Page 8 of Her Painter Bear Mate

She tried not to think about her mother. Her and her dad never talked about her either, not even now he was dying and abandoning her.

No, that wasn’t fair. Her mother abandoned her. Her father was just sick.

Her hands trembled just thinking back to her mother, how she so callously walked out, how Clarissa had felt defective for years. Unlovable. Endless nights wondering what she did wrong all while bottling up all the feelings tight, tight, tight, because she didn’t want anyone to know.

It wasn’t right to blame Dee for not knowing either. She’d never told her, never wanted to admit it. And now, she’d just blurted it out and brought all these awful memories back.

She glanced across the room, accidentally making eye contact with Dee. Clarissa quickly looked away and pretended to listen to the latest story from one of Sissy's friends.

A sharp clinging of metal against glass silenced the room.

"We're going to do the Crescenting now so Michael can go to bed," Asim announced from the front of the room, his arm wrapped lovingly around Sissy.

At least that meant the party would be over soon which was good because she needed to get out of here.

Since Clarissa had no part in the Crescenting, she shuffled to the side to watch. Not that there was much to see. Asim poured a little bit of water from the local sacred lake over Michael's forehead, causing him to cry. It was a lot of party for a little bit of fuss.

“We thank the Moon Goddess for bringing us together and hope she blesses our son with a fated mate and a good life,” Asim said solemnly.

Michael cried even harder and Asim tried to soothe him with little kisses while Sissy rocked him back and forth.

To her surprise, tears pricked in Clarissa’s eyes. That baby was so loved and that was what parents were supposed to look like.

Asim tried to appease the crying baby with a stuffed bear toy but to no avail.

"I'm going to put him down for a nap,” Sissy said, turning towards everyone. “Say night night, Michael.”

He just cried.

While Sissy was gone, Clarissa’s gaze fell on the bottle with water from the sacred lake. Nobody even knew if these Crescentings did anything but it was supposed to ensure that Michael would be able to find a fated mate at Crescent Lake once he was an adult too. Allegedly.

She'd been Crescented too, not that she had any luck finding a fated mate so far. Not that she was really on the look-out. Then again, wasn't love supposed to come to those who weren't looking?

Unintentionally, she made eye contact with Dee again. Clarissa quickly turned away, deciding that it was better to leave after all. She just had to get her coat and say goodbye to Asim.

She caught him in the doorway between the kitchen and living room.

"I’m going to head home but congratulations again," she said, surprised by how normal her voice sounded.

He beamed, blissfully unaware. "Thank you. Sorry I've missed so many trivia nights."

"That's alright, your new baby comes first," she assured him. "Michael is super cute."

"He is, isn't he? He looks just like Sissy," Asim said with a dreamy smile.

"He looks like both of you." Clarissa gestured to the door. "Alright, I’m off. I have to make sure my dad is okay." Not technically a lie, not technically the truth.

Asim gave her a quick hug. "Well, I'm glad you came. I'll text you about trivia night, okay?"

Relieved she'd said her goodbye, Clarissa just needed her coat and then she could get out of here. She had no intention of going home though. She wanted to paint.

Someone called her name and she recognised Dee's smokey voice easily. Clarissa stubbornly ignored it and kept going, desperate to get out of here.

"Clarissa! Wait!"

She quickened her pace but Dee caught up with her, easily blocking the exit. She was panting slightly and had a weird look in her eye.

"What?" Clarissa asked.

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