Miranda woke up the next morning and saw Aaron looking back at her.
She smiled softly and whispered "hi."
He smiled and brushed a finger down her face "hi. How are you feeling?"
She smiled "much better but we didn't get to make love."
He said "believe me baby I enjoyed every minute."
She grinned "I know you did."
She quickly straddled him. She ran her hands up his bare chest and to his shoulders. She lowered her head and captured his lips in a slow kiss.
He let her have control for a minute but then broke the kiss.
She frowned "what's the matter?"
He said "I need to ask you something. You had me a little worried last night."
She was confused "I did?"
He said "did I scare you?"
She laughed "what?"
He said "when I asked you to turn around you hesitated. You had a look of fear on your face."
She tensed and her face fell. She tried to get off of him but he held her tight.
She whimpered "Aaron let me go! I don't want to talk about this."
He was incredibly worried. He brought her closer and hugged her.
"Honey, calm down. I didn't mean to upset you."
She had her face buried in his neck.
He felt her calm down a bit while he was rubbing her back.
"Miranda, does this have something to do with Thantos?"
She pulled back and glared at him. She warningly said "Aaron, I'm serious drop it!"
She moved out his grip and stormed off to the bathroom.
He was very concerned about her.
It was in the afternoon and Miranda still hadn't said a word to Aaron. In fact she had avoided him at all costs.
Alex had noticed that her father seemed a bit off.
"Dad, are you okay?"
He looked at her and said "I'm fine your mother and I just had a little fight."
Alex said "so go after her!"
He raised and eyebrow "excuse me?"
She nodded "she's probably waiting for you to apologize."
He got defensive "but I didn't do anything!"
She stared at him and he muttered "not that it matters. Fine I'll go talk to her."
Aaron gave up looking for her. He went to his office and saw his chair turned around. He walked over to it and found his wife crying.
He touched her shoulder and she jumped "don't do that!"
He said "I'm sorry. Is everything alright?"
She shrugged her shoulders.
He said "do you want to be alone?"
She sighed and whispered "no."
He turned the chair around and sat on the edge of the desk.
"Miranda, please talk to me."
He held out his hand and said "come with me."
She took it and followed him to the couch. He sat down and pulled her in his lap.
"There that's better. I hate it when you're mad at me."
He nuzzled her neck and she couldn't help let a small smile spread across her face.
"I was never mad at you Aaron."
"Then what is it?"
She said "something happened a long time ago and I've never told anyone so when you asked I panicked."
He prepared himself for the worst. He had a bad feeling that he already knew what she was going to say.
Instead of making her say it he said "Thantos raped you didn't he?"
She looked shocked and said "how did you...well no he didn't exactly rape me. Technically I was his wife I didn't have much say in the matter. I don't know if you would call it rape."
He took her hand and brought it to his lips.
His voice cracked "what did that bastard do to you?"
Her heart broke a little when she saw his eyes become glassy.
She sighed "it was when we were first married. Everyone, Thantos included kept making a big deal about having heirs. It was hard enough being married to him but like I said before having children was out of the question. That was something I was supposed to share only with you! We fought one night about it and he hit me. I fell to the floor and before I could move he turned me over. He pinned me to the ground and lifted my dress. He moved my panties to the side and..."
He watched her take a deep breath and started to continue.
"He forced me on all fours and made me have anal sex. It hurt so much! I thought he was going to rip me in half. Finally it was over and I thought he would leave but then he quickly flipped me over and forced himself inside me. He made sure to come inside me. I could feel his seed shoot inside me. When he was done he got up and smiled. He said that's how you make a baby."
She buried her face in his neck and cried.
"It was so awful. I really thought I was going to have to his child. I'm so sorry."
He took her shoulders and gently pushed her back "you have nothing to be sorry for. None of this was your fault! That bastard has always wanted you and instead of treating you like the queen you are he tortured you. You were so brave. I can't imagine what you went through. I would never make you do something you not comfortable with."
