adjective ~ tending to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen

PHOENIX

I lay on my side across the foot of the bed as Nova tended to a gurgling Freddy. He must've been going through a growth spurt because the two-hour feed window had halved this week. Nova took it well though, despite the interrupted sleep.

My eyes dropped to Belle on the bed as she squirmed and made an odd sound. My lips curled, staring down into her dark blue eyes with wonder. She looked so much like both of us, I couldn't help but appreciate her at every moment.

Tiny fingers and toes and even tinier nails. She curled her fingers into fists and she threw her arms dramatically in the air. Her lips pouted with frustrated excitement, the dark curl across her forehead shifting with every heavy breath. Her legs kicked, causing me to chuckle as I shifted my hand to pinch her toes.

The sheer size difference of my hand and her torso never failed to astound me. The past few months have passed in a blur, and tomorrow the twins would be at the doctor's for their twelve-week check-up.

My hand was the size of her torso now, my daughter filling out nicely. Freddy wasn't far behind, and I knew this 'cluster feed' would wear off soon and he would reap the benefits of it. Nova was doing well, so fucking well, by not letting it affect her. She hasn't cried in a few days, which I called a record.

"A-ha!" Nova hollered.

It caused Freddy to jolt, staring up at her with an incredulous expression. She blushed, apologising to him, but he just grinned a hearty toothless smile. Nova, momentarily distracted by her son, allowed the book to slip closed. I watched as her slight fingers trailed the curve of Freddy's smile, cooing down at him.

I glanced at Belle, quirking an eyebrow. "Think she realises she lost her page?"

My daughter grinned, her fingers curling and palming as she reached for me. I heard Nova curse and groan, glancing at her to see her pick up the book. Freddy was no longer on her lap. Instead, he lay on his stomach, staring across at me at the foot of the bed. I waved, reaching to pat the bed before him. His eyes followed the movement, his lips parted as he spluttered complaints.

"Mate, it's a bed. It's not the floor this time." I tutted at him.

"Did you just say 'mate'?" Nova wondered.

Looking up at her, I shrugged. "Maybe."

She blinked, taken aback, before looking back at the book in her lap. "This is some parallel universe."

I chuckled softly, dropping my attention to her fingers as she trailed it across the various pages. She was muttering to herself, her eyes glowing with the aid of her wolf. I recognised some Latin words, but the rest jumbled together in her hurry.

A loud a-ha escaped her again, and I assumed she found the page she was looking for.

"I got it! Again." She chirped. "It's at the bloody beginning. I was looking near the end this whole time. Damn magical book."

"Care to tell me what 'it' is?" I wondered.

"I was getting there." She nodded, grinning. "Gaia told me riddles."

"As usual." I mused.

Nova smirked. "I told her what happened about me teleporting and Theia came to visit."

"I like how we just call it teleporting now." I chuckled.

Rolling her eyes, she shifted the book in her grip. "I told Gaia about the whole 'have hope' thing that Theia told you, and that you have been told it before. She agreed witches liked to talk in riddles, but then she asked me, more than once, if I was sure I haven't heard it before myself."

"Have hope?"

"Yes." She nodded. "When I joked it was about me, I got the feeling to look deeper."

"She didn't say?"

"No." Nova shook her head. "But Gaia told me some reading is good for me, and then as she left, there were words in the soil."

"Words?"

"Apertum."

"Open?" I frowned.

"It's what I have to say to open my grandmother's book."

"Oh." I cocked my head. "So, put those together, and it gives you..."

"Light reading." She joked, raising the book.

"What have you found?"

"Have hope." She dropped her head, pointing to a section on the page I couldn't read. "It says right here; for my daughters, read me aloud, for the gift inside shall help you if you always have hope. Apertum."

She shuddered after she spoke it, before slowly lifting her eyes to meet mine.

"I believe our historical connection is stronger than we realise."

"More magically." I nodded.

"I just don't understand why we both have been told the same thing. This book is hundreds of years old." She shook her head. "The witch who gave you that ring, Phoenix. We need to find them."

"That won't be easy."

"No, but perhaps they can help me with this riddle of my damn life."

"And if they are dead?" I wondered. "Then what?"

"Back to square one." Nova sighed. "This witch may be my only hope of understanding how I can teleport."

My lips quirked, amused at the light usage of the word. "So we are witch hunting?"

"Looks that way."

"Shall I grab my pitchfork?"

She scowled at me. "Phoenix."

I laughed, shifting my weight to sit up on the bed. Belle tilted, falling into the dip of the mattress until she was also on her stomach. She huffed, clutching the duvet cover in her tiny grip. I internally hummed at her cuteness, unable to not admire her.

"Do you ever just think how weird it is that we made these?" Nova wondered.

I glanced at her, finding her laid beside Freddy, staring at him.

"It's magic." I agreed.

"The whole concept of life is." Her eyes flashed to mine. "I was talking to Sean earlier."

"Oh, yeah?" I wondered, hiding my agitation.

She was spending a lot of time with him lately.

"I told him how I excepted to live four times as long as werewolves, and he pointed out how lonely it must become when everyone dies."

My eyes widened. "That does not sound like light conversation."

She smiled softly. "Not that heavy. It just made me think."

"About death?" I grimaced.

"About the twins." She frowned. "If they are like me, will I have them forever? If they are like you, will I lose my babies?"

Even my heart restricted in my chest. "That won't happen."

"What if it does?" She frowned.

"Nova, my love, just with our bond alone, I will live as long as you." I curled my fingers into her hair. "They have your blood. They won't die before you."

"If someone hurts them?"

My gaze hardened. "Nobody will."

"What if-

"Nova, please." I begged. "Nothing will happen to them."

