Felix’s Point of View
In order to appease Chasity, 'Baby boy' Calix made a therapy appointment so that both of our dysfunctional families could reconcile. I couldn’t even blame him. I had to admit that we needed professional help.
I really wasn’t the type of guy to spend the day discussing my feelings, but for Chasity, I would. Doctor Jardine came highly recommended, according to Alex. Apparently, she was both a psychiatrist and a psychologist. I could only imagine the sh*t-ton of boring ass books she’d read to achieve all that. She was sitting in an armchair directly across from us. My baby, Chasity, sat between Calix and Alex, whilst I pulled the short straw, and got the end seat of the couch. My eyes swept over Chasity often, just checking on her, and making sure she was all right. I really didn’t want her to be stressed out at all, especially not during her pregnancy. She had already been through an ordeal during the early days of her pregnancy. Stress wasn’t good for my pups.
I glanced at my Mom and Dad, who were both sitting to our left on a separate couch. Mom seemed nervous like hell, while Dad was impassive. Chasity’s parents and grandfather shared the couch to our right.
“Welcome Alphas, Luna and family,” said the Doctor serenely, smiling widely.
Her warm welcome was met with an awkward silence.
“Thanks,” I muttered, just to break the ice.
“Let me just make sure I have all of your names right, as well your relations to each other,” said Dr Jardine.
“Alpha Calix, you called,” said Doc, looking right at Calix.
Calix nodded eagerly. I exchanged glances with both of my brothers. I knew we were all thinking the same thing. We were shocked she could tell us apart so easily.
“Alpha Alex, we spoke on the phone to confirm a few family details yesterday,” she added calmly.
Alex nodded, though it wasn’t really a question. She seemed quite certain of her facts. She was probably just making sure everyone was mentally checked in. Chasity’s parents seemed somewhat dazed. The more details they learnt about Chasity’s childhood, the more distant they became. I couldn’t even blame them. If someone treated my pups the way my parents had treated Chasity, I would be livid.
“Alpha Felix? Is everything okay?” Asked the Doctor.
Pay attention, she called you like three times, grumbled Alex over mind-link.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Um, present,” I said, like I was in grade school.
“And we have former Alpha Romeo and former Luna Ronnie,” said Dr Jardine, smiling kindly at my parents.
“Technically, I’m not the former Luna. I’m still acting as Luna, while Chasity gets ready to take the position. She’s not married to my boys yet,” explained Mom.
“I understand your point, but she is, for all intensive purposes, their Luna. She appears to be marked, and pregnant with their heirs,” said Dr Jardine, smiling in a way that made it difficult to tell whose side she was on.
“And we have Chase, Chalice and Chance, the parents and maternal grandfather of Luna Chasity,” she said, still smiling serenely.
Chasity’s relatives nodded, and managed a few weak smiles.
“So, we’re all here to iron out any old grudges, and seek a greater level of harmony within this family,” said Dr Jardine.
“Yes,” Said Chasity quickly, speaking for the first time.
Chase made a disapproving noise with his throat, and my Mom let out a little exasperated huff. Why were all of our parents less mature than us? I resisted the urge to roll my eyes so early in the session.
“Who would like to start?” asked Dr Jardine.
“I would,” I replied, without hesitation.
My eyes instinctively went to Chasity again. My little minx met my gaze and winked.
“Chasity is my mate, my Luna, the mother of my…our…heirs,” I said, correcting myself as I went along.
I didn’t want to exclude my brothers, even though I personally felt I had placed those buns in Chasity’s oven.
“But, that’s now. Before Chasity turned eighteen, she wasn’t a part of the family,” I admitted.
There was no point in bullsh*tting our way through this. It was time to be honest. Chasity deserved honesty. Her childhood hardships could not just be swept under a rug. We needed to acknowledge what had gone wrong.
“She shares a birthday with us triplets, by the way, but my parents chose not to celebrate hers,” I said, anger and shame colouring my tone.
My father actually growled. What the f*ck?! I hadn’t even really started to explain anything yet. How could he be mad already? How could he be mad at the truth? At least, Mom had the decency to shush him. I continued speaking, undaunted.
