Hey everyone, wow it's been a while huh? I guess I had to finish off Amicix: Hidden Secrets before I was able to return to this story but that doesn't matter. I'm back and since I like focusing on just one story, I'm going to finish this one. Hooray! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I am really sorry for the long wait on this chapter. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the story.
It had been a quiet day, calm, with little to no costumers going in and out of the door. On some days, the waiting room was filled with costumers demanding that their animals be taken care of and on other days the waiting room was empty. I didn't have a preference for either day, the 'slow days', when the waiting room was empty, seemed to go on forever and the 'fast days' were too much work and exhausting. I tapped the pen in my hand on the desk impatiently, the other person who was supposed to be taking over was late. As much as working the extra shift would supply me with more money in my wallet, I wanted to get home to my girls.
Besides, them being stuck with Robert from the moment school ended could only lead to a massive catastrophe. I grabbed a file from atop the desk, even if I was a veterinarian assistant, I still had a shift since I couldn't work twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, by next year I could move up the next step in my career. If I was ready for that. It would supply me with more money so that my daughters could have a better life but I would also miss out on some of the things a mother never wants to miss out on.
I flipped the front page over on the file, tomorrow was Saturday, thankfully, considering I don't work on Saturdays. The bell over the door made a jingling noise, signaling a new arrival. I sat the file down and glanced up to see a woman in her mid-twenties, like me, wearing a similar outfit to mine but with her own name stitched into the uniform. I slung my bag over my shoulder, "You're lucky the head-veterinarian is out getting a coffee or she would be the one scolding you." I remarked crossing my arms as the woman sighed and dropped her bag in the spot mine had previously occupied.
"Where is Vicky? Isn't she supposed to be at the main desk outside?" She asked as I shrugged, Vicky was always slacking on the job. It was only a matter of time before she was fired for being caught in the act. I grabbed a piece of paper from my pocket and clocked myself out. The woman walked over and clocked herself in, knowing that she was going to get the time decked off her weekly pay on Sunday. "Anything new happen today?" The woman inquired picking up the file I had put down upon her arrival.
I shook my head, "It was a slow day." I said, "Well I got to get home, I don't want to leave my girls with Robert too long. Goodnight Chloe." She waved back at me, lifting the file up to read. I walked over to the door and pushed it open, the night air felt frigid and cold, being so late in the year. I pulled my car keys out of my bag, stopping momentarily to do so before walking over to my car. Inside of the car was just as frigid as the outside, perhaps even colder. Starting the car, I put both of my hands on the steering wheel before pulling out.
Traffic was rather calm as well. Now that it was getting closer to the cold seasons people tended to go over to warmer planets so that they didn't have to deal with the cold. The heater in the car seemed to take forever to kick in but when it did the gushing airs of heat was exactly what I needed. The entire day I had gone through in a sort of numbness, waiting for the time to tick slowly by. I had been in my thoughts for most of the day so now there was nothing else to think of, everything possible being run through over a thousand times.
A musical tone broke the silence that had blanketed itself on the inside of the car and I used one hand to search for my phone. Lifting it up I saw in peripheral vision that I was receiving a call, I touched one of the pink buttons and pressed another one as well with that before placing it on my lap. "Hello?" I asked, since I was still driving, I didn't get the chance to look at the caller ID.
"Flora! Hey! It's been forever since we last talked." Miele's exuberant voice went over the phone as a smile instantly grew on my lips. Miele was in her final year at the Lynphea College for Fairies and even though she was practically a grown-up she still had the excited nature about her that made her easily loveable. She had an easy time making friends and went about life in a careless fashion.
"Miele. Oh, I've missed you little sis. How has college life been treating you?" I asked, turning left onto a less busy street. I was only a few more turns away from home, hopefully I could keep Miele on the line long enough so that she could say hi to her nieces. I could hear Miele drop onto her bed as she placed the phone on her nightstand with a little bit of fumbling.
"Great! Classes are totally boring but college life is amazing otherwise. Oh, and guess who is bringing their boyfriend with them on the Day of the Rose?" Miele asked with an even more excited tone.
