The Bonding Chronicles Ch. 15

Vivienne tried to interject, but the sound she made was short lived, as Andrew prevented her from speaking by some means unknown to Sara. All that Sara knew was that whatever Andrew had done earlier in the night must have impressed her mother, because she had never known the strong-willed woman to withhold her opinion when she had something to say, so for the powerful businesswoman to defer to Andrew in that moment was a testament to the changing nature of their relationship.

"We will make mistakes, of that I'm certain, but aren't they our mistakes to make? How many of life's best moments are born from the mistakes of our past? I met and fell in love with your daughter, because I allowed my fears of starting a new life in a strange place to overwhelm me. It is something I have done before, and I should have known better. But still, despite the experiences of my past, I focused on that which I could not change, and for making that mistake my life is all the more amazing for it.

"Sara, my wonderful and amazing Sara, exists because of an event that I bet you consider to be the greatest mistake of your life. She was born from love, a love you seem to consider misplaced and impetuously given, and yet, look at what has come from that?"

There was poetry in Andrew's heart, and she felt Karen in his words.

While Vivienne considered Andrew's profound thoughts, their conversation was interrupted by Sara, who dashed from the hall and wrapped Andrew in her firm embrace. It was difficult for the older woman to watch as they shared a tender kiss, but she was reminded of what she had once felt for Sara's father, and the truth of Andrew's statement was made all the more clear.

"Best nerd ever," Sara whispered through her deep purr, the strength of her affection fueling the joy expressed by her feline nature.

"I am pretty great," Andrew responded with a wink, and was unceremoniously dropped back onto his seat, while Sara rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Hey mom."

With those words, the joy in Sara's voice vanished, and the athletic woman seemed to take in the scene around her. She could still smell her friends' scents in the air, and with little effort she could tell who had sat where, and what each person had been drinking. It would take some time for her new senses to stop surprising her, but again, she loved them all the more for the details they provided.

The one thing that was difficult for her to explain was the cellphone that had been taken apart on the table, reminding her of a frog she had once dissected in biology. Its guts were spread out, and seemed to be cataloged for research, everything placed in an exacting way, which under any other circumstances would have told her that Andrew had been behind it. But, with her mother sitting right there, she could not be so sure. They were both so precise and meticulous that she could picture either of them performing the task.

Before she could respond, she noticed Psycho sitting on the hardwood floor a few feet to her side, purring and swishing her tail, eager to get Sara's attention. The moment the domestic cat noticed it had drawn her attention it dropped on its side, rolling onto its back and exposing its soft and fluffy belly to the lean woman.

"What has gotten into her?" Andrew asked as he watched the cat. "That's got to be the third time she's done that to you."

In lieu of responding, Sara stepped over and knelt down, rubbing the cat's exposed stomach while she glared at her mother.

"I just want to say-"

Vivienne was having difficulty looking at her daughter while she spoke, for fear of what she might see, and so she was almost happy when Sara cut off her confession of guilt.

"You don't have the right to-"

"Sara!" Andrew had barely raised his voice, just enough to draw her attention, and even through her sunglasses, he could see the anger in her eyes.

Through their Bond, Sara could sense his temperance, and was grateful for the added clarity that they now had through their shared gift. What had once been vague glimpses of broad emotional states were now defined and intricate reflections of what the other person was feeling. She knew he was worried about where she was heading, and seemed to think that she was about to be too hard on her mother.

"No! She needs to understand that she had no right to spy on me like that." Her face was red, and Andrew could tell that the vast majority of her rage was still being held back, the depths of her pain far greater than he had anticipated. As he looked at Vivienne, he could tell the woman knew she was in danger of losing what little connection she had with her daughter.

"How long?" That short question echoed through the small house, bouncing off of the walls and intensifying the heat within her words.

Vivienne gulped, just to try and find the strength to answer Sara's query.

"How long, mother? How long have you been eavesdropping on my calls, monitoring my texts, and tracking what I do?"

Her head dropped as she began to speak, "To be honest, I can hardly remember."