She sniffled "I know that. You know the whole time I was married to Thantos I compared him to you and he never measured up."
He smiled "did you tell him that?"
She shrugged "it didn't matter. I didn't want him to be romantic I just wanted to feel safe."
He tightened his arms and smiled "well you're safe now. I promise you I will never let anyone hurt you ever again and I will make up for lost time."
She smiled brightly "I love you so much Aaron."
She took his face in her hands and kissed him passionately.
Suddenly the door flew open with a bang knocking some of the books to the floor. Aaron covered her body with his looked up.
He raised his eyebrow as he looked at Camryn who had a guilty, shocked look on her face.
Alex raced over to her parents "are you okay?"
Miranda brushed herself off and said "we're fine. What happened?"
Alex looked at Camryn and smirked.
Camryn said "I tried to open the door."
Aaron said "you did that by twisting the door knob!?"
Camryn cleared her throat and said "not exactly. I pointed and the door blew up. I'm so sorry!"
Aaron said "don't worry about it."
He waved his hand and everything went back to normal.
Camryn blinked and said "how?"
Miranda laughed and said "it takes practice."
Camryn said "I don't think magic is for me. Maybe I should stay in my world."
Miranda was alarmed "what?"
Camryn shrugged "I've gotten stuck in a wall, I broke the dishes and now I broke the door. I almost killed you two. What's next?"
Miranda said "sweetheart, we're fine. Magic takes practice. You didn't even know you had powers until a year ago. You haven't had a chance to learn how they work. Give it time it will come."
Camryn gave a small smile "fine."
"Is everything okay between you and mom" Alex asked.
Aaron walked over to his wife and smiled "everything is fine."
Alex smiled said "good. I didn't find my parents so they could break up."
Miranda looked shocked and Aaron laughed "I assure you we will never break up."
Miranda smiled softly at Aaron and kissed him.
Aaron slipped his hand around her waist and kept her close. She leaned her head against his arm.
Alex and Camryn smiled.
Camryn said "so have you two decided on a date to remarry each other?"
Miranda said "not yet. We haven't had time to discuss it."
Camryn said "well when you decided I can help pick out your dress. I love that stuff!"
Miranda smirked "yes I remember. What is it you call it...princessing?"
Aaron raised his eyebrow and looked at his wife said "princessing?"
Camryn grinned "well, what would you call it?"
Miranda laughed and said "point taken. We will let both of you know our plans as soon as we decide what were going to do."
That night Aaron was in the bed under the covers. Miranda came out of the bathroom and slipped under the sheets. She immediately straddled him and pecked his lips.
He held her hips and smiled "can I help you?"
She grinded her hips against his and said "I want you."
He groaned and said "I'm all yours baby."
She leaned down and kissed him passionately. He slid his hand under her nighty and cupped her. Soon clothes went flying and before long she collapsed on top of him. She laid next to him panting.
He smiled and said "that was wonderful."
She kissed his chest and nodded.
He rubbed her back and she played with his chest hair.
She said "when do you want to get remarried?"
He said "anytime you want. I give you full control of the wedding."
She smiled brightly and looked in his eyes. "Oh Aaron! You're the best."
She took his face in her hands and instead of kissing him she playfully licked his lips.
He grinned "I love it when you do that!"
She laughed "good because I just can't help it. You know how I get when I'm excited."
He got serious and said "I love hearing you laugh. It warms my heart."
She blushed "you know I think I've laughed more in the last few days than I have in 20 years. My heart is whole again and it's all because of you and the girls."
He gently kissed her "I'm so glad I make you happy. I intend to do it forever."
She smiled as a tear slid down her face. She buried her face in his neck and breathed in his scent.
She whispered "promise?"
He tightened his arms around her and said "I promise Miranda. I'll never leave you again."
She nodded and sighed.
"Miranda?"
"Hmm?"