I tapped her chin, pretending to be deep in thought. I hummed, "I wonder who it could be. Maybe you?" I asked teasingly as Miele giggled on her end of the phone. "I've been meaning to ask, how is Tyler doing by the way? Staying out of trouble I hope." I said as Miele sighed dreamily and I quirked an eyebrow at the actions of my love-struck sister. It almost seemed like hearts were growing in her eyes on her end.
"Great." She chirped. "Tyler is just so amazing. But besides that, how are my favorite nieces?" Miele gushed at the beginning of her sentence before cooling down slightly.
I rolled my eyes, "They're your only nieces, unless you count cousin Cassidy." I pointed out, "Anyways, their doing great! I'm almost home so if you could stay on the phone a little longer that would be great. I'm sure Rorie and Jane would love to hear your voice." I said turning right onto my neighborhood.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Miele exclaimed. "Anyways, you wouldn't believe who I saw in town today. Your old friends. At first I could believe it was them but then when I heard a bunch of girls and boys from my school squealing over them I knew it was no illusion." Miele had never been told the real reason why I left, she had pried but I didn't want her to know the real reason.
"Uh-huh." I said, slightly upset but I had somewhat gotten over it. I have moved on with my life, they are not a part of it anymore like I used to dream. Dreams are for sleeping anyways and it wasn't like we would be a part of each other's lives after Alfea. I just made the first move. I turned the car off after parking in the driveway of the small home and ran my fingers through my hair.
"Are you there yet?" Miele asked impatiently as I opened the car door, the air seemed slightly cooler on the outside of the car and without the guaranteed heat inside of the car. Holding my coat tighter around my body I walked towards the steps inside of the garage. Inside of the house, I could hear the sounds of laughter and joy, mentally I smiled, already picturing whatever was going on inside.
"Yeah I'm here." I said before I opened the door, the girls were a mess, food caked all over them and the kitchen counters were also just as messy. "Robert!" I exclaimed as my cousin looked at me sheepishly. "What were you thinking? Remember what happened last time you tried to cook for us." I gave him a hard look as Aurora and Jannette ran up to me, hugging my legs.
"Mommy!" Aurora squealed slightly before backing away, "We had so much fun, first we tried to make some cake for when you got home but then Robert dropped an egg accidently and he picked it up and tried to throw it at the trashcan but it hit me and then I threw something back at him. It was so much fun." She said excitedly, with the same amount of enthusiasm as her aunt.
I could hear Miele giggling through the phone and smiled, holding my phone out to both of the girls as Jannette, being the one with cleaner hands, grabbed the phone. "Somebody's on the phone for you." I said poking Aurora's nose as she giggled and Jannette smiled slightly. I smiled at the two of them before giving my cousin a withering glare. I grabbed his ear and dragged him outside of the room, hearing the girls giggle slightly at the exit. "What were you thinking?" I whisper screamed.
Robert smiled sheepishly before rolling his eyes. "It's fine. I'll clean it up soon." He said dismissively as I huffed and crossed my arms. He looked slightly hilarious and I could help but giggle at the egg yolk that dripped down the side of his face. "So now your laughing." I witnessed one of his cheeky smiles before I was engulfed into a hug.
"Eww Robert. Get off you nasty thing." I squealed in protest but it was too late my uniform was ruined. I pushed him back and held my arms out, giving him a death glare. "Great. Now my uniform is destroyed." He just smirked in response. "Now you better get that cleaned up while I clean the girls up and if it isn't cleaned up by the end of the night. No guest bed for you." I waved my finger in front of his face tauntingly.
"Fine." He groaned as he dragged his feet going into the kitchen. I laughed to myself, following after him. The girls were still on the phone with Miele. "Hey Miele." He said into the phone before catching my warning look and going to the sink to begin the process of cleaning the kitchen.
"Hey Robert, getting to work on cleaning the kitchen?" Miele teased slightly, "Well girlies, I must be going. I got some stuff to do on my end but promise you'll come for a visit soon." She said as Aurora nodded, excited at the prospect of going and visiting her aunt again. I smiled, taking the phone from Jannette carefully.
"We'll come visit soon Miele. I'll work out the details later." I said as Miele said good bye back before I hung up. "Now girls." I turned my attention back at the girls as Aurora tried to slowly back out of the room. I crossed my arms and tried to make a stern face but failed to stop a smile from rising on my face. "We've got to get you two cleaned up, come on." I said as Jannette nodded her head and walked over to the entrance of the living room, Aurora groaned and walked over to her sister.
