Young Guardian Trilogy by Lady Adellandra Dratianos (the lemonade war series .TXT) 📖

gave my husband a French peck on both cheeks. “Derrick, darling, glad I caught you when you weren’t busy.”
“Actually, he was –” I began.
Again, she ignored me as if I weren’t there. My loving husband ignored the fact she called him ‘darling,’ not daring to look at me.
“I’d like you to meet someone.” Adrienne replied, turning to the girl. “Veronica, come to Mother.”
Shyly, she did what she was told, as if afraid to do anything else. I sensed she was even afraid to speak aloud.
“This, Derrick Reading, is your daughter, Veronica.” Adrienne announced, clear as day.
I stood shocked, speechless.
“How old is she, Adrienne?” He asked her, sensing my shock with the Pendant. I think he even sensed it before that.
“Eight-years-old.” Adrienne replied, a sly, sneaky, satisfied smile on her lips.
I had to speak out. “Derrick how could you?” I cried, ready to burst into tears. My heart hurt with the news, and I didn’t know what to make of it. “I’ve told you all of my life secrets, the least you could have done was tell me you had a daughter!”
Before I could cry in front of him, I raced upstairs to our bedroom, where I cried myself to sleep, angry, hot tears. How could he dare to hurt me like that? I’d told him of my daughter, through Katherine during the Crusade. I’ve told him everything about me from the day we met. Everything I could think of without hurting him, like how romantic thoughts of both Aaron and Mark “Panther” came into my head nightly.
Derrick explained to me later what happened next.
“How many times had I told you, Adrienne?” Derrick yelled, angry. “I’m no longer in love with you. I never was, and never will be. If you think long and hard to your list of many lovers, I’m sure you’ll find the right father for your daughter.”
“You’re it, Derrick, so don’t try to deny it.” Adrienne’s cat voice hissed back at him.
“How can I be if we’d never had sex?” My husband asked her. “Think about that for a minute. What about the time frame? Seven years ago I’d run away from home, soon meeting my wife Ariana in California.”
“You’d run from your own family?” Adrienne asked. “Why? Wasn’t the money enough for you? Or were you too afraid to admit the deep insistent passion we’d had for one another?”
“‘We’ didn’t have anything, then or now. And frankly, we never will.” Derrick shouted at her. “I’m deeply in love with my wife, and our children. I have my own life, so please, I beg of you, stay out of it.”
I heard her scoff. “You’ll see, Derrick Reading, just how much your precious wife really cares about you. You’ll see she cares more for your money than your mind.”
Silence for a full five seconds – I counted.
Then, Derrick turned serious and said in an angry voice. “Get out of my house, Adrienne Whitehead, and take your daughter with you. You are no longer allowed anywhere near me, or my family.”
“What are you going to do about it?” Adrienne threatened. “I’ve got too much pull in this society for you to do a damn thing to me.”
“I’ve got pull, too, Adrienne.” Derrick replied. “Remember, I’m a Reading. I also happen to be a Hill View Police Officer now.”
He paused.
“Oh, you didn’t know? Well, now you do.” Derrick responded. “Go.”
“Very well, but I will be back.” She said, even more vicious than before. “For revenge.”
That scared me to pieces.
I fell asleep with my troubled thoughts rumbling over the revelation. Derrick had a daughter? Why hadn’t he ever told me? Didn’t he trust me?
In my mind, the dream haunted. I constantly saw her face, all dolled up with make-up. In my dream, she was gossiping to my own best friends, Aaron and Aimee. When they looked over to me, she had a sly smile on her face.
I woke up in silent tears at the sound of the door opening. I didn’t move.
I sensed him open the door and quietly make his way to the bed. He placed a calming hand on my back. “Ariana, Love, are you okay?”
What a stupid question? Of course I wasn’t okay! I never had been, and probably never would be again.
He rubbed my back, trying to soothe my wounded thoughts with just a touch.
“Why didn’t you tell me about her?” I whispered, choking on my words. I didn’t move, feeling tears running down my cheeks.
“I didn’t want to hurt you.” He whispered in my ear. “Come on, Love, meet my eyes. Please?”
I turned, looking at him with hurt in my eyes. His eyes showed caring compassion and love.
To my surprise, he hugged me tightly. “Don’t listen to her. You’ve been told that by so many people already.”
“I know, but why didn’t you tell me about her? I told you about Aaron, and later Mark.”
“Only because we met under different circumstances.” Derrick replied, and then smiled. He moved some fly-away hairs from my face. “If it weren’t for you being in trouble, none of the Crusaders would have met in the first place.” He paused, thinking of my question. “Why couldn’t I tell you sooner? Easy: I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“But you had hurt me, by not telling me about your daughter.” I sniffed, sitting up on the bed. He and I were face to face now.
“Think logically, Agent Sister-Woods, just for a moment.” Derrick whispered my codename, which usually got me thinking like a detective again. I listened intently. “She said the child was eight-years-old. Well, we met eight years ago, so that couldn’t have happened.”
“Why not? You could have before you met me, keeping it a secret all along.” I replied.
“I’d been at the System for two whole months before you came along. If you don’t believe me, ask Lu, Shane, or even Shannon. Ask anyone.” Derrick assured me.
Somehow, I believed him.
