Vanilla Moon: Acrimony

by Airiel Hawkins

  "Is that why she doesn't show?" Ceres asked.

  I shrugged. "Might be part of it. She says she's one of the lucky ones who just doesn't show, and she's been wearing loose-fitting clothes."

  "We'll have to figure something out," Mom said. "We can't execute her while she's pregnant. We also can't hold her for long either. Someone will come looking for her. Her parents still don't know about the pack."

  "I don't think they'll come looking," I said. "They caught her after she left her parents for the bus station. I'm sure she told them she was leaving town. We just need to make sure it looks like she really left."

  "That's not hard to do," Dad said. I felt a wave of relief wash over me at the sound of his voice. "We've done it before. We'll keep her until the baby comes and then execute her. Once she's dead, we'll need a volunteer for the baby."

  "I'm not sure that's a good idea," I said before anyone else could. "If you think about it, everyone is going to know she's Anica's baby. They're going to associate the two of them. Whether intentional or not, she'll be treated differently because of who her mother is."

  There was silence for a moment. "That's a valid point," my father agreed. I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. "Do we know who the father is?" he asked.

  "She refuses to name him," I said. "She says he died with everyone else, but I'm not sure I believe her. Almost everything she's said in the last few days has been one lie after another. It's exceedingly difficult to smell when she's lying now."

  "We can't send the baby to her parents; we need every Lycan. Even if they aren’t with us."

  "What about Moab?" I asked. "Riley has to go get his son, so what about a trade? We gain Caleb, they keep their numbers with this baby."

  "I'll call Michael," Dad said. "Ceres, can you draw up the paperwork for a legal adoption?"

  "I can," Ceres replied. "I need to do it for the other orphans as well."

  "What are we doing with the orphans?" Mom asked.

  I smiled at my mate. "Ceres took care of that already," I said. "She asked for volunteers from the pack to take them in. Every single one of them has a home now."

  There was silence from my parents. "Really?" Mom finally asked.

  "Should I not have done that?" Ceres asked, suddenly worried that she'd overstepped her boundaries. Even I was concerned that my mother might have an issue with Ceres's initiative.

  Mom cleared her throat. "No, it's fine," she said. "I didn't expect you to do that."

  "I just… I figured that it needed to be done," Ceres said. "Those kids shouldn't spend another night in the caves. Most of them still don't understand what's going on and they've been frightened for days. I figured that this way, they could start to calm down and have someone look out for them."

  "That was a good idea, Ceres," my father said. I smiled. He was proud of her. "How are the people?"

  "Happy to be home," I replied. "I let everyone leave now that Brenda and the rest of the Witches are dead."

  "Every Witch in Adamsville is dead?" Dad asked.

  "Everyone we're aware of," I confirmed. "I have a few people out there making sure there aren't any left."

  "Very good," Dad replied. "After we're certain that there are no more Witches and Anica has had her baby, we'll dance. It will not put their souls to rest if she is still alive when we send them off. You two have done very well. I'm proud of you both."

  "Thank you," Ceres and I said.

  I cleared my throat. "Any word on when you'll come home?" I asked.

  "Soon," Dad replied. "Another day or two."

  "Good. Love you both."

  "We love you too, Wolfie," Mom replied. "And you, Ceres."

  "Love you too," Ceres echoed.

  I ended the call and sighed as I leaned back against the couch. I looked at Ceres and pushed some of her white-blonde hair away from her face. "I think you surpassed their expectations," I said.

  She chuckled. "I'm pretty sure I upset your mom."

  I nodded. "I caught that too," I agreed.

  "What's the dance?" Ceres asked before I could say anything else.

  I sighed. "It's a Lycan funeral," I answered. I stood and walked to the bookshelf where I grabbed the book I'd shown Mira. I felt like I'd shown my sister those pages years ago, not days. I passed the book to Ceres as I sat down. "The traditions we follow are as old as our transformations," I explained. "We cremate our dead and we dance in their ashes so that we may honor them and allow them to continue to walk with our pack, even though they've gone. Our ancestors are always with us."

