Chapter 146 Picture Perfect
\[Osiris’ POV\]
I step into the house, food in hand, and when the sound of singing reaches me, I stand in place.
For a moment, I’m not sure if I’m hearing correctly; I mean, how could I when it has been so long since I last heard the sound, but when it continues, I know that this is reality.
As it drifts toward me, I look around, noting how clean everything looks compared to before, and I can’t help but feel a wave of gratitude toward my flame.
When I brought her to meet my mother, I didn’t know exactly what I was expecting to happen, but it certainly wasn’t this.
“She’s amazing.” I murmur, starting to move in the direction of the singing, and when I reach it, I find my flame listening quietly while my mother sings along to her record playing.
Remaining in place, I take in the scene while wishing that this would be the way that things always were, but I knew that wasn’t possible.
There was still so much that needed to be taken care of before we could possess this peace, and I could only hope that we dealt with it sooner rather than later.
I continue to just watch, enjoying the sound of my mother’s singing since I hadn’t heard it in so long and taking in the way it made my flame’s eyes and cheeks light up with delight, but when the song ends and the moment is over, I move forward while clearing my throat.
“Welcome back,” my flame calls as my mother’s gaze remains fixed ahead. “Shall I help you with grabbing plates and silverware?”
“No,” I tell her, placing the food that I have retrieved on the table in front of them. “You stay here and rest.”
Nodding, she smiles and then turns her gaze to my mother’s.
“Your voice is lovely,” she tells her, giving my mother’s hand a gentle squeeze. “And I’m certain that your grandchildren think the same thing.”
For a moment, my mother doesn’t speak, doesn’t move, but when her gaze slowly shifts to my flame’s stomach, I realize that maybe she isn’t as oblivious as I always thought that she was.
“Grand…children…” my mother says, her hand reaching out and touching my flame’s stomach. “I have…”
“That’s right.” My flame beams. “Osiris and I are expecting.”
At her words, my mother's eyes widen, and for the first time in so long, her expression shifts to something that almost resembles happiness.
“Pups,” she whispers, rubbing my flame’s stomach. “There are pups in here.”
Goddess, who knew such a simple conversation would bring me so much joy? But here I was unable to quite believe what I was seeing.
My mother looked alive. She looked alive after so many years of looking dead inside because of my bastard father.
If I knew that something like this would bring her so much joy, I would have done it sooner.
‘No, you wouldn’t have,’ Sterling huffs. ‘No one else deserves to carry our pups except our mate.’
‘If I put myself out there sooner, I would have found her sooner.’ I counter, but even then I don’t quite believe it.
I was so in my own head and keeping everyone at an arm’s length that I didn’t know if things would have turned out the same.
Oh well. I murmur inwardly, turning and heading toward the kitchen. None of that matters now anyway.
For the rest of the evening, I don’t allow myself to think about the what-ifs. Instead, I just focus on the moment where my flame works to bring my mother back to reality after spending so much time in a void, and when it comes time to leave, I’m a bit hesitant.
However, I know that there are more important issues at hand, and after saying goodbye to my mother, my flame and I head home to start packing.
“That was nice.” My flame sighs when we reach our destination and she can collapse on the couch. “But how did she end up like that?”
“I’m not sure,” I admit.
Although she was always upset about my father pushing her aside for his new wife, she was never that out of her mind.
“It just started to slowly happen until she was no longer the woman that I knew.”
Nodding, she considers what I’m saying, and when her lips twitch into a frown, I know that she is thinking the same thing that I have.
“You should have Jean examine her.”
“We are already imposing on Jean enough. ” I point out, but honestly it isn’t a bad idea.
“But what if she was poisoned to madness?” My flame pushes. “Don’t you want to try to help her?”
I did. Of course I did, but I wasn’t sure if I would be able to handle it if she could never be brought back to her old self. I didn’t want to hope and then have that hope dashed out like a flame.
“Right now, she is okay as she is.” I tell her. “Especially after meeting you.”
“But what about later?”
“I will speak with Jean once we return from finding her mom.” I sigh. “Right now my main priority is protecting you and our pups.”
Nodding, my flame doesn’t speak, but I can see the need to take action in her eyes, and even though that was part of the reason that I loved her, I wished that she would think about herself more.
“Come on,” I sigh, grabbing her hand and pulling her up. “We need to work on packing. Don’t forget that our flight leaves in the morning.”
"Alright," my flame yawns. "But before that, can I take a nap?"
"Go ahead," I chuckle. "I'll take care of the packing, so you should just focus on sleeping."
"No," she murmurs, though she is already drifting. "I need to pull my weight too."
"You've already done enough for the day," I tell her, leaning forward and giving her a quick kiss. "And consider your being able to rest as a reward for all that you did."
I was certain that she thought her helping my mother by cleaning and comforting her was nothing, but it was something that I and, I'm certain, my mother would never forget, and it was something that I would spend the rest of my life repaying because I knew that no one else would be able to do such a thing for us.
"Thank you," I whisper, taking in my flame's sleeping form. "For picking me at that bar and for picking me again to spend your life with."