"Did you and Thantos ever have fun together like we do?"
She sighed and rubbed his chest "not really. We weren't compatible. He was always to serious and I liked to enjoy life...at least I tried to enjoy it. After you died I was crushed and stayed in our room for days. Finally, Thantos forced me to get over it so eventually I guess I did. I actually thought he did it to help me. How dumb is that?"
He said "it's not dumb at all. You trusted him and you had a kingdom to run."
She nuzzled her face against his chest "can we not talk about this. It hurts to much to relive it."
He said "okay sweetheart."
She raised her head and traced his lips with her finger.
She said "you don't have to be jealous of Thantos. I never loved him Aaron. I only slept with him maybe 4 times...but that was only because I had to. It was awful."
As her finger passed his lips he quickly pulled it in his mouth. She gasped not expecting it. She giggled as he sucked on her finger.
He pulled her finger out of his mouth and gently kissed the tip.
He said "I can't help but be just a little jealous. I don't like sharing especially my girl!"
She smiled softly and kissed his jaw "you'll never have to share me again. I've always been yours Aaron. I absolutely adore you. I love the way you make love to me. No one could ever satisfy me like you do."
He smiled brightly and quickly flipped them over.
She squealed "Aaron!"
He planted a passionate kiss on her lips.
"I love you so much Miranda! I don't think I could survive being apart from you again."
She got serious "I couldn't either."
He smiled "so why don't we run off right now and get married?!"
Her eyes widened "are you serious?"
He said "yes."
She cupped his cheek "I would love to do that but we can't."
He whined "why not?!"
She smiled "because I promised the girls we would keep them informed and I want them to be apart of our moment."
He sighed and muttered "alright."
He rolled off of her and crossed his arms.
She smirked "you're so cute when you pout! Why are you angry?"
He glared at her "I'm not angry!"
She smiled and brushed her fingers down his cheek "you're a terrible liar."
He said "do you not want to get married?"
She was alarmed "Aaron! Of course I do. I want it more than anything."
He sighed "then why can't we elope?"
She felt tears well up in her eyes and said "because I've dreamt about this moment for so long I need it to be perfect. While you were off in the shadow lands I was here by myself living with your horrible brother! I need to have our girls there so I can erase all the awful memories of being married to Thantos and of my whole family dying! I need one good memory of my family."
He was shocked. He held her as she cried.
"Oh Miranda, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. We can wait. I won't pressure you again."
She sniffled and said "I'm sorry. All of this is so overwhelming. Half of the time I think I'll wake up and it was all a dream."
He brushed his fingers over the back of her neck "don't apologize. I can't imagine the thoughts running through your head. Having your family one day then gone the next must've been horrible. I know I couldn't have handled that."
Her eyes began to droop "believe me I thought about suicide many times but something always stopped me."
"What?"
She smiled softly "the hope of seeing you again and I kept hearing your voice."
He tightened his arms around her "thank god you did. Now you have us back and we will never leave you."
He noticed she had gotten quiet and he looked down. He saw her sound asleep.
He smile and turned off the lights.
Miranda began dreaming:
Miranda was getting ready for her wedding to Aaron. The girls were helping her. She could hardly contain her excitement.
Camryn said "mom, you look radiant!"
Miranda smiled.
Alex said "are you nervous?"
Miranda said "very!"
Camryn laughed "why? It's just dad."
Miranda said "it's been so long since I've been his wife. I don't want to mess anything up. I feel so love and safe with him but at the same time I'm thinking about my wedding to Thantos. I felt so alone that day and I felt like I was betraying your father."
Alex hugged her mom from behind and said "you deserve to be happy and just think this time dad's waiting for you at the end of the isle."
Miranda smiled softly and patted her daughter's hand "yes he is."
Camryn and Alex was down the isle.
Miranda was next. She practically glided down the isle. She saw her daughter's smiling back at her. She saw Aaron waiting with a smile on his face.
