C53

"I have already prepared the documents to recognize Adélaïde as your child. The documents have been ready for a long time; there was only one signature left, yours, since we know now that she's your child." Harmonie said it with a serious expression on her face, but Cassandra found it cute. She understood Harmonie's thoughtfulness.

She nodded, then said, "The others will find it strange that we've already reconciled. Knowing them, they'll probably have a lot of questions, so what are we going to do?"

Hearing this, Harmonie sighed, lowered her head thoughtfully, then looked back at Cassandra and said gently, "Do you want to tell them we're together?"

Cassandra grinned. "Is that so?"

Seeing that Harmonie looked at her quizzically, she continued, "We haven't given our relationship a name yet."

Harmonie sighed, then turned her head to Adélaïde, who slept peacefully with her pacifier in her mouth and her blankie in her arms. Harmonie then looked directly into Cassandra's eyes.

"Would you like to go out with me?" she said softly.

Cassandra smiled and answered, "No."

Harmonie's eyes widened, then she looked down and nodded. "I see, I understand."

Cassandra put her right forefinger to Harmonie's chin and she straightened her head. Tears threatened to fall from Harmonie's eyes.

"No, you don't understand, Harmonie." She looked at her deeply and she said,

"After what happened yesterday and three years ago, I can't be satisfied with just going out with you. I am yearning for something more." She put her hands on Harmonie's cheek, and she stroked it with her thumbs.

"You know very well that those three years were hell for me; not being able to see you, talk to you, hold you in my arms, kiss you, and make love with you made me feel like I was living a nightmare over and over again. On top of that, getting pregnant without knowing who the bastard was who made me pregnant and not being able to get an abortion because it was too late made my situation even worse. The only light in all this darkness was the little being growing in my belly. And I strangely began to love it, to wait for it to come, and to pray that it wouldn't take on any of that bloody bastard's traits."

At these words, Harmonie's expression fell. She raised her hand and tried to wipe away Cassandra's tears.

"And when I learned of the death of this beloved being, I was devastated. So try to imagine the feeling of a mother who learns of the death of her child, and then learns, three years later, that the child she thought was dead has actually been abducted."

"It is a mixture of relief and other feelings that are hard to deal with alone. There's a sense of loss, of guilt..."

"The feeling of having missed everything—her first words, her first steps, her first laugh—the feeling of having missed all her first moments..."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes to calm down, then opened them again and looked into Harmonie's eyes.

"It was like a dream, as if I finally had my second breath towards happiness, and now I learn that you didn't want to tell me anything." Cassandra took Harmonie's head and pulled her closer.

"Please imagine my pain when I learned that my lover didn't want to tell me anything," she sighed, then said, "The rest you know. So no, my love, I don't want to hear this story about being your girlfriend anymore," she caressed her cheek after releasing her, then added, "You know very well what I wanted, want from you."

Harmonie looked at her, then tilted her head slightly and asked, "Are you sure about that?"

Cassandra put her arms on Harmonie's shoulders, lowered her lips to within inches of Harmonie's, and whispered against her lips, "What do you think?"

Harmonie looked at her to see if she was serious and sighed. "If that's what you want, fine, let's do it."

"The decision is not mine alone," Cassandra whispered.

Then she moved closer to Harmonie and gave her a few kisses before stopping when she heard whimpering.

They turned their heads to see Adélaïde staring at them, her eyes wide open. There was tiredness in the little girl's eyes.

The little girl's eyes began to water, and her lips trembled. 

Harmonie and Cassandra separated and sat down on the bed on either side of Adélaïde.

"What's wrong, Mama?" said Harmonie in a panicked tone. Adélaïde was one of those children who rarely cried, and when she did, everyone somehow panicked.

"Mommy an' Dada c'ying," she said in a sad tone, and a tear escaped her eyes, and another followed.

Cassandra took her in her arms as she sat on the floor. "It's okay, baby; we are not sad. We're actually very happy," she said, smiling. Adélaïde lifted her head and saw her smile, then looked at Harmonie and saw that she was smiling too.

"'ea'y?" (Really?)

Harmonie nodded and said, "Yes, really. We're glad you were born and came into our lives, sweetheart. You're our most precious jewel, my love," she said, giving her a kiss on the forehead, and Cassandra did the same.

Adélaïde held out her hand for Harmonie to hug her as well. Harmonie moved closer, sat down cross-legged, and motioned for Cassandra to sit on her lap. Cassandra smiled and complied, paying attention to Adélaïde, who was sandwiched between the two bodies of her parents, who were careful not to suffocate her.

"Hey Mama, I need to talk to you about something." Harmonie began.

Cassandra pulled back slightly so that AdélaÏde could see Harmonie.

Seeing that she had her daughter's attention, Harmonie continued, "I told you I would do my best to find your mother."

