Chapter 2.14 Something Special

"Do you really have to go, mom?"

Alyssa looked down at Belle and Melody, and sighed. "I won't be gone that long. I'll be back on Sunday, and I promise I'll get you something special." She smiled assuringly, and kissed Belle on the top of her head. 

"Something really special." Belle looked back at Alyssa. "Like, ultra special." She grinned. 

"'cial." Melody chirped in, half heartedly. She wasn't fully sure of what was going on, but she was mostly paying attention to the man on the lawn. She wasn't sure why, but she didn't exactly trust him. He was one of her mommy's friends, so he had to be alright, but Melody didn't really like new people all too much. Her attention came away from her mommy's friend when she picked her up.

"Are you going to be a good girl for daddy while I'm gone?" Alyssa asked, smiling.
"Rah!" Melody replied, her hands going up to Alyssa's face, making a small slapping noise, which made both girls laugh.
"How about I get you and your brother something special too?" She asked, considering taking a second suitcase just for all the presents she's promised.
"No Ash." Melody pouted. "Me."
"I've got to get your brother something too, Little Miss Selfish." Alyssa smiled, and then put Melody down to talk to Damon

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" She asked, even though it was more of a mute point now. She wanted to go, and she was. It wasn't like she could go back on it now.

"I'll be fine." He replied, making sure to keep steady so Ashton doesn't fall. Ash didn't quite manage to stay up to say bye to Alyssa, but then again, it wasn't like she was going to be gone forever.

"I'll see you on Sunday night then." She half smiled, it's been rather frosty between the two of them since their argument, but she knew that soon enough they would work it out, especially after her trip.

"See you then." He returned a small smile. There was no kiss or even hug. Just an awkward moment before she got her suitcase and got into Adrian's car.

"I'm guessing things between you and your fiance aren't going all too well." Adrian mentioned, quickly glancing over at her.

"What makes you think that?" Alyssa asked, a little too defensively.

"Well, for a start neither of you seemed all too upset about you leaving for the weekend." He spoke matter of factly.

"Its only for a weekend. It's not like either of us are going to be that heartbroken over me leaving for about forty eight hours." She shrugged, but she did hope he would have been a little bit more bothered, and not just by the person she was going with.

"Maybe, but he seemed more bothered that I was going rather than you even going in the first place." He then smirked slightly. "Then again boyfriends, fiances, and husbands tend not to like me."

Alyssa rolled her eyes, "Because you're God's gift to women?" She asked, faking interest.

He smirked more. "Smart as usual, aren't you?"

"Wow." Alyssa looked up at the hotel, having to crane her neck just to see a glimpse of the top. All of the buildings here were huge! They made the ones back home look like homes for ants.

"Massive, isn't it?" Adrian asked rhetorically. It was obvious how huge and pristine it was. 

"Just like most of the buildings here." She noted, holding a little tighter on to her suitcase. She's heard what people can do here, and how bad some of them could be. Adrian didn't seem to take the same precautions.

"It's so pretty and clean." She grinned, looking up at it just that bit longer. She hadn't noticed that Adrian was almost at the front door.

"You know, we can go in instead of just looking at it. They don't make us camp outside." He pointed out, and she followed him after rolling her eyes. She just hoped she didn't pull the muscle that controlled eye rolling.

Alyssa was mostly zoned out when Adrian was checking in. She was focused on the painting behind the desk. It was really nice, but she figured it was probably expensive too. Aside from admiring paintings, she was also making a mental note of what she needed to do. She knew she needed to get the wedding dress, and maybe a little bit of shopping too.

"The receptionist said it'll be a while until the room's ready. She said our bags are in the storage room if we need them in the meantime."

"Would you mind if I went out and explored around a little?" She asked, excited to see the city. She's never been out of Dragon Valley and wanted to get some experiences and culture while in the big city.

Adrian seemed a little uncertain. "Just be careful, alright? Not everyone's nice out here like what the people in Dragon Valley are like."

Alyssa rolled her eyes. "I'm not a kid. I'll be fine." She half smiled, then left the hotel.

Of course she went to the wedding dress shop first. She wanted to try on her dress. It was a little sad how she was on her own, but it wouldn't be that bad. After all, she wanted to make sure it was perfect before other people saw it.

Alyssa was taken aback by how pink and girly everything was. All it was missing was a unicorn and a rainbow and it could have fit perfectly into any little girl's dream.

