36 | WILTING FLOWERS

I wrinkle my nose as I smell the heady sweetness of wilting flowers when I walk into the house. On the table is a large crystal vase with an ungodly amount of creamy roses spilling out of it. I stare at the flowers, their slightly drooping buds stark-white, but slightly wrinkled - like they were out of water a little too long. I quirk an eyebrow at the bouquet, wondering how long they’ve been here and where they’ve come from.

Movement out of the corner of my eye gives me at least one of the answers. Mom’s sitting up at the island, having been slumped against the counter top, I hadn’t seen her until she sat up just now. Excitement rises in my chest with a surge of relief and that normal peaceful feeling being around her always brings. Her strawberry-blonde hair is pulled into a loose bun, streaks of silvery-white threading through, maybe just a little more than there had been last I saw her. Her crystalline-blue eyes are sleepy as she sees me, but begin to focus more as she sits up, the soft sounds of her bones creaking and joints popping as she stretches accomanying a soft and sleepy hum from her throat.

“Wisty,” Mom greets me with a tired smile. That nostalgic look in her eyes again. I feel my own smile falter as I take her in. She’s a little paler than when I last saw her, the normally healthy glow of her skin dulled into a color closer to mine. The slight circles of exhaustion under her eyes have darkened, and there’s an added hollowness to her cheeks. *Has she lost weight?*

“H-hey,” I can’t help but stutter my response as I cross the room before she can rise from the stool and wrap her in my arms. “I missed you,” I tell her, feeling my heart weigh a little heavier in my chest at the very thought that she may have been loosing sleep over the last week. Mom’s embrace is tight, but there’s less force behind the hug. I bury my face in her neck and feel my Wolven senses heighten as I inhale her scent.

Mom’s body goes rigid for a moment before forcibly relaxing, but the tension remains in her spine as I pick apart the different scents. Her usual cinnamon and salt scent hovers under the other smells I’ve come to associate with her. Smells of cardboard boxes from Lia’s and pine from the Azure Pack, of which she’s been apart of for nearly a year. And over it all is that weird smell of the tea she’s been drinking. Ginger and antiseptic…and something else. Not exactly like iron or the smell I associate with fresh blood, it’s more earthy, but just as sharp and…at the same time unnatural.

“I’ve missed you too, honey,” Mom murmurs, nuzzling her cheek against mine before pulling away and holding me at arms length. Her hands come up and smooth my wild, red curls at the sides of my head before cupping my cheeks and gazing at me with a maternal love bright in her eyes. As if we’re meeting up for the holidays as we had been before last year. During the seven years we were running from my grandmother’s wrath, the only times we really saw each other were during the major holidays. We’d be apart the majority of the year, then meet in some neutral area where we were sure we’d be left in peace for a day or two - despite the way our combined scents would have scattered to the winds and alerted the Reiniers to our whereabouts. Little did we know that Grandmother never really ‘lost’ us. Well, not me. She had admitted she always knew where I was last year - before I ripped her heart from her chest. “Where are you?” Mom’s soft question breaks through my recollection of the past and I force the darkness of those events to the back of my mind.

“Right here.” I reply, reaching up to place my hands over hers. Again, that weird pang of extra weight pulls on my heart, making my ribcage feel too small for the beating organ. It’s the sort of feeling that threatens to overwhelm me.

“Good girl,” Mom’s expression softens back into a more natural smile and she releases me, sitting up a little straighter in her chair. “Aren’t they lovely?” She suddenly asks, glancing back at the slightly wilted flowers on the counter. I nod my head from side to side, letting an amused smirk twitch at the corners of my mouth.

“Got an admirer, do you?” I joke, knowing already what she’s about to say.

“No, silly.” A slight blush forces color back into her cheeks as her eyes take on a hazy, almost dreamy look. “They’re from your father.” She confirms my suspicions and I can’t stop the grin that threatens to break my face.

“What’s the occasion?” I ask, settling into my usual chair beside her as she continues to look fondly at the over-the-top bouquet.

