CHAPTER FOUR
As soon as Nick had left for work, Adalind had called Rosalee to ask her to meet her for some tea. She had also called Trubel so she could watch the children during her absence. Trubel loved taking care of her little cousins and they absolutely adored her. It was no surprise that Diana ran into Trubel's arms as soon as she came through the door.
"Trubel! I'm so happy you're here!" squealed Diana with excitement.
"Aww, I missed you too pumpkin" Trubel said, hugging her tight. "Hey little monkey" she said as she turned to Kelly, who was waving his arms to let his mommy know he wanted to get out of his high chair.
Adalind took her son and handed him to Trubel.
"All right, mommy's gonna go now" she said, kissing her two children on the forehead.
"Have fun mommy!" said Diana.
"Thank you honey" responded Adalind.
Trubel sensed Adalind wasn't her usual self. But she figured she was probably concerned with last-minute wedding plans.
"If there's anything, call me" Adalind told Trubel.
"We'll be fine, won't we?" she said, addressing Diana as she stroked her hair.
"Of course, we're going to have lots of fun. Bye mommy!"
"All right then, I'll see you later" Adalind said as she headed for the door.
When Adalind got to the teashop, Rosalee was already sitting down at a table, pouring some tea in the two cups in front of her.
"Hey, I hope you haven't been waiting too long" Adalind said as she joined her.
"Hi! No worries, I ordered your favorite; jasmine green tea with a hint of honey."
"Perfect, thank you" Adalind said as Rosalee handed her a cup.
"So, how are you?" asked Rosalee.
"I'm good, you? How are you feeling?"
"Bloated" Rosalee responded.
Adalind smiled at her friend. Her face exuded such a wonderful glow.
"Can't wait for the babies to come out, huh?" Adalind said with a chuckle.
"Oh God, yes" Rosalee said, laughing. "But don't tell Monroe, he's still a bit nervous about having three screaming babies in the house."
"I'm sure he'll adjust quickly" Adalind said.
"Enough about me, how are you doing? Anything your maid of honor can help you with?"
"No, thank you… most of the last-minute preparations have been taken care of. I couldn't have pulled it off without you though. You're such an amazing friend."
"It's been my pleasure helping you. I just can't wait for this wedding to finally happen!"
"Yeah, me too. Only a few more weeks now!"
Despite the smile on Adalind's face, Rosalee could sense something was bothering her.
"So why do I get the feeling you're worried about something?" asked Rosalee.
"What do you mean?"
"Adalind, you know you can tell me anything. What is it?"
"You're right… I need your help with something. But it's not wedding-related. It's me."
"Ok, what about you?"
"I don't want to be a Hexenbiest anymore."
Rosalee almost choked on her tea at the sound of Adalind's words. She didn't know what to say. She sat there, speechless.
"Are you sure?" Rosalee asked after a moment.
"Yes, I want to be normal. For good."
"Have you talked to Nick about this? I mean, this is pretty important…"
"Not exactly… he knows I'm scared to revert back to my old ways, but I didn't tell him I intend to make sure that doesn't happen. I need you to help me find a spell to permanently suppress my Hexenbiest powers. Will you help me?"
"Adalind, I really think you should discuss this with Nick first…"
"No, he would never agree to it" Adalind interrupted.
"Well, maybe it's for your own good… you know how powerful these permanent spells can be. What if something goes wrong? You and Nick are getting married in a few weeks."
"And this is my wedding gift to him; a normal wife."
"I'm not sure about this Adalind…"
"Please Rosalee, I am begging you. You are the only one who can help me with this."
"Why don't you want to be a Hexenbiest anymore? You haven't hurt anyone since you got your powers back… I mean except for Tony, but that scumbag totally deserved it."
"I'm terrified that one day my powers will get the best of me again… and that I'll hurt Nick. He's my life, I can't bear to lose him…"
Adalind was crying now. Rosalee took her hand, trying to comfort her.
"Sweetie, Nick loves you so much… he would never hurt you."
"I'm not worried about him hurting me… I'm scared that I'll be the one harming him. A Hexenbiest's primal instinct is to control, to destroy people's lives…"
"Yes, but you're not just any Hexenbiest… you're you. Adalind, believe me… you are nothing like the beast you make yourself out to be. You're good."
"I need to make sure I stay that way… for Nick's safety… and our children's."
Adalind was looking down at her cup, her eyes filled with tears. Rosalee wasn't too keen on the idea of helping her at first, but as soon as Adalind mentioned her children, her own motherly instincts kicked in.
"All right, I'll help you" Rosalee said, squeezing her best friend's hand.
"Are you sure?" Adalind asked, looking up.
"Yes."
"You have no idea how much I appreciate this, I can't thank you enough."
"You can thank me if it works… we'll need to be extremely careful with this. Nick would kill me if anything happened to you."
"About Nick… you can't tell him about this. And you can't tell Monroe either."
"You know I hate keeping secrets, they always seem to backfire somehow."
"You won't have to keep it secret for long, just until we actually perform the spell."
"Fine. So when do you want to do this?"
"As soon as possible."
