Dwayne laughs as she stumbles through her answer. He covers her hand with his and tells her, “I am just messing with you.”
Kya very excitedly brings Nathan’s attention to the hands still resting one atop the other. Nathan smiles at Kya conspiratorially. “Did Mama tell you that Gabriel showed up at the house before Grama Luna came over? She made him leave. He was not happy. Is he ever happy? He always looks mad.”
Dwayne catches himself rumbling low in his chest, “No cutie, she hasn’t got to that yet.” He smiles at her, “I think it is because she is so excited about her mom being around.” Kya giggles and stuffs a huge bite of spaghetti in her mouth to smile an open mouth spaghetti smile at Nathan before she starts to chew. Nathan giggles and returns the spaghetti smile.
Selena smiles at Dwayne, “I haven’t quite adjusted to the idea. I mean, who does this? Wakes up one day and finds out their mom is not actually dead and their dad has been lying to them for years. Then as if that isn’t quite enough, to find out they are a goddess to boot? I don’t know what to do with all this.”
Dwayne nods, “You roll with it. The first one changes some things for sure, but the second one? Meh. It makes good jokes for whoever you date. Probably makes dating new people a little awkward. The bigger problem right now is that guy walking thru the door.”
Selena’s eyes widen, “Who is it?”
“It’s him. He is waiting to be seated.”
“What? He hates this place, I thought?” She turns her head slightly so she can see him out of the corner of her eye. Gabriel is pointing in their direction while speaking to the hostess. Selena looks around them and sees there is a table nearby available. Dwayne has been watching all this, including the color draining from Selena’s face and taking his hand from hers, he gets the attention of their waitress.
“We would like the check now please.” She gets it out and he hands her a card.
“I’ll be right back with this sir.”
“Thanks.”
Gabriel is seated in the one table near them that is open. He sits facing them as he orders. Selena helps Kya and Nathan to clean up. She looks questioningly at Dwayne when she hears a growl, eyebrows raised and eyes darting to ask if he is going to shift right here?
The waitress returns Dwayne’s card and as they get up to leave Gabriel saunters over to stand behind Kya and Nathan.
Selena looks Gabriel in the eye and tells the kids, “I need you two to come over here now.” Kya and Nathan scramble to get behind her as she stands to face Gabriel. Dwayne stands as well and moves to stand beside Selena with his body positioned to be quickly in front of her if need be. The children peek from between them with wide eyes.
Selena asks, “What do you want Gabriel?”
A cruel smile on his face Gabriel tells her, “Why I just wanted to say hi to my daughter before I start my dinner. A shame you are all leaving just as I arrive. We could have had dinner together.”
Coldly Selena replies, “No. We could not. This is an end to it. You get no more visitations with Kya. You are obviously not seeking a relationship with her and your behavior is completely inappropriate. I won’t have it Gabe. You leave us be.”
“Or what? Would you care to threaten me in front of all these people?”
“No more than you would care to tell them you have been stalking us all evening. Good day.” Selena turns, guiding the children in front of herself and Dwayne they leave the restaurant.
Gabriel goes to his table and asks the waitress for a to go box.
Selena and Dwayne get the children into the truck and she looks at him, “Are you hairier than you were earlier?” Dwayne starts and looks down at himself, “Shit. Yes. Sorry. He is really pinging all my protective instincts. The bear in me wants,” he looks down at the children, “to uh, misbehave.” Nathan giggles and looks at Kya, “Daddy wants to bite his head off.” Kya giggles. Selena chuckles nervously, and shuts the door. She opens her door and Dwayne does the same on his side of the truck. Selena drives them back to Dwayne’s house as fast as possible. As she pulls into Dwayne’s driveway he hits the button for his garage door. Once she has the truck in he hits it again to close the door behind them.
Selena turns to the kids, “Are you two good?”
Kya says, “That was a little scary momma.” And then Nathan chimes in, “He doesn’t look like a nice man Miss Selena.”
Selena presses her lips together, “Well, I don’t suppose he is anymore. Maybe he never was, I don’t know. The important thing here is that neither of you will have to see him any more.”
