HEY GUYS!
Good evening my dears! I sincerely hope everything is well with you, and let's be honest, why wouldn't it be, because I am BACK for another chapter. Okay, I know I should have posted this like a gazillion days ago, but I was busy and going through some shit, so I kinda had to okay? Ya girl ain't Superwoman! Lilly Singh is here for that! Anyway, technicalities aside, let's answer these reviews.
REVIEW ANSWER TIME!
- boop, thank you, cutie, and there you go!
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To Mac: aaww
Aight, I'm bored, I'm lazy, and let's wrap this up.
ON THE FIC!
Chapter 48: Birthday
That zig-zag shooting through my heart
That zig-zag hit me like a dart
Electricity,
This love's tearing me apart
I been running like the light from the dark
Electricity keeps on hitting me
The birthday party was wonderful. Colorful banners were hanging from the ceiling, treats off all kinds embellished the table, and everyone was having fun. Despite not having many friends her age – really, the only one was Caio – Dawn showed to love her birthday party nevertheless. Lys sang occasionally to the little one, Sky kept bringing freshly made cookies to the table and everyone was stuffing their faces with the sugary goods. The child played around with Seena and Caio while everyone talked their way.
The little princess pranced around in the dress that her mother had bought for her, with the flower tiara over her loose bronze locks. Her feet were bare, touching the floor like feathers, making no noise, and in her right wrist was the rainbow bracelet her mother made for her. She giggled and shrieked, but the smile never left her pouty lips and shiny eyes.
Sky and Malia were in the kitchen, finishing the decoration of the birthday girl's cake. It was chocolate, covered with cream and had a handful of sugar flowers that the two mothers made with powdery and liquid sugar. They believed the cake looked beautiful, but they waited for the guests to comment on it. Diego walked in and hugged his woman from behind, eyeing Malia and grinning.
"How are the two most important women of my life doing?" he asked, kissing Sky's neck.
"We're good, just finishing up the cake." The brunette replied, smiling "What do you think?"
"It looks awesome, love." He smiled "You two did this?"
"You know it." Malia winked.
"Wow. Dawn will love it. Speaking of which, the package is here. I can go to the castle and come back in less than ten minutes."
"What are you still doing here then?" Sky looked up to him "Go!"
The two women watched him leave the room. Sky turned to Malia and declared "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For letting me have him. You and I both know that, if you just said the word, he would be with you." She gulped "Thank you for letting have him."
"It's not as easy as that, Sky. Not anymore." Malia started shaping another flower "It's true that, a long time ago, the story could unfold that way. But the love Diego has for me, and I for him is not the same type of love you two share. We love each other like companions, brothers, best friends. You two are lovers. There's a difference. And you are his true happy ending. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, understand? You're more than enough. Are we Adeshians polygamous? We are. But when we love… we love hard, fast and strong."
"I won't… thank you Malia. It's good to have you back." The woman took the cake in her hands.
"Thanks, Sky. It's good to be back."
The two entered the living room and were immediately greeted by exclamations of joy by their friends, praising them on the excellent work. The two grinned and set the cake down and called all to the table. Malia went to pick up Dawn and held her in her arms, walking the child to the table and showing her the cake. The little one was thrilled, yelping and wrapping her tiny arms around her mother's neck, hugging her tight. Caio clapped his hands and tried to reach for the cake, but his mother held him strongly.
"Caio, don't! We have to wait for your daddy to return!"
"Wait no more, I'm back." Diego's voice echoed, and he entered the house with a brown box in his hands "I'm just gonna take this upstairs and I'll be right back."
Soon, the male was returned, and they started singing happy birthday to her. The child clapped along off-key, but she was having fun, and that's all that mattered. Zander lit up a candle for the child to blow and she did just so right after they finished singing and her mother told her to. It took her five blows to extinguish the small flame, but when she did, she clapped her hands fiercely alongside Caio.
"Happy birthday, honey." Malia kissed her forehead and sat her on a chair "Do you want cake?"
"Is it good cake?" she tilted her head.
"Yes. From now on, it's always good cake." Her mother smiled, and Dawn nodded "Cake, mommy."
Malia fixed the flower crown over her hairs and moved to slice the cake. She divided it into sixteen slices and gave fifteen away to the people present in the party: Zander, Sky, Diego, Aida, Jace, Roxanne, Faelern, Lys, Kole, Tillie, Airdan, Seena, Caio, Dawn and herself. The last one, she saved for a very special Queen that was sure to come by after the party. Dawn and Caio devoured theirs, and they went off to play. Seena was soon to join them, and the adults were gathered around to table talking.
