**Ch 356: Memory Connection

After we arrived back home, I found Mr. Collin was inside his office with his advisors. Kai and his friends went to unpack, and then they were going to check on everyone else who was resting in their detained sleep.

After shutting the door, I asked as I tiptoed further inside. "Are you busy?" Since Kai was busy at the moment. I decided to check on him. Two days ago, he looked like a disaster from whenever I last saw him, but today he was rakishly dressed in his formal gray business suit, and the tie added a raffish touch to his appearance.

"I suppose you know the truth now?" he frowned as he checked my face for an answer.

"Yes. I saw."

Mr. Collin gave a harrowing sigh as he leaned back on his chair behind his desk. "I never meant for Emily to get hurt like that, and I certainly never thought Morbius would go after my sons' mates for revenge."

I frowned. "I know you didn't, Mr. Collin. Do you know what they did to Zoey?" I uttered once a second passed.

"She's home if you want to ask her yourself before she leaves to be with Madeline again." Chester's voice bounced in from behind me. I veered around, and he was smiling at me. Without hearing him, he came in at the right time.

"If she's not too busy," I clarified, and Chester held out his hand for me to take it as he still smiled.

So I took his hand, and he bounced us out of the quiet office to a more noisy living room. To no surprise, Mrs. Collin, Mrs. Nasberry, Irene, and Pearl were sipping blood tea on the couch. Colton, Coraline, and Joshua were building things out of Legos on the floor. Across from the doorless entrance, Sharlene was in a cushioned chair as she was searching for nursery ideas from her laptop. Beside her, Rose was rocking her newborn baby in the movable recliner chair as she was helping Sharlene to get ideas and prices for baby supplies, which had me thinking I needed to get on this too.

"How did you like Madeline's new baby?"

Mrs. Nasberry asked the vamp kids.

"He's boring!" Colton was the first one to complain.

Then Coraline sweetly replied as she blinked her eyes at her great Aunt. "He's so cute! I wanna squeeze him!"

Across from his little sister, Joshua cut in as he oddly eyed her. "Babies are gross and smelly! How can something that poops yellow poop up into his hair be considered cute?" 

He had us all laughing at how adorable he was being.

Chester chuckled. "You pooped in your hair too, and everyone still thought you were cute," he commented on Joshua's complaint.

"But he's still boring!" Colton still griped. "All he did was poop, cry, eat, and sleep. He doesn't do anything but lay there and get all the attention."

Zoey joined in on the laughing as she just entered the room. "Don't be jealous. He's only a newborn. Before too long, he'll grow fast," she said, shaking her head when she overheard her offspring.

"I hope not too fast," Rose remarked as she beamed at her baby in her arms. He cooed and made a few soft infant snorts as she rocked him in the chair.

"That's when you trick your husband into having another one," Irene advised her daughter, and it was just like Rose's mother to say that.

"After I get my girl, then I'm done with him for a while," Rose remarked, and she had us laughing.

"I'm starting to have some sympathy for Ace." Chester cracked up with us. "Anyways, Zoey, do you have a minute to speak with Victoria before you leave?"

"If you're too busy, that's fine," I mentioned as she glanced at my sprained hand.

"I'm already done packing my fresh clothes to leave. I can heal your hand and neck. Then I'll show you my part of the story." Zoey smiled at me, and then she led me to her bedroom, which was down the hall. 

After she healed my injuries from Orlando attacking me in my dream, she laid out a bunch of pillows on the center of her floor.

"We can do this another day. Kai probably doesn't want me to use my time-gap right now." I rambled since I was nervous for whatever reason.

"Have a seat on the cushions," Zoey insisted as she ignored my rambling.

We both sat across from each other, and then she explained. "We won't be using your time-gap. All I'm going to do is mentally share my memories with you. Vampires and vampiresses can sleep a long time, which can cause us to miss out on so much between those lost centuries. To fill each other in on those missed years, we mentally share our memories. Anyone who is new to the Coven can share their memories to become better acquainted with one another as if we've always known each other. Kai and I never met each other until you woke him, but my scent and sharing my memories with him gave us a connection as if we've already known each other as family."

"I never knew that, but I guess I should have, considering the timeline," I giggled, and she smiled at me whenever she overlapped her arms on her legs and held out her palms.

"Whenever you're ready, place your hands in my palms, and I'll give you pieces of my memory," Zoey instructed.

"Where does it begin?" I asked her to get an idea of what I might see.

"I lived during the ancient Rome times. I was born from wealth and married a rich man who was in his mid-twenties once I reached maturity at age fifteen. It was more common for girls to be married at twelve unless she was a late bloomer like me. Anyhow, my husband was good to me while most young girls were abused and cheated on by their husbands. At the time, I loved him dearly."

"Chester never raised you?" I uttered to discover this truth.

Zoey replied as I could tell she was withholding her tears. "No, he didn't. Not knowing about my fate of being destined mates to an Alpha vampire, at age fifteen, I birthed my first husband a daughter. Then, it wasn't until I was twenty that I got pregnant again. Unfortunately, while I was pregnant, I lost my first husband and my five-year-old daughter from an unknown sickness. Then, by the time I gave birth to my second daughter, she was born as a stillborn. And that's where I'll begin my story is at her burial."

I took a breather and then placed my hands on Zoey's palms. My mind veered off as if I was in my time gap. Only this time, it was Zoey transferring her memories to me to develop a lively picture for me to see.