Blue Moon Rising

Serenity's POV I stirred in bed and stretched, letting a smile creep into my lips before turning around to snuggle from wherever the heat came nearest- my husband. To my surprise, I was alone in bed. I frowned and sat up looking around the dark, quiet room. Josephine? No answer. Josephine? I called to my wolf again, which was answered with silence. I nervously made my way off the bed, my toes touching the soft ticklish rug on the floor. I looked at the clock on my side table, 630am. Where is he? I wondered. I try to remember the moment before I fell asleep. Arriving from work the previous night, I checked on the kids before lying down for a quick nap, I remembered seeing them doing homework in the kitchen. I crossed the dark room and opened the drapes to let the early morning light in, brightening the room in an instant. Seeing everything in place, I walked toward the door and was greeted by an all-too-familiar song. That alone calmed me, as the memory of the first time I heard it came into mind. Hearing giggles from the nursery, I peeked inside and saw my husband singing his supposed chosen lullaby to our children. “… Laka ukulele, mama made a baby… I don’t mind the practice, 'cause you’re my little lady… Lady, lady love me, cause I love to lay here lazy We can close the curtains Pretend like there’s no world outside We can pretend it all the time…” I leaned on the side of a door, crossing my arms over my chest, watching him with a smile as he moved to the crib where my son was waiting for his attention. “But the telephone is singing, ringing It’s too early. Don’t pick it up…” My baby boy gave a hearty laugh and I couldn’t help but chuckle, making him turn to me. At first, he was surprised, but then he made his way to me and continued to sing. “We don’t need to, We got everything we need right here and everything we need is enough.” He took my hand and pulled me to him, an arm encircled around my waist as he started to dance around the room making me laugh, while he just continued to sing. “Just so easy… When the whole world fits inside of your arms Don’t really need to pay attention to the alarm wake-up slow Mm-hmm, wake up slow…” He smiled down at me and rested his forehead with mine, as his voice dropped into a whisper. “But baby, you hardly even notice when I try to show you this song is meant to keep you from doing what you’re supposed to waking up too early maybe we can sleep in making banana pancakes pretend like it’s the weekend now…” He stifled a laugh with me before he continued to sing. “We can pretend it all the time can’t you see that it’s just raining, ain’t no need to go outside… Ain’t no need, ain’t no need Rain all day and I really really really don’t mind… Can’t you see, can’t you see… Got to wake up slow…” I giggled and gave him a light kiss on the lips.“Cute.” “Cute?” He stifled a laugh, “That’s all I get for getting our kids to sleep?” “Baby, you just got them more excited, so yes, cute is all you get. Besides it's morning, they’re supposed to be awake.” I slipped out of his arms and walked toward the cribs that stood adjacent to each other, each holding the most important people in my life, aside from my husband. “Well, they loved it, don’t I get a plus for that?” he whispered behind me, his arm snaking around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder. “Fine.” I turned to my side and whispered, “I’ll give a plus later.” He gave a light groan and pulled me closer to him, making me laugh. Later never came though, since he practically dragged me out of the nursery and into our room and took it as ‘now’. The song was playing at full volume as I made my way downstairs, often paired with laughter and squealing. I looked around the main room, but it was empty. I moved to the receiving room, but it was again empty. Damn, surround sound technology. I thought as I made my way toward the study, again, it was empty. I put my hands on my hips, getting frustrated. I thought for a moment and smiled. This wouldn’t be the first time I get lost in this house though. I gave a mental laugh remembering a few years back waking up in panic about the very same thing 10 years after. I finally reached the place where the music was coming from, where I can now hear my family arguing. Everyone is still in their pajamas, Eric on the piano while Chance was on his guitar, and Fate, as usual, was lying on top of the grand piano with a song piece in her hand. Hope was watching them, laughing her heart out. “Dad, I know this song by heart, by mind, and asleep.” She groaned and sat up, “Let’s just do the record already.” “I know baby girl,” Eric says, “but your grandpa wants it perfect-“ “And it is,” my daughter argues. “It’s natural and it’s genuine.” “I have to agree with Fate on this one Dad.” Chance says, “We sound better like that.” Eric shrugged and nodded, “Fine… we’ll let your grandfather be the judge of that.” “Yes!” Fate cheered and exchanged high-fives with her big brother. “Get your ass off of my piano, Fate,” I said as they all turned to me. Fate laughed and jumped down the piano and ran to me, she snaked an arm around my waist and kissed me. “Good morning Mom.” I smiled back, “Good morning, honey.” “Mom…” I