CHAPTER SEVEN- RISE AND SHINE

"Rise and shine, Gretch.” Tessa opened the curtains in the living room then uncovered Gretchen’s face from the blanket.

Gretchen lifted her head and squinted against the light. “What time is it?

"It's nearly dinnertime," said Tessa as she sat down on the other couch across the room.

Gretchen pushed herself up on the couch and stretched out her arms as she yawned. "Are you fucking serious? I’m so sorry for taking up your space all day like that.”

Stretching her arms out along the seat backs, Tessa crossed her legs and shrugged. "We didn't want to wake you, honey. You were having nightmares and they seemed pretty intense. Once you settled down, we just let you go."

"What else is new?" asked Gretchen. “I can’t remember the last time I slept well.”

Tessa bounced her leg over the other and looked around Gretchen’s face.

"I gave you a sleep potion, I hope you don't mind. I thought you could use the rest.”

"No...no, I don't mind. I can't even totally remember my dreams, just little flashes here and there, but they're fucking awful.”

"You're not going to want to take it every night, baby, but you've been through a lot. I don't think it's a bad idea for now," said Tessa as she folded Gretchen's blanket and put it on the arm of the couch.

"Thanks, Tess.” Gretchen searched through her bag and trilled her lips at the clothing she had.

Tessa sat down beside her and turned up her nose at what she saw then put her hand over Gretchen’s. "Oh, honey, don't worry about that junk. I have some clothes you can borrow. It's not like I'll be fitting into them again anytime soon."

Gretchen smiled and put her hand on Tessa's round belly. "I can't believe you're having another baby. That's just crazy. Oh, wow, it's kicking me."

Tessa grinned and put her hand beside Gretchen's. "I know. Those fools won’t leave me alone.”

Gretchen chuckled at Tessa and pushed her fist against her arm. “You love it.”

“Mmm-hmm.” Tessa pushed herself back against the cushions. She knew better than anyone that the Fates have a strange sense of humor when it comes to mating people, but with all Gretchen had been through, she wanted her to be happy. She delicately danced around the truth of her own mating to Logan and Jacob. “You know, it’s hard to believe now that there was a time I didn’t want any of this. You know, kids and mates and a house full of people.”

Gretchen leaned back and put her elbow on the couch as she rested her head against her arm and watched Tessa. "Really? But the three of you seem so happy together. What changed?”

Tessa sighed as she put her feet up on the coffee table. "We are happy...now. We definitely weren't in the beginning. I fought them tooth and nail. I just liked my life the way it was and I didn’t want to be tied down to them."

"I can't believe that," said Gretchen. "You guys can't go a minute without putting your paws all over each other."

"It's true, Gretch," Tessa said as she nodded. "I didn’t want to be with them and did everything I could to drive them away. I even left them... a few times."

"Get the fuck out of here," said Gretchen.

Grinning at her nieces matter of fact way of talking, Tessa twisted her lips to the side and shrugged. "Like I said, we weren't always happy. All three of us did some shit that was pretty unbelievably terrible to each other. But, you know, they marked me and that was it. My ass wasn’t going anywhere and I had to deal with them whether I wanted it or not. We were a family and we got through it and things are better now. It doesn't hurt that the sex is fucking amazing, either."

"There she is...that's the Aunt Tessa I remember," laughed Gretchen.

Slapping her hand down on Gretchen’s knee, Tessa looked at Gretchen and gave her a sultry grin. "So, tell me about Damien. Did you hit that or what? I need to know what he’s packing."

"Gross," said Gretchen as she drew her lips up in disgust. "I hate that prick."

"Oh, come on," said Tessa as she pushed Gretchen's shoulder. "Girl! That man is so fine. You can't tell me it didn't cross your mind. It’s crossed mine a few damn times. I know that old psychic probably thinks I’m the biggest whore in the Realm after seeing what was on my mind."

Gretchen grinned and curled her lips under as her pale skin flushed with color. Tessa nodded and pushed her lips together as she hummed. “Mmm-hmm. I knew it. You got too much Mason in you to not be more than a little interested in that stallion."

Sighing as she shook out her long curly hair, Gretchen dropped her shoulders in defeat. "Yeah, I can't deny that he's a fucking Adonis, but, Tess, he basically kidnapped me. That’s not exactly the start of a healthy relationship.”

Huffing through her nose, Tessa laughed at the way she ended up with her mates. "You want to talk about kidnapping? After I met your uncles, they marked me and kept me locked up in their house for months, Gretchen. I couldn’t even go see my own brother without their permission. Like I said, even people who love you do some messed up shit. That doesn’t mean that it can’t get better if you want it to.”

"This isn't one of those situations, Tessa. I don't even know why the hell those three were following me in the first place," said Gretchen.

Tessa clapped her hands together and gave Gretchen her witchiest cackle. "Are you serious right now? Look at you. Any man would want to rescue a damsel in distress with an ass like yours."

Thinking back to the morning she woke up looking at Damien, she remembered his hair landing softly on his neck. "Thanks. But I don't think that's what he was looking for. He has a mate bite, Tess. He’s off the market."

