Chapter 84

Alaria:

“What are you going to do?” Ezio asked, breaking my train of thoughts as I stood in the garden.

“I am going to take my son after dinner and leave, Ezio. I know that you want me to decide against it, but you know very well that I will not. There are things that I need to take care of, and as you might know, we have a mother who clearly doesn’t want me to be around her.” I said, looking at my brother who shook his head.

“Alaria, you know that this is your brother’s pack…”

“It wasn’t the case when you were sending me to Enzo, brother.” I said, stopping him. He looked down at his feet, and I smiled, taking his hand in mine. “Don’t worry, I am going to manage myself and my son. You just take care of yourself and mama. Be sure that the two of you stay out of trouble, and don’t get into too many arguments with her. She is tired as it is, and you don’t want to exhaust yourselves with the number of things that can go around.”

“But with how things are going, are you sure that it is safe for you and Ashton? The man came to you and threatened…”

“I have been keeping myself and my son safe for years before coming here. The man might be strong and he might be willing to challenge, but it is far too early to be deciding on running away, not when I know that we have a lot that we are going to end up taking care of.” I said, and he nodded.

“And Enzo?” He asked, making me sigh.

“I don’t know what I am going to do with Enzo. But I am going to keep your word in mind. I am not going to be the one to tell him about what happened, not yet anyway. He is going to break if he hears it from me, and I don’t want to be the reason that things grow messed up. I just know that they are going to be more fucked up than I am going to want to handle.” I said, and he took a deep breath, thankfully, agreeing with me.

“You know that the house’s door is always open for you. I know that we hurt you when you needed us most, but you know that there are rules that we need to follow. We didn’t know that not once did I forget my…”

want to get in more trouble than we can afford, but “I don’t need an apology. What happened is done, and my son got to know his father, regardless of how painful it was, it happened in a way that I can say went well. Anyhow, I will see you soon. You stay safe until then, and I am going to be sure to keep you posted in case something happens” I said, and he nodded, hugging me tightly. Ashton, who was playing with mom, looked at me and smiled. I walked toward him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“It is time for us to go home, mama.” I said, and he nodded.

“Okay,” he said, and I smiled. I looked at my mom and smiled. She nodded in respect and I hugged her, being respectful and also showing an example to my son. The last thing that I wanted him to learn was to be rude to his parent, and no matter how rude and harsh she was with me, I knew to respect her and show her that I did.

“I will see you soon, mama, and as I told Ezio, if there is anything that you need, don’t hesitate to call me. I am going to be more than willing to respond to help.” I said, and she nodded.

“Don’t worry, we are all okay. You just be sure to stay out of trouble and there is no need to find yourself pushing yourself in places that don’t need you to be in.” She said, and I nodded. It was a rule that I always had for myself. I only did break it when I chose to go to Enzo’s house after the divorce.

I walked out of the house alongside my son, knowing that the night was going to be a long one with the number of things that I learned. I didn’t even know how I was going to face Enzo if he passed by, but judging by how things went today in the hospital, I knew that he wasn’t going to. The way he had dismissed me was one thing that bothered me and it hurt me even more than I couldn’t make him pay for the pain that HE made me go through in past. I knew that had it been her, had it been Katherine, she would have put me through that pain and more.

“Are we going back to the house, mama?” Ashton asked, and I nodded, stopping a cab for us.

“Yes, baby. We are going back to the tower. You can watch TV if you want there too, I know that you finished your homework with grandma, and I don’t want you to keep working nonstop. So, how about you watch cartoons then the two of us can get ready for bed? You know, we can even have a nice story time since you don’t have school tomorrow.” I suggested. I knew that he most likely might be asleep halfway through the cartoon. I was only thankful that he got something to eat and freshened up at the Estate. At least, I knew that something was done right in this long day.

“Will Alonso be joining us soon in these story times, mama?” He asked, making my chest ache. He knew him as a brother, to hear or even try to understand that he wasn’t even related to him was something that I didn’t know how I was going to explain if Enzo found out. The weight that I was carrying was too much, but I knew one thing, this was not something that I wanted to break. No matter the blood relation, he was a child, he didn’t deserve to be paying for his mother’s crimes.

“Of course,” I said, and he smiled. “If your father allows him to come to the tower, you are going to be listenin to many, many stories together. And you are going to grow up as the best friends that you are meant to be. You are going to watch movies and cartoons,”

“Are we going to play with a ball?” He asked, and I nodded.

“You are going to play with everything that you want to play with, my little I said, and he smiled. His eyes met mine and I kissed my son’s cheek as sat inside the cab. The man looked at me, and I nodded, handing him the address that I wanted him to go to.

“And the twins, mama? Are they going to be my brothers too?” He asked, making my eyes soften.

“Brothers or sisters, yes.” I said, ignoring the pang that I felt in my chest as the heavy feeling that I had settled in. The idea of me not hearing the children’s heartbeat was not one that I could ignore, and though they claimed that they heard it through an ultrasound, I knew that as wolves, we should be able to hear their presence. The fact that we couldn’t didn’t settle as easy to me. “They are going to be your siblings too, and you are going to be an older brother. A brother who is going to protect his siblings, one who is going to fight to be stronger with them, and who is going to teach them how to be who they are, what they are, and how to value the blood that they carry.”

“Are they going to be strong like me?” He asked, and I smiled.

“That depends, do you want to teach them how to be strong? Or do you want to be stronger?” I asked, and he looked up at the ceiling for a moment, thinking, making me smile.

“If they are boys, I want to teach them to be stronger, but if they are girls, I want to be stronger.” He said, and I raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t you want your sisters to be strong?” I asked, and he shook his head.

“I want them to be strong, but I want to be stronger.” He said, and I smiled. “I want to protect them when I am stronger. Just like I will protect you when I am big and strong.”

I smiled and hugged him tightly, kissing his forehead as I did. He looked up at me, making my heart swell as the cab driver stopped the car in front of the tower.

I handed the man a fifty dollar bill, smiling at him as he looked at me through the rear mirror. “Keep the change, thank you so much, sir.”

“You are raising yourself a fine young–man, ma’am.” He said, speaking for the first time. He was an old man, his eyes meeting mine and I smiled as my eyes softened. “Always protect your mama, young boy.

You are her man and she is going to be your queen and your guide. Do not forget that.”

“Yes, sir!” Ashton said, making my eyes softened. The two of us walked out of the cab and I put a hand on my son’s head, gently ruffling his hair before entering the building.

“Now, how about we have our peaceful night together?” I asked, smiling at my little one. “I do believe that we…

Enzo?”