That being said though, it was very classy. Even the girl who was working there fit the place perfectly.

Elysia sighed, and murmured into her ear piece "I've already told you once, don't make me tell you again. There's not much I can do until the company gets back on its feet, and it's not like I can afford to take it over. Until someone else buys the compant, I'm a boutique worker, not a journalist." She then rolled her eyes at the caller's response. "Not a store, boutique. There's a difference, sheesh. Anyway, I have to go. There's a customer here." And with a touch to her left ear, she hung up.

"Everything's so..." Alyssa trailed off, looking around.

"Pink? Yeah, I know. Welcome to Bridal Dreams Boutique, where we make your dream come true. I'm taking you're here for a dress?" She asked, even though she already knew. That huge pink rock on her finger is a clear enough sign that she wasn't another one of those classic crazy cat ladies who just come to try on the dresses.

"Yep." She grinned, and showed off her ring. "And I think I've seen the perfect one, it's mostly the reason I've come out here."

Elysia looked at her ring, and it was really pretty. She couldn't help but be the slightest bit jealous, but she knew that this kind of thing was better suited for her sister rather than her. "It is pretty." She admitted.

"Princess cut pink sapphire on a white gold band." She beamed. "It's pretty, and expensive." 

"Pretty and expensive? Sounds like most of the dresses here." She smirked slightly. "And I bet I know the exact dress you're looking for." Elysia grinned. This woman was as easy as a child's book to read. It wasn't like anyone was all too difficult to read though. "I just need to find it in the book, there's a cup of coffee on the coffee table too."

Alyssa watched Elysia, honestly a little bit puzzled. She seemed to know almost what she was thinking. Maybe it was from being in retail? Maybe she was just a typical stereotype? She started to wonder how long she's been here.

"I've not been here that long. I moved away from my home town to further my career in journalism, only for my firm to go under within my first working year." She answered, flicking through the book.

Blinking, Alyssa murmured. "So, you've not always wanted to work in a boutique?" She asked, wondering how on Earth she managed to answer a question that was never asked. It was as if she could read her mind!

"I've never really considered boutique work, but when everything went under I just got whatever job I could find, which is why I'm here." Elysia smiled, then slid the book over to Alyssa. "I'm guessing this is the kind of dress you'd want?"

Alyssa nodded, her eyes widening. "You'd tell me if you were a mind reader, right?" She asked, mostly joking. Could she be though? "This is exactly the one I wanted, how did you know?" She asked yet another question.

Elysia smiled. Maybe she wasn't as airheaded as she came off to be, or maybe she herself was being too obvious. "How about we just leave it as I have a talent for knowing what clients want? And if you want to go into one of the rooms, I'll get the dress off the rack and put it in one of the rooms. Just call me again once you're changed, alright?"

"So, I'm taking that you like it?" Elysia asked, watching Alyssa. It confused her how some girls could get so attached to a dress they only wear once in their whole life.

"It's perfect, just like what I thought." She grinned, mostly looking at the dress and not actually herself. It was so pretty and princessy. She sighed softly, "I don't get how you can work here and not be tempted to try all of these on."

"Honestly, I don't really see the point in marriage or committed relationships. I can understand why some people would want them, like my sister for example. But it's just not for me. I'm a career girl, I'd prefer to be independent and on my own than having to rely on someone." She spoke the truth, and couldn't help but realize that her words had stuck with Alyssa.

"I kind of thought I was that way too. I mean, I'm not ready to swear off love, but I did originally think that I could be independent and that I didn't need anyone." She murmured, looking at her reflection again. Only this time it more seemed to sink in that it was actually her in the dress. It was her that was getting married, and the woman in the mirror wasn't anyone else. It was her.

"That's just my opinion though. Don't let what I said turn you against it or anything. I mean, if you love your fiance, then why even bother thinking about what I said? If you love him, then there's no need to even question it." Elysia tried to almost go back on what she said. She could tell Alyssa was freaking out at least a little, and she's dealt with enough cold footed brides to know what to do. Spill out some speech about love and usually the bride calms down.

"I-I do love him, I do." Alyssa almost tried to convince herself, her hand going up to the lace at the top of the dress. She could have sworn it wasn't always this tight. It was getting slightly difficult to breathe, maybe it was just too close to her neck? She cleared her throat, trying to move the seam slightly away from her neck.

