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Chapter 22

Lavina heard the doorbell ring. She looked over to her door but didn't think anything of it. She continued her homework, hit the eraser of her pencil on her lip. Every now and again she would write down the answer and then go back to thinking. She was also listening to music with her earbuds. She wrote down her last answer and then suddenly heard her mother through her music.

"Mom?! Did you call me?!"

"Yes, Lavina, come down here please!"

"Sure, give me a minute to wrap up here!"

"Ok, but hurry!" Lavina scribbled down the last of her thoughts and then had to think for a minute on the last question. After that she put her homework away in her backpack and then left her room. She shut her door behind her and then went down the stairs. She didn't see her mother.

"Mom? Are you in the living room?" She peeked her head in. Lavina stopped and stood up right. There was another man, who she didn't know. In the room with Amilia.

"Lavina, come on in." Amilia said, walking over to her. Amilia walked her over to the sofa and sat her down.

"What's going on, mom?"

"Um, well." She crossed her arms and then put her fingers on her head. "Lavina, this is your father, Jasvinder."

"My, my-" She looked at him.

"Uh, hi." He said, waving to her.

"You have a lot of nerve coming here." Jasvinder walked towards Lavina and then belt down in front of her.

"Are you going to stay?"

"No, honey, I'm afraid I can't." He looked into her eyes and then put his hand on her cheek, rubbing it with his thumb. "Oh, you're so beautiful. You got your mom's hair color." He laughed, "And her style, oh look at you!" He gave her a hug.

"Why didn't you call, or visit?" He let go of her.

"It's complicated." Amilia knocked him on the back of the head. "You're still mad? I thought you said you weren't!"

"I'm not mad that you moved on, I'm mad that you neglected your children!"

"Hey, you did too."

"I- wha, you can not begin to compare what happened to me to you! How dare you!"

"Look, calm down Amilia, calm down."

"You come into Oglm's house, and have the nerve to compare your experience to mine, well you can just leave!"

"I'm sorry Amilia." He grabbed her hands and pulled them up. "You will always be my one and only true love. I know you probably don't believe that, but I went into a slump after you passed and well, Cheshire kind of just came up and talked to me, and things escalated from there. I thought I'd only see her the one time, but... and I couldn't take care of Anghi and Lavina. I couldn't ask Oglm to raise another one. I thought it'd be best if he was with a Marked family, they'd know how to handle anything that ever happened to him and I kept it open so if he wanted to know, well, he could." Amilia turned her back to him.

"I don't approve of what you did. But I guess you can call and see your daughter."

"Oh thank you, Amilia, thank you!" He gave her a kiss on the lips. "Thank you." He whispered again. Amilia blushed and then waved her hand at him.

"Go on, get out." Jasvinder went back over to Lavina and gave her a hug. He took a small card out of his pocket and handed it to her.

"Give me a call anytime."

"Come on, out."

"You better go. Mom's scary when she's mad."

"Oh trust me, I know." Jasvinder stood up and then began to walk to the door. He stopped in the doorway of the living room and the kitchen and turned his head to Amilia. "Please let me know if you find him." With that Amilia opened the door and Jasvinder left.