“I love you, Ariana Moon Woods-Reading, and no one else. You got that?” Derrick teased, kissing me softly on the lips, hugging me.
“Yeah.” I said softly.
He pets my leg. “Come on. Dry your tears and tend to our children. It’s family time.”
I smiled, hugging him again. Derrick always knew the right thing to say to make me feel better. I loved that about him.
I kissed him passionately, wanting to show my husband I loved him in return. With the children playing outside, Derrick and I made love. All thoughts of hurt and anger went away. I was in heaven with my Imaginary Romeo-turned-Reality.
Chapter:
Envy and Jamaican Gifts

The next day, Kendra stopped by to baby-sit the kids while I went on a few errands for the house.
“How’re ya feeling?” She asked me as I opened the door.
I grinned. “He told you, didn’t he?”
Kendra shrugged. “Of course. Derrick tells me everything.”
I giggled. “Yeah, only if you get it out of him first.” I teased my sister-in-law. “Kelly! Aunt Kendra’s here!”
I heard bounding down the stairs.
“How’s she doin’ so far? Any hate notes, yet?” Kendra asked.
“In school, she’s fine. Kelly has plenty of friends, including her step-brother Bradley.”
“That’s great.” Kendra complimented. “I’m happy for her. What about you, besides Miss Snob-of-the-Century?”
“I’m doing pretty well, too. The twins really help us with the boys and Kelly.” I told her. “Kelly loves her brothers, younger and older.”
Kendra giggled, and then opened her arms to greet my daughter. “Hey Kid, what’s up?”
“I’m the top student in school Aunt Kendra!” Kelly cried, smothering her aunt in kisses and a giant hug.
“She’s so smart, they want to put her a year ahead of her class.” I told Kendra.
Kendra looked at me. “Well, are you gonna let ‘em?”
I looked to Kelly. “It’s all up to her.”
Kelly shook her head no. “No, Momma. I don’t want to leave Cara all alone. She’s my best friend.”
“That’s settled then.” Kendra teased her. She stood. “Well, any instructions?”
I told her what I was doing, and gave her my cell-phone number, in case of any emergency with the twins, or if Kelly saw anything Kendra wasn’t supposed to.
Kendra told me all that happened when I’d left as soon as I came in the door.
Kelly had grabbed her aunt’s hand, leading her to the bedroom. “Want to play cards?”
“Sure, just let me check on the twins first, okay?”
Kelly let go and raced to the nursery, with Kendra directly behind her.
She creaked open the door and found the twins sound asleep. The monitor was off, while I’d been home. My “Mystic Mother’s Intuition” always kept me aware of my boys.
Kendra turned it on and turned around. “Come on, kid. Let’s play cards.”
Kelly grinned at that.
Kendra had never seen Kelly’s room before, so she’d never seen the dream-catcher that hung over the headboard of her bed.
“Wow, Kelly. That’s pretty.” Kendra noticed.
“Thanks. It’s to give me good dreams.” Kelly told her.
“Who told you that?”
“Momma and Daddy Derrick told me.” Kelly replied. Kendra could tell she wanted to say more, but declined pushing the matter anymore.
Kendra happened to notice the vanity table of Kelly’s that had a circle of stones around a candle. “What’s this?”
Kelly gasped. “Oh, nothing. They’re just rocks.”
I knew they were her special wishing stones, and the circle represented the circle of a Mystic’s life.
“What’s the candle for?”
“Sometimes, when the lights go out, Momma tells me to light it, so I won’t be afraid.” Kelly told her, rearranging the stones. She opened the drawer and pulled out a tiny pouch, with herb and other stones in it. It had a tiny stone connecting where the string opened the pouch. On the stone, a crescent moon and a star was etched in black sulfur. “This is the bag my stones go in.”
“When do you put them away?”
“Usually when I go to sleep at night.” My daughter said, not looking at her aunt. “That way, the bad guys don’t come and take away my good dreams.” She handed the pouch to Kendra. “See, the stone on the bag has a moon and a star on it. That means whatever is in it, will keep my dreams good and safe.”
To Kendra, it sounded like child’s play. Knowing the mind of a child, especially my own, she didn’t question any further.
I came home about an hour into their card game, and the twins were still sleeping.
“Kendra! Kelly!” I called into the air. “I’m home.”
“Momma’s home!” Kelly cried, dropping her card game to race into my arms.
That’s when Kendra told me what Kelly had shown her.
Being the persistent mother I was, at least in the public eye, I chalked the experience up to child’s play, too. “The mind of a child is a brilliant, yet hard to understand, thing.” I told her.
Kendra waved goodbye and drove home before dark.
Later that night, I tucked Kelly into bed. “Why did you show her your stones?”
“She was curious, Momma.” Kelly told me, snuggling into bed. “I had to tell her. Don’t worry, I didn’t tell her the secret.”
“What secret?”
“What the stones really mean.”
I was confused. “What do they really mean, honey?”
“Mrs. DeRose gave them to me in Illinois. She’s a daughter of a Jamaican Faith Healer.”
“Sort of like us, but from a different country?” I asked.
Kelly nodded. “The stones are supposed to help me stay safe in the Dream Realm, should I end up somewhere I don’t like.”
I nodded, smiling. For an eight-year-old, she sure was smart. “Whoever Mrs. DeRose is, or was, I’m sure she’d love to