9. Calista

Chapter 9

Calista

" I think you look like a princess, Mommy."

The glow is still radiating between us, and Juniper is smiling her little head off.

"Thanks, Junie," I say.

There's so many emotions crashing through me. Love. Sadness. Shock. Joy.

A fierce pride. Protectiveness.

Everything is bouncing inside of me like a room full of basketballs, and I take a deep breath, steadying myself.

A wave of calm overwhelms me. It feels like…

I look at Orion. "Is that you?"

He grins. "I think so. You're feeling a little chaotic?"

"Yes?" It's phrased as a question, until I nod. "Yes. Well. I was."

"I got you, Calista," he says, sending another wave of reassurance through our bond.

Our bond.

I reach for his hand, slowly taking it. "I'm sorry about everything," I whisper.

"There's nothing to be sorry for."

"I want to tell you what happened…"

"You guys are weird," Juniper says. "What's happening?"

The little note of panic in her voice makes me stop.

Orion nods. He squeezes my fingers. "We can talk later."

I nod, too. Then I turn to Juniper. "Junie, you are very, very lucky."

"Why?"

I kneel down, taking my hand from Orion's. I grab Juniper, holding onto her fingers and tugging her close. "This is magic."

"Magic?"

"Orion isn't just my friend. The magic helped us find him, and guess what?"

"What?" Juniper echoes, excited.

I can feel Orion's shock, but I want to do this. I've hidden things for too long.

"The magic that brought Orion here is special. Because he's not just special to Mommy, he's special to you, too."

"Because he has flowers?"

I lift her up, bringing her close to him. "Orion is your daddy, Junie."

Her little nose wrinkles up. "I don't have a daddy."

"You do. We just lost him for a while."

She looks at me suspiciously. "But the magic found him?"

"The magic found him."

Juniper looks at him, then looks at me. "Can we have ice cream for dinner?"

Orion laughs. I laugh. Leave it to the four-year-old to totally take all the tension out of this situation.

"Whatever you want, Junie. Go put on your shoes, and we'll go get ice cream."

"Yay!"

Juniper scrambles down, sprinting for her open suitcase. Orion moves next to me, putting his hand on my shoulder. "The magic brought her a dad?"

"She's four. It's the best I had." I shrug. "When she's older, we can explain it."

"And what will we say?"

I turn to him. I grab both of his hands, holding them as I look down at them. "That I didn't think you wanted to be with me, and I left, because it would have hurt me too badly to hear you say it. That when I found out about her, I wanted to tell you, but I was too scared."

"Of what?"

"That you'd hate me," I whisper. "That you'd never forgive me for running away."

"Calista…"

"I'm so sorry, Orion. I'm sorry that I took her firsts away from you. I'm sorry that I didn't give you the chance to be a dad…"

"It's okay. There's nothing to be sorry for," he says. "I'm sorry that you didn't think you could trust me. And that you thought I'd tell my mom more about our future than I told you."

"You're very close with her," I say softly.

He grimaces. "I would like to be less close."

"Orion…"

"My mom interferes in my personal life. She does it because she cares, but I told her that if she continues to act like that, then I will have to remove myself from my relationship with her."

My eyes widen. "How did she take it?"

"Poorly. But the point is not to isolate her or cut her out. The point is that I want to have a relationship with my mom. Just not one where she's deciding things for me," he says.

I wince. "Ouch. Point taken."

"I'm my own person, Calista." He squeezes my hands. "Fate made us mates. You don't have to decide things for me. From this day forward, there are no more lies, okay?"

"No lies."

"And no half truths. No secrets. We tell each other everything, because we're both people who can trust that the other one is going to choose something that's right for both of us—" He kisses my knuckles, punctuating his point. "—over choosing something else. Sound like a deal?"

I smile, trying to keep the tears from my throat. "Sounds perfect."

"Also, you're moving out of this place. And out of Florida."

I blink.

He kisses my hand again. "I spent five years without you. Both of you," he says, his head nodding in Juniper's direction. "I don't want to spend another second without either of you."

"Deal," I agree, my throat too thick with tears to say anything else.

"I'm ready!"

I look down.

My… our daughter has chosen to wear a pair of hot pink sparkly cowboy boots.

I raise my eyebrows. "Where did you get those?"

"Auntie Amara," she says proudly.

I sigh. "Come on, kid. Let's go get ice cream."

"I want to hold Daddy's hand!" she shrieks.

I look up at Orion. His eyes go wide. He looks down and holds out his hand.

Juniper takes it, then grins. "Okay. Let's go!"

I take her other hand, and the three of us head out the door.

Together.

As a family.