  Ceres looked at the book. "And this?" she asked.

  "Everything I haven't taught you yet," I replied. "It's a book we usually give to members of the pack when they've gone through a year of full moons. I'm giving it to you early because we may not have time to wait for you to read it and it's information you need to know. It'll explain everything I don't know how to."

  She nodded and put the book in her lap. She sighed. "I should get started on the paperwork for the adoptions," she said.

  "What do you need to do that?"

  "Is there a law office in Adamsville?"

  I nodded. "One," I answered. "It's Lycan owned and operated, so you won't have any issues using it. Braham and Sons," I said. "I'll get the address." I stood and walked over to my father's desk so that I could get the address from his Rolodex. I scribbled it down onto a piece of paper for her. "I don't know if any of them are still here," I said. "I still don't know who survived and who didn't…."

  "We'll figure it all out," she promised. She sounded so certain. She looked at the address on the paper and studied it for a moment. She looked back up at me. "I'll help them if they're still here," she said. "I imagine it's going to be very busy with the inheritances and adoptions."

  I nodded. "Most likely," I agreed.

  Ceres chewed her bottom lip for a moment before she straightened up. "I'll be back," she said before she kissed me. She left the library and I watched her leave, thanking whatever good fortune it was that brought her to me.

  I spent the next few hours waiting. My parents called to tell me that my uncle agreed to the trade and that Dr. Cyrus would release Dad in the morning. Ceres texted an update that she was almost done with the paperwork for the adoptions. She left all names blank so that they could be written in later by anyone who needed. She also noticed that my father had Power of Attorney for everyone in the pack, meaning that he could sign on behalf of the deceased. Things were moving forward. They were getting better.

  I used the time to check on Luke. He was still in pretty much the same state as before, but Sophia was making him eat now. It reminded me that I needed to do the same, so I went to the kitchen to cook dinner. After I finished, I put something together for Anica and delivered food to both her and Riley. Riley took his food with gratitude. I knew he needed a break from the hallway, but I didn't have anyone to take over for him yet.

  I opened the door to Anica's cell. Someone had brought down a mat for her to sleep on. She didn't look at me as I dropped her food on the floor and shut the door.

  By the time I got back upstairs for my own dinner, I saw that two plates had been put aside, one for me and one for Ceres. Everyone else in the house had a serving. Something about food in this house always brought people together. I joined our guests from Moab in the dining room. With them was Selena. She was probably the one who called everyone to eat.

  Ceres arrived back home a few hours later. When she did, she found me in the bedroom, staring at the ceiling. It wasn't until she sat next to me and reached to wipe the moisture from the side of my head that I realized I'd been crying. She didn't say anything. She curled herself around me, tucked her head under my chin, and started rubbing circles into my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight.

  The next morning, I woke to the phone ringing. Ceres and I had fallen asleep on top of the blankets, fully clothed. I untangled myself from her and reached onto the nightstand to answer the call. "Hell
o?" I asked.

  "We're on our way home," Dad told me.

  "Hungry?" I asked.

  "Very," Dad chuckled.

  I smiled. "I'll make breakfast then," I said. I hung up the phone and slipped out of bed, hopeful that I wouldn't wake Ceres.

  In the kitchen, I diced potatoes and onions and put them in the pan to fry on the stove while I whipped up some eggs to scramble. I personally didn't care much for scrambled eggs, but when you're making food for a lot of people it's the easiest thing to do with them. I also made more pancakes. We at a lot of pancakes in this family. Again, it was an easy thing to whip up for many people. As I cooked, I started some coffee. Before it finished brewing, Riley appeared for a cup.

  "Before you ask, Rodney took pity on me so I could sleep," he said, grabbing a mug from the cupboard.

  "I'm sorry," I said. "I meant to take over for you myself since I don't have anyone else right now, but I passed out after Ceres got home."

