I enjoyed writing this chapter so much. I like writing mother-daughter conversations. I guess it's because I talk to my mother a lot. And such dialogues are real fun to write if these two get on well with each other.
Samuel's House
After having a short phone call, Samuel slowly arose from his chair and went to Aurah's bed side.
"How are feeling now?" He asked, caressing her hair.
"This is the ninety ninth time you've asked this question today, dad," Aurah answered yawningly, stretching her arms and legs.
"You look better, I can say."
"I feel better." Aurah smiled. "Thanks for all the things you've done to make me feel better all day long; cooking, massaging,playing the guitar…"
"You're welcome!" Samuel replied happily.
"Dad," Aurah lowered her eyelids, "Can I visit Ben at his office tomorrow?"
Samuel frowned automatically. "Sweetie, maybe you should make friends with people of your age. People with better manners and without foul mouths…"
"Hmmm… And maybe you should dump that fae bitch and start begging my mom for taking you back!" Aurah groused good-naturedly.
"Her name is Ariana." Samuel sucked in a hard breath.
"Yeah, right." Aurah shrugged. "An unpretty, empty-headed version of my mother..."
"A girl as clever as you shouldn't be so you give her a chance, you'll see that she is nothing but kindness. You 've met her only once, and the only thing you said to her was callous a 'Hello'!"
"I don't care about her one bit," Aurah said sharply, rolling her eyes. "And if you ever propose her or something, I'll go back to New York and never call you back!"
Putting his hand on his head, Samuel whiffed desperately.
"Whatever," Aurah murmured. "I have the best mother in the whole world. That's what matters."
"Speaking of your mom, she just called!"
"Sure she did! What did she say?"
"She said she got so worried about you after the phone call you two had made this morning. Soon as she hung up, she bought her plane ticket to Washington. And she's on her way to Tri-Cities now."
Aurah sat up in her bed in a sudden manner with smoldered eyes. "What? Is she coming to take me back to New York?"
"Well, I guess that had been her plan until I strongly objected! I told her that you liked Tri-Cities and you're doing fine so far. She might change her mind, but she's coming anyway."
"It's okay." Aurah sighed. "I'll convince her."
"I bet you do!" Samuel laughed silently. He gave Aurah a big kiss on the forehead before he went out and closed the door behind him.
2 Hours Later
Aurah rushed forward even before the door bell rang. "Mom is here!"
"So, like a werewolf, a half-vampire knows who's coming before she answers the door, hah?" Samuel said with joy, following her.
"Don't underestimate my girl!" said Angelina, walking inside from the open door. She threw her luggage on the floor and took Aurah into her arms. She lifted her up so easily as if she was a feather.
"Oh, My God!" She laughed. "It's only been five days since you were gone, but it felt like ages to me. I missed you like crazy!" She said, flooding her daughter with sweet kisses.
"I'm glad you came, mom!" Aurah said vociferously, looking at Samuel from the corner of her eyes.
Samuel, feeling like marginalized, cut in: "Welcome to Tri-Cities, Angelina." He extended his hand to her.
"Thanks, Samuel," Angelina formally said as she leaned forward to shake his hand.
Aurah's gazes were going back and forth between her parents. Seemingly there was still a little chemistry which was might explode between them. More importantly, they had a mutual child!
"Shall I carry your luggage to the quest room?" Samuel asked.
"I'm gonna stay in Aurah's room tonight. I think we have things talk," Angelina replied, blinking her eye at Aurah.
"Okay." Samuel said, feeling kind of jealous. Just when he was about to break all the ice between her daughter and himself, Angelina showed up. And now, Aurah seemed to be ready to leave him on the shelf.
"Pillow talk! Yeah!" Aurah jumped. "Race you to my room, mom!"
"No flying!" Angelina called out behind her. "Gosh! She's full of beans! I haven't seen her like this for a while," she said to Samuel.
"I'm glad if I've become helpful with that," Samuel murmured. "Are you hungry?"
"No, I had my dinner before the plane landed."
"Mom! I'm waiting on you!" Aurah yelled from the upstairs.
"Good night, Samuel." Angelina said and went without letting him carry her luggage.
Aurah's room- 1 a.m.
Angelina put on her sleeping dress and laid herself next to Aurah.
"Mom, Samuel bought this house on the first day I came to Tri-Cities. Because I didn't want to stay in Alpha's palatial but crowded house," Aurah tittered.
"Lucky you!" Angelina twisted her hair jokingly.
"He's very thoughtful. I think I can love him."
Angelina held her tightly. "Hope you can, honey bee."
"But you're still number one. And you'll always be," Aurah said vociferously.
