𝚃𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝: 𝙱𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙳𝚊𝚠𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝙸 (𝙳𝙺 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚏 𝚡 𝙽𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚒)

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 11

~

{𝙳𝙸𝙽𝙰𝙷}

None of us could sleep, even if we wanted to.

I stayed up all night – cleaning up the blood, bathing my sister's body, dressing her in fresh clothes, and applying some makeup so we could properly bury her. I didn't want her looking like the hell she went through just the night before.

The rest of the family helped, of course. But the atmosphere was grim. No one said a word. Vic had lost her natural gleam. John was even more withdrawn into himself. Coco disassociated constantly. Tyler fell mute. Mom couldn't stop her tears. Mama was unforgiving towards herself, going out of her way to make sure everything was accounted for to try and make up for it.

And poor D...though he did his best to be there for little Jaden – and to take control over his new abilities as a newborn – nothing really mattered to him anymore. Mani was gone. And nothing we thought would bring her back worked.

It wasn't until the sun had begun to rise that I finally made it back to my room. Jorja was already there, caring for Jaden as he slept in her arms.

I smiled at the sight before carefully closing the door, making sure I didn't wake him. She looked up at me and returned the smile as I sat beside her, laying my head on her shoulder and marveling at how handsome the little guy was.

"Still sound asleep..." I uttered, smiling dreamily at him.

"Hasn't even flinched," she responded just as softly, her hand sneaking its way in mine before our fingers intertwined. "He definitely takes after his dad with that...heavy-ass sleeper..."

I chuckled before watching her rise to bring Jaden to his bassinet. She returned to sit beside me, the both of us using these last few moments to ourselves to get to know one another more. At least, as best as we could under the circumstances.

"I don't think something like this has ever happened, before..." she started, bringing her arm around me, "...a werewolf and a vampire..."

I smiled knowingly.

"It's definitely unique," I said before looking at her, "but nothing happens by accident. There's a reason this happened."

"...you know...when it happened, I saw our entire future...our life together...I know that's not something most vampires can do, aside from your sister, but I swear, it seemed like you saw the same future I did."

She locked eyes with me as my smile grew.

"You did see it..." she realized in astonishment.

"I did..." I confirmed, "...and it was beautiful."

"But how-"

"I'll tell you everything soon enough. I promise. But today? I just wanna bury my sister and be there for my family."

She returned my smile before nodding, her forehead meeting mine as I released a slow breath. Today wasn't gonna be easy. But with my mate here, it would be a little more bearable...

~

{𝙳𝙴𝙺𝙰𝚈𝙻𝙸𝙽}

><
{𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍: "𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚐𝚎" 𝚋𝚢 𝙰𝚛𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚎, 𝚁𝚊𝚢 𝙲𝚑𝚎𝚗}
><

I looked at Mani, her lifeless body lying in the coffin we managed to get at the last minute.

I was still trynna wrap my head around the fact that my wife – the love of my life and the mother of my baby boy – was gone.

I thought we did everything right...made all the best decisions, kept her close to family, even made sure her and the baby were properly nourished.

But I guess we were wrong.

I didn't even register that tears were escaping my eyes until Bey came up next to me, kissing the crown of my head before layin' hers on my shoulder.

"I know this is easier said than done..." she uttered, her voice hoarse from all the cryin' her and Kelly did, "...especially since I'm prone to not take my own advice...but you can't blame yourself for this...we all did everything we could to make sure that beautiful boy got to grow up with both of his parents..."

"Ma..." I uttered, doin' everything in my power not to break down, "...I can't do this without her. She's my lifeline...I don't know if I can make it..."

"You can, baby...you can, and you will...you know why? Because you still have the rest of us here with you. Mani is in each and every one of us. Especially in Jaden. He's gonna keep you from falling..."

She kissed my cheek before helping me to wipe my tears. I watched as she looked to her oldest, her sniffles increasing slightly as she laid a gentle hand to her heart.

"She shouldn't be this still," I said.

"...it's the morphine..." Bey said, a hint of astonishment etched in her tone.

"Maybe I was too late..."

"No, D!" she said, her tears flowing even more now as she quickly ushered me closer. "Listen to her heart!"

I laid an ear to Mani's chest, hearing the splendid sound of a faint heartbeat. I slowly rose as the rest of the family looked our way, Dinah holding the baby with Jorja protectively behind her.

There was no doubt that they all heard what I did. I looked back down to Mani, witnessing the impossible happen. Her hair was thickening back up. Her body was fillin' out and healing. Her cheeks weren't hollow anymore, and the bags under her eyes were gone.

She looked like my Mani, but she still wasn't moving.

"Come on, baby..." I uttered to her, "...wake up...you have a son to meet..."

I took a hold of her hand before kissing the back of it. At the contact, I saw her eyebrows furrow ever so slightly. My face fell in wonder as my tears seemed to go into overdrive.

I could hear my son cooing behind me. It was almost like clockwork – as if he could sense that he was finally about to meet his mother.

After a few moments, that's when I witnessed the confirmation. Mani's eyes popped open, their golden glow shining even more bright than I've ever seen 'em...

Ending this book
on a cliffhanger...

Thank ya'll so much
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series!

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See ya'll next week
for the final book
of the series:
"Breaking Dawn - Part II"!

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