  Riley shrugged. "You needed it," he said. "I think you've had less sleep than anyone else in the house the last four days."

  I nodded. "Probably," I agreed. "Hungry?"

  Riley nodded. "Very," he said. "This is a lot," he noted as he stirred my potatoes.

  "Dad's coming home," I said. "They're on their way right now. And we still have all of the Moab people."

  "About time!" Riley grinned. "It'll be good to have him home again."

  "Agreed," I said.

  Riley frowned as he looked at the food. "We're missing something," he said.

  "Fridge," I said, knowing what he was thinking. Protein. We needed it to function, and with my father still healing from his severe injuries, he would need it more than anyone.

  He chuckled as he walked to the fridge and retrieved the bacon. While he started that, I started moving food from the pans to platters. I'd add more food as it all cooked, but for now, it was a start.

  I finished cooking as my parents arrived. Just for my sister, I made a plate for her with her special Teddycake on it. She ran in and her face lit up as I held the plate out for her. She shrieked with joy and ran to the kitchen table to start eating. She had already shoveled two bites into her mouth by the time my parents walked in.

  The sight of my father was staggering. He walked with a cane. His face was thin. He had a patch over the missing eye. His knuckles were white. I held out two plates for my mother, which she took with a smile before they joined Mira at the table. I saw my father's face relax the moment he sat, which showed me how much pain it had caused him to walk from the car to the kitchen.

  My attention diverted when Ceres walked in. She rubbed her eyes and smiled when I held a plate out to her. "Good morning, Beautiful," I said.

  Her smile brightened. She gave me a kiss before she joined my parents and sister at the table, taking the last seat. When she sat, I followed her with a cup of coffee. I set it down by her plate and kissed the top of her head. My nose so close to her hair made it easy to smell the scents that made her Ceres. Chocolate. Strawberries. Wolf.

  And something else. I blinked. There was a new scent to her, and I'd smelled it once before. My heart started racing.

  She looked up at me. "What?" she asked. She was so in tune with me that she read my emotions before I knew what they were.

  I didn't want to say anything in front of everyone else until we knew for sure, so I led her out of the kitchen. Our bedroom was closer than anywhere else, so I took her there and shut the door behind us. "I think you're pregnant," I said.

  She stared at me. "What?" she asked.

  "I think you're pregnant," I repeated.

  She let out a laugh of disbelief. "It's been a day," she said.

  "Since we mated again, yes," I agreed. "But what if that wasn't what got you pregnant? What if it was the night of the full moon?"

  She shook her head. "No," she protested. "I would have died. There's no way."

  "Ceres, I can smell it," I insisted. "I'm serious. I think you're pregnant."

  She stared at me. Her hand moved over her stomach and tears welled up in her eyes. She sat down on the bed. I walked over to her and knelt in front of her. I reached for her hand and held it tight. "What do you smell?" she asked.

  I shook my head. "I can't describe it," I said. "All I know is that I recognize it. I smelled it when you were pregnant before and it stopped after Alan and Addie attacked us. I didn't even notice it last time. It's such a subtle scent that I didn't realize I'd stopped smelling it until just now when I smelled it again."

  She sighed. "On the bright side, at least this time the danger's over," she whispered. She closed her eyes and tears leaked out from the corners. I reached up and brushed them away. "I want to get tested to know for sure," she whispered.

  "We can do that," I promised.

  "How soon would we even be able to test?" she asked. "I mean, we're talking about three days if conception occurred on the full moon. Otherwise, it's only been twenty-four-ish hours. That's not a lot of time for the hormones to build up in my body and be at a detectable level."

  I shrugged. "I'm not the doctor," I said. "We can wait like we did last time if you want."

  She nodded. "Yeah," she said. "I don't want to tell anyone until we know for sure," she said. I agreed with her. I could respect that. We didn't want anyone to think she failed at getting pregnant or that she failed to keep the pregnancy. I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tight. There were so many mixed emotions between us. Sorrow, because we both still grieved for our loss. Joy, because of the possibilities. Guilt, because of the joy. Apprehension, because of the past. It was impossible to pinpoint one thing and say that was how we felt.

