"Mom, are you pregnant?" I repeated the question, seeing if those words felt any less foreign in my mouth the second time around. I couldn't take my eyes off her swollen belly, which was hidden underneath an oversized powder blue dress. I was going to be a big sister! A big sister!
"No, I just ate fifty pounds of chocolate and gained thirty-five pounds, of course, I'm pregnant!" my mom said and captured me in a hug and squealed happily.
"Mom, does the baby happen to have the same father as me?" I asked wearily, pulling away from her.
My mom dropped her arms away from my body, only to grab my face with two hands. Her blue eyes looked deeply into mine, "Violet, baby," she said, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. "For a year, I had to assume you were dead. Can't I just enjoy having you back without worrying about anything else?"
I felt a sharp pang in my chest at her words, and I nodded my head, "Alright," I relented, "but we're going to discuss this sooner or later," I warned, pointing to her occupied belly.
"Yes, we will," she grabbed me by the nook of my arm, "And there are some people I'm sure you've been missing besides me and have been missing you! Oh, and I have a welcome back home present for you! Wait to you see it! I've been keeping him for a while now because I've always known you would come back someday."
I was about to let my mom drag me through the crowd that was just getting ready to disperse around us when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I started at the unexpected touch and wiped my head around to see Henry standing behind me with a hand on my shoulder. Beyond him, I could see Vivian guiding a newly woken-up Santana into a tent, with Arnold trailing close behind them at their heels."
"Mom," I said, unhooking myself from her and nudging her gently to get her attention, "There's someone I want you to meet."
"My mother turned around with a glowing smile on her face, "Wha-" the smile dropped as soon as her eyes landed on Henry."
"You!" she hissed and pulled me to her side.
"Nice to formally meet you, Miss Silver. I'm sorry that our first encounter was so unpleasant," Henry said politely, unfazed by her reaction, and extended a hand out to her. He even smiled at her.
She didn't take it and instead glared at him." I don't think unpleasant is a strong enough word," she said dryly, and I cringed internally. The first and last time my mom had actually seen Henry was when he was kidnapping me to take me back to Greta. He had been doing that to save his sister, but try telling that to my mother.
Henry looked at her without saying anything. I don't think he could think of anything to say. He looked down at me, "Hey, I'm going to find the healer's tent to get patched up, I'll find you later."
"Alright," I said and shrugged my mother's arm off me. I stepped closer to him and turned my face up to his. He leaned down and planted a light kiss on my lips before walking away. I smiled and watched the back of his leather jacket disappear behind a tent. I turned back to my mother, and my eyes widened when I saw the expression on her face. She looked absolutely furious.
My mom closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and then opened them again, "Violet, you know I've always let you make your own decisions, but really, does it really have to be him?"
I rolled my eyes, "Come on. He isn't that bad. I could be dating someone a lot worse."
"He kidnapped me only once-... twice," I said, remembering the first time I had woken up on the back of Nessie, Henry's blue dragon. "But technically, he didn't do the actual kidnapping per se the first time around. He just transported me to the school."
My mom looked at me skeptically. I knew then that this battle was pretty hopeless, but I wasn't going to give up.
"And, he did it under the orders of the big four technically, and the second time he was doing it to save his sister."
My mom looked at me point-blank, "Have you guys slept together yet? You were alone together for a year, so I'm assuming you did."
My mouth popped open into an O, "Mom!" I yelled loud enough for everybody in the camp to stop what they were doing and turn and stare at us.
"What!?" my mom quipped, throwing her hands in the air, "Isn't this the part where you deny everything?
I crossed my arms and raised my chin defiantly. "I'm not going to deny it because it's none of your business!"
"So you did go all the way?"
"None of your business."
"Were you at least safe?"
"None of your business."
My mother let out an aspirated sigh and briefly combed her fingers through her curly blonde hair, "Violet, I'm your mother. It is totally my business."
"I thought we were going to enjoy ourselves without worrying about anything else?"
