Page 49 of Beasts

“You could have warned me.” But he just shrugs his shoulders and reaches for some food.

“Don't worry dear, I don't purposely use it most of the time, but I just wanted to make sure that you were comfortable. Please ask me anything you want to know.” I want to ask them a lot of questions about themselves. But I'm wondering if I should ask questions specific about my parents.

“Can you just tell me what happened? You guys seem like an amazing family, and if he was your brother, wouldn't he have given you his child? Why did they give me to strangers?”

“This is going to be a lot for you to take in, so we're going to take it a bit at a time.” I'm not ready to hear whatever bombshell she has to drop on me. But I smile and nod anyway. “When I met John, we had a bit of a whirlwind romance, but like I said, I'm psychic. So I knew that it would end up well. His brother and I also grew to be great friends. One day he meets this girl and I actually had no idea it was going to happen. It was very unusual for me back then because my power was quite active. I wanted to know as much as I could about this girl, but to be honest, James seemed to keep her away from me. I wasn't sure why, but perhaps he was just trying to be private. We still get to know her quite well. Eventually we find out that we’re pregnant, of course, we're absolutely ecstatic to hear that. A few months later, we hear that voice James and Amiee are also pregnant. I was over the moon. We were all going to have kids at the same time and they could grow up together.” She looks over to Seth and then back of her husband before turning to me and grabbing onto my hand. It's really strange to know that this woman is actually my family, but for some reason, even though we've only just met, I completely trust her. “Truthfully, I was always afraid to ask why I couldn't see your mother. Even with the use of my psychic abilities I couldn’t see her future. She was about seven months pregnant when we found out the reason.”

“What was the reason?”

“You're not gonna understand what this means just yet, so I will let you know, she was one of the Fallen.”

“What's a Fallen?”

“I’ll let Seth explain it to you later, dear. What I do need to tell you is that the ones that I have not fallen don't take it lightly upon those who have. Your mother was technically on the run trying to do her best to hide. But she ended up marrying your father instead of running. She stayed in one place for too long. Your parents ended up needing to run eventually. Of course, that's difficult to do when you're seven months pregnant. The stress ended up being a little bit too much. They did come close enough to San Francisco so that when she had her baby, a little bit earlier, mind you, we were able to take the baby straight away. We were going to raise you. That's what we wanted. Unfortunately, the ones who were after your mother knew who we were and they knew that you were at least half of what she was. We couldn't keep you because they would find you. Your mother then let me know that she was working with someone for a long time. That seemed very polite and very kind, yet they had been struggling to have a baby of their own. I knew where she lived, so I went to go see her that night. Wonderful woman, and she accepted you with open arms. But by the time we had returned to your parents, we were just too late.” Her voice goes quiet.

“By too late do you mean…?”

My uncle responds in her place, “Yes, they found them. Back then, the Fallen were hunted for a lot of reasons, especially ones that were on their own and didn’t have a clan to protect them. But in order for us not to lead them to you, we simply couldn't see you. But my wife kept having dreams that we would see you again one day, so we were never too worried.” There’s part of the story I'm missing and I feel like I need to know it, but I’ll wait.

“Would you like to see a photo of them?” Clarice’s voice breaks through my thoughts, gentle and inviting. I nod, feeling a sudden urge to connect with the faces of the parents I never knew. Clarice stands and moves gracefully to the mantlepiece, where she retrieves a photo frame that had been lying face down. She hands it to me with a tenderness that speaks volumes. The photo reveals a younger version of my uncle, his features unmistakable, and a woman whose resemblance to me is striking. Her hair, though shorter, frames her face in a way that echoes my own. “Your mother was truly beautiful,” Clarice says, her voice filled with warmth. “She had an unquenchable love for life, a passion for all things earthly. She had a warriors way about her but the moment she fell pregnant it was all about you.” Holding the photo, a sense of connection washes over me. It’s comforting to know that my parents didn’t abandon me, that they wanted me and loved me. This newfound knowledge doesn’t erase the loss, but it brings a measure of peace.

“So, what do you both do?” I ask, eager to learn more about the family I’m only just beginning to know. I want to understand more about who they are, what their lives have been like, and how, despite everything, our paths have finally crossed.

I didn't end up asking Seth what a Fallen was. I'm at the point where I think I rather blissfully play ignorant. I had a lot more to worry about. Thursday evening rolled around a lot faster than I could have expected. As I knock on Oliver’s door, I enter before he has a chance to answer. It's become more like a routine this week that I've been spending time in his room so that we could rehearse. He's still tweaking the song on the piano feeling like it’s not quite right. And I completely agree.

“Hey, what have you got there?” He asks me as I stand near the door with a piece of paper in my hand. I close the door behind me in lock it just in case I don't really want to be interrupted right now. I step over towards him and he slides over on the piano stool as I sit down beside him.

“Do you remember how a couple of weeks ago you wrote me that note?”

“I remember you getting really angry that I said goodbye in a note, but yes.”

“Well, on the second piece of paper you had this really nice song written out. The lyrics were really beautiful. Anyway, I ended up folding the piece of paper into my pocket and running after you. I hadn’t noticed until now that it was still in my jeans. I think we should change the duet.”

“To what?”

“To this. The music is still good, that's for sure. But I think we should change the lyrics to the ones that you wrote me.”

“It's hardly a duet.”

“Yes, I can tell it's a corny love song.”

“Hey I don't do corny, I do romantic.” He gives me a cheeky smile as he grabs my hand. Lately, this is how our interactions have been starting. It's better for him just to get used to one part before moving on to the next.

“Yes, I know it wasn't a duet. But last night, I made some extra adjustments.” As I unfold the piece of paper, I lay it out in front of him on top of the piano board. He takes a moment to read over it.

“Do you really want to sing this in front of everybody?”

“To everyone else, it'll just sound like a regular old love song. No one's gonna know the meaning behind this.”

“If you're sure, I think you're right, we should change these lyrics. It'll make me feel a lot better about singing them to you.”

“Technically, you're supposed to be singing to the audience.”

“Nah, they'll just be witnesses.”

“Speaking of being witnesses…”

“Amelia don't.”

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