"Come on slowpoke." Aurora said teasingly as I smiled at her and lightly pushed the two of them to the master bedroom, I pushed them towards the attached bathroom. "Mom, do we have to take a bath now?" She said using her puppy-dog eyes as I averted my gaze to not meet her look. Even though the puppy-dog eyes were old and every parent knew about them it did not stop the effect of them.
"Yes." I gave them both a stern look as Jannette nodded her head, eagerly getting out of her dirty clothes. Aurora continued to pout but started to get out of her own dirt clothes. I walked over to the faucet and turned on both the hot and cold water, plugging the drain before walking over to the counter where a screened radio etched into the wall. Touching a small button on it another screen popped up following that. I tapped another button and soon the girls' playlist began to play. "Alright I'm going to get you girls some cloths." I said turning back to the two as they both nodded.
I opened the bathroom door and closed it behind me, the girls shared a room since this was only a three-bedroom house. Sometimes they slept in my room, especially when the power was out. Aurora was ok with the dark but it freaked Jannette out to the verge of panic attacks. I sorted through Aurora's clothes before picking up a light green and light blue patterned night pants and a light green short-sleeve shirt. Closing the drawer, I went to Jannette's drawer and picked out purple pajama pants and a silver-colored short-sleeve shirt. Having picked out their clothes I went back towards the bathroom.
The tub was now full and both girls were already in, massive bubbles surrounding them courtesy of Aurora. Their clothes were folded and placed neatly on a towel on the counter, courtesy of Jannette. "Alright girls, time to scrub all of that unmade food off of you." I said grabbing a container of soap from the shower and placing it on the edge of the tub. After twenty minutes of getting the unmade food of the girls were ready to step out of the tub. Rolling up a sleeve, I unplugged the drain and allowed the water to drain out of the tub. "I'm sure Robert ordered some pizza while we were in here." I said getting two towels from the closet.
"Oh really, I love pizza." Aurora said taking a towel and stepping out from the tub and wrapping it around herself. "I hope he ordered some, can we watch a movie tonight?" She asked hopefully. I rolled the idea around in my head before nodding. It had been almost 8:30 when I got home, and it was probably close to 9:00. Well the girls did have no school tomorrow so I suppose it would be alright for them to stay up a little later.
"Alright, but not too late." I responded handing Aurora her clothes as Jannette stepped out of the almost empty tub. "I'm going to go change, I'll be right back." I said as they both nodded their heads, Aurora grabbing a small brush from inside of one of the drawers. I walked over to my closet and grabbed a pair of flannel pink and green jeans with a pink tank top, putting on my outfit I walked back to the bathroom.
Both girls were dressed in their night clothes and Aurora was brushing her hair, "Hey mom." Jannette started off quietly and shyly, playing with her hair, "Can we watch a comedy?" She asked as Aurora handed her a brush with a slight pout. I grabbed the brush gently and began to run my fingers through her wet hair, her hair was lighter than the blonde in my bangs and she had my skin with dark blue eyes.
Aurora crossed her arms, "But we always watch a comedy!" She whined slightly, "Can't we watch a scary movie? Or, better yet a romantic movie!" Her eyes lit up at the thought of watching a romantic movie. Jannette sighed, she didn't like scary movies and when we did watch them she always came to my room and had terrible nightmares. Seeing the look that crossed Jannette's face Aurora sighed, "We could watch a rom-com." She suggested, her voice lowering slightly.
"Excellent idea." I said, finished brushing Jannette's hair I placed the brush on the counter before gently pushing both of the girls to the living room. "Go pick something out." I told them as they both walked over to the movies we had. Well, Jannette walked and Aurora ran. I smiled fondly before walking over to the kitchen, it looked cleaned, "Good job Robert." I congratulated.
He bowed mockingly. "I know, I know, I am truly the best cousin in the world." He said as I quirked an eyebrow at him suggesting otherwise. "I not only cleaned the kitchen but I got pizza." Robert said as he lifted the two boxes off the counter. I grabbed a box from him and lifted up the lid to make sure he got the right pizza, last time he didn't and it turned out to be a terrible experience.
