I couldn't hide my excitement. "I promise it won't be much longer!", I told Elizabeth.
I was struggling to make sure she kept her blindfold on while I drove. We had been driving for a few hours, but I insisted that she put on the blindfolds for the last half hour of the trip. I couldn't wait for her to see the surprise I had for her. I never thought this day would come.
"I don't mind the blindfold, Mathew", she groaned, "but do I have to wear these contacts?" They're very uncomfortable."
I couldn't help but laugh. "I told you, we're in the human world now. If anyone sees those beautiful eyes of yours, they're going to freak out."
"Well I hope you have another pair. I can already feel these ones burning off. Phoenix doesn't like them."
"What?!" I was mildly annoyed. "That's the third pair!"
She just shrugged and leaned back in her chair.
"Oh and Mike-"
"Mike doesn't need to go where we're going, Elizabeth", I interrupted her. "It will raise too many questions. I promise he's close by."
She relaxed a bit after I said that.
I still didn't like how close she and Mike were, but I chose to let it slide. He wasn't wrong when he said they're a package deal. She even asked me where Mike was sleeping when she and I were in bed last night. I put him several floors away from Elizabeth and I. This time, she would be sleeping on my floor and not his.
We entered the high end estate. Every house here is essentially a mansion and only the richest people in New York live here.
As soon as I got to the right mansion, I stopped the car. I was nervous about doing this, but I promised myself this would be the first thing I did when I found her. At the time, I thought it was wishful thinking, but now I had her right next to me and I wasn't going to waste anymore time.
I took a deep breath. "Okay, you can remove the blindfold now."
She removed the blindfold and rubbed her eyes a bit. She was right. The contact lenses were gone and her beautiful fiery eyes were staring back at me.
"Wait! is this...?" She didn't look as happy as I thought she would be.
"Mathew, why would you bring me here? Get me out of here right now!" She was even trying to start the car again even though she was in the passenger seat.
"Elizabeth, look at me" I held her arms and forced her to look at me. I knew she would be scared, but I thought that would only last a few seconds. However, regardless of how she felt, this was something she needed to do.
"They're not angry at you anymore. They've spent YEARS looking for you and they've never given up on trying to find you. I promised them I would bring you back to them as soon as I found you."
She looked out the window and noticed them walking to the car.
I could feel her body already heating up and the flames in her eyes were getting bigger and moving around rapidly.
"Hey...hey", I tried comforting her, "you"re going to be fine. They're your parents. They want to see you and I know you want to see them as well."
She closed her eyes and a tear rolled down her cheek. She started taking deep breaths and tried calming down, but her body was still felt a bit hot. I almost wished Mike was here to help me calm her down.
I pressed her against my chest and felt her relax in my arms. I gently stroked her hair while planting kisses on her forehead. This was working. She was calming down.
"You're right", she finally said. "They're my parents. I need to see them."
"Okay", I grabbed another pair of contact lenses and handed them to her. "I'll go out and say hi while you put these on."
She started putting on the lenses and I stepped out of the car.
"Mr and Mrs Stronghold!", I said as I greeted them.
"Mathew, we keep telling you it's Isaac and Daisy!", her mother jokingly responded.
Ever since I received that call from them, I've been coming here every chance I get.
Initially they wouldn't let me anywhere near the place, but I eventually wore them down. After some time, they no longer chased me away when I came and even started inviting me to have lunch with them whenever I showed up. I've actually been through quite a bit with them. They were the only ones who I felt understood some of my pain. When I saw Elizabeth's mom break down and cry during one of our lunches, I felt like she was crying on my behalf somehow. They knew what a world with Elizabeth was like and they were also drowning in thoughts of never seeing her again.
"So are you here to join us for lunch again?", her dad asked. "My lovely wife here made my favourite!"
I awkwardly scratched the back of my neck. I thought Elizabeth would have been out of the car by now.
"Uhm, yea. Well kind of. I...I brought someone special today."
