Chapter 29

"I have a granddaughter!" An overly excited, female voice yelled. I found myself furrowing my eyebrows as a groan left my throat in protest of the sudden loud sound. It's way too early for anyone to be this loud.

I tiredly cracked my one eye open just as my door opened - correction, burst open.

"Wakey wakey, sleepyhead." Mom, all but happily sang as she walked into the room with a bright smile that put the sun's bright light to shame.

"Mom!" I whined. "It's too early."

"Since when has 10h30 been early?" She chuckled, amusement painting her every word. "Besides, there are some people who want to meet you."

"Who are they?" I sighed in defeat as I begrudgingly sat up and finally faced her with tired eyes as I raised my hand to cover the yawn that broke past my lips. My eyebrows instantly furrowed in disgust at the foul smell that was horrible enough to classify a skunk's fart as treasure.

"Don't be mad," She awkwardly smiled. "But they are Damian's parents." She all but whispered. If I wasn't paying attention or if I was yawning at that exact moment, I would have surely missed what she had just said. But because I wasn't doing any of those things, I heard her as clear as the sky above should be today.

"Pardon?" I looked at her with disbelief as I stifled the yawn that had now created a ball in my throat.

"I asked you not to be mad." She pouted.

"And I'm not," I threw my arms in the air. "But Mom, I'm not re-"

"Is this her?" An enthusiastic voice asked before I even saw the person it belongs to. I didn't get enough time to register my confusion before my life was being almost squeezed right out of me as the woman all but locked me in between her arms in a rather tight embrace. My hands remained firmly pressed against me sides as I awkwardly kept still in the woman's arms as she all but smothered me.

The scent of flowers and vanilla surprisingly comforted and almost relaxed me, but then again, my mind kept on reminding me that she was a stranger. A stranger that was attempting to kill me, it seemed.

"Mom," Damian's familiar voice chastised before I saw him appear next to Mom who was looking at me with a nervous expression. I'm sure she thought I would be upset with her or even worse, overwhelmed - which I kind of was - but I withheld my awkwardness and threw her a shaky smile that I hoped would offer her some comfort while I tried to survive this woman's embrace. "You are overwhelming her."

"Oh, keep quiet, Son." A firm, but playful voice chuckled as another person - a man this time - entered my room. It seems I wasn't getting any slack this morning. Only after a few more seconds of coddling did the woman let go of me. The second I saw her face, my jaw slackened, and I swear my eyes grew to be the size of saucers. The woman was the epitome of youth and beauty. She didn't look a day over her late thirties - she looked like she was probably 38 or even 37.

"Mom, Dad," Damian groaned as Mom tried to clearly stifle her giggles. She silently placed her hand over his chest and gently patted the spot. His attention instantly drifted to Mom, who gave him a reassuring smile, but that was about all that I saw before I was all yanked out of my bed and was being spun around the room by my waist A pair of thick and firm hands kept me steady even as a wave of nausea washed over my body from the unexpected movements. I could barely hear what was being said before I was looking at what I would only refer to as a photocopy of Damian through blurry eyes as I tried to calm my breathing and most importantly, my stomach.

The man who had almost made me lose the little food I had left in my stomach had the warmest smile with the straightest white teeth that I almost cried and asked him to share his secrets in the arts of teeth. He looked just like Damian, except his hair was a gorgeous, raven black coloured curly mess that framed his face all the way to his neck. His eyes were equally dark but filled with so much warmth that I felt a sense of protection and comfort in them.  He was really the carbon copy of Damian - maybe he was Damian's fraternal twin brother.

The woman who was now sitting at the edge of the bed with a warm smile was not a carbon copy of Damian, but you could see the resemblance in a few of the features such as their shared hair colour and eyes. The woman was beyond beautiful, even in her simple T-shirt and jeans. Her blond locks were tied in a full, high ponytail that flowed down her back and teased her shoulders. Her baby blues resembled Damian's in every way. They were soft but also firm and told me that she was not a woman to be messed with.

"Hi there, Princess. I'm your grandfather, Winston." The man practically cooed at me like I was a toddler instead of a grown teenager.

I forced a shaky smile onto my lips as I weakly waved at him to try and save him from the bad morning breath I had this morning.

"Mom and Dad, how about we leave Melissa to freshen up then she can meet us in the living room when she's ready, yeah?" Damian softly asked his parents as Winston finally put me down and allowed me to feel some sort of grounding since I woke up.

"I suppose we could," Damian's 'mom' lightly chuckled as she got up from the bed and all but grabbed Winston by his hand as she walked out of the room with him. "Come on, let's give her some space to breathe."

Winston chuckled but ultimately allowed his wife - I think - to guide him away. The irony being that she made it seem like he was the energetic one who stormed into my room earlier instead of herself. I can already tell that she is an interesting character - and not a negatively interesting one at that.

"I'm really sorry about them, "Damian apologised with a sigh. "They can be a handful, to say the least." He weakly smiled at me as I plopped down onto the edge of my bed and faced Mom and Damian.