"Alright, you did get pizza but you did cause this whole mess." I pointed out teasingly, holding the box in one hand like a tray, "Now come one, the girls are picking out a movie." I said as he sighed at the prospect of watching a comedy. "Well you could get your own apartment instead of looting off me." I pointed out as he gave me a cheeky smile. Robert had been living here for the past couple of months since he graduated last spring, he was only twenty.
"You know you love having me around." He said cheekily as I rolled my eyes at him but smiled nonetheless. He slung an arm around my shoulder as we walked into the living room, each of us carrying a single pizza box. The girls were sitting side-by-side on the knees in front of the TV, an assortment of movies surrounding them. "So kids, what movie are we going to watch?" He asked as Aurora glanced up and beamed at him, motioning for him to sit down.
"We can't decide." Aurora said as she crossed her arms and pouted. "I mean some of these are ok but none of them stand out to us." She said as she pointed to some of the movies they had picked out. "Or we've already seen them before." Aurora added as Robert studied the movies in front of him before picking a random movie up.
"A randomizer is the best method to pick out a movie." Robert said as he held the movie up. Aurora still looked a little hesitant but she took the movie from him anyways and crawled over to the Digital Movie Player-DMV for short-and pressed a button as a little hole appeared on the left of the small box, she opened the case of the movie and placed the small screen-like thing inside of it.
"I'll go make some popcorn." I said standing up as Jannette stood up as well, she followed me into the kitchen. "Jane, everything ok?" I asked and she quickly nodded, not looking me in the eye. I crouched down in front of her and she lifted her gaze to meet mine, "Jane, you know you can tell me anything. What's wrong?" I asked again as she sighed and averted her gaze to the living room where the previews were playing.
"It's the people at school." She said rubbing her arm. "They keep saying things to us, well to me anyways. Sometimes they say things to Aurora but they always say things to me and they always push me around whenever the kids walk near us and the teacher's that know don't do anything about it." Jannette said as few tears leaked out of her eyes. My heart snapped in half, the cruelness of these little kids that probably picked up these things from their parents. But that didn't stop me from being heartbroken.
I wrapped my arms around her and rubbed circles along her back as soothingly as I could, I can't believe that these kids would treat my daughter like this. That spiked some anger in me, I was one of the strongest fairy's here and those kids think they can talk to my kids like that. I clenched my jaw, first I would talk to the parents about this matter and if they even tried to lie to my face I would show them a burst of power. No one messes with my kids. No one. "What kind of things to they say?" I asked, trying to keep my anger under wraps.
"They say things about you and about how dad abandoned us because of me. Was it my fault he abandoned us?" Those small words crushed my heart. I knew that the subject of their father would come up eventually but I didn't think this soon. Of course, I wasn't counting on those kids to behave like little bullies.
I pulled away and held her shoulders, "No." I said strongly, "Your father was as brave as they come, he would never abandon you." I hesitated, I would love to lie and say that he was an awful man and that he was terrible and cruel but that is the easy way out and nothing is ever easy. "Some things happened between me and him. I know that you don't want to hear that I will tell you when you're older, but I don't think that you're ready to know. But whenever anyone tells you that, tell yourself that he loved you. He loved both you and your sister." The lie slipped easily from my tongue, of course if he ever knew about them he would love them.
Jannette nodded to herself, she went over to a cupboard and pulled out three bags of popcorn before opening one and putting it in the popcorn maker. She did the same for the next two bags. I sighed, wanting to cry, as I watched her carry on throughout her mission. Was this why she was so shy? And what was worse was that it was all my fault that those kids teased her, if they had known who they really are, they would have never said that. Their parents would have never said this.
"Jannette, I'm not going to let this conversation end like this. I want you to believe me when I say that your father loved you because he did." I said as I stepped in front of her, crouching down. She didn't say anything in response for several minutes, the sound of the popcorn kernels popping being the only noise in the kitchen, in the living room Robert and Aurora could be heard laughing.
"I do." She said finally. Even if I wanted to believe that she did, somehow, I knew that she was lying and that ripped at me. This was my fault, I knew that even if someone disagreed and tried to say that it was Helia's fault for cheating on me. It was mine for not telling him that day because than he could at least be involved in their lives. The popcorn machine dinged signaling the popcorn finished cooking and I got out two bowls. I opened the popcorn machine and poured the popcorn evenly into the bowls.