Tessa pulled her lips to the side and squinted her eyes. "Hmm! I don't know what that's all about, but I know without a doubt that he's single and has been in the ten years or so I've known him and his family. Trust me, I always know where the single men are and what their current status is."

Gretchen curled her lips under and looked away to the window.

"Honestly, Tess, everything's all messed up. My head's not right. I know he couldn't have been involved in what happened to me, but my memories are all wrong. Every time I'm near him I...it's like I fucking hate him but...I don't even know. I saw that bite on his neck and I was jealous. Isn't that fucked up?"

Tessa put her arm around Gretchen and hugged her closer. "You don't have to figure this shit out right now, baby. Time never ends here, you go at your own pace. We're all here for you, whatever you need."

Gretchen put her head on Tessa's chest and sunk into her embrace. "Is it alright if I stay here with you guys?"

"Of course it is, Gretch. You don’t even need to ask," said Tessa. "But I need to let you know something. Damien, he's still hanging around. He told Logan he wanted to stay for a couple of days and make sure you got along alright."

Gretchen rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Jesus, I don't know if I can deal with that yet."

"Maybe, the two of you need to talk whatever it is out," said Tessa as she curled Gretchen’s hair around her fingers. “See if there’s something there.”

Gretchen shook her head and groaned. "No, no, I don't want to see him again, Tessa. He makes me crazy. It's like...it's like I just want to lash out at him and hurt him. I don't even know why, but I don’t want to be that kind of person that does that."

Tessa kissed the top of Gretchen’s head then rested her cheek on it. "It's alright, baby. Damien's a grown ass man, he can take it.”

"No, I don't want to do that. He's...he's not important right now," said Gretchen. "I don't want to deal with him anymore.”

Tessa smiled against Gretchen’s soft hair. "You don't have to if you don't want to, Gretchen. All I'm saying is that he's still here. You might want to find out why. Anyhow, why don't you go get yourself gussied up. Just because you don't want to talk to him right now doesn't mean you can't torture him with that tight body of yours."

Gretchen chuckled through her nose. "Seriously, Tessa, you are a wicked witch."

"You better believe it," said Tessa. "Now help me up.”

Gretchen stood up and held out her hands to Tessa. "When are you due anyways?"

"Ugh! Not soon enough. About a month from now," said Tessa as she pulled on Gretchen's hands.

Logan leaned against the doorway admiring his handiwork. If he had his way, Tessa would stay pregnant all the time. It was the only chance he had of keeping her in line. "You girls about ready to go?"

Gretchen slapped Logan on the arm as she passed him by. "Give me a few minutes, Uncle Logan. Tessa where are those clothes?"

Tessa looked around the corner and spoke loudly. "Just look in our bedroom. You're welcome to whatever you want, honey."

When Gretchen got to the top of the stairs, Logan looked back to make sure she was gone. "You talk to her Tess?"

"A bit. She has no idea, Logan," said Tessa as Logan pulled her into his arms.

As he stretched his neck from side to side, Logan groaned at the thought of dealing with someone elses love problems. "Shit. So what do we do about that?"

Tessa pulled away a bit and scowled at Logan. "We stay the fuck out of it Logan. That’s what we do about it. Gretchen’s a grown woman. If she’s not interested than she’s not interested.”

Logan laughed at Tessa and pulled her closer. "How do we do we stay out of it? A man like Damien isn't the kind of guy you can just tell to fuck off.”

Tessa put her hand on Logan’s cheek and looked in his eyes. "You and I have been down this road before, and it never leads anywhere good. She has a lot of things going on in her mind and she needs time to figure all that out. Trying to push Damien on her right now is just going to make things worse."

There were few people in the universe that intimidated Logan and one of them happened to be Tessa’s father. They haven’t got along in all the years they’ve known each other and that was unlikely to ever change, but he was their link to their family on Earth. "I can't believe I'm actually going to say this, but I wish Haldir was here. Teddy and Stella must be a fucking disaster. I wish we could get a message to them that she's with us."

"I know," said Tessa. "I'll keep trying to reach Teddy, but he's completely cut me off. Whatever’s happening, he doesn’t want me to know about it."

"Does she remember anything?" asked Logan as he pushed a stray wispy curl from Tessa’s forehead.

Tessa shook her head.

"Not at all. Just some nightmares that don't make a lot of sense to her."

As he tried hard to figure out what happened over the last few weeks, Logan shook his head as he pulled down his brows. "So what happened with Damien? Why was she so afraid of him? We’ve known those people a while now. They’re creepy and all, but they’ve always been nice."

"She's not for sure why she doesn’t like him. Good news is though," Tessa said as she poked Logan's chest, "is that she is attracted to him. There's something there, baby, so there's hope yet."

As Gretchen came down the stairs, she pulled on her shirt. Tessa was a very naughty witch and her sweater was more low cut than Gretchen was used to. "So, do you think this will do, Tess?"

Tessa pulled away from Logan and looked Gretchen over. "Wow! Damien ain't never seen a woman that looks that good, I guarantee it."