Project Phoenix

Chapter 4-Before

Sophie's leg bounced up and down obnoxiously as she sat on the sofa. After a few seconds, Keefe finally placed a hand on her knee.

"Foster, your nervousness is making me nervous," he said from his seat beside her.

"Sorry," Sophie muttered. She glanced up at her parents, who stood together in front of her and Keefe.

Only a few weeks were left of break, and then Sophie would begin classes as a Level 8 at Foxfire. She was already nervous about her many courses, so when Edaline and Grady told her they needed to have a "talk", Sophie's nerves skyrocketed.

"So." Grady rocked on his heels, gripping Edaline's hand in his own.

"So..." Keefe said. "What's this all about?"

Edaline smiled softly at him. "We wanted you here as well, Keefe. After all—you're practically one of the family, with how much you help around Havenfield."

Keefe shrugged. "It's the least I can do for the family of the girl who saved my life."

He nudged Sophie and she rolled her eyes. "Such a drama queen, Keefe."

"It's true!" Keefe said, placing a hand on his chest like he was offended.

"Anyway," Grady said, stopping Sophie and Keefe from any further bickering. "Eda and I have some news to share with you."

"Uh-oh," Keefe whispered under his breath. "They're disowning you, Foster."

Sophie slapped him on the arm. "Will you shut up please?"

Keefe snickered, but gestured for Grady to continue.

Grady, after an amused glance at Edaline, said, "I don't really know how to begin or what to say, but—"

"I'm pregnant!" Edaline interjected, her smile wide and joyful.

Sophie jaw dropped. "Wait. What?"

Grady chuckled. "You're going to be a big sister, kiddo."

Keefe leaped up out of his seat and hugged Edaline. "Congratulations! This is so cool!"

Sophie sat frozen. "Is this a joke? Are you all in on this big joke?"

Edaline stood in front of her and took her hands. "It's no joke, Sophie. We've been wanting to expand the family for a while, after everything that happened with Jolie."

"And then we got you," Grady said. "You were the biggest gift we ever could have gotten."

"Then we wondered if we could still try," Edaline said, squeezing Sophie's hands. "We wanted to try and have another child. We wanted you to be a big sister."

Sophie felt tears in her eyes, a small smile forming on her lips. "I'm going to be a big sister."

Keefe grinned. "And we already know you're good at that."

"Oh my gosh, I'm going to be a big sister!" Sophie jumped up and tackle-hugged her mom and dad. Edaline yanked Keefe into the hug, and they all stood in a cluster laughing.

Finally, they all backed away and smiled.

"Well," Keefe said. "I guess a good question to ask now would be...when's the party?"

=======================

"And guess what?"

"What?" Fitz asked, intertwining their fingers as they strolled through the gardens of Everglen.

"I'm going to be a big sister!"

Fitz stopped in his tracks. "Are you serious? That's awesome, Sophie! Tell Grady and Edaline congratulations from me."

Sophie nodded. "I will."

They were both quiet for too long.

Sophie knew it would be like this. Something hadn't been right between her and Fitz the past few months. Sophie had tried to ignore it, but the uneasy feelings kept rising up.

"Are you okay?" Fitz nudged her with his shoulder. "Where's that beautiful mind off to now?"

"Nowhere," Sophie sighed. "Just thinking."

"About what?" Fitz led her to an enormous tree with beautiful flowers in full bloom. They sat down beneath it at the base of its trunk.

"About...you," Sophie said quickly. "About how busy you are all the time. We barely get to see each other anymore."

"I know," Fitz muttered. "You know how much it hurts me, Sophie."

He reached out and brushed his fingers down her cheek. Sophie leaned forward and touched her lips to his gently, then pulled away.

The kiss felt...wrong.

Especially after what she had done.

"I've got to go," Sophie said after clearing her throat. "You can come over tomorrow if you have time?"

Fitz grimaced. "The Council wanted to speak with me tomorrow. What about the day after?"

"I already told Dex I'd hang out with him," Sophie said, sighing slightly.

Fitz chuckled mirthlessly. "For a couple who is supposed to be 'all that', we barely have time to even be a couple."

Sophie stood. "Look, Fitz, maybe we should—"

"Hey Sophie!"

Biana came barreling toward them, her hair flowing gracefully behind her.

"Biana, hi!" Sophie embraced her friend, all traces of guilt she had felt earlier diminished. When they let go of each other, Biana's face was full of confusion and her chest was heaving with gasps.

"Whoa, what's wrong?" Sophie asked.

Fitz stood up at the distress in Sophie's voice. He placed a hand on the small of her back. "Is everything okay, Biana?"

Sophie stepped smoothly away from Fitz's hand as Biana caught her breath.

"They—got—him—" she finally said.

"Who got who?" Sophie asked. "Biana, what's going on?"

Biana took a shuddering breath. "Alvar. They found him."

Fitz cursed and punched the trunk of the tree.

Sophie took Biana's hand. "Where did they find him?"

Biana glanced from Fitz to Sophie, unsure of what to say.

"Biana." Sophie stared her down. "Where did they find him?"

Biana gulped. "He was...he was at Candleshade."