“She came to us when she was nine. My brothers and I were twelve. She was tearful and distraught most days, and my parents…they made it worse,” I said frankly, and they weren’t the only ones making things more difficult for sweet little Chasity.
“I make no excuses for myself. I was a bully, a little jerk, but my parents were adults. Chasity was just a child, no birthday or Christmas presents, only permitted to have donated clothes or hand-me-downs. She couldn’t eat meals with us. She cooked. She cleaned. She was like a little maid. I’m not sure why we even expected her to ever be in a good mood. We had no right to consider her sullen. What did she have to be happy about? Nothing. And what was the point of my parents treating her so…subpar?” I said, ignoring my incensed father.
He was acting like I was lying about him or something.
“We didn’t get presents for Chasity. She did get hand-me-downs. Forgive me but she was treated as though unwanted because she was unwanted,” Dad blurted out angrily.
He was pissed. This man really had the audacity to sit there and seethe, when he was so clearly in the wrong. His lack of remorse made me feel sick. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one sick of him. Chase tried to stand up and take a swing at my Dad, but Chalice and Chance stopped him.
“It’s true!” Said Dad, undeterred. You dropped her off!” He snarled, rightfully placing some of the blame on Chasity’s parents.
My parents had acted reprehensibly, but Chasity’s parents had been totally dysfunctional and irresponsible. If they would’ve kept their noses clean, my baby could’ve grown up under their roof instead of being raised begrudgingly by my spiteful parents. Chase returned to his seat.
“How could you expect her to be treated like a little princess? You dropped her off, no discussion, and thus you had no inkling of whether or not we wanted to help,” said Dad.
“We did want to help,” said Mom tearfully, “but, no, we didn’t want to take in anyone. We wanted to help you, Chase, out of your mess!”
I wasn’t buying Mom’s tearful act. Those were crocodile tears if I ever saw them. It was like my eyes had finally been opened to the reality of my parents. They really had no reason to treat Chasity the way they did. It was unjustifiable. Yeah, her parents sucked too, but two wrongs didn’t make a right. It was not as though they couldn’t have arranged for her to live with Chance, or be adopted, or even shipped away to boarding school. They would have had the means. Thankfully, we had always been a very wealthy pack.
Chasity let out a little sigh that triggered a pang in my torso. Chasity was genuinely upset to hear how little my parents had wanted her around. They had always acted like it, but to hear it stated blatantly was different.
“No one expected you to treat her like a princess!” Said Chalice indignantly. “We would have been OK with humane treatment at the very least or a bit of care and friendliness,” said Chalice, her voice growing shaky, and finally cracking with emotion, as tears threatened to fall. “You treated her worse than a stranger. You made her feel utterly alone on purpose,” said Chalice, as though she were having trouble wrapping her head around everything.
I supposed she and Chase had genuinely thought Chasity would be sufficiently welcomed.
“You made her into a little servant! A child labourer! If the triplets hadn’t realised Chasity was their mate, would the subpar treatment have ever stopped?!” Asked Chasity’s Mom incredulously.
Chalice was trembling with anger.
“You pushed your responsibility on us, so yeah we did the bare minimum: food, clothing and healthcare. Nothing less, nothing more,” said Dad, his tone indicating a sense of finality.
Chasity sighed. I watched her lean her head back on the couch. She was probably physically and emotionally drained. I reached across my brother to place my hand on her knee. I gently stroked her knee with my thumb, trying to soothe her. I could feel her distress like it was my own. I saw that she and Calix were now holding hands. My brothers were sensing her emotions too.
“ OK, I understand the situation was not discussed well,” said Jardine, her eyes on my parents. “But imagine someone had to look after the triplets growing up. That someone didn’t really want to, so they used that as a basis for raising the boys. The boys got no love or affection, no guidance, just food and shelter and healthcare, as you say. Would you be angry at that someone or would you understand where he or she is coming from?” Asked the doctor, clearly trying to reason with them.
Mom answered.
“I would…be mad, but I would also never leave my kids in the first place!” Said Mom.
“Mom!” Said Alex indignantly, his blue eyes darkening.
I could feel him holding back his anger. Usually, I was the one barely managing to keep my cool.
“If you weren’t going to give Chasity a loving upbringing then why didn’t you let Chance take her?!” Asked Alex sharply.