"Exactly, you love him and he loves you. There's no point getting worked up about it." Elysia sighed. Usually any sign of cold feet would have gone by now, but this case was trickier. She didn't want her record of all her customers buying something to end.

"I'm not getting worked up, I'm fine." She tried to breathe. The dress had never been this tight. She tried to swallow, but it felt as if something was stuck. She felt like she was choking. She fumbled to try and undo the dress. 

Elysia went over to her, and helped undo the dress as Alyssa felt her knees buckle beneath her.

Elysia undid the first few clasps on the dress, mostly so Alyssa could breathe if it really was the dress causing her such discomfort. She couldn't help but feel bad, but there must have been at least a little doubt beforehand. After all, who would react that way after her giving her opinion. 

Alyssa managed to collect herself again, feeling rather embarrassed about the whole ordeal. Part of her just wanted to be left be for a little while.

"I'll give you a minute." Elysia stood up hesitantly and cautiously left the dressing room and closing the outer curtains. It was still uncanny how she knew exactly what Alyssa was thinking...

She stayed on the floor for just a while longer, her heart racing. She managed to breathe alright again, and as soon as she was alright, she was going to stand up and get back changed into her normal clothes. She hadn't imagined trying on a wedding dress would quite lead to this, but there was one thing she was certain of.

Somewhere deep down in her subconscious, she didn't want to get married. If dreaming about adultery and choking over it wasn't enough, then what would be?

She sighed, and managed to stand up. She should probably get back to the hotel soon.

Chapter 2.13 Ice                                                         

 Chapter 2.15 Interlude; The Ex and The Incident

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AN: So, first of all I want to say a thank you to Owly for letting me borrow Elysia from her (You can get her from here (Her eyes are slightly lighter there though, I had to darken slightly))

The wedding dress choking scene was inspired by Carrie's wedding anxiety (on Sex and The City). I was wondering about a month or two ago about how to fulfill one of the rolls, and that scene came on the TV and I was like 'perfect!' so there we have it.

Last thing, I really love the tea pot set <3 I also got one where it's a phone box tea pot with post box cups(? I think...) and they're so the-kind-of-thing-you'd-buy-as-a-gag-in-London-ish!  I love it! But the pink set seemed a lot more fitting with the scene. (In the next house (if there is one and I can get my lazy butt around to making one) I'm going to have a special tea room and everything <3)

Chapter 2.13 Ice

Ashton and Melody has a special connection to Toby

Melody was more into petting him, unlike her brother who prefered to imitate what Toby does. He's learned how to woof, but not yet speak whereas she could only babble gibberish to Toby.

Luckily, Toby found it quite nice to be the center of attention. He's been pining since the loss of Boo, so it was nice for him to have small humans constantly obsessing over him, even if the small humans were a little odd sometimes.

Alyssa watched them both with Toby, not sure whether their obsession with him was just a 'toddlers being toddlers' thing or if it was to do with the fact they were werewolves. She found it rather interesting to see how fascinated they were by Toby, but couldn't help get at least a little bit sad when she remembered that Toby might not be around for much longer.
On the thought of not being around much longer, Alyssa remembered that she had a job to get to. She was going back earlier this time after these two, after figuring that Damon could look after the twins.

Alyssa was in one of the spare office rooms, looking after the dragonlings. She probably favoured the purple one because it hadn't tried to set her on fire (like the red one) and the green one liked to bite. She more prefered spending time with the dragons than Adrian. If anything, she's been ignoring him slightly because seeing him just reminded her of that dream.
Speaking of the devil. "Alyssa." She sighed hearing that voice.

"I wanted to talk to you," He glanced to the purple dragon on her shoulder. "Without the dragons, preferably."
Alyssa pouted, "But they're my little dragonlings." She smiled slightly, "Just because Violet tried to attack you, doesn't mean you should stop liking them." She stifled a laugh. It was the purple one that attacked him, and ripped up part of his shirt. The dragons certainly favoured her to Adrian.
"That's not funny." He huffed. "Anyway, can I talk to you in my office?"

She felt uncomfortable around him now, and uncomfortable being in this office too. She looked to the side as he started to talk.
"So, there's a conference over in Bridgeport," He started, and that straight away got her attention. Bridgeport? That was where her dream wedding dress was.
"In Bridgeport?" She asked, just to make sure. She's always wanted to go there, but between looking after Belle and then the twins and work, she's never had a chance. "Would it be weird if I went with you?" She asked, smiling sweetly.

