Letting Go

Chapter 5

The sun peeks through my half-opened curtains and shines brightly on my tired eyes. My clock says 6:36 am. Marley should be up in about an hour, so I plop a pillow on my head hoping to avoid the sunshine and fall back asleep. Just as I’m about to doze off, I hear a pitter-patter against the hardwood floors and Marley comes crawling into my bed. I lift the pillow, and she smiles sweetly. I wrap her in my arms. We usually start the day off with a little cuddle on the weekends. “Morning baby girl,” I whisper.

“Morning mommy,” she whispers back.

We cuddle quietly for a little, and then I ask, “How was the dance?”

“It was so much fun,” she giggles.

“Yeah? What did you guys do?”

“We danced a lot! We had punch and treats. And guess what? Even though I didn’t have a dad, and I had an uncle. Everyone thought he was the coolest. They were selling light-up bubble wands, and some kids were sad because they couldn’t get one, so uncle Liam told the guy to give one to everyone, and he’d buy it.” She says excitedly.

“Uncle Liam told me not to tell anyone, but the bubble guy told everyone, so I don't think it’s a secret anymore. Plus, Uncle Liam told me before that there are NO SECRETS from mom. It’s the rule, he said. He’s Alpha too, so he knows.” She nods with wide reassuring eyes.

“But he did tell me not to tell that we got ice cream before we came home last night. But there are no secrets from mom. So maybe he doesn't want me to tell Auntie Ria. Maybe she would have been sad if she didn't get ice cream. Auntie Ria really loves ice cream,” she says in what felt like one breath.

“Uh-huh, well that was nice of Uncle Liam, and you both had a special date, so extra treats are okay on special dates. He’s right though, no secrets from Mom. That’s a good rule,” I agree.

“I hope you said thank you to him.”

“Oh yes. I said thank you lots of times! Then I told him he was my favourite uncle, but that was a secret. I told him he couldn't tell uncle Kit or uncle Eli. They might be sad,” She says quickly with big expressive eyes. I chuckle and pull her tight into me. My sweet energetic girl.

It’s Saturday morning, and as per usual, we do family brunch at Aria’s. I’m excited to get some time with Aria and talk to her about my date. She’s only got a month until her due date, so I plan to head over a little early and help her in the kitchen.

We get ourselves ready, and then head over at 9:00 am. We’re the first ones there, and Aria opens the door, and squeals with delight when she sees us. She gives Marley a hug, and then gives me one, “I can’t wait for the details. I wanted to call you last night, but I was out by 9 pm,” she chuckles.

“It smells amazing here, like cinnamon,” I groan. She must have made her homemade cinnamon buns. I’m not a big fan of sweets unless there is cinnamon or clove in it.

When we walk into the kitchen, Liam is at the island, and Landon is sitting on the counter in front of him snacking on some diced-up fruit. Marley zooms past us, and Liam scoops her up with a hug and then sits her beside Landon on the counter.

“Landon, did you miss me?” Marley coos, as she tickles his cheeks. Landon just turned a year a few weeks ago, and Marley adores him, and he loves her too. He giggles, and then he lunges towards her giving her a slobbery kiss. Marley’s ecstatic giggles fill the room, followed by mine, Liam’s and Aria’s. They are too cute together.

“Hey Mora,” Liam says, with a wide smile that’s still lingering from watching the kids.

“Hey! So Aria, did the big bad wolf tell you what he did last night,” I ask with a smirk,

“She knows I talked to Jake,” he shrugs, Aria nods and smiles lovingly at Liam.

“That’s not what I’m talking about. The bubbles,” I tease, and Liam scoffs and rolls his eyes.

“You’re going soft, Alpha,” I tease.

“What? What did I miss?” Aria chuckles.

“I told him not to say anything… To just say the school decided to pay for them or something but he told everyone,” he shakes his head.

“Okay, spill,” Aria cuts in.

“Tell Auntie Ria, about the bubbles,” I say to Marley.

“I can’t it's a secret, just like the ice cream, remember? Shh,” she says and Liam groans. I burst out laughing, and even though Aria has no idea what we’re talking about she’s beaming.

