33. Amelie
Amelie
M y stomach dropped as the magic from the portal took my breath away. Like my soul detached so two separate entities could rejoin on the other side.
In front of me, a cream stone cottage sat with colorful flowers cascading down from the windows.
Hills rolled behind it for miles, behind me was a large open prairie where two children ran playfully, chasing each other with sticks.
The sky was as blue as a winter sky could be and the few clouds that floated about blended in with the snow on the tippy tops of the hills.
I heard two voices coming from the inside of the small home and as my feet moved without permission, my ears registered just who those voices belonged to.
“Mom! Dad!” I yelled too loud for how close I was to the house but as if they knew who was approaching too, both halves of my blood toppled through the door with wide eyes.
“Amelie!” they shouted as they rushed to me to cover me with their arms.
“Ammy!” A smaller voice sounded from behind them and through the small space between limbs I saw my littlest brother waddling toward us too .
My parents loosened their hold on me so I could bend down to catch Tildan.
I wrapped him so tight a little squeak left his mouth but he hugged me back just as tight.
More little steps were running up behind us and now I knew who was chasing the other with sticks.
Wren caught my back first, then Hansel. My boys were wrapped around me like vines on a tree.
The collective amount of tears being shed amongst the six of us could’ve created a new river.
The beaming smiles could’ve created a new source of light.
Sheer joy flowed through my family, all together again.
My father scooped Tildan up and my heart cracked wide open.
He never met Tildan, but Tildie clung to him just like the rest of us knew how to.
“How did you find us?” Wren asked. My scorned, rough around the edges little brother looked like a boy now. The wear around his face from scowling his whole life had faded much like the darkness that usually followed him.
“It’s…” I hesitated, wondering how much time I had to spend explaining the last few months. “A long story. The better question is, how did you all get here?”
I looked around at each of the faces of my family landing on my father’s last. “And papa? How are you here?” My father tucked my mom into his side and smiled.
“Bloch blood, but you know about that now, don’t you?” My chest heaved forward, the idea of talking so openly about what he knew took me by surprise.
“You knew?” I asked.
“Always.”
“You didn’t tell us.” Gesturing to myself and my brothers.
“It’s a complicated thing to have such knowledge, we all come to it in our own way. But I hope you’re here because you heard my message.” Always a wise answer from him. He spoke so casually of it, just as Al did.
“What message? ”
“That you were doing everything right.”
My mind reeled for a moment. There were a lot of things I was working on for tonight. Things that Kiaran wasn’t privy to. I eyed my father cautiously, not wanting to spend our short time together discussing the heaviest battle I was ever going to face.
“Get out of that head, Amelie. You’ve been dreaming of it for weeks, your entire life, really.
You know exactly what to do.” He gave me a wink and pressed a kiss to my mother’s head.
They both looked at me with proud eyes. It was exactly what I needed to hear from him.
I knew he’d been in my dreams for a reason.
I felt it to the innermost parts of my soul.
It hit me that my mother was upright, beautiful and lively in front of me, then an Earth shattering weight lifted from my shoulders.
“Mama…” I sunk into her arms. “How are you all here?”
“The guards came late that night you left, Arthur and Liam. I’ll admit it was terrifying and I surely thought it was over for us. But they brought us here, where your father was waiting,” my mother said.
Wren piped up next, “Daddy’s been here the whole time. He called Uncle Arthur a grave robber.”
My eyes widened and slid to my father’s. He was laughing to himself and if I survived the night, I’d have to come back to that later.
“Happy Birthday, by the way,” Hansel interrupted.
“Thank you buddy.” I pulled him into my side.
“Why couldn’t I come with you?” My tone was pathetic, like a little girl who was left behind. Though in a sense, I was.
“Haven’t you figured out why?” my father answered with a confused expression spreading across his face.
“I literally just found out you’re all alive,” I retorted.
“You’ve met the Prince, though?” He tried again a different way.
“Kiaran? ”
My father’s face lit up at the mention of my complicated relationship with the cursed, three hundred year old Witch from the enchanted Forest. A reaction I wouldn’t have, in a million years, anticipated from my father.
“Where is he?” he asked.
“He said this was for me,” I answered defensively, feeling jaded that I was here and my father seemed to be more excited about my… boyfriend?
