Chapter 85

Aiden’s POV

They both shared a look with one another, which was enough of an answer for me.

“Yes,” they both said at the same time.

“We adopted her when she was an infant,” her mother confessed, tugging at her fingers a bit nervously. “A woman came to us with Carol in her arms and begged for us to take her and raise her as our own. So, we did. We couldn’t just turn her away.”

“Who was this woman?” I found myself asking, aware that I was prying into their personal business, but I needed to know. I wondered if it related to Carol’s apparent magical abilities.

“We aren’t sure,” her mother said, her eyes downcast. “She never told us her name; when we asked, she wouldn’t tell us. She just told us that the infant needed a home and to keep her safe.”

“Why did this woman choose you?” I asked, curiosity piquing my interest.

“We aren’t sure,” it was her father that answered. “I ask that same question every day when I thank God for the opportunity to raise our little girl. You see, we weren’t able to have children and it completely destroyed us. Carol’s arrival was right on time because our marriage had taken a toll when we found out that children weren’t a possibility.”

My heart tugged for them as looked between the loving couple. I’ve only known them for a few months, but I can’t imagine them with any others besides each other. They were a perfect and loving couple, and it made sense as to why Carol was so loving and trusting in relationships. They shaped and formed her from the very beginning. They might not be her biological parents, but they were her parents, nonetheless. They were her family.

But I was still curious about who her bio parents were and what kind of magical abilities they had because it was clear to me that Carol wasn’t a normal human girl.

“Carol was our little miracle,” her mother finally said, looking lovingly at her husband, who nodded in agreement.

“She doesn’t know, does she?” I asked, looking between the two of them.

They shared a look and then looked back at me.

“No,” her father said, shaking his head. “And we’d like to keep it like that for right now. One day soon we will tell her the truth, but with everything going on in her life as of current, we don’t want to add additional stress.”

I nodded, understanding where she was coming from.

“She will need to know eventually. It’s not fair to keep something this important from her,” I told them.

“We know,” her father said, giving me a small smile. “But let us tell her on our own time.”

“I won’t say anything. But I won’t lie to her either. So, if she figures it out on her own, which she might eventually because she’s an incredibly smart woman, I’m not going to deny the facts,” I warn them.

“And we wouldn’t expect you to, Aiden,” her mother said, giving me a warm smile that practically melted my heart. It was something my own mother would never do. “She’s so lucky to have found you.”

I smiled back at her feeling my heart swell at the thought of Carol.

“I’m the lucky one,” I say in return.

Before any more words are said, Carol returns to the kitchen.

“Did I miss anything?” She asks, staring around at all of us.

I pull her into my arms and kiss her gently on the temple.

“We were just catching up,” I tell her.

“I hope you’re hungry. I made a lot of food,” her mother said as she started to pile food on all the plates.

For the next couple of hours, we sat at the table, eating and talking just like a typical family. It was nice being a part of something and I loved seeing Carol’s lit-up face whenever she laughed or spoke to her parents. I loved everything about this woman.

….

Carol’s POV

I’ve made up my mind after my dinner with my parents and hearing them sing their praises to Aiden. My mother pulled me aside to tell me that I was lucky to have found someone as caring and loving as Aiden. She never once said anything like that about Zach. In fact, both my parents made their dislike for Zach quite obvious the very few times I brought him by.

He wasn’t very kind to them, so I couldn’t really blame them. But I sighed in relief whenever Aiden made my father's belly laugh and my mother smiled. My parents loved him and that made me love him even more because family was incredibly important to me.

“He's a keeper,” my mother whispered as she hugged me goodbye. “I’m so happy you finally found someone who makes you truly happy.”

“I really did,” I said in return, kissing her cheek gently before she released me.

I hugged my father and then he surprised me by actually hugging Aiden. I’m not sure what transpired between him and my parents, but something seemed to have brought them closer.

After we said goodbye, we went home and made love until I was too exhausted to keep my eyes open. I fell asleep with a wide grin on my face and a feeling more than satisfied.

I woke up early the next morning and went for a job around the town. This was something I used to do often up until my breakup with Zach. I stopped for a while, but I was finally feeling like myself again and I wanted to get back to my normal routine. A nice jog in the morning as the sun rises always woke me up better than any coffee could.

By the time my job was coming to an end, I heard my phone ringing in my pocket, and I stopped to not only catch my breath but answer the phone as well.

“Hello?” I said into the phone without even looking at who was calling.

“Hey, just checking in, I haven’t heard from you in a bit,” Fiona said on the phone, making me smile.

I hadn’t spoken to her since girls’ night last week and I felt bad for that. It wasn’t anything personal, I’ve just been busy and also a little embarrassed about how I acted. I explained that to her and she just laughed.

“Don’t even worry about it. You were totally fine. I had a great time. I’m sorry you left feeling hurt but I’m glad things worked out. And eek! He told you that he loved you back??”

“Yes,” I chuckled, feeling the grin widening on my face. “We are officially in love.”

“How do you feel?” She asked, hanging onto every word that I spoke.

“Terrified,” I admitted. “But great. He’s been amazing and my family loves him which is so important to me.”

“That’s amazing, Carol,” she breathed, dreamingly. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Thanks,” I said, still smiling like a dummy. “I also have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“I think after the championships, I’m going to tell Aiden that I want to go through with the marking ceremony and make things official between us.”

“What?!” She shrieked. “Carol, that’s huge!!”

I chuckled.

“Yeah, I’m really excited about this, Fiona. I can’t describe it but things feel 100 times better than they ever did with Zach. I fully trust Aiden and I want to spend the rest of my life with him.”

“You are going to make me cry,” she said, and I could already hear her sniffling. It made me laugh.

As we continued talking and I started to walk back to Aiden’s house, which was only a block away at this point, a familiar unsettled chill ran up my spine and I suddenly felt like I was being watched again. I looked around and I couldn’t see anybody or anything unusual, but I could still feel them. It was hard to explain, but I felt unsettled standing in the middle of this town.

“Carol? Where’d you go?” Fiona asked and I realized she had been speaking to me.

“Can I call you back?” I asked, keeping my voice low. I didn’t want her to worry but I really just wanted to run the rest of the way home.

“Sure,” she said. “Love you, girl.”

“Love you too,” I replied before hanging up and slipping my phone back into my pocket.

I started to walk faster in the direction of Aiden’s house, my heart thrumming quickly against my chest. That’s when I saw an unusual shadow in the corner of my eyes, moving in a way that wasn’t my own, so I knew it wasn’t my shadow. I looked around but I didn’t see anybody other than a large shadow that mirrored mine.

My heart raced even quicker, and I picked up my speed. The shadow stayed behind for a moment and then it started to move even closer to me, also picking up speed. My fight and flight mode were activated and I started to run as fast as I could. My feet hit the pavement and with every thud I made, there was an extra thud from whoever was chasing me.

Tears stung my eyes as fear consumed me. Aiden’s house was in the distance, and I pushed myself a little more, running even faster than I ever had before. My lungs were aching, and my body was begging me to stop but I couldn’t think straight; all I thought about was getting as far away from whomever was chasing me. I gained a great distance between me and the shadow.

I ran up the porch steps and fumbled around for the keys to the house. I banged on the door in the process, knowing that Aiden was inside. I just hoped he was awake. I finally got the right key and I started to shakily put it in the key ring just as I heard the feet shuffling in the distance.

Tears spilled out of my eyes as I struggled to unlock the door. Soon, the door swung open, and Aiden stood only inches from me. His eyes widened and alerted as I ran straight into his arms and slammed the door shut with my foot.