The Key

9

EDITED

I follow Hope into the garden where a table with a few sketch pads, colored paints, and paint brushes are set up.

When she sits down she smiles shyly up at me, her blue eyes hovering over my whole face.

"Uncle Elijah told me that you're my mom," Hope flips open one of the sketch pads and grabs a a paint brush, dipping it in the blue.

I sit down next to her,

"Yes, I am."

"He told me all about you. I know what you are, a Lycanthrope. The most powerful being in the world, next to my dad, who is a hybrid. Uncle Elijah also told me that you died pretty soon after I was born, to protect me from some very bad men," Her young voice sounds like music to my ears, and my eyes never leave her face as she continues to look down as she paints what appears to be a grand sunset.

I smile at her even though she isn't looking at me, 

"That is all very true, your Uncle Elijah did a fantastic job filling you in," I point at the trees she just painted,

"That's brilliant, did you know your father loves painting? It's his favorite past time."

Hope peaks up at me from under her lashes a smile on her face, her eyes just as blue as her father's,

"And my dad is back now as well? And you two are together again?" her tone sounds unsure of the future, her future.

"We are together. I happen to love your father very much," I smile at her, and she smiles back as I continue my sentence,

"And I love you more, Hope. I'm extremely sorry for not being here for you for all these years. I'm sorry your father couldn't be here either. I wish that one day you will be able to forgive me for missing out on everything about you and your life so far."

Her face widens into a bigger smile, making my heart melt,

"You don't have apologize for dying for our family, for me. You did it to protect us. I'm not mad at you."

I open my mouth to speak some more but Nik, who has finally grown some balls about talking to our seven year old, is walking towards us from the house.

Hope sees homecoming over and smiles a small smile at him, and then continues to look down at her paper to paint.

Nik looks at me, his eyebrows raising upwards in a silent help me type of look. I smirk at him and shrug, not knowing what he should say to her either.

After a moment he gazes down at Hope's painting,

"That is quite lovely."

Hope beams up at him, the approval from him making her smile. She looks over at me and then back to Nik,

"Mom told me you like to paint, too."

Nik's eyes snap to mine, both of us trying to contain our joy at the fact that she openly called me Mom even though she's only been with me for a few minutes.

"Well, your mother is correct. I love to paint, very much so," Nik tells her.

Hope pushes an empty piece of paper towards him, and he sits down across from me on the other side of our daughter. We look across the table at one another, happiness overwhelming both our faces. After another few seconds, Nik picks up his own paint brush, and dips it in an orange color, getting to work on his own small master piece.

I lean my head against my palm, staring at the two loves of my life.

How in the world did I get to be so lucky? I wonder to myself, my eyes constantly flicking between Nik and our daughter.