No, I am a spirit.
He visited the wolves to let them know how the day turned out and stayed longer than he had expected. It was midnight when he returned to the party, but the room was empty. Alex heard a noise coming from the kitchen. ‘You’re keen,’ he said to Summer when he opened the door.
‘I’m just getting everything ready for in the morning.’
‘Where’s everyone? I thought they’d still be partying.’
‘Most are in the cinema, and I’m going to join them, you coming?’
‘Yeah, why not, but first we better get something.’ They climbed the stairs to a cupboard. Alex took a pile of blankets and passed them to Summer before taking another pile for himself. ‘You know they’re going to fall asleep in there.’
They entered the cinema from the floor they were on and started handing out the blankets. Adhara, Sarin and Tia sat in the front row, they had changed into some sort of pyjama suit and they were now rabbits. Sarin was sitting with Carrie and he put a blanket over them. Adhara moved over for him to share her seat.
CHAPTER TWELVE
New Additions
Alex didn’t know who had fallen asleep first, but he woke before the children did. He walked into the hall stretching.
Blaze stood watching him. ‘Didn’t you sleep well?’
‘Yeah, but waking up was the problem.’
‘You’re not meant to sleep in there.’
‘I’ve just figured that out.’
Alex had a shower, and dressed. He left his bedroom to have breakfast and saw his girls going to their room.
‘What we doing today, Papa?’ said Sarin.
‘After you’ve changed and had breakfast I want you to meet some friends.’
‘Aw, do we have to get changed?’
‘You can’t meet wolves when you’re dressed as rabbits.’
Alex walked into the party room and saw Carrie having breakfast, she looked up and smiled. He strolled over to the hatch to try Summer’s cooking.
‘What size would you like your full English breakfast?’ she said.
‘It comes in sizes?’
Summer smiled. ‘Yeah, small, medium or . . . the Monster.’
Alex felt hungry. ‘I’ll try the Monster.’
Summer raised an eyebrow. ‘I’ll bring it over to you.’
Alex sat opposite Carrie as she was the only one in there. She had already finished her breakfast, and was sitting back in her chair sipping on a coffee. ‘Good morning, you don’t mind me sitting here?’
‘Morning, and course not,’ she said, still smiling.
‘How was your first night here?’
‘Great, I love the place.’
‘I thought you’d still be partying when I got back, not watching a film.’
‘You disappeared . . . I thought you’d gone to bed.’
‘I went outside.’ Alex was quite happy she noticed he had gone.
‘I thought it was silly you going to bed then joining us in the cinema.’
Alex didn’t have to wait long for his breakfast, it was huge. The plate was twice the size of Carrie’s. It had four large sausages, four rashers of bacon, four eggs, mushrooms, beans, tomatoes, hash browns, and a side plate of toasted and fried bread.
Carrie raised an eyebrow. ‘You ordered the Monster?’
‘I didn’t know it was gonna be this big,’ he said, his appetite diminishing slightly at the size, but came back after his first taste.
‘I struggle to eat the medium. So what’s happening today?’
‘After the girls had their breakfast, I’m taking them outside to show them around.’
‘I was thinking of ordering everything for the salon, and move my stuff in here, if that’s OK?’
Alex bit some toast and swallowed. ‘Sooner the better, so you can get settled in.’
‘I’m not sure how I’ll move it though.’
‘We can use the coach, limo or hire a van, I’ll help you, and we can use the top floor for storage,’ he said, with it slowly sinking in — she would be living with him.
Carrie considered it. ‘No, I’d like your help but I’m leaving my furniture.’
Alex told her what he did with his flat, and she decided to do the same. They talked for another ten minutes when others started to join them.
Claire sat at their table. ‘No bloody way . . . you haven’t?’
Alex and Carrie looked embarrassed, as if they had been up to something.
‘Haven’t what?’ said Alex.
‘Eaten the Monster.’
Alex looked down and all that remained was a piece of toast in his hand.
