BK 3 - Chapter 49 - Fun Before Goodbye
Alex and Lisa were lying in their bed in the pool house. They could hear Melanie and Saxon whispering in the other room. The cubs acted like everything was okay, but there were times they were worried their new family wouldn't want them.
"Lisa, do you think they will really keep us forever? Even if they have cubs or vampire babies?" Alex asked quietly, holding his sister's hand. It was early morning and too soon for them to get up, but after living in the cages for so long, they were used to not getting a lot of sleep.
"They said that we would be their big brother and sister. We just have to keep showing them how good we are. Don't make them mad, so they won't send us back. We have to keep making them happy. Do you love Mommy and Daddy?" Lisa asked. She had Alex's same fears but thought no one would send them away as long as they were always good cubs.
"Yes, I love them. When they are away from us, my heart hurts. I'm scared they won't come back. Do you love them?" Alex was more open with Lisa than anyone else. They'd been together since birth, and she was his sister in every way other than blood.
"I love them too. I like it when they say they miss us and they hug us. I never thought we would get to have a mommy and daddy." Lisa stopped talking when she heard footsteps. They looked toward the door and saw Saxon stick his head in with a smile.
"I thought I heard you two talking in here. We have a surprise for you today. If you're awake, we can get started early." He walked fully into the room. The cubs beamed, jumping out of bed and running into his waiting arms.
"What kind of surprise? We've never had a surprise before." Lisa said excitedly. Saxon kissed her forehead, and Alex's before scooping them both in his arms and carrying them to the other bedroom. Melanie was sitting up in bed with a laptop open in front of her. She held her arms out for the cubs, and as soon as Saxon sat them on the bed, they crawled to her. The four of them snuggled together.
"We thought we would get back to finding us a house. What do you think?" Melanie asked them. Lisa and Alex grinned at her with their eyes shining.
"You still want us to live with you?" Alex asked, even though he was scared of the answer. He was learning to say what he was thinking, but it was hard. It was easier to let Lisa do the talking for both of them.
"Of course, we want you to live with us. You're our cubs now. We don't care that you weren't born to us. You're ours, and no one or nothing will ever take you away from us." Melanie answered, pulling him onto her lap and hugging him tightly. Alex was the most sensitive of the two cubs, and she knew he needed more reassurance.
"What if you have other cubs, or we do something to make you mad?" Alex asked with his face buried against her. He felt stronger when she held him close, like nothing could take him away.
"When we have cubs or vampires, they will be your brothers and sisters. You are as much our cubs as they will be. We love you so much that our hearts aren't full unless you're with us. If you do something that angers anyone, that doesn't make them stop loving and wanting you. Love isn't conditional on only being happy all the time. Daddy and I will be here when you're happy, sad, mad, and everything in between." Melanie pulled Lisa onto her lap when she saw the tears running down her face. Saxon moved over and wrapped his arms around all of them. Their hearts broke when they realized the cubs thought they could toss them aside at any time.
"Mommy is right. We love you both, and that's why we want you to help us find a home that will make us all happy." Saxon said, and the cubs smiled up at them.
"Will we get our own rooms? I can't share with a boy forever." Lisa asked, making everyone laugh. That was the sassy lioness they loved.
"Yes, you'll have your own room that you can decorate however you want," Saxon answered. He went to the kitchen and brought some pastries that Valerie had sent them for breakfast. Once they were all settled, they ate and looked at houses online.
Melanie and Saxon quickly learned that the cubs weren't picky as long as they were all living together. They set up appointments to see three houses in Roseville for the next day. Melanie asked Valerie if they could borrow her car. They were going to take the cubs to a movie and out to lunch.
Valerie was glad to see them spending some family time together. After they left, she turned toward Mindy and Wesley. They were sitting with Roger in the living room, going through the documents in the boxes from Oregon. Cat and Trey had picked up the twins and the kids from the group homes and taken them back. Even if it was only for a couple of days, they wanted to try and spend time with all of them. Janel and Thatcher picked up Jade as well. So now it was just the four of them.
"Would you all like something to drink?" Valerie asked.
"Coffee, please," Roger said, barely looking up. She wanted to laugh; he was so cute when he was back in detective mode.
"I'll have the same," Wesley answered with a smile. Mindy stood up and walked to the kitchen with her.
"I'll help you," Mindy said with a smile. She liked watching Wesley work but needed a break from all the horror she saw in those records.
"How are you doing?" Valerie asked as she started the coffee.
"I'm feeling kind of selfish. When I see what some of those shifters have been through, I feel like my problems are nothing compared to theirs." She answered honestly, grabbing some coffee mugs.
"You can't compare your traumas to others. Everyone's traumas are their own. Yes, they have experienced some horrific things, but that doesn't make yours any less traumatic. I don't want you to downplay what you've been through." Valerie said as she poured coffee into the mugs and placed them on a tray with cream and sugar.
"You're right. It's just hard to feel sorry for myself when people have been tortured for years. I hope they're able to stop them." Mindy and Valerie returned to the men and served the coffee with some cookies.
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Saxon, Melanie, and the cubs came out of the movie laughing. They watched a film in 3D. Lisa and Alex were so overwhelmed with things flying at them that they had ducked several times, afraid they would get hit. Once they realized nothing was actually there, they enjoyed themselves.
"That was so much fun. Is this what normal kids do?" Lisa asked, holding Melanie's hand while skipping out the door.
"This is something that people of all ages do. We'll make sure to bring you a lot more. Now, we're going to go somewhere for lunch that I think you'll both enjoy." Saxon said, winking at Melanie. She giggled. Sometimes he acted like a bigger kid than the cubs.
They got into the car and drove to Dave & Busters. They were lucky it was a weekday, so it wasn't that crowded. When they walked inside, the cub's eyes got big as saucers as they looked at all the arcade games.
"Wow, what is this place?" Alex asked.
"This is a place where we can all be kids. We'll eat lunch, and then we're going to play games until we're ready to pass out." Saxon answered. He'd wanted to go there for a long time but never had anyone to take.
They ate a quick lunch and went from one game to another until Melanie was sure they had played them all at least twice. She was exhausted, but it was worth it seeing the cubs acting like children and not worried about everything. Their faces had been beaming with joy the entire day, and she wanted to always see them like that. After the conversation they had with them that morning, she knew that she and Saxon needed to reassure them that they weren't going anywhere. They were their cubs and would always be their cubs.
They had to carry Lisa and Alex to the car as they were too tired to walk. They were both fast asleep as soon as they put them in the backseat.
"I think they had a good time," Saxon said, leaning over to kiss Melanie.
"They definitely did. Now let's go home so we can have a good time." Saxon's grin spread as he started the car. Just as he was about to pull out of the parking lot, his phone rang. He looked at the number in surprise.
"Hello?" He answered.
"Saxon, this is Ana from the hotel in Rio. You told me to let you know when I hear something from Vincent." Saxon looked at Melanie as he held the phone up so she could hear. He didn't want to wake the cubs by putting it on speaker.
"Yes, I remember. Have you heard from him?" He asked.
"He texted me an address and said if I want my mate, I'm to meet him there with ten thousand US dollars. He said they are selling all their merchandise, and he'll kill him if I don't show up." Ana started crying.
"When is this meeting?" Saxon asked.
"It's in two days. I'll text you the address. I don't have ten thousand dollars." Ana answered between sobs.
"Don't worry. We'll be there, and we'll get your mate back." Saxon said before hanging up.
"Well, I guess we know where we're going next," Melanie said with a sigh.
"Yep, back to Rio."
