Chapter 11

CHRISTOPHER

“This is ridiculous, just as it’s ridiculous for you to live like this. We were once a unique pack, and we will be again. The day this union happens will be a day of regained dignity. You were left behind, but from now on, you’ll be saved.”

I spoke from the depths of my soul, wanting nothing more than to see these people thrive. What Joshua was doing to them was exactly as Scarlett had described—inhumane.

As my words ended, the crowd erupted in cheers and howls of joy. My heart swelled with love. I turned to share a smile with Scarlett, but she was already walking away.

“Honey?” I called out, but she didn’t seem to hear me.

“Scarlett!” I tried again, but she kept walking toward a small wooden house. Over her shoulder, I saw an elderly couple near the door. I was about to call out to Scarlett again when she suddenly knelt down. In front of her was a little girl.

No way.

I blinked a few times, thinking my mind was playing tricks on me. My stomach twisted, and bile rose in my throat, but I swallowed it back. I took a deep breath, trying to organize my thoughts, which were spinning and refusing to go to the most obvious and most impossible place at the same time.

I could hear my heartbeat pounding in my ears, while my eyes tried to capture the scene so I would never forget it.

The girl had red, curly hair, angelic features, and blue eyes. She looked a lot like Violet, except for her eyes. Her sky-blue eyes were identical to mine.

No way.

I felt like I was about to pass out. My hands were tingling, my breathing was rapid, and just when I thought I was going to collapse, Scarlett turned back. Our eyes met in pure desperation, but she stopped me.

She smiled and extended her hand. I took it, and Scarlett helped me kneel down to the girl’s level. There, with the girl in front of me, I confirmed it. The scent doesn’t lie. Her smell was a mix of my scent with Violet’s—the jasmine notes of Violet combined with my woody ones. It was perfect. I just couldn’t believe it yet.

She was my daughter.

The girl was my daughter.

“What’s your name again?” Scarlett asked the girl.

“Caroline.” The sweetest sound in the universe came from her mouth.

My daughter’s name was Caroline.

I was at her level, but I didn’t know how to react or what to do.

How do you talk to your daughter for the first time when she’s five?

How was this possible? I saw Violet’s body. I saw her give birth. I lived through it all.

~Violet woke up at dawn in pain and bleeding. She was thirty-four weeks pregnant, and we were still a ways away from her due date. She wanted to wait and call the doctor, but I rushed her to the hospital.~

~I still remember carrying her down the stairs, driving as fast as I could. But she wouldn’t stop bleeding. When we arrived, Dr. Frederick attended to us. He was the head of the hospital at the time. He said that Violet had preeclampsia, placental abruption, and that she needed an emergency cesarean section. I felt my world collapsing, bit by bit, all control slipping through my fingers.~

~I was with Violet in the operating room the entire time. But when they took the baby out, there was no crying. I saw the baby being taken to another room. Violet told me to go see the baby. I went to the other room and saw Dr. Frederick trying to make the baby breathe.~

~Then the most horrible sound on the planet hit me—the long, high-pitched beep of a flatline. I rushed back to Violet’s room to find her unconscious. There was blood everywhere, and the doctors didn’t know whether to stitch her up, finish the surgery, or try to revive her.~

~They tried everything, but it wasn’t enough.~

~I remember screaming, ordering them to do something, but there was nothing more they could do. She was gone. Then a nurse came from the other room, saying that the baby didn’t survive.~

~I couldn’t bear to see the baby’s body, nor did I want to know the sex. I spent hours beside Violet’s body, trying to understand, to digest, but I don’t think I ever really did.~

~At the wake, both coffins were closed. Only then did I realize that I had never seen the baby’s body.~

Because there was no body. She was here, alive and strong, right in front of me.

A small hand reached up to my face and wiped away a tear I didn’t even realize had fallen.

“Why is he crying? Is he sad?” Caroline asked Scarlett, who smiled and wiped a tear from her own face.

