ArtemisAfter I make it back to my office I call Abigail in to cover the emails we hadn't gotten around to discussing. Most of them are pretty standard requests for services that we file away for when we have an opening in our schedule. Every once in a while my mind drifts to Blue's face when I handed her my credit card. It was stupid to give something so expensive to a woman I barely know, but for some reason I trust her. Besides I get an alert to any transactions from the card which have to also be approved by me personally before it is processed completely. I can't be too careful with a credit card that valuable. I had expected Blue to be okay with me staying behind after taking it but she looked disappointed. Is it too much to hope she was disappointed because I wasn't going with her or is that selfish? I freaked out. Did it hurt her to see me pull back from her? "Mr. Rhodes?" Abigail's voice cuts through my waring thoughts. I needed to focus and Blue was making it difficult b
Blue I am done with this day. I'm happy to say it's been a while since I've had such a stressful day. The doctors must have given me something at the hospital because there is no way I would have made it through all this with no anxiety attack by now.Does Artemis have to deal with this all the time? As soon as we got to the hotel I needed to be alone. My brain is so overstimulated that sleep is the only thing I can think about. Bryant and Dane are nice enough to understand my request and told me they would be in the main area in case I need anything. I didn't bother asking which room would be mine out of the two in the suite. This one looked the most comfortable so I chose it and claimed it as mine at least until Artemis gets here. If he kicks me out then I'll settle for the other room with a good amount of pouting. I'm not above trying.A knock comes about an hour later and I figure it's Bryant attempting to feed me again so I call for him to come in. I don't look to see if it's
BlueFor the first time in my life, I don't dream. My sleep is so peaceful that I wonder if I'm asleep at all. I feel so comfy and warm that I snuggle deeper into the soft bed and sigh happily. Something suddenly tightens around my waist and I think maybe I'm dreaming and a snake just wrapped me in its coils and is going to eat me alive. Then I realize how crazy that is and throw that thought out. Another thought comes to mind and my eyes fly open. The room is still mostly dark but a sliver of light shines through. I feel strong arms around me and I realize the warmth I was feeling was coming from body heat. From Artemis's body! He's spooning me right now and since he hasn't tried to move away from me I'm assuming he's asleep and doesn't realize it. The smart thing to do would be for me to carefully try to remove one of his arms so I can roll away and pretend this never happened. It was a plan firmly planted in my mind until the door to our bedroom flies open and hits the wall. The
Blue Two hours later and with a great deal of effort from a stylist and make-up artist courtesy of Rhea, I'm ready for lunch. Once again I don't look anything like myself. My blue hair is pulled away from my face in a tight bun, and there is a good amount of makeup on my face. Far more than I would ever use. The clothes are better than what Abigail had picked. Today I'm wearing a dress that looks inspired by the sixties. It's straight against my body not showing much of my figure, but I don't mind. Rhea smiles and rushes over to shower me with compliments, but I'm more concerned about what Artemis thinks. Which is dumb since I shouldn't care, but I do. I want to make a good impression on his family today. I look past his sister to gauge his reaction but I'm met with his usual stone-cold expression. His jaw looks tight though and he is suddenly on his feet."Let's go," Artemis says sharply and walks toward the door without waiting for us. Rhea rolls her eyes and slips her arm throug
ArtemisAnger, as I've never felt, roared inside me when Blue walked out of the bedroom looking like a carbon copy of my sister. All except for her signature blue hair. I hated every bit of it and the worst part was that I couldn't understand why it bothered me. I never cared what other women wore, but she isn't just any woman.Then I remember what she said last night. We never got around to returning her stuff to her and she had to run out of that clothing store before she could buy anything. That made me pissed at myself for not thinking ahead and making sure she had some basic items delivered at least. It's clear I'm not excelling in my role as her fiance. Fake or not it seems harsh not to take into consideration even a few small comforts. She had to sleep in one of my shirts last night for god's sake. Although I am man enough to admit I liked seeing her in something that's mine. Seeing her like that had more effect on me than it should have. Something so small and yet my body rea
BlueOh, do I want to drive Artemis crazy with a story painting him as a crazy stalker. Which is completely true, but I also don't want his family to use our rocky start against us. As much as I would enjoy seeing him sweat, I’m too nice to do that to him. So I did my best to come up with a plausible story which wasn’t easy given we have only known each other for a day.“Yes, Artemis I had no idea my son would chase after a girl in such a way. I thought you despised social media.” His mother said in what I assume was meant to be in a friendly teasing way but her acting isn’t that good.“For the right girl, a man will do anything.” Is how he replies before turning to me and leaning in to press a kiss to my temple.The damn guy is trying to get me flustered in front of his family. No doubt for painting him as a romantic when he basically offered to buy me when we first met. The reminder of that makes me want to slug him in the leg and make it cramp up! I don’t do that though. Nope, I sm
