Secrets

Chapter 25

After we were wed, we moved to the fjord to be close to the Mortmain Mountains and to the sea; a place that your father and I always loved. We agreed that it was majestic, strong and mysterious, but could also be dangerous, much like our own lives. I began to teach music for a time, leaving adventures behind. When I found out I was pregnant with you, I stopped completely for your sake and likely my own. Your father and I were over the moon, sun, and stars to discover that you would be joining the world. While we were plagued with so many secrets, we wanted you to be safe and we agreed to stop adventuring for good.

However, it seems that adventuring had not stopped us because you came into this world while your father and I were out sailing on the fjord and battling particularly rough waters. I delivered you just as the sun was setting and the roughness of the waves finally ceased. When you were born with those beautiful green eyes and your father's smile, you were our shining star rising into the sky. We named you after the festive plant that grew around the fjord at that specific time of year and also in celebration of the upcoming holidays. For your middle name, we gave you your father's mother's name to honour her and we agreed that you would not take either of our last names. Instead, we created a completely unique title to match the completely unique person that you are but it was also done to disguise who your parents were for your own safety. Your smile could light up a room and your love for my music kept me going every day.

Now, as I watch you and your father sleep on the back porch in the old rocking chair under those very same stars, preparing to watch the sunrise when the time comes and I wonder how long this bliss can last. Our safety is but an illusion and I know you have noticed your father's frequent absences. While I have stopped our adventures and missions, he has not. He does noble errands and it has put a strain between us. I want to avoid anything that could put you in danger, while he insists that doing these good deeds will protect you and prevent said danger.

You might be wondering through our entire story, I mentioned adventures, noble deeds, missions, division, dangers, tea, and secrets and that is because your father and I are apart of a secret organization known as VFD. The acronym stands Volunteer Fire Department and while this may be a lot for you to process all at once, I can assure you that it is all true. Both our families are involved in this organization, your father's more deeply than mine and both of us have been honoured for our work in the past. VFD is dedicated to putting out the fires of the world, literal and metaphorical, but it goes beyond fighting the most dangerous element known to man. We exchange codes, go on noble errands, train animals, wear disguises and try to keep the world quiet for all. If you have ever heard your father say the words "The world is quiet here," now you will know the meaning.

VFD sounds like a wonderful and exciting idea, but I fear it is more dangerous than ever. Around the time your father was four, there was a schism or a divide between the followers of the organization's original principles, and those who follow their own devious principles became completely opposed to the original V.F.D and what it stood for. Those who opposed the values began to start fires and create chaos wherever they went. The schism had continued to this day, becoming worse with every generation and was one of the very reasons that I have left it behind. I never want you to have to experience what I have and be caught in the middle of something that was never your fault or any of ours. The division was even more painful because friends turned into enemies and relationships were shattered and lost in the ashes, literally and figuratively. It also forced both of us to do some things that leave me with deep regrets. I questioned so much then, and I do the same now. While your father insists that we are noble, sometimes I wonder if both sides are wrong.

It is one of the reasons that I am writing this letter to you my dear Holly in case I never live to tell you the truth. Perhaps after I am gone, your father will recruit you but I write these words and tell you to be careful. No one is ever truly good or truly evil; we are like the sunrise, never truly light or dark. I ask you to think carefully about your allegiance and it matters not what you decide only that you are happy and can sleep as peacefully as you do in your father's arms.