Malia sat on a chair, watching her 'family' socialize. She eyed them one by one, reminiscing on the conversations that she had had with them all. She felt closer to them, truth to be told, enough to let down her barriers of mistrust, but she knew she still had a long way to go. Every day, she pushed herself to let her fears down and get rid of them so that she wouldn't scare them off. She felt strong for these people, they were her rescuers after all. Her… family. But one… one of them she watched more closely.
His raven hair fell down his shoulders, tied in a low ponytail. His eyes were beautiful, almond shaped and the same shade as her daughter's, light blue with an innocent glow in them. His purplish skin was fair and smooth, his hands large and calloused. His nose was aristocratic, and his lips were full and turned in a soft smile. Black clothes that clung to his figure made wonders, showing off his muscled body. Malia bit her lip and looked away before he could notice her staring.
He's a beautiful man, she spoke to herself, it's normal that you can't stop staring at him. But somehow, someway, her body reacted differently. Her hands ached to touch him, her nose desired to smell him, her lips pinned after his. Shaking her head, she gulped and stood up, walking to the kitchen to get herself some water. She grabbed a glass and filled it, placing it down the counter. The woman felt a present behind her and turned, spotting Airdan watching her with a soft smile.
"It's normal, you know?" he spoke in that baritone voice, not as deep as Zander's, but still "He's your song after all."
"It doesn't feel that way." She spoke "There is attraction from my end, definitely, but…"
"That's all you need to know, isn't it?" he stepped closer "He's the father of your child, your song and your friend. Which are you going to retrieve first?"
"Whichever started."
"You started as enemies, Thaga…" he reminded her "But that's not important, is it?"
"Airdan…" Malia called "What should I do? This isn't normal."
"There was never one thing about you two that was of such fashion." He smiled, caressing her cheek "You just need to fight to get that back."
"Thank you, Airdan…" she nodded "Maybe we should go get Dawn to open the gifts?"
"Yes. That's perfect." He nodded, and the two walked back to the living room.
She sat down on the couch and brought Dawn with her. The child, after a few whispered words from her mother, yelled out for her gifts, tears of happiness trailing down her rosy cheeks. Jace and Aida brought her their gift: a pair of mid-calf light brown boots with a small pink bow on the outer top. The child wiped her feet on the carpet and asked her mom help to put them on. When she did, the child started hopping around the room in her brand-new boots, giggling, before jumping up to kiss both on the cheek.
Tillie and Airdan brought forth their gift. The child unwrapped the cute bundle to see the sweetest looking teddy bear, cinnamon brown with big obsidian eyes and a purple bow around the neck. She shrieked and yelped but hugged both the teddy and the givers hard. Kole and Lys also gave her a toy, a jack-in-the-box with a dog inside. Dawn played with it seven times before thanking the two and looking around for the other gift. Sky and Diego smiled and gave her the bag, in which the child dove, messing up her crown, to pull out an orange tee with a teddy on the chest and cotton white shorts.
"Tank you Sky! Tank you Die'o!" she smiled brightly, kissing their cheeks "Mommy!"
"They're beautiful, honey." The woman smiled "Thank you…"
"We had to…" Sky smiled and helped Roxanne step forward with Faelern.
"Here, Dawn." The Lith gave her a box "I hope you like it."
The child tore apart the box to find a grey owl the size of her head with big sparkly green eyes. She yelped and hugged the owl, before jumping out of her mother's lap to hug Faelern and Roxanne. They both smiled, and Faelern placed the child back on her mother's legs. Last but not least, Zander moved and sat down on the floor in front of the two most important females of his life. He smiled when Dawn exploded in giggles and gave her a small box. He eyed Malia while the little one yanked at the box, watching her soft smile. Dawn pulled out a pink bouncing ball with white stripes and yelled.
"DADDY!" she jumped to her father's waiting arms, with happy tears "TANK YOU TANK YOU TANK YOU!"
"You're welcome, Dawn…" he smiled, kissing his daughter's hair "I hope you like it."
"I WUV IT!" she yelled, and ran to Caio "CAIO, WOOK!"
