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Star
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The trip back ho was both quick and very long. It felt like we were gone for so long that I just wanted to get ho and see everyone that I was missing. I wanted to introduce them to my dad. I wanted to hug them all. I wanted to hug my friends and family. I wanted to move on with my life.
Yet, at the sa ti, I felt like I was leaving behind so much. I felt like it was all getting so far away so fast. I would miss everyone and hoped to see them all again very soon.
When we pulled up to the house, Dad seed to be impressed; his eyes went wide, and he let out a low whistle.
"I didn't know you had such an impressive place to live. This place is pretty massive for sothing that isn't a castle."
"It's the pack house, which was built and maintained by the Alphas of the pack." Artem looked out the window and explained it to him.
"It looked like the Alphas do pretty well for themselves."
"The mbers of the pack are supposed to pay dues to the Alpha, but I am not requiring that just yet. I do well enough on my own. That was sothing that I spoke with the Alpha King about, and he agreed. When tensions in the pack are better, we can possibly reinstate it, but we will see."
"Impressive. You seem like a capable leader, Artem. I am happy that my daughter has you."
Dad and Artem gave each other approving nods just before we excited the SUV. The door to the front of the house opened imdiately, and a flood of people poured out. Dalton and Cohen were in front, of course. They were the two that were the most attached to from the beginning so I figured that they would be the first ones out.
"Mommy! Daddy!" They yelled in unison as they ran down the stairs.
Dalton ran into my arms as I crouched to hug him while Cohen jumped toward Artem who caught him and hugged him tightly.
"We missed you." Cohen said as he buried his head in Artem's chest.
"We missed you too, buddy." Artem looked like he had tears in his eyes as he hugged the little boy.
"Why were you gone for so long Mommy? I thought it was just going to be a couple days." Dalton sounded sad as I held him against .
"It was a couple days longer than I thought, but a lot happened. Guess what?"
"What? What? What?" The two of them and several of the other boys who had just gotten to us were asking eagerly.
"While I was away, I t my dad. And he is really nice."
"Really?!" Dalton sounded excited. "Where is he? Did he co back with you?" He looked over my shoulder then and saw the man himself. "Is that him? He looks young." I heard Dad laugh behind ; I guess he was used to it since he only looked like he was in his mid-twenties.
"I am indeed her dad, young man. And I may look young, but I'm actually one hundred and nineteen years old."
"That's really old. That's older than Grandpa. Only by a few years though."
"Grandpa?" Dad sounded confused.
"That would be ." The man in question was looking at Dad with skeptical eyes. "So, you were the man that caused all my Vivian's problems." He didn't sound happy at all.
"Dad, this is my great great grandfather, Daniel. He, as you might guess, was my mother's great grandfather, and the one who sent her to live in Colorado."
"It is nice to et you, Sir. I am Aaron Fields, and Vivian was my mate." There was a smile on my dad's face, but sadness in his eyes.
"If she was your mate, then why did you write those an letters?" Grandpa had seen them as well, and he wasn't too happy about it.
"I didn't send those, Sir. Our letters had been intercepted. Soone was working to break us up once they knew that Vivian was pregnant. I never knew about Star until just a few days ago. I wish I would have been there to save them. I missed out on so much because of that man."
"Yeah, and who was the one who intercepted your letters?" Grandpa still didn't believe him yet.
"It was Uncle Howard. He created a duplicate letter and was sending replies to both of them. He was making them think their love for each other wasn't real. Dad has been in love with my mother this whole ti. He has suffered as much as I have."
"Star?" Grandpa looked sad now. "I'm sorry you have had such a hard ti, baby girl. I wish I was strong enough to have helped you."
"It's not your fault. It's no one's fault except Uncle Howard's, and he is dead. All we can do is move on now."
I wiped the tears from the corner of my eyes and smiled at everyone that was around .
"I'm happy to have you all here. You're all my family now. I get to have all of you around all the ti now. This makes so happy!"
"I'm happy too, Star." Dad hugged as he looked at the kids in front of . "So, are these two boys the ones you're adopting?" He was smiling at Dalton and Cohen.
"We're adopting all of them. Aside from one, he is staying with his brother. The other thirteen are ours."
"Thirteen?!" Dad was flabbergasted as he looked at all of the kids in shock. "Thirteen?"
"They were the boys that Artem rescued. I didn't want to let them go. Plus, they want to stay here too." I smiled sheepishly at him as I explained what was going on.
"Well, that's quite the ambitious feat. I'm proud of you though. You are strong willed and full of love." His smile was worth it right now. "Now, I guess you should introduce them all to . If you're adopting them, that makes them all my grandkids right?"
"That it does. Are you going to go by Grandpa too?" I giggled as I thought about the na.
"I was thinking more along the lines of Papa Aaron."
"Even better. Well then, Papa Aaron, let introduce you to your grandchildren. We have Dalton and Cohen here that you saw first. Then there are Benton, Timothy, Gil, Kevin, Zack, Marcus, Ricky, Will, Leslie, Flint, and Julian." I pointed to the boys as I introduced them to their new Papa.
"All boys, I had forgotten that you said that before. And the new baby is a boy too so you're going to have a lot of sons." He was grinning.
"New baby?!"
"What baby?"
"Is Mommy having a baby?!"
"Really?"
All the boys started to look at excitedly with happy eyes. We hadn't exactly told them all yet.
"I guess I let the cat out of the bag. I'm sorry."
"It's fine. Now is as good of a ti as any to tell them." Artem smiled at the boys in front of us. "Yes, we're going to have a baby. A little boy who will be here in January. You're all going to be big brothers to him. I hope you are all happy and looking forward to it."
At Artem's words they all jumped for joy and started hugging us all, dad included. The thirteen boys were very loving and had a lot of love to give for their family now.
"What do you think, Papa Aaron? Are you happy to have such a big family?" I smiled at him.
"I am. I feel like it will give sothing to focus on now. I won't feel so lost anymore." The joy in his eyes made want to cry for him. He had missed so much in life, and he didn't want to miss anymore.
From there we all went inside and saw that there was a large welco ho party for us. I guess the kids just weren't able to wait long enough for us to co inside. They were eager to see us. That made happy.
Now though, I was able to introduce my dad to everyone else since only Grandpa ca outside with the kids. My cousins weren't very welcoming of him at first, but once we explained what had happened all those years ago, we got it all settled. After a little while everyone was very welcoming of him. I could tell that we were going to do well living here as one big family.
The party went on for a while. Everyone wanted to know about the Fae compound, and they were all curious about my dad who looked just a little older than Artem. We talked, shared stories, and laughed about the good tis we all had. I even told them how I flew around the air with magic.
I also wanted to hear about what the boys had been up to while I was gone. They all had stories for , and I loved listening to each and everyone of them. I felt like this was what a true family was all about.
After the party ended, we found Dad a room that he could call his own. He said that the furniture in it was fine, and he could just modify it all with magic. That I found interesting. I watched on in awe as the room transford into a Faerie room. It was beautiful and exciting.
I am so happy with my life right now!
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