“He said he’s ‘making up for lost time’,” She rolls her eyes, the warmth in her blue eyes never once flickering. “Silly bloodsucker,” She murmurs with a shit-eating grin of her own as she winks at me, the rather rude term for a vampire holding only sweetness in the way she says it - as if she were whispering his name rather than insulting him.

“I don’t mind if you guys are back together, you know.” I tell her with my amusement leaking into my tone. “I know you guys never really got divorced.”

“No, we didn’t,” Mom murmurs, her smile fading a bit as the past seems to rise in her eyes. “We’re still married - legally - but, Wisty,” Mom sighs and blinks as her eyes clear once again. She turns her face to look at me. “Things are different now and I’m not the same woman I once was. Storm- your father -” She blushes as she corrects herself. “Knows that. He’s gotten it in his head that we should date again,” Mom tries to hide another brilliant smile as she roll her eyes, but there’s no sharpness in the movement. More like embarrassment. “I’m too old for games and have been doing just fine on my own for over a decade.” There’s a bit of heat to her words as she continues, and for a split second I can see how she may have been in her youth. Sharp tongued and independent, strong and wise. “I told him as much, but he only got me these and-” Her words trip over themselves as her face burns a deeper shade of pink. “He…asked me on a date.” She admits softly, her eyes flicking back to the flowers with a faint grin on her lips.

“I don’t see what the problem is.” I tell her point-blank. “It’s clear you guys still get along and like each other.” I point out, frowning as I encourage her. Some part of me suddenly longing to see the two as a united pair. My parents. I chew my lip as the thought hits me like a bitch-slap to the face. “I want you guys to be happy.” I admit the truth that’s been growing in me since they reunited.

“It’s…well, it’s complicated, Wisty.” Mom sighs after a moment and slumps a little in her seat. “Being together in our you was one thing, but we’re fundamentally different species with different lifespans and-” She stops herself from continuing and lets out a sigh that seem to come from her very soul. “I don’t want to give him a reason to loose even a little piece of his soul.” She murmurs, her eyes straying back to mine. “I won’t live as long as the two of you, and don’t want to hurt him if we become serious again.”

“You’re not that old,” I wrinkle my nose at her, my heart lurching in my chest and twisting painfully just at the thought of my mom dying one day. Denial rises up and fuels a tiny flame of anger in my chest, dousing the pain and giving my words strength. “Weren’t you the one who told me ‘something’s are worth the risk’?” I add, firing up the memory of the conversation we’d had last year when I had first hinted that Blue was my mate. My true mate, a thing known as a soulmate in human terminology.

“Using my own words against me, I see.” Mom tells me mirthlessly, narrowing her eyes at me as I grin back at her. She sighs and purses her lips as she thinks, her eyes going right back to the giant flower arrangement and settling there. “I guess some things never change,” She murmurs absently after a minute and I grin at her a little wider.

“Learned from the best.” I reply with a wink and bounce out of my chair to whirl around the kitchen. “I’ll make dinner,” I tell her, rifling through the fridge for the heartiest ingredients I can find. “And you can tell me about your week.” I add, tossing her a smile over my shoulder. She smiles at me with a raised eyebrow.

“To what do I owe this rare pleasure?” She quips, not even bothering to argue with my decision as she settles back in her chair, bracing her elbow on the counter as I get to work making a hearty stew.

“I told you,” I pause long enough to give her an honest smile. “I missed you.” I admit. “And I wanted to talk about the thing with the Ancient.” I add and she sighs, looking tired as I bring that up again. “Nothing’s happened yet, but I’d like to bounce some things off you and see if you know more about some of the supernaturals I’ve been reading about.”

“That I can do,” Mom relaxes visibly, an easy smile settling her face. “Sometimes I forget just how much you still don’t know.” She adds, shaking her head as I launch into giving her the gist of the information the Coven’s been gathering for me and the creatures they’ve discovered living around the country. It’s an easy conversation, one that’s light and informative, settling my weeks of worry and fears though I don’t learn as much as I had hoped. It’s still nice to be able to talk to my mom and ask her about the things she knows about and how she came to meet so many different species.