Damage Control

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Calm, peaceful, dreamless. When Hope awoke the next morning, these were the first thoughts that came to her mind. She was more than sure she was going to have some unpleasant dreams being back in her hometown but nothing plagued her dreams. She felt as if she had finally slept for the first time in a long time. That could have a lot to do with the person who still occupied her bed. Josie's arms were wrapped tightly around Hope, as if she was trying to protect her while they slept.

She couldn't tell what time of the morning it was, but considering she could see the sun, it was probably later than she expected. She gently turned herself around so she was facing Josie, careful to not move out of her embrace. Josie's face was soft in her sleep, her hair framed her face gently. Hope could not help but smile at the sight, glad she didn't have to jump out of bed, out of fear of being caught, though she was sure Lizzie would have something to say about it later. It was waking up to this that made her think that perhaps today would go well.

Hope leaned in, feeling Josie's arms tighten on her automatically. She pressed a small kiss to her forehead, watching as it crinkled. Slowly her eyes fluttered open, it took her a second to focus on Hope but when she did a smile came across her lips as her eyes fell back closed. "Good morning." She said in reply, still trying to get her eyes to open.

Hope snaked her arms down and around Josie's waist. "Good morning," She said with a slight chuckle.

Josie yawned, her fingers curling in behind Hope's back, her legs stretching out before they came back to rest, tangling with Hope's. "What time is it?" Hope gave a shrug. "Well it can't be that late if Lizzie isn't in here throwing a bucket of water on us or something."

Hope laughed at that. "I don't think she'd try any of that with my aunt around."

Josie looked like she was jump started at that. "Oh god your aunts."

Hope tightened her grip on Joise. "They aren't like that, I'm sure Freya was serious when she offered to let us share a room last night." Josie seemed to relax a bit. "However, I don't think we should push our luck with any of them coming in here at any minute." Josie grumbled so Hope leaned in and pressed a slow kiss to her lips. Josie's hands roamed up Hope's back, gripping her shoulders and pulling her closer, deepening the kiss. Hope felt her nails dig into Josie's hips before she forced herself away. "Now if you start that I don't think we will be making it out of this bed."

Josie bit her lip slightly, making Hope's pulse jump. "At least we will give them a reason to interrupt us." Hope didn't stop her this time from leaning back in, this was an amazing way to wake up. Josie pushed Hope so she was laying on her back and started kissing her neck, Hope found her breaths coming out harder. When Josie bit her she couldn't stop her body from arching off of the bed. Josie grabbed Hope's hands and pinned her to the bed, sliding on top of her. Hope leaned up and nipped Josie on the jaw, Josie leveled her with a challenging glare before bringing her mouth back to Hope's, kissing her so deep she was being pressed into the mattress. Hope wished she was being quiet because Josie started moving her body along Hope's and she was sure she was making some very guttural noises.

A bang from below had Hope's heart in her throat and Josie jumping off of her. Both girls sat there for a moment, breathing as if someone just broke down the door. After a moment of complete silence Hope heard a giggle from below them. She let out the breath she didn't know she was holding, one of her aunts was down stairs with the baby. Hope ran her hand through the front of her hair, moving it from her face. "One of these days we won't be interrupted." She said though she highly doubted considering they were never completely alone.

Josie rolled towards her and gave her a kiss on the cheek before rolling off the bed. "Keep dreaming." Hope couldn't help but laugh as she followed Josie out of the bed. Josie must not have cared if anyone knew they shared a bed because she just opened the door wide open and walked into the hall, pausing long enough for Hope to follow her. Hope reached for Josie's hand and led her downstairs.

They were still holding hands when they entered the kitchen. Freya had Keelin locked in an embrace, lips pressed together, smiles on their faces. When Josie and Hope entered they pulled apart slowly. Freya picked up a bowl off of the counter and started walking over to Nik who was sitting in his highchair waiting to be fed. "Good morning girls," Keelin said as she kept chopping up fruit. Hope wanted to get to that level of her relationship with Joise, where she couldn't stop kissing her just because someone walked into the room. "Did you have a good sleep?"

Hope let go of Josie's hand long enough to walk over to the coffee maker and pour herself a cup of it and grabbed a glass of water for Josie. "Actually yes."

"You sound surprised." Her aunt said as she watched Nik move fruit around his tray instead of eating it. Her eyes flashed over Hope, then Josie. "I supposed they don't let you guys share a room at school?" Of course she knew.

"Actually you'd be surprised." Josie answered, Hope sat next to her at the island counter. "It's more of the jealous twin."

"Speak for yourself Jo." Lizzie said from behind them, looking like she hadn't slept at all. "You guys can canoodle all you want, just make sure I am not in the room." She said good morning to the women in the room.

Hope's aunts just smiled at the three of them. "Does that mean you're ready for today?" Freya asked, Hope's smile immediately fell from her face. She almost forgot about the spell, her magical trip down painful memory lane, in her attempts to come to terms with her past and move forward, as best she could. "We don't have to do it today." Freya offered. "You guys are here for a few days."

Hope shook her head. "The longer I wait the more I'll not want to do it."

"Well I'll be there with you and so will them." She nodded to the twins.

"I'd be there if I could get out of my shift." Keelin said, looking sympathetic. "But I'll be here after, and I'm cooking dinner." Freya made a fake scared face and Keelin threw a dish towel at her.

"What about Nik?" This hardly seemed like a thing to be doing with a toddler.

Freya picked up her son from his chair. "Vincent is coming to pick him up." She checked her watch. "He should actually be here soon."

Keelin reached out for Nik. "I'll go get him dressed." She disappeared.

Freya leaned over the counter, looking at Hope. "I do have one surprise for you."

Hope furrowed her brows. "A surprise?"

The doorbell rang. "That should be Vincent, can you go get the door for me?"

Hope gave her a suspicious look but got up from her seat, the twins stayed behind. Hope didn't feel right answering her aunt's door but she did what she was asked. She wasn't thrilled to see Vincent, he was a nice guy, a good dad, and an amazing friend to Freya and Keelin but he was always weary around Hope because of her powers... for good reason.

She opened the door but it wasn't Vincent standing on the other side. Hope's heart dropped, tears sprung into her eyes as she jumped forward and into the waiting arms of the woman on the other side of the door. "Hello my love." The voice sang into her ear.

"Aunt Rebekah." Hope squealed. "What are you doing here?"