We walked back into the living room, each holding a bowl filled with popcorn, Robert gave me a concerned look and I just smiled at him signaling that it was nothing for him to worry about. Shrugging he pressed the play button and the movie began to play. Sometimes we laughed at the corniness of the movie and other times we threw popcorn at each other. But that conversation with Jannette was etched inside of my mind the entire night and I don't know when I am ever going to get it out.
That conversation in the kitchen rolled around in my head, even as we walked off the bus into the warm air of Lynphea, suitcases following us. It had been five months since that conversation and I still couldn't get it out of my head. "Flora!" Mom exclaimed as she rushed off the front porch, she wrapped her arms around me, trapping me in a big hug. "Awe. Are these my grandchildren?" She released me from the bear hug and crouched down to Aurora and Jannette's combined height.
"Hey Grandma." Aurora beamed as she threw her arms around mom. I giggled to myself stepping aside as my father came out of the house. He smiled at seeing the three of us on the front lawn. "Grandpa!" Aurora exclaimed as she ran up to him and tackled him to the ground. Jannette smiled shyly and hugged mom, my mom gave me a look before she returned the hug. I knew that we would be having a conversation about this later.
"Hey little daisy." Dad said, dad and mom usually called them by their middle names for some odd reason. "Come here little rose." He said as Jannette shyly walked over, she hugged him as well. "Come on flowers, Miele is already inside." Dad said as Aurora squealed and ran ahead of the two of them, opening the door and greeting Miele with a squeal while Jannette walked beside dad.
"Flora, we have so much to catch up on." Mom said as we both nodded towards each other, "We're going to go get some groceries from the market." She yelled at the house before we both turned around. I turned around slightly and snapped my fingers as my suitcase went back up into my old room. "So how are Aurora and Jannette?" Mom asked once we stopped at a stop beetle.
I fiddled with the ends of my hair, "We're alright I suppose." I said as she gave me a look for me to tell her more. "It's just these kids at school have said some highly inappropriate things to my daughters that they have learned from their parents. I talked to their parents about it and they tried to lie at first but then told the truth." I said, "They say most of the things to Jannette for some odd reason which is why her shyness is getting worse." I added as mom nodded her head and parked the car.
"Well, what kind of things have they said to them?" Mom asked as she opened her car door and I opened mine as well. We walked into the café that mom had parked at, sitting down at a table near the door. "Do they say things about you? About them being idiots? About their dad?" She whispered the last question. I sighed and glanced around the café, recognizing a few people but no one major. Well not them.
"They say things about both me and their father. I always knew the subject of their father would come up eventually but I didn't think it would come up this soon. And I know that it's my fault that he is not in their life. I could have told him and he would still be in their life without being with me." I said running my hands through my hair. Mom clasped her hand around mine and gave me a comforting smile. I returned it with a weak smile.
"I know it's not what you want to hear but you need to face the past. The past has a way of catching up to you and Flora, if it does than it is going to be more painful." Mom said as I buried my face in my hands. I hate it, but she's right. I need to actually face the past before I can move on with my life, be happy. She snapped her fingers and a small envelope appeared in front of me.
The envelope was simple and a pure, shimmering white color. I lifted it up and turned it over, "Mrs. Faragonda?" I wondered to myself, why was she talking to me? "When did you get this?" I asked, placing the letter down despite my itching nerve to open it and read the words inside.
"A couple of days ago, actually." Mom responded as a waitress finally came to our table, "A coffee please and some green tea." She said, knowing my favorite. The waitress nodded and soon returned with our drinks before hurrying off before either of us could thank her. Mom took a sip from her coffee, after stirring in a few packets of sugar. "I think you should open it. Mrs. Faragonda is a sweet woman and she was not the one who kept that from you, was she?" Mom said.
I sighed, taking a sip at the green tea. Mom was right, Mrs. Faragonda had never done anything wrong to me. She gave me a scholarship to the school if anything and had only been a kind person to me. Even if I didn't want to admit, I missed Alfea, I missed Mrs. Faragonda, I missed the teachers, and I missed my other friends. Should I really let everything that happened make me never go back? With that in mind, I tore open the letter.