hear my little boy whine, “It's butt or behind or tush, remember? How do you expect us to follow your rules if you break them yourself?” I grinned and ruffled his hair as he leaned in to kiss me on the cheek. “As if you don’t say ass at school.” Fate rolls her eyes, “Look man, that’s one fine ass there.” She says in a deep voice, failing to imitate her brother making us laugh. “I do not talk nor sound like that.” Chance mumbles. Then I felt another set of arms snake around my waist, I turned to see Hope smiling at me as she rest her chin on my shoulder. “Hey baby girl, you feeling good?” I whispered and kissed her on the forehead. She shrugged, “I had better days.” I frowned, “Why? Is anything wrong?” Unlike her brother and sister, Hope was sickly and weak. While her sibling would do cheer and sports, she would wait for them in the library with a book in hand. Hope forced a smile, “Nothing’s wrong mom, I’m just a little down in the dump, I guess.” “Did something happen in school?” “Chance happened.” Fate answers for her. I rolled my eyes at another familiar conversation. “What did Chance do this time?” “You say it like I’m doing something bad.” Chance argued, “I’m protecting my baby sister, and I’ll be damned that she dates a douche under my watch.” “Date?” Eric asks from behind us, I can practically see his wolf ears twitching at the word. Hope groaned and hid her face in the crook of my neck. “Did I hear it correctly? Date?” Eric asks again. “Yes Dad, date,” Fate says. “You know, a guy asks a girl out for dinner or a movie or a walk in the park, or a party…” “We get it, thank you Fate,” I gave her a look which she returned with a smirk. Eric walked toward us and hovered over Hope. “What’s his name and where does he live?” “Dean Bolton.” Chance answered. “A new kid, I think he lives just a few blocks from here.” Eric turns around walking toward the door. “Daddy…” Hope whined. “Eric, come back here.” I snapped, finding the whole scene ridiculous. Eric stopped, though I knew it was against his wish to. I didn’t need to use the alpha or the deity tone on him. He was being overdramatic, we've lived 2 decades in peace. I'd be damned if he ruins that with his misogynistic werewolf views. “Sit down.” I said to Eric before turning to Chance, “And you stop egging your father to go and scare the living daylights out of that boy. Lord knows I have enough trouble with you going all ninja on your sisters.” “You can say that again.” The girls said in unison. Then I turned to Hope. “And you, when is this supposed date?” She blushes and glanced at her sister, “Tonight.” “Tonight? Are you serious?” She nodded. “Oh, let her go, Mom,” Fate says. “I went on my first date ages ago.” “Yeah, and look where that led to.” Chance reminded. A boy with a broken arm and nose. I hear Eric chuckle, I gave him a look and he gave it back. What? He says in our link, At least I know my baby girl can kick a guy’s ass. I shook my head, dork. I heard myself say in unison with Josephine. “Mom?” Hope asks. I kissed her on the temple and slipped an arm away, “I’ll talk some sense to your, dad." She nodded and joined her siblings, I watched them and started to compare the three of them. Chance and Fate had the same dark brown hair and nose, the only thing that they share with Hope was their eyes. They all had baby blue eyes, but when you look deep enough into Hope’s eyes, they often change into a shade of green, each color a total contrast to her strawberry brown hair. I left my children to their usual morning banter and walked toward Eric who was still by the piano and checking out the music sheets he was supposed to work on. “Hey…” I slipped my hands over his shoulder and linked it over his chest. “Hey…” he smiles over my shoulder before kissing my knuckles. “Someone’s been giving my babies a hard time.” I teased. “I’m not, I’m just-“ “Yes, you are.” I hear the three say behind us. He chuckled and nods, “Fine, so I might just be… a little.” “A lot.” Fate says. “A lot.” Chance repeated and sat beside his sister. “A lot.” Hope third. “Alright, alright…” Eric gave up and made me laugh. “A lot.” I shook my head, amused, “Let me show you how it is done, mister.” Pushing him lightly to make space for me, but to my surprise, he pulled me to his lap. “Ok, well, this is different,” I said facing the piano. “Not really…” Eric whispered, reminding me of a certain day more than a decade ago. “Urgh!” I hear Chance groan. “Eww, dad? What the hell?” Fate says. “Language,” I said. “C’mon, Mom, we haven’t even had breakfast.” Hope whined. “I don’t care, I’m not letting go of your mom after whining about helping me with work.” After meeting Adrian all those years back, he helped us start over and even went as far as faking papers saying that I was his long-lost daughter. In exchange, we helped him with his music business and, of course, his family. It took time for them to make me agree, I was still worried about being discovered and all that, especially Fate who growing into a spitting image of me. They continue to argue and I just shook my head, deciding to shut them up by playing. It was a song I usually play when I was stressed and well… it chills the lot as well. I