by Lena North
So, we simply lowered the coffin, filled the grave and put the stone back.
Then we stood in a semi-circle as Hawker knelt and put this hand to the stone.
“We thank you, Vildman. Rest in peace now,” he said.
Then he got up, turned and our eyes met. I remembered how I’d stood alone at a funeral not so long ago, frozen and frightened down to my very core. I hadn’t cried then, but I did as I stood in front of the grave of an ancestor I hadn’t even known existed. The unexpected sorrow I felt for a man who died so long ago suddenly mingled with longing for Willy, so I cried for Vildman, but also for my grandfather. It felt like I finally laid him to rest, and it hurt, but I didn’t feel so alone with my grief this time. My father was there to dry my cheeks, and I had family and friends all around me. Mickey and his parents were there, and my girlfriends too. Mac held me in his arms and only let go of me to kneel and murmur a few words of respect to our common forefather. Everyone else kneeled, one by one, to pay their respect until I was the only one left.
I took a deep breath and then I went down on my knees, grasping the dragon pendant. Then I put my hand on the stone.
“Rest well, Vildman, leader of the fire dragons. I hope I made you proud,” I murmured.
Suddenly the world shifted in front of my eyes. It felt like when I looked through the eyes of my bird, but I knew that I didn’t.
He was standing there, Vildman, and he looked straight at me with a small smile playing at the tips of his mouth. I’d thought he was stunning when I found his body in the cave, but seeing him as he had been, I realized that I’d had no idea. He was tall and strong and even through the mists of death, his charisma hit me like a flash. I smiled at him, and I thought he would say something, but then others were there.
Vilda came running. Drake held her hand, clearly trying to slow her down, but he was laughing, and when he turned toward me, I recognized Snow’s blue eyes. The others followed at a slower pace. Sannah and Keeghan. Troy and Rinna. Brock, Lycka, Gus. They were young, and they were happy.
Vildman turned away from me and stretched out a hand to touch his daughter’s cheek, and they smiled. Then he wrapped her up in his arms, and I saw how his eyes closed briefly. She leaned her cheek on his chest and suddenly our gazes met. Her eyes were a pulsating, luminous green, brighter than Falk’s deep forest green but not as yellowy as mine. Then she grinned cheekily.
“When your daughter is born, name her after me,” she said softly.
“I promise,” I whispered.
Then they faded away.
“Wilder?” I heard Mac murmur and felt his arms holding me up.
I leaned into him and smiled.
“We’re going to have a child, and she asked that we gave our daughter her name. Our daughter will be Vilda,” I said.
“Okay,” he said calmly.
I got to my feet, and as we slowly walked down toward the church, I explained what I’d seen. The others were silent as I talked, and I knew that they were in awe but also felt the same happiness for Vildman and his daughter as I did. They were together again, at last.
“Right,” Hawker said when I stopped talking. “This weekend, then,” he added.
I blinked.
“What will happen this weekend, dad?”
His face softened like it always did when I called him dad. I smiled back at him and hoped that it always would.
“You’re getting married,” he said.
I blinked again.
“What?” I asked.
“It’ll have to be next weekend, Hawker. Wilder will want a dress,” Mac said.
“What,” I repeated, breathily this time.
“Right,” Hawker muttered.
“We’re getting married?” I asked Mac. “Did I sleep through your proposal?” I added, wondering what they were thinking, agreeing on this just like that.
“You’re pregnant, so yeah, you’re getting married,” my father replied.
I turned to him. Then I turned to Mac. Then I turned to my dad again, opening and closing my mouth a few times.
“You’re pregnant too?” Sloane interrupted, and I turned to her, laughing.
“No, I’m not pregnant. She was talking about the child I will have eventually. Not a child I’m already expecting,” I said through my laughter.
“Really?” Mac asked and to my surprise, he sounded disappointed.
“Yes, really. Why would you think that?” I asked.
Having been conceived by mistake, I had no intentions to do the same thing to any kids I ever had, so we’d taken precautions.
“Could have been,” he muttered, “We’ve certainly tried often eno –”
He cut himself off, and his eyes flew to my father, but Hawker had stopped and was watching Sloane. His jaw had gone slack, and he looked like someone had clubbed him in the head.
“Too?” he said hoarsely.
Holy cow. It dawned on me that she'd asked if I was pregnant too.
“Oopsie,” Sloane said with a cheeky grin.
She was in no way uncomfortable with how the conversation had moved, and slowly I saw a smile form on my dad’s face. He was almost forty years old, but at that moment he looked years younger, and the smile on his face was a little embarrassed but mostly full of wonder and happiness. Then I couldn’t stop myself because it was kind of funny how history repeated itself.
“Dad?” I called out. “What is it with you and not using protection?”
Miller barked out laughter, and the rest of us joined in as we continued down the hill toward our small town in the mountains.
Epilogue
I’m on my back, and the sun warms my face, but my eyes are closed. I’m looking through the eyes of my bird, and with her, I’m soaring. Beside her, a falcon is flying, and they twist and turn, moving across the clear sky in harmony.
Then I hear a child giggling, and I let go of my bird to open my eyes. My father is walking toward me with a small boy in his arms. Wildman Johns, my brother.
I smile softly and turn to the side, knowing that I will look into the green eyes of my love.
We are together, and we had nothing, but now we have everything, and when our eyes meet, we start laughing.
Continue reading…
Birds of a Feather – Book Two: Sweet Water
Released 2017
“I am Jiminella Nixée Sweetwater, but everyone calls me Jinx. I have two friends, a small condo and no life. I'm a genius. A scholar and inventor, hardworking and loyal to my few close friends, and I have to get away. I lost myself a long time ago and to continue being who I am hurts too much so I have to escape. I have to find me.”
Being a genius might seem like a lucky thing, but it isn’t. At least, it isn’t to Jiminella “Jinx” Sweetwater.
Everything around her is just wrong, and after a fight with her best friend Wilder, it just gets worse. Someone breaks into her apartment and then, out of the blue, her parents show up in all their hippie-like glory.
Jinx has had it and escapes to a small village by the sea called Marshes where she will continue her research on the crystal Wilder found in the mountains. In Marshes she’d be left alone, she thought, but things don’t always end up the way you want them to – even if you’re smarter than everyone else.
Suddenly Jinx finds herself involved in village life, living with the cranky old biddy, Mrs. Fratinelli and trying her best to juggle all the things that seem to end up on her plate.
And then there’s calm, cool and gorgeous Dante. Snow’s boyfriend, who seems to see right through the shields she’s put up around herself, straight into her mind…
Table of Contents
Copyright
My thanks
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
> Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Epilogue
Continue reading - Sweet Water
