Side-Story: 14 - A new stage of life - Part 1
Kyran
With a concentrated look I fixed my tie in the mirror and almost gave up when I messed it up for the fifth time. This was too hard.
»Taking your time, sweetheart?«
Cassian appeared in the doorframe and I met his gently green eyes through the mirror. »No, just having trouble with this stupid thing,« I grumbled, annoyed.
My hair had already been a problem. After showering yesterday, Cas had plunged at me and we had some fun but my hair had been still wet and today I needed to shower again in the morning because of the mess on my head.
He was already wearing his suit and looking all perfect - like always. Even the small wrinkles that had appeared on his face. But at his age it should be almost normal to get a few wrinkles. Still, even a few wrinkles wouldn't damage his handsome face.
Nothing could. Not even gray hair in a few years, or later on when his muscles and tight skin disappeared. I loved his soul and the look in his eyes. The eyes that would never change looking at me with so much love.
Not his body or handsome face. Though I couldn't deny I loved it too.
Today was a day to celebrate. It was the graduation day of our five children.
All of them had turned 20 by now and finished their 13th year of school.
And both of us were a little bit over 40 years old by now. Beautiful 20 years at the side of my mate and husband.
Of course, we had our ups and downs and not just one time, I got sick. Or something else happened that made us feel sadness, anger or frustration.
However, we held onto our happiness.
Nothing could be as bad as the time we were separated and my death. I may have come back to life but my death had still happened and hurt Cassian in a way I could never understand because I hadn't lost him to the everlasting darkness until now.
»Let me help you,« he purred and walked up to me and untied the tie around my neck. Sighing I let him help me fix the tie and after he finished, he wrapped his arms around me and kissed me on the lips.
A smile spread on my lips. »Just one?«
»Yes, because if we start now, we won't stop. And I can already hear the footsteps of your mini-me stressing about us coming too late though we have enough time.« Fair enough, I did that too. A lot.
Although he was also very often the startled chicken that rushed us.
He brushed his fingers past my cheek and grinned before our daughter arrived in our bedroom.
She wore a peacock colored dress that ended at her ankles and thick straps around the shoulders held the dress up. The top had the shape of a heart and a golden pattern made of pearls. Her light-blond hair was put up in a braided crown around her head and her colorful eyes were highlighted with make-up.
I sometimes wondered how my little girl could turn into such a beautiful woman. I still saw my little girl at first glance and then I saw the woman she was now.
Normally her light-blond hair fell in waves over her shoulder blades. Her face was heart-shaped and her expression was always kind. Her skin was a pale ivory.
And Azrael was of a relatively big height for a woman and an Omega. She was just about four centimeters smaller than I was.
»Do you need much longer or are you finished?« She nervously played with her fingers and stopped when she saw Cassian and I almost laying in each other's arms.
»Papa! Dad! We don't have time for that!«, she complained immediately.
I laughed and moved out of Cassian's arms. He looked after me as if he already missed me which was probably true. I missed his arms too.
»You should rather watch over your brothers. Are you sure that Raphael didn't hide in his little library again?« Cas teased and Azrael instantly turned on her heel and crossed our house.
All of our children still lived with us. Though we would love to have the house only for each other, we would miss the chaos and life they brought us.
And they still lived with us because they couldn't afford living on their own right now. Today was just their graduation day and though they had a job apart from school it wasn't enough to pay for an apartment on their own.
Luc, Az and Gabe wanted to go to the university too. They would move away together later this year and share an apartment while studying because they studied at the same university but different things.
Az wanted to study art and design. Gabe wanted to study linguistics and cultural studies.
It wasn't a surprise to me because I knew about Lucifer's interests since he was young and he talked a lot with me about it; he wanted to study medicine.
Our Alpha Michael was still a bit helpless to what he wanted to do in the future. So he wanted to take a break for a year. We had no complaints about that. It was his life and he wanted to use that time to move around other packs to look for his mate.
He hadn't found his mate at his 18th birthday and was in the same situation as his grandfather and father. It was kind of funny that it went through generations.
Sure, he could take over Cassian's firm which was formerly owned by Kenneth. But we didn't want to force a path on him. We also waited with him taking over the pack.
We were aware of what pressure it had put on us and without his mate he would have a harder time than we did. Of course, we had our own hard times after taking the pack over. Mostly between us two and then there were the demons too.
But after I had returned and everything was better, we still had a hard time leading the pack correctly. Until we really settled down in our positions and responsibilities we were a mess.
Raphael found a job in the next town at a bookstore and would start working there in september.
We went to the living room together where we found Gabriel making himself a coffee in the kitchen. He was totally addicted to coffee. If I met him in the kitchen or only in the hallway I always saw a cup filled with coffee in his hand.
He was just as big as Azrael - or could it be rather addressed as small considering the other males in our family?
His light-blond hair was fluffy but laid perfectly on his head. His green eyes locked on us when he noticed us arriving.
»Dad, can you help me?« he immediately whined and came up to Cassian. »I can't handle this tie.«
Cassian laughed with his head thrown back and nodded. »Sure. Come here, Gabe.« Under his breath I clearly heard him murmur: »Like father like son.«
Annoyed, I rolled my eyes but couldn't stop myself from smiling.
