Aubrey (Axis Rising)

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Aubrey

Amazingly enough it really was Felicity's birthday coming up. So the gift of the necklace before the actual party was believable. We all got up before her, the day before her birthday, we all bombarded her in her bed and we presented her with the new bauble. As close as we could approximate the original had been, and to our utter disbelief she opened it, stared and then cocked her head to one side.

"I can't believe it." She whispered in real unfeigned bemusement, and both Rafe and I felt overwhelmed with the knowledge of it.

"What, Lissie? What can't you believe?" I asked her innocently, but her reaction had been instant, there was no way she could have pretended. She recognized it. Rafe was videoing on his phone, and he did that a lot, so she expected it.

She pulled the necklace out of the box and held it up. "Yes, it's the same thing I got last year! Papa and Momma gave it to me. Now I have two."

Smart kid.

Perfect English.

"What?" Rafe feigned ignorance. "Momma and Papa didn't give this to you, me and Aubrey are giving it to you."

She ran it through her fingers, with this really skeptical look--- slightly disgusted.

She looked up. "Om, yeah. You guys picked the same thing. Do I look like a -- a chain girl? I'm so glad my best cousin Celeste will come to my party, she will know what I like." She set the necklace back in its box with raised brows and a fat slice of attitude. That's our girl!

"Felicity!" I intoned her. "Rafe got you a beautiful present, and you haven't even thanked him. Are you so spoiled of a girl that you can't say thank you and try it on?" I had been slightly worried about retriggering her into memories of her biological parents, but now I knew we'd triggered her diva side.

Virgil and Rein were leaning over the bed with real interest. Felicity turned hurt dark eyes up to me as if I'd betrayed her sense of gratitude. I ran a hand down her lovely thick dark hair. "What do you say?"

"I already said thank you.... To my momma and papa." Now I could see tears were about to threaten.

"Where's your other necklace then?" Virgil queried innocently, right on cue. I was so glad it had come from him

"Papa took it away before we went to the 'mids." She actually did start to cry, and I sat down on her bed and pulled her into my side shaking my head, don't continue this---

"Why did your papa take it away?" Virgil went on anyway. Rafe had pulled him back and tried to clue him in to impending Felicity tantrum, but he was genuinely interested, still looking at her necklace.

Felicity held it up one more time. "'Cause I always lost it, and I pulled one of the little things off it accidentally, it was an accident!"

"I know! I know, baby. No worries, Lissie." For a five year old she could remember things and articulate them so clearly, it was like it was yesterday, even the counselors had said so, but this was more than we'd expected.

"What's the mids?" Rafe wondered out loud, but I already knew, she meant the pyramids. I felt the same heat constrict my own heart, not wanting to recall the day we'd encountered the drug war in person.

I gave him the eye. But he went on as if he hadn't seen me. "The pyramids, Lissie?"

She nodded, her face buried up against my boobs at the moment, and I now gave Rafe the evil glare eye, because I didn't want her pulling up my shirt and nursing or anything. But she pouted prettily.

"Aubrey says for me to say thank you for the necklace, Rafe."

"You don't have to wear it if you don't like it, Lissie. I'll get you something that doesn't remind you of Momma and Papa so much." He leaned in to take her and snuggle her.

But she pulled back and clutched me tightly. "I can wear it, but I remember that Papa took the pretty things off it." She took the new necklace and started riffling through the charms. "He took the castle off." This one doesn't have a castle.

"Where did he put the castle?" Virgil asked, still very interested. He'd obviously had things taken away and could relate.

"In his floor wall in his bedroom." She bit her trembling lips sadly, but I think not triggered by her loss. Sometimes I didn't think she really believed they were gone, permanently, but rather just away on a trip somewhere.

I couldn't breathe. This was way better than anything we could have hoped for.

"Oh, he put it in his safe, to keep it safe? He didn't want you to lose it at the pyramids." Rafe finally got her and snuggled her, kissing her neck and throat, blowing raspberries to lighten the mood. Rein's eyes lit up at the play, it was his favorite thing to do. And suddenly made opening her present bearable for him.

"He put it in the safe." She agreed sadly. "I want my picture." Meaning the framed pic of her parents, so Rafe let her down and she leaned over and got her frame and looked at it. Both Virgil and Rein looked too. I figured they were beginning to figure these were their biological parents too. We had no reminders of the abusive degenerates who had sired our boys.

I fingered the charms we'd had put on there. There were two keys for sure. I held them up. "What about these, Lissie? Were any of the rest of these on your necklace? I can take them off, the ones that remind you too much."

She was shaking her head. "No."

"No what?"

"No, don't take them off."

"What about this one?" I showed her the key.

She scrutinized it. "That one."

"What?"

"That one is papa's favorite besides the castle. You could get me a castle, and I will think of papa." Then she buried her head in the pillows and cried.

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