  After breakfast, my father and I surveyed the damage to the house. He took in everything with a grunt and a sigh and shook his head. The cane he walked with supported his every step because his leg wasn't fully healed yet. There was almost a physical pain in my chest as I watched him struggle to walk. If I didn't know it would show weakness, I would have offered him my shoulder so that he would have to worry. I knew better.

  "What's the estimate for the damage?" he asked as we walked into the library. It was only here, away from prying eyes, that I offered him my shoulder. We were alone. No one else would see his weakness.

  There was relief in his face as he accepted my help. Pain etched lines into his face as he sat down with a grunt. I walked around to one of the two chairs on the other side of the desk and sat down. It felt good to be back on this side of the desk. He propped the cane against the desk and took a moment to compose himself.

  "The contractor will be here tomorrow to assess the damage," I informed him.

  Dad nodded. "Tell me everything Anica told you," he requested. I did, leaving out only the moment where she asked me about the handcuffs. Dad didn't need to know about my sex life. Hell, Ceres didn't even need to know about that.

  He listened to everything I told him without saying a word. He closed his eye and leaned his head back against the chair, giving me the illusion that he'd fallen asleep. After living with him for most of my life, I knew this tactic as the one he utilized when he wanted to make sure he caught every word. This way, outside influences wouldn't distract him.

  "And where is Ceres on the paperwork for the children?"

  "As far as I know, she finished everything last night," I replied. "She was at the law office most of the evening."

  "Call her in, please?" Dad requested. I pulled my phone out and sent her a text. While we waited, Dad asked if we had a tally of the dead yet.

  "Not an official one," I replied. "To be honest, I don't know who is alive and who isn't."

  "We need to get that sorted straight away," Dad decided. "I don't want to risk having to call on someone only to find that they are no longer with us"

  "Agreed," I said with a nod.

  The door opened and Ceres walked in. "You called for me?" she asked.

  Dad nodded. "I did," he said. "Where are you on the paperwork for the children?" he asked. "Sp
ecifically, Anica's child."

  "Finished," she replied. I smiled. That was my mate. "For the children already with the pack, I printed off multiple copies of the same document with all names left blank, so that we can fill those in as needed. For Anica's baby, the contract says that she agrees to give up full rights of the child the moment it is born and passes it into your custody to do with as you please, including passing the custody on to another person or persons. This way, Anica never knows who will raise her child."

  "I like it," Dad said. "We'll need a notary."

  "I believe Madison survived," I said. "I'll call her."

  Dad nodded. "Good," he said. "When she is available, have her come here and have Richard bring Anica up to sign all of the documents." He looked back at Ceres. "Is there anything for the rest of the children that I need to know?" he asked.

  She shook her head. "I'm using your Power of Attorney for them," she explained. "It makes it somewhat more difficult to finalize everything, but not impossible. As I said, I have a template that I've printed out multiple copies of so that we can add a name, sign, and go. Everything is ready when you are."

  "Very good," Dad said as he nodded.

  "Is there anything else you need from us?" I asked.

  Dad shook his head. "No," he replied.

  I nodded. We walked out of the library as I pulled my phone out of my pocket. Ceres headed on to our room to fetch the paperwork so that it was ready when Madison was. I was certain she'd survived the hunt because I remembered seeing her in the basement. When she answered my call, I felt relief wash through me.

  "This is Madison Thatcher," she said.

  "Madison, this is your Volsunga," I replied. "The Enkidu requests your presence at your earliest convenience. Please come to the house when you are able and bring the tools required for a notary."

  "Yes, Volsunga," she replied. "I will be there shortly."

  I disconnected the call, then headed to the basement. When I reached him, Richard was quiet and composed, but his red-rimmed eyes suggested that he'd shed at least a few tears. He looked up at me and I could see the disbelief.

  "How is Luke holding up?" he whispered.