“Hey,” The Queen called, and I spun. “I wanted to catch you before you went to Cam and Elle’s party.”
She looked radiant in a long flowing blue dress. She was strong, compassionate, loving, and fierce. I’d learned a lot from her over the past three years. We’d grown close like a real family, how I imagined we should have been all those years had we not been robbed of time. I still missed my mother dreadfully, but the Queen had filled some of the holes in my heart with her steadfast love.
“Hey, I wish you would come.” I pouted, sticking out my bottom lip.
She nodded. “Me too, but I must meet with the farmers. There is a fungus issue with one of the crops.”
She extended her hands, and I saw that there was a little gift in them. A brown paper-wrapped box.
I smiled. “I’ll give it to Elle.”
The Queen shook her head. “No, it’s for you… about that thing we talked about.”
My heart warmed at her words. I found out yesterday that I was pregnant. I hadn’t told Liam yet, and the first person I’d run to for advice was her. We weren’t really trying, so it was a bit of a shock, but I was happy about it. Faerie was finally safe enough to bring a child into it. I’d told the Queen my concerns about how small our treehouse was, how the baby would be a royal and a seeker, and how that would change his or her life. That I would never keep anything from them and would tell them of their duties and powers from the day they were born, unlike my mother did with me. I didn’t want my child to grow up in the dark like I had.
“Open it,” the Queen told me.
I swallowed hard, fighting the urge not to cry as I tore the brown paper packaging. When I opened the box, I looked down at the little brass key.
“It’s to the Tree of Life house,” she said as my throat constricted with emotion. “I’ve been remodeling all year, trying to rid it of the bad memories it held. Elle will be moving in with Cam, and it’s high time I moved back into Spring Castle. You and Liam should be the keepers of the tree. Raise your little one to respect the power of the crystals. It’s yours if you want it.”
I burst forward, pulling her into a hug. “Thank you, Mother.”
Her body stiffened against me at those three words. She’d been very frank in the beginning when she found out that I was raised, not knowing of her existence. She said I could call her whatever I wanted. I settled for The Queen or Dahlia, but just now, it felt so right to call her Mother. I decided right then and there I would never call her Mom. That was for the woman who raised me, but this woman, she deserved a special name too. She gave me life. She fought for me, for my mom, for our entire village, and then she was tricked into a sleep for twenty years.
My mom would always be my mom, but there was no reason I couldn’t have two.
We pulled away and both swiped at our eyes.
“I’ll only be a ten-minute flight away if you need help babysitting,” she said.
I nodded, smiling. The Tree of Life home was where the Queen had lain in slumber, where Liam killed Indra and experienced so many other things, but it was also the most important place to our people. And the Queen was right. With her full remodel, it wasn’t the same. The room where she used to slumber was now an indoor-outdoor Jacuzzi room. It was time to breathe new memories into that place.
We hugged once more and then parted ways. I made it to the tiny tree home I shared with Liam just in time. Elle, Jasper, Trissa, Cam, Liam’s brothers, everyone was assembled to go through the portal.
“You’re late, woman!” Elle called out. She looked so beautiful in her pale pink dress and tan heels.
“Sorry!” I ran to catch up, shoving the key into my pocket. I’d tell Liam about it all tomorrow. Tonight was Elle’s night.
When I got up to the group, Liam pulled me into his arms and kissed me long and deep.
“Gross,” Cain said. He was eight now, and his comment only made Liam and me grin.
“I missed you.” Liam pulled my hair away from my face, and the little brothers started to make fake retching noises.
We twisted the handle on the door to our home counter-clockwise and then opened it, activating the portal. Then, we all stepped through to his mother’s Wyoming ranch.
“Hey!” Liam’s mom was at the stove when we walked in. The house smelled amazing, rich, and fragrant. The long fifteen-person table was set up with tealights, and a bunch of fondue pots had been set out with different melted cheeses, small soft pretzel bites, and then melted chocolates with marshmallows. It was amazing. She went all out.
“Ohmygod!” Elle rushed the words together. “This is so beautiful.”
Liam’s mother smiled, “Only the best for my kids,” she told Elle and Cam. It was well-known that Cam was considered one of her boys now, too, like a son to her.
She’d found a job in town teaching at a preschool, and she loved it. She was one of those natural mothers. All of her boys pressed in on her and squeezed her into a giant hug, causing her to laugh and nearly stumble over. It was sad they only got to see her for a few hours every day, but it was the only way to keep everyone healthy.
When she pulled away, she gestured to a table that was tucked back along the far wall. “Champagne for the adults!”
Elle squealed and ran to the back, starting to pass them out. Jasper took two and downed them both before taking
