think of any other way to spend the rest of my life, than to spend with you. Yes, I will marry you,” I said, still crying gently, as I stretched out my left hand to him.

He slipped the ring into my finger, after which I pulled him up, and the onlookers at the cemetery began to clap, including the old couple who had earlier been annoyed with me.

A broad smile appeared on his face, and tears began to roll down his cheeks. They weren’t sad tears... they were just uncontrollable tears of joy. Our love story was just one of a kind, and we never expected it to have a happy ending, but in the end, love conquered all, and it was with gladness in our heart, and an unspeakable gratitude, that we shed tears, seeing how perfect how lives finally were, even though it had kicked off with so much imperfections.

Once, I had never thought that I’d get a chance to be happy again after being the only survivor from a car accident, and had just been formulating werewolf theories. I finally met a werewolf, not just a werewolf, but an Alpha, and my life had changed for the better.

I was never going to trade what I had with Alistair for anything in the world, and I felt blessed because I now got the chance to wake up every morning and see the face of the one who had given me the opportunity to live, love, and a million and one reasons to smile.