*Sasha*
I woke up to the door closing as Lucas left early for work again. I’d seen him a few tis in passing over the past few weeks, and it was hardly enough to say “good morning,” and “goodnight.”
He’d give Hunter and a kiss when he was leaving and exchange a few words before passing out at night. I felt like we didn’t even have a relationship anymore. He was off running around but I had no idea what he was doing. He barely had ti to update on the project.
I was busy with my own restoration project, but not like Lucas. It didn’t keep my mind off of how much I missed him.
“How are you feeling?” Lena asked. She ca by daily to help paint the walls of the wing we were restoring. I supposed even a queen needed sothing to keep her busy.
“About the project?” I asked, running a paint roller up the wall.
“I ant about Lucas.”
“Oh.” I sighed and dropped my paint roller in the tray. Small droplets splattered over the dropcloth. “I still barely see him.”
“You know he’s traveling back and forth between the Light Realm, right? Xander loaned him the private jet to ensure that he’d be able to make it back every night.”
I frowned and looked at the newly painted wall. It was still wet, but I could tell the paint would stay glossy as it dried.
“He hasn’t told anything. He’s been so busy, he passes out almost imdiately when he gets ho,” I explained. “Sotis, we have a few spare minutes in the morning, but he just wants to know about Hunter and then he rushes off quickly.”
My stomach sank as I realized Lena knew more about Lucas’s work than I did. He must have been keeping Xander inford and she heard it from him. I didn’t have anyone updating . I couldn’t help the sickening coil of resentnt in my stomach.
Was my relationship with Lucas strong enough to survive this?
“He’s working on a huge project, Sasha. It’s a major responsibility. Lucas was ready for it, but were you?”
I shrugged. “Honestly... I don’t think I was. I had this romantic idea that Lucas would be a Royal Engineer, he’d have his own office here and he’d work regular hours to be ho with and the kids every night for dinner. We’d sleep in together on weekends and maybe I’d get to work on his projects with him. We’d go to work together.” I sighed and bowed my head.
“That is a pleasant idea and you know, it could still happen.”
“Not if every project of his is like this!” I groaned and took a deep breath. I didn’t want Lena to think I was upset at her or ungrateful for everything she and Xander had done for us.
Lena chuckled lightly and shook her head. She dipped her paint roller into the tray and kept painting.
“What’s so funny?” I put my hands on my hips.
“You know, Xander just gave Lucas this project to make sure he could handle it. He knew it was huge but he wanted to test Lucas. It is the project of the decade, and when Lucas makes it through, it’ll be smooth sailing after that.”
“That’s a lot of pressure to put on him.”
“Maybe, but he can handle it. Trust , Sasha, it’s for the best. Lucas will know he can handle any project after this, and you’ll know that your relationship is strong enough to make it through, too.”
“Is it?” I muttered. “I’m not so sure.”
“Of course, it is because you know it is temporary. Now, let’s finish this paint job. Soon, we need to talk about the next phase of your project.”
“Next phase?”
Lena glanced over her shoulder at and winked. “Absolutely. You’ve got a lot more potential than just fixing this place up.”
We paused for a lunch break and I went back to the suites to feed Hunter. The nanny I hired was a complete godsend, and Hunter was doing better than ever. He was growing so fast, though, and I worried Lucas would miss it.
I nursed Hunter and humd to him, rocking back and forth in the rocking chair. The small little sounds he made were so adorable and always reminded how much I loved him.
I thought about what Lena had said about my potential. She was right. I should have been doing more than simple restoration projects. After all the work I’d done to get my degree and the architecture I studied, a simple restoration seed like a waste of my skillset.
It was all busy work, sothing to keep my mind off what was going on with Lucas.
I wished that Lena’s explanation had helped sympathize with him more, but I couldn’t help it. He was missing so much in my life and in Hunter’s. Was it worth it to miss so much now for him to have his dream job? I didn’t know anymore.
That night, Hunter was fussy. When Lucas got ho, we were still awake. I was exhausted from working and trying to get the baby down.
“What’s wrong with him?” Lucas asked. He looked just as exhausted as I felt.
I paced around the nursery, rocking the baby and cooing to him. “I don’t know. I can’t get him to calm down or sleep.”
“Well, is he sick?”
“I checked his temperature and his stomach. He isn’t running a fever or bloated. I don’t know what’s wrong,” I admitted with a heavy sigh.
Lucas grabbed the thermoter. “Well, there must be sothing wrong. He’s not usually fussy like this.”
