Hello, everyone! I'm back with another chapter! And I am sorry about a longer wait this time things have been a little crazy getting back to school and everything! But here it is! Better than never, right! So I would like to also say a BIG, HUGE, AMAZING, AWESOME shout out to my beta, Sasha Snape! Who freaking made this chapter so much better and helped me out with all the grammar issues! I can't thank you enough! Also, another BIG HUGE THANK YOU to you guys who are reading, favoring, following, and comment! All of you are awesome! And I absolutely love hearing from everyone!
Enjoy!
Chapter 8:
Hecate remained mortified for several seconds until she could move and feel her face go back to its original color. She smiled to herself, thinking now about Pippa. Could it be possible that she could be happy, especially with Pippa in her life? Pippa seemed to feel the same as she did, so just maybe this could last. Her smile grew thinking about Pippa's happy face after they parted from their kiss…it was obvious that she was beyond pleased. She was happy and Hecate was happy too.
"Hecate!" A voice interrupted her thoughts, and Hecate snapped her head to the doorway. There standing behind the closed door was Miss Cackle, who was raising her eyebrows at Hecate's strange behavior. "I promise I knocked. But you wouldn't reply back, so I thought the worst."
Hecate clears her throat, "Sorry, Ada, I was in my own thoughts."
Ada didn't ask any further questions, only nodded at the reply she received. "I am sorry I have been missing your calls; I've been dealing with family issues once more. What was it that was so urgent?"
Pippa chose that moment to come skipping back in. saying out loud, "Hiccup, Millie-bear has found Boomer, and is sleeping…Oh! Miss Cackle…w-well met." Pippa fumbled with her words as greeted the headmistress.
"Miss Pentangle, I was not expecting you to be here." Ada looked between Hecate and Pippa, not sure who to question now, "Did you say… Millie-bear?"
Pippa's cheeks turned a soft shade of pink, "Oh, it's just something I've now started to call Mildred."
"Mildred Hubble?" Ada inquired, "Why is Miss Hubble here?"
Hecate sighed. "It is a long story, perhaps we can tell it over some tea?"
Ada nodded, and took a seat as Pippa and Hecate worked on setting up tea for everyone. Once everyone had a warm cup in their hand, Hecate began to tell the story of Mildred Hubble; from how she came by her magic, to ending up in Cackle's, to finding out that she was Hecate's niece. Hecate did leave out the part about Mildred seeing her and Pippa kissing…frankly, she had no idea how and when she was going to go about dealing with that situation. Ada remained silent until the tale ended, though she did show surprise and concern at the appropriate moments. When Hecate finally finished, she gave them both her signature kind smile. "You've done well, Hecate. As have you, Pippa."
"Thank you, Ada," Hecate said softly, sipping her tea. Though she didn't feel like she had done much yet, she did feel like her relationship with Mildred was becoming smoother.
"You are serious about taking her in, though?" Ada asked, setting her tea down. "It would be nothing short of traumatizing for the poor girl if she started to settle in and you suddenly changed your mind.
"I have never been more serious about anything," Hecate said firmly, setting her tea down. "She has no next of kin on her mother's side. So the only family she has would be me, and I feel I am the most responsible for her. Hermes wants nothing to do with and…well. I know that feeling all too well."
Pippa reached for Hecate's hand giving it a tender squeeze, and Hecate squeezed back. Ada gave Hecate a sad look. "How is Mildred handling it?" she asked.
"I think she is still getting used to the idea of being related to me," Hecate said wryly, acknowledging that she herself was getting used to the idea as well. "I know she misses her mother terribly, and Hermes didn't help when he spoke so badly about her."
Ada shook her head, "Yes, I should think so. Do you think that perhaps Mildred would be in favor of talking to a counselor?"
Hecate shook her head. "I'm not sure, but I may ask her later about it. Did you have someone in mind?"
"I have the perfect person!" Ada said with a smile and a wink. "She is a very good friend of mine, and she works very well with children. I think Mildred would benefit from it."
"Very well, get into contact with her and I shall see about Mildred's stance on the matter," Hecate replied. She hesitated for a moment, then asked a question that had been wracking her mind all morning. "Would you be willing to help me gain guardianship over Mildred?"
Ada's smile grew wider. "Of course, Hecate," she assured her. "Have you already summited a form for it?"
