Arriana's Return

Arriana's Return - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The couple stood there and held each other, knowing that the day their little girl would have to leave was quickly approaching. The secret that they harbored for so long finally caught up to them. They could not keep her with them for much longer.

"Do we tell her about anything? Should we wait and let things take their course? Scott, we cannot let her be surprised by all this."

"I know, Anna. But what could we tell her? We don't know all that much either. She was left on our doorstep when she was a baby and when she turned six some man came to tell us when she was older it would be time for her to go back to the home of her ancestors to fulfill some destiny."

"This is just too much. This is insane."

"Maybe he was right, and she is a princess. A fugitive from her own world left with strangers to be kept safe," Scott said, shaking his head.

"He did say that she was in danger where they were from and could not remain there. She had to be protected from the men who were hunting her. They had already murdered her parents. Could this have been him, Scott?" Marianna looked at her husband with tears in her eyes, "Scott, what do we do? I don't want her to go away! She's our baby girl!"

"I know Marianna. I don't want her to go either. But is it our choice? Do we have a say in what happens now?" Scott took his wife into his arms and hugging her, "What if this really is her destiny?"

Marianna was trying to be braver than what she really was, "No, I suppose it's not our choice, but we should tell her. We are her parents! We are the ones who have been raising and loving her. It is our job to protect her and keep her informed. There is no way I'm letting her go into whatever this is blind. We have to tell her the truth."

"When? How do we tell her that we are not really her parents? That she was dumped on our doorstep when she was a baby?" Scott asked.

"I don't know," her voice barely above a whisper and one lonely tear slid down her cheek, "I honestly just don't know what to tell her or what to do."

Kissing his wife Scott sat down at the table as Arianna came running into the kitchen with her big bear of a dog. She sat at her usual spot and Beau took his, right next to his young master. Scott knew that his youngest daughter and her partner in crime would be gone forever. At least he hoped that Beau would go with her. If they couldn't go, at least she would have someone she knew, even if it was a dog. He reached down scratching the dogs head and got a lick in return. Marianna forced a smile onto her face as she was serving the dinner. It was forced; both she and Scott knew it. She put the food onto the table while holding back the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks.