The next morning, Gabriel dials Selena’s number from the card she gave him.
“Hello?”
“Hi Selena, it’s me, Gabriel. I wanted to call and set up a time to see Kya again.”
“Oh,” she takes a fortifying breath, “sure. You would want to get to know her. Um, when were you thinking exactly?”
“Maybe sometime today? I'm out of the military now, having only just got back to town my schedule is pretty open.”
“Well, um, hmm. My schedule is not very open. I am working right now in fact, and incredibly grateful for the magic that is the Bluetooth headset. I don’t have anything specific planned for this afternoon, I think I can get things together so you can see her for a few hours.”
“That sounds great. Maybe we could get together every other afternoon for a while? Then I could see you both. I heard somewhere that it was better for the child if the parents get along well.”
“Yes, it is. As long as the father behaves himself and doesn’t go throwing around wild accusations for no good reason. We will see you at the park, 2 o’clock. Bye Gabriel.”
He is left staring in disbelief at a disconnected call. “She hung up on me. That bitch!”
Two minutes later Selena’s phone rings again, “Hello.”
“Hi Selena, this is Bath.”
“Hi! How are you doing? I am sorry I haven’t brought Kya by in a while, we have just been so busy.”
“Oh, I know, it happens. We all get busy. I was hoping that you could make some time to come see me soon?”
“Ugh, I am kind of slammed this week. Between work and Gabriel wanting to see Kya every other day, I couldn’t possibly until Sunday lunchtime? I do ask that Gabriel not be there while we visit though, I just need things to be a little simpler than they are when I talk to him.”
Bath smiles at the image in her mind that the phone connection allows her to have of Selena right now, “No problem. If I have to I will tie him up and drop him in the basement.”
Rich laughter poured from Selena and Bath chuckled along with her, “Oh no, that is great Bath. Love it. Thank you for being so good to us.”
“Thank you for being so good to us Selena, we know none of this has been easy for you. I will let you concentrate on your work now, watch out you don’t spill that oil dear. Bye!”
With that, she hung up and Selena narrowly missed pouring calendula oil down the side of a bottle thanks to the warning, making her wonder, “How does she know?”
10
Two days later Selena is at Dwayne’s door by 8 in the morning. She knocks and after a couple minutes he answers the door in pajama pants and no shirt. Selena’s eyes get stuck on his chest covered in tattoos and quite muscular, it had been a long time since she last saw him shirtless and he had definitely grown up since then.
“Hey, my eyes are up here,” Dwayne laughs, “what are you doing here this early? Shouldn’t you be doing something herb-ish right now? Collecting dew?”
“Uh, sorry. Yes, eyes. I haven’t seen you shirtless in a long time, cover that up. It’s distracting. Jeez, when did you get all muscled up like that?” Wow, how did I not notice this before? Obviously I was completely blind to have chosen Gabriel instead of Dwayne who is an awesome person and hot. Selena tried valiantly to keep her eyes on his face.
“You still didn’t answer my question. But come in, I will go throw on a shirt so you can be comfortable this early on a Saturday…”
He walks off leaving the door open, Selena goes back to her vehicle and gets Kya out, reminding her to be quiet so as not to wake up Nathan in case he is sleeping still. As they walk in they see Nathan putting a cereal bowl in the sink, he catches sight of Kya and runs over to her.
“Can I hug you? Do you want to play with me?”
“YES!”
“Kya, quietly!”
“Oops, sorry mommy! But he’s not asleep.”
She chuckles, “No, I don’t suppose he is. But it is still early. Both of you keep it down.”
“Yes mommy!” and “Yes Selena!” rang in a chorus as they thundered off down the hall.
Selena stepped into the kitchen just as Dwayne walked back in, with pants and shirt on to keep from distracting Selena.
“Want some coffee? And to maybe tell me what’s up?”
“Yes, please. I wanted to ask if Kya could hang out here for a bit. I need to spend some time alone to do some planning; get my next quarter planned out for the business. I do that best in a cafe alone. Usually, I get Linnette and Hayden to watch her but they are off on this seasons' tour.”
“That’s all? Yeah. I can handle Kya for a few hours, we don’t have anything really planned. I think mom is planning to drop off another casserole.” He hands her a coffee, “I could feed you both when you get back?”
“Your mom’s casserole? Ooo, yes, I would love to have food with you. She makes the best casserole; cheesy, cheesy goodness.” Dwayne’s stomach growls. “Ha! I guess you are eager for it too! Is she going to stay? I haven’t seen her in ages.”
“No, mom has a date. She hasn’t introduced us yet, but she emailed me all his information before their first date. In case she disappeared or something, she wanted me to know where to start looking.”
“Your mom has always been really safety conscious. She's the one that taught me to do that. I don’t think it ever occurred to my dad that I should worry about those things. It is good that she is getting out to date again, I know she loves your father but he has been dead for a long time.”
“I think she wanted to wait until all of my brothers and sisters were grown. You know Sharon just went to college a couple months ago, right? She was the last of the kids in the house.”
