Rescuing His Captive Mate: Saving The Future Luna

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Star

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Mom and Dad got home really late the night before the adoption, and then the next day has been all about us and the boys. So far I haven't even had a chance to sit down and talk to them yet. I wanted to see if they had enjoyed their trip and just how they were in general.

After breakfast the next day, I wanted to go shopping with my mom so that it was just the two of us and we could talk about anything. We had both missed out on so much that I didn't want that to happen to us ever again. 

We left and headed toward the same mall that I had gone to with Chay. Since that first 'eventful' trip into the world of retail I have been back to the mall a few times. And, oddly enough, I have run into my other family members there as well. Several of my supposed cousins and the like that were there at the house, but not part of the abuse. They had been there and they knew what kind of life I have had since leaving them. 

Their life wasn't that great anymore now that everyone that was strong was gone. Not to mention that ever since we found out about the money issue Artem forced them to return it to us, which has since been returned to Mom. The house was technically Mom's too but none of us wanted that place so we let them all keep it. They had the house, but nothing to support themselves with.

That was probably the reason we saw them at the mall. Most of them had been working when we saw them. And, oh the shock they all got when they saw mom for the first time when she got back. They had all thought that she was dead as well so it was like seeing a ghost to them.

I didn't want to think about them though. Right now, I just wanted to think about my family and my future. They were the past and they could stay there for all I care. I will never have to think about them again if I didn't want to. I owed them nothing. That was what I was trying to convince myself all the time.

"Where do you want to go first?" Mom asked me once we were at the mall. I stood there, looking at the list of stores and thought about the different things that we could buy, I had a sudden thought.

"I haven't bought anything for the baby yet. I haven't actually had the time to do that. So, I think that I want to do that." I looked down and rubbed my belly as I thought about it. I was almost to the halfway point now and I hadn't even thought about the baby's room yet.

"That sounds like a good plan for me." She was grinning as she wrapped her arm around mine. "Come on."

Before I knew it, mom had dragged me all the way to the large store that sold everything you could think about for a baby. There was so much that I was slightly overwhelmed at first. I didn't know where to even begin.

"Oh, don't look like that." Mom laughed at me. "Just start picking out things that you like. If you don't want to buy it all now, make a registry. Then Artem, friends, family, and Artem can come here and buy it all for you."

"You said Artem twice." I laughed at her and the mistake she made.

"Oh, I know I did, you know that he will be the one to go the craziest over this baby." Her laugh joined mine while I went into hysterics. She was absolutely right.

"How do I make a registry?" I was confused, I didn't even know what it was.

"Come on."

Mom dragged me around again and pulled me to the guest services counter. They got me all set up by putting my information into the system and even setting aside a gift that was to be given to me when I was done with 'filling the registry'. Again, I didn't know what to do and I was glad that I had my mom here with me to help.

We were given this weird device that they called a scanner. Mom took it in her hand, grabbed a cart and then pulled me along once again. 

"Tell me what you want to add to the registry and I will scan it for you." Mom's bright and cheery voice was sounding like a song as she seemed to be dancing through the store. "Hmm, I think this theme is so cute. What do you think, Star?" 

She whirled around and showed me the item that was in her hand. It was a baby blanket that was a deep forest green with a light colored pattern of vines on it.

"Oh my Goddess, that is so adorable." I cooed uncontrollably when I saw it.

"I know, isn't it?" Mom was smiling at me. "I think a theme like this would be perfect for my little grandbaby."

"What do you mean by a theme?" I tilted my head to the side and tried to think about what she was trying to say.

"You know, a theme for the baby's room. The pattern that all the baby gear will have and the way you paint the room. It's the design scheme of it all."

Oh, I finally understood. I didn't know that it was called a theme. I was still learning some of the ins and outs of the world and at times like this it was evident that I lived in a cave my whole life. OK, it wasn't a cave, it was a basement, but come on that was like a cave, wasn't it? I only started saying that because someone who had discovered my lack of real life experience asked me if I had been born in a cave or something. Chay's response had been- "yeah, so what if she was, at least she's not a witch like you". Sometimes Chay was the most amazing person that I had ever seen. OK, she almost always was.

