About six months passed since Sophie came back to the Lost Cities, but she kept the news about the humans a secret. She didn't know why or if this was the right decision, but she never found the right time.
The days since she came back had been as busy as hell. First, she had to figure out where to stay. Edaline and Grady offered to let her stay at Havenfield, but all her friends were now living outside their homes, and she didn't want to be the burden of the family.
So, she found a nice house in the middle of a forest overlooking an emerald lake. It was mostly Charlotte's pick, but Sophie loved it too. It had crystal windows everywhere, letting in natural light. The door was made of oak wood, making it hard and durable.
Also, the space. It was at least ten times bigger than the house Charlotte and Sophie lived in in the Forbidden Cities.
Sophie had invited her friends and family over. It had taken a while to get everything straightened out, but once it was complete, the place was magical.
A knock on the door told Sophie someone was here, very early. Hours early, even.
She opened the door. "Welcome in, the pa-" She stopped talking abruptly. Two stern-faced councilors glared back at her.
"I see we weren't invited to the party." Alina said, barely moving her tight lips.
"Oh, well, uh," Sophie stammered.
"Still a pile of a lying snobby cheat, I see." Emery spat. "We, unlike everyone else, are very ungrateful of your return."
"Murderer." Alina said. "You are no longer welcome here in the Lost Cities."
"You killed-" Emery started, but then, Charlotte came out.
"What? Mommy ishn't a killer! Go away, shtop talking." She said.
"Oh, tell you what, she is." Alina smirked. "Your precious mommy is a murderer. Killed one of us. Good day to you, dear."
She smiled and leaped away. Emery quickly followed.
Sophie sank down to her knees. What they had seen, what they think they know, it's a big, fat misunderstanding.
The thing had never meant to happen.
But she, the sweet, caring, and cute, woman, was the bomb.
And bombs need to burst in order to be harmless.
Sophie had no choice to do the inevitable to the bomb.
But the Council had seen the inevitable happen. No wonder they weren't trusting Sophie now. She had tried to beg. Explain what had truly happened. But they refused to listen. After all, the truth couldn't be changed. She would never come back from the dead.
Sophie put her head between her knees, rocking back and forth. Charlotte sat down next to her, very quietly. She felt tears streaming down her face. She couldn't stop.
"Foster?" A voice gently said from above. "Are you okay?"
Sophie felt someone sit down next to her, wrapping her in a hug. He muttered something about "not supposed to be here" but kept her close.
Why was he here?
Oh, right. The party.
Sophie jolted up. "Ohmigoshwhathaveibeendoingthecakeisn'treadyyetitprobablyburned!" She took a shuddering breath and a sob. The tears didn't stop, no matter how hard she tried to wipe them away.
"Charlotte, can you do me a favor and go upstairs to change for the party? I got you a dress." Sophie distinctly heard Keefe say beside her.
"This is so pretty! Thank you so much Keefe!" Charlotte squealed, then raced upstairs to change.
"I'm sorry, Keefe." Sophie said, still wiping her eyes. "So, so, sorry."
Keefe hugged her tight. "You should've seen yourself when you fast talked. Your eyes were wide, and you looked like a fish, no offense." He chuckled slightly to himself, slightly pulling away. "What happened?"
"You happened." Sophie softly smiled. Keefe clutched his heart. "Just some random shit."
"Woah, the Mysterious Miss F curses now? She must've changed a lot." Keefe smiled.
"So have you." Sophie whispered. Keefe's soft features turned stony again.
"Right. So, I came here to inform you that I cannot attend the party tonight because of something urgent."
"What? Why not?" Sophie pouted at him. "You were with me for, like, a while and now you're ditching me? Sencen, that's against the law!"
Sophie could see a remark at the tip of Keefe's tongue and a smirk peeking from the corner of his mouth, but he swallowed and simply said, "sorry."
He turned and walked away, but before he reached the door, Della, Edaline, Alden, and Grady rushed in, Edaline and Della scooping Keefe up on her way.
Sophie didn't miss the stern look Alden shot at Keefe. Or the way Keefe averted his eyes from everyone.
"Well, this place is simply gorgeous." Della said, spinning.
"My goodness, yes!" Edaline said.
"Listen, Keefe, I want to talk to you for a minute pri-"
"Hey guys!" Biana, Fitz, Marella, Dex, Wylie, Tam, and Linh walked in. They walked in, all smiling, but Linh had the softest smile of all. Wylie had an arm wrapped softly yet protectively around her.
Tam was scowling at the happy couple.
"Guess what." Marella said, and judging by her unhappy tone, it couldn't be anything good. "Dexter and I are dating now. He asked me out yesterday."
"Oh yeah because that's a surprise." Biana said sarcastically, and Sophie smirked in agreement.