“I did not know.” She sits at the table facing toward Dwayne as he leans against the counter, “So that empty nest stuff is a lie?” chuckles, “Somehow I think she must be enjoying the quiet instead of missing the noise.”
“I think she is loving it and eager to see what else she can get into now that she isn’t responsible for an entire pack. So planning day is today? That sounds...less than fun.”
“Oh no, I love it. I break out the washi tape and stickers, I goal set, and I work on growing. It is really a lot of fun for me. I watch some Youtubers for ideas throughout the quarter and then come planning time I am just bursting with creativity. This is really just the initial planning phase, but without it, I just don’t function as well.” She sets down her cup and stands, “On that note, I need to get to it. If you are sure you’re ok with watching Kya?”
“Of course. She will be fine. Go.” He makes the shoo-ing motions with one hand and drinks more coffee with the other.
“I will!” She laughs as she calls Kya to say bye.
Two minutes later she is pulling out of the drive and on her way to her favorite cafe with the table in the back that has plenty of light but is a little separated from the other tables by some plants. It’s mostly used for employee meetings but more often than not, it was empty as people generally preferred to be in the thick of the cafe atmosphere.
Selena pulls into a parking spot at the cafe and grabs her planner bag from the seat beside her along with her purse. Inside the cafe she orders a coffee and water, then takes herself and her drinks off to her favorite back table, feeling blissful that it was empty and waiting for her. She immediately gets to work planning her next quarter for business and for personal goals. About an hour into it she feels like she is being watched. She slowly and carefully looks around without appearing to and sees a dark skinned woman with silver braids framing her face sitting near the windows at a table not far from her own. She is stunning. Selena looks more directly at her and the woman smiles, confused Selena cocks her head to one side. “Do I know you?”
The lady replies, “You knew me a long time ago and until recently I was blocked from getting anywhere near you.” She stands, tall and elegant. Her white skirt and blouse setting off her skin to perfection, she seems to almost glide over to Selena’s tabl
e, “I have waited a very long time to look upon your face again.”
Selena is very confused and a little frightened, who is this lady? She is gorgeous, but gorgeous doesn’t mean safe. “How do we know each other?”
“Selena, I’m your mother.”
“What? My mother is dead,” Selena stands angrily, “How dare you? What is your game lady? Who the fuck do you think you are?”
“Hear me out please, may I sit with you? To talk, nothing more. I promise to explain and I can provide proof that I am who I say I am.”
“I don’t know if I want to sit here and listen to you. For all I know you are out of your mind and want to take me with you.”
“You have no reason to trust me, I know. If I show you a picture of you and me and your father, will you at least hear me out?”
“A picture? You have a picture of me from when?”
The woman opens her purse, sifts through some pictures and pulls one out setting it on the table and sliding it across to Selena. She picks it up, focusing hard on the picture. It appears to be this beautiful black woman holding her as a baby and her pale father has his arms around them both. Selena sits down with a thump and belatedly waves at the chair across from her. The woman sits down and pulls out a stack of pictures. She sets them on the table in front of Selena. Selena looks up from the one in her hand, “Who are you?”
“I think you already know the answer to that question. I am your mother Selena. I am not dead. I was forced away from you and kept away for all this time. Even now, your father does not want me to see you. Whatever you may come to believe, please always know that I have never stopped trying to get back to you.”
Selena stares down at the pictures in her hands. Her and her mother, the woman sitting across from her, in every one she is focused on Selena. Her father is in some of them, but they are posed and he looks uninterested.
“I didn’t know that baby pictures of me existed. Dad always said that he was grieving so after your death that he forgot about pictures and considered himself good for managing to keep me alive. I see that you are who you , I don’t think these pictures were faked. I have a lot of questions though. Where have you been all this time? Why were you kept away from me? How are you able to come to me now? Are you going to leave again? And a lot more but my head is spinning a little and I need to hear what you can tell me.”
“Let’s start with this, I was very happy with your father for a long time. He wanted lots of children and I really was not interested in having a lot of children, 1 or 2 was fine for me. He was very persuasive though. We decided to have one and see how it went. I got pregnant with you and I loved it. Then you arrived and I was so in love with you I was barely aware of anything else in my surroundings. I was so very wrapped up in you. Your father wanted us to have another child. I wanted to wait, I wanted to devote my time to raising you alone. I felt like it would split my focus and be a problem for me. He wouldn’t hear me and… bad things happened. I was supposed to be a brood mare for the tribe. I began to pay more attention to the things around me. I noticed that-,” Luna’s gaze becomes unfocused as though she watches a scene play out in her mind’s eye, “I found out that things were not as they seemed so I was leaving. As I started out the door with you suddenly you were out of my arms and I was out the door, unable to enter again. Just staying in the boundary of the property pained me greatly. But I beat against the door until my hands bled and I was exhausted from the pain. Then I was lifted and deposited outside the property lines. I was unconscious for some small amount of time and when I came to I found that I could not even enter the property. I was heartbroken and frightened for you, I knew that he wanted as many children as he could get but he seemed more interested in the number of children than in the children themselves. I created a safe refuge on the other side of town. I began working to find a way to get to you. None of it has worked until now. I don’t know what exactly caused the banishment to end, but I felt you like a beacon as soon as it did. I haven’t been able to be anywhere around you and could only see you from a distance. I have paid investigators to keep me informed about your life, from the outside. I was there when you graduated though you didn’t see me.” Luna grimaces, “Your father saw me, he smiled at me. There are some other things I want to tell you, but I need to be sure that you will keep them from him. I know I don’t have the right to ask that of you and that is why I cannot tell you everything about my life right now. I very much want to have a relationship with you and I will take that on whatever terms I must; even if that means some things must be kept from you so as not to cause you difficulty. The decision is yours to make.”
