Chapter 30

"Nice of you tojoin us, Cam."

"I don't know why you still insist on calling me that," Cam sneers, irritatingly surprised by the venom in my tone. It's not that I don't want Cam here, it's just that her expectation of calling her anything other than the name I've referred to her as for well over a decade is out of the question.

My hand remains outstretched, my fingers curling in and out, "I don't have time for this right now," I grit through my teeth. "Just hand it over. We'll discuss this later."

Cam closes the tense space between us, while I keep my hand outstretched, refusing to give in.

"No, I will not. Not until we discuss this," Cam says, holding on tighter to the small coffin shaped box. "Of all days, Maddox." The emotion is ripe within her voice, which startles me. Usually, Cam is as cold as ice, but this raw vulnerability is not something I'm used to, and I don't like it. "Please."

"Whatever. We've gone this long without rings, I guess we can make this official without them," I say, swatting my hand in the air.

Cam remains stoic, standing in front of me. "You know Maddox, there's a lot that we've gone without for a long time," she begins and, somehow, such a simple statement, makes my stomach turn. "But I hope you remember what he used to say–"

"Stop," I seethe, with an iron tight jaw. "You have a lot of fucking nerve bringing this up today, of all days, as you put it."

"That's what I'm trying to get to, Maddox. I did something today that's been a long time coming." Cam reaches in her pocket for a folded piece of paper, but my attention moves to where Blair is walking down the pumpkin lined aisle, dressed in black lace that looks like it's painted on her hauntingly beautiful curves.

With each sway of her hips, I'm transported back to the first time I ever saw her. There I sat, miserable and angry, because I had to pick up my stepbrother who I hated with every fiber of my fucking being. Yet if I didn't oblige my mother's request by picking him up, I would have never seen her. And that moment when I first witnessed the dark storm cloud of her aura walk in front of me has remained one of the most pivotal moments in my life.

I never thought I was capable of loving anyone the way my dad loved my mom, mostly because I never thought someone would invite my demons in to play with their own. No one ever wanted to, not until Blair Van Tassel let my depravity mingle with hers.

Now as I stare at her inked skin and peer into her raven color eyes that stare back at mine, I realize that every curse in my life that made me the brute I am, is what also made me the person she needed me to be. We are unconventional at best, delusional and immoral at worst, but we are meant to be. It may have taken well over a decade—fifteen grueling fucking years in fact—to get here, but fuck if I wouldn't wait decades more to have this moment.

"Are you even listening to me?" Cam chimes as Delilah swoops in.

"Um, I'm going to say no," she laughs, sounding super uncomfortable. Cam's lips part, an audible breath leaking from them, though whatever she was going to say is halted by where her and Delilah's attentions look to where mine is glued to my little hellcat.

"Is everything ok?" Blair asks. She takes a deep breath which accentuates her cleavage spilling over the neckline of her dress.

I take a step forward, my hands reaching for her hips, pulling her into me. "It is now," I say, pressing her lips to mine though I can feel the hesitancy in her kiss.

Thanks a lot, Cam.

Cam clears her throat, which Blair uses as her cue to break our kiss.

"You look beautiful, Blair. It's a nice change seeing you fully clothed," Cam laughs.

"Don't get used to it, Glinda. I think and work best scantily clothed," she winks.

My fists tighten at my side. I become lost in my head, anger wreaking havoc on my body. I know Blair has not subscribed to my insistence on calling Glinda, Cam, nor do I expect her to. It's my issue with her, not Blair's.

"It's ok," Cam says to Blair before turning to me.

"Mijn zoon," my son. My heart feels like it's being stabbed hearing her call me that because I haven't been a good son to her in a long time. Ever since I started working with her, it's become more of a distant business relationship instead of the mother son one it used to be.

"Please," she pleads. "Listen to me. I remember the day your father gave me my vial ring. I looked at him like he was crazy. But he explained to me how, although he loved me and wanted to spend his life with me," she pauses, clearing what sounds like a tight throat. "Sorry," she sighs, as I move closer to her, reaching for her hand, nodding for her to continue.

"Go ahead, mijn moeder," My mother.

"Thank you, baby," she smiles, taking in another deep inhale before continuing. "Your father always said that marriage was just a word. A piece of paper exchanged between two people, paired with overpriced rings. He always said he wanted more than marriage. He wanted a true commitment. So, on our wedding day we exchanged rings with empty vials that we filled with a drop of each other's blood. Each anniversary we would add a few drops more. The goal was to keep filling vials to replace with a new one, but life had other plans."

