Chapter 20 #2
My throat constricted with gratitude for her thoughtfulness.
“You’re so perfect,” I whispered as she shyly tucked a lock of her obsidian hair behind her ear.
I kissed her then turned to my parents.
“Two days ago, I found out something incredible. And it concerns you, Mom. I have something that I was going to have delivered to you. But since you’re here, let me give it to you now,” I said carefully.
Perceptive as ever, my father immediately sensed something bigger was happening. He narrowed his eyes at me but kept his peace.
“A present?” Mom asked excitedly. “What is it?”
“Come, I will show you,” I said, feeling ridiculously nervous.
I led them to my room and retrieved the necklace Grappa Taseus had given me. My mom extended her hand with an air of genuine curiosity when I extended the small box in which I had placed the necklace.
“Oh wow, Gavin! It is beautiful!” Mom exclaimed when she opened it.
“This gift is not from me,” I said cautiously, taking her aback. “It comes from someone really special. There’s a holographic message embedded in the gem. It’s meant for you. We will leave you so that you can have some privacy while you listen.”
She blinked in confusion, and my father frowned. I smiled, realizing how my words might have implied it came from a secret admirer.
“Father, you should stay with her. She will be grateful for it,” I said.
My father instantly tensed, understanding that whatever the message contained would greatly upset my mother.
“We will be outside when you are done,” I said before exiting the room with Zhara.
She hugged me as soon as the door closed behind us.
I didn’t know why I was so messed up by the situation.
It was a moment to rejoice. A part of me wanted to be in the room when she discovered the truth.
But another believed she wouldn’t want an audience bearing witness to her potentially falling apart once all was revealed.
Seconds stretched to countless minutes. I didn’t know how long the message was. With the excellent soundproofing, we couldn’t hear anything emanating from the bedroom.
And then the door finally opened.
My mother’s face was red, her cheeks damp from the tears she had wiped. The look on her face as she gazed upon me wrecked me. It wasn’t sadness but a desperate hope, silently begging me to confirm this wasn’t some cruel joke.
“He’s wonderful, Mom. He loved your mother so much, and he’s desperate to meet you,” I said softly.
“He… He’s really my father?” Mom asked in a quivering voice.
“Yes,” I said with conviction. “His scent is undeniably of your bloodline. I recognized it as soon as I was within range of him. And then he confirmed it. He is your father, and he very much wanted you.”
She threw herself into my arms and wept again.
Despite knowing they were tears of joy, It still fucked me up to see my mother crying.
And the look on my father’s face messed even more with my head.
He rarely showed such a vulnerable expression.
But his joy and love for my mother radiated like a thousand suns.
Mom finally regained her composure and straightened while wiping her tears.
“Would you like to meet him?” Zhara asked softly. “He knows we’ve been organizing your transport here. He said he’ll be ready whenever you are.”
“Yes! Yes I do!” my mother exclaimed before a horrified expression settled on her face. “But not like this. Oh Goddess! I must look like a total wreck with my eyes puffy and my nose running!”
We laughed. My mother was always gorgeous, even now. Her slightly damp face only made her look even more vulnerable and adorable. It whipped my protective instincts into a frenzy.
“You look perfectly fine, Mother,” I said in an indulgent tone. “But you can go check for yourself in the bathroom right here.”
I didn’t have to say it twice for her to rush towards it. I chuckled again, my heart filling with love for my mother. My father’s hand settling on my shoulder startled me.
“This is the greatest gift you could have ever given your mother. Thank you, son,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.
“I don’t have much merit in any of this,” I said sheepishly. “But I’m glad to be able to help facilitate it.”
He hugged me, and I returned his embrace.
When mother finally came out, Zhara and I escorted my parents to the Basilica. Rhadames had already gone ahead to warn the Divine that we would drop by very soon. When we entered his hall, he wasn’t sitting on the throne, but pacing his dais, visibly nervous.
He stopped the moment he heard our approaching footsteps and jerked his head in our direction.
He froze, a whirlwind of emotions flashing over his handsome features.
I didn’t need to read minds to know he was seeing the ghost of his beloved.
My Grappa had shown me pictures of Alana.
He had not exaggerated by saying that Mother was her spitting image.
If not for my mom’s golden eye color, they could have been twins.
His face constricted as he clearly battled the urge to cry. My father slipped an arm around my mom’s waist as her steps faltered, her knees weakened by overwhelming emotions. Grappa climbed down the stairs on shaky legs, then walked towards her, meeting my mother halfway.
They both visibly fought the urge to run and throw themselves into each other’s arms. Although I understood their reasons, it still boggled my mind that they both feared the other might reject them.
They stopped a couple of feet from each other, eyes locked.
Mom’s lips were quivering, and her entire body was trembling.
“My baby…” Taseus whispered in a tortured voice. “My beautiful daughter…”
That broke something inside my mother. She threw herself into his arms. He caught her, lifted her off the ground, and held her in a tight embrace. Mom buried her face in his neck and cried again.
“My baby… My Grace…” Taseus said as his wings closed around her. “I’m sorry, so sorry. Your mother and I wanted you so much… so very much.”
Seeing tears well in my father’s eyes made me feel less embarrassed about the ones freely rolling down my cheeks.
After that moving reunion, Grappa Taseus had no difficulty convincing my parents to stay for a while.
On the fifth day, the rest of the crew and I had to return to Veredia.
When I expressed my concern about how they would return home, they reassured me that the vessel Rhadames teleported them from was still en route to Dantor.
It would arrive in a couple of weeks to pick them up.
They were discussing the possibility of just continuing the journey to Veredia, since they were already here in the Western Quadrant.
We agreed to make it happen either way, whether they flew their ship to Veredia or Rhadames scooped them up again.
The journey home was uneventful but quite busy.
I loved the debriefing and post mortem analysis we performed regarding this first mission and how we handled everything.
I hadn’t realized how torn my mate had been regarding healing at the end of a battle.
None of us had ever had to even consider that.
We agreed that such a decision would be handled on a case-by-case basis and only considered if we had the field secure and that caring for wounded or dead enemies wouldn’t jeopardize our safety. As the healer, we would defer to Zhara’s judgment for such decisions.
Trehvus and Dhaxius once more impressed me.
They both put the psychological training they’d received from their mother to good use, doing a mental health check with everyone.
I had already been in previous battles, killing enemies.
For all of them, it was their first time taking a life—in this instance, multiple lives.
Did it make us psychopaths that none of us curled up in a ball with major trauma?
I remembered feeling no distress or remorse beheading the assassin who came after Keran when we rescued both him and the Braxian hybrids on Haven.
Truth be told, I didn’t really care. What mattered to me was the incredible, almost symbiotic collaboration between us all.
Everyone protected everyone. Each member used their unique abilities efficiently to the benefit of the entire team.
No one froze or balked. Few people made me feel as safe as this team did.
And my fellow Braxians shared that sentiment. On the field of battle, it was extremely hard to get my people to see other species as equals in combat prowess. But our mini clan truly was in awe of our teammates. It helped me look at our grim future with optimism.
But that meeting with Coron made it clear we had a lot of work to do defining exactly how the Vigil would operate. And that kept us well occupied until our arrival back home.