Selena sat quietly through this whole explanation, watching her mother’s face as she spoke. She maintains her silence as she pieces together all that has been revealed and her questions about what could not be revealed. She saw the pain reflected on her mother’s face when she tried to tell her of things her father had done that were not so nice.
“I need to think about this. I want to talk to my friends and decide what to do before I commit to keeping any secrets. I believe that Dad has done some awful things to you and I don’t know what to do with that, because until you showed up today, he was my only family. That is why we still have a relationship, even after he kicked me out for being pregnant. Family is everything to me. I want you to be part of that. I was so lonely as a child and I dreamed of having this huge family. That didn't happen so I started bringing in people that would be my family. I am incredibly happy that you are here and alive.”
“Oh, Selena...”
“Since I do have so much to think about, I would ask that you give me a little time. Do you have a phone number? Or an email? How would I get in touch with you? I do want to get in touch with you. So much is going on lately that I barely know what is up from down.”
A pen and paper are in Luna’s hands like a flash and she has written down a phone number and email. The pen disappears as she hands the paper to Selena.
“You may contact me here or email me here. Additionally, if you are in need you can call out my name and I will come to you unless you are at your father’s. I may not be able to go there. I will leave you now, to think and do what you feel necessary. I would ask that you not mention me to your father, if you can be comfortable with that.”
“Yes, I can do that at the very least. May I keep these two pictures?” She holds up a picture of herself and Luna and a second one of Luna, Apophis, and herself.
“You may keep all of them, I made these copies in preparation for seeing you. I could carry these with me or call them to me with no worries of marring the originals. I hope to hear from you soon. I love you very much,” she lightly places her hand atop Selena’s on the table, “and I am so grateful that you have been willing to hear me out today. Thank you.”
With that, she strode out of the cafe, leaving Selena sitting in shock over the events of the last hour. Eventually, she noticed the time and began to gather her things up to go. She stopped to message Dwayne that she was on her way there and did he need anything? He messaged back no and lunch would be ready when she arrived. Her planning stuff back in her bag Selena collects her cup to drop in the bin on her way out.
Gabriel spots her across the cafe and does a little wind magic to place himself in her path as soon as she looks down to toss her cup in the bin. He helps her keep herself and her bag from hitting the ground, grabbing her shoulders. She looks up at him and says, “What the fuck are you doing right here?”
“Helping you not to run into some innocent stranger unaccustomed to your zoning out.”
“What? No, you were not there a minute ago and then as I start to move you just pop in. Why the hell are you popping in right here? In front of me?”
“Popping in? What are you talking about? I walked over like a norm. I even waved. You would have seen me if you had been paying attention to where you were walking.”
“What? I know your tricks and I don’t have to put up with them." She l
ooks down at his hands still holding her arms in place, "You want to be condescending? Better find yourself someone that will allow that because I am not. You have been around here a hot minute, you aren’t a friend that gets to try to play jokes on me and then act like a jerk because I don’t play along. Get your hands off of me. Now, was there a reason you jumped into my path?” Gabriel removes his hands, “Whatever. I just wanted to say hi and see how Kya is doing and where she is? Are we still on for this afternoon?”
“Mmhmm. Kya is with my friend because I needed alone time to do some planning. She is great and playing with a friend of hers right now. Yes, we are still on for this afternoon.”
Gabriel leans in at her face, a possessive anger written plain on his,“Which friend is she with? Do I know them?”
“Excuse you? You need to change your attitude with me, I have been caring for her safely for four years now and you didn’t even know she existed because you were a punk. I don’t know what bug is up your ass, but you need to get it sorted before this afternoon. You were the one that left. You were the one that wouldn’t answer your phone or listen to the messages I left. You were the one who didn’t open any of the letters I sent through your parents or our friends and who sent the ones in the mail back unopened. You chose this. Now you need to take responsibility for the way you acted and not try to bust into our lives like you own us. You don’t. Neither of us knows you and that too was your choice. This, the way we interact is not just your choice. If you cannot respect that Kya and I have done very well without you then we are going to need to rethink this whole thing. You are not going to undermine me with my daughter and this behavior is a clear start to that. I will see you this afternoon. Sort your priorities.”
Selena pushes past him and out the door as many of the ladies in the cafe watch him with narrowed eyes. He slams his hands on the bins next to him before storming out of the cafe to his own car.
Selena Rose: Daughter of the Moon Page 5
