Part of the Plan (Book 2 in the 'part of' series)

Chapter 31 Good mornings

Chapter 31 Good mornings

Harlow's POV

The morning was chaotic. I hardly had any sleep that night. I was startled when the door to the front room opened in the early hours. A little girl poked her head in. Her blonde hair was messy and she held a stuffed teddy bear in her arms. Her eyes had widened when she saw me. I expected her to run away but she didn't.

"Hello." I whispered to her softly, aware that my brother was sleeping not too far away. She gave a wave and buried her head into the stuffed toy. "I'm Harlow." I didn't know who this child was, but she looked as innocent as a newborn baby. Of course, I wasn't scared of a child .

"I'm Melina." She said quietly and slowly as she looked from Aiden to myself. She smiled a little bit and giggled at my brother. I assume it was because of his snoring. "He's loud." I chuckled along with her.

"He is." I looked over to where he was and whispered jokingly. "Feel free to give him a whack if that's what woke you." She shook her head and giggled again.

"He didn't, it's odd for someone to sleep in the living room." She seemed a little bit curious. I didn't know how to respond. I guess it was odd. A child would probably know that the bedroom is where you sleep and find it unusual for someone to be in the living room.

"Yeah it is." I smiled lightly. "Uh, aren't you supposed to be in bed?" She nodded again. "Are you going to bed?" She then shook her head. I just sat there with a raised eyebrow. I had hoped that would make her turn around and go to bed, instead she just came closer and sat on the settee next to me.

"We'll sleep here." She said firmly. I was a little shocked but I shrugged. That's what we did. I didn't sleep much but I couldn't help the adorableness warming my heart and making me feel a little calmer. Before I knew it, Aiden was awake and chuckling at us.

"She has you wrapped around her finger." In response, I showed him one of mine. He just shook his head and headed towards the kitchen. I didn't want to move in order to not disturb Melina. A few minutes later, a woman with blonde hair walked in. She blinked a few times but chuckled as she saw the girl in my arms.

"Of course." She nodded and crouched down next to us. "Sorry about that. She's very curious and easily attached." She softly started to shake Melina. "Melina sweetie, wake up. You've trapped our new friend." The wording was something unique to hear but it was rather cute. Melina just nuzzled her head further into my chest. "Awe, I can't resist leaving her. Would you like me to take her to her room?"

She looked towards me for permission to take her. "It's alright, I'll just stay trapped." I shook my head and shifted slightly so it was more like I was sitting instead of lying down. "I'm Harlow, by the way." I would offer a hand but I was still stuck.

"I know, I just talked to Aiden." She sat on the settee where Aiden once lay. "I'm Elowen, Melina's mam." She looked around the room, I was guessing for a source of conversation. "I'm sure the others will be up soon. It'll get rather noisy." Which it did.

After four other children and about six adults joined the room it was suffocating. Melina had gotten off me a little while after the other children joined us. I sat on the floor with them whilst Beaumont made breakfast for everyone. I was reminded again how I felt like I was being a burden. I tried to ignore the feeling as the children took my attention.

Breakfast was actually the calmest time of the morning. Everyone was too focused on the food for conversation and fuss. Everyone went into the kitchen one at a time to put their dishes in the sink. Aiden had convinced Eben to let me wash the dishes, it took a while but it made me feel much more comfortable being there.

Once I had finished the dishes, Aiden asked me if I wanted to go outside. I wanted very few things more at that moment. I nodded and the two of us went to the garden. It was rather simple. It was extremely clear that the house was in the middle of the forest, the only thing which separated us from the other trees was a fence which looked very worn down.

"What do you think?" Aiden asked as he sat beside me. I shrugged lightly. My thoughts had still been whirling with the possibilities that I had come up with the past few weeks. Werewolves, the thought just kept coming back to me. I didn't know why it seemed so important or prominent. It was anything but confirmed at this point. "Come on, you must have some thoughts on all of this?"

"What do you want me to say?" I said quietly. "There's too much to say." I fiddled with my hands and looked towards the fence. "Heard anything?" I didn't need to say who from or what about, Aiden knew.

"I'm getting hourly updates." His voice was reassuring, though I had noticed that he never told me any of the updates. "She's in just about the same condition as she was yesterday. They know what it is now, but they don't know how to get her back to full health." I furrowed my eyebrows.

"She wasn't in full health anyway." I pointed out. "It couldn't have been acanite the entire time. There has got to be more to it." Aiden nodded along with me. "Do they know who did it?" There was a lot more hesitance on his face this time.

"I have a theory." I waited for him to tell me this theory. "It's a complicated one. You need to know the whole story first." I nodded as a sign for him to continue, but he didn't.

"Tell me." I insisted. "Aiden, we can't work this out if we're keeping secrets."He scrunched his eyes shut and sighed before looking towards the door. It was open but we couldn't see anyone from where we were sitting.

"Okay, I'll tell you."