Thanks EC Brenway for your review!
Sure has been some big changes at KennedyFam! Chapter 14 will get back to some Chelly for ya! Wonder just a lil bit longer, pierce's reaction to Elly's return will be in the next chapter!
The Chemistry In Darkness
Chapter Twelve
Monday 18th November 2024
Half an hour later, Elly was sitting on the couch, watching Bea and Yashvi spend time with Aster, as they waited for Karl to pick Susan up from the school then return home. They weren't told the reason why, just it was important for them to get home as soon as possible, and preferably together.
Elly clutched her hands together as she smiled at her daughter immediately getting to know Bea and that she showed zero care in the world Bea was with Yashvi. Growing up around Clarke and Lexa had obviously helped the young girl develop an affinity with a same sex couple.
Elly was still nervous watching her younger sister. Not with Aster of course as Bea was seemingly a natural with her daughter, leaving Elly wondering if there were other kids in Bea's life, not that Bea herself appeared to have any kids with Yashvi but the fact that Elly had been gone for so long that she could've had children of her own, hit Elly hard as she'd never thought just how much of Bea's life she had missed.
Having Lexa check in on her family every month or so from afar wasn't as reassuring to Elly right now realizing she hadn't even known her sister had fallen in love with her best friend.
Sound familiar…? Wait…does Chloe have a kid…or kids with Pierce? Just because there's a chance of passing on her Huntington's disease to a child doesn't mean Chloe isn't a mum and just because Chloe didn't particularly look like she was a mum doesn't mean she isn't…so much could've happened in the last four years…you've missed so much…
Chloe being a mum wouldn't be something to be opposed to…I'm a mum…but if Chloe's my mate…it'd be an obstacle to nothing in the world can stop us from being together…for Chloe to not only leave Pierce for me but with her kid…s.
I should ask Bea.
"You're really good with Aster, Bea," Elly spoke up nervously, "Um…do you…-?"
Bea eyed her sister as Aster curled up between herself and Yashvi, "No, we don't have children of our own yet and whilst it is something Yashvi and I want, the fact that we've been together for three years and could have a couple of kids by now if we wanted should tell you how much of my life you've missed."
Elly nodded, feeling guilty and unsurprised Bea had picked up on exactly what Elly had being scolding herself for, "I know, Bea. I missed so much. Does anyone else on the street have kids that you…?"
Bea raised her eyebrow, wondering if Elly was referring to Chloe, "Aside from Toadie with Nellyfish and Hugo…Mark and Paige moved back here a few years ago with their daughter and Gabe, you probably missed the news they reunited…not long after you disappeared. They're living with David and Aaron who have two foster boys who've lived with them all for over a year now. I babysit them on occasion when Chloe can't."
And…no more from Bea must mean at least Chloe doesn't have children so that's one minor thing less to nothing in the world stopping us from being together…if she's my mate.
"How did you two get together?" Elly asked curiously, feeling like Bea was still holding her at a distance with how hurt she was.
Bea glanced at Yashvi, Elly observing how her face lit up from simply looking at her, "Some things happened with Finn… A few months later Yashvi split from Ned after he got tangled up in some desperate attempts to make money…then months after all that…later that year we just…fell for one another. We didn't try to fight it, we just let it happen and we've been together ever since."
If I'd have done that with Chloe then I wouldn't be a werewolf…or a mum to Aster…
"Yashvi was there for me after you went missing," Bea then added pointedly.
Elly swallowed hard and even though she didn't want to draw any attention to it, asked anyway, "What happened with Finn? Did me disappearing have anything to do with your relationship with Finn breaking down?"
Course it did, you killed him and Bea doesn't know that!
Bea blinked at Elly uncertainly, the idea of talking about Finn bringing it all back to her even though she was the one who brought him up but hadn't expected Elly to be keen to know more, "Finn disappeared about three months after you did…"
Disappeared…not killed…good, they don't know that part…
"Finn's laptop device was forensically investigated by the police department as part of his disappearance…they found video diaries he'd filmed on his laptop. Finn had his memories back…for about a week or so before he went missing…he never told any of us he'd gotten them back. He was seemingly losing it…then he just…vanished… Weeks later…police tracked down that the day Finn went missing there was a chartered plane that left a small airfield close to here for Shanghai…Finn was linked to travelling on it. He fled and they never managed to catch up to him in Shanghai…or wherever he is now," Bea quietly revealed.
Shanghai…? What the fuck did Lexa and Raven do to fool police detectives that Finn left the country…and not even tell me they did that?
Yashvi looked at Bea before adding, "Elly, the police linked Finn's disappearance with yours. I was still training at the academy at the time and wasn't able to access the file when I did become a cop but they…went with a theory that Finn had killed you then the guilt ate him up 'til it brought back all his memories and he…fled."
"You all thought I was dead?" Elly was shocked.
"Couldn't think of any reasonable excuse you wouldn't come home to your family, you dying seemed like the only thing that could've happened," Bea snapped.
They linked Finn and I's disappearances…what the hell did Lexa and Raven do for that to have happened without the police figuring out I killed him? Let alone what they did to make people think I had died! I'm gonna wring their necks when I see them next for making my family think I'd died.
Bea's angry…I don't blame her…I was attacked, turned into a werewolf and couldn't return to my family until it was safe to do so…is hardly going to be believed.