"If you really want to come with me. It might not be all too interesting." He warned lightly, looking up at her. He was a little confused by why she'd want to go.
"Yeah, but I've always wanted to go to Bridgeport, and it's not like the conference would last all too long." She smiled, and not to mention that it would be nice to get a little time away from crying, dog obsessed, toddlers. "That, and there's a really nice dress shop I have to go to." She added.
He stood up and went over to her, "If you want to go shopping, we'd have to go on a flight on the Friday. It's a weekend long thing with a lot of speakers, and don't say I didn't try to warn you if you find it boring." He smirked.

She grinned, and hugged him tightly. "I don't care how boring the conference is!" She dismissed the idea of it, mostly because she was excited about going to the big city! "Where's the conference at?" She asked while grinning, pulling out of the hug.
"It's at the Bridgeport Palace Hotel. It's a really nice place." He grinned at her, and he had to admit that he was rather pleased that she wanted to come along too. Maybe it would make the conference a little less tedious with her next to him.

Damon however seemed less thrilled over the fact that she was going to Bridgeport with her boss, who he originally didn't trust. Alyssa knew going into it that he wouldn't be quite so happy about her doing this. "It's a professional trip to Bridgeport, why are you upset about it?" She asked.
"Because you're going with your boss, who honestly sounds like an ass." He pointed out what he thought was the obvious.
"He's not that much of an ass." She sighed, folding her arms. "We just got off on the wrong foot, he's not that bad of a guy."

"I'm just saying, I'm not comfortable with you going away for a weekend with a guy like that." He tried to get his point across, but she just rolled her eyes.
"I'm sure it would be fine though if you wanted to go away with Tawni and your ex-wife." She muttered under her breath, and he picked up on that.
"That's fully different and you know that, and I wouldn't go away with Tawni and Vicky because I want to be here with the twins." He shrugged, meaning it innocently but Alyssa got the wrong end of the straw.

She laughed a little, out of disbelief. "Are you implying that I don't care about them?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "Let me guess, you probably think Vicky did a better job than I did!" She started to raise her voice, adding extra scorn on his ex-wife's name.
"That's not what I meant Alyssa. I'm just saying that I wouldn't do that." His hand went up to his face, frustrated.
"But you're not denying that you think Vicky did a better job with Tawni than what I'm doing with the twins." She pointed out.

"I never even said anything along those lines, stop twisting around my words!" He snapped, starting to get annoyed.
"And yet, you're still not denying it." She rolled her eyes, then glared at him. "It's because you really do think she's better than I am."
"I can't believe how immature you're being." He spat, returning the glare back to her.

"Oh, so now I'm being immature too?" She asked through a snarl. "Maybe Vicky is mature enough for you." She didn't care how immature she may have been being, she didn't like Vicky, or him spending time with her.
"For God's sake! Let it go. I have an ex, so what?!" He yelled. "It's not like you're completely ex free either, but you don't see me harping on that."
"That's because I don't see my ex boyfriends often. I don't purposely go and talk to Tyler or Belle's father, do I?" She didn't. Sure, she had a tendency to accidentally run into Tyler, but it was a small town! The size of the town isn't her fault.

"Unlike Belle's father, I want to be there for my daughter, no matter what. If that means seeing Vicky, then that's what I have to do." He shrugged, and only after he said it, did he realize just how harsh his words actually were, especially about Belle's father.
"That's a low blow, and you know it." She growled, then sighed, wanting to reason with him (and stop him from seeing his ex wife as much) "But why so often? Can't you just go over a little less?"

"Are you really asking me to stop seeing Tawni, just because you're jealous?" He scoffed, hardly believing what he was hearing. Was she really suggesting that? She couldn't be, surely.
"No, I don't mean that. I just don't want you seeing your ex wife that often." She sighed, wanting a way where they could both be happy. Or, perhaps mostly so she wouldn't have to worry about him spending an time with his ex wife.

"Well, if you and Tawni got along better, she could stay here for awhile and get to know Ashton and Melody better." He tried, knowing that Alyssa and Tawni could get along if both girls just tried a little bit more to get along with the other.
"But she hates me." Alyssa soon dismissed the initial thought of the idea. "She's got some bizarre vendetta against me just because I'm with you, and that you're not with Vicky." She spat his ex wifes name, hating the sound of it, and that they were even fighting about her.
Neither of them had noticed that Belle had snuck out of her room.

