The Elite

Chapter 16

I dialed my brother's number and found myself holding my breath as I waited.

“Hello?” A confused Noah answered the phone.

“Hi Noah”

“Liv? Oh man, I miss you so much!”

“I miss you too, Noah.”

“It has been miserable without you here.”

“Liar. But I appreciate it. How are Wyatt and his mate Layla?”

“They are great. They mated and marked each other.”

“Aww, I am so happy for them. How’s Anna?”

“You know she misses you but I keep her company.”

“How about Mom and Dad?”

“They miss you. I know they feel terrible about everything.”

“Do they really or is that you feeling horrible and wishing they did?”

There was silence on the line. “Dad and Mom fought the morning you left. They haven’t really been the same since.”

“What do you mean?”

“Dad was mad at himself for not saying goodbye. He took it really hard. He said you are his best warrior, he should have seen you off. Mom said he was over reacting and that you made your time away seem worse than it would be.”

“His best warrior, but not his daughter.” I said with a bitter laugh.

“He changed his tone. When you didn’t call the first week, they fought again. Dad was really upset, saying his daughter was gone and he didn’t say goodbye. After the second week, Mom started to realize that it might be a lot longer than she realized before she talked to you or saw you. So she started to blame Dad for not explaining to her how long you would be gone.”

“I told them Noah. I told her almost every day before I left.”

“I know Liv. Are you going to call them?”

“I can’t. I only got one call and I chose you.”

“When will you get a chance to call again?”

“I don’t know. When they say I can. But my next call will be to them.”

“OK, I will tell them I talked to you. How is everything going?”

“It’s hard but I love it and I met the most amazing guy.”

“What seriously?”

“Yes, Noah, seriously, and it's not like I was planning on it. It just happened. We have a pull toward each other.”

“ OK, but be careful. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

We talked until I got the one minute warning. It was hard to say goodbye but we did and before I knew it, Oli and Bryan were back. As soon as I was in his arms, everything seemed better.

It was 2 months before we were able to make a call again. To be honest, I didn’t even realize two months had passed since my first call. I was so busy with studying, training, Bryan, and the guys I had lost track of time.

I picked up the phone to call my parents. I decided to call the house phone instead of a cell phone. The phone only rang once before it was answered.

“Hello?” My Dad’s voice sounded tired.

“Hi Daddy.”

“Oh Liv, Baby Daddy is so sorry. So so sorry.” I could hear the pain in his voice.

“It’s OK Dad.”

Before he could say anything else, I heard my Mother in the background. “Is that my baby girl?”

“Olivia, your Mother wants to say hi.”

“Olivia?”

“Hi Mom.”

“My little girl, I am so sorry for being a horrible Mother. I miss you so much. When will you be home to visit baby?”

“I miss you too, Mom, but I won’t be home till Thanksgiving. Remember I told you this before I left.”

“I don’t. I wasn’t listening, honey, I am a horrible mother.”

“No you aren’t, you just have a lot going on with the twins and Haisley.”

“Don’t let me off that easy.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her. They were my parents and they might not be perfect, but they are mine. For the rest of the call, I told them about training and Oli, Demetri, and Mateo. But most of the time I told them about Bryan.

Mom was excited for me but Dad wanted to meet him. Dad almost seemed upset but it was hard to tell without getting to see his face. Unfortunately, the call had to come to an end. My Mom started crying and I assured her I would be home for Thanksgiving.