I woke up to see that I went back to the present again. Matthias must’ve been making a dress while I slept, because I saw a dress that wasn’t there before. Matthias then noticed that I was awake.
“Good morning, love of mine,” Matthias said, “You slept through dinner last night and kept sleeping through the night.”
“You didn’t sleep last night?” I asked.
“I wanted to,” Matthias said, “But I was too worried.”
“And I was just sleeping in the garden of the Palace,” I said. Matthias gave me a weird look.
“I was going to ask you about that time,” Matthias said, “But I figured that it would happen after you had the baby, not while you were pregnant, but you were wearing the same nightgown as you are right now.”
“I think it’s weird that Captain Cappernick just watched us and didn’t do anything,” I said.
“Wait, it was Cappernick that was peeping on us in the garden?” Matthias asked.
“I guess that’s why he hates me so much,” I said.
“I guess that would explain that” Matthias said.
"Were there other times we met in your past?' I asked. Matthias refused to say anything regarding to that.
~~~~
My birthday arrived and Matthias invited both of our families to my birthday party. It was wonderful, but our nieces and nephews were having fights between the two sides of the family. Orion’s only son, Morgan, was being picked on by my sister Ebony’s third daughter, Isabella. I think she liked him, but since she wasn’t a witch, we had no idea if they were fated. But Kiara’s only son, Leon, was a male witch, and he was obviously crushing on Anathema’s first son Lucas.
“Do you think that my nephew Lucas is your nephew Leon’s fated man?” Matthias joked with me.
“We should ask my mother,” I said. Then, my mother showed herself.
“Wow,” mother said, “I didn’t realize that Leon’s fated man was the only son of the disgraced Prince Lucius.”
“Wait, Lucas is Leon’s fated man?” Matthias asked, “I was just joking when I said that.”
“Yes,” Mother said, “It’s funny how things work out. Like you and Lia. I didn’t expect you to be her fated man either, but I did see your future children being raised here, so it all works out.”
“Wait, you said children, correct?” Matthias asked, “We will have more than one?” Mother laughed nervously.
“I’m not allowed to say how many exactly,” Mother said, “But you will have more than one.”
“I always dreamed of having a lot of children,” Matthias said. Mother gave me a sympathetic look.
“I’m all for it,” I said, reassuring Matthias, “This pregnancy has been going well, so I don’t see why I’d have a problem with more.”
“Witches really do have the best luck with pregnancy,” Mother said, “Did you notice that your first sister, Sophia, was pregnant again? I think she’s on her ninth child with three grandchildren already. I think this child will be another witch.”
“You think so?” I asked, “What about mine?” Mother looked at me and winked.
“You’re not going to have many witches,” Mother said, “Just barely over one, not seven like me.”
“Is that a good thing or bad thing?” Matthias asked.
“Witches live for a long time, especially with their fated man,” Mother said, “But sometimes it’s better to have human children because they won’t get the discrimination that witches face, but they die faster and they leave you with less grandchildren, because pregnancy is harder for humans than it is for witches. I was the twentieth child my parents had, so my youngest children didn’t get to meet their grandfather and grandmother.”
“Grandmother was the one who taught me about magic,” I said.
“Yes, she had time magic too,” Mother said, “And like you, she could only go back in time.”
“She told me she didn’t have time magic,” I said, confused, “But she taught me other things.” I was starting to feel anxious about this, because why would Grandmother lie about something like that?
“She was only able to use it three times as it was her last ability that she gained,” Mother said, “And seeing as it depends on the witch’s magic abilities, she wasn’t able to talk to anyone and only saw murders. It’s obvious why she wouldn’t want to talk about it. And most witches who have the time ripple ability cannot control when or where they go, it’s hard to understand what being a time witch is like for anyone else, including other witches.”
“Why did she tell you, but not me?” I asked.
“Because she didn’t tell me,” Mother said, “Grandfather did. He was devastated every time she suddenly stopped and had a horrified look on her face.”
“I’m sorry she had to go through that,” I said.
“Every witch is different,” Mother said.
“I know, Mother,” I said, “You’ve told me this many times.”
“You don’t seem to understand that you have more power than most witches,” Mother said, “Not a lot of witches have the ability to talk and move through the past as well as having that as your first power.”
“No, I understand,” I said, “It’s just that I can’t believe it.”
“I better go,” Mother said, “Your father looks uncomfortable again.” I nodded.
“Thank you,” I said. Mother nodded and left to go to my Father. Matthias pulled me over into an embrace and kissed me.
“How is the birthday girl?” Matthias asked. I sighed, I was a woman for only a few weeks at most this point, so being called a girl was still foreign to me.
“I’m alright,” I said, “I feel a bit nauseated, but that’s just because of the morning sickness.”
“Is there anything I can do?” Matthias asked.
“Not at the moment,” I said, “Just make sure that everyone is alright. I’m going to go sit down over there.” I pointed to a bench up against the wall.
“Are you sure, Lia?” Matthias asked.
“Of course,” I said. I went over and sat down on the bench. Ebony sat down next to me.
“How is everything, Lia?” Ebony asked, “Is it strange to be a Duchess?”
“It is,” I said, “But I think I have everything together. It’s not exactly what I expected, but it’s not worse than being a knight and I don’t have to worry about laying my life down for someone who probably doesn’t care about me. Then again, I’m not a Duchess yet. Matthias and I aren’t officially married until our wedding in December.”
“I’m glad that you’re doing okay,” Ebony said, “I’m always worried about you, Lia. You’ve always had set backs and it was obvious that things wouldn’t ever work out the way you want it to.”
“Who said that I didn’t want this?” I asked.
“I didn’t think you would want this,” Ebony said, “You’ve always disliked royalty because of that stupid law.”
“I don’t care about that anymore,” I said, “I just want to love my future husband and children. I don’t think I’ve ever been in love before I met him.”
“I understand,” Ebony said, “Love changes everything.”
~~~~
Time for our wedding came around that we had on the Winter solstice. Matthias had updated my dress every time I tried it on and did the finishing touches yesterday, the day before the wedding, because of the taboo of seeing the bride before seeing each other at the altar. My maid-of-honor was my sister Edith, who I was closest to despite our age difference. And Matthias’s best man was surprisingly his brother Orion.
When it was time for me to walk down the aisle, I took one look at Matthias and fell for him all over again. He looked so handsome in the blue outfit that matched my hair, my hands started sweating and I almost dropped the bouquet. We said our vows and then had a party. Suddenly, I was pulled into a ripple in time.
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