Chapter Forty-Seven

"Good luck. And please don't kill any council members." I said, kissing Reece for the last time that morning. He snickered.
"But that's half the fun!"
"Reece! That's not funny!" I swiped his arm gently. He kissed me on the cheek, resting both hands on my shoulders. His gold eyes seemed to gaze past mine.
"I'll be back by dinner, you'll be okay with just the kiddos?" Reece asked.
"Of course." I nodded. The Council had called Reece out to the middle of no where between Moonlight Falls and the next town over. Something to do with troublesome vampires.

"Call me if you need anything." Reece said, his lips brushing past my cheek once more before he trotted down the front steps. I watched him slip into the car, and pause a moment before twisting the keys into place. He glanced back and waved as he pulled out of the driveway. I blew him a kiss as the black car disappeared down the road. I probably stood staring after him for almost ten minutes, until a voice jarred me out of my fog.

"Vinnie!"

The source of the call was Alexa, who had been in the neighborhood with Tony on their way to their own Council business. I hadn't seen them, or really anyone, since Reece and I first moved in. A joy filled my heart and I hurried down the stairs up to the couple.

"Alexa! Oh it's so good to see you!" I cried, embracing the older girl. "You too Tony."

"Long time no see." He grinned, flashing his fangs. Tony stood at a safe distance from me, I supposed that he was still nervous about being near someone close to the Hawkwood family. Or I guess I was part of it now, my children bore the last name.

"God just look at you," Alexa gushed, pulling out the hug. "Such a skinny little thing, I would've never guessed that you had twins six months ago!"

"Oh please." I laughed.

"Look at me; I'm almost certain it's quads, do you see how big I am?!" She moaned. I could see Tony rolling his eyes from where he side.

"We've been over this, wolf. You look fine!" He said.

"Sometime I wish I had your prince charming of a vampire, not this loser over here." She jerked a thumb in her boyfriends direction.

"You love me and you know it." Tony huffed.

"Speaking of babies, where are yours?!" Alexa squealed girlishly.

"Come around back, we can sit and talk too." I waved for the pair to follow me into the house.

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"So you're in town to meet with the Council, right?" I asked. The two had been introduced to the twins and after much cuddling and baby-talking, we headed out into the backyard to talk. I held Percy in my lap while Quinn sat in the grass with Tony.

"Yeah, ever since the...er...incident with Tony's mom all those years ago, he has to report back his family's activity to one of the Council members once a year." Alexa sighed.

"Which one?"

"One of the Artis brothers, I think the older one." Tony piped up. "The ginger."

"You're so lucky, I have to deal with the red head. Cedrick." I grumbled.

"What?! He's crazy! And a creep." Alexa gasped. "What the hell do you have to do with him?!"

"Well..." I hesitated, I wasn't sure if anyone was allowed to know about our situation. But I trusted Alexa and Tony, so it couldn't really hurt to tell them. "To put it simply, Quinn's been betrothed to his oldest son as a form of blackmail for Reece."

"Oh my God. That's horrible, I'm so sorry." 

"Anyway, let's please change the subject." I sighed.

"You two been thinking about names? Or do you even know the gender yet?" I asked, redirecting our conversation back to them.

"Much to her dislike, we've agreed to keeping it a surprise." Tony said. Quinn giggled as he bounced her hands up and down. Watching them I could hardly believe that I would have to watch this same tiny girl marry someone she didn't even know.

"But we have been discussing names, regardless of the gender." Alexa shrugged, pulling me back to the present. "We're also thinking of going on vacation back to our home town before this one is born."

"Where are you two from?"

"Hidden Springs, it about two hours from Los Aniegos." Tony answered.

"Hm, I don't think I've ever been."

"You're from Bridgeport right?" He asked. I nodded. "Have you and Reece been back since you first left?"

"No, we weren't really planning on it either." I shook my head. It had been a little over a year since I ran from Bridgeport, and once my feet hit the road I never looked back. Not even until now.

"Oh! Tony, look at the time! We gotta go, Vinnie." Alexa jumped up, as fast as she could in her top-heavy state.

I scooped Quinn into my arms and followed them out to the front of the house. For the second time that day, I watched someone get into their car, wave, and take off down the street. My mind was stuck on what Tony had said to me, about Bridgeport. I'd left so many doors wide open back in Bridgeport, and maybe it was time to go back and shut them. Kaya was the biggest; my best friend in the whole world, probably thought I dead. I wondered if graduation had gone well, if she was still with Axel, if she had gone off to college. 

My heart sunk when I remembered what else I had left behind. Lauri. I just left her body there, did Blu do something for her? Did she get a burial. Or was she somehow still here? I saw what I could've sworn was her, back when I was living in Pounawea. I hadn't visited my parents graves in years, or ever. After the police declared them dead I never bother to visit the empty holes that sat in the cemetery.

"You look a little blue." A familiar voice said. My breath caught in my throat as I looked up.

"Hey little sister." Blu grinned.