Page 84 of Finding Closure

It would be our last one after all.

It took all my strength to pull away, and some part of me broke to do it.

“I cannot keep her trapped, but I cannot leave you, Tamsin,” he choked out, covering his face and reaching for me at the same time. “I’m such a failure as a father and mate. I don’t know the right answer or how—”

“It’s okay, Dad,” I rasped. “You’re not leaving me alone. I’ll be okay—better than okay. I’ll be happy, I swear it.”

He opened his mouth but then blinked at me and slowly closed it, understanding in his eyes.

Beggingin his eyes that I show him.

I nodded and linked our minds. I showed him the vision I’d been having for a while now—the most recent version of it at least. I let him see the framed picture in the family dining room.

The picture of my family.

My perfect and loving family.

Neldor and I were in the middle, and a breathtaking woman stood between us wearing the first tiara I had ever worn of Mom’s… Because she was my eldest daughter. She had my crazy red curly mane but her father’s light-green eyes.

Plus, her father’s damn dimples. She was showing them off and smiling brightly, and the love we all felt for each other couldn’t be faked. The smiles were all real and—it was real.

To my right, Darby was standing with his hand on a man’s shoulder. Our son. My second child, and somehow I knew he was a fairy. He was so handsome it was ridiculous. He had my red curly hair, but his father’s gorgeous gray eyes and it was disarming. Both of them were with their bright smiles. Again, the love and happiness were real.

Next to him was Julian who was holding ourtwinson his hips. They looked about ten years old—one boy, one girl, and they were the most adorable munchkins. They had his dark blond hair but my tighter, wild curls. Our daughter had his eyes and our son had mine. Our witch and warlock twins that I knew were trouble and we loved every second of it.

Standing next to Neldor was Hudson with his arm around our daughter, my third child. She had his dark brown hair and it was glossy perfection. She was wearing fairy braids and looked so elegant that I would have wondered if she was really my daughter if she didn’t have my eyes.

And my smile. She had the same bright, beaming smile that my dad and I had. She was clearly mine. Another loved fairy.

Finally, Lucca was on the end holding our baby… And that was all I could tell so far. We had a child. I didn’t know if boy or girl, bear or fairy.

I didn’t care. The baby was healthy, and we were happy. That was all that mattered.

We’d made it to mate and have a child. That was what mattered.

“You’re sure?”Dad asked in my head.“No variations or—it’s always the same?”

I nodded.“I’ve only seen more, no changes. The baby with Lucca was only added a few weeks ago and I can’t tell anything. No outliers or—this is my future, Dad. I swear it.”

Just to make sure he believed me, I showed him the first one I’d had almost a year ago which had scared the shit out of me… And been the reason that I’d started scorching the ground around my future family, the castle, how Faerie would be in the future—all of it.

I let him see the first picture we added to the family dining room. I was holding a tiny baby as Neldor hugged me. Darby,Julian, Lucca, and Hudson were with us, and all had their hands on me and Neldor, making it clear that we were the family.

Then I actually showed him the photo shoot for the next picture that I had more than images from. Julian was goofing around with our daughter who was about ten while I was off to the side breastfeeding my newborn while Darby hovered. Neldor went over to his biological daughter and there was no animosity.

All of them were clearly her father, and she was the most loved little girl in the history of either planet.

We took the picture with Darby and me in the middle holding our baby. It wasn’t about the next heir always in the middle or Neldor and me. No, that picture I showed him of the final vision was in commemoration of my eldest daughter accepting her role and title as my heir.

After that photo shoot, I showed him another picture where Hudson and I were holding our baby while Darby had our son on his hip and my daughter with Neldor was next to me with her father. All of us smiling and full of love.

We did it for all the kids’ birthdays. We took a family portrait with them in the middle, and some of them were hung in their rooms or in different parts of the castle.

The next one showed Julian and me holding the twins as babies, Neldor and our daughter on my right, Darby and our son next to Julian. Hudson with our daughter and Lucca on the end looking like a proud daddy too.

Because he was. It was so clear that these were all of our children that my soul healed a bit each time I had the vision. Hell, I was so excited for that future even as it terrified me that I was going to have so many kids and have to figure out how to be a good parent.

But it was clear I had time. Lots of time. And I even agreed that about every ten years was good pacing to have kids. At least for us. Maybe most would want them closer so they had siblingstheir age, but… I ruled a world. That would be more than I could handle, and I wanted them to always feel the priority.

---