“Lucas, I just checked his temperature. I know how to take care of my son!”
Lucas’s eyes widened. “What are you saying?”
I shook my head and cald down quickly. “Nothing. Hunter needs a calm, quiet setting to go to sleep.”
Lucas gave a sharp nod and left the room. I sat down with Hunter and rocked him so more. It still took longer than usual for to get him down. Once he was asleep, I grabbed the baby monitor and found Lucas in the kitchen, heating up his dinner.
“I’m sorry about that. I had a rough day and I’m sure that wasn’t helping Hunter relax. I swear, he can sense when I’m upset.”
“It’s not a big deal. You aren’t the only one that’s been stressing about work.”
“Yeah... actually, I wanted to talk to you about that. You know the restoration project I’ve been working on?”
Lucas nodded and went to the table. I sat across from him while he ate.
“I don’t know. At first, I was excited to have sothing to do, but now I feel like it is just busy work. It doesn’t let use my skillset to the fullest.”
Lucas creased his brow. “Well, then don’t do it anymore.”
I frowned. “I can’t get a job outside the palace because Hunter needs close. There aren’t any architectural projects in the palace currently. Lena only gave this one to give sothing to do. What am I supposed to do?”
“Whatever you want. Isn’t that why you got a degree?”
“Whatever I want? Lucas, what I want is to have the future we dread about while I was pregnant. I want us to have a life together.”
“That’s what I want too. It’s why I’m working so hard for this project!”
“Yes, you’re working so hard on your project. So hard that you don’t see what’s happening here with , with our son, with my life!”
Lucas let out a long, slow sigh and leaned back in his chair. “I’ve got an early day tomorrow, and I want to get so sleep.”
“Yeah, that’ll help.” I stord off to the bedroom and slamd the door shut.
That was not how I wanted the conversation to go. But how was I supposed to talk to Lucas when he only cared about his own job and putting ti in there?
***
Lena noticed how quiet I was the next morning while we worked on the restoration project. I heard her sighing over and over and got the feeling that she wanted to ask sothing.
“What’s going on with you?” I asked, turning to her.
Slowly, Lena turned around to face . “You’re very quiet today, Sasha. Is sothing going on?”
“I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t know if I’ll be able to survive until Lucas finishes the airport project. It’s too stressful. I feel like a single parent.”
Lena ca to and put her hands on my shoulders. “If you want, I can tell Xander to give Lucas more help, free up so of his ti.”
I sighed heavily and shrugged. “I don’t know... this ans so much to him. If Xander steps in now, Lucas will feel like he isn’t making it or can’t handle it. That might hurt his feelings and his confidence a lot more.”
“Is it worth you suffering through this just to stroke Lucas’s ego?”
I shrugged again. This job ant so much to Lucas, and I really didn’t want to take that away from him. Lena assured it was temporary and I wanted to think that I could stick it out a little longer. It wasn’t just for Lucas’s future, but our family, too. He was right. Our family wouldn’t want for anything once this project was done.
“I think....”
A bright light flashed in the hallway, and Lena and I whipped our heads in the direction of the light.
The Moon Goddess, in a flowing white dress, appeared before us, hovering in the air. Her light, silvery hair rippled in an invisible wind, and her skin glowed brightly.
I stared in complete awe, too stunned to look away.
When she smiled, it was so beautiful, it broke my heart. Tears pooled in my eyes from happiness, joy, and reverence for her and her powers.
“Goddess!” Lena gasped, bowing her head.
“My daughters.” She held her arms out as if hugging us.
“Daughters?” I looked at Lena but she didn’t seem surprised.
“Thank you for all you’ve done to push back the Dark King. I know the fight has caused you both to make sacrifices. For that, I am sorry. However, you’ve both contributed to making this realm safe.”
“We understand the responsibility that cos with our power,” Lena said.
“Unfortunately, I fear this isn’t over yet. The Dark King will eventually break through. It is only a matter of ti before he returns.” The Moon Goddess bowed her head, her eyes somber.
“What are we supposed to do? We don’t have the power to fight him off if he just keeps coming and coming,” I argued.
Not to ntion, I’d stored a huge portion of my powers away in a staff that was being held in another reality.
“I will be there to face him myself,” she said, motioning to her own chest. Her movents were so fluid and ethereal. “When the ti cos, I will need the powers of the White Queen returned to in order to defeat him.”
I gasped. “Lena....”
She held up her hand. “I understand. The power was only borrowed, anyway.”
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