Page 312 of His Sunshine Baby

“Nate. I want to see Estelle.”

“Okay. We can go now.”

“Can I come with you?”

We both turn our heads. Nora just came down the stairs, her hair all over the place. My cousin got to take a shower and change into some new clothes. Somehow, seeing Nora as tired as I am makes me chuckle.

“Hi, Black Luna.”

She pouts.

“Hi, White Luna,” she replies. “How are you?”

“Right now, I’m jealous of your clothes. I’ll go and take a shower before we go.”

“I’ll see if I can get us a car,” says Nate.

Good, because I’m sure neither Nora or I are in any state to get there by foot.

I take a welcomed shower, putting the dirty shirt away, and freeing myself from all the dried blood and mud. I guess they just transported me to Clark’s couch as I wasn’t a priority, but I’m still one hell of a mess. My shoulder’s scar looks worse than before, and I have some new ones on my abdomen and back. I guess Nora couldn’t use too much of her power on me alone. My skin is dry as hell, and as I wash myself, I discover numerous bruises and little cuts underneath all the dirt.

As I get out of the shower and look at myself in the mirror, I don’t recognize the woman staring at me. I have a bruise on my lower jaw, and some cuts above my eye. Looks like I went through hell and came back. I did. Somehow, I feel like I’m not the same woman I used to be. I’ve been through too much, and there’s this feeling that I’ve lost something I’ll never get back.

Once again, Levi’s face comes to mind. It fucking hurts. A few tears escape me again. It’s terrible to say, but his death hurts me more than any of the others. Levi literally died for me. He shouldn’t have done that, but he died for me, and that thought is haunting me. I don’t want to keep holding on to that.

I look at myself again in the mirror. I can’t take it… I hurriedly investigate all the drawers and cupboards until I find what I need. I take a deep breath, and take one last look at my reflection.

When I come down the stairs, refreshed and with some clean clothes I borrowed from Isa, I’m feeling much better. Nathaniel and Nora give me surprised looks.

“Selena, your hair…”

I reply with a faint smile. My blonde hair is now freshly cut into a short bob, the rest of it in the trash bin upstairs.

I walk to my mate, and he gives me a little kiss, brushing my blonde hair.

“I like it.”

“Thanks.”

No one asks anything else, and we leave Clark’s place.

Somehow, driving to the south makes me feel a lot better, like getting away from the battlefield clears a bit of my emotions. It’s still way too fresh to forget the craziness we went through last night, but at last, it does finally feel like it’s over.

When we park in front of Nora and Damian’s house, the children are in the garden. To our surprise, Sylviana is with them. James and Estelle drop the flowers they were playing with to run to us.

“Mama!”

I get on my knees to welcome my baby with wide open arms. My little star runs into me and, the second I can hug her, I let out a nervous laugh of relief. Moon Goddess… She’s alright. My baby is alright. It makes it all worth it.

“Mommy, your hair… It’s like Rapunzel!”

I chuckle, and let her play with my hair, while Nate caresses her face and kisses her. She frowns when she sees her dad’s arm. Nate put on a long-sleeved shirt to hide his bare shoulder, afraid she’d be scared.

“Daddy… What happened to your arm? And Mommy too, you look all hurt.”

“Daddy and Mommy had to fight last night, little star.”

“You beat the baddies?”