"Do you really have to go?" Jennifer whined as she hugged Emaline tightly. "What if their mean to me?"

"So needy." Emaline grinned up at her mom who lowered to sit on her heels.

Jennifer ruffled her bangs and held her cheek softly, "I'm going to miss you kiddo."

"It's just two months and I'm sure you will call every day." Emaline assured, pressing her cheek into her moms palm.

"Yep, two months. You are going to be so ancient when you get home."

"Me?! Now you take that back!" Emaline laughed as she stood with her mother in the Florence airport. "It won't feel right with you not around, you know?"

Tutti i Voli imbarco a Firenze, si prega di riferire al Gate A

Emaline drew a deep breath and picked up the handle to her rolling carry on. "That's me."

"Yeah I figured since the woman sounded dumb," Jennifer replied trying to coax a laugh out of her silent little girl in front of her. She pulled her into a deep hug and kissed the top of her head. "You will call me when you land and when Grandma picks you up."

"Jeesh, so demanding!" Emaline supplied, hugging her mother back. She held her mother's hand while she walked her to the doors. Jennifer stood up taller when she approached the woman by the counter. She placed her hands on her shoulders when she spoke to the woman in her best mother voice. "You will be sure that she is safe on the plane."

The woman looked confused for a few moments before Emaline decided to help the issue, "Madre protettiva, cosa si può fare? (Protective Mother, what can you do?)"

When she finished the woman smiled at Jennifer and gently took her hands to walk her over to one of the awaiting stewardesses. A few phrases in quick Italian were spoken before the other woman walked over to Jennifer.

"We will be honored to watch over her." Jennifer felt a little better but still could feel that clinching of her heart. She looked down at Emaline and gave her another big hug. "Have Fun! Spend Grandpa's money! Remember mommy needs new shoes and a purse!"

"Why don't you give me a list so I don't forget?" Emaline drawled as she playfully rolled her eyes.

"Funny you should say that!" Jennifer laughed before pulling out an envelope and giving it to her, "I did just that!"

"You are such a child" Emaline said with a sigh before taking the letter."

"Better than being ancient!" Jennifer laughed, "Alright, one more hug and a kiss."

The two hugged and kissed before Jennifer watched the attendant walk her daughter through the gray doors. This part was always hard. The mother in her ran through the what ifs, while the friend in her wanted her to have a blast. She stood for a few moments as she watched the plane head down the run way and take off into the skies without a hitch. Jennifer sighed and turned to walk out of the airport to her car. The drive back to Volterra would be a lonely one and she hated driving at night. She always thought in the car, and currently she was thinking how she could avoid Master Aro.

"Ugh, Peroni is evil. Bad Peroni. Bad!"

However, as she drove she smiled and hoped she knew her daughter as much as she was sure she did.

PAGE BREAK

Emaline sat in the airplane seat, wrapped in the blanket that the attendant gave her. Remembering the letter, she pulled it out and propped her elbow on her mother's pillow.

Hey there kiddo

So you will be leaving me for two months and I will be alone. I want you to know things that I won't tell you in person because I always want to send you off with a smile. I will miss you every day that you and I are apart. I will miss tucking you in at night and not even attempting to help you with your homework. I will miss your smile and your laugh. I won't miss how you use all the hot water and how you drink out of the soda bottle.

Seriously! Were you raised in a barn!

I digress.

You are the greatest thing to ever happen to me and I want you to know that I am so proud of you.

Have a great time sweetie!

Tutto il mio amore (All my love) - Momma

Emaline smiled as she tucked the note into the book that Master Aro gave her. As she hugged her mother's pillow and breathed in her scent, she smiled and maybe cried just a little.

What she doesn't know, right?

PAGE BREAK

It was close to 9:30 when Jennifer pulled the car that she borrowed into the garage. The tours would be over for this evening but she wasn't going to walk through the castle. If she was lucky she would get through the castle without seeing ..

