Nikolai
We went back to the palace after that.
Even after a lot of convincing and a lot more kissing, Ava didn’t agree to showering together. She knew we’d not come out of the room for a long time.
But I was thankful for it later when we finished showering and washing off the blood off of ourselves in ten minutes.
We all had gathered in the living room.
Max and I were sitting on either side of Mom, much to Dimitri’s dismay. He ended up taking a seat other seat closest to mom, which was next to Max. Ava wasn’t leaving my side any time soon.
Mom stood up from her place and pulled Ava into a motherly hug. “I’m so glad to finally meet you, Ava. I wish I would have known you were Nik’s mate all those years ago. I would have held on longer.”
“I’m honoured to have met you too. I wish I would have known too.” Ava replied softly. “But I understand why you did what you did.”
Mom hugged her again, both of them fighting tears as they did so. Going through a hardship together is bound to leave a bond, however brief the time may be.
She greeted Mikhail after her who had come back by now. “It’s a pleasure to meet my son’s brothers.”
“The pleasure is all mine.” He smiled smoothly.
“Tell us about your life on the other side of the moon!” Dimitri asked excitedly.
Mom took a seat beside me again and smiled. Blush rose on ther cheeks. “I met my mate. Adrik had killed him without my knowledge. How he even came to know he was my mate, I don’t know. His name is Kaiser. He is sweet, kind and loves me very much. I’m actually happy. I’m sure you all will meet him one day. But that day won’t come for a very, very long time.”
“Sofiya, Vladimir and Valeralyn are happy too. Little Lera is seven years old and she is already creating trouble. She has her mother’s blond hair and her father’s dark eyes. It’s a shame that she didn’t get to live, that all of them didn’t get to live. But I’m glad they are happy.”
“Life on the other side is very different from here. It’s exactly like this world but there is no sadness and no problems. Everyone is happy and at peace. The bad souls go to the underworld where I have heart they repent for as long as their soul is clean and only then can they walk over the moon.”
“Dammit.” Max cursed. “I’ll have to spend time away from Talia. I won’t come out of the underworld for years!”
Mom twisted Max’s ear. “Don’t even joke about it. It’s not funny.”
“Fuck! Ouch!”
“Don’t curse at your mother!”
Mom ended up releasing his ear and Max rubbed it soothingly. “I definitely didn’t miss this.” He muttered under his breath.
“What was that?” Mom narrowed his eyes at him.
“Nothing!” He said immediately, looking like a child that had just been set straight.
Nat was looking at Mom with admiration filled in her eyes. “How did you do that?”
Mom smirked. “You need to add a little zing to your words.” And then she bent a little to look at Ava on the other side of me. “You should take notes too.”
Ava smiled at her in reply, nodding.
“Anyways. Enough about me. You’ll know that world when you come there. I’m not supposed to say much either. It’s forbidden. I want to know about all of you.”
And then everyone started talking. I leaned back in my seat with a smile.
I missed this. I missed being around family.
And I missed Mom. I watched her laugh at something Fiyona said, I watched her reach over and slap Dimitri’s arm when he said something stupid.
Ava was drawing circles in my inner palm that made me go crazy but she was listening intently to something Mikhail was telling her.
“Dadda! Mama!” I heard two voices and a grin spread across my face when I saw Tori and Klaus run towards us, Kol along with them.
“Did Klaus really kill Gabriel?” Kol asked his father, his eyes wide with curiosity and excitement.
“Yes! I told you I did!” Klaus rolled his eyes at his best friend and then looked at Mom. “Who are you?”
Mom smiled sweetly at him. “I’m your grandma, Klaus.”
“Don’t lie to me.” He crossed his arms. “She is my grandma.” He motioned towards Valerie who chuckled at his statement.
“You have two grandma’s, Klaus. Grandma Valerie is Mama’s mother and she is my mother, Viktoria.”
His mouth opened in an ‘o’. He extended his hand towards mom. “Hello, grandma. My name is Niklaus Nikolai Aine Volkov. It’s nice to meet you.”
Mom’s smile widened and she hugged him. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, child.”
“Your name is like my name, Grandma.” Tori smiled at her and hugged her after Klaus was done. “My name is Viktoria Valerie Aine Volkov. My name is like both my grandmas!”
“Yes. Thanks to your mother.” She smiled at Ava who smiled back.
“Why?” Tori, ever the inquisitive one asked.
“Because when you love someone, and they are gone, you can name your child to remember them.” Ava replied.
“But they aren’t gone, Mama. They are right here!” She pointed at both her grandmas.
“I’ll be going soon, Tori.” Mom smiled. “And Valerie was gone but she came back.”
“I don’t understand.” She scratched the back of her head.
“You’ll know when you grow up.” She replied before she opened her arms to hug Kol too. “Won’t you meet your grandma?”
Kol came and hugged her. “My name is Kol Meer Romanov. How are you my grandma? Dad is a vampire and you are a werewolf.”
“I’ll explain it to you later, son.” Max told him and Kol nodded.
“How long do I have now?” Mom asked Faelern.
He looked at his watch. “You have about an hour.”
“I would like to talk to my children in private.” Mom said softly. “Youngest to oldest.” And smiled at Dimitri.
“Yes!” Dimitri fist jumped to his feet, fist bumping in the air. Mom and Dimitri had taken the ride back to the palace in the same car. They had stepped out of the car with red eyes and small smiles on their faces. It was obvious that they had had a talk. I also knew that they talked about Althea. But ever since the car ride, Dimitri didn’t seem as depressed as he had been in the last years. In fact, looking at him now, he was in high spirits. It felt like my baby brother was back. “Take that! I’m the favourite. I go first.”
“Yes, you always go first.” Max snickered but I could see the relief in his eyes. He definitely noticed the change in Dimitri too.
Dimitri flicked his forehead before he pulled Mom up and hid behind her, showing his tongue to Max.
I knew what they were doing.
When Dimitri starts joking too much, that means he is hiding his emotions behind smiles. He is sad. All of us are. But he doesn’t want to show it in front of Mom, or anyone else for that matter.
“Let’s go for a walk in the gardens yeah?” Mom looped her hand through Dimitri’s and they both walked out.
But I wasn’t having it. I couldn’t smile for the life of me. Why was it that the good people die and the bad people live a long life?
I looked at Tori chasing Klaus and Kol watching her with a slight smile on his face.
I would do anything to protect these kids.
But I can’t protect them from all kinds of hurt.
It’s likely that those two are mates. But if they aren’t, it’s going to hurt like a bitch.
“Are you okay?” Ava leaned her head on my shoulder.