Hey guys— I'm so sorry. Chapter ten completely glitched out on me, and I didn't realize until I was uploading this chapter... whoops. Also, sorry for the wait. I was (and currently still am) reading A Court of Thorns and Roses series (Thanks to one of my reviewers, who suggested it) (THANK YOU TO SassStressandCaffeine!)
ANYWAY... sorry for the super long intro-thingy-that-idk-what-to-call. (wow I'm on an apologizing roll today, folks)
Linh whirled around to see her mother looking at her worriedly. "You heard that?" She squeaked.
"So it is true." Mai said, looking down at her feet.
Linh nodded.
"I thought we had raised you better than that, Linh."
"You didn't raise us at all!" She shouted, letting all of the anger fly out of her with those words.
"The father?" Mai asked.
"None of your business," she snapped.
"You're my daughter," her mother argued.
"Not anymore!" Linh said angrily. "You gave up calling me that when you sent us to Exillium and tried to make it look like I had never been born!"
Mai huffed, but her eyes got teary. She walked away looking like she had been slapped.
Biana hugged her, clearly surprised that Linh had had an outburst like that. It wasn't like her.
"You okay?" Sophie asked.
Some tears leaked out of Linh's eyes. "I'm just... scared. What if... what if I'm not a good mother?"
"Linh, you're going to be a great mom," Biana told her, grabbing her shoulders and looking straight into her watery eyes.
Linh nodded, wiping at her cheeks and sniffling. "Thanks."
Biana and Sophie smiled.
"That's what we're here for."
Linh smiled gratefully.
A few hours later...
"Tam?" Linh called, opening the door to the his room.
He and Biana looked like they had been talking, and they both were blushing heavily.
"Sorry— are you guys busy?" she asked, eyebrows pressing together in amusement and confusion.
"No, no. It's fine, I can go now," Biana said, just as Tam said,
"Yes."
She smiled, more amusement than anything, but turned it into a sweet, teasing smile at both of them.
"Don't forget about what Tiergan gave you, Tam," she teased, and turned to leave while Tam glowered at her.