Choosing Life

Chapter Thirty Nine

Gia smiled as she watched her young daughter play with her husband. It was nice to be able to have these moments, even though they all knew that legally Gia held no claim to Genevieve. Gia didn't care though.

She knew she was lucky that the former monarchs allowed her to be in Genevieve's life and that she got to know who Gia was. Gia knew it could have been so easy for the Le Bêtes to say no, she'd be a stranger to her daughter. Especially with who Genevieve's biological grandfather was.

But Belle and Beast hadn't done that. They welcomed Gia into their family and in doing so, allowed Genevieve to know her aunts and her Uncle Gil. Not to mention her cousins Gwen and Markos.

There's another member of her family now though, Gia thought with a small sigh. Mal had told her about Matt, Zevon's son and now Genevieve's biological half brother. Gia had talked it over with Hayden about what they should tell Genevieve, or if they should even be the ones to tell her. After all, Belle and Beast were legally her parents.

But Gia knew it wouldn't be the same coming from someone else, and she was a kid of the Isle of the Lost. They didn't run from their problems...even if all Gia wanted was to push the issue back until Genevieve was older. Like going to college older.

"Hey Geene? Can you please come here? I'd like to talk to you," Gia called.

"Okay mama," Genevieve nodded and gave Hayden a small hug. "Thank you for playing with me, Perry."

"Hey, we can play again after your mama's done talking with you okay?" Hayden said with a smile. They hadn't been quite sure what his title would be after he and Gia got married but it had been surprisingly Beast to offer a suggestion. Since pére was French for 'father', it would make sense if Hayden had something like that in his title since Beast was 'papa'.

It had been Genevieve who dubbed the half-Dwarf her 'Perry'.

"Is everything okay mama?" Genevieve asked as the two of them moved to a more private area.

Gia sighed softly and knelt down so that she was looking her daughter in the eyes. "Geene, sweetie...you know how, even though you have your Maman and papa, I'm also your mama?"

"Uh huh," Genevieve nodded.

"Well...you also have another papa," Gia said even though she hated the fact that Zevon had any claim over her daughter whatsoever. Other than maybe a penchant for making 'potions' (also known as mixing up her bubble baths to try to see if they'd create more bubbles), Genevieve hadn't shown any indication toward a fondness for magic.

Genevieve tilted her head. "Another papa? Like Perry?"

"No, no," Gia sighed before brushing a bit of hair out of her eyes. "You know how you have your Maman who you live with but she's Ben's blood mama?"

"Uh huh," Genevieve nodded. "You're my blood mama!"

"Right," Gia nodded with a smile. "Well...you also have a blood papa."

"But...why haven't I met him?" Genevieve asked as she tilted her head once more. "Papa said he wouldn't keep me from my blood family if I wanted to know them."

Gia sighed once more. "The...the reason you haven't met him yet is because he's still on the Isle of the Lost," she told her daughter.

"But...according to papa, people who are still on the Isle are bad," Genevieve said softly. "Is...are you saying I'm bad mama?"

"No, no," Gia said, quickly shaking her head. "You are not bad, my sweet girl. I just wanted to tell you about him because...well your papa, Maman, and I all wanted to tell you that...you have a little brother."