AdélaÏde looked at her, then turned her head and looked at Cassandra, then at Harmonie, as if to tell her that Cassandra was her mother. 

Harmonie smiled, "Yes, Mama. You're right. Cassandra is your mother."

Adelaide smiled and Harmonie added, stroking her cheek with her hand, "You're insightful, Mama."

An idea struck Harmonie, and she smiled, glancing quickly at Cassandra, who gave her a small smile with a puzzled expression.

"When I say I am here for you, it means..." Harmonie began. Cassandra then realized.

"'ove yous," Adélaïde replied after removing her pacifier.

"When you say you are here for me, it means-"

"I love you."

"'ove yous."

Adélaïde turned her head and looked at Cassandra in shock, but with a smile on her face because her mommy was responding at the same time as her and knew the right answer. Cassandra saw her baby's excitement and tears almost came to her eyes.

Harmonie looked at her and tried not to let her tears escape as well.

And she continued, "With my heart, my blood, my soul, and all of me-"

"This is our promise."

"Is p'omise."

Harmonie wrapped her other arm around Cassandra, her daughter still between them.

"It is now you and I-"

"Against the World."

"A' ' Wo'd"

"Because -" 

"I love you," they all said at the same time.

"I love you."

"I love you."

"Never forget that I love you, Mama." She added, giving her daughter a kiss.

...

"Seriously, Hazel, do you really think we need all this stuff?" asked Chloé as she saw the shopping cart filled with groceries and games.

"Grace gave me a list, and I'm taking advantage of the fact that we can find the games here and do the shopping and at the same time to get what Grace asked for," Hazel replied, looking at the shopping list.

"Do you have the snacks for tomorrow night?" asked Harmonie as she came over with some household items in her arms and put them in the cart.

"What snacks?" asked Chloé.

"Hazel wants to have a movie night tomorrow night," Harmonie replied. "Especially since we didn't get to go to the theater last time."

"Okay, freeze! I have a question," Chloé said, the other two stopped and looked at her.

"We have workers, don't we?" Chloé saw them nod.

"Then why are we here doing their jobs?" The other two knew she wasn't asking out of any sense of haughtiness, just pure curiosity.

But Hazel thought it would be fun to tease her a little, "Ah! Now you're looking down on people, Mademoiselle has money and thinks she can do anything."

"I didn't know you were like that, Chloé," Harmonie said, shaking her head.

"What?" said Chloé as she watched them walk away, leaving her behind.

"Seriously, Auntie! Harmonie! Don't ignore me!" she said, moving closer to them and blocking their path. Hazel and Harmonie looked at her, then laughed.

"You-argh! Seriously, you can't do that."

"Come on, we were just kidding," Hazel said, then added, "You're the one paying, though, Miss 'we have workers'."

"That's true, but okay," Chloé replied.

"I didn't say you were wrong. And I think it's your mom's fault, she made us independent because she was the one who did most of the cooking, and we did most of the shopping, so we tend to do our own thing before we call in any workers for help. But that's not a bad thing."

"It was even more complicated for you, growing up with your mommy, and for your part, with your uncle, Chloé, but Mummy has remodeled you quite well in less than three years," Harmonie added.

"Ah! That's true," Hazel said, and Chloé nodded.

...

They had finished loading the groceries into Chloé and Hazel's car.

"Luckily, I brought my own car," Chloé said with a smirk, looking at the back seats of Hazel's car filled with stuff.

Hazel rolled her eyes and Harmonie said, "You're right."

Hazel patted Harmonie on the shoulder, "Don't encourage her."

Chloé and Harmonie smiled.

"Okay, I'll call you," Chloé said before getting into her car.

Hazel and Harmonie did the same, Harmonie on the passenger side. Hazel started the car and immediately after, Chloé called and Hazel answered with the special button on the steering wheel.

...

"Auntie?"

"Yes, Chloé," Hazel replied, concentrating on her driving.

"There's a bakery a few miles from here that's famous for their pastries, I need to make a quick stop to buy some pastries from them that Sylvia wanted to try. So I'll get a head start on you."

"Okay, go ahead, we'll meet you in front of the bakery. We'll call you after."

They saw Chloé's car pass them, then the call ended. Hazel looked at her rearview mirror and Harmonie did the same, looking at the side mirror.

"Tu les as remarqués," (You noticed them) Hazel remarked, Harmonie turned her head to face Hazel, and the aunt realized it was a no-brainer for her niece.

"Au moins, ils ne la suivent pas," (At least they're not following her) Harmonie knew her aunt was talking about Chloé.

Hazel started to slow the car down. "Argh... Nifah va m'en vouloir de ne pas avoir pris des gardes de corps." (Argh... Nifah's going to be mad at me for not taking bodyguards.)