"Can you stop saying her name that way?" He asked, and sighed. "It's not my fault she doesn't like you. In her defense though, you shouldn't have yelled at her." He managed to keep his voice level as he explained that to her, but he couldn't help a little anger creeping into his tone.
"I was worried about where Belle was. I can't help being worried about my own daughter." Alyssa was just about to raise her voice again, but was soon interrupted before another fight could break out.
"Can you please stop already?" Belle whispered, sniffling. "I don't like it, and I want to sleep."

Before all the arguing, Belle had been happily painting away in her bedroom before bed. Her easel in her room was awesome! But she heard her mom and Damon arguing out in the hallway. She didn't know why, but she almost felt guilty about them shouting at each other, she couldn't help but wonder about whether or not it was her fault.

It was horrible to listen to, but it's not like she could really go anywhere to get away from it. Each time she heard her name, she felt her heart sink and her stomach drop that little bit more. When her dad was mentioned, she wasn't so sure what to think about someone who had never been there. Was there anything to think?

When she did start to get upset over it, she tried to stay quiet. She felt bad about eavesdropping, but she couldn't escape it. She just felt as if she couldn't escape. She decided to put a stop to their arguing, seeing as though neither of the adults would. She managed to stop her tears, and left her room to where her mom and Damon were.

"Come on, I'll tuck you back in and read you a story." Alyssa felt terrible about making Belle upset. She had to remember not to argue with Damon upstairs, or even when they were in the house for that matter.
"Okay." Belle murmured, able to feel the tension between her mom and Damon. But she couldn't help but wonder about something Damon had mentioned before about her dad. Did she even have one?

Her mom had never met him, so she assumed she was just different and that she never even had a dad. Her mom never mentioned her dad, at all. Belle wondered why, and why he wasn't there either. Maybe he had to go away on a super secret mission? Yeah, that had to be it. That was it. That had to be it.

Belle got into bed, propped up on her elbow and her head in her hand as her mom sat down on her bed and started to read. "There was once a Princess called Bella." She started. Belle lazily followed the text, her tired eyes managed to pick up on a word that was similar to her name.
"Did you name me after the princess?" She smiled tiredly. Her mom usually calls her a princess, and she even has a princess bed! Obviously, that was the reason why she has her name.
Alyssa shook her head though. "Nope, not after a Princess."

"If I wasn't names after a princess, what was I named after?" She frowned, wishing she was named after a princess. "Was I named Belle because you like bells?" She asked, crinkling her nose. Who likes bells? Maybe her mom did...
"I called you Belle because, uh..." She hesitated, not so sure if she should mention Belle's dad. It never really crossed her mind to mention him to Belle. She sighed, and continued. "I called you Belle because when I met your dad, he used to call me 'Mon Belle' which means my beautiful." At least, that's what she thought it meant. Alyssa never really payed attention in French. "And I called you Belle, because of that exact reason." She smiled softly at her daughter.

"Do you ever talk to my dad?" Belle asked, looking up at her mom. "Could I talk to him? I'd like to meet him." She smiled.
"I don't really talk to him, Princess." Alyssa sighed, feeling awful as she saw her daughter's face fall. "But, the next time he does call, I promise I'll let you talk to him." She hated lying, but it was a little white lie. She just didn't want to see her daughter upset, and who did it harm to let her believe that everyone was genuinely nice for just a little longer?

Soon enough Belle had fallen asleep, and Alyssa smiled as she watched her. She couldn't help but think about Belle's father Matteo. He had never called her back, after all those messages she left him. She had just convinced herself that she was enough for Belle, and could somehow be all the parent her princess needed.
Maybe she really did need someone with her, and she knew that Damon would always be there for her. Even with their fight earlier, she still did love him.

Right?

Chapter 2.12 The 'S' Word

  Chapter 2.14 Something Special

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AN: Ah, not so sure how to feel about the ending. Its bittersweet I'd say.
Belle is my favourite so far out of the kids, but I've not experimented much with the twins. However, she's just so easy to write for. I did previously roll for an heir, and rolled for Belle to be heir, whether or not to do and heir vote or just stick to the roll, that is the question. I keep going back and forth between the two.
This chapter is probably going to be a tribute to Toby, as about two game hours after his bit, this happened...