grinned as I was halfway through the music piece entitled Pick It Up. To my surprise, a second set of fingers played beside mine to play the duet part. Chance looked seriously at the keys, making sure he keeps up with me. Chance grin up to me as we reached the end without flaw, I ruffled his hair again making him laugh. “Someone has been going through my music sheets,” “Yeah, well, you’d be surprised at what you’d find if you’re bored around this big house.” He said giving me a look. I shrugged, I knew where this was going. When did our life become this monotonous? “Where’s the party?” The three exchanged looks before bursting into a fit of information overload. You could have warned me about this. I say to Eric. He sighed and ran a hand down my back. Your little girls got me with just a pout. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Though I’m having second thoughts now about Hope going on that date. I groaned, I bet the date is at the party. You two are such a pushover. I heard Josephine say. You could have given me a heads up too. I say to her. I’m not the one with kids here, she points out, you were supposed to know these things about them. Well, I’m not in tune with them without their wolves yet, am I? The three teenagers blabbed and plead away before I raised my hand and waved them in front of the triplets to shut them up. They all stopped in unison and stared at me, almost begging. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. “Mom-” I hear Fate start. But I raised a finger to make her stop before she can use any of her begging ability on me. Baby, it isn’t that bad. I hear Eric tell me, it’s just three blocks down. I know… I groaned inside, it’s just that… it’s almost that day. In two weeks, it would be the twins’ 16th birthday. I wasn’t worried much of the girls just yet, but Chance… Chance was different. He had always been protective of his sisters to the point of almost getting in jail at the age of fifteen. It’s still two weeks away. Eric pointed out. Think about it, love, after that, we can tell them everything then they’ll understand why we’ve been so hard on them all this time. He had a point, but looking back now, it didn’t even feel that they had it hard. They asked for a car, we bought them one each even if they were just 15. Adrian had to pull a few strings for that. Chance was part of the varsity as Fate was on the cheering squad and Hope was on Glee. They have a different set of friends and then some. They were guard free and strolling the mall or the school grounds without worries. They have it easier compared to when I was in high school. “Mom?” I hear Chance. “This is tonight?” “Yes,” Fate says. “This is where your date would be?” “Yes.” Hope answers. “And this is for what?” “It’s Toby’s birthday.” Chance says. I raised a brow, “Toby? Your team captain?” “Yes.” “He’s a senior?” “Yes?” I looked him straight in the eyes, “Is he or is he not a senior?” He shrugged and nodded, “A senior and legal.” A senior and legal! I turned to my mate with wide eyes. “Mom, please?” Fate begs, “It’s the first party of the year, and it’s our junior year, we’re just getting acquainted with the right people-“ “Ok, ok…” I shrugged. “Ok?” Chance asked, “Ok as in yes?” I groaned, “Yes.” “Yes!” the two cheered, Chance threw his fist in the air and Fate jumped around and hugged Hope who was jumping around as well. “But!” It was like watching cartoons stop jumping in mid-air as they turned to me, worried. “I’m not stopping you guys from having fun, but please… please… bring Gary with you.” “What?” they snapped. “I want Gary with you at this party…” I said crossing my arms over my chest. “No!” “Mom, c’mon-“ “It’s that or no,” I said, putting my foot down. “Mom, we’re almost sixteen-“ “Exactly!” I snapped. “And I’ll be damned if I’ll let you walk out of this house without guards!” I rushed into a stand but had to stop when a sudden nausea hit me. I reached down to the piano keys to stop myself from falling, causing a loud mismatch of keys to sound off the room, making nausea feel worst. “Serenity!” I hear Eric call for me before I felt him catch me. “Mom… mom!” Serenity, breathe… I hear Josephine says. But slowly all their voices move further and I was seeing visions of what seemed to be a sight of the future. There were people but no faces. And after a minute I hear a voice that I never expected to hear again. “…home.” “Serenity!” I gasped, snapping out of my trance, and struggled to look around. To my surprise, I was facing the ceiling and Eric and Jean were hovering over me. I barely noticed how I continue to gasp for air. “Baby, breathe… c’mon, breathe for me…” “Princess, listen, can you hear me?” Jean asks over all the panic. I closed my eyes and focused on breathing and calming myself. “Mom…” I hear Chance call for me. “Mom, wake up.” “Shh,” I waved a hand up, “just give me a moment, baby.” They all moved back and I closed my eyes, counting my breath until it had calmed down. “Mom, look if this is about the party-“ “It’s not.” I took another breath before looking up at them and tried to sit up. Eric helped me up and let me lean on his chest as I faced the others. “Are you ok, Mom?” Fate asked handing me a glass