Kya wipes her forehead in relief, “Oh good, I don’t like him at all. I don’t want him to be my daddy.”
Nathan very solemnly agrees, “Me either.”
Selena and Dwayne laugh, “Well, we heard you two talking about a sleepover—“
“Oh yay! Can we mama?”
“Yes,” she glances over at Dwayne, “We talked about it and decided to let you stay over at Dwayne’s tonight.”
“You could stay too mama.”
Dwayne smiles big at Selena and she rolls her eyes at him before continuing, “No, I can’t tonight. I have something to attend to tonight but definitely another night.” Dwayne’s smile grows impossibly wide. “Stahp. Silly man. All right, everyone out. Kya, I need kisses before I go.” Kya unbuckles herself and reaches to hug her mom. “Be careful momma. He is sneaky with the wind.” She whispers into Selena’s ear. Selena hugs her tight, “Don’t you worry sweetling, he doesn’t know your momma as well as he thinks he does. I will be fine, I promise.”
Kya gets out of the truck and Selena turns to press the button to lower the window so she can talk to Dwayne. “Would you be upset if Brighid were here with you all?”
“Well, no, but are you going to bring her by?”
“No… she is here. I guarantee it. Brighid, show yourself.”
“Yes mistress.” Brighid materializes next to Kya.
“What the hell?”
Selena looks down, “Ah, you have no idea how close you are to the truth. I will explain tomorrow, I forgot to include that part earlier. For now, just know that she will protect you all from anything and she has someone with a lot more experience that she can call for backup. You can speak to her and she will understand everything you say as well as being able to respond if she feels the need to do so.”
Dwayne looks down at Brighid grinning up at him, “Um, I don’t think I have much choice. Though now I have questions now about that time you shit on my carpet.” He looks at Brighid through narrowed eyes as she turns her head towards Kya and seems to be laughing.
Dwayne looks back at Selena, “She isn’t going to shit on my carpet again is she?”
Selena looks distinctly nervous, “Probably not? I need to get going. Kids, go stand where you can’t be seen in front of Dwayne’s car. I want him to think that you are with me, Kya.”
“Be safe.” He hits the button to open the door and watches her drive away.
As the garage door closes he sees Gabriel’s car follow her.
15
Selena sees the headlights in her rearview mirror as she leaves Dwayne’s driveway. She knows it is Gabriel. What is he thinking? Why is he acting like this? It has been four years and more since he broke up with me. I have made it super clear that I am not going back there. She stops for the sign, looking both ways and watching his headlights come ever closer. Seeing a clear spot she guns it and leaves him sitting at the stop sign, blocked by traffic. I know he knows where I live and he will still be able to find me but that felt really good. Of course, it probably just really ticked him off a lot more.
Selena shrugs and keeps going toward her house but as she nears the place where she can turn off to head toward her father’s she gets a strong urge to go there instead. Gabriel is back there tailing her, it isn’t like she is going to lose him. She hits her turn signal and takes the right. Using the voice command on her phone she calls Apophis.
He answers, “Hello Selen
a, how are you tonight?”
“Hi Dad. Sorry it has been so long, there has been a lot going on. Some of it you just aren’t going to believe and some of it you will have to explain.”
“Oh? Try me, I believe a lot of interesting things. But explain? That sounds foreboding.”
Selena laughs, “Here is the first one, I am on my way to your house right now and Gabriel is following me.”
Apophis hisses, “Isss he causing you problemsss?”
“Yes, actually, he is. Dad, he is… I will explain when I get there. He just sped up and I don’t like the looks of this.” Selena watches the rearview, her gaze flicking back and forth between it and the road ahead.
“How far away are you?”
Selena pushes the gas pedal, easing the speed up to 70. “At this speed? Five minutes, and I will be coming in fast. Could you open the gate now please?” She takes a curve, leaning into it, knowing that only helps on a bike. “I sped up, but while I gain on the curves he floors it on the straights.”
