Page 223 of Nobody's Girl

Now, not just anyone can be these creatures. They’re chosen before they’re even born. The two who are chosen are mates for life, from birth until death. There is no other way.

Your father and I are members of the society which takes care of these God-given creatures. When I was pregnant with you, we were summoned to a gathering. All the pregnant couples in this group came together. The high priest, Galchobar, was there for what reason we did not know.

He walked through the mass of people, touching each woman’s stomach. After he had done so with all the pregnant women he went up to the altar, first calling out the man’s name, Lyle Fontaine, then the woman’s name, Sierra Fontaine.

They walked up to the altar with him. He beckoned us to say the chant of unity. Then he stopped us and spoke another man’s name. This time he said David Devlin, then he said Antonia Devlin, and we walked to the altar. The same process was repeated.

It was our unborn children who were chosen to be the next pair. Your names were given to us at that time. Yours, of course, was Alyssa, which means ‘princess’ in Greek. The Fontaine’s were given the name Eden, which means full of fire.

After conferring with the Fontaines, we made an agreement you would be raised in a very normal environment, as long as we kept you chaste.

It was your father’s and my intent to give you at least a few years of normal before you had to begin an extraordinary life. Not a bad life, by any means. It will be fantastic, Alyssa,” my mother tells me in a soft and comforting voice.

I open my eyes, not really believing the story she just told to me. “Mom, are you on acid?” I ask her.

“What? Oh, heavens no, silly girl,” she admonishes me.

I sit up very slowly, then turn and look her in the eye. “Mom, are you telling me that me and the gorgeous stranger are some kind of flying people? That we are destined to be together or some shit like that?” I ask.

“Alyssa, I will not have you talking like that. You’re about to step into a very important role. Now, Eden has been groomed for his role his entire life. We sheltered you, a fact that now I don’t think was fair to you, but it’s done, nevertheless. Now we have to get you to grasp onto your immediate future and all that it entails,” she tells me.

“So, where is Kyle in all this?” I ask.

“Sorry, sweetie, Kyle is nowhere in this,” she says.

“Mom, you let me be his best friend since I was ten years old, and now, oh sorry, that’s over. Ummm … not so easy to do, okay?” I gripe.

“I realize that now, but it changes nothing,” she says.

“Yeah, it does. He has feelings too, Mom. What about him? This will kill him, if he even believes me. Who is going to believe me Mom? This is ridiculous. When are you going to tell me I’m on some kind of morbid TV show where parents prank their kids with really mean pranks?”

“You can’t tell anyone about this, Alyssa. They won’t understand,” she tells me.

“Well, you got that right, Mom. Like, who would understand that a couple of babies were summoned up from hell, or wherever, to rule the skies as giant birds?” I ask.

“Stop that right now, Alyssa. You are not from hell. Far from it. You come from all which is good. The things you will do are for the good of mankind and there is not one thing evil about it,” she tells me sternly.

“Unless you count the part where you make a couple of kids spend the rest of their life together. Whether they want to or not. I mean, can’t I be this creature and still be with who I want to?” I ask.

Oh, boy, that sounds dumb. Am I beginning to believe this crap? Yeah, I’m going to turn into a big bird, squawk. Mom has lost it, I thought.

Needless to say, it was all true.

Grace and Rodney let Scotty’s hands go and we all wait for his reaction. As his eyes open, I see new depth to them. “No way!” he says. He looks at me. “No way! You’re going to be a giant bird, sis.”

Everyone in the room laughs at his reaction. He looks around at all of us. “I can’t believe you kept this a secret from us, Mom and Dad,” he says, then comes and gives me a hug, much to my surprise. “I’m really sorry about all those jokes I played on you, Ally. Please forgive me. I’d never have done those things to you if I’d known what you are.”

My mother and Eden’s share an, “Awww, how sweet.”

I hug my brother, then ruffle his hair. “I forgive you, Bubba. It’s what little brothers do, after all.”

He gives me a smile and says, “Thanks, Al. You’re the best.”

The butler announces dinner is being served in the formal dining room and Eden takes me by the waist. We follow the old man through a myriad of halls and rooms until we reach a spectacular dining room. It’s even more beautiful than the five-star restaurant Eden took me to.

Now this is the life!