ArtemisSomething was wrong with Blue, and it had me worried. She seemed alright up until now and then it was like a flip switched and she looked…off. I was about to go with her to make sure she was okay but thought better of it. Maybe she didn’t want me to get involved or it was something she would rather talk to another woman about. So I let her go.“Artemis have you lost your mind? What are thinking picking a girl like that?” My mother starts in as soon as Blue is gone.“What’s wrong with her?” I ask as if I don’t know what she’s talking about.In reality, I know exactly where this conversation is going to go.“She looks like something you pick up on a street corner.” She hisses at me before glancing around to make sure no one hears her insult my fiancé.My eyes snap at her and I let all the anger I’m feeling show. “Do not speak about her that way.”I keep my voice low but threatening.“If you speak about my fiancé that way again-“My father slams his hand on the table making the p
BlueThis is another day I wish would finally end.Not only did the lunch with Artemis end on a bad note but I had a panic attack in the bathroom. Thank god I made it there before it happened. For a second I thought I had passed but hearing all the things those women were saying had sent me over the edge so fast that I couldn’t even catch my breath.I hate that I sent Rhea into a panic, but I couldn’t breathe let alone tell her what was happening or that it would pass. She brought Artemis to me hoping he could help, but he has no idea how to. It was a sweet gesture but it reminded me that this role I’m playing is just that…a role. This person isn’t me. Why did I agree to this? Artemis should have chosen someone else. Someone who fits with him even just a little bit.Still, he was nice enough to take me straight to the car instead of back to that terrible lunch. Unfortunately, I hadn’t had a chance to eat and hadn’t eaten since lunch yesterday, so my stomach made sure that fact was kno
BlueWhat is going on? Here I was expecting some yelling or fighting but got hysterical laughter instead. Are they all high? Well, probably not Iris, but she looks a little confused as well. Same girl, same. “What is so funny?” I yell. They all slowly calm down and it’s Rhea who speaks next. “Blue, I know that this may seem strange, but we’re happy.” Say what now?“What do you mean? You guys would be getting nothing!” I remind them as if it weren’t clear. “We know and that’s the great part. Honestly, it’s a relief. That money is tainted with bad memories for us. It’s a burden, but to someone who’s as kindhearted as you it could be a huge blessing. You’ve come from having so little to having enough money for a hundred lifetimes. You could do anything! We are happy to let that money go and let you decide what to do with it. Once the funeral is over we can finally let that time of our lives die too. It’s the last tie to what our family name used to
ArtemisThis week has been hell. My grandfather and parents did not want to leave this world without one last special, and I’m hating every second of dealing with it. Still for my sisters it means closure even though our relationship with them was strained. Then there’s the whole matter of the will. Honestly, I don’t want to know what my grandfather has left me to deal with. If what’s happened in the last few months are only a piece of what I have to face then I’m going to hate the rest even more. My sisters are happy to let me handle it since they don’t want a thing from my father or grandfather. As much as they feel a sense of loss, they also feel relief. The last die-hard Rhodes are gone and we can all move on. My charity work with blue has been a lot more rewarding than any of the other work I’ve done, and seeing her smile is all the payment I need. Fuck. I haven’t been able to spend much time with her thanks to all this, but as soon as it’s over I am taking the fi
BlueI make it back to the bookstore just as Dane comes in searching for me. “Everything okay?” He asks looking me over for injuries. “Yeah, they didn’t have what I was looking for and I even asked an employee to look, and it took forever just for her to tell me they didn’t have the book. Crazy right?” I laugh weakly and hope he doesn’t notice my discomfort in lying.He doesn’t ask anything, so I guess I did okay, but as we drive home my anxiety hits an all time high. How am I going to look at Artemis and his sisters knowing what I know and not say anything. These people have been rich all their lives and even though they are individually wealthy do they expect more now that their grandfather and parents are dead? I can only imagine the amount of money those three died with and now it’s coming my way. There is so much anxiety and pressure waring inside me that when we get home I rush through the front door and to the nearest bathroom to throw up. No one seems
BlueI need to find a way to get out of here without anyone asking questions. Also, that means leaving the babies and Lilly which I’m not sure anyone will be willing to do with everything else going on, but I need to go to this meeting. There’s no time to debate logistics, so I head back to the living room where I see the Rhodes siblings still discussing something. Artemis’s eyes lift when I walk into the room, and he gives me a confused look. Maybe he sees something in my face that has alarm bells going up, so I try to smile and act like nothing is going on. “I’m sorry but something came up at my office, I need to run in and handle it. Can I leave the kids with you?” I ask him. “Of course. Is everything okay?” He asks standing and stepping around the couch to walk in my direction. I don’t really want him touching me right now. It feels fake now. After what I heard it has me overthinking still and I don’t have time to dig deeper into all those feelings right now.
