Saving Mimi : Rise of the All-Mother Scions

One More Minute

Third Person POV

The twins and Adam made their way down to the living room. Laura had Max get their bags and load them in Tobias' car. The three stopped in the living room in front of Seb and Mimi, whom were seated on the love seat. Seb had his arm around Mimi's shoulders and their hands were clasped. There was a skeptical look on Seb's face as he eyed his daughters' arms linked with Adam's.

That was fast, I wonder what 'magic' he worked to accomplish that.

Mimi, sensing her husband's discomfort squeezed his hand and snuggled in closer and whispered in his ear, "Don't worry dear. Adam plays the playboy, but really he's a gentleman when it comes down to it. I will explain later." She then placed a quick peck on his cheek.

Seb let go of Mimi, so that they could stand to say their goodbyes. 

"Doc, you will be pleased to know that Claudia and Lydia are coming with us, of their own free will. They are actually quite excited to learn about the hunter-slayer niche," Adam said with a smirk and a wink.

Claudia rolled her eyes and Lydia just giggled.

"Are you always this theatrical and cocky?" asked Claudia

Adam just gave her a wicked grin as is to say, "Baby, you ain't seen nothing yet."

"No, Claudia, usually he's much worse," said Seb.

Mimi covered her mouth as she giggled. 

The twin's let go of Adam and took turns hugging Seb.

Lydia went first.

As she hugged Seb she whispered in his ear, "Da, I love you. I am sorry for being aloof and adrift. I really do want you to be happy. I hope that you and Mimi are happy together. I will try to make you proud,"

"Oh, Lydy-bug. I have never not been proud of you. I haven't always been pleased with your choices and behaviors, but I never stopped loving you or being proud that you  are my daughter. Just do your best and keep your sister from going off the rails. I love you so much. Thank you. I hope that in time you can see Mimi as a friend," he said to her in her ear.

Then Seb placed a fatherly kiss on her forehead.

"Don't let Adam take advantage of the situation," he said as he shot a threatening glare at Adam.

Adam smirked as if to say, "Oh really Doc?! What are you going to do about it?" 

But then saw the seriousness in Seb's eyes and lifted his hands as if in surrender and just shook his head.

Then Lydia approached Mimi and extended her hand. Mimi looked at her quizzically, but then extended her hand and took Lydia's hand in hers. Lydia then pulled her in to a hug.

As she hugged Mimi she whispered in her ear, " Mimi, I am sorry for not doing anything when Claudia was being mean to you. If I could go back I would change it. It is nice to see my father genuinely happy again, my queen."

And as she released the hug and pulled back she looked Mimi in the eye and then bowed her head and turned and walked back to Adam's left side.

Mimi was a little taken back by it, she had not expected any sort of apology, especially since Lydia had not been actively attacking her. It had been more of a guilt by association situation. Mimi smiled softly at Lydia. Perhaps they could be friends after all.

There was an awkward moment as Claudia approached her father. Seb was fighting his fatherly impulse to rush forward and wrap his arms around her. He was going to make her come to him to show her contrition. It took a moment, but Claudia finally swallowed her pride and stepped in to her father's waiting embrace and nuzzled her head against his shoulder and let out a soft sigh.

They stood there in that embrace for a moment. Seb reached up and patted her back and stroked her head softly. He waited for her to break the silence. Claudia let a few soft sobs out and let her tears flow freely.

"Baby-girl, why are you crying?" he asked softly.

"Da, I am sorry. I have missed Mum so much, and I haven't been dealing with my feelings in a healthy way. I will apologize to Mimi, properly. It's not her fault and I was wrong to treat her that way. I don't hate her, I don't even know her. I will do my best to be happy for you. And I am so sorry for how I have behaved towards you. You are not an 'ATM.' I am sorry for alienating you, not just from me, but from Lydia too. Can you ever forgive me?" she whispered in his ear.

"Sweetheart, I already have. You need not ever have to ask, I am your father and I love you no matter what. I may not always agree with or like what you do, but like a told Lydia, I have never stopped loving you and I have never not been proud of you. You are so like your mother. You have the same stubborn streak. I will always love you, Claudia. And as I told Lydia, but it seems silly to say it to you, but don't let Adam take advantage of the situation," said Seb as he stared down Adam again.

Adam just averted his gaze and folded his arms across his chest.

Seb soon released Claudia from his embrace. Claudia turned to face Mimi. She drew in a slow deep breath and exhaled slowly before approaching Mimi.