"Yes, I have. But of course, I will need references in order to gain approval to keep Mildred. I've already asked Pippa, but I need one more," Hecate said nervously. She was afraid that it was going to be hard obtaining all the proper documents, and even more afraid that someone could take Mildred away. That was the last thing Mildred needed to happen to her. The girl had gone through enough.
"It would be my pleasure. And Pippa, I must say it is a pleasure to see you and Hecate getting along together once more. I'm sure you've been a great help for Mildred and Hecate," Ada said. Pippa smiled brightly and reached over to cover Hecate's hand with hers.
"I'm glad we are together too," Pippa supplied, looking over at Hecate with lovesick eyes. The look made Hecate want to swoon, but she managed to keep herself contained. "And I just love Mildred," Pippa added, turning her attention back to Ada.
"She's a special child," Ada agreed as she rose from her seat. "Well ladies, I'm afraid I have other business to attend to so unfortunately I cannot stay. But I will turn in my reference to you soon, Hecate."
"Thank you, Ada. It means a lot to me and as well as Mildred," Hecate said gratefully.
"Tell Mildred I said hello, and give her my condolences as well."
"I shall," Hecate nodded.
Ada nodded and then vanished into the air without another word.
Mildred was woken up by Hecate, who was perched beside her on the bed, shaking her gently awake. "If you keep sleeping you won't sleep when it is bedtime," she admonished.
Mildred yawned and rubbed her eyes before looking up at her teacher with a frown. "Bedtime?" she asked suspiciously.
"Surely, you have heard of the concept?" Hecate replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Mildred frowned even more. "I've heard of it, but not in the summer time!" she retorted with a scowl.
"There is no need to shout, Mildred, I can hear you just fine," Hecate said, blinking in surprise at Mildred's loudness. "Yes, you will have a bedtime, and you will have a curfew. I can't have you running about the school late at night. There's no telling what trouble you would cause."
"My mum never gave me a curfew during the summer," Mildred pouted.
Hecate sighed deeply, "Mildred, you and I both know that I am not your mother. I'm sure Julie did let you have more freedom, but you are now with me and you will go by my rules."
"Wait, rules? You mean there are more?" Mildred whined. This was all becoming increasingly unfair. She wanted to have a fun summer, even though so far it was a pretty rotten one. She wanted to enjoy what she could of it by doing the things she wanted to do and not what Hecate wanted her to do. There was no telling what kind of rules Hecate had set up for her, but they were probably ones that would restrict any type of fun.
"Mildred, did you think that I was just going to let you go freely on your way?" Hecate inquired incredulously. Mildred shrugged, and Hecate rolled her eyes at her. "Come into the living room with me, and we shall talk about it more."
Hecate stood, waiting for her to follow. Mildred unhappily slumped out of bed and followed Hecate into the living room. Hecate gestured towards the creamy coffee colored couch, and Mildred plopped into the middle. Hecate took the giant throne like chair that Mildred had seen before. She crossed her legs very ladylike and folded her hands together on her lap. Even though she was angry with her Aunt, Mildred thought she looked like a regal queen.
"Now, your mother at least had some rules for you, correct?" Hecate asked. Mildred nodded in the affirmative. "Good. Now, we both know that I am not Julie; however, I am going to try my best to be your guardian. And that means we are going to have some…boundaries."
Mildred wiggled at the word 'boundaries'; it sounded too strict and stern for her liking, "What kind of boundaries?" she asked warily.
"For starters, curfew will be at nine o'clock, and no later," Hecate stated, hoping her tone emphasized that she would not tolerate arguing.
Mildred's mouth fell open in shock. "Nine o'clock! That's not even that late!" she protested.
"Would you prefer it to be eight o'clock?" Hecate countered. Mildred shook her head and kept her mouth closed. "Good, now for rules in my quarters. You are allowed in every room except for my private study, and the potions lab. You will attend breakfast, lunch, and dinner with either Pippa or myself every day to make sure you actually do eat." Mildred blushed shamefully at this, and Hecate had to work to keep her face stern. "You will also keep your room tidy and clean. Does that sound fair to you?"
Mildred nodded. Other than the early curfew, everything sounded pretty much the same as it had been with her mum. She then had a nervous thought and asked, "What happens if I break any of the rules?" Hecate had already tried to expel her multiple times, but surely she couldn't throw her out if she was going to be living with her.