“I would like to know the answer to that myself,” grumbled Chasity’s Dad, agreeing with Alex.
“Her mother was estranged from her father, Chance. She said he wanted to steal her baby!” Said Mom defensively.
“I did say stuff like that,” admitted Chalice, squirming in her seat.
Chalice clearly felt very guilty over her past behaviour.
“I was a junkie and I was paranoid. I was so irresponsible back then. I should have given her to you, Dad. I’m so sorry, Dad! I’m so sorry Chasity!” Cried Chalice, bursting into tears.
I quickly looked to Chasity, who, thankfully, was still calm.
“It’s ok, Mom,” whispered Chasity.
Alex went over to Chalice. He patted her upper back, awkwardly trying to comfort her. Chase hugged his mate.
“I’m so sorry too, Chasity and Chance,” said Chase. “We really should have let you two have a relationship.”
“I…wish…I would have at least not made Chasity do the housework, though I wouldn’t have made any fuss over holidays. Making her do maid work was wrong,” admitted Mom feebly. “I know that. I…I’m sorry Chasity,” added Mom, somewhat unconvincingly.
I was looking for a more heartfelt apology but at least, we were getting somewhere.
“She should not have had to do housework. I agree with that,” said Dad, sighing. “I…am…sorry too, Chasity,” he said hesitantly.
My parents probably thought apologising was akin to an admission of guilt. Alphas and Lunas rarely apologised. Chasity’s relatives did not look impressed. Alex came back to our couch.
“Alpha Alex, your thoughts on all of this,” said Dr Jardine.
“Chasity’s parents weren’t perfect. Had they been more stable, they could’ve raised Chasity themselves or seen the truth that she would have been better off with Chance. They shouldn’t have dropped her off with people who may or may not have held grudges against her, but also, holding a grudge against a child is ridiculous and making a child into an unpaid worker is inexcusable. Two wrongs don’t make a right, but my parents went overboard in my opinion. The only person who was blameless in all of this was Chasity herself. She was just an innocent little girl and it’s something that makes me feel sick to think about. We all owe Chasity an apology. I know I’ve said sorry a lot, but there’s no harm in saying it again. I’m sorry for making a bad situation worse Chasity, my Luna, by being such a huge jerk to you all the time. You are so sweet and special, Luna. You deserve much better!” Said Alex, with tears in his eyes.
I had taken Alex’s place next to Chasity whilst he was comforting Chalice. Alex pulled Chasity right across my lap and into his arms.
“Alpha Calix?” Prompted Dr Jardine, looking expectantly at my younger brother.
Calix stared at her with wide eyes. Saying anything even remotely negative about our mother was a challenge for him.
“Chasity was someone who should’ve grown up our friend and playmate and then the transition from that to mates would have been easier. Smooth even. Our parents didn’t set the best example, but the older we got, the better we shouldn’t have known. There’s really no excuse. Goddess, I’m so sorry!” Said Calix in earnest.
He pressed his lips to Chasity’s forehead.
“Chasity,” said the Doctor.
My baby had barely said anything.
“Um,” began Chasity, hyperaware of all the eyes on her. “I was devastated when my parents dropped me off. Going from abandonment straight into a hostile situation for me as a little girl was too much to really process. It’s all a blur when I actively try to remember but the memories. The memories come to me though when I’m not expecting them and that’s when they’re sharp and vivid.”
“Chasity,” said Dr Jardine, her tone concerned.
“Yeah?” replied Chasity.
“Have you ever considered that you may have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD?” Asked the doctor.
Chasity bit her lip.
“It crossed my mind once or twice,” she admitted.
“That would explain the foggy memory, the flashbacks…” explained the Doctor.
I could hear Chasity’s heart rate increase. She was trembling slightly. I knew this whole thing was a bad idea for her and the pups. We should have saved it for after the delivery.
“Chasity, breathe, relax. Focus on the sound of my voice,” said Dr Jardine calmly.
Chasity’s breathing quickened. My brothers and I closed ranks protectively.
“Chasity!” Yelled Calix, tightening his hold on Chasity.
Alex and I moved even closer towards her. Just as all three of us reached for her, my baby, Chasity, fainted in Calix’s arms, and my heart plummeted into my stomach. f*ck.
