As all the doors to the multiple luxury SUVs close almost simultaneously, they all look at each other. All types of emotions and tensions running between the group. Anger, hurt, sorrow, disappointment, hatred, but most importantly confusion. As an apologetic Lily stands next to a furious Bentley, a saddened Elise and an angry Braxton; Israel lividly stands next to a sorrowful Asia and disappointed Scott, as a hated and bitter Rome stands alone.
"Why are we here?"
Lily chirps up, more so directing it to a visibly hurt Israel that she hasn't spoken to since she returned back to MoonWillow.
"Can't be talkin to me. My ass doesn't exist, right Lily?"
"Shh, stop it Israel!" Asia snaps.
"I'm sorry Isy."
"Don't call me that. In fact, just go back to not speaking to me."
"Israel?"
"Ok y'all little shit is whatever, why are we here?"
"On God, don't say shit, Rome!" Braxton snarls.
"I truly think you should be the last person to open your fuckin mouth!"
"Aye, Bentley there's no need for all of that! We can be civil!" Scott tries to intervene.
"No need?! Your prick son is the reason why our daughter is still fuckin missin! Why my first born has been missing! Absolutely vanished into fuckin thin air months ago! TEN to be exact! My baby has been gone for almost a Goddamn year and you think we care about being civil?!"
"Elise, I truly am so sorry for everything."
"I know, Asi. My baby loved you. I'm thankful she had you and you guys too." Tearfully she points at Scott and Israel.
"Well obviously someone wanted us to meet here cause we all got the same text to meet at this location, at this date, at this time." Lily sighs.
"Yes, someone did."
"EDEEEEEEE!" Running full speed to her, Lily literally tackles her as she screams and cries. "Muneca! Why'd you do that?!"
"I needed to make an entrance!" Smiling through her tears she whispers and hugs her best friend. "I missed you sooo much!"
"I missed you, mas!"
Looking over at her stunned mother, Eden smiles and opens her arms. Literally screeching incoherently Elise takes off across the parking lot towards Eden and Lily. Snatching Eden into her arms she cries hysterically.
"I should whip ya ass! But oh my God you're safe! Eden Marley Lightfoot! What the fuck?!"
"I know, ma. You have no idea how sorry I am or how happy I am to see you. I missed you two so much. I wanted to come home so many times, but I just needed to be alone."
"God I wanna be so mad, but I'm just so happy!"
"Me too, mommy. I'll be right back."
Slowly walking over to her father as her black stilettos tap against the concrete, Eden stops right in front of him.
"Da-."
"God I could kill you! What were you thinking?!" Holding her in a bone crushingly tight hug, Eden melts in her dad's arms. "I love you so much, Edee. No matter what! If you wanna come home you know the door is always open. Please just never do this again."
"I know, daddy. Thank you."
"You still love me, Brax?"
"I never couldn't love the best big sister alive!" Bear hugging his older sister, he laughs as she gasps for air.
As she walks over to most of the Haven family, Israel runs and picks her up. Swinging them around he listens to her laugh.
"Lil Luna I swear to God!"
"I know, Isy! Don't kill me!"
"I should!"
"I know! And I'm sorry for leaving like that Ma Asia and Pops. You guys deserve better, truly you do."
"Oh don't worry about us baby! We're just ecstatic that you're home!" Cupping Eden's cheek Asia kisses it.
"Welcome back, darling."
"Thank you. Umm, I know I caused a lot of heartache. To you guys it seems unnecessary, but for me I did it to protect myself from becoming something and someone I would regret. So please accept my apology for leaving so abruptly. I know you guys worried yourselves sick. And I know I may have strained a lot of relationships, but if it was my fault for the falling out, please try to forgive each other. But I have peace offerings from my travels!"
As she gives her apology speech, Rome can't keep his eyes off of her. If he thought that month she left the first time was bad. Well this time he went down a spiraling hole of anger and darkness since she's been gone. Legend only shows up when he absolutely needs a run, but their communication has pretty much been nonexistent.
