I hummed, “I know you’re friends with Jason and…” Cassie put up her hands, “I’m not going to say anything to him and I’m not asking about Jase right now. If you want to talk about that, I will absolutely be here for you. I feel like I know so much about your life as Ashley from Cayden.”
“You protected my mate and me, so I’ll never be able to thank you enough. You’ve protected my brothers, my parents, and basically every person that is important to me; You’ve been shielding all of us while carrying around a lot of pain. I don’t know if I could’ve done that. I think you are up there with the strongest person I know, my mom.”
Tears filled my eyes. I said, “That’s very sweet of you to say….and a complete honor to be compared to Haley.” Cassie smiled, “It’s also true.” I shook my head, “No, it’s not. Well, the part of you… because you’d get up and persevere because it would be the right thing to do. You have a very deep strengthinside you Cassie. Plus, as an Alpha you’d have taken Edward out.” So fast…since I could’ve.
My sister in law smiled saying, “Thanks. Some days, I don’t feel like I’m that strong. To be honest, I’ve been scared to have pups because of the adversity we face as a family.” I argued, “I don’t think that means you’re not strong. It means you already love and care for your pups, even when they were just a thought to you.”
“I think it’s a natural fear. Plus, you all know you’re going to be around for a while with Fairy lifespans. There’s no rush… and pups are a big deal.” Cassie laughed, “So you’re not going to be next then I take it?”
I blushed, “I mean… someone else will be for sure… I’ve got a lot… of stuff going on… and... I mean… I want pups… eventually. Just not… now… I have too much… anger and trauma to work through… and I want to be in a better place… with my family.”
“I don’t want my pups to come into that situation….as it stands now….with it all… not being right… the bond wouldn’t make that fair… my family are good people… and I’m just awkward. Plus, all the Kyle’s….and the Richards….we were like family and I don’t want my kids getting weird feelings… and then not being friends with people who are like family.”
Cassie held up her hands, “It’s ok. I didn’t think you guys would start trying for pups right away.” I sighed in relief. Everly interjected, “You’re not awkward either. This is a terrible situation, and we are all in a bad spot. We will work through it. Ok?” I nodded.
Adeline squeezed my hand gently and Paige took my other one. Avery snorted, “You Conners and McAlister people have some magical thing about you.” I frowned, “Of course the Conners do… they are partial Fairies… they can literally do magic. They have magic inside of them… and Everly is….”
Addison laughed, “Avery means that if someone else had started you on a rant about having pups, you’d still be talking about it.” I said, “I mean… she… we… that… I… you guys aren’t fair!” Paige snorted, “We aren’t Fairies, so we do not have to be fair.” I stuck my tongue out at them.
Elise walked over with a garment bag, handed it to me, then passed another to Paige. I unzipped my bag and gasped. It was a red dress with straps that tied into bows. It was fitted until the waist then let out. I glanced at Paige’s dress.
My friends had a jeweled halter top dress with a blue skirt. It looked just like something Paige would’ve picked out herself. I grabbed my dress and went into the bathroom. It came with undergarments. I snorted, “That man just does not miss a trick.” Freya purred, “No mate does not.”
I quickly put it on and came back out. Paige traded places with me laughing. I couldn’t help my smile because this was fun. Adeline squealed and ran over and took a selfie on her phone of both of us. She fanned her face, “Gosh. I am not going to cry.”
Ziggy came over and rubbed her sister’s arms. Adeline said, “It’s just that I thought about this moment. We were supposed to get ready for stuff like this together.” We were and we’d planned it all it. Dates, dances, and more.
I said, “Well…maybe one day we can surprise our men…with a prom…since we had such plans for that day.” Ziggy snorted, “Oh, god. Do you still have that notebook you two never let anyone see?” Paige snorted, “Melanie the pack rat who cannot throw thoughts or ideas away absolutely has the physical copy and an electronic copy.” I acknowledged, “She’s right. I have both.” Ziggy threw her head back and laughed.
I looked at my aunts knowing they were supposed to be there for all those moments too. They contributed to the prom book idea. MaryBeth and Melinda both teared up and came over tosnap a selfie with the four of us. Now... it was awkward. Freya chuckled, “It’s not. Just breathe.”
I started to run my hands down the dress and gasped. Avery asked, “What?” I squealed delightedly, “MY DRESS HAS POCKETS!” Avery laughed, “Oh boy.” Addison groaned, “Here we go.” I rolled my eyes at them.
Adeline threw out, “I agree with those the new girls. You guys totally heard the women’s clothes and pockets rants.” Avery snorted, “Did we ever.” Paige came back out and looked at us before asking, “What happened?”
Valentina laughed and explained, “Melanie’s dress has pockets.” Paige snorted, “Lord in heaven, help us all.” Cassie asked, “What’s going on?” Elise asked, “Yeah, what’s the deal with the pockets? Even Adeline knows about it.”
Ziggy said, “As someone who took them back to school shopping once, Ziggy also knows what’s going on.” Freya cackled, “She went third person.” I replied, “She does that fairly often.” Addison groaned, “Oh no, they asked. Why did they ask? Elise, you have to know. Here we go.” Elise winked at my friends, she definitely remembered the pocket rant, but she clearly wanted to hear it again.
Melinda grinned saying, “I know.” Marybeth agreed, “Me too and my niece is right.” I agreed, “I am. Have you never noticed that the pockets in women’s clothing are insulting? Like you can’t even put a credit card, license, or anything…. Sometimes you can barely put in a Chapstick or lipstick in them.”
“If you’re lucky it stays, but I constantly lose things because if you sit down and stand up… things fall out of your pockets. In men’s clothing your whole hand can fit into them up to your wrist. Their wallets fit in their pockets. Women have to carry purses because our pockets can’t fit anything let alone our wallets.”
“I don’t even know why they put front pockets on women’s pants… it’s crazy. Sometimes even back pockets… they just sew something there. It’s not even a real pocket. It’s just… so annoying… and...” Paige interrupted, “Quick, someone call Xander. Please, for the love of god. The pockets in clothes rant is HOURS long.”
Cassie snorted, “It is time to go see the guys. Plus, with them coming Melanie can talk to my brother and thank him for the dress with pockets. I’ll speak to my cousin, Lex, and get him on making better women’s clothes with pockets.”
I muttered, “This dress has actual pockets too. I could fit stuff in here… Lex would see a massive market increase in his clothes. I have a campaign he would use… the human women would flock to his clothing range… I have projections of the sales.”
Paige groaned, “When I saw we know, I mean it from my soul. We really do know that.” Avery agreed, “We beyond know he’d be in the black well before Black Friday.” Sierra agreed, “We are all over it. I’ll email everything to Cassie so she can show it to Lex. Ok?” I pursed my lips but nodded my head.
I grabbed my phone and saw I had a message from Kingsley. I quickly clicked on it to see if she needed anything.
Kingsley:I need to see you, so I’ll come to where you are. Considering I know where you’ll be ;) I have the inside track now. I also know it’s a surprise and I won’t tell you what it is.
Me:Ok… I guess… I’ll see you there. Let me know when you’re… wherever we are going… and I’ll find you.
Kingsley:Will do and have fun. You deserve things like this.
