My mom called me over to talk about something important. “Okay so after a lot of convincing from
Konain.” All I could think about was how it annoyed Cade when she called Dad that. “I decided I’m
going back home.”
I raise my eyebrows. “What? No, you can’t, you love it here-”
“To visit, only to visit our family.”
I exhaled out of relief. “Oh yeah, they think you’re dead or they did. They saw me ride off on a dragon
the last time I saw them, so they probably think that you’re with me or something.”
“Are… are my parents still alive?” Mom asked nervously.
I nodded. “Grandpa and Grandma are still very much alive. They just sleep a lot and don’t like being
bothered.”
Mom laughed. “So, they’re the same. So, you were raised by my sister and her husband but no one
ever talked about me? Not even your grandparents?”
I shook my head. “Tay heard about you, but I think that's because she loves looking at old family
pictures and she always asked questions. Tay’s their daughter, my sister.” I didn’t feel comfortable
calling Tay my cousin, we were raised sisters.
“Konn is going to come with us, do you think Cade will want to come too? I haven’t seen him in a little
while. I think I should try to spend as much time with him as I can, then as much time as I can with
Gray too. Well, whenever I meet him.”
“I doubt he’ll want to come.”
Dad opened the front door. “When are we leaving? Is Aqua coming?” He had a packed bag with him.
“Kaya and Polly aren’t coming anymore, they’re officially staying with Stewart, him and his fiancée are
adopting them.”
“That’s great Konn. Aqua’s coming, I want to invite Cade but Aqua doesn’t think he’ll want to come.”
Dad didn’t walk into the house. He just stuck his upper body in to talk to us. “Cade should come, he’s
never been to the human world on anything other than work before.”
I shook my head. “When you guys came to get me, he said it was insufferable and I quote.” I started to
think more, and I wasn’t sure if Cade was all that fond of humanity as a whole.
“I want Cade to come.” I heard a voice that sounded like Gray then Dad walked all the way in with him.
Gray ran to me and hugged me. “Are you coming too Aqua?” I made sure to visit Gray once a week for
the last month so he wouldn’t miss me too much. I loved spending time with him.
“I am.” I loved the idea of seeing Tay and my other siblings again. My mom looked really surprised to
see Gray.
‘You’re going to the human world?’ Lexus asked.
‘Yeah, a few days I think.’
‘I’m coming with you. This is the perfect time for me to see the human world on vacation instead of
briefly.’
“Lexus wants to come too.” I said. “We can leave when he gets here.” I already had a bag of clothes
and essentials here since I stayed here often.
Gray pulled away from me and looked around at all the magical items in the house. “Magic is so cool.”
Dad closed the door. “Gray, I told you not to run in.”
Gray walked to him. “Sorry Dad, I got excited when I saw my sister.” I looked at mom who was smiling.
Dad put his hands on Gray's shoulders. “Gray, this is Mae, she’s Aqua’s mom and a good friend of
mine. Mae this is my son Gray.”
Gray smiled. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you too.” Mom said. “I’m glad you can come with us to the outside world.”
Gray nodded. “I had to beg my mom, then she got mad at my dad for mentioning the trip around me.”
He chuckled. Dad probably mentioned it on purpose. “She doesn’t like me going places unless she
knows everyone.”
Dad patted his head. “Alright, that’s enough.”
Mom walked towards the kitchen. “I made breakfast, so we can eat while we wait.”
Dad took out his phone and made a call. “Hey Cade, we’re all going to the human world for a vacation
for a few days. You want to come with us?” “Yeah Mae and Aqua are coming.” He probably asked
because of our fight. “What?” “Give me a second, I’ll call you back.” He hung up. “Aqua can I talk to
you?”
I nodded and we stepped outside the house to talk. “What did he tell you?”
“He said that you two aren’t on speaking terms and that you wouldn’t want to see him.”
I shrugged. “Yeah that’s true, I don’t want to see him.”
Dad frowned. “Did something happen? I finally convinced Lynn to let me introduce Gray to Mae. I want
us to be all together as a family Aqua.”
That’s all I ever wanted so how could I let my fight with Cade get in the way of things? “We disagreed
about something.” I didn’t want to tell him that his son didn’t like the woman he loved. “Fine he can
come but I’m not speaking to him.”
Dad kissed my forehead. “Great, thanks Aqua.”
We were back in and ate while we waited. When Lexus and Cade got here they acted really friendly
towards each other. Sadia came with Cade and she was ignoring Lexus but came straight to me. “Hey
Aqua.” Even though I hadn’t seen her since the falling out with Cade we still texted. I smiled and
introduced her to my Mom who was right next to me.
Cade didn’t speak to me and I didn’t speak to him. He greeted my mother, but he didn’t acknowledge
her much after that.
We flew to the human world on Dad and Cade. I was with my mom and Lexus on Dad while Gray and
Sadia were on Cade. When we got there, I decided that Lexus and I would stay with Gram while the
others stayed in the nearest hotel in the closest city.
“Gram this is Lexus.” I introduced.
Gram nodded. “I met him when he was looking for you, come in.” I guess a lot of people met while
looking for me.
We walked in and I was surprised to see Tay on the couch reading magic spell books. “Aqua!” She got
up, rushed to me with a hug. “It’s nice to see you again too Lexus.”
Lexus nodded. “Yeah, you too.” He walked to the back room with our stuff.
That night I went on and on to Lexus about how I didn’t want Cade around my mom. “And she actually
wants to be close with him, it’s a mess really.”
Lexus was half asleep. “Why does he need to like your mom?” He mumbled. “I understand that the last
comment he made about you defending her. That would have pissed me off too, but he doesn’t need to
like her.”
We were cuddling. “He doesn’t even have many good reasons other than the affair, but even with that
he forgave Dad. He doesn’t see me and my mom in a good light so why should we have to be around
him?”
Lexus brought me closer against him. “You guys love each other. You’re letting the way he feels about
your mom get in the way of your relationship with your brother. He cares about you and does see you
in a good light. It’s hard for him to adjust to all the changes, but he’s trying.”
“It’s been half a year. how much longer does he need?” Lexus didn’t reply because he fell
asleep.
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