Hecate smiled in a way that made Mildred feel even more nervous. "Ah, discipline. Yes, well. I have thought carefully over this along with Pippa, and I think it will depend on the incident. For any minor infractions, you may have to write lines, perform more chores, have an earlier curfew, or, as you experienced earlier, a time-out. For more serious incidents, it will be grounding and a spanking."
"You're going to smack my bum!" Mildred cried, blushing instantly as well as covering her bottom.
Hecate rolled her eyes-the child really was far too excitable. "Only if you do something entirely disobedient and dangerous, Mildred," she explained patiently.
"But I'm too old for that!" Mildred argued.
"I'll have you know that when I got into trouble at your age that was the first thing my mother would do, so do not tell me you are too old for such things!" Hecate fired back.
Mildred crossed her arms towards her aunt, "Well, I'm not you and I won't let you spank me!"
Hecate raised her eyebrows. "You are very close to getting one right now, Mildred," she warned. "So why don't you bring your tone back down to a respectful one?"
Mildred folded her arms with a huff, but wisely decided not to say anything more on the subject. She didn't like the idea of a…well she couldn't even think of the word. And if Enid and Maud ever found out about it she'd be beyond embarrassed. It would be humiliating, especially since this was Miss Hardbroom.
Hecate gave a nod of approval, pleased to see the child working to control her temper. "Now, there is one more thing. Pippa and I have decided to tutor you more this summer."
Mildred groaned. "I'm going to have summer homework?"
"Mildred, will you please stop your whining! We are spending time with you to help get you caught up on things that you are still behind in. Do you want to keep falling short of your classmates?" Hecate looked at her questionably.
Mildred did see that she had a point. After all, she was considered the worst witch, even by her own relative. And a part of her did want to be a better witch, and be just as good as Maud or Ethel. Maybe she could prove herself this summer with Hecate and Pippa's help. It would take a lot of work, but she did have the whole summer.
"You're right…I do want to get better. But… you're both going to have to be really patient with me, okay? You can't get mad if I don't know things. And you can't give me a smack about it either! 'Cause I don't know as much, because of how I was raised," Mildred babbled, biting her lip because she was nervous.
"Mildred, we have the whole summer to work with you, and only you. I think we will have some patience when it comes to you," Hecate managed to say. "And don't be so nervous about it, we are only trying to help you."
Mildred nodded. "And no smacks about school, right?" she pressed.
Hecate wanted to roll her eyes again, but couldn't help a tiny smile at the girl's anxious expression. "No smacks," she promised.
"Okay," Mildred said, smiling for the first time since she'd woken up. She then thought of another matter that was equally important to the conversation they were having. "Oh, I forgot! Maud invited me and Enid to spend the night with her! Can I go?" she asked hopefully.
She watched as her teacher mulled the idea over in her mind "Would it be soon?"
Mildred shrugged. "I think so."
Hecate shook her head. "I want you to get used to living here first. And to be honest, Mildred, I don't quite trust you to be by yourself."
Mildred felt her eyes well up with tears. "But why? I've been good!"
Hecate moved over onto the couch to calm her down. "It's not so much about that as it's more about you going through a grieving period. I don't think Maud, Maud's parents or Enid will know exactly what to do if you don't feel good. Do you understand what I mean, Millie?"
Mildred's eyes widened at the nickname, and how soft Hecate's voice sounded. She realized that she did understand. She had been in some crazy moods, and it has been only a few days since her mother's passing. Still, she desperately missed her friends. "But I really want to go," she said in a small voice.
Hecate sighed and rubbed Mildred's back as she thought to herself "…As a compromise, do you think you think you would like to invite Maud and Enid over here? I would feel much better that way."
Mildred's eyes shone with happiness once more. "Really? You mean it?"
"As long as their parents are okay with it, yes," Hecate answered.
"Yes!" Mildred squealed, wrapping her arms around Hecate's neck. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm going to go mirror them right now!"
Mildred pulled out of the hug and rushed to the door to go find a mirror, nearly crashing into Pippa in the process. "Whoa, Millie-bear, what's the rush?" Pippa laughed.
"MybestfriendsarecominghereforasleepoverbecauseHecateislettingmehaveone!" Millie blurted out, before taking off and leaving a very confused Pippa to decode what she just said.