He took the spray from Maris’s hand and quickly applied it to her face, then he stepped away.
She paused a second to glance at every member of the small group around her. This was her family now… A strange motley bunch of tracers, pirates, aristos, and assassins. Yet they were the most decent beings in the universe and they were always here when she needed them.
Best of all, they cared. Truly and deeply about Darling and her. In all her life, she’d never imagined this as her reality.
And she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Just as Gera started to organize the procession, the doors opened.
Zarya was floored as Darling’s mother swept into the room with a grand flourish. Paying no attention to anyone else in the room, not even Lise, she planted herself in front of Zarya.
Her expression unreadable, Natale clutched at a small wooden box in her hands.
Please tell me that’s not an explosive device of some sort…
With Darling’s family, one could never tell.
“Have I missed the ceremony?”
“No, Momair,” Lise answered in a suspicious tone from behind her. “It was interrupted.”
Natale didn’t ask how or why, she merely gave a curt nod. “Good. I was afraid I’d run out of time. Now leave us.”
Without hesitation, Gera ushered the others out immediately. Except for Lise who moved to stand next to her mother. “Don’t tarnish this for Darling, I beg you. He deserves to have one normal, happy memory. Please, let him have it.”
She gave her daughter a withering glare. “Leave.”
Lise sighed before she obeyed.
Zarya was torn between the urge to slap Darling’s mother for all the things she’d put him through, and the one that wanted some answers about his past and why his mother had mistreated him when he’d done nothing to deserve it.
Lady Natale looked her up and down with that same emotionless gaze.
Zarya waited for Natale to judge her lacking.
And when his mother finally spoke, Zarya wasn’t sure if it was a set down or what. “You’re not showing yet. I’m sure that’s a relief to you.”
“Not really. I can’t wait until my belly shows and I can feel the baby moving.”
A sad light darkened her eyes. “It is one of the most miraculous experiences. That time when you know your child’s safe and that no one can hurt it. When it’s just the two of you, night and day. I used to talk to my babies all the time when I was pregnant. Dream about how they’d be once they arrived.”
Her lips curled into a bittersweet smile. “They’re never what you think they’ll be. But that’s not a bad thing. Every day they grow, they amaze you.”
Clearing her throat, Natale opened her small box and stared at its contents. “I know I shouldn’t be here. That neither you nor Darling wants me here, and I understand why. I almost didn’t come, but…” Her eyes clouded over as if she’d lost herself to some distant memory.
“But what?” Zarya prompted when she didn’t finish.
Tears glistened in Natale’s eyes as she placed the box in Zarya’s hand. “This belongs to Darling and I wanted him to have it from you. Don’t tell him I was here, please. Like Lise said, he deserves one happy, unspoiled memory, and I don’t want my presence to taint it.”
This wasn’t the selfish bitch she’d imagined Natale to be. Rather, she was a woman in extreme pain. One who did appear to care about her children.
So, why had she said such awful things to Darling?
“My lady, may I ask you something?”
Natale met Zarya’s gaze levelly and sincerely. “I know what you’re going to ask. I do love my son. Just as I love all my children. But loving someone doesn’t mean that you always want to be around them. Whenever Darling looks at me, I see his hatred for me and I can’t stand it. He was always cold, even as an infant. He didn’t want me to hold him, not even to feed him. I tried not to let it bother me, but it was hard. He was my first child and I’d made all these plans about how close we’d be. Darling would have none of it. And when his father died, it became worse. When they brought him home from school for the funeral preparations, he wouldn’t even speak to me. When I met him at the door, he looked at me like he wished I was the one who’d died, and it killed something inside me. Something that has made me want to hurt him the same way he hurt me.”
“My lady, I think you greatly misjudged him. When Darling is deeply hurt by anything, he draws within himself. It’s not hatred. It’s how he copes. But if you don’t leave him alone, if you continue to stay with him, he will embrace you. It’s not immediate. But I promise you, he loves you more than you know.”
Natale squeezed her hand. “I’m glad he has you.”