Rightfully Hers

XXVII

For one, this was the last week I'd get to spend with Julian. He was staying in Toronto and Isabelle was expected back two days after the wedding. We hadn't talked about living arrangements, but it was a discussion I needed to have with her back in Kauai. I could not expect her to abandon her pack, but she could not expect me to abandon Julian. He was my home, here was my home. And while her and the girls were also home, I needed a compromise.

When my dad pulled away, I grabbed Charlie so he could grab Isabelle and pull her into a hug too. "It's lovely to meet the woman who's locked down my daughter," he laughed loudly, "what a task that must have been."

To add to my utter embarrassment, Isabelle nodded into his hug. "Tell me about it, Mr. Warren."

"Please," Dad said, pulling away, "call me Noah. Now let me see the angel down here."

So easily distracted, he moved his attention to our baby in the car seat. In the almost two weeks we'd had her, she was hands down the easiest baby in the world. She was awake now, gazing up at him with her teddy bear eyes that made him visibly melt on the spot. She had a little fist in her mouth and was making small, excited noises every few seconds.

"Isn't she stunning," he voiced in awe. "Come, come, your mother is going to pitch a fit when she sees her. She'll serve me as the appetizer if I keep you outside any longer."

We followed him into the house, and the familiar smell that I hadn't smelt in years hit me so fast that I wobbled slightly. I still was not used to the heightened senses, but I could clearly smell him. My brother, Rowan, was here.

Grow up, I told myself in irritation. It's been years. He's a changed man. You have children now, he's about to be married. This isn't the same as it was at sixteen. Don't do anything rash, Jada Warren.

With a deep breath, I followed my dad into the kitchen, my mate on my heels.

Mom was inside the kitchen, speaking to Arabelle, who was sat on the counter across from her. The kitchen itself was very wide, the entire right wall completely windows, allowing you to see into the open field. The sunlight made Arabelle's hair turn a shimmering auburn, and my mother's crisp white locks winked in the light.

Julian was standing on the opposite side of the island, speaking with two people, a man and a woman. The man, his hair identical to my own, had his arm wrapped securely around the woman, who had dark red waves that stopped at her collarbones, from what I could see from behind.

To their right was a kitchen table, equipped with eight chairs. I never understood why my parents owned an eight seat table, but it proved worthwhile as it would fit all of us. I sidestepped my dad and pulled the car seat onto the table so I could unbuckle Charlie and hold her.

Isabelle made her way towards me and she gently put the car seat on the floor when our daughter was securely in my arms. The noise caught my mother's attention, and upon seeing the gurgling baby, she let out an excited yelp and made her way to us as quickly as she could, arms extended.

"Oh, would you just look at her," she cried out, holding Charlotte gently. "Isn't she the most adorable thing, Noah. Her eyes are just like Jada's when she was a baby, gosh it feels so far away..."

"It was twenty years ago, muffin," my dad chuckled, making his way over to peer at Charlie over my mom's shoulder. Mom stifled a sigh and rocked our daughter gently.

"I can't believe our baby has a baby! I can't believe we have a grandbaby, wow..."

I began to block out my mother's awes when I noticed my brother was staring at me from across the kitchen. "Mom," I asked, still looking at my brother, "do you still keep your medicine in the same spot?"

Distracted, she nodded.

I made my way over to my brother, keeping my hands busy by grabbing some ibuprofen and filling a glass of water in the sink. His fiancé and he were watching me, both looking hesitant.

"You look good," he finally spoke. His voice was deeper, more mature. His bright hazel eyes, the ones he got from our mom, were lit with honesty. "I see you've been doing well for yourself."

I swallowed the medicine and placed the glass on the counter. "You too," I said, nodding towards the redhead. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Jada, Rowan's sister."

She grasped her hand in mine, smiling. "I've heard a lot about you, Jada, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm Reece."

Reece, I came to learn, was a brilliant young woman. She was twenty two and a Hunter, but both her and Rowan had resigned from their positions when he proposed, wanting to live a life without missions and other Hunter related work tasks. She had a gorgeous pair of blue eyes that twinkled when she spoke, and they lit up every time she glanced at my brother, who always seemed to be looking at her.

Rowan, I found, had grown to be a brilliant man. I scolded myself for being so childish for months and refusing to speak with my parents over him. He was truly and utterly in love with Reece, who clearly felt the same way about him. They had a house about ten minutes away, similar to this house but more modern, from the pictures Reece showed me. They wanted to have children right away after they got married, but wanted to be married first.

Rowan became attached to Charlie instantly. He spent almost the entire afternoon with her in his arms, and he rocked her soothingly as we talked the day away. When she went down for her nap, he put her in the crib we set up in the room Isabelle and I were sharing, and he sat up there and watched her for ten minutes before he made his way downstairs again. My brother was not at all the boy I'd once known him to be.

Reece and Rowan left soon after dinner, promising to come tomorrow to sort out the final wedding details, which was to take place in the backyard in two days. Reece would then stay here tomorrow night while Rowan went back home, and they'd see each other again at the alter.

That night, after putting Arabelle to bed in the second guest room and saying goodnight to Julian, who slipped into the room he'd called his own when we were kids, Isabelle and I settled into my room, nestled into the double bed. I was lying over the blankets, still scorching even with the ceiling fan on the highest setting, when Isabelle stood up and raced into the bathroom that connected to both the guest room that once was Rowan's room, and the room we were in.

I followed after her, careful not to wake Charlie, and I held her hair back as she threw up. "Babe," I murmured, one hand rubbing her back, "It's been going on too long for it to be the flu. You need to see a pack doctor."

"I'll see Lanie when we get back," she promised me. "You need to get checked out about that fever anyways."

She shooed me off back into the bedroom as she brushed her teeth again, and minutes later she was against me, her head tucked into my neck.

"I love you," she whispered into the darkness, "so much."

"I love you," I responded, but I couldn't help the nagging feeling that prodded at me.

•••

A short filler chapter for you while we enter the last couple of chapters. Maybe two or three more and then an Epilogue.