Vivienne chanced a glance up, her lower lip quivering as she looked at her one and only daughter. She was amazed by the depths she had sunk to, trying to keep that sweet little girl safe.

"I tried to give you space and let you be... Well yourself, I guess. But, when the calls started coming in from the school, and then the police, I knew I had to help guide you."

Sara stood up, and the moment her hand left Psycho, the cat sauntered over to Andrew's chair, jumping into his lap and headbutting his chest. Andrew was not sure what that meant, but he suspected that the cat was making it clear that while Sara may be the boss, he was just there for Psycho's benefit. If not for the tense scene before him, he would have smiled, but as it was, he could just roll his eyes and stroke the cat's neck.

While Sara's sunglass-covered eyes dug holes into her mother, the woman continued.

"To be fair, I think that was where this divide between us started. The more you pulled away, the more I tried to help you. The more I tried to help, the more you pulled away. Eventually, it got to the point where we almost never talked, and I had no idea what to do. My professional life was great, I was climbing the ranks at work, but it was difficult, coming home to a daughter who seemed to resent me."

"For fuck's sake, I don't-" Sara's harsh words were cut short by Andrew, who placed his hand on her warm arm, and he did what he could to soothe her anger through their Bond.

Vivienne gave Andrew a tear-filled glance, the brief eye contact making it clear how much she appreciated his intervention.

"I used the one gift I have, and wrote some programs to at least let me know what was going on in your life. I couldn't directly keep you from following your impulsive urges, but I at least could help deflect the less impetuous ones."

Sara seemed to settle for a second, as she thought back over the last few years.

"Wait a minute, 'Warped Tour'! You didn't take me because you got those tickets from a client, you were trying to stop me and Ali from spending the weekend in Seattle."

Her mother's head again dropped, a few tears dripping from her eyes as she nodded. While the older woman looked upon the floor, Sara continued to find more moments in her past where her mother had surprised her with seemingly random activities. Behind them all she could find plans she had shared with her one true friend, to escape and do something wild. If not for her impulsive nature, she may have connected things sooner, but as it was, she had just been happy to spend time with her mother.

"Goddammit!" Sara yelled as she burst out in tears and ran from the room.

Vivienne was in as much pain as Sara, doubled over and sobbing at the edge of the table. Andrew, for as much as he wanted the two women to find a way out of that quagmire, saw no way that would be possible within that moment.

"I'll be right back, Vivienne. Just..." He fumbled for things to say, but Sara was suffering from pain more deep than anything he had ever felt. Brandon, in all his sadistic glory, had not come close to inflicting upon Sara the turmoil she was now assaulted with.

"I need to be with Sara right now." He rested his hand on the woman's shoulder for a moment as he ran past her, his heart wanting to soothe her pain as well as Sara's. But, given a choice between the two women, he knew there was no decision to make — Sara won, she always won.

It broke his heart to see his mate quivering on their bed, her fingers clinging to the blankets with a ferocious strength. The moment she felt him settle in behind her, she turned and buried her face against his chest, savoring the sensation of his arms wrapping her in protective warmth. Her intense sobs continued to shake them both, and while Andrew cooed to her, rubbing her back and kissing her head, he could feel Karen grow worried.

"Wts wrng?"

The text came into Andrew's phone within a few seconds of Karen becoming aware of Sara's turmoil. He knew that Sara and Karen could sense each other through their Bond with him, but the fact that they were all so closely connected still surprised him from time to time.

"Sara talked with her mom, and we discovered just how long the spying has been going on."

Andrew responded using his gift to manipulate his phone, the device obeying his will from where it rested within his pocket.

He didn't need his gift to know that it was Karen calling when his phone began to ring, and while he fished the device out of his pocket, Sara clung to his shirt, pulling him against her and refusing to let him move more than an inch away from her. Andrew had only seen her like that once before, the time he had found her balled up on the kitchen floor after he had struggled to deal with Karen joining their family, though he assumed that her previous pain was shadowed by the enormity of what she felt in that moment.