Angelina raised an eyebrow. "Are you being spiteful to Samuel right now?"
Aurah shrugged. "If he's jealous and in need of someone to hold, he may turn his direction to his fae girl friend."
"Aurah, babe," Angelina whispered, "Samuel and I are history. He can do whatever he wants. A wolf needs a mate. If his wolf has chosen that woman as his mate, it's not our concern."
"Whatever!" Aurah sounded like an offended child.
"We're gonna talk about this later," Angelina sighed, crumbling Aurah's arm. "Now, tell me about last night."
"As you know, I had my first period. I was sort of painful." Aurah made a lip.
"Obviously," Angelina laughed. "I can smell your blood right now. Well, I'm glad you've become a young woman now. So is your grandfather! He's always been so afraid that you might not be able to grow up properly because of his scientific experiments."
"Well… Mom, speaking of growing up, I have a new decision to discuss with you…"
Angelina's interest was aroused. "What is it?"
"You know, I've always been telling that I want stay as your baby girl forever -which is why I stopped aging."
Angelina nodded in agreement. "All right… Continue!"
"Well, on second thought, I think it's not always fun to be twelve years old forever." She bit her lip. "I mean I'm supposed to start my college education this year. Look at me! People will probably think that I have lack of growth hormone."
"I understand, babe. What am I supposed to say? It was your idea to stop aging. If you've changed your mind now, if you've decided that you are not happy this way, you can restart aging. I'll love you anyway. It doesn't matter for me either you're twelve or twenty. You would always be a small child in my eye even if you decided to get forty years old."
"Oh, I can't imagine to get older than you, mama," Aurah laughed. "Actually I'm thinking of making every woman's dream come true; being frozen at eighteen. What do you think?"
"Hmmm," Angelina cracked a smile. "Neither junior, nor adult… I liked this idea!" Then she raised an eyebrow and looked her daughter straight in the eye. "Does the boy whose house you stayed last night have got anything to do with this?"
Aurah swallowed. "What's he got to do with this?" She attempted to smile but she failed.
"Aurah, you haven't told me, yet how you managed to take nourishment last night. How did he find blood for you?"
"Well, he didn't find, actually. He provided."
"Did you…" Angelina's eyes widened open. "Did you feed yourself on him?"
"Yeah, I guess I did."
Angelina frowned. She looked away for a minute. Then she jerked her chin back up, so her eyes met Aurah again.
"You had never done that before. I wonder what made you lose control… Did his blood appeal to you so much?"
"No, not indeed…" Aurah made a lip. "He smelled nice, -not like a piece of chocolate cake, I mean, but like a person who smells like perfume, you know."
"That's interesting," Angelina mumbled with a tiny smile. "How did he react after that?"
"He naturally got shocked. However, he handled it well. He stood immobile until I was finished. I don't think that he got physicallyor psychologically hurt." Aurah paused for a moment and then her eyes shined like she remembered something important. "When I drank his blood, I saw some part of his memory, some things from his past!"
"Like what?"
"I don't know if I should give you the details, since his secrets are his to reveal. All I can say is; he had some unpleasant time during his childhood and he was exiled from his hometown, London, having been blamed for something he hadn't done…"
As Aurah spoke, Angelina noticed a different tone in her voice which made her smile yank the corners of her mouth.
"Aurah, do you like this boy? She asked directly.
"What?" Aurah's face suddenly blushed. "Mom, please!"
"You usually shrug regardlessly when I ask you such questions about boys. Why have you reacted like this now? I am asking a simple question, Aurah; do you like the boy or not?
Aurah buried her face into the pillow. "I think I've had a little crush on him!"
"I kind of figured." Angelina smiled. "Okay. So, tell me some about him, things like how old he is, what he looks like, what he does for a living…"
"Hmm…" Aurah raised her head from the pillow. "He's around twenty, I'm guessing... And he's slim. I mean, not as tall as Samuel, but over average. He's said to be a computer genius -or a computer nerd in Warren's words."
"Is he dark?"
"Platinum blond!" Aurah grinned.
"Oh! I guess we, Castle ladies, have a common type for boys," Angelina said heaving a sigh.
Tossing her head, Aurah laughed silently. Her mother was so right. Aurah's grandfather was blond, Samuel was blond, and now another Blondie was waiting in line to be the love interest of the youngest Castle.
"You mentioned of London…" Angelina said, "Is he English?"
"Yes, he is. He was exiled from London pack as a result of some unfortunate events." Aurah made a lip.
Angelina froze with the bomb shell. "London Pack?" She yelled. "Is he a werewolf ?"
"Ouch!" Aurah pulled the blanket over her face…