‘No one has ever eaten one before,’ said Carrie.
* * *
The children finished their breakfast and Alex took them out to meet the wolves.
He opened the door to the shed. ‘Now I don’t want you to get frightened, the wolves are our frie—.’ He didn’t get to finish, as he looked down the girls had run straight in and hugged Rho and Chi. ‘OK, I didn’t expect that, so how are you?
Bored, waiting for my children, said Chi. So these are your girls at last?
Yeah, and Tia, I thought it was time for them to meet you.
The girls stroked her stomach feeling the cubs. Chi clearly enjoyed it. Oh I do like them, it feels so nice.
‘And we like you, too.’ All three girls said.
‘I wondered if that would happen,’ said Alex. ‘But I wasn’t expecting Tia to do it so soon.’
I thought the same, said Rho.
‘We taught Tia,’ said Adhara.
Alex raised his brows. ‘But you haven’t been near Rho since the night I took you away from that house.’
‘We could do it anyway, and after you helped Tia she heard us talking in our heads.’
‘That’s amazing, but you know you can’t tell anyone until they can do it.’
‘We didn’t tell them because they might have thought us weird,’ said Sarin.
Alex smiled. ‘They might all be able to do it one day, but can never be told until they hear it.’
‘OK, Papa.’
Alex looked at the wolves. ‘You do realise you’re going to get a lot of company from now on.’
That’s something we will look forward to, said Chi.
* * *
‘Are you frickin’ mad?’ Claire snapped.
‘No,’ said Carrie, now sitting on one of the sofas. ‘I’m moving in, and this is gonna be my home.’
‘Yeah, but giving up your flat just like that.’
Carrie shrugged. ‘It’s just a flat, and to be honest I’ll be happy to be rid of it.’
‘I’m giving up my house,’ said Blaze.
‘What? I can’t believe what I’m hearing,’ Claire snapped again. ‘We have some great memories from there, and you still help others.’
‘There are also bad memories,’ said Blaze, as she sat down with a cup of tea. ‘Is it so bad I want to help me for a change?’
‘Course not,’ said Claire, with her mood softening. ‘But you’ll have nothing to go back to.’
‘I could never go back, not without the girls, you know how I feel about them.’
‘I wanna do it, as does Donna,’ said Livvy. ‘Only we feel guilty as it was all of you who gave us our furniture.’
Paige put an arm around her. ‘Don’t be silly, we won’t mind, just let someone else use it.’
‘I’m doing it,’ said Summer. ‘Not just for the kitchen, but I believe it’ll be good for Tia.’
Claire groaned. ‘Are you all thinking of doing the same?’
‘I will,’ said Paige, ‘but only if you agree.’
‘OK, let’s do it,’ said Claire grumpily.
‘Don’t be sad, this could be fun.’
‘I know . . . I just feel like he’s got one over on us again.’
‘Well if he planned this then he is good, and I’d rather have him on our side than against us,’ said Blaze, as Alex and the children came back in.
/> Claire stood in front of them with her hands on hips. ‘So did you plan it?’
Alex looked confused, his girls and Tia also looked confused. ‘Plan what?’
‘We would give up our homes and furniture.’
‘I expected you to give up your homes eventually, but I left a lot of rooms on the top floor for furniture.’
Skye sat on the arm of a sofa. ‘Are you always plotting?’
‘After the last five months I never want to plot anything again.’
‘OK,’ said Claire. ‘When we gonna do this?’
Alex shrugged. ‘It’s up to you, but if you want to do it today it’ll be in a couple of hours as I promised I’d help Carrie. But I want to show Amy and Lucy the stables first, and Livvy and Donna some of the grounds. Anyone who fancies coming for a walk is also welcome.’
‘I would,’ said Carrie, ‘but I should order the stuff for the salon first.’
‘I’d leave it for now and design how you want it.’
Michelle smiled. ‘You want me to help you?’
