It Had To Be You

Chapter 3

Copyright © 2023 Cassey9

Third Person P.O.V

Leaning her head against the car's window, Lea managed to create a wider gap between herself and her brother. A quick side glance to the boy revealed his determined face. Lea's sigh of relief soon turned into a playful groan when Liam's seatbelt came undone and his 'fart' hand was back on her face. Despite the annoyance she tried portraying, Lea secretly enjoyed her brother's attention and taunting. Liam had somehow come up with this particular game at the tender age of five. She'd been hoisting Liam up to set him on her shoulder when he'd unleashed the big bomb right to her face, surprising them both. The look of horror and disbelief that marred her face had cracked Liam, who rushed to tell their parents all about it. Nowadays, he prided himself on grossing her out just for the fun of it.

Liam's continued laughter made Lea chuckle too as she struggled to keep her brother at bay. "Mom!" Lea yelled, seeking help from their mother, and this only made the ten-year-old's teasing escalate. "Mom! Liam is doing it again, mom!"

“Come one, it smells like flowers,” Liam said, reaching out for his sister. "You like flowers, right?"

"Mom!" Lea called out as she grabbed her brother and set him on her lap, being mindful of his head. With her car in the workshop, getting fixed for alternator faults, she was stuck riding to school with her brother every morning. Not that Lea hated it. Liam could be a handful, but Lea loved him dearly. Liam's birth was the best thing to ever happen to Lea. Having a sibling and a baby brother completed her.

“Let go!” Liam struggled to get away but could not.

“No. Not until you promise not to bring your gross hands anywhere near my face!”

“I promise,” Liam uttered.

“You swear?”

“Mm hmm,” Liam fervently nodded when he was still held back by his sister. “Let go of me Lea, now!”

“I swear if I have to smell your hand again, I’ll bite your fingers off,” Lea warned the boy, who simply laughed her off as she let him go. A minute didn’t even pass as Liam got back to pestering her again.

“Mom!”

Lenora bit down a chuckle as she watched her children via the rearview mirror. The vampire's heart swelled with pride at the sight of Lea and Liam. Despite the thirteen-year age difference between her children, they got along very well. The two were like peas in a pod, complementing each other as sister and brother. In spite of their contrasting characters, Lea and Liam harmonized with each other. They made her happy, and the vampire felt proud to be called their mother.

"Mom! Lea pinched me again," Liam yelled, getting his mother's attention.

“I did not! Liar!”

“Yes! Yes you did!”

“Shut it you…”

“Lea? What did we say about you pinching your little brother,” Lenora questioned, her voice, though warm, holding a hint of warning.

"But mom, I didn't. Besides, he started it!" Lea argued as her brother scoffed, seemingly pleased at putting her on the spot.

“Liam sit down.”

“But mom…”

"Sit down and strap yourself in, and no more fart... fart-handing your sister," the vampire stated with her breaking into soft laughter at her last words. Liam had started doing that to his sister when he was seven and hadn't stopped.

“See! Even mom loves it, Lea. She’s laughing at you dork,” Liam stated, feeling proud to have made their mother laugh.

“She doesn’t love it, Liam.”

“Yes she does, Lea!”

“She doesn’t, Liam!”

“Yes…”

"Guys!" Lenora called out as she approached her son's elementary school. "Liam, get your things ready." As usual, the drop-off line was sluggishly moving when Lenora joined it. "Lea, help out your brother."

Lea nodded, picking up Liam's blue rocket-covered lunch bag and handing it to him. "Here you go, buddy," she stated and scooted to the other side of the car for her brother to access the door. "Have a great day and learn something today, buddy."

"I will," Liam stated and pushed forward between the front car seats and kissed his mother on the cheek. "Goodbye, mom."

"I love you, sweetie," Lenora stated as her son got off and was greeted by his waiting friends. Unable to bear leaving her son like she always did, Lenora lingered on the spot and lowered the window on the opposite side and waved at her son, who eagerly waved back.

"Mom, let's go! You still need to drop me off," Lea stated, squeezing herself between the small space to get to the front passenger seat. "Honestly, Mom, I can't wait for my car to get fixed."

"Why?" Lenora asked as she picked up speed once off the school line. "Don't you like it when your mother or I drop you off?"

“I do Mom. But it at times feels like I’m inconveniencing you. What if you had a super important matter at work to attend to?”

“It will have to wait, princess,” Lenora said and reached out to take her daughter’s hand. “My family comes first. I live for you three.”

"Mom," Lea whispered, completely taken aback by the conviction and deep adoration her mother's voice held. "Ma is very lucky to have you."

"I'm the lucky one, princess. Your mother blessed me with you and your brother," Lenora truthfully stated. Her life before her mate and children had been hollow, a purposeless eternity, but everything had changed that fateful day in the forest.

"Will... will I ever find what you and Ma share?" Lea asked in a weak voice. "I want that too, Mom. You two are so happy. You complement each other, and..."

Feeling her daughter's anxiety and tension, Lenora gripped the hand in hers even more firmly. "You'll find it too. Your mate. I mean your person, and when that time comes, princess, I hope they pass my test."

Lea laughed at her mother’s words. “Test? What test?”

“You’ll definitely know it when the time comes,” the vampire said with a playful wink and smirk which gladdened Lenora’s heart when her daughter’s mood instantly shifted. Lea was happy and that made her happy. “You are my princess. My little girl Lea and I trust and love you dearly. Whomever you choose to love and bring home to meet your mother and I better treat you like their queen.”