They both just looked at me with doe eyes. I looked at the car and Elizabeth was still not out yet.
"Just give me a minute", I told them.
I quickly ran back to the car and opened the passenger door enough to talk to her but not wide enough for them to see her.
"Are you ready?", I asked her.
She took another deep breath. "Yea. Uhm, I'm ready."
Her contacts were in and her eyes were now hazelnut coloured like they used to be.
She stepped out of the car and I watched her parents almost crumble to the ground.
She ran to them and helped her mom get up. The woman was crying uncontrollably.
"Lizzie-girl, is that really you?" Her dad was busy inspecting her like he couldn't believe that she was actually here. In between his inspections he would hug her while wiping away his tears.
"Baby, we're so sorry!", her mother said in between sobs. "We don't know what came over us. You're our girl, we shouldn't have abandoned you in your time of need. You're our baby and we let you down. Sweetheart, please forgive us. I don't understand how we could ever do such a thing to the one person who matters the most to us!"
Elizabeth was trying her best not to cry, but she already had tears in her eyes. "It's okay, Mom. I promise it's all in the past now. I'm just happy to be back home."
"And you're never leaving again, baby!", Her dad demanded.
Orion almost let a growl rip out of me, but I stopped him. I wasn't going to ruin this moment for her. If her parents wanted her to stay with them for a few days, I wouldn't get in their way, but she would have to come back with me. Her home is with me.
"Let's go inside" her mom said. "You can have your old room, baby. Your father and I haven't changed a thing. Oh, and your aunts and uncles and cousins will want to see you. We'll call them right now. They're also so sorry for everything, baby. We all let you down when you needed us the most!"
Her parents had forgotten that I was even there. They were too busy doting on their daughter and making sure she was still okay.
"You've lost too much weight, Lizzie-girl", her dad started complaining. "We need to get some meat back on these bones of yours!"
They weren't giving her a chance to respond. She laughed at all their comments and took a step out of their embrace to drag me inside.
As soon we got inside, her parents led us to their grand kitchen and the three of them finished up preparing lunch. I couldn't stop watching them. She and her parents were all moving in perfect harmony like they just picked up where they left off. They were throwing spices and utensils to each other while dancing to music. It was like she never left.
I decided to step outside to give them some time to talk properly. "Mathew!", her dad called out to me, "thank you for bringing back my little girl. Words aren't enough to tell you how much this means to me. She's my world."
I shook his hand and stepped outside to play with their dog in the garden. They had a lot to talk about and I needed to give them some privacy.
*********************************************
Elizabeth's POV
"So, are you going to tell us where you've been all these years?"
My dad was giving me his most serious look. Mom was seated next to me just rubbing my back.
I knew this question was coming, but I had no idea how to answer it. I became so fixated with finding out what I was that I forgot that I was the daughter of two humans and had a whole human family waiting for me. In all fairness though, I didn't think they'd be worried about me and I definitely didn't think they would look for me. The last time we spoke, they all cut me off. They told me I was no longer their daughter. My whole family turned their backs on me when I needed them the most. Just thinking about it was making me tear up again.
I know they reacted that way because the curse made them, but it didn't make things any easier. My parents were the people I could always count on. When they abandoned me, it took all my strength not to fall apart.
But now I had to explain to them where I had been. I had to make up some lie that the best lawyers I know would believe.
I gulped and took a sip of water. Even though Mathew was outside, I knew he would be listening in on the conversation. His werewolf hearing would make sure of that.
"Uhm, well.....I was on assignment!"
They furrowed their brows waiting for me to explain further.
"Remember I got a job with a newspaper?" I asked them. They both nodded their heads.
"Well I had to go undercover for a story. Uhm, I couldn't tell anyone about it because I would have risked putting your lives in danger. That's why I couldn't even get in touch with you guys. I couldn't risk getting my cover blown."