"What should I bring? I have chocolate and smoked salmon, but if my girl needs anything else, I'm on it."

Andrew and Sara could hear the distinct sound of the freeway behind Karen's voice, and knew that their mate was in her car, already driving towards them. Sara tried to laugh, but the sound was broken and seemed to intensify her crying.

"She'll be alright, you should stay home. Vivienne is still here, and the last thing we nee-"

"What did you say?" Karen interjected, before making a poor facsimile of static noises. "You're breaking... I can't hear..." There was more fake static and then the phone call ended.

That time Sara was able to laugh for a couple of seconds before a sob burst forth, and while she struggled to sort through her pain, Andrew shook his head and re-pocketed his phone. He could feel Karen out in the world, driving down the road and determined to comfort Sara. He knew that there was no point trying to stop her, and hoped that perhaps her magical influence might help Sara through her turmoil.

He was still not sure what had caused Sara to spiral into such deep despair, and he realized he was lying when he tried to convince himself that he was not worried. For many minutes she teetered between turmoil and loss, neither emotion winning out as she seemed to be searching for something. With her in his arms, he had a strong sense of what she was feeling, and the depths of her pain seemed to grow stronger as she sorted through her thoughts.

It didn't take long for Andrew and Sara to hear Vivienne gather the pieces of her phone into her purse, before leaving their house. They could both hear the whimpering sniffles that escaped from Sara's mother as she gathered her belongings, and Andrew regretted not being able to comfort her, but as he felt Sara nuzzle against him, her body shivering as she fought her own battle, he knew he was right where he needed to be.

Sara's breathing had settled just before Karen arrived, and the tall brunette wasted no time stripping to her underwear and climbing into bed behind their broken mate. Karen's arms snaked under Sara's shirt, one hand cupping Sara's breast while the other rested upon the lean woman's midsection.

There was nothing sexual about the contact that Karen had made, and together, they all settled into a soothing rhythm, Karen's breathing setting the pace that they all seemed to fall into. The older woman was amazing, her gift and her attitude wrapping both of her young mates into a blanket of safety and security, ensuring that Sara felt loved.

Andrew had expected his brown-eyed goddess to have asked questions, to try and figure out what was going on, and was amazed when she just lay there, holding Sara against her chest while planting gentle kisses on the young woman's shoulder. They all lost track of time, Karen's influence allowing them to relax and enjoy that moment together.

It surprised Andrew how much Sara's grief had affected him, and that realization caused him to understand the emotion she had been struggling to find. She felt like she had lost her mother, once and for all, and in many ways, that frightened Andrew.

"Was it all a lie?" Sara whispered, her tears having finally ran dry.

Andrew and Karen had been sharing worried glances, but as Sara's question crossed their ears, the older woman raised an eyebrow, confessing with unspoken words that she had no idea what Sara was talking about.

"It confuses me how such noble desires resulted in such misguided actions by your parents."

Sara's breathing stopped, and both Andrew and Karen could feel as Sara's anger began to rise. Andrew could sense Karen's influence in the air as the woman took the edge off of Sara's heated mood.

"What is so hard to understand?" Sara began. "My father tried to make me into what he wanted me to be, and he didn't care about the cost. While my mother..."

She was forced to shut her eyes and take a deep breath, the wounds still far too fresh, and way too deep.

Andrew was not sure what to say, so much of what they had discovered was out of alignment with everything they thought they knew.

Karen's voice broke the silence, asking, "Okay, Andrew, my love, could you please let me know what happened? Just what has Vivienne done?"

Sara sniffled and stared into Andrew's fake-blue eyes, her gaze begging him to explain everything.

It didn't take long for Andrew to tell the tale, covering everything that had happened since Sara's mother had arrived. Even Sara seemed to brighten with wonder as Andrew described how he had taken apart the woman's phone. They held their comments until he had finished the story, and in the tradition that only Karen could fulfill, she even found a few well-placed questions to draw out details Andrew was surprised he had not taken notice of, until asked.