Meanwhile, Harmonie had picked up her phone to send Cassandra a voice message. Since she'd asked her in the message if everything was okay.

+Oui, tout va bien. Je vous aime. Je remercie dieu de m'avoir permis de vous avoir dans ma vie.+ (Yes, everything is fine. I love you. I thank God for letting me have you all in my life.)

Then she put her phone back in the car's glove compartment.

"Je devine que tu n'as pas amené ton arme," (I can only assume you didn't bring your gun) Harmonie nodded, "le seul jour où on en a le plus besoin... Ils nous ont très vite retrouvés…" (the only day we need it most.... They found us very quickly…) Hazel sighed and Harmonie dropped her head.

"Je suis désolée." (I'm sorry.)

"Hey, hey, ne dis pas ça, ma chérie.Tu n'y es pour rien. Regarde-moi." (Hey, hey, don't say that, sweetie. It's not your fault. Look at me.)

Harmonie lifted her head and looked at her, and Hazel gave her a quick look.

"C'est moi qui aurais dû me le rappeler, surtout que tu n'avais pas la tête à ça, au vu de tout ce qui se passe autour de toi, tu as beau essayer de le cacher, je sais que ça ne va pas pour toi. Tu ne vas pas bien. C'était à moi de te protéger, de vous protéger et pas le contraire. Tu sais que je t'aime n'est-ce pas ?" (It's me who should have remembered, especially since you didn't have your head in it, considering everything that's going on around you, no matter how hard you try to hide it, I know it's not going well for you. You're not well. It was my job to protect you, to protect both of you, not the other way around. You know I love you, don't you?) Harmonie nodded.

"Je vous aime tellement. Mes parents, Nifah, Chloé, Princess, les petits diablotins et toi. Je vous aime tellement." (I love you all so much. My parents, Nifah, Chloé, Princess, the little goblins and you. I love you all so much.)

"On t'aime aussi, Tata, de tout notre cœur." (We love you too, Auntie, with all our hearts.)

"Si on s'en sort ou si l'une de nous s'en sort, promettons-nous d'être honnête avec nous-mêmes." (If we make it through this, or if any of us do, we have to promise to be honest with ourselves.) Harmonie understood what Hazel was asking her to do and nodded.

"D'accord." (All right.)

"That's my good baby."

"Bon, faisons en sorte de s'en sortir vivant," (Well, let's make sure we get out of this alive) she said with a smile, "Je pense que notre mama's baby est arrivé à destination. Plus la peine de s'en souciait." (I think our mama's baby has arrived at her destination. No need to worry about that now.) At her words, she stepped on the gas and the car accelerated.

...

Chloé called them, and they replied, "Hey, mama's baby, tu as pu acheter ce dont tu avais besoin ?" (Hey, Mama's baby, were you able to buy what you needed?)

"Yes, I did." They could hear the joy in her voice. Harmonie smiled.

Hazel smiled too and said, "Hey babay, ne t'affole pas mais-" (Hey Babay, don't get too excited, but-)

"You all just passed me, although-" she fell silent, then said in a low voice, as if out of breath, "Vous êtes suivies." (You're being followed.)

She quickly started her car, hoping to catch up.

"Justement, c'est ce que je voulais te dire. Ne t'affole pas, mais on est suivie." (Exactly, that's what I wanted to tell you. Don't panic, but we're being followed.)

"Comment ne pas s'affoler !?" (How can I not panic?")

"Calme-toi ma baby," (Calm down, ma baby) Harmonie said, "On t'aime, tu sais ?" (We love you, you know?)

"Beaucoup même," (Very much) Hazel added.

They saw a car speeding toward them. Hazel turned to Harmonie and Chloé heard Hazel say, "Je suis désolé, mon cœur. Je t'aime." (I'm sorry, honey. I love you.)

Everything happened like in slow motion for Chloé, she heard a loud crash, followed by others crashing sounds, then silence. 

...

There were two cars, one of which had overturned and was badly damaged.

Chloé slowed her car and got out with heavy, shaky, but firm steps. She approached the overturned car.

She collapsed to her knees, her throat blocked, no sound coming out.

Blood trickled out. Her hands came within inches of her mouth and dropped abruptly, and a strident scream escaped from her.

She couldn't hear herself, she could only hear a long whistling sound.

But that didn't stop her from continuing her agonizing screams, tears streaming from her eyes with no way to stop them.

She screamed and cried, wishing to the depths of her being that it had all been a dream.

...

"MISSION ACCOMPLISHED"

...

 -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-._.-._.-._.-._.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Letter from Harmonie to Cassandra (written 3 years ago)

Hello sweatheart,

I'm so sorry. 

I couldn't keep my promise. I couldn't protect you.

I'm such a failure that I can't even face you and hand-deliver this letter.

