Chapter 22

Amelie

It's been four months since I woke up from a coma. Life has its own new normal. I don't wear anything with a wide collar anymore. I felt like I was being choked at first, but now I feel naked if I am not covered. I have resumed my jewelry smithing again. I started an online business, and it's expanded my clientele. I have a lot of humans requesting silver. I tell them that silver just doesn't speak to me as platinum does. It gets them off my cases. Inari and I have been practicing our enhancements. It wasn't as easy as before, but we can still do it, and we are getting stronger. We can even increase our strength a little now. It will be spring soon, and I have started the seedlings for planting in a makeshift plastic greenhouse.

I go out to the greenhouse out to check on the seedlings. Then, for the first time ever, I decided to try and grow Red Roses from hips. It was much more complicated than I thought and only one germinated. I also decided to plant white Daisy. I always grow chamomile and feverfew but never the larger cousin. So big and happy. With daisies, you had to be careful where you plant them. They can quickly take over an area. It was funny how one flower was so delicate and took so much work to grow while the other if allowed, would dominate a flower bed, but they both brought so much joy. I just wanted to watch these tiny flowers grow forever.

I decide to finish up and go back inside. It's about lunch, and I'm starving; I've spent all morning working on custom orders. I go up the back stairs and find James sitting at the counter with his head down, lying on his folded arms.

"You doing OK there?" He looks a little upset.

He lets out a big dramatic breath, "Yeah, I am fine. This heir training is getting old. I want to take a break."

He had been working hard and had just turned 17 not long ago. "Ask dad if you can take some time off to visit Hope in Texas."

He grunts, "I can't. Alpha Gideon will be here in 8 days to start my investigative and military training. After that, he'll be here for a month." He had his hands on both sides of his face resting his elbows on the counter now. He looked like he was hold up his head.

I can't help but laugh at the over-dramatic teen. "Well, he's someone dad trusts, so listens to what he says. Are you hungry? I'm going to make something for lunch. What sounds good?"

He perks up, "You're cooking for me." It's common knowledge that I am the best cook in the family, but I cook what I want, and everyone else has to take what they get. So I do not extend an offer like this often.

"Hey, now it's just lunch, not a 6-course meal. Don't go crazy, or I'll resend my offer." I give him a side glance.

"Well, if you are limiting my options, I guess, I will have to go with your double-decker sandwich with a fried egg." His stomach rumbles after saying it.

I laugh, "I guess I better get on that before your stomach eats itself."

It's been a pleasant day so far; I didn't mind making the sandwich for James. It warmed my heart watching him devour it. It also made me kind of sick, too; teenage boys were so messy. As we sat there and finished our sandwiches, I couldn't help feel that I was missing something important today. That someone significant wanted to see me. I didn't know who or why I felt like that.

"Hey, James, what's the date today?" Maybe it was a special day I didn't remember.

"It's February 26th. Why?" I thought about the date. It wasn't anyone's birthday; it wasn't either parent group's mate anniversary.

"No reason." I went back to eating my sandwich.

Gideon

"Happy Birthday, girls! Daddy loves you so much," I whisper as I give them kisses to wake them up. I always tried to make their birthday a happy day and spend the whole day with them no matter what. It wasn't just for them but also for me. It was also the day Mandy died.

"Daddy, we are big girls now." Daisy scolding me with her bedhead sticking straight up. If she knew how funny I thought she was, she would get so mad.

"Morning, Daddy. Do we get cake today?" Rose asks so softly with so much hope. This girl loved sweets, but she never got hyper like other kids. She so sweet and cute I know my men sneak her candy when they visit the Packhouse.

"Yes, Rose, you will have cake tonight after dinner. Tyson, Shay, and Easton are coming, and so are Marcus, Jorden, and Ryan. See, your friends are coming over to have cake with you." The girls are up and picking out their outfits at this point. They decide on Princess dresses. It's their birthday. I'm not going to tell them no.

Rose looks up at me and tugs on my shirt hem, and lifts her arms, "I thought you were a big girl?" I pick her up.

"Nope, I am just Rose." She settles in my arm and her head on my shoulder.

"New mommy will be here soon. Daddy member, your promise. You have to be nice." The new mommy thing again. Well, it's their birthday. Let it go.

"I'll be nice, I promise. When is your daddy not nice?" I kiss her head. Daisy now tugs on my shirt and wants up, "I see you have changed your mind."

"Nope, I'm a princess." She is so strong-willed.

"That you are." I kiss Daisy on her head as well.

"Daddy, new mommy likes flowers. Can we grow flowers for her?" Daisy looks at me with a bit of worry in her eyes.

It doesn't hurt to grow some flowers, "Sure, we can grow some flowers, but it will have to wait till after daddy's business trip, OK."

"OK, daddy." They both say in unison.

We play together in the playroom, just the three of us all day. At night my Beta and Delta bring their families over for a small dinner and, of course, cake. It's a small, quiet birthday, but it's meaningful to use. After playing till they drop I put them to ben in my room. Not because they wouldn't sleep in their room but because this was always the most harrowing night of the year for me. I didn't want to be alone, and they gave me the strength to keep going. I step out onto the balcony.

"Mandy, honey. It's been three years now since you left us. The girls are getting so big now. Daisy is full of spunk and ready to take on the world already. Rose is quiet and sweet and charms everyone she meets. I see a lot of you in them. We miss you every day and thank you for giving me the most precious gift of all of them. I love you." It had been three years. My mate mark had faded to a faint bite outline. It lost all its color. The girls needed a mom, and I needed to love again. Before I turn and step inside, I look back up at the moon. It's a crescent and looks like the Luna Mark. "Selene, I beg of you grant me the blessing of a second chance, mate. One who will love the girls as much as their mother would. Someone that will be patient with me and help heal my broken heart. I offer my blood as a sign of my sincerity." I bit the tip of my thumb and let a few drops fall to the ground. A few tears roll down my cheek mixing with the blood on the ground.

I turn to go back inside, and a gust of wind blows by. I could hear it whisper to me. "Soon" as it disappeared. I stopped stood there for a second.

I calmed my heart and said, "Thank you."

With that, I went inside and carefully got into bed. As soon as sleep took over, I was in the mountain clearing with her again. I didn't fight it; I wanted to be there.