Apophis pushes the button to open the gate as he strides out of his office and toward the front door. Spotting one of the guards he stops, “Get a team to surround the front. Selena is coming in fast with trouble hot on her tail.” He continues on toward the front door as the man moves to gather the team. “Selena, are you on the drive yet?”
“Yes, I just made the turn. Barely. He just turned in too.”
Apophis hangs up the phone, he sees his men are spread out in the yard surrounding the front entrance. Selena’s headlights are visible now, the men step into the shadows. She comes to a stop near the door but slightly past her father. Gabriel comes speeding in behind her and rams the back of her truck with his car. Apophis darts over to Selena’s door at an inhuman speed and snatches the door off the truck tossing it a few feet away in the drive. Selena is sitting there with her seatbelt still in place, looking a little wild-eyed and mussed but no worse for the hit. Apophis reaches in with a shaking hand and gently touches her cheek, “Selena, baby, are you ok?”
Selena shakes her head and tears fall down her face, “If Kya had been with me she would have been in the back seat.”
Apophis looks in horror at the back and sees that a toolbox flew out of Gabriel’s car and into the truck, smashing the passenger seat forward and it had caught the top of the car seat in the back cracking it and slamming it forward into the seat as well.
He reaches in and hugs Selena, she begins sobbing on his shoulder, “He could have killed my Kya!” Apophis sees his men are helping Gabriel out of his car while he comforts Selena. He is worse for the wear, the airbag hit his face hard and bloodied his nose. It appeared his eyes were swelling shut as well. One of the men walks over, “Sir, should we call the paramedics for him or?” Apophis is silent for a moment, “We should file a report. My daughter will need the report to keep him away from my granddaughter.” “Yes sir.” The man turns and pulls out a phone as he walks back to join the others.
Selena is calming down, her tears slowing. She leans back in her seat and unbuckles herself. Apophis steps back and she tells him, “I knew he was going to follow me. I just had this feeling, and I knew I couldn’t let Kya be here for this.” She sniffles, “I didn’t even know I was going to come here. I was planning to go to my house.” More fat tears roll down her face as she turns from unbuckling the belt, “I would have been at my house alone and him ramming my truck would have pushed it into the wall of my house. Look how far it pushed me down the drive here. My Kya could have been without her mother tonight.” She steps out of the truck and her knees wobble. Apophis reaches out and puts an arm around her to help support her. “Thanks Dad. Did you call someone about-“ she waves an arm in the direction of Gabriel and the men surrounding him, “all this mess?”
“Yes,” he guides her toward a nearby bench, “one of my men called and made the report. I am guessing the family lawyer needs to work on making sure that Gabriel can’t come anywhere near you or Kya?” He looks questioningly at her as she eases down onto the bench.
“I think that might be the best thing. I don’t…” She takes a deep breath, “I don’t want to think about what he would do to her in order to control me if he had her alone and unsupervised.”
Blue and red lights begin flashing their way up the drive. “I guess they will want to talk to me too?” Selena begins to stand, still slow but steadier. She takes another deep breath, “Ok Dad. Let’s do this.” She takes a step and stops, “Will you stay with me while I do this?”
Apophis hugs her, “Of course I will, you’re my little girl. I will always be there for you.” Selena hugs him back, “Thanks Dad.”
They walk together to the officers speaking with the house guards.
The next morning
Selena wakes up slowly in her room at her father’s house she checks the notifications on her phone in case of Dwayne messaging about Kya. Sitting up in the bed she stretches the kinks left from last night’s wreck. She isn’t hurt but the tension left from the accident will take time to fade. She grabs some leggings out of one drawer and an oversized t-shirt out of the other and throws them on. Stepping out of her room barefoot she pads down the hall and stairs toward the kitchen in search of coffee.
Her father is there already, sitting at the table in the breakfast nook and reading a paper. Hearing her come in he asks, “Did you sleep well, Selena?”
Taking a cup from the shelf she shrugs, “It wasn’t the worst sleep ever. I had a few nightmares but nothing too terrible.” Selena pours herself some coffee, adding cream and sugar. Picking up the cup she brings it to her lips for that first sip as she leans against the counter. “Ah, you really keep the best coffee Dad.” She looks at him contemplating and then nods her head. “I need to talk to you about some things that have happened lately.”
Apophis lowers his paper and gesturing to the seat across from him, he says, “Come sit, tell me what is on your mind.”
Selena sits and fiddles with her cup a bit. “Ok, so you know I have been having problems with Gabriel. We caught him trying to give Kya a spelled doll that would have had her obsessed with him,” she looks at Apophis stony face, “don’t worry. She never touched it and I killed the spell.” Apophis’s face goes from stony to confused, “What do you mean you killed the spell?” Taking another sip of her coffee she says, “Just that. I killed it. That is one of the things I found out recently with the bindings lifted, I can kill things by touching them and willing it so.”
Apophis sits back and looks out the window, “Well, that is a development.”
Selena traces her cup on the table, “Yes it is. And there is more. When the bindings were lifted that also got rid of some other things that had been bound. Like the ones you put on mom so she couldn’t see me…” She looks at her father’s face waiting for his reaction. He freezes like a child caught in the cookie jar, “Dad, before you say anything, I know it was you that kept her from seeing me. I also know that the bindings were you. I don’t know what your reasons were and I don’t think I need to know right this minute,” his shoulders relax a bit, “but I need you to understand that she is going to be a part of my life and that what you did is not something you can ever do again.”
Apophis leans forward and puts his hand on Selena’s, “You’re right. I shouldn’t have done that. I was angry at your mother. And angry about other things. That doesn’t make what I did was right. Will you forgive me?” Selena turns her hand to hold his, “Of course Dad, how could I not? You have been with me my whole life and you are my dad. I forgive you. You do understand that she is going to be a part of my life and Kya’s, right? Because I need that Dad. You know how much I missed having a mom growing up. You have to at least be civil with her if you see her.” Apophis nods, “I understand and I support you. I shouldn’t have created that terrible rift so long ago. Perhaps your mother can find a way to forgive me as well, one day.” He leans back, crossing his arms on his chest, “Is there anything else I should know?” Selena looks down and
says quickly, “Um, I think you have another daughter that you never got to meet because you had mom blocked from being near either of us.” She looks up through her lashes and sees the shock on Apophis’s face.
“What do you mean I have another daughter?”
“Apparently when you and mom split she was pregnant again. Her name is Samara and I am hoping to meet her soon. She is only a year or so younger than me. She didn’t want me to tell you, because of how you had bound me. I can reassure her that she doesn’t have anything to worry about on that account, right Dad?” She looks hard at him. He looks down at his coffee, “Yes, you can reassure her. I promise you that I will never do anything like that again to either of my children.”
Apophis is silent for a few minutes, looking out the window. Selena sips her coffee and enjoys the same view out the window as she waits for him to adjust. Finally he looks back at her and says, “I would love to get to know your sister. I think your mother may be hesitant about letting that happen, and really I don’t blame her. I won’t ask you to become involved in that beyond this, will you please give your mother my card and tell her I want to apologize and try to work things out so that we can all find a way to get along, for all our sakes.”
Selena tears up listening to him. She clears her throat and blinks rapidly, “Ahem, yes, I will do that Dad. I am proud of you for coming so far with this in such a short time.” Selena downs the last of her coffee. “I suppose I need to make some calls now and see about getting a new vehicle.”
Apophis had been staring off into the distance, he shakes his head, and raising his eyebrows he says, “What? You can just go to the lot and pick one. They know you are my daughter, I’ll call them and tell them to let you have whatever vehicle you want off the lot. Did you forget I own most of the town? Including the car lot.” Selena laughs, “To be honest, I did. I have been so wrapped up in my own life I forget about all your businesses. That is amazing Dad, I will go there today.” She runs over and hugs him around the neck quickly before releasing him and heading back to her room to change. She stops at the doorway, turning to look back at Apophis, “Thank you, Dad. Maybe I could come back for dinner soon, bring my friends like I used to do?”
Selena Rose: Daughter of the Moon Page 9