Forgiven (Book 3, The Watchers Trilogy; Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (35 page)

“I will lead them well this time,” Mason promised.  “I won’t let them
be led astray
again
.”

“You are not solely to blame for the first fall,” God said.  “I should have known you would all eventually fall in love with the humans
.  How could you no
t
from
working so closely with them
?
  I release you from that promise to me.  Especially considering that type of love is what saved the universe in the end.”

God turned to Brand and I.  He walked up to us and placed his hand over
the hand
Brand still
had
resting on my stomach.

“
Your daughter
will be strong willed,” God warned us, smiling at the irony.  “But I guess I shouldn’t expect any less from one of your children.”  God looked at Brand and was silent for a while like he was studying something about my husband.  “
I know the answer to this question but I will ask it so Lilly can hear it for herself.”  He paused, making sure I was listening.  “Brand, if you could have one wish which only affects you, what would it be?”

Without hesitation, Brand said, “To be human.”

As he said the words, I remembered the moment Brand told me that same wish once.
  I knew it was something he desperately wanted, granting us a true life together.  But, I felt trepidation in my heart over the possibility of
it
happening.  What if Brand didn’t see me the same after he became human?  A vision of the paintings Brand did of me flashed through my mind. 
Tara
had been right that the paintings were idealistic version of me, not the real way I looked.  What would Brand see when he looked at me through human eyes?  Would he still see the woman he fell in love with or would his view of me change?  Would he still love me the same?

God nodded his head
at what Brand wished for
.  “Then your wish is granted as long as you can forgive yourself for your past.”

“Abby…” Brand said
, letting his guilt over his daughter’s circumstance resonate in his voice
.
  It would be the one thing he would always feel guilty about.

“Only the children who have drunk human blood with retain the curse,” God
promised
him
.  “Those who have been protected
by their fathers
and abstained from their natural instinct
to drink human blood
all these years will be granted a normal human life from this point forward.”

God turned to the other Watchers.  I could hear some of them sobbing
over
the lost opportunity to save their children.  “But,” God told them, “to those of you who allowed your children to hunt humans
for fun and kill for sport
, I will g
rant
you a second chance to prove your children deserve
redemption. 
You must show them
you were wrong in dooming them to live with the curse
and h
ave them serve humanity by
your side
.  If you do this, I will lift the curse from them also
, in time
.”

God looked back at me and Brand.  “Can you forgive yourself now?” He asked.

“Yes,” Brand said.  “I can.”

God nodded his approval.

I felt Brand put his hands on my shoulders to turn me to face him.  I almost resisted, not wanting to see his disappointment in how I really looked.  I refused to meet his eyes for fear of what I would see there.

“Lilly,” Brand said, his voice trembling.  “How can you be even more beautiful?
”

I looked up at Brand’s face and saw he wasn’t just saying it to hide what he might have truly thought.  He did believe I looked more beautiful through his now human eyes than I did when he was an angel.

I threw my arms around his neck, feeling the power of pure joy fill my heart.

“I will see you again in time,” God told us.  “’Live a full life
together
.  Love one another and nothing will ever seem insurmountable
.
”

God disappeared then, leaving in his wake a new sense of hope and purpose
to everyone present
.

Still holding onto Brand,
I looked up at the sky and wondered what the Tear had done to the world.  Even though it scared me, I knew whatever damage Lucifer had caused God would stay true to his word and help the Watchers heal the wound.
  It was just a matter of time.

I stood in our home in
Colorado
looking out the picture frame window at the snow capped mountain and lake beyond.  My hands rested on the large bump of my belly as I felt my son move to gain a more comfortable position inside me.

“Give me your hands,” I told Brand as he came to stand behind me.  I put his palms on top of my belly just as our son moved again.

“He’s strong,” Brand said in my ear, nibbling at the tender flesh.  “Just like his mother.”

I smiled and leaned back into my husband
feeling eternal bliss like I always did in his presence
.

“Mommy!”

We turned at the sound of our daughter’s excited voice as she ran down the stairs from the second floor towards us.  She was almost three years old now with a head full of chestnut colored hair like mine and beautiful grey eyes like her father.  Brand let me go as he bent down to pick her up, holding her against his side.

“Mommy,
is it time?”

