Chains

Bonus Chapter 1 - Part V

Oliver POV

Once our adoption was finalized, Rafe and Lucy sat us down and told us how much they loved us (Scarlett piped in that she loved us too). It gave us a sense of assurance, knowing that we were a part of their family now for real. They talked about the rest of their family back home, explaining that they were from a werewolf pack in America. They let us know that they knew our parents were from a werewolf pack too, and that we wouldn't have to hide that fact from our new family. It was a relief knowing that we wouldn't have to hide it when we finally shifted; mum had told us what to expect when the time came. I miss having her wolf curl up around me and Gracie to keep us warm and protect us, though I'm thankful we have a new family to live with; I just wish mum was here too.

Rafe told us that we didn't have to call them mum and pa. I'm glad, because I'm not ready to call anyone else mum, or pa yet. Gracie calls Rafe 'pa' though; it's easier for her because she doesn't remember pa. Sometimes she calls Lucy 'mum', and sometimes she calls her 'Lucy'. Living with them is better than living on the streets, but we still miss mum a lot. After a few weeks with the Evans', I started sleeping in the extra bedroom - the big bed was moved in there, and the two single beds were moved into Scarlett's room so that each of the girls had their own bed. Sometimes, though, Gracie comes in and crawls into bed with me; I hug her tightly and we both cry ourselves to sleep on those nights.

One day not long after we started living here, Rafe came home after work carrying a fancy shaped jar painted all over with flowers. He said mum's ashes were in it, and that we could take her up to where pa was buried and put them in the grave with him if we wanted to, or we could keep them with us. We talked about for a long time, and finally decided that mum would like being with pa again, so one Saturday we all got dressed up in nice clothes and drove to Hull. That's where pa was buried. When we got to the cemetery where pa was buried, there was a pastor who talked about heaven, and God, and how my mum and pa would be together in heaven forever. Even though we worship our Moon Goddess and not his God, the things he said were comforting, and made me feel less sad than I was before. When he was done talking, the jar with mum's ashes was put in the grave next to pa's coffin, and they closed the cement box up again. I hope my parents will be together in heaven like the pastor said, mum was so sad when pa died; I know how much she missed him, because I miss them both too.

Mum once told me that the Moon Goddess sometimes reincar... I can't remember the word... reincarns(?) people; it means that she lets them be born again. When two people are soulmates, they would both be born again, and someday they would find each other and live together again. I want to believe that's true; I like to think that mum and pa will be born again and get to live a new life. If they did, we might even meet again someday, and maybe even be friends. My heart still hurts when I think about them being gone, but it lifts up to know they are together again and might someday live again.

Lucy took me and Gracie to the school where Scarlett goes, and I was put in the same class Scarlett is in. Gracie only goes in the morning because her class is only for a half-day; she goes back home with Lucy for the rest of the time. At first it was scary, even though mum taught us our numbers and letters. I can read, a little, so I'm not too far behind the other kids. Even though I'm a year older than Scarlett, I'm in the same grade as she is because I've never been to school before. I love going to school though; I never thought I would be able to go. Lucy helps us with our homework every night before dinner, and then we play games or watch movies until bedtime.

Some of the kids at school complain about it - mostly the kids in the higher grades. I don't know why they complain so much, because I love school. I love learning about new things, and that makes me want to know even more. I've spent hours after school looking up words in Scarlett's children's dictionary; one word leading to another then another and so on. I don't always know what the words mean, but Lucy helps me figure them out when I don't. I do okay in maths and sciences and reading, but I don't care that much for history; why do I need to know about what people did before I was even born, and in places I will never go? I've read all the children's books that Scarlett has at home (none of them were too hard), and Lucy helps me pick out new ones at school that I have to return when I'm done with them. Reading is probably my favorite subject.

There is one boy at school, Scott, who teased me after I told him that I didn't have a home to live in before I was adopted by the Evans. Scarlett told him to stop and, surprisingly he did; she can be really scary when she wants to be; most of the time she seems like a sweet, innocent little thing. I've decided that I won't tell anybody about my past and being homeless again; being teased about it is upsetting and I don't want to feel like that again. Scott was the only kid who made fun of me, so it didn't take long before I made friends with the other kids in my class; even Scott was okay after he stopped the teasing.

Like the teasing, ever since pa died, and we had to leave Hull, people acted differently towards us. When pa was alive, even though we didn't have a lot of money, people acted normal around us; they were kind and caring. Once we became homeless, it was completely different, people would avoid us if they could, pretending we didn't even exist. It was like they couldn't see us. Now, with the Evans who are wealthy, people treat us like we're special, even though we are the same people we have always been; the only thing that changed was our circumstances. Seeing that, I made a promise to myself that I will treat everyone I meet, no matter their situation, as though they are special, because I know what it's like to be in each of these different worlds, and I know what it's like to be treated different from everyone else.

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School ended last week, and we're all getting ready to go to America. We have been loading all our clothes into bags that will be on the plane with us; everything else we need to take was packed up and shipped off a few days ago. I'm sad that we're leaving and I'm going to miss my friends from school. My best friend, Chandler Watts, promised that he would keep in touch with me by email and even facetime when we could. I will miss Chandler the most.

Lucy is pregnant and everybody is excited about the baby, who will be born soon. Lucy wants to be back at her home with her family when it's time to deliver the baby. It's a boy and she has a picture of him growing in her belly. He's going to be named Mason and so I will have a little brother as well as two little sisters; I definitely think of Scarlett as my sister now; it didn't take long at all to fit into this family. Me and Gracie are really lucky to have been adopted by the Evans'; I read about an orphanage where older kids like us live because people want to adopt babies instead of us older kids.

Before we leave for America, we're going to visit my mum and pa's graves one last time. We won't be able to visit them much once we move away. Rafe told me that we would come back to England from time to time and that we could visit their graves when we did. He said that whenever he had to come to London for work, he would bring us with him, even if it was only for a little while, so that we could come and visit them. There is a new marker than the one that was on pa's grave; the new one has both of our parent's names on it and the dates they were born and died and also reads "Beloved parents of Oliver and Grace Firth".

I cried again when we were at the grave, partly because I missed them so much, and partly because I wouldn't be able to visit their grave for a while. Gracie cried as well, holding tightly to my hand as we said our goodbyes. Rafe stood behind us with his hand on our shoulders, comforting us as much as was possible. There's something about visiting a loved one's grave that brings back memories of the time spent together with them. Even though we had been homeless, mum did her best to ensure we were fed and sheltered, even when food was scarce, and shelter was nothing more than a box that the three of us could cuddle up in; I will always hold those memories in my heart.

Three days later we boarded a private jet taking us to our new home along with our new family. I looked back one last time at the place where so many things had happened. I knew I was going to miss it, but I also looked forward to the new beginning we were heading towards.

Fin

A/N:  I hope everyone enjoyed this little side/bonus story.  I know I enjoyed writing it, even if it didn't follow my original plan.  I tend to think my writing style is a bit stiff and I'm trying to improve.  Hopefully, that will come with practice, so I will keep writing and trying to do better.  If anyone has suggestions, I'd love to hear them.  Thanks to everyone for reading.