Mimi extended her hand. Claudia paused. Then she looked Mimi in the eye. She took Mimi's hand and placed a kiss on it. She then dropped to her knees.

"Mimi, I am so sorry for my behavior and harsh treatment of you earlier. It was completely uncalled for and out of line. I promise you that it will never happen again. I do swear it, not just as your step-daughter, but as a guardian of the All-Mother Bloodline, I pledge myself that from this day forward,  I will protect you and my unborn sister," Claudia said with sincerity and conviction.

Mimi placed her hand on Claudia's shoulder an used her other hand to raise Claudia's face to meet her gaze. She looked her directly in the eye. After a moment of intense eye-contact, Mimi smiled at Claudia.

"You don't have to kneel and grovel for my forgiveness, Claudia. I see that you are sincere and that you mean what you say when you offer to protect me and my baby. I hope that you, Lydia and I can let bygones be bygones and move forward. Let's have lunch, the three of us when you get back from Utah. Thank you for apologizing to me. I know that was not easy for you at all. And your father is right, you are so reminiscent of Erika, it is uncanny. I am sorry for having judged you, your actions were monstrous, but you and Lydia are not monsters. Be safe on your journey. Tobias, Pearl and Adam will protect you and teach you many things, so listen to them. We look forward to your return," said Mimi and she quickly embraced Claudia.

Claudia was not expecting Mimi to hug her. Small miracles do happen when you least expect them. Claudia hugged her back. Then after they released the embrace Claudia took her place at Adam's right side.

Mimi stepped towards Adam and gave him another hug. 

She whispered in his ear, "Good luck. Just a word of warning, they can destroy you, don't even test their thresholds. And Seb is 1000 percent serious about you not messing with either of them, don't do anything inappropriate, Max will not be able to save you this time." And she smiled at him and placed a friendly peck on his cheek.

As she stepped back to Seb's side, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Be safe and don't under estimate the vampires. Take care of each other," Mimi said to the group.

Pearl and Tobias now stepped up and got their second round of hugs and goodbyes. 

Mimi whispered in Pearl's ear, "In case you weren't aware, Claudia is a psychic and Lydia is a white lady. They will need your help and guidance."

Pearl smile and whispered back, "Yeah, I picked up on that and also, Erika kind of gave me a private heads up."

"Miss Pearl, when you return form Utah, I please let me know. We still need to see that you receive your compensation from Miss Erika," said Max as he rejoined the group after taking and loading the twin's luggage in Tobias' car.

"Tobias, before you get too far, your back tires are looking a little low, please come with me to the garage and let's check the pressure," said Max.

"Oh, yeah. I am so glad you noticed. Thank you. Let's do it," said Tobias.

The two headed outside. Adam excused himself and joined them. 

"Seb, I am feeling tired, will you walk me back to the bedroom," said Mimi.

"Of course, darling. Claudia, Lydia, love you, be safe. See you when you get back," he said over his shoulder as he escorted Mimi back to the master bedroom.

Claudia and Lydia sat down on the couch.

Lydia looked over at Claudia. She took a deep breath.

"So, what prompted that? You almost went over the top on the theatricality. I thought for sure you would never have apologized," said Lydia.

"The benefits of the psychic abilities. Oh, and I am not the only one in this house apparently. There is more to Mimi than meets the eye. She isn't a gold digger after all. But that isn't why. It is what dad wanted. I read his thoughts. Did you know we were kidnaped a few days ago by a vampire? The same vampire had kidnaped Mimi about a month ago. Dad inadvertently saved her from him. So when the opportunity arose, he took us and Laura as bait to get to Mimi and Dad. I could feel how sick with worry he had been, and how relieved he is that we are safe and unharmed physically. They had the Lady of the Fae Realm wipe our memories to try to protect us from the trauma. So, I realized just how ungrateful I was in that moment. And Mimi and I had a silent conversation when we were making eye contact just now. She's way too innocent and trusting. There is something about that that I want to safeguard. So, dear Lydy-bug, no, I wasn't being theatrical, I was completely sincere," replied Claudia.

"Gosh, wow. I don't know what to say. How long has it been since you called me 'Lydy-bug?!'" said Lydia with a cheerful giggle changing the subject.

"Too long," said Claudia wryly.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt, but I couldn't help but over hear you, still in the room," said Pearl.

"Oh, sorry. Pearl, right? Forgive us, we kind of had tunnel vision there," squeaked out Lydia.

