Tobias (A CURSED BOYS NOVEL Book 1) (24 page)

  “Then how did Jonathan know. He hasn’t been here since the day of the wedding.”

  “It was an estimated guess. So, is it a boy or a girl?”

  “We don’t know yet. It’s been pretty crazy around here; I don’t even have a doctor yet.” Willow said. 

  “We can get you one tomorrow when I go into town to pick up some supplies.”

  “Supplies for what?” she asked me.

  “Well, Micky decided to give us the pub as a wedding present, so I’m going to do some renovations and re-open the place in a few months, and you are all going to bust your asses helping me.”

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

WILLOW

               It’s been six months since Amelia’s funeral and, even though I’m healing a little more every day, I still miss her terribly. Tobias and the guys have been busy working on the bar in town and renovations will be done soon.

  Jennica decided to stick around a while longer to help me paint the nursery. A few months ago, I went for an ultrasound to find out the gender and was pleased to find out that we are going to have a girl.

  Tobias and the guys were upstairs in the nursery, trying to put together the crib and everything else, while Jennica and I made lunch.

  I felt like a bloated whale. My feet were always swollen, but at least the nausea stopped.

  Surprisingly enough, Tobias has been able to eat food again. Not full meals, but at least he could snack without feeling like he was going to die. No one knows exactly how it happened, but he was definitely enjoying the fact that he could eat food again.

  “Ow.” I groaned and rubbed the side of my stomach.

  The baby was kicking again. For an unborn child, she packed a hell of a lot of power behind her kicks. Jennica smiled, and then went back to making some grilled ham and cheese sandwiches.

  Everyone else has felt the baby move or kick except for my sister. For some reason, whenever she touched my stomach, the baby would be perfectly still. It came in handy when the baby was restless and I couldn't get comfortable.

  Colton liked to tease her and tell her it’s because the baby hates her. The two of them still pick on each other all the time, but at least they get along for the most part.

  When I asked Jennica about it, she said that Colton is like the big brother she never wanted, but has to live with, so she might as well make the best of it. I think she has the hots for him. He can be quite the charmer when he’s not trying to piss her off.

  “I’ll take that up to them.” Jennica said.

  “I’m pregnant, Jen. Not broken.”

  I picked the tray of fruits up and headed for the stairs. Jennica was close behind me with a plate full of sandwiches. We walked in on the guys discussing baby names.

  “How about Paris?” Colton asked

  “My daughter is a baby, not a city.”

  “Ok, then how about Beatrice?”

  “What is she, a cow? I don’t think so.”

  “You think Beatrice is the name of a cow?”

  “Yeah. Martha used to milk Beatrice, and every weekend I’d help her and ma would get mad.”

  “Are you talking about the old maid we had when you were ten? Wasn’t she Calliopes mom?” Jeremy asked.

  “Yep.”

  Seriously? Calliopes mom was their maid? I used to think that knowing a little more about the history between Calliope and the brothers would help me understand better, but instead it only raised more questions.

  I cleared my throat to announce we were there and all of them turned around with uncomfortable looks on their faces. Tobias forbids them all to talk about Calliope when I was around. He thought it would upset me and the baby. Well, he was right.

  I placed the tray down on the dresser, then turned and walked out of the room. I don’t even know why I let it bother me so much. It wasn’t like they were talking about
her;
they were talking about baby names and it just happened to come up.

  Tobias came after me and pulled me to a stop. I looked up at him and, for whatever reason, I started to cry. Screw you, hormones!

  “I’m sorry, cupcake.”

  “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t even be upset.” I said, while wiping away the tears.

  “You have every reason to be upset. She hurt you, and you hate her. We all hate her.”

  “I didn’t know you knew her when you were a kid.”

  “She lived with us. Well, not
with
us, but her family lived on our land. Her mom was a maid in our house and her father was our farm hand. Alexander was our stable boy when he became old enough, as well.”

  “Did your family treat them badly? Is that why they hate you and cursed you all?”

  “No. we treated them very well. I remember when we were kids her mom used to teach us how to make apple pies, and let us help in the kitchen. When I got older, my father said that the kitchen was no place for a man, and that the hired help was there to serve us, not be our friends. Since then, my father refused to let any of us have anything to do with any of them outside of them working for us. I wasn’t allowed to play with Calliope, or talk to her. My father used to tell us that she wasn’t right in the head, that she had delusions of wanting to be a part of our family and that she believed she was better than what she was born in to. Clearly, he was right about her being crazy, but I think the way he isolated her away from our family after that might be why she cursed us. She might have felt abandoned by what she believed was her family, but no one really knows.

  “You feel bad for her.”

  “Is that a question or an accusation?”

  “It’s a statement. I can tell you feel bad for what your father did and maybe you feel responsible.”

  “No. I felt bad for her once, when we were young, but all her actions since then, all the choices she made were her own. I’m not responsible for them, and I don’t feel bad for her. She’s not the little girl I used to know. Not anymore.”

  I wanted to be mad at him for feeling anything for the woman who was responsible for Amelia’s death, but I couldn’t. It wasn’t her he felt for, it was the little girl he used to bake with that he cared about, and she was long gone.

  “I want her dead.” The words came out before I even realized what I was saying.

  “Yeah, me too.”

  That was the end of it. Tobias wrapped his arms around me and held me against his chest. I felt like I had to lean forward to properly hug him because of the big ass belly in my way.

  “So, you don’t like the name Paris, or Beatrice. Anything you do like?” I asked.

  “I still think it’s going to come out a boy.”

  “No, you just want it to come out a boy.”

  “So? Isn’t that the same thing?”

  I rolled my eyes at him. It would have been nice to have a boy, but I am more than happy with having a daughter.

  “Amber.” I said.

