Risen From the Ashes

XIV

I held onto my daughter close. It had felt like years since I last saw her, but it had only been a few hours at the most. She jumped into my arms, even though she wasn't that light anymore, but still, I caught her as if she was two again. 

"Momma! Where's Daddy?" I was wondering how quickly that question would come, but I don't think it would be that easy to explain what's going on right now. I think I just wasn't to enjoy her presence and knowing I was with her again. 

"Don't worry about that, sweetie." The room she was kept in was a spare room. There was no personality to it, but she would definitely get comfortable here with a bed that's bigger than the one back home. I simply hugged her close to me and took everything in before I forgot it again. Her smell. Her warmth. Her energy. 

"Momma, I wanna go home." She begged. 

She must not have noticed the bags in my hand because we were gonna be here for a while. At least until the end of the week. Jeremey stepped behind me and spoke, "Jazmyne, I think you should start thinking about a new home." 

Wow, he was terrible with children. Jazmyne's eyes got bigger as more questions raced through her mind, "We're gonna take it one day at a time, Jaz. First, I think you need to go finish your homework, princess." 

She sighed and picked up the backpack behind me and dragged her bag and body to the bed to start her homework. Just because we don't know where we'll be by the end of the week doesn't mean she's not gonna do her homework. 

Jeremy and I left the room to leave her to focus. I closed the door behind us and looked towards him, thinking it's getting late and I'm not sure if she's eaten or not, "Has she had dinner yet?" 

He shrugged, "Yea, I fed her a hot pocket. Does that count?" I realized that he needed me here more than I originally thought. 

I opened the door back and met eyes with my beautiful daughter, "Are you hungry, sweetie?" 

She sheepishly raised her shoulders, wanting to be polite about the lack of food earlier, "A little." She was such a sweetheart. 

"Do you want me to cook you some waffles for dinner?" I wanted something that was going to fill her, but not put too much on her stomach before bed. 

She heard waffles and immediately became animated with excitement, "Yes, please!" 

I chuckled, the first real smile I've had all day, "I'll bring it to you when it's finished."

"Okay, Momma! Love you!" She called before the door closed. 

"Love you too, Princess." I closed the door behind us again and started making my way down the hall as if I knew where I was going. "Where's your kitchen?" Jeremey was behind me since I was now on a mission to be a better mother to my only daughter. 

He caught up to my fast pace, "Ke'aysha, I think we should get you settled into a room first." 

I stopped, thinking for a moment. It would be smart to find a room to put my stuff down so I could take a breath or two. But Jazmyne needs me first. I turned towards Jeremey, suggesting something else, "How about you take my bag to a room to settle into and you show me where the kitchen is so I can take care of my daughter. I like that plan better." I undermined his authority even though this was his pack house and his titles. But it was also his position that put me in this situation so I feel like he owes me. 

He didn't try to argue with me right now. He took the bag from me and started making his voyage to my temporary room as he pointed down the hall without another protest. "Thank you!" I smiled innocently. 

I followed his directions to the kitchen. 

The kitchen was very comforting and welcoming. I enjoyed the wood style of it. It was quite beautiful display and elegance. I thought about revamping my kitchen to mimic this style, but then I stopped myself. Would I have my own kitchen by the end of this? My own house? My own room? 

No matter how much I admired the kitchen, there was one thing that threw everything off. Alex's father, Douglas, sat in one of the stool chairs sipping from a mug. He wasn't in my way, simply in my sight and I couldn't forgive him for betraying me and Alex. He was dead to me. 

Douglas saw me too and tried to make conversation, "Ke'aysha? What brings you here?" 

I didn't respond to him. Simply searched the cabinet for some pancake/waffle mix that I could whip up easily. I wasn't in the mood to make them from scratch considering it was about time for me to wind down so I didn't want to work too hard. I found the mix and found another mug to stir the mixture into the water. Douglas saw my ignoring and responded, "You're still mad aren't you?" He scoffed. 

This man was the worse at being a parent. Why did I even let him back into my house? I was such an idiot. He continued on his own will, "Don't you see I was trying to save Jazmyne here? Do you think she needs to be around that?" 

He sparked a rage inside me that I couldn't hold back, "She needs to be around us! Around me! You had no right to break apart a family like you did. The least you could've done was not drag my daughter away." 

I poured the mixture into a waffle maker and let it cook while I still fussed him out, "I understand you never did well being a parent, but that doesn't mean you have to step into other people's family to make them as miserable as you." 

"I may have made my mistakes in the past, but I'm trying to do what's right here." 

I didn't notice that my body was on autopilot while flipping the waffles onto the plate, "You've done nothing for nobody. You should have stayed away." 

I heard someone step into the kitchen, but disregarded it, "My purpose was The Council and delivering their charges. I gave Alexander a chance to do everything he needed to get ahead of this because everyone knew it was coming except him."

I was mad at both of the Westons right now. "Welp, like father like son I guess." 

"Well!" Jeremey's voice came from nowhere, breaking me from my rage, "Luna Moore, I have your bedroom ready once you feed your daughter." 

I picked up a fork and some syrup that Jeremey was pushing in my direction before I turned and look Alex's father in the eye, "Yes, my daughter who is innocent in all of this and shouldn't be a pawn in anybody's master plan. So please, I'm trying to be a better parent than you ever were." 

I left, trying to get through his thick skull that he's shattered our idea of an ideal life.