3: An Unconventional Happy Ending.

Chapter 10: An unexpected visitor.

Two weeks after Sera's birth, Eleanora is healing well, very much thanks to her own potion. She and Alexander are at Wintergreen manor introducing little Sera to her aunty Genevieve, uncle Armand and to Aerin. Aerin and Seb are so far really happy together after dating for two months. It's a cool winters evening and it's starting to get dark outside. Eleanora is in the Kitchen and Alexander is busy speaking to the children and Lucille, so uncle Seb is having a hold of little Sera as Aerin looks on in admiration.
"She's so perfect..."
Seb strokes her fluffy black hair.
"She absolutely is..."
Aerin just watches him with her for a moment.
"... It's moments like this where I wish I could give you one of your own... You're so good with her."
He gives her a reticent smile and kisses her cheek.
"I know and I love that about you... But please don't feel guilty about that..."
She leans her head on his shoulder briefly.
"I'll try... It's quite sad to think that you and I would probably have beautiful children together..."
He kisses her hair with a sweet smile.
"Oh definitely... I have absolutely no doubt about that..."

Just then someone knocks at the door. Seb is still holding Sera, her little head is resting on his shoulder, he walks with her to the hall and answers the door. He opens it to find a petite woman wearing a heavy hooded cape, it's wrapped completely around her because of the cold.
"Yes? Can I help you?"
She pulls her hood down and his smiling face plummets into the depths of the nine hells for a moment.

It's Hadriana and so he speaks to her in a slightly hushed but equally harsh whisper.
"Oh, sweet mother of the Gods... What are you doing here?!"
Hadriana opens her mouth to speak but stops short as Aerin appears behind him having heard him hissing something, he sounded upset, he jumps a little and turns around.
"Shit! Sorry, love... Listen, Aerin, can you do me a favour and take this little sweetheart back to her daddy? I think I'll be a little while here... Thank you..."

He then leans in while he's passing her Sera and quickly whispers to her.
"I'll explain when I get back, I'll try to not be too long..."
Then he kisses her lips quickly before she smiles and nods.
"Don't be too long, dinner is almost ready."

She walks back through to the lounge with Sera in her arms. Seb waits until she's gone, he then grabs his jacket and steps outside, closes the door behind him. He puts his jacket on.
"Lets take a walk to the back garden... What exactly is the purpose of this visit? I thought I was rid of you for good..."
They start walking and she completely ignores his question as she resorts to a snide comment.
"Well, that did not take you long..."
He flies into a mild rage but still keeps his voice down.
"... Are you fucking kidding me Hadriana?! Are we just going to conveniently forget everything that's happened? That you both literally and figuratively broke... No, destroyed my fucking heart... Then you have the cheek to comment snidely on the fact that I might have dared to move on..."

She raises her voice too, she knows he's right.
"I am sorry, alright?!"
He shakes his head, refusing to look at her.
"Not really good enough, it took me over two months to get over what you said to me... Although honestly, I don't really know if I ever actually did get over it..."
She grabs his hand but he quickly pulls it away. She sighs heavily at his reaction.
"Seb... Look... I have had a long time to think about it... I spoke about it to my father and mother... They were obviously upset about what happened to me... But they were both disappointed in me... They were both on your side... And... My father... On his deathbed... Made me promise him that I would come back to you..."

He feels a pang of guilt in his stomach and finally looks at her.
"I'm truly sorry about your father's illness... But seriously... Quite damn right! I know you were traumatised Hadriana, I wanted to be there for you, I tried to help you through that because... I fucking loved you..."
She hangs her head, ashamed of her own behaviour.
"I do not know why I reacted the way I did Seb, if I did know... I would go back and change every minute of it, I swear... And then... Perhaps you might still love me..."
He just shrugs, not really sure how to feel at this exact moment.
"Possibly... Before I get any more annoyed at you, what happened to your father?"
She sighs heavily with deep regret.
"That is part of the reason I came back... He died of his illness just two weeks after I got there Sebastian, I am still heartbroken that I have lost him... And you know what? That grief made me think of you, as I watched his burning pyre float away, I thought of you and how I did not want to lose you... How you would have been there for me, to hold me and support me through it... No matter how badly I had treated you..."