His relationship with his family is literally paralleled to that of he and Legend's. The only light in his life is Brooklyn and that's a catch twenty-two because she's connected to the first time Eden left and her mother is the second catalyst for the ten month disappearance. So to see her come back and be glowing twists all his dark feelings into a heap of longing and anger.
Her beautiful figure is just as gorgeous as the first day he set eyes on her. The black sleeveless tank top wrapped around her breast perfectly and the high waisted yellow and gray skinny legged dress pants flaunt her more filled out protruding behind and hips, that he gives himself credit for plumping up.
Her wild curls look even thicker and more luxurious than the day she moved back to River Run. Eden literally is glowing. Watching her behind sway as she sashays over to the car she drove in, he doesn't even realize she's turned around.
"Ok everyone, this is Cairo Legend Haven."
Holding out her arms, Eden unwraps the most breathtakingly stunning toasted almond-milk chocolate complexioned baby boy. Staring at them with big round expressive brown eyes that mirror his mother's, he smiles at the stunned group.
Literally not one of them moving, blinking, Eden doesn't even think they're breathing. Standing there cradling her son to her chest, Eden just stares at them.
"WHAT?!" Elise and Bentley scream.
"QUUUEEE?!" Lily gasps.
"HAVEN?!" Asia and Scott blurt out.
"SHHHIIIIITTTT!" Israel laughs boisterously.
And Rome stands there absolutely speechless.
"Umm, I didn't know when I left, but I apparently was expecting. Hence all the crying."
"We have a grandbaby?!" Screaming and jumping up and down, Elise finally wills her body to grab Lily's hand and run over to Eden. "Oh my moon goddess, look at him! Eden, he's so perfect!
"Ayyy, que precioso?!(how precious?!) Edeeeee, el esta muy guapo!(he's so handsome!) God he's perfect."
As Asia pulls Scott and Israel over to Eden, they all coo over just how handsome their nephew and grandson is.
Taking an enormous breath, Eden steels herself up to go over to Rome.
"Would you like to meet your son?"
Releasing a low shitty laugh, Rome takes one look at Cairo, nods, and gets back into the car he was standing outside of. As he leaves Eden standing there, the car pulls off slowly.
"Wow." Swallowing thickly, Eden wants to be so pissed off, but realistically she knows she has no room to judge how he should take the news that he has a son that he knew nothing about.
"Just breathe, Edee. He's in shock. I don't like him, but he's in shock."
"I know, Ni."
Turning around to see everyone's eyes glued to her, Eden gives them a small smile and an embarrassed shrug. As they all come and hug she and the baby, she tries her hardest not to cry. And not even for herself, but for her son.
"WHAT THE FUCK?! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH HER?! FFFUUUCCCKKKK!"
Literally tearing up his car, Rome's hands can't move fast enough to become as destructive as possible.
"Why would she do that?! Why would she do that?! God, why would she do that? W-why?"
Bursting into tears, Rome feels like his lungs and heart are going to explode simultaneously. Finally reaching the border of his territory, he rips the door open and allows Legend to force shift. Ripping through the forest Legend releases pained long howls, just trying to run out all of his sadness.
"So we have to get a nursery ready and all of that great fun stuff! Ahhh I'm so excited to be a glam-ma!"
"Umm, mommy. Cai and I are goin to River Run."
"What the hell?! Hell no! I just got you back! No Eden!"
"Your mother is right Eden. Absolutely not! Don't test me. That place, under him, is the reason we lost you in the first place!"
"Well in all fairness daddy, you agreed to the treaty and arrangement without telling me the full truth. Plus you knew the type of man Rome was and you still let me go. With all due respect as much as I would LOVE to go back to MoonWillow, Cai is the rightful next alpha of RiverRun. I would never take that from him. And Braxy is the alpha of MoonWillow, I'd never take that from him either. And more importantly, I've taken enough time away from Cairo and his father. I can't keep him from Rome. I may not want to be there, but my son is my number one priority now."