of water. “Yeah… I’m just…” “You’re too pale for my liking, princess,” Jean says. “Let’s get you in bed, ok?” I nodded but before I could stand Eric had already picked me up, I wouldn’t argue this time. It’s been a long time since I had a vision like that. “Mom…” Hope stood beside us. “I’m fine guys, for real,” I said, “It’s probably nothing.” “You’re probably hungry,” Eric says. “Yeah,” Fate nods, “we’ll make breakfast.” I nodded and rest my head on Eric’s chest, “That would be nice.” “Go back to bed, Mom,” Hope says, “we’ll make you breakfast in bed." I smiled at them, too weak even to nod. I closed my eyes as Eric make our way out of the room. “Mom…” Chance walked up to us and sighed, “We’ll let Gary tag along... As long as he stays outside.” I chuckled and cupped his face before I reached for his hair and ruffled it a third time that morning. “Thank you.” “Go, rest Mom.” Fate says, “We’ll take care of the house until it's time for us to leave.” “I think your dad can handle that for me.” “No fair.” Fate pouts, “We only get the kitchen on Saturday mornings. We’re a damn good cook, woman!” “Fine,” I say after laughing along with everyone. “But I expect the best service.” “We wouldn’t give any less than perfection.” The trio says. They all ran off as I leaned my head on Eric’s shoulder, took a deep breath, and closed my eyes, resting. “You ok?” Eric asked as we climbed the stairs with Jean. I shook my head, “I thought it wouldn’t be this soon.” “What do you mean?” Jean asked. “The past seems to be catching up to us now.” I frowned, “They’ll be finding us soon.” Jean frowned, “Are you sure?” I forced a smile, “My story is far from over Jean.” I said, “We all know that they will catch unto us.” We finally reached our room, “For all we know, they just tried to give us the freedom we asked for all these years. They wouldn’t be looking for us if they didn’t need us back home.” Jean sighed and nodded, “It was good until it lasted.” “And it will remain like that even after we go home.” Eric says setting me down on the bed and setting the pillows against the headboard for me to lean on, “Jean, I think it's time that you face him already.” Jean sighed and sat on the bed beside me. “I should have known that this conversation was leading to that.” “Jean, we know that you’ve moved on with the cold and the pain and maybe even the urge of seeing him.” Eric pointed out, “But the fact that your mark is still there means that Cole hasn’t gotten rid of his mark. Plus, he deserves to know.” She glanced my way, frowning, “Was it him?” “Lucky for you it wasn’t,” I said, leaning back and pulling our comforter over my legs, “it was Liam.” “Did he say what he needed?” Eric asked sitting beside me. “No.” I rubbed my temple again, “All I heard was home then I snapped out of the trance.” “When was the last time you had one of your visions?” Jean asked. “Years,” I said. “I think the last time was during the holidays.” “I remembered that one.” Eric grinned, “It was Anna wanting you home for Ximm’s birthday.” I grinned remembering Anna whining and pleading. “Maybe it's just one of those times,” Jean says. “I mean, is Liam’s birthday coming up?” I shook my head, “Not in a few months.” I shrugged. “I’ll make some calls and try to c***k this mystery, you get to bed and get some rest.” She stood up. “Where are you going so early in the day?” Eric asked. “Work, I have surgery in an hour.” She says making her way out of our room, “Good thing I decided to drop by, get some rest Serenity, you hear? I’ll see you later.” “Good luck,” I called out to her. “Thanks!” we heard her shout from down the hall. “Eric, I’m serious about Serenity getting some rest, you hear me? I’ll kick you out of this house if I have to, so leave my poor sister-in-law alone.” “Yes, Mom!” Eric shouts back, making us laugh before we heard the front door close. Then I felt Eric wrap his arms around me, and I reached for his hands entwining my fingers with his. “What do you think is it?” I asked. “I’m not sure.” He shrugged, “Baby?” “Hm?” “What if Siam and Anna are having a daughter?” I frowned, “Well, it will be hard to tell, I mean, Josephine is still here with and we would know, wouldn’t we?” “Let’s just assume for the worst for now,” he says, “I’m pretty sure your brother will be going crazy with his daughter if that’s the case.” Then he chuckled, “But once he sees our girls, I have a feeling he would be giving them a hard time too.” “I think so too.” I agreed, “The kids would hate me for this. I mean, they’re having fun now, they’re out of that private school and those ridiculous uniforms, then, only for me to take those away again and dumped them in my mess.” “No, they won’t…” He kisses me on top of my head. “They love you too much to hate you-“ “Yes, they will.” I argued, “I’m keeping a secret from them. I’m keeping their real identity and now we’re pulling them back with us to that life, unarmed and unaware. We raised m up teaching them that lies and deceit are not allowed in this house, only to find out that their whole life is built on lies and deceit.” “They’re smart kids.” Eric says, “I think they’ll see more than that.” I shrugged. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”