My mom suddenly smiled and clapped her hands together and smiled at me, "We were, weren't we?" she said thoughtfully.
I nodded and took a second to marvel at how fast she had dropped the topic, especially that topic. Usually, when my mother sank her teeth into something, she didn't let go until she tore away all the information she wanted
"Alright then, let's go see E-"
"VI!?" a girl screamed, and suddenly I was on the ground, on my back, with something warm, squishy, and heavy on top of my chest.
I lay there for a second and stared blankly up at the blue sky. What just happened? Did someone just tackle me?"
"Emily! We were just looking for you," I heard my mom say.
Did she just say, Emily? As in my Emily, my best friend, my soul mate, and partner in crime?
"Emily, I'm happy to see you, too, but please get off me, you're crushing me!" I wheezed, and the weight was lifted from my chest.
"Oh! Sorry! Got a little tooooo excited," Emily giggled, and I sat up abruptly and threw my arms around the blonde-haired, golden-eyed girl kneeling on the ground in front of me.
The second I wrapped my arms around her, we both started bawling our eyes out like a bunch of babies.
"I had no one to vent to for like a year!" she sobbed.
"Me too!" I sobbed back. "Henry always tunes me out!"
"Peter tries not to, but he always does!"
We pulled back from each other, and both stopped crying.
"Henry?" Emily asked.
"Peter?" I asked.
"Catching up?" she asked.
"Yeah, a whole lot," I confirmed.
We got off the ground, and both started dusting each other off and fixing hair until we didn't look like we had just rolled around in the dirt, although that was kind of what we had just done. As we did so, I noted the brown pants and the brown top she was wearing.
Emily looked up at my mom, who was watching us with an amused expression on her face, "So where are you guys going?" she chirped.
"To give Violet the thing I've been saving."
Emily's face lit up, "Oh, I know what you're talking about!" She turned to me and grabbed my hand and began to bounce up and down, "Oh Vi, you're going to looove it! After you get yours, I'll show you mine, and we can ride them together-"
"Emily," my mom said loudly, "Don't ruin the surprise!" she said and laughed.
Emily covered her mouth, "Sorry," she said, but since her hand was covering her mouth, it came out more like "Srryy."
"Let's just go see it, before you accidentally say what it is," I said, laughing, and let my mom lead me through the maze of tents.
The more we walked, the more weapons I noticed lying around the camp. They ranged from bows to swords, to guns, and anything that could hurt you. What amazed me most was the kids playing close to them. This couldn't be safe in any way. Where were their parents?"
"Hey, why are all these kids running around without parents?" I asked out loud.
"Because they don't have parents anymore. They were either captured or died. We don't have enough people to take care of them, so they roam free," my mom answered absently, and in my opinion, kind of cold and detached.
"Oh," I said, now looking at the orphans with new eyes.
We came to the edge of camp and arrived at a large wooden stable that had to be at least six stories in height. In a wooden pen surrounding the outside of the stable, pegasuses and mist reindeer paced back and forth in their pens. Two intimidating wooden doors stood guard at the entrance of the inside of stables, preventing me from seeing what was going on inside.
My mom walked up to the huge doors and knocked loudly three times, one fast, and two slow. There was a pause after her knocks, then came the sound of clacking, like heavy machinery had been turned on, and the doors slowly swung open.
"So if we are here, that means you got me an animal. Did you get me a pony?" I asked kiddingly while we waited for them to open all the way.
My mom shook her head, "Something even better," she said elusively and walked through the doors. I followed her and Emily inside.
I held my breath when the scent of tar and cinders hit me, and I soon saw why. Everything from the walls to the rafters, high above our heads, was covered in the thick black stuff. The cinder smell was coming from the numerous dragons, who were milling around the massive structure."
"I'm getting a dragon?" I asked.
My mom pulled out a golden whistle from a pocket of her sleeve, without answering, and blew on it. Moments later, I was gazing into the eyes of a black dragon.