Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Chapter 8 - A Surprise

Author's Note: I...have nothing to say. Lol:) enjoy!

Alex's POV

Of course, knowing me, I just had to wait until the last possible second to make Leah's birthday cake. It was the night before, marking the third month that I had been in contact with my family. (We had signed Leah up for the second semester of pre-school, due to the fact that she could read and write at a near third grade level.)

I was busy mixing away in the kitchen, making more of a chocolatey mess rather than a cake, while Mason laughed from behind me, when we heard an ear-splitting scream from down the hall. I froze.

"MOMMA!" I heard Leah cry. Her voice was shaking. Mason and I exchanged glances. I dropped the cake mix on the counter as we dashed into her room. My heart dropped like a rock in the ocean.

Leah, my baby, was rolling on the floor, bawling her eyes out. She pressed her hands harshly against her ears as she screamed, her face as red as a tomato.

Mason was instantly at her side. "What happened?" he asked as he rubbed her back soothingly. I was still frozen at the doorframe with shock.

"I don't know!" she wailed, "But it HURTS!" she crawled closer to Mason and placed her head in his lap, tears rolling down her cheeks like waterfalls. "Please, Daddy! Make it stop! Make it STOP!"

I finally found the strength to move and squatted down to her level. I pushed the damp hair out of her eyes and wiped the tears off her cheek. "Mason, what's happening?" I demanded, then lowered my voice, "Is she phasing?"

"I don't know," he stated calmly. "I've never seen somebody phase at such a young age!"

"But is it possible?"

"I suppose so," he said doubtfully. I rested my hand on Leah's forehead, then instantly jerked it away. It was burning hot. Most definatly over a fever.

"Mason! Feel her forehead! She's burning up!" I ordered. Leah let out another scream, making my ears ring.

Mason softly stroked her cheek, then placed his hand on her little forehead. I watched his facial expression change instantly to astonishment.

"I think she's phasing," he responded softly.

"But you said it was fast and painless!" I pointed out.

"It usually is!" He replied, "Maybe the pain has something to do with how young she is!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I begged.

"I mean, maybe, since she's so young, her body wasn't ready for her to change so soon, so it hasn't had time to protect itself from the pain," he explained, then scratched his head. "But it doesn't make sense! Werewolves aren't supposed to phase until their bodies are old enough to be able to block the pain!"

"Which is when?"

"Well, the youngest on record is about ten or eleven," he responed.

"And Lee's not even five," I said softly to myself. Mason and I exchanged worried glances. There was absolutely no way she was strong enough to phase yet.

"Maybe it's not it," Mason offered, hoping to lighten my mood. We both knew better. I felt just about ready to cry.

"I don't care what it is!" Just make it STOP!" Leah pleaded. She kicked her little legs in the air in frustration.

I looked at Mason with worried eyes. "What are we going to do?" I asked softly as I stroked her hair.

Mason shrugged, "All we can do now is wait for her to change fully." He told me.

"So, we're just gonna leave her like that?" I demanded angerly.

"Don't leave me, Momma!" Leah wailed.

"We're not going anywhere," Mason told her, then turned to me. "We can't stop the phase from coming, there's nothing we can do to stop the pain. We're just going to have to pray for the best." He took my hand.

My breathing stopped all together. I looked down at Leah. My baby, my poor sweet angel, having to endure so much pain already in her young life. Every one of her tears that rolled down her cheek was equivilant to a punch in the gut for me. I wanted to take the pain away from her. I wanted it to hurt me, not her. I'd take it away from her in a heartbeat.

I decided to let Mason take over, since he had a better understanding of what was going on than I did. "What do you want me to do?" I offered.

"Go get a wet towel, cold water," he ordered. It hurt my heart to leave my daughter's side. I knew she was in good hands with her daddy, though. It broke my heart, but I left the room.

Leah's POV

The pain was worse than anything I had ever felt. Worse than the time I fell off my bike into the pavement. Worse than when I fell off the slide's ladder at the playground. Worse than anything I could imagine, and I could imagine a lot of things.

I kicked my legs against the carpet in frustration. I wanted the pain to stop. And I wanted it to stop NOW. I looked up at Daddy with pleading eyes.

"Daddy?" I wailed. I flipped over to my back so I could see him. "Daddy when will it go away?"

"It'll be soon, little princess." He reasured me, trying to smile. "Soon."

I gathered all of the strength I had and tried to smile at him. But then, it hit me. I screamed.

A pain much worse quickly entered my head. I felt like someone had planted dynomite in my brain. I screamed and kicked and punched my fists against the floor. I screamed and cried until my throat hurt. I couldn't take it. Then, it stopped. A white flash flooded the room.

"Daddy? What's happening?" I cried frantically. I couldn't see him. I couldn't see anything. I squeezed my eyes shut. Everything went white.

I felt my arm being shaken. "Leah? Princess? Can you hear me?" I tried to nod. I reopened my eyes to see Daddy smiling at me.

"How do you feel?" he asked me.

"My head still hurts," I told him. I sat up and tried to rub my eyes. Daddy quickly pushed my hands down.

"Don't rub your eyes, baby," he told me, "You'll hurt yourself."

"Huh?" I asked in confusion. I slowly lifted my hands into my line of vision. I screamed. My hands were slightly thicker, with hair about the same shade as mine. Small black curled nails replaced my slightly uneven pink ones that were there before.

"Daddy?" I asked, feeling tears form in my eyes. "What happened?"

"You're a werewolf," he told me.

Hmpf. You didn't see that coming, now did ya? Meheheh:)