She took his hand and they said there vows.
As he leaned down to kiss her his face changed into Thantos. Everyone disappeared and he smiled menacingly at her.
He held her tight and said "no one can help you now!"
End of dream.
She shot up in bed breathing heavily.
She saw Aaron laying on his side; sleeping next to her.
She calmed herself down and laid against him. She wrapped her arm around him and eventually went to sleep.
The next morning Aaron brought her breakfast in bed.
She smiled "this is wonderful."
He sat next to her and said "are you feeling alright? You look tired."
She smirked "thanks."
He said "I didn't mean it like that!"
She smiled "I know. Actually I am a little tired. I didn't sleep very well last night."
He looked concerned "why?"
She said "maybe our wedding is a bad idea."
He looked alarmed "what do you mean? Don't you want to get married?"
She nodded "of course I do!"
"Then, what is it?"
She moved her plate and said "I had nightmare about our wedding."
He looked at her and said "are you having second thoughts?"
She said "no. It's nothing like that. I remember in my dream I was so excited but as you leaned down to kiss me everyone disappeared and then you turned into Thantos."
"Oh honey. Come here."
She snuggled into his arms.
"Thantos is gone sweetheart. He's not coming back."
She sighed "you don't know that. I don't want to get attached to you and then have him take you away from me."
He didn't know how to convince her that he was here forever and he was starting to get annoyed.
He moved to the edge of the bed and said "then maybe we shouldn't be together."
She looked scared and saw that he wasn't kidding "what?!"
He said "I'm 100 percent dedicated to you and our relationship but you have one foot out the door. Maybe 20 years apart has changed us."
She grabbed his arm when he started to leave "no! That's not true. I love you so much. I've spent most of my life by myself and not trusting people. It's just going to take me a while to get used to all this. Please understand."
He heard her voice crack. He turned around and saw tears sliding down her cheeks.
He said "don't cry baby. I'm sorry. I just hate that you don't trust me and we have to rebuild our life together."
She said "I do trust you. I'm just terrified that Thantos will come back."
He took her face in his hands and wiped away her tears.
"Even if that happens I won't let him win. We're more powerful than he is this time. We have our girls."
She looked hopeful "I guess you're right."
He smiled and kissed her.
He pulled back and said "Miranda, I don't plan on leaving you anytime soon. I'll be by your side forever."
She nodded and hugged him tightly.
Meanwhile Camryn and Alex were practicing magic.
Camryn watched Alex making up spells and smirked.
Alex rolled her eyes "it's not that easy! You try it."
Iliana and Karsh were walking towards them.
Karsh said "oh you're practicing? Let's see!"
Miranda and Aaron were coming down the hall when Karsh slid down the hallway.
They saw the girls rush towards them. Karsh stood up and brushed himself off.
Alex said "I'm sorry! Are you okay?"
Karsh said "I'm fine!"
Miranda said "what's going on here?"
Alex said "we're practicing."
Aaron smiled and said "keep practicing. Still needs work."
Alex rolled her eyes "obviously."
Karsh said "and next time try not to kill anyone!"
Camryn laughed.
Alex glared at Camryn and said "oh shut up little miss can't walk through walls!"
Camryn stopped laughing and said "hey! I'm getting better."
Aaron smiled and said "now girls that's enough. Magic isn't easy it comes with practice. You both are doing great considering you've only known about your powers for a couple of years."
Alex said "I guess but it's not fair. I'm good at almost everything I do and I can't get the hang of this magic stuff!"
Miranda smiled "don't worry about it sweetheart. Your father's right you're doing great. Maybe its time to take a break."
She sighed "okay."
They all took a walk in the garden and spent the whole day together. Before long Camryn along with Alex left to spend time with her family.
Miranda was sitting on the couch in his office gazing at the sunset.
She jumped when she felt his lips against her cheek. He slipped his arm around her waist and continued kissing her neck.
