A/N: Oh hi! So good to see you! If you're here from my other works I'm so happy you've followed me over here! It means so much to me. If however you have clicked on this story and are wondering what I'm talking about...you have some catching up to do if you'd like to read this. (This can be a positive or a negative so take that as you will.) If you're new here, this is the third installment of a really long story that I started WAAY too long ago but am having too much fun with to give up on. So, if you do head back to the beginning I will caution you that IT GETS BETTER and please just slog through my rough first few chapters (or perhaps first book, idk...I like to think I write better now than I did like five years ago. Shocking I know.) Anyways, all that to say, maybe don't start here. Or do. I don't run your life. Your call. Okay, sorry, my author notes, if any, are usually not this long. Onward with the story!

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FTAWM Chapter 1

Eric POV

They arrived in a disconcerting silence, both the children's faces stained with tears, Marissa and Maxwell's careworn and tired, while Faith's face remained empty and hopeless, but all of them exhausted. Faith and the children sat opposite me yet refused to meet my eyes as we took off, sitting awkwardly in the stale silence that Marissa and Maxwell tried to fill with stilted conversation. As soon as we reached a cruising altitude, Marissa and Maxwell moved up to the front section of seats, giving the rest of us some privacy, but Faith stood and addressed the children before I could attempt any sort of conversation.

"You two are free to do as you like, however I will be in the back getting some sleep. You can stay here and socialize or explore – or you can join me. But I do want to actually sleep, so you will have to as well," she said wearily.

"Yes, Mommy," they responded. She kissed their foreheads and glanced at me with something like resignation before walking to the back and closing the door to the bedroom.

I watched her leave, torn between following her and staying behind to have some time with my children. That still felt so foreign – my children. Was this her roundabout way of giving her blessing? Was she just that exhausted? How much had she told the children on the way over? Why had Marissa and Maxwell abandoned me? The silence stretched like a canyon between the me and the children the space between us feeling more like miles that mere feet.

"So what exactly is your plan here?" Ellie suddenly spoke up, her tone laced with accusation.

I was taken aback as I met both of their distrustful gazes. "My plan? I've been reunited with your mother, that's the entirety of the plan."

"But you make Mom sad. You hurt her. She wants nothing to do with you and neither do we," Solomon chimed in.

I sighed, "Of that I'm well aware. I like to hope that can change in the future, especially once you are made aware of the situation."

He merely scowled, "If you mean that fact that you're our father we don't care."

"So she has told you," I said with a little surprise.

"She didn't have to, we're not stupid," he retorted.

"No, you most certainly are not," I said more to myself than them, "What do you know of your mother and I's history?"

"Lots," Solomon said under his breath, angrily looking away, but seeming somewhat shaken. What had Faith told them? What did they know?

"Care to share?"

"No."

A prolonged silence fell before Solomon, still looking a little pale, got up and went to the bedroom without another word. Well that had gone well. I'd have to ask Faith more about the children, they were obviously very different. Ellie seemed in no hurry to leave yet. I decided to try again with her.

"Your mother failed to mention your full name to me," I said, "Could you tell me?"

"My name's Eleanor."

So not Elizabeth after all. I couldn't decide how I felt about that.

"Eleanor, I'm aware how messy this situation is and that your mother is very unhappy with it currently. But I want to promise you, as I will her, that I will never again intentionally cause her pain. I also know that you and Solomon have very poor opinions of me and that the position of father has been filled in your lives thus far. Though I wish to have a relationship with both of you beyond that of just your biological father, I'm not trying to replace Simon."

She cocked her head, "I know you at least believe what you said," she stated in a way that hinted at some wisdom beyond her years. It was gone as soon as it had come as she frowned slightly. I wondered if there was something to it. I'd have to ask Faith about that as well, if they had any emerging abilities. They were certainly the right age.

"Solomon's not going to like it, but I will trust you – a little. Pinkie swear that you mean it," she continued, insistently sticking out one hand, pinkie extended.

I was a bit surprised at the gesture, though I thankfully recognized it, but I smiled as I leaned forward and wrapped my pinkie around her. "Pinkie swear, Eleanor. I meant what I said with all my heart." I sat back feeling a bit of weight off my shoulders. It was a start.

Faith POV

I woke up to Ellie shaking me awake none too gently. "Wake up, mommy, we gotta go."

I groggily sat up, momentarily disoriented by my surroundings before it all came crashing back. Eric. I was on the plane. We were heading back to my prison. I looked over and noticed Solomon was gone, though I vaguely remembered him coming in.

"I'll be right out, Ellie, okay?" I said quietly. She nodded and scampered out. I fell back biting my lip hard as a wave of tears almost overtook me. I pushed it back down, opting for emptiness rather than the whirlwind of emotions that I continued to stomp down. I wasn't going to be able to hold it in much longer, but I was determined not to break down in front of the twins. I had always tried to shield them from any episodes I had through the years, and this would be no different.

I slowly rose from the bed, absent-mindedly combing my fingers through my hair and slipping into my shoes before taking a cleansing breath and walking to join Eric and the twins on the tarmac.

We rode in silence, though it was a longer ride than the one to the airport. It was midday since we'd taken off in the evening and the children seemed much too interested in the scenery, which was very pretty, to be feeling any effects of jetlag. I noticed Ellie's willingness to sit nearer to Eric and found myself somehow both startled yet unsurprised. What did it mean? I'd have to talk to them both soon, God knows they had some insight I could use, and I had plenty to warn them about. I glanced at Solomon next to me, his arms wrapped around mine. Ellie, well, she knew quite a bit, but poor Solomon. I'd inadvertently scarred him before, thus I was trying my hardest to keep myself empty of trauma for the sake of his need to cling to me for comfort. It had started as a small sacrifice, but if we didn't get to the mansion soon I would break down.

