The Little Dove #2 ✔️

69. Kiss Him, Melanie. It'll be your last.

CHAPTER 69: Kiss Him, Melanie. It'll be your last.

I stifle my lower lip, stepping back into the room after Dad spoke to Mom, privately for over an hour, before we were all allowed back inside. I was hesitant in stepping inside, because while Marvin held Lorraine close to his side, tucked in so tightly, she could barely move, but she didn't seem to care so much about that, compared to embracing him tightly.

Mom, wipes her eyes as Dad gives her a soft look, a nod and a long kiss on her temple. She gestures us closer as she stands from beside him. Lorraine steps aside when Mom softly takes a poised seat next to Dad's sheet covered feet, "Your father and I have had a long talk...I'm so sorry for the way I acted when he was brought in here, I wasn't the mother you all deserve and I was blinded by my own fear of losing him, I didn't see how that affected all of you." She whispers, sniffling as Uncle Ivan steps forward. Shaking his head at her.

"Poppy, this is no where near your-" Mom cuts him off.

"Ivan." She merely says his name, he purses his lips and nods stiffly as he turns away and effectively lets Mom talk, but I step forward and take a seat directly next to her. I reach for her hand and squeeze it tightly in-between my fingers.

I trail my eyes to her pine green ones and take a deep breath, "You are not a bad mother, for feeling scared and afraid. That is when it is our job, mine, Mathias' and Marvin's to support you, to nurture to you, even if we're all afraid. Uncle Ivan is right in saying this is not your fault." I tell her, she pulls me in a tight embrace, pressing a long kiss to my forehead.

"I still shouldn't have locked you all out, I went back to my old ways and that wasn't right, little dove. All I could think about was my own parents and losing Maximus..." Her voice cracks as she looks over my shoulder, I don't look into Dad's eyes, I stare into Mom's profile, she turns back to me, "...he's alright. We're all going to be alright." She whispers to me, cupping my cheek, murmuring under her breath...'my brave girl'.

I bite my lip and wrap my arms around her shoulders, her wavy curls brush against my sunken cheek, I squeeze my eyes closed, "I love you so much, Mom." I whisper into her hair, feeling both my brothers close in, the murmur the same as Mathias chuckles when Dad folds his arms.

"Probably shouldn't have gotten stabbed, Dad. You would have been more mobile to join in the family hug." Mathias says, laughing into my hair as Mom pats his shoulder, scolding him with a smile on her lips as Marvin turns to Dad and embraces him, gently. Mathias does the same and soon, so do I, even as my phone vibrates in my pocket, I keep Mom close as she cuddles in next to Dad.

I step out for a mere moment as it gets closer to sunset, I dial the exact same number that called me earlier...surprised when Erik picks up, "Melanie." He whispers my name, sounding exhausted.

I clench my jaw, "If only I could speak to one of you whom didn't hurt me at that bloody academy." I mutter under my annoyed breath, desperate to find out where Edmund has disappeared to, but knowing that it must have something to do with Sampson perhaps, 'regarding Ivy' is what Talon said.

I just wish Edmund had told me.

Erik sighs in defeat, "We need to speak with you. It's important." He murmurs, sounding cautious.

I purse my lips, "Edmund's not answering my text messages or my phone calls. Look, is he with Sampson?" I ask him, getting straight to the point where I believe Edmund a reasonable notion to leave, right when I perhaps wanted him closely at my side, I knew his friends were his family, despite the mere fact I loathe each one of them to the very core.

"I can't explain this over the phone." He says to me, softly.

My lips curl in disgust, but I refrain from ripping into him as I hang up the phone without another word. I stare down the low lit corridor towards the end room, the door is only slightly ajar, I can see Dad and the rest of the males in the room watching a game on the television. Mom was watching too, when she meets my eyes in the crack of the doorway. She steps towards it, giving Dad a signal that she won't be a moment, she looks to me as she closes the door, and closes the distance between us.