When he finally stopped talking, and a few seconds had passed, Karen asked, "Why would you expose your gifts like that?"

Andrew sighed, knowing that he was going to be put in that position, and feeling a sense of regret at the risk he had taken.

"After reading her texts, it seemed clear that she still hung onto the idea that Alexander had betrayed her love because of some kind of selfish male desire. I thought... no, I hoped that if she could understand Alexander's nature, and how he had Bonded with Anita, then perhaps she would better understand us.

"The only way that seemed possible was to convince her that magic was real. Alexander had already told her what I was, or at least what I call myself. So I figured, fuck it."

Andrew turned his gaze on Sara, who had been watching him with rapt attention. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea what wounds her realization would open. You had never told me the nature of the arguments that pulled you two apart, and I guess... Well, I don't think she can hide from the truth of what you are now."

Her eyes again grew wet, realization settling in that she was no longer sure if she wanted her mother in her life, and the terrible irony was that for once, her mother might actually be able to understand her.

Their Bond made Andrew aware of Sara's struggle, and he could see the indecision storming around behind those wondrous amber pearls. So much of what he wanted in life existed within the woman he found wrapped in his arms, and he knew that for the first time in their relationship, he was being forced to make a decision that may very well hurt her. Much of what he had seen that night confirmed for him something he had suspected and tried to ignore.

"What is it?" Sara and Karen both asked in unison, their voices joining together and forming a beautiful melody he wished he could hold onto.

Andrew closed his eyes and leaned in, sharing a tender kiss with the woman who had changed the course of his life, and helped him to realize who he was meant to be. It was a sweet and loving act, which made the fear that hid behind it all the more bitter.

"I realized something about your mother tonight, and it forced me to accept something about you that I think I've been purposefully ignoring."

While Sara seemed surprised, Andrew was confused by the intense look he was receiving from Karen, who was looking over the redhead's shoulder, locking him in a stare that begged for temperance. The fact was, Karen had been watching over Sara for much of the young woman's life, and Andrew knew that the recent changes to their relationship had only strengthened her resolve to protect the woman they both loved.

Andrew gave the older woman a smile, trying to hide his uncertainty behind a veneer of confidence. In truth, Andrew was terrified about what he was about to say, and wished he could have spoken with his parents, who had always managed to teach him lessons like these with confidence and respect.

Between her Bond with Andrew and her natural gift, Karen could see the struggle that Andrew was facing, and had some sense of what he had figured out about Sara. Karen had often wondered if she should have broached the subject herself, but always settled on the fact that their relationship was never that deep. Her place had always been to help Sara deal with the impulses of her nature, and she had hoped, with the fullness of time, that the intelligent woman would have began to see her part in the problems that plagued her life.

Now that Sara and Andrew were such an intense part of her life, Karen knew the time had come, and hoped that Andrew, her young and forever lover, would be able to help Sara realize how much of her pain could have been avoided. She worried for the briefest of moments that Andrew did not see the same thing that she had seen, but her worries were soon vanquished, as she saw the concern in his azure eyes.

Only truth could make a man worry so much about what he was about to say.

"Your mother saw your father's love for Anita as a betrayal of what they shared, just as I had worried about what Karen would mean for our relationship."

He reached behind Sara and pulled Karen against her, his arms barely reaching, but fulfilling his desires as their small family squeezed together.

"It was a difficult road for me, breaking myself from what I considered to be my ideal family, and I'm thankful every day that I managed to find my way through it."

As Andrew took a breath, Sara interjected. "That's because you're amazing, and actually love us."

The meaning behind her words stood out to Andrew and Karen, who both winced at what she had tried to say.

"Your mother loved your father, but she was not given the same gifts that I was, and had no way to understand what was truly happening."

Sara narrowed her eyes, and her mates could feel her trying to pull away from the idea that Andrew was already leading her towards.

"Your confidence in what Karen would mean to us, and your father's advice, led me where my nature already wanted me to go. It took some time before I stopped fighting it, but in the end this is what I have always been meant to be — it is, and probably always has been, part of who I am.