*Kyle*I just finished my toast, and Cody was swinging his around like always–so annoying.Mom was rushing around and dressed weird. She usually wore nice clothes, but today she just looked like she was going to exercise.“Mommy, what are you doing?” I asked. She sighed and then smiled at me. “Well, when you guys go to school, I’m going to go to a kind of school of my own.”“Will you get to have recess?” Flora called through her mouthful of toast.“Don’t talk with your mouth full. And no, I don’t think so.”“Bummer,” Cody said, wiping his hands down his shirt.“Okay guys, everyone ready?” Mom called over her shoulder as she stood at the door. I ran to her, already dressed and with my backpack hanging over both shoulders.I grabbed her hand; this house was huge, and it could be scary. I didn’t want to get lost.Flora and Cody came, dragging their bags behind them and yelling at each other.“Come on, knock it off. We don’t want to all be late on our first day,”
*Delilah*The week had flown by between my lessons with Lenora and the kids’ first week at their new school. There hadn’t been any more incidents, thankfully, and the kids seemed to be making friends and starting to fit in.I was glad to see that my reputation wasn’t bleeding onto them, not with most kids anyway.I tried to stay at the manor. I had no desire to run into anyone I went to school with… or my own family.Andrew had made sure to include us with his family for meals, and I had to admit I felt touched by that. Despite everything I felt for him before coming back, I couldn’t deny that he was trying now. He focused on every one of the kids individually at dinner and tried to connect with them. Kyle was the most reserved around him, but Andrew still managed to pull a smile out of him occasionally.I walked with the kids down the various halls toward the large dining room. It was Friday, and they were buzzing around me like bees. “Mom, did you know turtles breathe
*Delilah*I sat with my eyes closed, breathing slowly through my nose. I tried to tune out the sound of Lenora’s breathing, the click of the air as it kicked on. When I started learning from her, I was expecting to do physical training. But apparently, having these powers had nothing to do with physical prowess. My powers were in my mind. The powers of Lunas were varied, from prophetic dreams, like I had, to being able to sense emotions.“You’re thinking too much,” Lenora said softly. I sighed and opened my eyes. She sat with her legs crossed and tucked under her body, her eyes closed. Her long, dark brown hair fell in a single braid down her back, specs of gray peppering it. She had a kind face, and it was easy to feel at ease with her.“How are you so good at this? Your eyes aren’t even open, and you can tell I’m not concentrating.”She opened her eyes and looked at me, her watery-blue depths filled with understanding. “Your energy never lies, Delilah.”I threw my
*Delilah*“Pizza’s here!” Andrew yelled from the open door. “Yay!” the kids yelled, running at the door like they hadn’t eaten in a year. I smiled at that and followed them in, walking past Andrew and trying not to breathe in the scent of him. We went to the dining room and sat in our normal seats. Andrew’s parents were out doing something together that night, so it was just us. Andrew gave the kids their pizza as I got a piece of the supreme. It smelled so good, and I was starving.The kids were hungry too because they instantly started eating, barely taking time to breathe. I ate my pizza, trying to keep my mind from wandering back to the topic of Andrew and me. We weren’t anything, just two parents, co-parenting to the best of our abilities.She watched as the kids talked to him animatedly, and his eyes never left them when they spoke to him. He liked them, and they liked him.I started to realize that I didn’t hate him either, not anymore. He was young when he’d
*Andrew*I stared between them. They were friends; she’d hugged him. How could this be?Before I could ask, Jason said, “I need to go shower. I’ll catch up with you guys soon. Good to see you, Del.”“You too,” she said, smiling at him.I sat back down before asking, “So, you guys are friends?”“Yeah, we met after I moved. I didn’t even know he was from here. He never told me his last name, and I didn’t tell him mine.” Delilah shrugged and continued eating her fruit.“Small world, huh?” I said, hoping my voice didn’t reveal the shock I felt. She chuckled, “Yeah, it really is.”I sighed, not wanting to know any more details for the moment. I drank my coffee and looked at her. She was as beautiful as she’d always been. Her hair was in a messy bun and she was still in her pajamas, but I didn’t care. I’d love her no matter what she looked like.I hated that I’d missed out on the last five years with her and our children. I’d thought of her every single day. Never once
*Delilah*I walked away from Andrew, guilt rolling in my stomach. I saw the hurt look in his eyes when I told him I was going to hang out with Jason. The last thing I wanted was to come between them. They were brothers, after all.I couldn’t believe that either. I met Jason years ago, and I never saw the resemblance. But now, it was undeniable. I walked into the en suite and found Jason rolling on the floor with Cody and Flora, while Kyle laughed at them all. “I’m not sure this is a fair fight, guys,” I said, smiling at them as I closed the door behind me. Jason smiled up at me, and the kids took the opportunity to jump on him. “Unfair!” he said, pretending he couldn’t get up. Flora and Cody laughed together. They were quite the tag team.“Okay, okay. Let him up, please. You guys want to go outside and have a snack?”All three jumped at the chance and said, “Yeah!”Despite spending so much time at the park already, I knew they needed to run off their energy. Th
*Andrew*I tried to hide my anger from Delilah, but I was fairly certain she noticed. The look on her face made me regret my reaction instantly, but I couldn’t stop it. It was hard enough to see how close they were, how close he was to my kids. But hearing that he knew who she was, who they must’ve been, and keeping it from me was too much. I fixed my face with a neutral expression and stopped asking questions. Delilah stayed quiet too, focusing on the kids to try to distract herself from the tension that was clearly hanging in the air.My dad walked in then and cleared his throat. “Andrew, the meeting starts in an hour. Don’t be late. You too, Jason.”He smiled at Delilah and ruffled the boys’ hair before planting a kiss on Flora’s head and walking away.“The meeting is today?” Delilah asked. I nodded. “The first of many we have scheduled for this week. We have a lot to discuss.”She nodded. “Should we stay anywhere specific during the meetings? Seems like a lot of
*Delilah*I sat outside watching the kids running around and squealing in delight. They were so close and I loved that for them. Seeing them together, I couldn’t help but think about my own sister, or stepsister, anyway. Kendra and I had played like this as kids. I sighed, wondering where it all went wrong. Flora chased Kyle and Cody, her hands raised like she was a monster. I smiled to myself, happy for the moment. I never imagined my life turning out like this. I’d run away, hoping to leave everyone behind. But I had to admit, I was actually glad to be back. It was hard to live alone, surrounded by a pack that I wasn’t a part of. I was a rogue wolf during that entire time. They knew I wasn’t from there, and they accepted that I lived there, probably because I was a single mom, but they didn’t bring me into their pack. I thought I’d be happier away from the pack that hated me, but they were my pack. And even when I wasn’t there, the pack had come to find me, apparentl