Oh, and Happy Yorkshire Day! 

Chapter 2.12 The 'S' Word

This was a big day for Belle!

The day before was a big day also. Yesterday was Belle's birthday, and all the family came over to celebrate. Her aunt Rosie and aunt Sabrina was there, and her uncle Connor was too. Also, there was two of her cousins Loretta and Elvie. Uncle Liam wasn't there though, he was looking after her two younger cousins.

Her mommy gave her a present. It wasn't a pony like how she had wished when she blew out the candles, it was a pair of pretty pink earrings, which Belle could tell her mom chose. If it wasp pink, it was her mom's choice. It's a wonder how Ashton doesn't have a pink room like Melody does! Maybe Damon talked her mom out of giving her little brother a pink room.

Her cousin Elvie came over and gave her a hug. Aunt Rosie was adamant on her never being called Ellie or anything close to Ellie. Belle didn't get why, but her aunt Rosie was a little odd sometimes. Belle only started listening halfway through what her cousin was on about.
"-And we can sit together at lunch, and we  can play together at break! I was never able to play with Loretta, she was always too old."
"What?" Belle asked, confused.

"At school! Silly. Where else would I be talking about?" She asked, laughing lightly.
"School?" Belle asked. She had heard about school, it was hard and you had to think a lot. That didn't sound like something she'd like. She liked reading, and playing, not thinking!
"Yeah! It'll be fun and we can be best friends." Elvie was really excited about it.

Belle laughed in response. "I doubt my mom will make me go. My mom's cool, and if I ask nicely I won't have to go." She smiled.
Elvie frowned, "You have to go. Everyone has to go." She protested.
"I won't." She grinned, and it wasn't too long before Belle realized just how wrong she was...

"Belle, come on. You can't just skip school." Alyssa was starting to get annoyed with her daughter by now. Her resistance to go to school baffled her. What was so wrong with it?
"I don't wanna go!" Belle just held on tighter to her bed. She tried to quickly think of some excuse not to go, "I'm sick." And she put on a few coughs. "See?" She murmured, fake coughing more.

Alyssa folded her arms, and Belle finally let go of the bed. She put on another coughing fit. "I'm too sick to go to school, mom." She frowned.
Alyssa put on a sympathetic frown, and sighed "Poor Belley. I suppose you can't have the waffles I made for you."
She immediately perked up. "Waffles? I'm not that sick though! I can still have waffles."
"If you're well enough waffles, then you're well enough school. Get dressed, and they'll be on the table for you." And Alyssa walked out.

"If you're well enough waffles, then you're well enough school." Belle mimicked after her mom left, rolling her eyes. She opened the drawer, and got dressed for school. On the bright side, at least there were waffles waiting for her, but they came with the price of having to go to school. She was really nervous for her first day.

Luckily, so far the waffles were worth it. It was one of the few things her mom was really good at making. Speaking of her mom, Belle could hear her behind with her little brother Ashton.
"Are you okay now, little guy?" Alyssa cooed, walking around the kitchen area with him.
Belle turned around to look at her mom, "Where's Melody?" She asked, wondering why only he was downstairs.
"She's upstairs, Damon's with her." Alyssa answered, her attention still mostly on Ashton. Belle couldn't help but feel at least a little bit jealous.

"I'm still not so sure how I feel about a boy crashing our girl talk coffee mornings." Rosie murmured, looking right at where the culprit was.
Sabrina turned to her, "Oh come on. It's not that bad, besides, he's kinda cute." She smiled. "And he doesn't talk all that much and probably won't remember what we said."
Contemplating it, Rosie tilted her head then sighed. "I suppose just this once we can have a boy here." She smiled.

"Well, thank you for allowing my son to be here. I'm taking Melody's allowed though because she's a girl?" The two of them nodded and Alyssa smiled slightly, "I had to bring them because Damon's out again."
"We'll let it slide just this one time then." Rosie grinned, joking. "Mostly because the babysitters in this town are awful."
"That and daycare's closed, which is why I'm here." Sabrina smiled, and couldn't help but ask, "Is he often out?"