"Don't worry, happens a lot. I can blend into the background so easily. I only spoke up because I didn't want you to think I was eavesdropping, and I didn't know if you were ok with me overhearing all that just now," replied Pearl.

"No point keeping secrets from you. Since we are going to be spending an great deal of time together, even after this vampire hunt," said Claudia.

"So, no hard feelings about me knowing that your memories had been wiped and all?" said Pearl.

"Well, I hadn't really thought about it in that way, but no, I am strangely comfortable with it. Lydia, you ok?" said Claudia.

"I am good with it. I mean she was only going along with the plan that was attempting to protect us, not like she was purposefully withholding from us to be manipulative and spiteful," Lydia replied cheerfully.

At that moment, Tobias, Adam, and Max walked back in the living room.

"Ladies, the tire pressure has been adjusted, we are good to go," said Tobias.

The twins stood up from the couch and they walked over towards the front door. Tobias and Pearl clasped hands and headed out.

Adam held out his arms for the twins and said, "Shall we, ladies?"

"Hold on a moment, Adam, I need to clear the air with Max, you and Lydia can go on ahead," said Claudia.

"Ok then. Lydia, may I escort you to the car?" asked Adam with a flirty tone and smile.

"But of course, Mr. Smith," she smiled and took his arm and headed out to the car.

"Max, I would like to take this opportunity to offer you a sincere apology. I have been incredibly rude and I do not want there to be this uncomfortable awkwardness between us. You have been like a second father to me. I know how much you love my mother, and how much you love my father. I can also see how much you love Mimi. It seems though I had forgotten how much you love me. I am sorry for calling you a 'ghoul' and a 'henchman,'" said Claudia.

"You never called me a 'ghoul,'" said Max confused and raising an eyebrow.

"Not to your face," said Claudia sheepishly.

"Well, Miss Claudia, I suppose that I can find it in me to forgive you," said Max.

"Thank you Max. I don't want to end up in an unmarked grave in the salt flats if Utah," she said with a wink and she hugged Max.

"It was only semi-serious, Miss. If you hadn't apologized to Miss Mimi, it would have been a very possible reality," he said doing his best to sound stern, yet smiled wryly and hugged her back.

"She has little to fear with you watching over her," said Claudia.

"You're not wrong. But once you and Miss Lydia are brought up to speed, she will have more protection than she will know what to do with," chuckled Max.

"Thank you for looking out for us, as always, Max," said Claudia and she placed a sweet peck on Max's cheek as she pulled out of the hug.

"Always, Miss Claudia, as long as I am living, I will serve and protect this family," said Max.

"Max, will you walk me to the car? I am sure Lydia would like to hug you goodbye too," said Claudia.

"I wouldn't dream of letting you go unescorted, Miss," said Max as he held out his arm for Claudia.

Claudia took his arm and they proceeded to Tobias' car.

Max opened the door for Claudia, she got seated. Lydia hopped out and gave Max a hug and a kiss on the cheek and said "thank you" and "goodbye" to him. Then they were all in the car and ready to hit the I-15 and head for Utah.

Adam was sitting between the twins. He yawned and stretched, attempting to be stealthy, put his arms around the twins shoulders. Claudia rolled her eyes, but since it was her idea to keep up the pretense that they were now a "throuple," she didn't make a scene, nor did she go upside his head like earlier.

Lydia snuggled in and seemed to genuinely be enjoying Adam's attention.

"Well, we will be in Salt Lake City in about 9 hours. Let me know when you need to stop, but I am hoping we can get to Idaho Falls before we need to stop, get something to eat, use the restroom, etc, " said Tobias.

"Thanks for driving Tobias. Let me know if you want to swap out and take a break from driving," Claudia volunteered quickly.

"I will keep that in mind, thank you," said Tobias.

Pearl leaned in and whispered, "I think this is going to be one of our better road trips, not counting the drive from the cabin to Kalispell."

"What happened on the drive from the cabin to Kalispell?" asked Lydia.

"Oh, great another person with ultra sonic hearing," muttered Pearl.

"They got to see Da behaving casually, and basically propose to Mimi with a Beatle's song," said Claudia.

"Oh, that does sound like a good time, " replied Lydia.

"It was, it truly was," said Adam as he lightly drew small circles on Lydia's shoulder with his thumb.

"Well, here is to making this road trip surpass that one, Pearl, find us some karaoke worthy music," said Claudia.

Pearl inserted her USB cable into the console and brought Pandora up on her smartphone and selected her 90's playlist. The car karaoke party was underway as they made their way to Utah.