Carrie stood up and grabbed her arm. ‘Of course, you’ll be fitting everything.’
Alex looked at Michelle. ‘Are you in charge of maintenance?’
‘If it’s OK with you? And I do have a toolbox.’
‘Yeah, I’m rubbish with electrics.’
* * *
They took a walk down to the stables with the children running ahead. Carrie held Alex’s arm, and as much as he enjoyed it he knew it was making a bad situation worse. There were ten of them as well as the children, Blaze wanted to stay behind and talk to George about running the mansion.
Donna looked around the land. ‘Do you have a plan of the grounds?’
‘There’s one in the office,’ said Alex, ‘or you can go to the top of the mansion and have a look from up there.’
‘That sounds more fun,’ said Livvy.
Donna looked back. ‘We can go up there and make some drawings.’
Livvy nodded. ‘You don’t want us to make a garden of all the land?’
‘No,’ said Alex. ‘It would upset the deer if they had nothing to graze on.’
‘Not too much work for you is it?’ said Skye, as she put her arm around her, and they walked along cheerfully . . . even Claire.
Livvy shook her head. ‘No, but I love the wild side of nature, too.’
‘Do you like the woods?’ said Alex.
‘Yeah, and I can’t wait to go in there. I don’t know whether to be sad or excited. One moment I was going to a party, and the next I’m in charge of the gardens of a large mansion where I now live.’
Alex pointed to the trees on the other side. ‘The woods over there are ours as well.’
‘This is all your land?’
‘Our land,’ said Alex, and felt Carrie’s grip tighten. ‘It’s for all who live here.’
‘You said I could put a few holes in for golf,’ said Claire.
‘Yeah, why not, I like golf.’
‘I love golf,’ said Carrie. ‘You wanna play a round with me?’
Alex stopped walking; the laughter was instant. Yes, god damn, I want to more than anything, he thought.
The others were also laughing, even Claire, but not Carrie. ‘What did I say?’ she said.
‘That was old and corny,’ said Claire.
Carrie gave a mischievous grin. ‘I know.’
They reached the stables where ten horses were grazing. Alex saw his large black stallion Bronte and the twin’s horses, which were grey and not much smaller.
‘Wow,’ said Amy, as she put her hands through her long black hair with her blue eyes going big. ‘Lucy and I get to run this?’
Alex could see how excited she was. ‘Yeah, the stables are yours.’
‘Can we ride them now, Papa?’ said Sarin.
‘No, sweetheart, we don’t have time as you have to pack your stuff at Auntie Blaze’s.’
‘Alex, you have a piebald,’ said Paige, stroking the neck of a black and white mare.
‘I know how much you love them, so I bought it for you.’
Claire nudged his arm. ‘You said you didn’t know where she was.’
‘I didn’t, but I’d have hunted her down eventually.’
‘Oh, Alex, that’s lovely,’ said Paige.
‘How about you, Carrie, do you like riding?’
‘Alex, behave,’ said Paige.
‘We are at the stables, and talk about riding. There are no innuendos, you either like to ride or you don’t,’ he said, quite straight-faced.
‘I never have,’ said Carrie, ‘but it’s something I look forward to trying.’
* * *
James drove the coach, as a few of them had their own cars. It was a case of dropping people off at their own homes. Blaze was last as he was going to help her along with Asima, and the twins.
Alex stood in Carrie’s living room putting pictures and ornaments into boxes. She didn’t need him and he knew it, but neither said anything. He looked at the pictures before putting them in the box, just to see if there was anyone special to her but they were just of her friends and a nice picture of the children.
* * *
Carrie emptied her drawers on the bed with an open suitcase nearby, when she decided to lie down for a second. ‘Come into my bedroom, Alex,’ she whispered and giggled. ‘Come, seduce me and take me.’ She giggled again, and saw her bed with all her underwear on it. Eek, what if he comes in, she thought, and within less than a minute she filled her suitcase. She couldn’t believe what she was doing, giving up her old life for the man she tried to avoid for the last few months. She felt like she was submitting herself to him, and if he asked she would do so most willingly.