The two watched their child play with her new bouncing ball with Caio, who took no time in going to his room to get his own and play with Dawn. He got up and smiled down at Malia, before walking away. But she saw it. She saw the way he bit his lip, almost as he wanted to say something. She saw the way he fisted his hand to keep himself from touching her. She slowly began to realize he was walking on eggshells around her, and that made her feel bad. The others were free with her, they didn't have that kind of hold on themselves, but him… he was a different story.
She gulped and stood up, walking to the kitchen once more.
.~.~.
Deeper than oceans, the sweetest devotion, it's all I need
You pull me close and there's no way that I can describe
What your love make me feel
Dirty dancing in the moonlight
That's what your love make me feel like
Come and kiss me like the first time
That's what your love make me feel like
Dawn's birthday had gone by them for over a week. Malia was more and more herself, smiling and laughing more easily. But that does not mean she still wasn't fighting her demons. In several nights, she had awoken with someone shaking her awake from the nightmares that caused her to scream in agony at the top of her lungs. Most of the times it was Diego or Aida, but there was one time that the first face she saw was Zander. That caused her heart to ache, in the good sense, and do summersaults.
One night, because it was nowhere near dawn, Malia woke up. She was feeling hungry and, after realizing the sun would be coming up in an hour, she got up and tucked her child in. She walked to the kitchen, with the idea of making herself some food and go back to bed, to her daughter's side. She grabbed some bread, butter and milk, and poured it in a glass, serving herself. She took a gulp of the beverage and smiled to herself. The idea had been one of the best so far. The view from the kitchen's window was beautiful: nothing but a road of dirt that stretched out to the horizon, where the first few shy rays of sunshine tried to peek from.
She heard a rustling noise and turned, bread in hand. Walking inside shirtless and wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth was no other than Zander. Realizing he wasn't alone, he dropped the shirt he was holding, nearly ripped to shreds. She eyed him curiously, wondering many things. 1) what had he been doing? 2) why was he injured? 3) what the given time? and 4) why was he shirtless?! Zander seemed to read her thoughts and smiled, grabbing a glass of water and downing it fast.
"Don't worry." His voice was raspy, rough and harsh "It's nothing."
"What happened?" she finally found her own.
"Got into a fight." He quickly explained, drenching a cloth and wringing it "Nothing out of the ordinary. The guy was already expecting me."
"'Expecting' you? What have you been doing?" the bronze-haired woman stepped closer to him, her worry overcoming her possible lust.
"Getting my stress out." He seemed self-conscious for a moment, and Malia took advantage of that fact.
"What are you stressing so much about?" even though deep down she knew the answer, she still asked.
"It's complicated." He placed the cloth against his skin and hissed.
She watched him wipe the blood away from his cuts, flexing to reach the farthest places. She eventually stepped forward when she saw him trying to reach a cut in the middle of his back to no avail, taking the cloth from his hands and pressing it against the wound. He hissed for a different reason them, feeling her warm skin against his back, even though it was separated by a cloth. He offered her his healing power and she allowed her body to become an extension of his own, a conductor, and letting his flow of magic run through her. She touched his skin, healing him with his own power and using her own fire to warm the contact.
"Malia…" he whispered under his breath in a pained tone.
"Yes?" she asked, "Am I hurting you?"
"N-no… you're… you're perfect." He almost seemed out of breath.
"You're more." She murmured more to herself, but he picked on the words, chuckling "Where else does it hurt?"
"I can get the rest, thank you."
"Zander." She turned to him and eyed him straight "Tell me."
"Malia…" he tried, but the woman placed a hand over his lips.
Her brow frowned, she eyed every piece of skin carefully, looking for any aspect of it that she could miss; any bruise, cut our wound. She took a vial from the cabinet and poured onto her hands, rubbing patches of his skin like a balm or a slimy fluid. The liquid would help in the healing process, disinfecting and closing the wound faster. She looked up to his face, eyes closed, and jaw clenched, and ran her liquid-coated fingers over his bruised jaw, surprising him. She wiped the remains of blood away from the corner of his bit and sighed, pulling away slowly.
"Thank you." He whispered.
Malia nodded and pulled away from him, washing her hands and leaving the kitchen right after.
A/N: Well... this is about to go down tbh. I hope you like it, and if you did, hit that fav and follow button, and leave a review to let me know your thoughts on the matter!
PS: All the lyrics of the songs above belong to Little Mix
Lots of love from this weirdo,
LoneeWolf :)