“No, sweetheart, he’s crying because he’s happy.” She answered what I couldn’t put into words.

“Are those your parents?” Scarlett asked, pointing to the elderly couple. But Caroline just shook her head.

“I don’t have parents.” Her response cut through me, piercing my soul.

“They just take care of me,” Caroline added.

“Should we go over there and talk to them?” Scarlett stood up and offered her hand to Caroline. I watched, frozen, as they walked side by side. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

I got up and followed them, unsure of what to do next.

“You raised the girl? But who brought her to you?” Scarlett asked, running her fingers through Caroline’s red curls.

“Our son brought her here five years ago. He said her father had abandoned her mother and that her mother died during childbirth. He felt sorry for her and took her in,” the man whispered, trying not to let the girl hear.

“We told him we were too old, but he said no one else would take her. So we raised her here…” He trailed off, but before we could say anything else, his wife interrupted.

“Your eyes are the same shade of blue as hers. I’ve never seen that color on anyone else,” the woman said, covering her mouth with her hand. “You—”

“I’m her father,” I said, confirming, affirming, and commanding—trying to make my brain understand.

“You’re my father?” the little girl asked, looking up at me. My heart melted. I forced myself to kneel down again.

“Yes, I am.” I had to take a deep breath to continue without letting the tears form. “Did you notice how similar our eyes are? And if you breathe in deeply, you’ll be able to smell how your scent is like mine too?”

Her nose twitched as she sniffled, her eyes wide open. The sight of her tugged at my heartstrings, making me smile.

“Why did you leave me? Why are you only coming for me now?”

Her words hit me like a punch to the gut, leaving me speechless. My mouth felt dry, and I swallowed hard, struggling to find the right words.

Scarlett stepped in, her voice gentle. “He didn’t abandon you, sweetheart. He didn’t know you were here, or else he would’ve never left you.” She bent down to meet her at eye level.

“And are you my mom?” the little girl asked, tilting her head to the side as she looked at Scarlett.

Scarlett’s face lit up with a warm smile.

“No, not by blood. But if you’d like, I can be.” Her words were so simple, so matter-of-fact; it made my heart swell.

I had to take a deep breath to steady myself. “Actually, I’m the mom of your little brother, who’s right here in my belly.”

Caroline’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked at Scarlett’s belly.

“There’s a baby in there?”

“Yes, a very tiny one. His name is Anthony,” Scarlett added, and Caroline’s face broke into a smile.

Then, without another word, the little redhead turned and walked toward the house, leaving us behind.

I stood up, turning to face the elderly couple. I wasn’t sure how to tell them that I wanted to take her with me.

“Your son brought her here? Who’s your son?” I asked, and they exchanged a glance before looking down and answering.

“Frederick, sir,” the old man replied. His answer explained a lot. Before I could react, Scarlett spoke up.

“We’re sorry for your loss,” she said. Frederick had died three years ago, and Martha had taken over the hospital since then.

“Do you want to take her now, since she’s your daughter?” the woman asked me, and I was taken aback. Of course, I wanted to take her.

I just didn’t think they’d let me. They had raised her, hadn’t they?

“Don’t misunderstand, sir. She’s a good girl, not much trouble. But we’re old. We don’t have much time left. I’ve always worried about what would happen to her if one of us passed while she was still young. This is no life for her,” she said, pain evident in her eyes.

I exhaled, unsure of what to say.

“Do you think she’d come with me?” I asked, but before anyone could answer, little Caroline appeared at the door, dragging a bag almost as big as her, with a worn-out stuffed rabbit tucked under her arm.

“I packed my stuff,” she announced, making her way down the stairs, dragging her bag behind her.

I walked over to her, taking her bag from her. She ran over to the elderly couple, hugging their legs one at a time in a silent goodbye.

Then, she walked over to Scarlett, taking her hand.

And just like that, I was bringing my daughter home.