"Bea, I'm so sorry," Elly apologized.
"Save the apologies 'til Karl and Suze get here so you can tell us all just where you've been the last four years and why you kept my niece from me," Bea cracked at her sister.
"Bea, I never wanted to keep Aster from you. It wasn't-" Elly begun to say until they were all interrupted by the front door opening.
Karl and Susan were still opening the doors as Karl immediately called out, "Yashvi, what's happened? What's wrong?"
Bea gently shifted Aster from her lap over to Yashvi as she stood up, before Karl and Susan had barely gotten in the door, "Yashvi and I got engaged this morning but that's not why we called you home. Our news got trumped by the fact Elly isn't dead, she's back and you have a great-niece, Aster."
As Karl and Susan walked into the house, they stood stunned as their eyes all landed on Elly sitting on the couch and the young girl curling up into Yashvi's arms.
"I need a drink," Bea decided as she stormed off to the kitchen.
"Hey Suze, Karl," Elly whispered.
Elly smiled as her Aunt and Uncle weren't as hesitant as Bea was and immediately rushed over to her, barely giving Elly a chance to stand up before they wrapped her up in a hug.
With numerous words of thinking Elly was dead, how they'd missed her and how they never wanted to give up on her without knowing for sure, Elly clung to her Aunt and Uncle for several minutes.
After introducing Karl and Susan to her daughter and seeing the bright look on Aster's face at having more family around her then she ever expected, Bea finally walked back over to her family, quietly yet firmly demanding, "So, where were you?"
Elly sat back on the couch, unable to hide her happiness when Aster crawled back into her arms, knowing that her daughter knew she needed support, as the rest of her family sat down on the other couch and single-sofa seat.
When Bea curled up next to Yashvi, the cop frowned, "Maybe I should head home, I've got a shift in an hour anyway to get ready for."
"No, it's fine, Yashvi…your family now," Elly told her then chewed on her lip, not sure how to approach lying to her family and found herself distracted by asking, "You don't live here, Yashvi?"
Bea sighed at her sister's obvious delaying tactic, "Yashvi spends most nights here and has unofficially moved in but technically she still has a room at the Rebecchi's."
"Right," Elly nodded.
"So, where were you?" Bea asked again, "You went missing after Chloe's Hen's party and you never came home…'til today."
"Chloe is mum's mate," Aster suddenly perked up.
Elly curled her arms around Aster, knowing she needed to remind her daughter not to say anything about her werewolf life, "Yes, baby girl, Chloe is my best friend."
"No, she's your mate that you lo-" Aster started but Elly gently placed her hand over Aster's mouth.
"Okay, Chloe's my best mate that I would like to catch up with tomorrow…I bumped into Chloe on the street. She knows I'm back. She met Aster and has fast become Aster's favourite person as you can see by the way my little girl talks about her but I haven't explained anything to Chloe. I needed to tell you all first," Elly admitted, then silently eyed Aster until the little girl relented to her mum's message to keep quiet on anything that could lead to her supernatural life to be discovered.
"So, tell us," Bea told Elly quickly.
Elly took a deep breath, "I got attacked that night walking home from the Hen's party…should've listened to you and Chloe when you told me to take a taxi home."
Bea glanced around at everyone nervously, "Attacked?"
"Physically attacked, Bea, not," Elly placed her hands over Aster's ears for a brief moment, "Sexually…I mean y'know I was eight and a half months pregnant at the time with this little monster. A guy came out of nowhere and…beat me…I was in a really bad way."
"My God, I knew it had to be something bad but…" Bea immediately sympathized with her sister.
"I got rescued by this…really gruff guy that probably looked like he'd have done the beating but he's amazingly sweet. His family took care of me, helped me give birth to Aster, then helped me get back on my feet to raise my little girl," Elly half-told the truth.
"We need to thank him," Susan decided quickly.
But Bea was still curious, "How long until you had healed from the attack?"
"Several months," Elly answered without thinking it through, wanting to make it seem like it had been serious but not life-threatening.
"And what about the other three and a half years? Did you…lose your memory? Weren't able to get home from this stranger whom saved you? What did you fall in love with him and want to leave all of us behind for him?" Bea demanded, shirking Yashvi from trying to calm her down.
Elly raised her eyes at the mere thought of being in love with Romulus, "No, Bea, I had my memories. I wasn't held captive. The guy whom rescued me, Romulus, he has a wife, Abby, and two daughters, Clarke and Raven. Clarke has a girlfriend, like you, Lexa. They are really good people…"
Werewolves.
"Aster and I…we just fit into their family. Raven and Clarke are like my sisters, Lexa is a pain in the backside but a really good friend and…Romulus and Abby…they are better parents then Liz ever was to us. I just…fell into their family and…we fit. My life wasn't kicking goals before I disappeared. Unemployed, heavily pregnant, single, going to be raising my baby on my own…I know I had the three of you in my life…I was just lost…they helped me…'til I finally got the courage to return home to make things right with you all," Elly continued explaining.
"Wow, sounds like we were really important to you that you didn't want to come home for four years," Bea reacted with frustration before standing up and storming off to her bedroom.
Elly sighed after her sister, knowing only the truth could explain her absence, yet she was unable to tell her.
Next time - Pierce mistakes the reason for Chloe's good mood - oopsie! Elly takes a step to making things right with Bea!