Sold To A Beast

Family Reunion

Love is a promise. Love is a souvenir.
Once given, never forgotten.
Never let it disappear.

Andrew and I stared at my room door, my body still not comprehending the shock that just ran through my body. I felt weak, completely drained and heavy as Andrew held me against him. His mouth was near my ear as he glared at the door.

"He doesn't know we're here."

That thought only frightened me more. We hadn't let him know we were going to be here, that I was going to be here. "We need to leave."

I could only imagine the things that would be said between us if we saw each other unprepared, which we were about to do.

"It's going to be okay, I'm right here with you." Andrew tried to assure me, leading me from the room and holding his hand out for me to take.

We began to descend the stairs, my heart racing as I heard his voice rise from the kitchen below in a question filled with curses. He was asking about the vehicle out front and who it belonged to, already sounding like he was running out of patience.

We stood at the bottom of the stairs, Andrew and I watching the scene before us as the man pranced around the kitchen. He was clearly nervous, trying to keep his voice low. "Rosalie! Who's here?"

Andrew crossed his arms over his chest, standing beside me as he made a throaty noise to state our presence. My father turned around in a frenzy, noticing Andrew first as his eyes widened and he took a step back. He had glanced over time next, his face paling and his mouth falling open like he had seen a ghost. I flinched away from the reaction, leaning closer to Andrew as a means to hide myself.

Andrew stepped forward and left my side, offering his hand as they shook in a lousy handshake, my father too surprised to function properly. He greeted and introduced himself with a small smile on his lips, clearly not feeling threatened at all. "My name is Andrew, I am your daughter's husband." Andrew's voice chuckled in my head, sending waves of relief down my body as I stood alone behind him. "And baby daddy."

I wished his teasing could have made me feel a bit better, but not even a blush could burn my frozen state.

My father stared at me from over Andrew's shoulder, speechless and watching me. Rosalie made herself look busy in the kitchen by cleaning dishes and putting them away, the sound bringing my father out of his trance. He shook Andrew's hand back, "My name is Danny. Danny Heart." He fumbled to state his place in the house, I didn't blame him. The poor man cowered under Andrew's daunting aura, which only worsened because Andrew was trying to get under his skin on purpose, for my sake.

"Your wife?" Andrew questioned, eyes scanning over the house to make my father squirm with unease. He looked nervous, stumbling over his words to answer Andrew.

"My wife and I are divorced. Sorry, but so she won't be here to see you." He had recovered a little too well, the old lie so easily dismissed on his lips. It pissed me off, my anger growing as I grit my teeth.

"Shut your mouth." The words came as a whisper, my feet taking a step forward so that I could be closer to Andrew again. I could feel my fingers digging into my palms as my fists tightened.

He hadn't heard me, eyes glancing my direction nervously as he readied for another lie.

I stepped forward, my lungs filling with the first decent breath I've had since we've arrived. "Shut your mouth!"

"Don't speak to me like that, I'm your father." He chided uncomfortably, his nervous smile spanning out even more as he tried to convince Andrew.

My Hybrid had turned around to look at me, concern filling in his eyes and he reached to hold me. "Emily baby -" I had dodged his grasp, Rosalie entering our playing field just at the right time as I snagged the weapon from her hands and ignored her gasp of surprise.