Chapter 94 - Their Cursed

Pip

“Let’s go!” I ordered. Remi looked up at me with a confused expression. She was sitting in the dining room with Nicole when I walked in. It was time to implement my The-Twins-Suck-Cheer-Remi-Up operation. Gen helped me plan everything yesterday when he came home for dinner.

“What are you talking about?” Remi asked.

“I’m stealing you away today!” I cheered. Remi didn’t look impressed. “I’ve got everything planned. I even made sure we had an escort, so your mates won’t get all fussy.” Not that they currently appear to care, I added silently in my head. I told Gen last night that I will talk to them myself if they keep this up much longer.

“That sounds like a wonderful idea! You girls should go have fun. Remi, you have been working so hard; I’m running out of things to teach you!” Nicole gushed. She gave me a wink. I wonder if she had noticed her sons’ absence as well.

“Uh, sure. I guess, then,” Remi conceded. After Calder rejected her a couple of days ago when I convinced her to just go to his office, she has been trying less and less to put up a good show in front of everyone. Carson even texted me last night saying he found her after dinner just sitting on the back porch of the packhouse staring out into the woods. I guess it took him a few minutes to get her attention, and she worried him.

I grabbed her hand and pulled her up from her chair. “We are getting away from the stuffy packhouse and getting you out for some fun,” I told her.

“Okay. Can I run up and grab my sweater?” she asked.

“Yea, let’s go,” I said, pulling her along. Nicole waved at us as we left, relief on her features.

“Good luck. I’ll try talking to the twins again,” Nicole linked me as we disappeared.

-

My dad arranged for one of the warriors to escort us there, and then they were going to switch later, so a different one was bringing us home. When we got outside, Jonas was waiting for us. I waved cheerily to him, and he gave me a nod as we approached. He had dutifully followed us around when Nicole took us shopping for Remi’s new wardrobe.

“Morning, Jonas,” I greeted him.

“Luna, Amanda,” he replied, opening the back door of the car. Remi just gave him a weak smile before climbing into the car. I got in after her, and we waited for Jonas to get in the driver’s seat and take us away.

“So, I don’t know, like, a lot about it but isn't it getting close to the holiday season in the Ordinary Realm?” I asked Remi. I had experienced some of the human customs with my friends in college but not extensively. My one friend would have everyone over for what she called “Friendsgiving.”

“Yea, it is. Have you ever done anything for the holidays living in the Ordinary Realm for college?” she asked.

“Some of my friends did a thing they called ‘Friendsgiving’ right before finals. But I usually came home during breaks to spend time with my parents, Gen, Caldy, and Cully,” I told her. She nodded her head then turned to look out the window. “Do you celebrate?”

She shrugged her shoulders, and I knitted my eyebrows in confusion. Was this just her being sad about the twins or something more? She sighed and then spoke, relieving me of my curiosity. “My parents kicked me out right after Thanksgiving. I haven’t had anyone to celebrate anything with since. Depending on the job I had at the time, I usually just volunteered to work. Sometimes, my boss at the time would do something special for us like bring in Christmas cookies or something. But in the end, I went home alone like every other night.”

“Remi, I’m so sorry…. I didn’t know….” I whispered. I didn’t realize it had happened during this time of the year.

She let out a breathy laugh. “When I was little, I absolutely adored this time of year. There was always just something different. We didn’t have a family to go visit or anything, but my parents got into it. I know now they were just doing it to fit in, but it was real for me. It’s a little weird to think that all of that doesn’t exist here.”

I chewed my lip. I felt terrible for Remi. One of her favorite things was ruined by her parents, and now, here she sat, all of it even worse. I never really considered that she would celebrate different holidays and traditions than us because she was raised in the Ordinary Realm. I got the feeling the twins hadn’t put much priority into her traditions and customs while she was working so hard to learn and adapt to ours.

An idea struck. “Why don’t we do it here?” I asked her. She turned to me, perplexed. “Why don’t we celebrate your holidays? I’m sure we can find anything we need. We can celebrate together. Me, you, Gen, the twins. We can even invite Carson if you want!” Her eyes went wide for a second, and I hoped it was a good sign.

“Do you think they would want to?” she asked disbelievingly.

I nodded enthusiastically. “I’m sure they would! Isn’t one of them about food? We can definitely convince them to eat!” I saw her eyes begin to water, and I started to panic. “Remi, no, no! Please don’t cry!”

She shook her head and gave me a small smile, blinking away the tears. “I’m not upset. I’m happy. Thank you, Pip. Thank you so much!” She leaned over and pulled me into a hug. I hugged her back tightly, knowing that I would do whatever it takes to make my best friend happy.

-

Our plans completely changed for the day, but I was more than fine with it. Remi seemed excited by something for the first time in weeks. First, we went to a coffee shop, and Jonas found us some paper. Then, Remi started telling me about Thanksgiving, Christmas, and all the things that went along with them. We made a list of all the things we needed to get and do for both holidays. Thanksgiving was mainly centered around a large meal, but she also explained the reason behind it. Finally, after some coaxing, I got her to tell me what the picture-perfect Thanksgiving and Christmas would be, and I was determined to help her make it happen.