She swallowed, my eyes following the movement. "I'm scared for them, Phoenix. My heart hurts whenever I think about it."

"I know." I murmured. "It is a scary thought."

"I just love them so much." She whimpered.

Perhaps I was wrong about the not crying in a few days thing.

I frowned, shifting closer to her. The hand in her hair moved until I was wiping the stray tears from her cheeks. She stared up at me, her eyes so raw and full of emotions that were too strong for a bright, sunny day.

"Don't cry." I whispered. "Nothing will ever happen to them."

"Seven hundred more years is a lot of time."

"And we will have the best seven hundred years of our lives." I reassured her. "We will have our children, and we will meet so many new people on the way."

"But... Charlie, Sean, Molly, Calida-

"Don't." I shook my head, despite the odd sadness it caused me. "Don't think about their deaths, Nova. We have hundreds of years before that happens, and when it comes, we cannot stop it."

"That's what I fear," she whispered. "I can't save them."

"You can't save everyone." I sighed. "Everyone has a time, Nova. Death is inevitable."

"Not to vampires." She muttered.

I smiled sadly. "Even they die eventually. Most go insane and kill themselves or being murdered for their ancient blood."

She let out a loud breath, puffing her straggled hair from her face. I reached out and pushed the stray strands behind her ear, causing her eyes to dart up to mine. My chest constricted at their beautiful colour, a smile lifting my face at her mesmerising beauty.

"It will all be fine." I reassured her. "Let's not worry about the future. We will miss out on the now."

"I know, I know." She mumbled, pouting softly.

My fingers trailed down her temple and jaw before I caught the pout with my thumb. Poking it back into her mouth, I grinned when a soft laugh escaped her.

"Let's go back to what we were even here for." I suggested. "Now you have found the passage you were looking for, what has it told us?"

She frowned. "I'm not sure, other than someone predetermined our destiny."

"Strong witch." I stated.

"What ever happened to the witch friend of your mother's?" Nova wondered.

I hesitated, not wanting to venture too deep into my past. My mother was a sore spot, and despite the glowing image of her youth, I always remembered the haunting greyness of her face as she died. Her best friend Selma was just as sour a topic.

"I have only seen her a few times." I muttered. "The last time was at my mother's funeral."

"What happened? Did she speak to you?" Nova wondered.

The greying images flickered like an old movie, my head dropping to stare at the tiny toes of my daughter. I sighed softly, shaking my head.

"She stayed to the back, and when it came to paying respects to her grave, she went alone." I mumbled. "Then she vanished into the trees."

She hummed softly, a gentle silence between us as she thought. "What if she is the witch that gave you the ring?"

"I doubt it." I shook my head. "They don't look alike."

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure. The witch that gave me the ring was a female with dark hair." I frowned. "Selma was my mother's best friend, and she had mahogany red hair and brown eyes."

"They could've dyed it?" Nova suggested. "Mahogany hair isn't exactly normal."

"Neither is magic." I laughed.

My mate rolled her eyes, staring back down at Freddy. "There's so much to do."

"We have plenty of time."

"What if we don't?" She frowned. "What if my fear isn't for no reason?"

It was my turn to grimace. "Your fear is normal as a new parent, Nova."

"But what if the absence of controlling my gift is making me this way? What if my gift is trying to tell me I'm not being silly?"

"Nova..." I sighed. "Let's just take it one day at a time."

She exhaled, the bond stressed between us. We were going in circles, and Nova was letting her fear and nerves overtake her. Tomorrow we would be on our date day, and I hoped it would be enough to tire out her beast and relax her nerves.

"What are your plans for this afternoon?" I asked her.

"Twins. Run with Sean. Dinner." She shrugged. "In that order."

"Well, I shall make it my task to get in contact with Selma."

Not that I wanted to.

Her eyes widened, and she shot upright to stare at me. "Really? You'd do that?"

I clenched my jaw tight as I fought down the nerves it caused me. "I will if it will help settle your mind and answer some of your questions."

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! Yes, it will!"

"Okay." I chuckled. "I will see what I can do."

Nova's end of the bond relaxed slightly, but now it was full of a nervous excitement. But suddenly, we were both distracted when Belle fell. I blinked down at her, dumbfounded, and noticed Nova's breath catch.

"Did she just..."

"Roll over." I finished.

"Push her back." She insisted.

My hand curled around Belle's back, pushing her onto her stomach again. The tiny infant grunted at me, frowning deeply at the new angle. With an annoyed huff, the mardy baby twisted her neck. With the fluidity of lumpy porridge, Belle rolled over until finally her head was staring up at me again.

My eyes darted up to Nova when she squealed, clapping her hands. "She did it!"

Belle was looking up at Nova with wide eyes, before her mouth curled into a giggling grin at Nova's excitement. They fed off the maternal bonds so strongly, their wires already so crossed and sturdy. Nova's happiness was palpable, and it soon had Belle smacking her hands into the duvet with glee.

"I can't believe she actually did it!"

"Me either." She shook her head. "The book I read said four to five months!"

"Fast developer." I mused.

"To eager to get going." Nova cooed, tickling Belle's face.

My eyes softened at the sight, still so full of admiration every time I watched the three of them. I couldn't wait to watch her as we grew older and grew our family ten times the size. Surrounded by pure happiness; it was all I wanted.

"I wonder if she'll do it on the floor..." Nova hummed.

"Only one way to find out." I grinned, grabbing Belle in one hand.

Nova squealed at me, warning me I was going to drop her. I forgot for a moment how jumpy she was with the twins. When I was alone with them, I often carried one in each hand, so it was natural. With Nova around, I had to be more cautious, or I feared she would fall into a tizzy.

Boy, it was amazing how things can turn around so quickly.