Lawless

Chapter Twenty

   She got out of the hospital a few days after she had woken from her comatose state. Drake had not left her side, jumping to do anything that she decided she wanted to get done. He had told her with the threat neutralized she had to take it easy and not work so much. It was getting aggravating especially since she was given the clear to do things for herself. She had even wanted to throw a big pan at his head out of anger when he had taken the dishes from her hands, shooing her to a chair while he made dinner. Was it to much to ask for him to allow her to do one simple task without him taking over?!
   She mentally stuck her tongue out at him for the 5th time that day as he yet again took over a task for her. He was not happy that she was going in to headquarters to speak with Danielle about what had happened. Oh, he tried to get the meeting cancelled. Key word being tried, Danielle was having none of it. Nevermind the fact that she had texted her shortly before he had called telling her she needed to get out of the house and away from Drake's incessant need to do everything for her. She was thoroughly convinced he would even use the bathroom for her if he could manage a way to do it. She smiled to herself as she listened to Drake continuously muttering to himself about how she should be resting not having meetings. Truthfully, she liked that he had transformed into the man he was but nonetheless felt smothered by his mother henning her to boredom.
    She peered at the clock on the kitchen wall, noting that it was getting close to the time they needed to leave. He must have realized this fact as his muttering turned to what suspiciously sounded like ranting to her as he stomped down the hallway outside of the kitchen to grab their shoes from the shoe rack by the door. She chuckled to herself as she heard him stomping back up the hall, still ranting and raving about being overruled by stubborn women who didn't listen. Despite his apparent foul mood, he was gentle as he put her sneakers on her feet, taking care to tie the laces loosely to accommodate her swollen feet.
   He insisted he help her from the chair she had been placed in, secretly grateful that he insisted on helping as she had gotten rounder it seemed since leaving the hospital. She waddled down the hall to get her coat before they left the house to make the drive to headquarters. Drake had moved her belongings into his house while she had been bed ridden in the hospital. She had tried to stay angry about it, not being able to hold onto it long after she had seen the house he owned. It was a large house sitting on sprawling green lawn with a beautifully tended lawn. The front of the house had sold her truthfully, with a fountain in the middle of the turn around depicting the most beautiful statue holding the earth in the palms of her hands as water rained down from her eyes. The statue was named 'Mother of All', which seemed to be a sign to her from the goddess herself. There was an old stable house that had been converted into a 4 car garage on one side of the turn around that had been maintained with the original color design it had when it was a functioning stable house, keeping horses safe and out of the weather. The old servant cottages had been upgraded, now housing his loyal staff and their families. She had felt pride swell in her heart at how the staff were treated as if they were apart of his family, taking part in activities and even eating meals with them. The atmosphere felt homely with the staff bustling about chatting up a storm with her about how they loved to work for him especially with how well he treated them. What had shocked her the most was that they had revealed that he not only gave them holidays off but gave them bonuses and even purchased gifts for their families. She was especially proud of how he remembered all the staff and their families birthdays, giving them the day off to celebrate the birthdays with their family. He had claimed that he was a bitter old vampire to everyone around him but his staff had painted a much different picture of him from the years that they had served him.
   She had been shocked to learn that all the staff had been of different species. He had werewolves, fae, shifters, witches and even humans among his staff. They all knew what the others were and still worked seamlessly together, not showing fear of any other staff. She had spoken to some of the staff about how long they had worked for him, surprised to find that some of the families had been with him since he lived in his native land. Each generation had continued to serve under his roof with a sense of loyalty she had never thought she would ever see. He had even gone as far as building additions to some of the cottages with families who's species had longer life expectancy than most. These cottages had several generations of family living under the same roof, all of which still worked under him.
    The goddess must have known what she was doing when she had paired her with him. He had a mosaic of species working for him without a thought, treating them all as equals giving them a sense of belonging. She would study the workings to figure out a way to use this dynamic to unite the world together, hopefully making it a world at peace with itself. She looked up, startled at the fact that they were arriving at headquarters. He parked in the expecting mother parking, coming around the car to help her from the passenger seat. As they walked to the front door, agents greeted them warmly as she waddled her way inside. They took the elevator to Danielle's floor, making their way to her office. After he had helped her into her seat, he planted a kiss to the top of her head before leaving to go find something to do as Danielle waited patiently for the door to close. She gave Danielle the run down of what had happened at the safe house, including the goddess appearing to her in her unconscious state. Danielle leaned back in her chair digesting the information as she peered at her new eye color.
"So you're telling me that you were visited by the goddess herself and told to unite the species together after centuries of living apart. How in the hell do you plan to do this?"
"I want to use Drake's house staff to do it. He has all sorts of species working for him. They all know what they are and work seamlessly together. None of them view themselves as higher than any of the others and I believe I can use them to show the rest of the world what working together could be like. I just need a way to reach everyone. Nothing has to change with their day to day lives. Most species already live among each other they just don't know it and I just need to show them this. Imagine a world where a fae could use their magic in their medical practice to heal a sick patient who might not have a good outlook with traditional human medicine? It could be a huge break through for people!"
"This isn't going to be easy but the elders and I will stand behind you on this. I agree that it would benefit all of the species if we could unite everyone together without having to hide ourselves. There will always be an opposition to this but you find that even now without them knowing we exist. You figure out how you want to do this and we will help you execute the plan. Now, you better get back home before Drake has my head in a pike for keeping you in here for so long. I look forward to what you come up with."
   They smiled at each other, a sense of purpose overtaking her. Drake came in with a scowl before he noticed their smiles, getting a confused look on his face. He assisted her out of the chair with his brow still furrowed in confusion as they made their way back to the car. Now it was time to set the finishing touches on her gender reveal for the twins. Drake was the only one who knew what the genders were and had been sworn to secrecy until the party. She had only permitted him to put their baby furniture together and he was not allowed to decorate or buy anything that could tell her what the genders were. Today was going to be a fun day!