“Monica is delivering blood today,” he says, unable to keep the grimace off his face. I know Lucas hates drinking bagged blood, but he’s unable to take what he needs from me right now. “I’ll have her bring you Cheerios too.”
“I can go shopping myself,” I remind Lucas.
“Yes, you can, but you don’t have to.” He smooths my hair back and puts his lips to my neck. “Don’t forget, Callie, you are mine, and I take care of what is mine.” He gently nips at my neck. “Now you are my wife, with my child inside of you.”
Desire washes over me, and if I didn’t have to get up to pee, I’d flip Lucas over on the mattress and climb on top right now.
“Hold that thought,” I tell him, lifting my head off the pillow so I can kiss him once more before shimmying out from under him and going into the bathroom. I use the toilet and brush my teeth, then run a brush through my messy hair.
The upstairs of this house is smaller than the downstairs, and the bathroom door is between the two bedrooms. There’s a small landing at the top of the stairs, and I pause as I walk past it on the way to my room. The air feels…different.
Familiar, but different.
I close my eyes and hold out my hands, trying to get a read on it. There’s a slight vibration, and whatever it is calls to me.
“Julian?” I whisper and inch toward the stairs. He doesn’t answer. “Do you feel that?” I ask Binx, who’s winding around my feet. He meows softly and pads down the stairs, going to the front door. I make a move to go outside and then remember the alarm system.
“I’ll make you breakfast,” Lucas says, coming into the kitchen and stepping up behind me. I enter the password and the alarm system beeps once, letting me know it’s been disarmed.
“In just a minute,” I say quickly and move away from him, hurrying to the front door again. A gust of wind rattles the windows and pushes the door in as soon as I open it. My hair flies wildly around my face.
There’s a letter on the welcome mat. It should have been blown away, yet there is it, sitting unmoving. The familiar vibrations in the air increase and I bend down, picking up the letter. I step back inside, telekinetically closing the door.
There’s nothing written on the letter, yet I know it’s from Michael. My fingers shake as I tear open the envelope.
“What is that?” Lucas ask.
I pull out a picture and turn it over. Tears immediately spring to my eyes as I look down at a raven-haired young woman with bright green eyes. She’s standing in the forest, wearing a black dress. A simple sliver bracelet is around her right wrist. She’s smiling at the camera, hands resting on her pregnant belly.
I look up at Lucas, tears rolling down my cheeks. “That’s my mother.”Chapter 10“She’s beautiful.” I wipe my eyes, not wanting tears to splash on the photo.
“You look like her,” Lucas says gently.
“Michael told me that too.”
I stare at the photo again, noticing our similarities. She has dark hair, cut just below her shoulders, and green eyes. I’m not her carbon copy, but there’s no doubt this woman is my mother. She’s pregnant in this photo, and I either have a half-sibling who was born before me, or that’s me in her belly. She looks pretty far along here, and is still smiling.
Did she know when this photo was taken that she wouldn’t make it past childbirth? Michael told me they’d discussed it, and it was my mother’s dying wish to have Michael do whatever it took to keep me safe and alive.
And he did.
I flip the photo over, looking to see if anything was written on the back. July 26th is written in neat cursive handwriting at the bottom of the photo, but no year was given. Assuming this was me, then this was taken only a month and a half before I was born.
I turn the photo back over and stare at my mother’s face. So many emotions are going through me right now, and pregnancy hormones or not, I would be a mess. I know what my mother looked like, and seeing her makes it even more real…as well as make me miss her even more.
“How can I miss someone I’ve never met?” I choke out, hardly able to talk without crying.
“You miss what could have been.” His hand rests on my waist. “She would have been proud of you, Callie.”
And now I’m crying. “I hope so.”
“I know so. You are incredible.” He turns me toward him and cups my face in his large hands. “I’ve told you, my love, in all my years I’ve never met anyone who comes close to holding a candle to you.”