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Nora wroteto her son and received a terse reply right before supper:
I won't be theretonight. However, I wish you the best with your fated lord. Let me know about the wedding ceremony and I'll attend.
The lines were impersonal,and that stung the most.
One of the hardest things about being a vampire who had a child before her frozen state was the fact one spent so much time together with said child, decades more than a usual parent and offspring, and a person had to learn how to accept shifting boundaries.
And Nora often remembered Ambrose as a child, and he would always be her son, but he was his own person now too.
Although she missed when he'd been a little boy, always wanting to hold her hand and doing his best to ask questions without being able to speak.
Maybe River will give you another child.
As soon as the thought flitted through her mind, Nora pushed it aside. She hadn't even married him, let alone been intimate, and she wouldn't dare dream about holding a newborn baby and actually keeping him or her to love and raise as her own from day one.
The clock chimed the hour, and Nora quickly went through her bedroom and to the outer sitting room. As soon as she opened the door leading into the hallway, she found River leaning against the wall, looking handsome in a clean suit and dark tie; his skin was less pale as well. He smiled at her, and suddenly all the what-ifs that had been going through her mind vanished.
"Hey, baby. You look beautiful."
Nora resisted smoothing the skirt of her dress. "I've worn this dress before."
He stood and walked up to her. He took her hand and kissed the back of her glove. "I thought females liked compliments? And it's true, by the way, before you accuse me of lying about it."
Nora didn't take compliments well, and certainly never about her looks. Maybe because she knew of the scars she hid from everyone else under her clothes. She glanced away. "We should head down or we'll be late."
He gently moved her head to face him and searched her gaze. "You all right, Nora? Did you change your mind about us?"
She bit her lip and shook her head. "No. It's merely a combination of me not handling praise well and the note I received from Ambrose being on my mind."
River frowned. "What about him? Did your son want to duel me to defend your honor or some shit like that?"
She shook her head. "No, of course not. That's ridiculous. But…"
He traced her cheek. "Just tell me, Nora. No need to hesitate. I know we still need to pinpoint the rules and all, but honesty is something we agreed on already, right?"
Nora had never been completely honest with anyone since she was a child. Not even with Leo, Laurie, or Ambrose.
Although the thought of never holding anything back was tempting, to not constantly carry such a weight on her shoulders would be freeing.
And if she was to be completely forthright with anyone, it should be River. He'd heard some of the worst of her past and still proposed marriage to her. Taking a deep breath, she replied before she could change her mind. "Ever since Ambrose was kidnapped and tortured, he's been so distant. I feel like each passing week I lose him a little more, and one day, he won't be around at all. I know he's full grown, and he has his freedom, but he's still my son, and I don't want to think about him someday fading from my life completely."
River pulled her into a hug and Nora took strength from his heat and already familiar scent. "I doubt he'll ever just go away. I don't know all of his story yet, but I know his mom and she's pretty great. And as someone who lost his mother really young, I'd give anything to have her back. Even if Ambrose is distant for a little while, he'll soon recognize how much he fucking loves you and will come back."
Nora leaned back until she could see his face and touched his jaw. "What happened to your mother?"
He raised an eyebrow. "I thought we had to hurry or we'll be late to dinner?"
She frowned. "Let them wait. You know so much more about me than I do you." She paused to study his face and asked, "Unless you're exhausted from everything you did today?"
He shook his head. "My nap did wonders and I'm feeling fucking fantastic." He squeezed her waist. "But let's go into your sitting room for some privacy. I'm still getting used to all these servants running around."
She nodded and reluctantly stepped away from his warm body. "Come on. We have maybe fifteen or twenty minutes before Leo will send someone to check on us."
Nora went into her sitting room with River on her heels. They sat on the small settee, their thighs pressed together on one side. Without thinking, she took his hand in hers. "Now, tell me about her."
River grimaced. "While I'm sure you've heard about our shitty father from Yesenia, we had different mothers. Hers died when she was really young, and had come from a powerful fae witch family in central Mexico. My and Meadow's mother, on the other hand, was a young, sheltered female from a wealthy Tennessee fae witch family. My father was and still is an ass, but apparently he could charm females long enough to convince them to elope with him. And while my mother's family didn't immediately disown her, they did after Meadow was born because my father wouldn't let them see or even communicate with us."
Nora nodded. "My father was similar. I don't know anything about my relatives, apart from my brothers." She squeezed his hand. "But enough about me. Tell me details about your mother."