  “What?”

  “Amber. That is the name Amelia suggested for a girl, right before she died.”

  “Hmm, I like it. Amber, it’s a pretty name and, if she looks anything like you, she’s going to be absolutely gorgeous.”

  “Amber Amelia Cane.”

  By the look on Tobias’s face, I wasn’t sure if he liked the name or not; I was beginning to think that maybe he’d get mad. I bit my bottom lip waiting for some kind of reaction.

  “It’s perfect.” He whispered, and then kissed me.

  I stood up on the tip of my toes so I could deepen the kiss and his hands slipped down to cup my ass. I would have made him take me to bed, but the doorbell ever so rudely interrupted us.

  “I didn’t know we were expecting company today.” I groaned.

  “We aren’t. It’s probably Daniel. He said he might stop by, but that wasn’t supposed to be until later tonight.”

  “Alright, I’m going to go call Tristan.”

  “Willow-”

  “Don’t lecture me, Tobias. I am well aware that he hasn’t answered a single one of my calls, or called back; but, he is still your brother, and he needs to know that no matter what is going on with him, his family is still here and still loves him.”

  He smiled, and then kissed me again before finally releasing me.

  “This is just another reason why I love you.”

  I opened my mouth to say something, but the doorbell rang again. I stepped to the side to let him pass and smacked his ass as he went. He glared at me and took the stairs down two at a time.

  I walked over to our bedroom and took a seat on our bed. I pulled out my cell phone, and then began dialing Tristan’s number.

  It’s been six months since he left and we hadn’t heard a word from him since. If he wasn’t cursed, I’d be afraid he was dead in a ditch somewhere.

  The phone rang about five times before going to voicemail. I was surprised he still had room left.

  “Hey Tristan, its Willow. I know you still need some time, but we miss you and we're worried about you. Even Tobias, although he will never admit it. Come home, please. Or at least give us a call. It's been six months and Colton is driving your brother crazy, and your brother is driving me crazy. I know Mia's death was hard on you, but you're not alone. We are here for you, if you'd just let us be. We love you, and we only want what is best for you. You shouldn’t have to go through all this alone. Please, at least call us. That is all I ask. We finally picked a name for your niece as well, and I’d really like your opinion, or, I guess, your approval. Please call.”

  I hung up the phone and let out a sigh. I’ve left him at least a dozen messages every month, and he hasn’t replied to a single one of them. I was beginning to wonder if maybe he had gotten himself in trouble somewhere.

  I didn’t have time to dwell on the thought, though, because Tobias came into the room and his face was pale like he had just seen a ghost. I honestly thought he was going to be sick.

  “What is it, what’s wrong? Is it Micky?”

  I jumped to my feet and rushed towards him. He looked like he was in shock. Instead of an answer, he just shook his head no.

  “Then what is it?” I practically shouted at him.

  He wasn’t saying anything and it was really beginning to freak me out.

  “I want you to meet Anna-Sophia.”

  I’ve heard the name before. Alexander used the name to torture Amelia when we were locked up. I never understood what the name meant or why it had that kind of an effect on Amelia, but as soon as I looked past him to the door, it all made sense.

  In the doorway stood an adorable, blond haired, blue eyed girl that was the spitting image of Amelia.

  “This is Amelia and Tristan’s daughter.”

  I couldn’t believe my eyes. The room felt like it was spinning and I was getting dizzy. Tobias grabbed a hold of me before gravity won the battle. He picked me up and carried me over the bed and sat me down.

  I couldn’t take my eyes off the girl. She looked about five years old, but that didn’t make any sense.

  “I don’t understand…” Was all I could say.

  “Amelia has been in love with Tristan since we were little. I thought I had loved her, but Tristan wanted to take her as his bride. Our father had already arranged another marriage for Tristan, one that would bring great fortune to our family. Tristan and Amelia had been having an affair since we were teenagers; I helped them keep it hidden from our family. One day, though, Amelia’s parents discovered she was pregnant. The pregnancy would have shamed her family, so I married her. Our marriage was loveless, and had no passion. I accepted her indifference and we lived our own lives. Tristan refused to accept the marriage that had been arranged by our father, so our father had disowned him. Naturally, Amelia and I took Tristan in. They had their family, and all was well. Five years after their daughter was born, Calliope had found a way to curse us all. When the curse took place, Amelia begged them to spare Anna-Sophia; instead they turned her to stone. She’s lived the past three hundred years under the protection of descendants of Amelia’s sister. Six months ago, she was found wandering around the garden, looking for her mother and father. They finally tracked us down and now she’s here. She’s scared and confused and wants her parents.”

  “But-”

  “I know. Trust me cupcake, I know.”

  My heart broke for the little girl. I had tears falling as I walked over and knelt down in front of her on the floor.

  “Hey there pretty girl, I’m Willow. I was very good friends with your mom.”

  Anna-Sophia just stood there staring at me. I wasn’t sure if she was going to cry or run, but ended up surprising me when she wiped away my tears with her tiny little hand.

  “Your eyes are leaking.” She said in the softest voice, which made my heart melt.

  “They are, but its ok.”

  “Why are you sad?” She asked.

  “Because you remind me so much of your mommy, and I miss her so much.”

  “Uncle Toby says that my mommy went to heaven where the angels live. Does that mean my mommy is an angel, too?”

  “Absolutely. She’s your very own special angel that watches over you and protects you from all the bad things.”

  “Will I ever see her again?”

  What do you say to a child who asks a question like that? I swallowed past the lump in my throat and did everything I could to hold back more tears.

  “I don’t know pretty girl, but just remember; even though you can’t see her, doesn’t mean she isn’t there. She will always be with you, right here.” I said and pointed on her chest where her heart would be.