After we had all the plans in place, we set to work getting everything. Gen has snagged Calder’s credit card for me this morning, so he was footing the bill to make his mate happy. It was the least he could do after being such a jerk the past few weeks. For Thanksgiving, we got nice new clothes for everyone. We had to call my mom and Nicole to help us with sizes for all the guys, but they were happy to oblige. I helped Remi pick out an adorable red dress that had gold accents on it. We also managed to find ties for the twins that would go well next to her dress.

After lunch, we moved onto Christmas. This one was way more fun than Thanksgiving. We brainstormed and figured out presents for everyone. She insisted that she would get me a present, but the only thing she wanted was for everyone to be together and have fun. I didn’t tell Remi, but I was going to get her something too.

By the time we managed to get presents for everyone, it was starting to get late. We stopped at a small bakery and grabbed a snack. We planned to wait for the warriors to switch, then I was taking Remi to a museum for an exhibit I thought would totally be up her alley. We sat down with mugs of hot chocolate and cake while we waited for our new escort.

“I cannot wait to force all the guys into these matching Pajama sets,” I giggled. Remi said it was more of a cute tradition that people had started doing more recently, but I loved the thought of making the Carlisles and my brother wear matching pajamas in order to get a present.

“I still don’t think they will do it,” she mused. Her face was relaxed, and she seemed lighter. I was just happy her mind was off the twins’ absence for now.

“I am telling you, all you have to do is pout that lip and say please. You’re too cute to resist. I think that even goes for Carson,” I laughed. She shook her head and took a bite of her cake, smiling in delight.

“We still have to bake cookies. Then there is the whole Thanksgiving meal to make. Christmas too…” Remi started rambling. Her words were drowned out, though. Instead, my attention turned to the smell wafting through the tiny bakery we were in. I turned my head quickly, looking around for its source. My wolf started going nuts in my head. What smelled so savory and smokey? Then we locked eyes. “Mate.”

Remi

All of a sudden, Pip’s expression changed, and she started looking around wildly. What was going on? “Pip, are you okay?” she didn’t answer me, just raising her nose to sniff the air. “Pip, what’s going on?”

“Mate,” she said as her head stilled, eyes locking on someone. I followed her line of vision to land on our second escort for the day. It was the same warrior that had been with us when Pip rejected Zeus. He had carried her home after that. She stood up, her chair falling over. He approached her quickly, and then they were standing nose to nose.

“Ryker?” she breathed.

“Amanda,” he said.

I was shocked at what was happening. This must be her second chance mate. I stood up, moving away from the table. “I’ll give you two a minute,” I linked her as I headed towards the bathrooms at the backside of the bakery. I looked back over my shoulder to see them still standing there as I rounded the corner into the hallway labeled ‘Restrooms.’ I smacked right into something, turning my attention back to where I was going. I really needed to watch where I was walking. I realized I had walked right into someone, not something.

“Sorry,” I said, looking up at a familiar face.

“Remi?” he questioned.

“Yea. You’re Carson’s friend, right?” I asked. He didn’t seem angry this time, but I was still going to be cautious. Telling him I was the twins’ mate seemed to stop him last time, but they weren’t around.

“Elias,” he said shortly.

“Sorry, I walked into you. I was just heading to the restroom,” I told him.

“It's okay,” he said but made no move to step aside. “Uh, I should probably apologize. I was pretty rude that day….”

“Oh, it's okay. I imagine you really weren’t expecting Carson’s brothers’ mate to spoil your, uh, fun,” I joked.

“No, I wasn’t. But I still shouldn’t have acted like that, especially to the future Luna. I’m sorry,” he apologized.

“Thanks,” I said shyly. He looked down at the floor, and I couldn’t tell if Elias was nervous or embarrassed. “So, how are things with you and Carson?” I asked.

“Fine,” he said. An idea struck me.

“Hey, so this may be a little weird, and I understand if it isn’t your thing, but I’m putting together a little dinner party next week. It's hard to explain, but Carson can fill you in later. If you’d like, we would love you to come,” I tried. Maybe if I got Calder and Cullen around Carson with Elias, they would be more inclined to help. They would want their brother to be just as happy as they were, right?

“What is the party for?” he asked.

“A dinner thing. Like I said, it's a bit hard to explain quickly. Will you just think about it?”

“Sure, I’ll think about it,” he said hesitantly. His cellphone was in his hands, so without thinking, I grabbed it from him. Luckily, he didn’t have a lock code.

“I’ll give you my number, and you can let me know if you want to come. It’s Thursday at three at the packhouse. Bring your appetite,” I told him with a smile. I quickly put my number into his phone and handed it back to him.

“Uh, cool,” he said, giving me a strange look. “I’m going to go.”

“Alright,” I said, giving him a smile as he walked away. Today has turned into the best day I’ve had in weeks.