Avery's face grew pale and became filled with sadness and grief, and she blinked and blinked again. She didn't say a word and looked around the room as if she wanted to see her mom but couldn't.

A small frown appeared on her face, and a look of hurt and pain flashed through her eyes. She wanted to see her; I could tell, and it broke my heart that she wasn't able to.

"You're... kidding. Right?" Michael asked and raised an eyebrow in question. He looked around before he looked at me with wide eyes. "How? Why?"

I shrugged and grimaced because I didn't know. "Magic, I think," I replied before I cleared my throat and shifted on my feet. "I don't know why, but she is."

"Why don't you all sit," Blue said when Michael opened his mouth to ask something else. He scowled and narrowed his eyes at Michael because he kept his mouth open, and Michael slowly closed it, hesitating. "There is no need for you to keep standing like that while we are going to talk, Michael."

I pressed my lips into a thin line but did what Blue said and walked over to the table with Dia following after me.

I bit back a tired sigh and sat down before I pulled my daughter onto my lap and placed a kiss on her cheek, earning a happy squeal from the little girl.

Avery walked over to the other side of the table and sat down while Michael took the extra seat beside me. She didn't say a word while she looked at me, and I made sure to keep my features schooled while I looked at her.

I didn't want her to see the pain that I felt...

Isen shifted in his seat and scowled while he looked at Avery, catching my thoughts and how I felt. "N-"

"Isen," I warned, interrupting him, and he instantly looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes?" he asked and raised the eyebrow higher. "What can I do for you?"

"You can stop," I said and raised both eyebrows in unison while I gave him a little look, pressing my lips into a thin line. "That is what you can do."

Isen furrowed his brows and cocked his head while he studied me, feigning ignorance. "I don't know what you are talking about, Anastasia," he said innocently. "I am not doing anything."

I pressed my lips into a thinner line while I narrowed my eyes. "You are trying to make her feel bad, so stop," I warned and narrowed my eyes further while I set my jaw. "You do not need to do that."

He scoffed a laugh and rolled his eyes while he scowled and narrowed his eyes. "But she is making you feel bad, Anastasia," he said. "I think that it is only fair th-"

"It isn't," I said with a quick shake of my head while I set my jaw tighter. "She is a child and learned that her mother is back from the dead. She needs time to process her emotions and everything like that."

Isen's scowl grew deeper and annoyance flashed through his eyes because he knew that I was going to keep arguing with him. "But her mother is right beside me," he said, and I had a feeling that he was talking about me. "She is living and breathing and had e-"

"I have earned nothing, Isen," I said, interrupting him with my heart aching. "I have not earned that title, not yet at least."

Isen scoffed and rolled his eyes while he set his jaw. "She literally called you "Mom" before Alexia came back as a ghost, Anastasia," he said. "Are you seriously going to say that you still do not deserve that title?"

Yes...

I bit the inside of my lip while I looked at him, not saying a word. My heart ached and became filled with pain while self-doubt entered my brain again.

I did not deserve the title of being "Mom" even to the one that I gave birth to.

Isen groaned and banged his head against the table, startling the group that was gathered around us and were watching us as if we were in a tennis match.

"What was that about?" Michael asked while he looked between the two of us with a raised eyebrow. "And what are you two talking about?" He looked at me when he asked that question.

"Don't worry about it, Michael," Isen said and banged his head against the table again. "It's Anastasia we are talking about, and I don't think she wants you all to know."

Michael pressed his lips into a thin line and looked at me, annoyed. "And why not?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question. "What is Isen talking about that you don't want us to know, Anastasia?"

Isen bit back an annoyed sigh and shook his head. "It's nothing for you to worry about, Michael," Isen said before he looked at me, setting his jaw tighter. "Because it is not true, Anastasia." "You still have a family that loves and cares about you, Ans," he said softly, and I held back an eye roll and pressed my lips into a thin line. "Don't think like that."

I pursed my lips in annoyance and narrowed my eyes before a small scowl took over my face. I didn't say a word while I looked at him, not knowing if I would be able to stop that feeling.

Again, Isen rolled his eyes and scowled before he muttered something under his breath and in his tongue about me and my feelings and how he should try to find a spell or something to make me stop feeling that way or whatever else he wanted me to do.

"You do know that I understood half of what you said, right?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question, making sure to keep speaking in English.

