Page 6 of Kingdom of Chaos
Finally, my dad exhales a heavy sigh and scrubs a hand down his face. He looks at my mom and says, “It’s time, Zia.”
Her chin wobbles before she presses her lips together, resignation forming in the creases at the corners of her mouth and eyes. She shifts toward me.
I look into her bright green eyes, a sheen of tears gathering there. One glance tells me I’m not going to like whatever she’s about to say.
“You need to know that we love you,” she says gently, “and there is nothing,nothing, that could ever change that. You know that, right?”
I nod slowly, already dreading where this is going.
My dad steps forward and places a comforting hand on my mom’s shoulder, whether for her or for himself, I’m not sure. Maybe both.
“What your mom is trying to say,” he begins, “is that blood doesn’t make us family. And there’s no way we could love you any more than we do now, even if you were our own by birth.”
No.
I jump up, taking a few quick steps back until my butt bumps into my desk, stopping me. I shake my head, not wanting to hear any more.
“So he was telling the truth. You aren’t my parents,” I say, my voice sounding hollow even to my own ears. “I’m not your real daughter.”
My heart twists inside my chest, and tears spring to my eyes. Part of me knew it was true. I just didn’t want to believe it.
My mom starts shaking her head and pushes to her feet, stepping toward me. “No, Locklyn, that’s not true. You are our daughter. Ourrealdaughter in every way that counts.”
“She’s right,” my dad adds, his voice steady. “We’ve raised you since you were an infant. We’ve never seen you as anything but ours. You are our daughter, and we love you more than any creatures ever could.”
“Then why didn’t you ever tell me?” I ask, looking at them through a veil of tears, one finally slipping down my cheek.
“Oh, honey,” my mom says as she pulls me into a tight hug. Even though I’m an inch taller than her, I feel like a small child in her embrace.
“Maybe we should have. But we didn’t want you to ever feel like you weren’t completely loved and cherished.”
The scent of roses and daylilies fills my nose. My mom’s natural scent. I always thought my auburn hair came from a mix of hers and my dad’s, but now I know it didn’t. It came from faceless creatures. Or rather, faceless humans.
I cling to her, feeling like she’s the only thing keeping me from shattering. I used to secretly hope I’d one day take after her and develop fae magic, or gain strength from my dad’s bear shifter powers. I dreamed of sharing those traits with them, of feeling more connected.
Now I know that day will never come.
It’s like I’ve lost something, even though I never really had it to begin with, and somehow, that feels worse.
My dad’s large hand lands on my back, rubbing slow, comforting circles. “We planned to tell you once your powers emerged,” he says, pausing to clear his throat. “But when your magic never manifested, we didn’t want you to feel even more different than we knew you already did.”
Tears fall, from me, from my mom, even from my dad. They stay silent, letting me process, letting me absorb this truth.
When my eyes finally feel dry and my chest a little lighter, I step back. My mom lets me go. Her face is blotchy, probably like mine, and even my dad’s eyes look a bit puffy. But despite everything, I feel somehow steadier.
Sometimes you have to fall apart before you can piece yourself back together.
“I love you guys,” I say softly. “I’m glad you’re my parents.”
My mom lifts her hands to her face, covering her nose and mouth as silent tears stream down her cheeks. My dad pulls her into his embrace, a watery smile on his face.
“We love you too, Locklyn. More than anything.”
I believe them.
It’s only then that I realize how terrifying this must have been for them. They’ve known the truth all along but never knew how I would react. I wonder if that fear alone is what kept them from having this difficult conversation sooner.
Even though I now know for certain that I’m not theirs biologically, I still haven’t unraveled all of Kerrim’s claims.