‘Are you upset about leaving?’ said Alex, after they packed everything she wanted.
‘No, there are no happy memories from living here, I say living, but it was more about existing.’
‘Well out with the old and in with the new. My home is now your home.’
‘Thank you,’ she said, fighting back all the urges to jump on him.
* * *
‘You surprised me by pulling this off,’ said Blaze. ‘And I’m happy about it, but one thing does worry me.’
Alex sat on one of the sofas. ‘The free bar?’
Blaze raised an eyebrow. ‘How did you know?’
‘I had a feeling, but why does it worry you?’
‘One or two do like to drink.’
‘Life will be different for everyone here, so you have nothing to worry about.’
Blaze smiled. ‘You forgot to say trust me.’
‘Are you OK with running the place?’
‘I went over it with George today, and if I’m honest there won’t be much for me to do.’
‘Good, that’s how I like it.’
‘You’re happy to pay me if I’m sitting on a sofa drinking tea?’
‘Yeah, and when I see you sitting there, it’ll mean everything is fine. So, have you decided on the wages?’
Yes, and the fact none of us have rent or any other bills to pay, it works out an excellent wage.’
* * *
As days passed with everyone settling in, and even though he said he wouldn’t give orders Alex felt he had too when Claire and Paige started cleaning. They were soon enjoying their honeymoon again, and on the same night he heard a familiar voice.
Alex! I need you, Rho called.
I’m on my way. Alex ran down the stairs where the girls were already waiting. ‘We have to go now, the wolves need you,’ he told them.
Sarin looked confused. ‘We know, but what can we do?’
‘I’ll show you when we get there.’
Chi had already given birth to two cubs when they arrived, but lay there distressed.
Rho was in a state of alarm. I don’t know what’s wrong.
‘Don’t worry my friend I know what to do,’ said Alex, who had gotten used to the answers coming to him at the right moment.
‘What’s wrong w
ith her, Papa?’ said Adhara, looking worried.
‘Come over here and kneel behind Chi, with your hands out flat, and palms down.’
‘OK, Papa,’ said Sarin. ‘But my hands are tingling.’
‘Place your hands on Chi’s belly, and gently massage her, the next cub is stuck and needs help.’
They did as asked, and a golden glow appeared beneath their fingers. Chi gave out a sigh, and started pushing. The third cub came out, and an hour later there were seven.
Rho sat looked up at Alex. I’m in your debt.
‘No debt among friends, we’ll leave you now.’
‘Aw, Papa, do we have to go?’ said Sarin, as she looked at the new-born cubs.
‘Yes, sweetheart, the cubs need to get to know their parents first.’ Alex turned to Rho. ‘I believe these three are going to corrupt your little ones.’
We could move away, but the girls are part of their lives now. What would you suggest as you’ve been a father longer than me?
‘We’ll leave you alone for the next couple of weeks, and then I want you to move into the mansion.’
It could be a problem, as a few of the women are still frightened of us.
‘That’s something we’ll have to change,’ said Alex, and took the girls back to the mansion. ‘How does it feel now you’re heroes, or is it heroines?’ he asked them.
‘We aren’t,’ said Adhara. ‘We just helped, but I wish we could stay and play with them.’
‘You will soon, but the cubs are too weak at the moment, and they’re also blind. The first ones they should see are their mommy and daddy.’
The girls ran in telling how they helped the wolves give birth, and searched the mansion looking for anyone else who would listen to them.
‘It’s about time,’ said James.
Alex sat down. ‘Chi would agree with you there, so is there anything exciting happening in the news?’
James shrugged. ‘Na, it’s been quiet.’
Alex feigned shock. ‘What? No earthquakes or floods?’
‘Na, just the weather’s going to change and turn very cold.’
Vesta Mansion: Book One - The Power Inside Page 16