"Ah, you have returned at last dear one!" A joyous voice broke the silence sharply as she walked through the garage.

"SHIT!" Jennifer cried out when Aro just appeared in front of her, "You're like a pop up box from hell!

Unfortunately for her shoes and her balance she stepped wrong and began to fall to the concrete floor. Before she moved a few inches, she felt firm fingertips on her arms. She heard a sharp intake of breath and looked up at Aro, who was watching her with wide eyes. He righted her on her feet before he released her arms. Jennifer took a deep breath as she straightened her clothing. When she looked up, she watched him as he tilted his head while he looked at her.

"Well, isn't that most interesting," He said to himself in a low voice.

"Did you say something?" Jennifer asked as she began to walk towards the door to the castle.

"Nothing at all dearest." Aro said, all while watching her move away from him. The memories of the night before played in his head on repeat while he walked beside her in silence. Perhaps he would have to speak to his brother, it would seem that while he said that he would wait, time was once again not on his side.

He walked beside the silent woman until he reached her home. He was brought out of his thoughts by the smell of salt in the air. Looking to his right, he saw the lines of tears running down her face. In a move very much not like him, he turned to stop the woman who started to fight him. Unsuccessfully, might he add.

"I promised that I wouldn't ever cry in front of you." She said while she labored to stop the tears rolling down her face, "I refuse to be a weak woman in front of you."

Aro closed his eyes and took an uneeded breath before lifting her chin to face him. "Cry, Mia Cara, but remember that she will not be gone from your arms forever. Besides, tomorrow you have a party to plan."

Jennifer heard the words a second before completely breaking down in this strong, elegant mans arms. He never said a word as he laid them in the swing on the front porch of her home. The minutes or maybe hours passed and he never spoke a word. He let her cry her mortal heart out due to the pain and loss that she would feel for the next two months. The memories she would miss and the happy times that she felt that she would lose forever.

She didn't feel him move them inside her house and up the stairs. Aro tucked the delicate woman into her bed and sat on the edge, watching her dream hopefully happy dreams. It was in this moment that Aro decided that the next two months would be filled with happy memories for the young woman in the bed before him.

He would die to see the endearing smile on her face.

{Page Break}

The next morning, Jennifer woke in her bed, she took a long shower to get ready for work. As she walked down the stairs, she paused at the room that would make her sad for the next two months. But when she opened the door, her breath stilled when she saw it.

In her daughters room where hundreds of purple orchids. She walked into her room and could feel her daughter there with her. She didn't know how he did it but there was only one person in Emaline's life that knew of her undying love for the purple flower that flooded her room. In her haste, she forgot her shoes when she ran from the house.

Jennifer fled down the halls to the one room that she swore she would never enter. The loathing that she felt for the man diminished as her feet took her to the room she was headed too. She knocked on the door and waited. When he opened the door, she didn't even bother looking for the look of contempt and hate on his face that he always held for her.

Jennifer threw her arms around the stunned form of Caius. She held him close to her and cried in his shoulder for a few moments before releasing the stunned man and smiling a smile that could light up a night sky.

"Thank you." Jennifer told him, "I don't know why you did it. But thank you, so much."

Caius could only watch as her form fled him from his rooms in a hurry. Her bare feet slapped against the stone floor. He watched her form before closing his door. He silently cursed and thanked whatever happened upon his brain to flood the child's room with orchids. It just seemed like the right thing to do for the human woman that worked for the coven. It would be better than hearing and feeling her pain for the next two months.

But this .. this was not expected ..

Caius stared at the door in childlike wonderment. A feeling that only Aro was familiar with .. this would not do at all.

Author Note: I am so sorry for the late chapter. Life and my muse fled me all at once and I couldn't find it in myself to write. thank you for all your kind words of encouragement. I will be posting more often now. I hope that you like the chapter and review! - Muse

Update: 10/12/17