I know you've noticed that I've been hiding something from you, and I apologize.

I didn't want to hide it from you, I didn't want you to worry, but things have gotten so out of proportion that it's impossible and unfair to leave you without something.

The truth is that Chloé's parents and mine decided to get us engaged... And there were certain conditions that had to be met, and it's those conditions that are hard to break.

I so wanted to talk to you about it, but I preferred to find a solution first by myself...

I was afraid of hurting you...

I was so afraid, but in the end my fear was useless...

And they hurt you. 

Baby, I have to leave...as you can understand, I haven't found a solution. Of course, I don't want to go, but I have to. 

I wish this day had gone the way I thought it would. 'I'll help Cassidy find what she lost, and then we'll go to your place together, ask you what went wrong, where did I go wrong, all the while asking for your forgiveness, even if you're wrong, haha.'

I can kind of guess where the problem is coming from: "It's Angel, isn't it?" 

I remember the last time she took my phone away from me, and it was from that moment on that you started ignoring me, I don't know what she could have done to make you want to ignore me, it must have hurt you enormously, so much.

(I'm sorry.)

'Then I'll do my best to get you to forgive me, I won't let go until it's done, and at the end, I'll give you a kiss. Because I know you'll forgive me, because you're a person with the heart in your hand, a heart of gold.'

A precious, fragile heart that needs all the love in the world. A heart that I managed to steal (I still sometimes wonder how I did it) and almost heal, but which I unfortunately broke again.

Baby, you're the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me in my life. I don't know if I've told you this before, but you saved my life at a time when I was feeling lost, and you gave me courage. And now it's up to me to use that courage and fight with all my might... Against my demons.

My encounter with you was strange, but it was the beginning of moments so happy, so beautiful. That the feelings of those moments will stay in my heart forever.

Some will say I'm too young to think of all this, but baby, you know my heart. Baby, you know me, never doubt my feelings and your instincts.

I'd so much like to ask you to wait for me, I'd so much like to make you promise to love me forever, I'd so much like to tell you that I'll be back, but these are only selfish wishes on my part. What right do I have to ask you these things after I have caused you so much suffering?

But I'd like to ask you to forgive me or, please, not to hate me. I know it sounds selfish again, but I don't want you to hold on to those negative, harmful emotions.

Emotions that will eat you up little by little from the inside if you don't let go.

So let go. 

I'd like to tell you to forget me too, but that would be egotistical of me, because I don't want you to forget me. I'd like you to remember all our good times, but if those times hurt you, then...

forget me...

Baby.

I want so much to ask you again to love me and wait for me and not forget me, but I don't even dare anymore. 

It's so selfish of me. I am so selfish.

Don't feel anything for me if this continues to hurt you, I know it won't be easy, but you're strong...

Baby, just imagining what they did to you scares me, so I don't think about it, but it happens when I least expect it, just know one thing, I will AVENGE you, and that promise, know that I will keep it no matter what it takes.

You know, baby, I'm not going to lie to you, I don't know what to tell you anymore, the emotions inside me are so mixed up (I think you can tell by the way I'm writing out of order) and it's confusing me, but the emotion that remains strongest is... My sadness.

"You thought I would write 'my love', didn't you? Haha."

I think I even gave you a little smile. 

If so, good for me. Try to hold on to that happy feeling as long as you can. And never force yourself to do anything against your will.

Because yes, my love for you is immense, but also painful, so painful, and I'm the one who did this to myself, not you, you're the most innocent one in this story, you didn't do anything. 

Baby, you want to know something? 

I feel like someone who's incapable of love sometimes. I know you told me that wasn't the case. But this impression has remained and is becoming more and more present, especially after what happened. It may sound strange, but the love I can feel for others is a curse because of me.

I'd like to end this letter here, but I'm going to tell you how I feel right now:

Baby, I'm not going to lie to you, I'm extremely scared. It's not an external fear but an inner fear.

As I told you, my emotions are all mixed up and especially memories from my childhood are coming back to me.

And I'm losing myself little by little,

Maybe even if one day we meet again, you won't recognize the person you loved before, that will be a good thing... For you to finally forget me... I don't know, baby...

I'm losing myself, baby. I'm afraid of myself. And without you by my side, it's going to be so overwhelming.

But I have to go. 

My demons are coming back and stronger, I'm losing myself, and I'm scared.

I'm probably going to destroy myself, and I'm sorry for that. But my fear is unbearable.

Here's a little poem I wrote for you:

"That day in fall, after the storm 

The sun returns brighter than ever

And a sweet flower blooms, it is a rebirth.

My Lovely Émeline"

Je t'aime, Cassandra Émeline Rose Aster.

Avec tout mon cœur,

Ryan Harmonie Alex SILVER.