Through much argument, tears, yelling, and compromising, Eden finally convinced her parents to let her go back to RiverRun to raise Cairo. She even convinced Lily to move with her and be her female beta. Scott and Asia agreed to give Bentley and Elise free rein to come and go as they pleased, as well as a house to stay for extended visits and the authority to run their pack remotely from RiverRun.
Catching up the whole ride there, Lily tells Eden the strain of she and Israel's relationship and Eden feels horrible. In no way shape or form did she want her disappearance to cause this much strife. She knew they would all blame Rome as they should, but she never intended to shatter her best friends' fragile blossoming relationship.
And she never intended to keep her son from his father for so long. Not once she found out she was definitely pregnant. Being a wolf, her gestation was only five months and she knew that was not long enough to heal from the toxicity that goes by the name of Rome Cannon Haven. And so she waited and one day turned into months.
Pulling up to RiverRun, Eden's heart begins pounding. After leaving, she vowed to never go back, but Nefessa the moon goddess had other plans for her. In the form of their beautiful son.
"Lils, I'm gonna try and find him."
"If he starts actin loco, leave!"
"I will. I promise."
Parting company with Lily, Eden tries to find Rome everywhere she would think he would be. Allowing Nile to sense Legend, she smells Cairo since he smells like him.
"H-he's in your room."
"Nile quit playin."
"No, Edee seriously. Rome is in your old room."
"Ok."
Walking up to her room, she slowly opens her door and low and behold there he is, asleep in her old bed with her favorite pillow.
"R-Rome?" Calling him quietly, she doesn't want to startle him. "Rome?"
Popping up he glares at her.
"What?!"
"Rome, I'm not trying to do anything, but let you meet your son."
"You keep saying that shit, but I have no idea when he was conceived! You sure he's not Ty's?!"
"You know what? You have the right to throw your little hissy fit because I should have told you sooner, but don't be disrespectful."
"Disrespectful?! Disrespectful is you fuckin disappear for TEN months and coming back with a FIVE month old sayin he's my son, EDEN!"
"Stop yellin! You're scarin him." She snaps quieter. "Smell him. He smells just like you."
"Eden."
He growls warningly as she walks over to the bed.
"Why would I lie and let you smell him? You'd be able to tell if I was lying, Rome! He's yours! If he wasn't I wouldn't have come back! Trust me you're nothing to come back to!"
As the words leave her mouth she semi feels bad.
"Wow, still the same Eden I see!"
"And you're the same self righteous pompous ass I hated when I first got here. Look Rome, either you wanna be in your son's life or not. Either way he'll be surrounded by people that love him. But I'm damn sure not gonna beg you, when I know Blake's ass didn't have to. He and I are far better than that."
Standing up, Eden goes to leave.
"Come here."
"Ask the right way."
"Eden, I'm not in the mood."
"Neither am I. Ask the rig-."
"Please bring him over here."
Gritting his request through clenched teeth, the two scowl at each other before she moves towards him.
Once in front of him, she hands him a sleeping peaceful Cairo. And for the first time, Rome feels Legend and he is beyond thrilled. Sniffing Cairo deeply, Rome hums. And instantly a warmth and pride fills his chest. A warmth and sense of pride that has been absent since the horrific end of he and Eden's date.
"I h-have a son. I have a son. I have a son!" He repeats as he cuddles Cairo to his chest. Kissing all over his little head of silky black hair, Rome freely lets the tears slide down his cheeks. "I'll never leave you. I promise." He whispers over and over to him. "I love you, perfect boy."
"I'm sorry I waited so long. I needed to find the inner peace to tell you. But I take full responsibility for you hating me over this. I really am sorry for you missing so much time with him."
"Mmhm."
"I'll give you some time with him." Walking out of the room, Eden blows out a deep exhale.
____________________
Woah! Mind blown!
Thoughts?🐺
💗A.J
Cast:
Jasiah_rl as Braxton Lightfoot.