"Wait... what's this about ice cream?" Aria asks jokingly.

"See, told ya," Marley says with wide eyes, and I'm trying to hold in my laughter. Aria looks at me, questioning me about Marley's comment, and I just mouth "I'll tell you later."

“So, some kids were sad that they couldn’t get the light-up bubble wands at the dance last night, so Liam paid for all the kids to get one. He’s such a softy,” I chuckle.

“Aww, babe! That’s so sweet,” Aria gushes and she walks over to him. She leans in, and they’re all smiles and whispers and kisses, lost in each other for a moment. She has her arms wrapped around his neck. He’s got one protective hand holding onto Landon on the counter, and the other is rubbing circles on Aria’s round stomach. They’re nauseatingly adorable.

After about 20 seconds, I break it up. Or attempt to. “Okay guys, should I get the kids out of here?”

“Yes!” Aria says, and then they both chuckle, and that seems to have broken the spell they were under.

Ding*

I hear a beep, and I grab my phone from my back pocket.

Jake: Hey beautiful. I had a lot of fun last night. I can’t wait to get together, just you and I, but a play date would be fun too until then. Do you want to get together tomorrow with the girls? We can make the hour drive and go to the Zoo in Blue Ridge?

I feel myself smiling, and probably blushing.

Me: I had a lot of fun too. Thanks for a great night. The zoo sounds like a lot of fun! I’m sure the girls will love it.

Jake: Perfect! I’ll order the tickets online now, so we can skip the lines tomorrow. We can drive together, and I’ll pick you pretty ladies up at 10 am?

Me: Sounds great! Thanks! I’ll pack lunch and snacks!

Jake: Sounds perfect!

“Okay, you look awfully giddy over there… is that?” Aria asks.

I nod. “Marley, did you want to go to the Zoo tomorrow with Ellie?” I ask.

“YES! I really want to go, Mommy,” she says excitedly.

“Oooh, that sounds fun,” Aria smiles as she wags her eyebrows.

“Okay, put me to work sis,” I say to her. We busy ourselves, and as soon as Liam takes the kids to play, 

Aria is anxiously asking about my date.

“It went really well. I really like him. We held hands, and we hugged,” I admit, and I feel like in middle school. We’re both so excited about hand-holding and a hug.

“So how did it feel? I know you were so worried!” She presses, wide-eyed.

“It felt really good. I liked it. I was nervous he was going to kiss me, so I was kinda panicking as he walked me to the door, but he kissed my hand, and when he started to walk away, I was kinda disappointed. He got Marley a quart of her favourite ice cream too,” I bite my lower lip to try and hide how hard I want to smile.

“Oh gosh, Mora… I’m so happy for you,” she beams. “I called it… your best years were still ahead of you,” she says and then squeals with excitement.

“Thanks, Aria,” I laugh.

After I dissect my feelings and fears, Aria hypes me up, I feel even better than I did before. She always knows exactly what to say to me, and she always seems to understand me better than anyone.

After an hour, people are starting to show up. First My parents, then Zo, and Liam’s parents and Adelia. Last, Flora, Marcus and their 2 kids Sadie and Dylan show up. When the whole gang is there, we all sit down to eat. There’s cinnamon buns, quiche, blueberry crumb muffins, a hashbrown casserole, bacon, sausage, fruit, yogurt, granola and an assortment of drinks.

“Where’s Kit and Logan?” I ask Aria.

“They were partying last night,” she smirks.

Logan and Kit are best friends now. It makes sense though. Logan has Alpha blood in him, and Kit Beta. Alphas and Betas tend to get along well.

Brunch is always great. We enjoy awesome food, of course, and at this point, I view them all as my family too, so it’s always nice to get together. We laugh, we talk and it just feels comfortable.

When brunch is done, we all chat for a while, and then people start to trickle out. By the time I’m ready to leave it’s just my parents left. “Thanks for coming, pretty ladies,” Aria says to us.

“Hey, could you come Monday afternoon to the caterer with me? I have to pick out the menu options for the Blue Moon Festival next month,” she adds.

“Monday… Yup, what time? I don’t have anything after training,” I smile.

“2 pm. Thanks, you’re the best!”