"No, Byron did," I interject before she can say anything else.

A saddened expression smears across her face as she nods.

"Yes. You're right and that's why I did what I did." She swallows hard, trying to fight back tears.

"Please, you married him!" I shout.

"Yes, Maddox! To get close to your father's killer, so that he wouldn't have a clue in the fucking world what was coming to him, when we killed him!" Her words end in a gasp, tears falling from her face. Blair walks to her side, as does Delilah, leaving me to stand across from the three on them, with such raw anger in my fucking veins, that it's over shadowing what should be, me and Blair's day.

"Well, this was–" I begin, but I'm interrupted by Blair's hand that is raised with a piece of folded paper in it.

"Maddox, I love you, I do but if you don't shut the fuck up and let your mother talk, I'm going to strangle you. Now read this."

She hands me the folded paper, and my eyes shoot over to where my mom's chest is heaving. "Please, just read it," she whispers.

Reluctantly, I begin to unfold the card stock.

My heart skips a beat, when I see a signed certificate confirming that she finally changed her name back to what it should have always remained. No longer Glinda Campbell, my stubborn mother is once again Glinda Crane.

My mother's wrinkled hand invades my periphery as I keep reading the line that reads her married name, the one she had to my father, over and over again.

"If you remember, your father always said that–"

"Anniversaries are important," I interrupt her, completing her sentence.

"Yes," she nods her head. "The good and the bad ones. I know this day has always been difficult for you, with the anniversary of your father's passing and," she pauses to look at Blair before lowering her lips to my ear, "and the anniversary of this one," she nudges her head over to Blair's direction, "almost framing you," she chuckles. "But now you can see it as a fresh start and an opportunity to make an unbelievably fucked up situation better. I don't know why I waited so long to change my name back but please, for the love of God, or Satan, whomever, can you please stop referring to me as Cam Moeder? I am your Moeder, but please, mom or Glinda will suffice."

I'll happily retire calling her Cam Moeder, which I only started calling her once she married Byron Campbell. The Cam part being short for Campbell and Moeder, as aless personal way to still refer to her as mom. "You got it, Mom," I mutter, the words feeling oddly comforting and bizarre all at once.

"Yay," Delilah claps. The three of us startle, having almost forgotten she was standing there. "Come on, I didn't get my online officiant certification for nothing."

Mom laughs before settling into an amused sigh. "Ah, yes. What a treat, it's not every day that the woman who you had a threesome with a few hours ago is here to officiate your wedding."

Horror paints Blair's face as Delilah steps in.

"Oh Glinda, you're such a fucking gem," Delilah says, still laughing. "We didn't have a threesome. No offense, but your son is too fucking crazy for me. But I did get a little time in between Blair's legs, just like old times," she winks.

"Jesus fucking Christ, D, really," Blair says, blushing which is a rare occurrence for her.

"Oh please, it's not like I didn't hear what was going on from the hallway," mom teases.

"What the fuck, Mom?" Maddox chimes in.

"What? We're all adults here, who cares?" she teases. "Oh, and before I forget. I heard someone had a little mishap this evening," her eyes zoning in on Blair.

Blair shrugs, "Oops."

"Well, I can take care of that for you both, consider it part of your wedding gift," Mom says.

"Sorry Glinda, your son has waited a long time to convince me to be his wife and if I know him as well as I think I do. It's only fitting for us to add to our skull display, together, as husband and wife."

Delilah chimes in again, looking as if a lightbulb went off in her head. "I knew it! There was no way those skulls on the mantle came from HomeGoods. Hell, not even Spirit sells them like that!"

"Well, I'd hope not. That means our art has gone mainstream and we don't want that," I deadpan.

"Damn, you two are crazier than I thought," Delilah shakes her head, "Okay, you two crazy ass love birds ready?"

As I reach for Blair's hand a flutter works through my system, excitement coursing through every part of my body. Bringing her inked hand to my lips, I shoot her a devilish grin before kissing her prickled skin. "I'm ready," I murmur, keeping my gaze on her onyx eyes.

Playfully she kneads on her bottom lip with her teeth before swiping her tongue across her mouth. "Well Boogeyman, it looks like I'm about to be your final girl."