BK 3 - Chapter 37 - If Only
Melanie's heart broke for Mindy. She could hear the despair in her voice that she'd heard in so many children over the years. She knew her mom and Aunt Kitty had similar backgrounds. That's why they connected so well to the children they helped.
"I'm not going to pretend to know what you're going through, but I can help you. I can be the shoulder you cry on, the friend you confide in, or the sister you do everything with. You're not alone." Melanie had tears streaming down her face as Mindy clung to her, sobbing. She wasn't as good as her mom at making her caladrius effects stronger, but she was still having an impact on the woman in her arms.
"Can I ask you something crazy?" Mindy asked through her sobs. She looked up at Melanie through her tears.
"You can ask me anything." She answered.
"Does your family have some kind of weird powers or something? When I touched your mom and then you, it felt like you were taking away some of my pain. Every time I touched Wesley, there were these little tingles. How is any of that possible?" Mindy appreciated Melanie saying she could talk to her. However, she hadn't spoken to anyone about anything personal in as long as she could remember. What she had already said just tumbled out of her like she had no control, but she wasn't ready to say more yet.
"The stuff with Wesley, I'm sure he'll talk to you about later. My mom and I seem to have something inside us that calms people. My parents have a couple of group homes where they help children who have been abused. They take them in rather than have them sent to foster care so they can get the help they need. When the kids wake up screaming from their nightmares, my mom and I help them as much as possible. We can put them at ease, even if it's only for a little while." Melanie knew that didn't really answer her question, but it was the best she could do without coming right out and telling her about shifters.
"Wait a minute. Is your mom Caterina and your dad Trey?" Mindy asked, sitting up and looking Melanie in the eye.
"Yes. Do you know them?" Melanie asked. Mindy hadn't appeared to recognize them downstairs.
"Not officially. We lived in Sacramento when I was a child. When I was seven, I was in the emergency room. I had been beaten, and my arm was broken. My mom had told them it was my dad. I heard the nurses in the hallway say they were going to call Caterina and Trey to come and talk to me because I wouldn't tell anyone what happened. My mom heard them, too, and as soon as they were gone, she took me out of the hospital. The next thing I knew, we packed our bags and drove across the country to Tennessee." Mindy took a breath as it all came back to her. She'd been to the ED so many times they all ran together, but she remembered that time. It was the only time she'd hoped someone would help her. When the nurses talked about Caterina and Trey, she thought of them as angels, but she never got to meet them.
"Did she run because she was scared of your father?" Melanie asked.
"I never knew my father. She ran because she didn't want anyone to find out the truth." Mindy stopped and looked down at her hands.
"The truth about what?" Melanie questioned, almost not wanting to hear the answer.
"That she was the one abusing me. My mom was the monster in my house, and when she heard the nurses trying to arrange for someone to talk to me, she knew they would take me from her. Your parents would have saved me, but she took me away before they could. I can't believe, after all these years, I'm finally meeting the people who I had always pictured as angels." Mindy said softly. When she felt a small hand on her back, she looked over and realized Lisa was still trying to comfort her.
"I'm sorry, Mindy. Sometimes the staff in the hospital forget women can be just as bad or worse to their kids than men. My mom and dad do classes with hospital staff to review the commonly missed signs of abuse. They also enforce the importance of speaking to the child alone. I'm sorry they didn't get to you before she took you away." Melanie spoke softly. Mindy moved off Melanie and sat up on the floor. She pulled Lisa over to sit on her lap.
"I'm glad I get to meet them and all of you now. Your family must be close. Wesley said that Raul had hurt some of you as well." Melanie said, hugging Lisa to her. She didn't cuddle with many people other than Melanie and Saxon, but Lisa could tell Mindy needed her.
"We haven't met him officially, but he had me and my mother kidnapped from Rio and taken to Venice. When we got away, he came to California and killed a woman who was someone my mom had saved several years ago." Melanie answered carefully. She was cautious not to say too much before Wesley had a chance to tell Mindy about being shifters.
"I'm glad you got away before he got his hands on you. I should have never helped him. He pretended to be older than he was and asked me to help him walk to the main street. I thought it would be okay because he was old. I should have trusted my gut when I felt there was something not right about him. If I had run away, this never would have happened. I made myself a victim." A single tear ran down Mindy's cheek.
"Don't blame yourself. If you would have run, he would have chased you. Men like him are already thinking three steps ahead to ensure they get what they want. Do you feel like getting a bath now?" Melanie asked her, wanting to give Mindy time to relax.
"Yeah, but can you two stay in the other room? I don't expect you to stay in here with me, but I don't want to be completely alone." Mindy asked. She was thankful for everything they had done for her so far. Being surrounded by people who supported her was new, but she liked it.
"We'll stay wherever you want us." Melanie stood up and helped Mindy up. After they got her settled into a bath, Melanie and Lisa stepped into the bedroom to wait.
"Mommy, is she going to be okay?" Lisa asked, sitting next to Melanie on the bed.
"It may take a while, but she'll get better. Wesley will help her once he can tell her about being his mate. Good job not saying anything about being a lioness." Melanie answered her. She pulled out her phone and texted Wesley. She knew when Mindy was ready to talk, it would most likely be him that would get her to open up. He said he was downstairs and would come up whenever she needed him.
Mindy sat in the hot water and soaked her aching body. It felt incredible. She thought about her conversation with Melanie. Throughout the years, she had fantasized about what Caterina and Trey looked like. Now that she was with them and their family, it was overwhelming to her. Her life would have been so different if they had arrived before her mom had taken her away. Her mom was the biggest terror of her childhood, but the various men her mom was with over the years contributed as well.
She looked at herself in the mirror when she got out of the tub. There were bruises and scratches all over her body. Mindy had looked worse, but it had been a long time. She put on the soft green pajamas Melanie left for her. Is this what it would have been like to have a sister? Someone, to be there when no one else was?
Mindy saw Melanie and Lisa sitting on the bed in their pajamas when she walked out of the bathroom. There was a buffet of food sitting on the bed with them.
"Wesley sent up brunch, and we decided to have a girl's day in bed watching movies," Melanie said with a smile. Mindy smiled gratefully in return. After the heaviness in the bathroom, she needed something easy.
"I've never had a girl's day before," Mindy said, sliding into the bed beside Lisa. She grabbed a piece of toast from one of the plates of food.
"What movies do you like? Alex and I never got to watch TV, so we don't know any movies." Lisa said excitedly.
"What looks good to you? I'm not picky." She answered. Lisa decided on Twilight.
"This looks good." She said, smirking at Melanie, who was hiding her smile.
"You like vampires?" Mindy asked, eating a piece of bacon. Lisa shrugged.
"They seem pretty neat to me." She answered. Mindy smiled as the movie started. If only vampires and werewolves were real. Then they could get rid of Raul and make sure he was never found. However, things like that don't exist.
