Intertwined

Chapter 53: Remembering the Rhythm of Home

A/N: I just wanted to say welcome to the new readers I have been seeing lately make their way through the chapters. It's always so exciting and amazing to me that people enjoy what I write.

The end of this chapter is some spicy Mialotte. So, two things; I have not written smut in over a year. I just couldn't. But I wanted to bring it back and at least try it. So please be gentle. Second, if smut upsets you please don't read. You'll sense the buildup easily, so will be able to stop before it happens and I wouldn't be offended and I would completely understand.

Enjoy wonderful people. I hope you find something here that's relatable, hopeful and inspiring.

20th April 2025

It had been ten days since the transfer of a successfully fertilised egg into Mia's womb. It was too early to test if it had been successful and no obvious signs that either her period was coming or the transfer had been successful and she was now pregnant.

At least the last ten days had been filled with distractions; Carly had a boyfriend, well a boy she had been on two dates with, who had passed the Reece and Mia test; meaning he hadn't been scared off when they threatened him with rounds of torture if he, Elijah, ever treated Carly less than the Queen they knew she was.

'You pair have watched that Bad Boys 2 scene way too many times!' Charlotte shook her head but was secretly grateful that they looked out for her young friend that way.

Then there was the graffiti wall of the gallery that had been completed. The artist Ellington Moukoko was born in Cameroon but moved with his family to Birmingham when he was five and had been working locally waiting tables at a restaurant Mia and Charlotte had dined at. One of his colleagues heard the two women talking about the gallery one night and showed Mia some of El's work. He had been working on smaller pieces to practice for the final showcase that would cover a brick wall between two sections of the gallery. His artwork was vibrant, powerful and assertive. It reflected his heritage as well as, his experience growing up in a country, where people often judged him based on his skin colour, not as the creative, kind and intelligent young man he was. Mia was extremely proud of his work and progress, and Asha had featured Ellington in an upcoming article to promote both his work and the gallery opening.

Antonio had proposed to Lily, and they were organising an intimate wedding ceremony at Reece and Marjorie's for the 17th May. Mia had taken a day to go dress shopping with Lily, Marjorie and Autumn. Her godmother had found an exquisite antique cream lace dress, with delicate light green and pink beading through the hem and bodice. It had been a wonderful day and the redhead was so grateful for the experience of it.

Mia had gone to an appointment to meet the genetic specialist, Doctor Irving, Leni was seeing at Oxford. There was two main points from the testing they all had done a month prior for the doctor to go over with Mia. While there were no immediate genetic risk factors to the redhead carrying a baby, she did carry a gene that was found to be linked to Alzheimer's. The words sunk heavy in Mia's chest, carving out their own cavern, perhaps to hide until she turned a certain age where that gene would cause the inevitable degradation of her mind. 'Amelia, I want you to know this doesn't mean you will get Alzheimer's, and we are doing research all of the time to slow progress of the disease and find a cure,' Mia nodded solemnly and wondered if there would have been something else she hadn't known about that might have helped Genevieve be more present in those last few months. 'The other results you requested, is that you are a match for a kidney transplant for Miss Charlotte Whittaker and Eleni Komninos. You match on blood and both tissue typing tests. We have also tested for reactive antibodies and while Eleni has a high amount, Charlotte does not. We would however do those tests again if the time were to come close to transplant for either of them'. Mia paused to consider what this meant. Part of her had hoped that she wouldn't be a match to Leni, another part of her that she could help, if needed. When she requested the test, she just wondered, perhaps it was silly, to have imagined that maybe doing something like being able to donate a kidney could make up for some of the wrongs she had done in her life. But it wasn't just that, it wasn't just guilt and trying to right wrongs. What if this had been meant to be all along? What if that's why their paths had crossed? It seemed far-fetched and reasonable at the same time. As for being a match to Charlotte, Mia had hoped with everything she had, that she would be able to help her sweetheart, if she ever needed her in this way.