"Fitz, Keefe," Alden said, "follow me. Er, Sophie darling, is there a room we can borrow?"
"Yes, you can use the any room down the hall in the right. But, um, Keefe told me he had to leave." Something told her saying the last part was necessary.
"Oh, did you?" Alden shot at Keefe. "Well, I'm sure he will stay for this important bit. Emissary stuff." The clenched jaw told Sophie otherwise.
The three men, two brunette and one blond, walked away. Something about them being here made the atmosphere in this large room seem too small.
"Uh, Sophie," Biana said, "you okay?"
"Yeah... No... something about this feels wrong, you know what I mean?" Sophie askeed.
"No, but if it helps, I can go spy on them. Vanisher, remember?" In a blink of an eye, she was gone.
Charlotte waddled down the stairs. She was wearing a light blue, ice-blue, dress. It looked great on her. "OMG!" (She loved this word, although no one here would understand.) "TAM! LINH! WYL! (Charlotte couldn't say Wylie) MARELLA! DEXY! (Charlotte didn't know Dex's real name) AUNT DELLA! GRANDMA! GRANDPA! HI!"
Everyone turned and waved at Charlotte. She looked up at Sophie. "Are you okay mommy?" She asked.
"Yes, I'm fine dear. Nothing." She added when she saw everyone's curious looks. "I'll get dinner ready."
"I'll help." Della, Linh, and Edaline spoke at the same time. Wylie rubbed Linh's back.
"Oh no, it's fine-" Sophie tried to say, but they were already heading to the kitchen.
"This place is gorgeous, Sophie!" Linh said, marveling at the tiniest details. "You should adopt a pet, you know. Lightens the mood."
"Yeah, but Charlotte's too much to handle currently." Sophie chuckled. "For a toddler, she sure is energetic."
"I can see that." Linh smiled softly. Then a frown replaced it. "Oh, wait, sorry, bathroom."
She bolted out of the room.
It wasn't until dinner had been set when Linh, Biana, Alden, Fitz, and Keefe returned. Keefe looked the glummest of the sorry party. Biana quickly took the spot next to Sophie.
Wylie stood up, walked up to Linh, and whispered something in her ear. Linh shook her head "no."
They sat back down.
"So, how'd it go?" Sophie asked Biana.
"Listen," Biana said, "you have got to give Keefe a chance, no matter what anyone does, okay? Let him open up to you."
"Uh, okay." There were many unanswered questions.
.....................................................................................................
The group of friends were sitting in the couch talking and laughing when Linh let in a short intake of breath. Wylie looked at his wife concernedly when she closed her eyes.
"Linh?" Tam asked. "Linh, what's wrong? Wylie, I swear, if you did anything to her-"
"Tam, I'm pregnant." Linh said.
Her statement was met with silence at first.
"You're... what?" Tam was staring at his sister disbelievingly.
"Pregnant. As in, there's a baby in my damn stomach." That certainly explained the baggy clothes she was wearing.
Charlotte only caught on to the last part. Her eyes widened. "Linh, I thought you were nice!" Everyone looked at her questioningly. "I never thought you would eat, out of all things, a baby!"
Keefe let out a chuckle, shuffling her hair. She shot him a dirty look. "It took me thirty minutes to do my hair!"
"It took me two hours to do mine." Keefe winked. "Looks like we have something in common."
"What?! No way. Your hair is messed up, and mine is neat." Keefe messed up her hair even more. Charlotte screeched.
"Linh..." Tam whispered. "Wow. How long?"
"Ten weeks." Linh replied.
Tam closed his eyes. "Wow."
Biana tackled Linh with a hug. "Congrats! Linh, I'm so happy! I'm the honorable aunt, no question. I'll get the clothes... that reminds me, Char, I have a present for you honey."
Charlotte, looking at Linh warily, walked slowly to Biana.
"Charlotte," Sophie sighed, "Linh didn't eat a baby." But she didn't continue any further, the FLASH moments in middle school were the absolute worst. And looking at the looks of everyone's face, it seemed like they were thinking the same thing.
"Then what it is?" Charlotte wanted to know.
"Uh, she, um... Rember the things we did about frogs?" Sophie asked. "With eggs and stuff? Well, technically it's the same thing." This was all she was going to say.
"I didn't know frogs and elves were that similar!" Charlotte said. Biana handed her a huge bag. Inside were millions (or at least it looked like millions) of clothes.
Charlotte seemed to be overwhelmed with emotions, like the time Ronald Weasley presented Dobby with his mother's sweater. "Biana..." Charlotte pounced on Biana. "Thank you thank you thank you!"
She started stripping, so Sophie ushered her away.
It's almost the new year!
Love you all!
What are possible baby names? (It can be a boy or a girl)
SilverFox out ♥♥♥