"He's got a daughter from a previous relationship so he spends time with her." Alyssa briefly explained. Rosie and Sabrina exchanged slightly nervous glances before looking back at Alyssa. "What was that?" She asked.
"Well, aren't you at least a little worried?" Sabrina asked, moving  her hair slightly.
"Worried? Why would I be worried?" She asked in return, rather confused.
Rosie rolled her eyes, "Do we have to spell it out for you, Lyss? If he's spending time with his daughter, he's got to be at least seeing his ex." She frowned.

Alyssa quickly shook her head. "It's not like that, trust me. I know Damon, and I know he and his ex-wife broke up ages ago." She half smiled.
"Ex-wife?" Rosie asked quietly, raising an eyebrow. She got a really bad feeling about all of this, but knew at the end of the day it was Alyssa's choice.
"Anyway," Sabrina started, changing the subject, "Have you set a date yet?" She smiled.

"We're thinking sometime in summer, when the twins are a little older. I kinda want to get married on the beach." Alyssa grinned.
"The beach at sunset." Rosie sighed, partially in a daydream. "That would be so pretty." She smiled.
"And I've found the perfect dress." She beamed, "It's being held at a shop all the way in Bridgeport though, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to get it." Her smile soon turned into frown.
"You'll find one you love just as much, I promise." Sabrina smiled sympathetically at her. "There are tons of pretty dresses and you'll forget all about that one you saw."
"I hope so. It was really pretty." She picked up her cup and drank from it.

Alyssa decided not to mention her dream, even though she was rather curious about if either her sister or sister in law had any similar dreams. Then again, she wasn't so sure if she exactly wanted to know if Rosie or Sabrina ever had any dirty dreams or weird ones (like hers). It was probably better to leave the fact that she was muddled over whether or not she wanted to get married out too.

Belle had come to a realization. School sucked and it was boring. She was sat next to someone who didn't seem to want to be her friend, and her cousin Elvie was sat in front and with her boyfriend Jack (It was kinda serious too. They had even held hands once!) The boy she was sat next to was Jack's brother. Belle didn't know his name though, mostly because he just spent most of today ignoring her.
She was relieved when the bell rung though. She was going to spend some time in the playground with Elvie, Jack and his brother. Hopefully he would actually talk to her. Jack seemed nice, so why wasn't his brother?

Her cousin had ditched Belle for Jack, so she mostly had to spend it with the quiet boy. She frowned a little, "Can you at least tell me what your name is?" She asked nicely, and was amazed when he murmured.
"Axel. My mom said my dad chose my name." He explained briefly.
"I don't know why my mom called me Belle. I think it's after the princess though." She grinned, and wondered if she had made a new friend.

Belle honestly didn't expect to have fun with Axel. Sure, his name was a little weird, but he was nice once he actually spoke to her. She was sure that the two of them would be really good friends, maybe even best friends! She also came to the conclusion that if school didn't have classes, it would be a lot more fun.
She was having fun until something unexpected happened...

He kissed her! She didn't kiss him, he kissed her. That's the way it went. It wasn't just a peck on the cheek either, it was a mommy and daddy style kiss! On the mouth and everything!
Belle honestly thought adult kisses were a little gross with it being on the mouth, but this kiss wasn't all gross and sloppy. Perhaps it was just adults that kissed sloppily.

Back when Belle was home, it was the twins' birthdays. Ashton went first because he was technically the oldest out of the two of them. Alyssa helped him blow out the candles on the cute little carrot cake.

Damon then helped Melody blow out her candle on her cake. She was the second born, and his and Alyssa's little surprise they didn't know about.

The twins looked rather alike, but their hair and eye colours seemed to be opposites. Melody got her mom's eyes and her dad's hair colour, whereas Ashton got his dad's eyes and his mom's hair colour. They both had one similarity though.
They were both werewolves.

Chapter 2.11 First Bad Steps                                                                                         

Chapter 2.13 Ice

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AN: Ashton looks so derpy in that last picture. I tried getting a picture of them both, and one always looked cute but the other either had their eyes closed or was derping out. I decided to go with this one because it wasn't quite so derpy.

All the kids have had birthdays, so I don't need to worry about those for a while. Speaking of kids, on to Belle. I wasn't intending on that kiss when I first started writing this chapter, but then I was like "Why not?" so there we go. We'll be seeing Belle's little boyfriend again, I promise. She's not that much of floozy ;)

On a real life note, my arm's all hurty. I had to have a tetanus injection yesterday, and it had to be in the arm I already have an injury on. I think my right arm should just be known as my painful arm.