"I know," he said and nodded in confirmation while he switched back to English, "but I also know that everyone else can not."

I bit back an annoyed sigh and shook my head, moving a hand across my face. "Can't you bug someone else, Isen?" I asked and raised the eyebrow higher, and Isen shook his head. I scowled and narrowed my eyes, annoyed. "And why not?"

"Because we haven't finished, duh," Isen said and held out his hands for my daughter, who instantly clambered onto his lap. "And I have a child in my lap." He closed his eyes and stuck his tongue out at me.

"I wonder who is more the child between the two of them," Alexia said, amused, even though that didn't stop the sadness and guilt she was feeling. "The Dryad or the actual child."

I bit back a tired smile because I thought about that every single time those two were together, for Isen always seemed to be the child when it came between the two of us.

But it did sometimes help, especially if I was in a dark spot mentally and emotionally...

"Anyway," Michael said and cleared his throat, interrupting Isen from commenting about my thought, much to my relief. He looked at me and raised an eyebrow in question. "Why is Alexia here as a ghost?"

I shrugged and grimaced, turning my attention back to Michael. "To watch my back or something along those lines," I replied and moved a tired hand over my face, biting back a tired sigh. "I don't know."

"Why yours?" Avery asked, her tone harsh and a look of pain flashed across her face. "Why do you get to see her and that I don't, Anastasia? You're the one that had killed her anyway. You pulled that stupid trigger and killed her."

I flinched and pressed my lips into a thin line, my heart breaking. "I know that I did, Avery," I said softly.

"An-"

I shook my head and interrupted Blue from saying something else, knowing that he wanted to tell Avery the truth. "I killed her," I said again, staring straight at him, tucking my head closer to my chest, praying that he wouldn't give it away, especially since this was her daughter we were talking about. "I caused her death, Blue."

Blue set his jaw and narrowed his eyes before he looked at Avery and then at me. He didn't say a word, and I could tell that he was annoyed that I was letting her think that I was the one that pulled the trigger.

It was for the best...

"You should tell her the truth, Anastasia," Alexia said, softly, her voice barely above a whisper. She started to walk over to her daughter with a look of pain and sadness flashing across her face and eyes. "It will be fine for her to know," she said, her voice still soft.

I set my jaw tighter but didn't say a word while I looked at her from the corner of my eye before I looked at Avery, weighing the pros and cons.

Isen looked at me, his eyes a darker blue with a grave look on his face. He didn't say a word, and I could tell that he knew what was happening, especially since I could sense his presence in my mind more than usual.

But I didn't have the heart to put up the block...

Michael sighed and shook his head before he moved a hand through his hair and across his face. "So, she is actually back?" he asked, changing the subject while he raised an eyebrow in question. "Like you can actually see her?"

I held back an eye roll and pressed my lips into a thin line, unamused. "Yes," I said instead and nodded in confirmation. "I can see her and feel her touch me, Michael. Didn't we just go over this and the fact that Avery is mad that she can't see her mother?"

"I am not mad," Avery defended herself, and we looked at her with the same expression on our faces. "I am not," she said again with a shake of her head. "Why do you think that I am mad?" She looked at Michael before she looked at me.

"Well..." Michael looked at me before he looked at Avery again. He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. "You aren't being nice to your m-"

"Aunt," I said, interrupting Michael, and Michael looked at me and scowled while he rolled his eyes. I pressed my lips into a thin line and bit back an annoyed sigh. "She is my niece, Michael."

"But she is also your daughter, Anastasia," Alexia said softly with a soft shake of her head. "Don't cut yourself out so short."

I pressed my lips into a thinner line but didn't say a word. Pain flashed through my eyes before I bit the inside of my lip, my heart aching.

Michael narrowed his eyes and scowled. He didn't say a word while he looked between Avery and me, and I could tell that he didn't like the idea of Avery not calling me Mom, especially when we had gotten this far into our relationship.

Alexia sighed and moved a hand through her hair before she cleared her throat and shifted on her feet. "Let her know that I will be fine with her continuing to call you her mother, Anastasia," she said softly. "Ok?"

I didn't say a word and closed my eyes while a tear fell because I knew that she was comfortable with it, but I didn't know if I was, especially now that she was back in our lives again...

Even if it was only for a little while...