She sighed and moved her head giving him better access.
She touched the back of his head and he said "you're to quiet. What's the matter?"
She smiled softly "nothing."
He continued looking at her.
She turned around and cupped his cheek "really. I was just thinking."
"About what?"
She smiled "our wedding. I think I want to get married on our original anniversary."
He started smiling but paused "are you sure? I had a different idea."
She said "what's that?"
"What if we get married on October 31?"
She tensed and her face fell "no!"
He said "yes."
She glared at him "I can't do that! That's the day you were killed!"
He smiled and kissed her hand "I know. I wanted you to have happy thoughts from now on and every time you think about that day you can get a warm feeling and not a lonely one. Do you understand where I'm coming from?"
She slowly nodded and whispered "I guess but..."
He said "what is it honey?"
She looked at him and said "I know that day was awful but it has to remain the day I lost you and the girls. I spent so long hoping for a miracle and now that I have it I don't want to take you for granted. I know that doesn't make sense."
He said "I think I understand and it's fine."
He acted like he was thinking and looked around.
He playfully said "So when was our anniversary March 5?"
She glared at him and he laughed "I'm kidding! Of course I know our anniversary. February 14. The most romantic day of the year."
She smiled softly and took his face in her hands "I love you Aaron!"
She kissed him passionately. He pulled her closer and slipped his tongue in her mouth. She grabbed onto his clothes so he couldn't escape. They continued kissing until they needed to breathe.
He rested his forehead against hers and gently rubbed her nose against hers.
She smiled and he said "I can't wait until your my wife again."
She said "we'll finally be a real family again. I've dreamed of that for so long."
He smiled "I know. This time it will be forever."
She hugged him tightly.
That night as they were getting ready for bed Aaron said "sweetheart, when did you and Thantos get married?"
As she was getting in bed she froze and looked at him "why?"
He shrugged and climbed in bed "well, I think I have a right to know when my wife married my brother."
She frowned and said "you're angry."
He said "no. I'm not angry I'm just curious."
She sighed and climbed in bed.
She stared ahead and said "November 12."
He furrowed his brow "but we supposedly died on October 31. That was fast! If our bodies had been found they wouldn't have even been cold."
She broke down and wrapped her arms around her body.
She said "I know! I told you everyone kept pressing me to find a new husband and have heirs! It was the only way I could remain queen and feel close to you! I didn't want any part of it."
He slid closer to her and held her while she cried.
"Shhh. Don't cry baby. I'm here now."
Once she calmed down Aaron continued rubbing her back as they laid in bed.
"Miranda, what if we got married on November 12? We could try and make it a happy memory instead of you thinking about Thantos."
She sighed and looked up "no. I think I still want February 14. Please Aaron?"
He could never deny her anything so he nodded "okay if that's what you want."
She smiled and said "it is."
He kissed her and held her left hand as she laid against his chest. His hand rubbed her wedding ring. She listened to his heartbeat.
"That bastard!"
She jumped and looked scared "what?"
He said "I'm sorry I was just thinking out loud. I still can't believe he took my ring."
She smiled "oh is that all?"
She hopped up and went to her closet. She opened the safe and grabbed the ring.
She hopped back in bed and opened her hand "I'm sorry I forgot to give it back."
He was surprised "how?"
She smiled "Camryn found it. Thantos was pretending to be you and messing with the girl's heads."
He took the ring and put it on his finger. They both got teary eyed.
Aaron noticed her frown slightly "what?"
She said "you know Alex actually accused me of only caring about the kingdom and not about you."
He tensed "how dare she say that!"
She said "it really hurt I'm not going to lie but she was just sticking up for you. She thought I was going to destroy you with that spell."
He brought her hand to his lips and said "I'm sure you had your reasons."
She frowned "I wanted you back but I didn't know who I could trust. I searched through the shadows for years!"
He said "I know. The important thing is that I'm here now."
She smiled and hugged him tightly.