"It's alright," I reassuringly smiled at him while covering my mouth, so they weren't hit by my morning breath - hopefully. "I don't mind."

Damian smiled what looked like a smile of relief at my response, making Mom giggle, something she did regularly nowadays. It would take a fool not to see that she was happier than she has ever been since she started dating Damian. I loved the look on her more than I loved food - junk food, to be specific.

"Come Honey, she needs to freshen up. Be down soon." Mom threw me a knowing look before leaving my room with Damian close behind her. My door closed with a quiet click before silence filled the room for the first time this morning. It was a bit comforting after all that action, I'm ashamed to admit.

With a quiet sigh, I reached out for my phone and scrolled through it - making sure to respond to Nolan and Zane's sweet texts before placing it back on my nightstand and getting ready to start my day - at my own pace this time. Or at least somewhat.

It didn't take me too long to fix my bed and to take a shower, which is probably why I was sitting with Damian's parents before I could even blink. I now knew that their names were Winston and Avery, and they were actually quite grown at 66 years and 63 years, respectively.

I had plopped down on the couch adjacent to

"So, finding your mate slows down your aging?" I blinked in disbelief.

"Exactly," Avery nodded. "Wins and I found each other when I was 19, and he was 22. My family and I had just changed packs because my father had gotten a better job here. We didn't hesitate to accept each other, which is probably why Damian's older sister was born the following year." She smiled.

"Damian has an older sister?" I asked in awe.

"Yes, Ashley," She smiled with such warmth at the mention of her daughter. "She moved away to be with her mate, so we don't see her as much. She has two gorgeous children - a girl about your age and a boy as well as one on the way. She wants to keep the gender a surprise." Avery huffed.

Winston merely chuckled at his mate and gathered her in his arms, placing a sweet kiss on her temple that had her visibly melting in his arms. A flutter settled into my chest at their sweet affection, and I admit I found myself missing my own mates. I carefully leaned over and grabbed my glass that was still full of my soda while Ashley nursed her mug that was barely full of its coffee. Winston had settled for a glass of water that was long gone - as gone as the cookies Mom had placed earlier had gone. Now her and Damian are preparing lunch. Very sweet, right?

"So, Damian tells us you have mates, as well. I trust those boys are treating you well." Winston asked with an edge in his voice. Almost like a silent warning or threat laced his words. I would be lying if I said I wasn't both confused and touched by his protective nature towards me. If his voice was anything to go by, I could say that he really saw me as someone he cared about - even a little bit.  It really surprised me considering how we only met less than two hours ago.

"Yes, they do," I grinned at him. "We had a rocky start, I admit, but things are going even better than I could have imagined." I smiled at him as I thought of Zane and Nolan.

"I'm happy to hear that," Winston softly smiled at me with such care and warmth in his eyes. I admit it had me feeling squirm-ish and shy. I was only ever used to Mom being there - to Mom being my only relative that having other people show me that they care about me, and my wellbeing made me feel a bit uncomfortable, I guess. It was something I could get used to with time, but at the same time, I didn't want to count my eggs before they hatched. I didn't want to grow so dependent on any of them just to be discarded or disappointed by them at the end. "If they ever treat you in any way than a princess, you tell your old grandfather, and I will set them straight." He promised with no mirth in his face, eyes, or tone. He was serious, and I could tell.

"He is serious, you know?" Avery chuckled as she raced her hand to Winston's chest. "We are family now, and as family, we protect our own."

"She's right," Winston nodded with a fiery spark in his eyes. "And the same applies to you."

"We don't care about your biology in the slightest, Sweetie. All we care about is you and that you are Anne's daughter, and because you are her daughter, that's more than enough for us. Even if your mother wasn't expecting Damian's pup, we would still accept you with open arms, and guess what?" She wholeheartedly smiled at me as she moved out of Winston's arms, who was silently supporting his mate's words by smiling at us as she bent down before me and took my hands in hers.

"We are never letting go of you. You are our responsibility now, not just Anne's. You are our happiness too, not just Anne's. You are as good as Damian's child and our granddaughter as the grass belongs to the Earth. I know it's hard to accept some changes in life without feeling a bit apprehensive, and that's alright. It's not always that we accept things without adding a pinch of salt sometimes and that's okay," She raised her hand and cupped my cheek, "And we'll always be here for you, you'll see. We will be here holding your hand until you really trust us, and we will be here even afterward because you are our granddaughter who we love and will do anything for."

Only then did I let the tears - that I didn't even know I was holding - slide down my cheeks with silent sobs. The wave of relief that washed over me from her words was heartwarming and I knew that it would take me a while to fully accept everything she had said, but I knew that I already appreciated this new family. My eyes caught sight of my mom, who stood at the entryway with a teary smile as Damian held her from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder while she leaned into him.

A sense of belonging settled into my stomach that I struggled to swallow the tears that threatened to break through even more than they already were.

Why the heck was I crying?!