GUN IN MY HAND

BONUS CHAPTER: DOROTHY'S 19TH BIRTHDAY (PART 1)

Hey, my little Shooting stars 🌠 I promised bonus chapters, and here's the first one 😘

'There she goes like a shooting star

She got fireworks in her heart

Lighting up this world with a little smile

She's on the rise and

Oh there she goes and she won't slow down'

A shiver sparking from deep inside, an instinctive impulse in my nerves, goosebumps traveling on my skin like powder, and the next second...

My eyes shot open, my hand reaching out for the light switch even faster than I gasped, and I only breathed out once any remains of darkness vanished from my view, giving way to the dots of white lost in an infinite of purple, navy blue, and dancing branch shadows.

I was home, and I could take in the nakedness of my skin, and the empty spot beside me, which explained the chills.

It was earlier than usual, though.

5.45 am. One quick glance at the alarm clock was enough to awaken all my instincts as I grabbed the tee shirt lying messily there, and as soon as the smooth fabric engulfed 2/3 of my silhouette – and the intoxicating scent wrapped around my entire being – I was up and tiptoeing down the hallway.

To the kitchen, it was where this gut feeling was guiding me, along with the faint light coming from there, a smell of strong coffee, hushed whispers, and the force of the habit.

And yet, in spite of all of those, I was still stopped in my tracks before even taking one step into the room, my heart pinned by the sharpness of what was standing on the other side of the open door.

The tall and dangerous man in all his shirtless glory, the tensions in his back muscles, as honed as the knife inked along his spine, to hold the light weight in his arms, and the raw contrast of his morning drawl murmuring soft words.

"Oh, you were hungry, little star?"

The said little star didn't reply, surely too busy sucking on her baby's bottle, but even with his strong figure sheltering her from my view and the rest of the world, I could picture her eyes twinkling at him.

Crystalline sparkling at crystalline, or as I called it, the blue ritual of every morning before Daddy went to work.

The Tree Wishes gaining popularity these days, Blade didn't have much time through the day to see Stella, and even if we roamed into his workshop next door at least once a day to watch what he was creating, this moment every morning, while the rest of the world was asleep, was only theirs, Daddy and his little star – and me, watching them sneakily.

As always, I didn't mean to stumble on a private conversation, but once I was there, I couldn't move, hypnotized by the scene. It was the same every morning, and still, every time my smile was larger as I listened, leaning against the doorframe.

"You're gonna help me prepare the surprise for Mommy, sneaky Mommy..."

Every time he didn't take long to notice me, probably hearing the loud bangs of my heart before he even turned towards me.

"Hi, the two loves of my life," I greeted them like every time to make sure they weren't mad at me for walking in on their blue ritual, and I still couldn't tell whose gaze lit up the most at the sound of the nickname I'd found them in the last month.