“I don’t know,” I said to her, unable to repress a smile.  “You better go to the kitchen and ask Aunt Tara and Uncle Malik that question.”

Caylin wiggled out of h
e
r father’s arms and ran head long to the back of the house to find the kitchen.

Malcolm was still crouched beside the large blue spruce Christmas tree in the living room.

“Are you sure you have a gift for me under here, dearest?” He asked, scanning the tags on the presents.  “I still don’t see it.”

“It’s there, Malcolm,” I said for what had to have been the hundredth time that day.  “But you can’t open it until tomorrow morning.  That’s the rule.”

Malcolm sighed heavily and stood up.  He turned to face me and Brand.

“All I seem to be able to find are gifts for Caylin,” he half heartedly complained.

“I’ve been a good girl, Uncle Malcolm,” Caylin said, walking back into the living room with a
half eaten
cookie in her hand.

“Did Aunt Tara give you that?” I asked, already knowing
Tara
had bribed my child with sweets once again.

“She said supper wasn’
t ready,” Caylin answered with
pieces of the sugar cook
ie
dribbling out
of her mouth
as she spoke
.

“
It’s almost ready!” I heard
Tara
yell from the where the kitchen was.  “We’re just setting the table!”

The front door of the house opened and Abby and Sebastian walked in, stomping the snow off their boots in the entry way.

Brand and I went to greet them.  When I hugged Abby, I had to carefully maneuver my belly along side her own growing one.

“I love you both,” Abby said hastily kissing us both on the cheeks.  “But your grandchild has been pressing my bladder all the way up here.”  Abby waddled off to find the bathroom.

Malcolm came and gave his son a hug.  “You should have let me phase you here,” Malcolm told him.  “I don’t know why you insisted on risking my grandchild’s life driving in this snow.”

Sebastian smiled.  “We’re trying to live the way humans do, Dad.  And humans don’t phase
ever
ywhere they want
to go
.”

“Have it your way,” Malcolm said, throwing his hands
up
in the air.  “But when the time comes for my grandson to be born, I’m phasing u
s
all to the hospital.  Your driving isn’t that great in the best of times.  I am not about to let you risk his life when you can’t even think straight.”

“Come on, y’all,”
Tara
said, walking from the back of the house with Malik right behind her.  “Supper is ready.”

Just before we went to the dining room, the phone rang.

“Go ahead,” I told everyone.  “It’s for me.”

When I picked up the phone, my mom yelled, “Merry Christmas, sweetie!”

“Hey, Mom.  How is everyone doing?”

“Oh, your grandpa is as
ornery
as ever but your grandma is keeping him in line.”

“Even after God himself visited them and told them everything, he’s still giving you attitude?”

“It’s just the way he is, sweetie.  I don’t take any of it personally.  I’m just glad he let me spend Christmas with them this year.  It’s been so long.  And your grandma wants you and Brand to come visit after her newest
great
grandbaby is born.  She said she missed seeing Caylin as a baby, she’s not going to miss seeing…Oh, have you decided on a name for him yet?”

I smiled.  “Yes, we’re going to name him Will.”

“Will,” my mother repeated.  “That’s perfect.”

When I walked into the dining room and saw my family
gathered
around the table discussing who was the most worthy of the prized turkey leg, I couldn’t help but smile.

My d
ream
really
did
come true.

I hope you all enjoyed The Watcher Trilogy.  I would like to thank those of you who have left such nice reviews for the series at the various book outlets where it is available.  I truly do appreciate the kindness and your time.

I would like to tell you that a new set of book based in the world created
by the Watchers
will be out in 2013.  The first of which will be out in the first quarter of next year.  They will take place 15 years after the Tear is formed and deal with its aftermath.  The main character will be new and
the story
told from her perspective.  Many of the characters from the Watcher series will pop up here and there, especially Malcolm. 

At the moment I intend to call this The Tear series.  If you would like to view the first chapter of it, please visit my blog
.  It will be posted
by (Dec 2012)
at
: 
http://teefymllems.blogspot.com/

If you liked this series, you might be interested in another series I have out.  It is the Harvester of Light series and is currently available at only Amazon.com
until
Dec. 10, 2012
due to contra
ctual obligations.  It will be available for the Nook at Barnes and Noble beginning
Dec. 11, 2012
.

Thank you all for reading my books.  It means the world to me.

S.J. West