"Do you like this theme?" Mom asked me again. "I think the green is amazing because of Artem's eyes as well as your wolf and Fae heritage. Green is a major part of all of your lives. And the vines would go so well with everything, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I think it would be perfect, Mom."

This was exciting, I was picking a theme for my baby's nursery and it was an adorable one.

"I want to buy this blanket today. I know we're making a list of things for others to get but I want to get this for the baby right now." I reached out and took the blanket into my hands. I hugged it tight against my chest. It was so soft that I couldn't believe it. I didn't think that things could be this soft and adorable.

We started to walk around the store then. Mom was telling me all the things that I needed to get from bottles and pacifiers to a breast pump and nipple cream. It was a lot and I was slowly adding things to the ever growing list. I added a bouncer chair, high chair, swing, car seat, and so much more all in a theme that matched that blanket that we picked out. I was enjoying it all so much.

We came across a rack of shirts in various sizes that weren't meant for the baby. It was meant for the family of the baby. There were shirts that said grandpa, grandma, daddy, mommy, big brother, big sister, aunty, and uncle. I couldn't help myself, I needed to start picking shirts out right away. I grabbed thirteen big brother shirts and I was thankful that the boys were all small for their ages still, that way they would fit in them. I grabbed shirts for me and Artem, Mom and Dad, Artem's parents, Chay, Kent, Grandpa, everyone at the house. Artem's cousins three  and his friends were more like future aunts and uncles so that was what they got.

"Hmm, do you think they could order this in a bigger size? Or should I just order something online?" Mom was holding up a pink shirt that said big sister. It was the largest that they had and it would almost fit me, if I wasn't pregnant that is.

"I don't know, they might be able to. Why do you need it though? No one is going to be a big sister." I was once again confused by what she had to say.

"Oh, I don't know. I think that there is one person who is going to be a big sister sometime soon." Mom was giggling but I didn't follow her.

"Who?" My head was tilted again as I thought about it.

"You." She turned and smiled at me with the brightest grin that I had ever seen.

I just stared at mom for a moment thinking about her words. I'm going to be a big sister? That doesn't make sense at all. I was the one who was pregnant. I was going to be a mommy, not a sister. That is, unless…

"Oh my Goddess! Mom?" It finally dawned on me, after enough time passed to prove that I was a dense idiot. "You're having a baby?"

"Yup, Aaron and I found out the day we came back. You're not mad, are you?" She looked worried now.

"Why would I be mad?" I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tight. "Oh my Goddess, this is amazing. Mom! You and Dad get to have that whole family life that you wanted all along."

"I wanted that with you, you know that, right?" She had tears swimming in her eyes now as she spoke.

"I know, Mom. I know you did. We can never get that time back and that is sad. However, we're all together now and we can be happy together. You and Dad get another chance at your happily ever after and I have mine as well. We can just move on from here."

"Oh, my little girl is so grown up." Mom hugged me tighter as I held onto her.

As mom held onto me I felt the oddest sensation. There was something that fluttered and moved inside of me. 

"Huh? What was that?" 

"What? What happened?" Mom pulled away and looked at me with concern.

"Something just moved. W..was that the baby? Oh my Goddess? Mom, did I just feel the baby move for the first time?" I was grinning as I thought about this.

"I think so." Mom moved her hand to my belly and kept it there for a moment. Sure enough after a second the baby fluttered again but I don't think it moved enough for mom to feel it.

"There, it happened again. Oh my Goddess, Mom, the baby is moving."

That took a lot of the excitement for the time being. We were gushing over the baby before finishing our shopping. We ended up buying a few outfits and the blanket while we were filling the registry. We didn't shop anywhere else, we just went to lunch and then drove home. I wanted to tell Artem about the baby moving. I knew that he would be super excited about it.