My dad shook his head. "Lizzie-girl, surely you don't expect us to believe that, do you? I don't want to ask this, but I have to." He scooted in closer to me and whispered to me. "Has Mathew been keeping you hostage all these years? Are you in danger?"
I watched Mathew laughing to himself outside. He definitely heard that and clearly thought it was hilarious.
"No! Dad, I love him", I couldn't help but chuckle. "He's the one who found a way to get me out of my ... investigation without getting my cover blown. He didn't know where I was all these years. I promise."
They looked at each other and then eyed me suspiciously. "Well, it's not the whole truth", my mom said. "But we know you're not lying when you say you love him."
"He loves you too, sweetheart", my dad teased.
"Daaaad", I groaned.
"What? He does!"
I was avoiding looking at them. The conversation was now just too awkward for me.
"Look, he has already asked for your hand in marriage, baby", my dad continued.
My eyes grew wider and my mouth was just hanging open.
"All we're saying is we more than approve of him", my mom was trying to calm me down. "All these years we didn't think we would ever see you again and yet the man kept asking us to give him our blessing to marry you."
"Well, no one is talking about getting married, okay. We're just two people who like each other. You guys are the worst!" My hands were covering my face and I honestly didn't want to look at them right now. Getting married was the last thing on my mind. I had a whole warlock to kill.
"Okay, okay! We know how shy you are about boys!", my mom teased. "There's something else your father and I would like to talk to you about."
My mom looked at my dad to indicate to him to take the floor.
"Stronghold Inc has opened another branch, baby; in Los Angeles. Your mother and I opened a branch there as a way to remember you. It's so sunny there and we know how much you love the sun."
"They have no idea how much you actually love the sun", Phoenix laughed in my head.
"We want you to be in charge of the firm, honey. You'll be heading our entire LA division. I'll be there to help you if you want and then I'll come back to your mom after a few months. What do you say?"
I looked at Mathew and he was balling his fists outside. I had no doubt that he had to stop Orion from ripping out of him and trying to whisk me away.
My dad was offering me my dream job. I've always wanted to run my own firm, but it wouldn't actually be mine. It would be my family's firm. I needed to build something of my own.
"Dad, you know that's my dream job!", I said as I held his hands. "But I can't take it. I need to build my own legacy. Plus, I've been out of the legal game for years now. I'm still rusty and everyone's already forgotten about me by now."
My mom handed me a scone to eat. "Your father and I can fix that, sweetheart. We worked hard all our lives so that you wouldn't struggle like we did. Your father is meeting a few of his golf buddies at the club tomorrow. They are some of the most important people in the legal industry. You and I will go with him and we'll remind them that Elizabeth Stronghold is a force to be reckoned with."
This was a chance to get my life back. I had forgotten about the girl who just wanted to be the best lawyer and follow in her parents' footsteps. My parents were reminding me of all the dreams I left behind. I wasn't sure if it was still possible to pursue those dreams. I knew I wanted to though. No matter who I am in the magical world, I still wanted to be a kick-ass lawyer my parents would be proud of. It's all I've ever wanted.
"Uhm, can I think about it?", I answered them.
"Just do it!", Phoenix shouted at me. "You can be both a kick-ass lawyer and the Werewolf Queen. It will be a piece of cake for us."
I just rolled my eyes at her.
***
I was surprised to see how comfortable Mathew was with my parents during lunch and dinner. At times I even felt like I was watching old friends catching up.
When Mathew helped my father with golf moves, I thought I had seen it all but then I saw him giving my mom gardening tips and then I knew I had seen all there is to see in this world.
Phoenix and I couldn't stop staring at him. He was so happy and no matter what we were doing, he always found a way to touch me somehow.
Phoenix and I wanted to stay in this moment forever. Here with my mom and dad and with Mathew. This was as close to perfect as things could get. If Mike, Keyon, Kendrick and Danny were here everything would be perfect. I knew it would probably not happen soon, but I wanted my parents to meet them as well. They all meant so much to me.