“Very thoughtful of him.” His eyebrows popped like he was impressed, “Please bring him back, we’d like to meet him.”
“What?” I shrieked. “No, that’s okay.”
“Amelie, bring the boy here. It’s only right to have your father’s blessing,” my mother said now.
Relenting, I called to him.
Are you there?
His response was quick.
Always. It’s only been a few minutes, though.
Open the gate.
It appeared immediately and my brothers’ faces looked like they just struck gold. Magic was such a normal thing for me now, but the wonderment in my brothers’ eyes was priceless.
Stepping through, my head spun again, but as promised, there he was.
“What-”
Without wasting time, I grabbed his hand and pulled him through with me. It took him no time to recover, but now I was doubly spinning. He steadied my shoulders and then finished his sentence he tried to say before I brought us back.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“My family wants to meet you.”
“Oh.” His face paled and his fingers started rapidly tapping against his thigh.
“Yeah.” My family seemed to be very cool with my new magical life and my parents obviously already knew about Kiaran. I decided that if this was the last time I saw them, or the last chance they’d have to meet the love of my life, then I’d take advantage of it.
I took his hand and brought him toward four beaming faces. Wren’s face was steeled.
Kiaran was the complete gentleman, the eagerness of his hand nearly pushing me to the ground as he stretched it out to my father.
“Mr. Bloch.” He offered first, shaking my dad’s hand. “Mrs. Bloch, it’s no mystery where Amelie’s beauty comes from.” He bowed slightly to her and I couldn’t help but smile at the nerves I felt flowing from him.
“Thank you, Kiaran. We are so happy to meet you.” My mother’s sweet voice sounded as she tucked a piece of her long hair behind her ear.
It was so strange to see her upright, put together, and talking again. All of them were plastered with happiness and it made me feel so content to know this was how I’d leave them.
“Come, let’s eat,” my father said before turning back toward their home with my mother in hand.
Three little bodies bounced in front of Kiaran and I.
Kiaran leaned down to meet Tildan’s height.
“You must be Tildan.” My youngest brother’s face lit up at the recognition and he wrapped his tiny arms around Kiaran’s neck.
Butterflies were set free in the lowest part of my stomach at the baby being cradled in Kiaran’s big arms.
Fuck , he’d be such a hot dad. Not a hope I needed to have right now.
But then that little girl I saw last night when Kiaran kissed me popped back into my head, my stomach churned as my heart tried to take flight. Our girl.
Tildan wasn’t planning on letting go so Kiaran stood with the little monkey hanging on to him and moved to my next brother. “I assume this little reflection of Amelie is…” He ta pped a finger against his chin but he knew exactly who he was, and Hansel was loving it. “Hansel!”
“Yup, it sounds like handsome, which is very accurate,” my silliest brother replied. My smile spread wider somehow at how natural this all felt. Kiaran pulled Hansel into his side and hugged him as best he could while holding Tildan.
Then he turned to meet my first friend in this world. “That leaves you, the strong, adamant one, just like his sister.”
“Wren,” my brother said before Kiaran could finish, his arms were crossed and his chest was puffed out.
He was trying his best not to be excited about the big, strong man he was in front of right now.
Wren may have his boyish features back, but he was just like me and he didn’t trust easily.
My smile was about to cross the boundaries of my face as I relished in the thought that some things never changed.
“What are your intentions with my sister, Mr. Witch?” Wren asked in his most mature voice. I stifled the laugh that tried to escape me. Kiaran steeled his features and cleared his throat to meet the seriousness of Wren’s questioning.
“Well, someday I’d like to marry her.” Wren and I both jolted at that, but Wren collected himself much quicker. I couldn’t take my eyes off of Kiaran though and my smile turned into a dropped jaw. “But I’ll have to deserve her first, so I’m not sure when that day will come.”
Jesus Christ, this man.
Wren nodded at his answer, then turned to face me and cocked an eyebrow. I shook my head, and started for my parents house with my brother at my side, the other three behind us.
“Pretty ambitious fella you have there, Amelie.”
I turned my head to Wren. “You’re tellin’ me.”
The rest of the day was spent reminiscing with my family and Kiaran becoming privy to all the embarrassing stories from my life. A crash course in Amelie.