BlueThe door opens behind me, and Artemis walks inside with Iris next to him. His sisters are on their feet in an instant and rushing over to wrap their little sister in their arms. The three of them start to cry while Artemis stands off to the side watching them. His forehead is creased, and his jaw is tight like he isn’t sure what to do but also like he’s worried. So, I walk over to him and slip my hand in his. “You okay?” I whisper. He sighs. “I’m glad she’s okay.” That’s enough for me. This is all so fresh, so it makes sense that none of them know what to say or do next. “What can I do to help?” I ask him. “We need to wait for the lawyer to the estate contacts us. They will let us know our grandfather’s and parent’s wishes for burial and memorial services. Then we go from there. After the funeral there will be the reading of the will, and we’ll all know where we stand in this family.” He grinds his teeth at that last part. I may not know much a
BlueAfter Artemis leaves, I stand in the hallway and try to figure out the best way to go about this. Rhea is torn up over the news and I want to be there for her, but what can I do? I don’t want to just sit back and have them handle everything while they work through everything emotionally. It’s no secret, things were strained between all of them but that was still Artemis’s parents and that has to be hard for him. Before I can come up with a plan one of the babies starts crying. All of them have a different cry and this one is Eros. I walk into the nursery and pick him up right away. His head turns to my boob as soon as he’s in my arms. Before I take him out to feed, I check on Selene and Damion, but they are still asleep.Those two sleep like the dead when they want to except apparently at night when the smallest sound has them wide awake. In the end all of them end up in bed with me and Artemis to finish off the night. Not that either of us care much, we love cuddling u
ArtemisI hadn’t heard from my grandfather in several weeks and I’m wondering when he will send Iris to us. I’m willing to fly to wherever they are and pick her up myself but any attempts at contacting my grandfather have gone unanswered. That is until Rhea comes stumbling into the house looking as if she’s seen a ghost. “Artemis…” It sounds like saying that much was too much effort. “What?” “Rhea? What’s wrong?” Blue rushes over to my sister and helps her to sit down on the closest chair. “Rhea, what’s going on?” “Just look.” My sister hands her phone to Blue, but I can hear the audio. 'Another tragedy involving the famous Rhodes family. Unfortunately, this accident resulted in the death of three members including the Patriarch of the family, his son and his daughter-in-law. The following information may be upsetting for some. The police and rescue crew discovered the pilot a mile away and the members of the family different distances from the crash. Ou
ArtemisSeeing Blue juggle, the children’s home and motherhood is like watching a bee buzzing around a hive. She has been going non-stop and is trying so hard to make up for the time she lost not being there to help. I know she thinks that she will let someone down if she isn’t giving one hundred percent of herself in everything she does, but I can see her burning out. At night she’s been crashing as soon as her head hits the pillow, but she’s up any time the triplets need to be changed or fed. I try to help as best I can, but she always tells me to sleep, and she will handle things. Only she doesn’t realize that she sleeps through a few of the nightly cries, and I make sure nothing wakes her. Now that she will let the babies in the nursery, I turn off the monitor while I’m in there and switch to getting alerts on my phone. That way she can sleep, and I’ll still be able to hear the babies. She needs the rest. Since the babies came, I’ve been in full dad duty. Not that
BlueThe first few weeks home with the triplets is chaos. Lilly is such a sweet girl and even though she needs a lot of help with things she hasn’t complained once having to share our time. Artemis has made everything so much easier by just being here and helping wherever it’s needed. He was joking about the personal chief either. I mean when does he ever not mean these things? I should know that by now. He also did have a whole medical room set up in the house. There are plans to expand the house even more thanks to all the plans he has. Athena found a house down the street from us and has been so happy with her decision to adopt. She’s an amazing mother and it’s been great having her so close by. Rhea, not wanting to be left out also bought a house on our street and has been stopping by with her kids almost everyday much to Artemis’s displeasure. He’s gotten a lot better with having his sisters around but he’s still his grumpy self with them. Now they just find it fu