Page 36 of Frederick
Frederick
“What do you mean my parents are here?” I asked Uncle Rainier. “I just talk to them yesterday, and they didn’t mention anything at all about coming for a visit.” Why hadn’t they said anything? It would have been the perfect time for them to let me know they were planning on coming to Montana.
Dominic and I had discussed my family visiting after the baby was born. But things shifted between us after we both admitted that we were very much in love with one another. Since then, Dominic finally felt comfortable enough and voiced what I had known for some time: he did not want to meet my parents for the first time right after giving birth. I completely understood that, and supported it fully. But I had not mentioned that to my parents, and the last I had heard, they were still very much planning on visiting after the baby was born in late spring.
“I mentioned to Edmund when I talk to him last that it probably wasn’t the most acceptable time for him and Dorthea to visit you right after Dominic gives birth. The last thing Dominic is going to want is to be forced to play host when hehas a new baby to spend time with.” Rainier patted me on the shoulder. “When the two of you become new parents, the only thing you are going to want to do for those first couple of weeks is spend time with your new baby. That is how it should be, and that is what I told Edmund. He seemed to agree fully, because he and Dorthea have decided that now is the time to come and meet Dominic. They showed up first thing this morning.”
It wasn’t that I didn’t want my parents to meet Dominic. In fact, I very much was looking forward to introducing him to the family. I simply hadn’t been expecting them to show up unannounced without notice.
“Where are they staying?”
Rainier chuckled while shaking his head. “There is no need to worry because they are staying at my place. I was under the impression that they were going to be here for no more than a week, and then they will return to Madrid and be there to help Emmet and Sofia. She is expecting again, and I believe that has changed everyone’s timeline.”
“Sofia is pregnant again?”
Uncle Rainier nodded.
When had that happened? When had my family stopped sharing news with me? This new baby would make number five for my brother and his One, and it hurt a little that nobody thought to share that news with me. Granted, I had a lot going on in my own life, but still. When someone’s one was expecting, you shared that news with the rest of the family.
“Is this a family dinner situation?” I asked. “Or are they planning on meeting Dominic in a more private setting? Did they say?” I was a bit irritated, and Uncle Rainier did not deserve my ire. He had done nothing wrong, and was simply the messenger. Even that was more than he needed to do for me.
“I would assume that the hope is to have a meeting with just the two of you, but I cannot say.”
I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. I took several more before I finally felt a sense of calmness replace my frustration.
“Thank you for letting me know. I do not mean to be short with you, and for that I apologize. I am a bit irritated that they are here and yet still have not reach out to let me know they were here to visit.”
Rainier winced. “Probably not the most acceptable thing they have done. Might I suggest you get in contact with your father, and ask him when he was going to let you know they were arriving? Although, I will say that it did seem as if this was a very spur of the moment type of trip.”
I nodded. That wasn’t how they usually were, but it was obvious that they had a lot going on and they decided they needed to visit now rather than later. I was in agreement that I certainly needed to reach out to my parents. They weren’t bad people, but they obviously hadn’t thought this trip completely through. But first, I needed to let Dominic know that my parents had decided that now was the time for them to come meet him.
I waved in farewell as I left Rainer’s office. It was unusual for him to request that I come by for a meeting, but I was thankful he had. While walking the halls, I noticed the council appeared to be unusually busy, but that wasn’t necessarily unexpected considering everything going on with Marco. He and Malorie were still missing, and at this point nobody knew whether or not she was actually there of her own free will. If it turned out that Marco had simply used magic to bespell her, I had to wonder if Malorie would recover from the deception?
It wasn’t my biggest concern, although I did want Marco found in the worst way. I had so many questions regarding him. Was he in the area because he had sensed his One? Was he able to somehow locate his cousin and was here in order to free him? Had he been able to track Dominic and was now after him?These were questions that were constantly racing through my mind.
I knew if I went to my office, I would not have any privacy to have the conversation with Dominic that I needed to. There was no way I could get around this conversation in the very near future, despite how difficult I felt it was going to be. Deciding it was probably better to go home and talk to him face-to-face, I went to the board that had recently been added to the main entryway and move myself from “in house” to “working from home” for the day. The board made sense, and it helped everyone in the council. No longer did we need to track someone down, only to find out they were on assignment or working from home after we’d spent several minutes to an hour searching for them.
After I moved my status on the board, I checked out with Slater and then left the building. It was the last day of February, and of course, the month had to leave with a bang. Outside, heavy snow was falling, and the winds were whistling through the trees. None of that was even noticed when we were inside the council building, but at times it could be heard at home, and I had discovered that the wind was especially an issue for Dominic.
I felt bad for my One, because not only did he have to deal with howling winds at the moment— I was about to give him news that I wasn’t entirely certain he was going to be happy to hear. Sure, he was eager to meet my parents, but I believe that he, like me, had hoped to have a little more heads up than them simply showing up.
Not wanting to walk home in a snowstorm, I use magic and with a thought I went from standing outside the council building to standing on the front porch of the house I shared with Dominic. I could pop in inside the house, but after I had done that once and happened to appeared directly next to himby accident, I hadn’t ever done it again because I did not like the ball of magic that Dominic had thrown at me in defense after I startled him. I was incredibly proud of my One in that moment, even if I was in pain from the impact. But it was apparent that he certainly could take care of himself. Thankfully, he hadn’t thrown a deadly ball of magic at me and had only stunned me.
“Dominic?” I called out from the doorway as I entered the house. He was here somewhere, and it wouldn’t take much for me to locate him with a little push of magic. But I wanted him to know that I was in the house, so as not to surprise him once again.
Dominic came walking from the back of the house, and I when I took in his appearance, it looked as if he had possibly been taking a nap.
“Did I wake you?”
“No. I was probably close to dozing off though. Is everything all right? You are home before the midday meal. Not that I’m not happy to see you.”
He was right; this was not my usual time to return home. But with the news that I had to share I didn’t feel that it was beneficial to wait to let him know he was about to meet my parents.
“I’ve decided I will work from home today because I need to let you know something.” I reached for Dominic’s hands and when he placed his in mind, I pulled him closer while I moved toward him. “Rainier let me know just a bit ago that my parents showed up first thing this morning. I didn’t know they were coming to visit, and if I had, I would’ve giving you warning. But my father didn’t say a word to me about them visiting when I talked to him last night.”
Dominic’s eyes went wide “They’re here? As in here in Montana?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I just talked to Father yesterday, and he didn’t mention a thing. But apparently, they finally listened to Rainier and decided that it probably would be better for everyone involved if they met you before the baby was born. I can send them away if that’s what you want.” I would, in a blink. Dominic’s comfort was my only priority.