As we piled out of the car and walked through the doors I had spent so long trying to escape I felt the terror well up inside of me and struggled to stay impassive. While Max and Marissa scattered to take care of other things, or maybe to just escape the overwhelming awkwardness, Eric led us up to a familiar hall.

"You both have rooms right here," he said pointing to two doors. "They're connected through the bathroom. Your mother will be right across the hall here," he continued, pointing to a very familiar door: my first room. It was too much.

"Why don't you two go take a look at your rooms and settle in," I said quietly, staring down Eric but addressing the twins.

"But, Mommy, you're-" Ellie protested.

"I'm fine. Ellie, Solomon, go on," I cut her off patiently, looking meaningfully at both of them.

As they slowly trailed over to the door and begrudgingly entered their rooms, I tiredly looked over at Eric and opened the door to the room he was calling mine. He seemed perplexed but entered and I quickly followed, silently closing the door behind.

"They're just going to sit on the other side of their door and listen, though they'll probably sneak out soon to listen at this door," I explained. I looked around and found the room exactly as I remembered…from the first time at least, not the last time that I'd seen it.

"Is the room satisfactory? And will the children be alright? I have no idea if they're used to their own rooms, but I also didn't want them to feel separated," Eric asked.

"They'll be fine," I stated not bothering to turn around. I would not be.

He sighed, "Speak, Faith. I know you have plenty to say with the children no longer at your side."

I was silent.

"You could start by cursing me, maybe call me some unsavory terms. You could always go for your usual cutting remarks that still catch me off-guard," he said, trying to elicit a response.

I walked around the room silently and opened the wardrobe seeing it stocked with my old clothes forcing a harsh laugh out of my throat. He was committed to this ruse.

"Faith, please, say something."

I finally complied. "Why the pretense?"

He was confused; he was supposed to be. He shouldn't be though. "Pretense?" he asked.

Eric POV

"Why bother with setting up the room when we both know exactly where I'm going to end up. The twins aren't going to fall for it and I'm definitely not either. Is this going to be another three months in sort of deal? Should I mark it down?" she asked rhetorically. Though the words were angry and sarcastic her tone was anything but. It was empty and tired – it was somehow worse.

"No," I said, "No, there's no pretense in this. I promised you, I have no desire to force you into anything again."

"A promise you made in the midst of molesting me," she pointed out quietly, sitting down heavily on the bed.

I grimaced at the truth in her statement, "That was a last resort. We already hashed that out. I thought we had an understanding."

She didn't respond, but fiddled with her necklace, sliding it along its chain back and forth; so close and yet so far away.

I walked forward and knelt before her in my desperation to meet her gaze. "Faith Elaine Allison, I promise that I will do everything in my power to never cause you harm again. Please, hear me out."

She remained unresponsive but was transparent in the obvious control she was exerting over her breathing, trying to keep it deliberate and slow. "What," she finally said.

I hesitated, rethinking my words, she was not in the right state for this, "It's been a stressful day, love, maybe we should discuss this-"

"It's been a very stressful day and if you don't spit it out soon I'm going to go into hysterics," she interrupted tersely, the first bit of emotion coming back into her tone, "And I'd rather you not be present for that part of my day."

I carefully sat down next to her, very aware of the heat threatening me from her cross. Otherwise, there was no hint of her power gathering. She was disconcertingly calm in every way. I started cautiously, "A mated pair turns to a bonded union after three bonds are established. The three pieces of the overall bond are each important and once put together are unbreakable and irrevocable. The third piece of this bond however is one that is at times delayed due to its effect on the human mate." I looked over at her as I paused, "As you've probably pieced together by now, I held off on this bond."

"What bond. What more do you need from me, Eric," she said, not meeting my gaze as a pained expression flitting across her features.

The mere phrasing was a blow, but I tried to push past it, knowing this was the easy part of this conversation, I decided to continue my thread rather than answer her question immediately. I was going to keep the web of revelations it would entail to a minimum for Faith's sake. She was clutching her last strings of control.

"The third piece of a full bond is the life bond which, as it implies, binds together the two lives of the mates. It's a simple but powerful bond, requiring only an exchange of blood that ties the human's life to that of an immortal, fully unlocks any potential power the human houses, and paves the way to the status of a fledgling."

"The blood is the life, and it shall be mine," Faith quoted distantly.

I nodded, "Though in contrast to the story, it does not turn the mate, it instead almost pauses them. The moment the bond is completed is the oldest you will ever be. If the immortal were to die, the mortal's life would resume from when they were bonded regardless of the elapsed time."

"And if the mortal were to die?" she said lightly, but in a way that chilled me to the bone.

"The immortal has been known to wrestle with insanity and insatiability with the killing of a fully bonded mate," I said briefly, still knowing the effects much too personally.

She slumped slightly but turned toward me with resignation, "So you need blood. Fine, take it and be done with me," she said reaching for her necklace.

"Faith, no, it's not that simple," I said quickly holding out my hand to stop her.

"Yes, it is that simple. I'm done fighting pointlessly for things you have an eternity to take from me. You're two thirds of the way there, just do it."

"It's not – we aren't –" I grasped desperately at the words I had to say.

"Or don't. Fine. Leave me on the vine longer to mature, if that's what you think will happen. That is why held off in the first place I assume."

"Yes, but that's not –"

"Then what is it?"

"Faith we're no longer bonded," I finally said.