Except for the eye color Azrael and Gabriel really looked like twins. Yes, all of our children were born from the same womp on the same day but all of them looked differently. Only those two really shared a big amount of the same external traits.
Gabriel already wore a dark green suit with a gray tie around his neck. From the color similar to Azrael's dress.
»I will look where Luc is,« I said to Cassian, who was concentrating on fixing Gabriel's tie.
I already knew where I needed to go because most of the time Lucifer spent his time in the garage. Not just to work on his motorbike but also to study the books about medicine I had given him.
The garage was like his office.
»Knock, knock. Someone there?« I entered the garage and found Lucifer kneeling next to his bike. »Still working on it? Even in a suit?«
He turned his head to me and grinned brightly. His light-blond hair reached his shoulders and was tied in a bun at the back of his head. Though a few strands of his hair fell into his face and were covering his brown and green eyes.
He shared many external traits with Gabriel and Azrael too but he looked different too. Much more like I did at that age.
Except for the hair color and green and brown colors of his eyes, the shape of his face was completely different. Gabe and Az had a heart-shaped face but he had a diamond-shaped face. And he was much bigger. Almost as big as Cassian, only a few centimeters smaller.
»Sorry, couldn't stop myself,« he mumbled and quickly washed his oily black hands.
He wore a dark brown suit with a white dress shirt - no tie. But not as tidily as Gabriel. His suit jacket wasn't buttoned but loosely open. And his dress shirt was a bit messily pushed into his pants.
»Seriously...« I sighed and fixed his messy looks. »You are the messiest of them all though Raph is the one staying in his room all day.«
He grinned and just let me fix whatever didn't fit my overly urge to tidy everything up. I even rubbed the oil on his cheek away.
»Well, only if it's about wearing something like this,« he argued smugly.
I looked up at him and raised my eyebrow.
If I could consider Lucifer in one way then he had the looks of a "badboy" and sometimes acted like that. But when someone got to know him deeper they would meet a golden retriever - a shining light of happiness. A light bringer.
He may have a very similar appearance to me at his age but we were still different in many ways.
He wasn't an overthinker like I was. He handled everything quickly and took the consequences upon him if he failed. He wanted adventures while I preferred a quiet life - my job already gave me enough adventures.
If Luc was a character in a fantasy book he would probably be the hero of the story. The shining knight or prince on a white horse. He would be riding into the dawn and be on his way to slay the villain and save the world. He would be fighting in wars at the side of his loyal friends. And even in dark times he would be smiling and bring more light.
He would make the darkness disappear.
»Yeah, you prefer your leather jacket and biker boots,« I snorted.
He kissed my right cheek. »Yep.« Then he quickly ran into the house and I followed him while shaking my head.
Back in the living room, I saw Michael too now. Laying on the couch.
His dark brown hair was full and fluffy but he always styled it a bit like a hedgehog. His blue eyes were like the arctic sea and his face was shaped like Cassian's - like an oval but squared too at the same time. He only wore a dark blue dress shirt and black pants - no jacket but a black tie.
Lucifer threw himself next to Michael on the couch and nudged him in the side. The oldest winced and kicked Luc with his foot.
»Boys,« Cassian said loudly - giving them a clear warning to not start a fight now.
»Sorry,« both said at the same time, rolling their eyes and still exchanging one kick each.
»So, only two are left.« I stopped next to Cassian.
»I'm sure Raph still wants to finish his book and Az can't bring him to stop reading,« he huffed and I chuckled. »Probably.«
We waited a few more minutes and finally Raphael and Azrael arrived in the living room.
»For god's sake. He is too obsessed with books. Do something about it,« she hissed and crossed her arms.
»Sorry for being the only reader in the family,« Raphael snarled back.
A book in his hands and a typical black-white suit. His light-brown hair styled down like always and his brown eyes showed the tiredness from not sleeping tonight because he had devoured another book.
»Everyone ready?« Cassian asked and clapped his hands together. »Then get in the car and we will leave!«
Our children all left the house and Cassian already sat behind the wheel of our family-car when I noticed something between the trees.
A smile tugged at my lips when I recognized the shape of a golden wolf with wings. His shape changed and turned into an old woman before turning into a man with wings, then into an orange cat.
Hello, Coffee, I mouthed silently and bowed my head as a greeting.
"Coffee" had died a few years back. After all, she had been an old cat. But she never stopped watching over us. She or rather the angel that swore to protect the blessings of the moon goddess.
»Kyran?«
»Coming!«
I threw a last look to the trees but the angel had disappeared. No, he hadn't disappeared; he had just made himself invisible. He was always there. Always watching over us. Always protecting us.
Then I entered the car and we drove to the school.
The ceremony was really nice. A big venue with a stage and fancy decoration. The principal and the teachers held some speeches and other programmes were planned. Almost at the end our children got their diploma. A small band played some music and some students held speeches too. Some teachers got flowers and other presents.
After the official ceremony we went to eat something together with all the other parents and students from their classes. And they even rented a location where they threw a party.
We parents left later in the evening to leave the children to party alone but we still stayed for some time.
A new stage of life started from now on. It would bring change and many things would be different to the things we got used to. But I was confident to live on and be happy until the very end.