CH 38: Abigail

The doors to the office swing open and Esme looks wildly around for Geneviève. The two lock eyes and Geneviève runs to her mother, only to be picked up and held close. Her body was warm and still as small as Esme remembered, bringing tears to her eyes in relief to finally be able to hold her once again.

"Questa mia favorita bambina, oh I love you so much!" Esme kisses all over her daughter's face, causing her to burst into laughter. The little fawn raises her hands to her mother's face and presses her cheeks close together, leaning in and rubbing her little black nose against hers. She smelt just heavenly, like that of a fresh spring meadow. Esme gets down on her knees to put her down, taking her hands within her own, "Is everything okay? Have you been having fun? What have you been doing? Do you have friends? W-"

"Esme..." The older woman laughs, "I assure you, she's been just fine." She smiles sweetly at the display of affection Esme had for her daughter. She wanted to make sure she made up for all the time she had lost with her. Walking over to the pair, the woman leans down and pets the top of Geneviève's head lovingly, looking down at her with fond eyes.

Meanwhile, Charlie and Vaggie had headed upstairs to settle in. It was just Emily, Esme, Margo, Geneviève, and this woman. This woman who her scent was vaguely familiar to Esme, but she still could not place her. She searched her newly restored memories, but found nothing with the tender face of this woman.

Esme stands up, dusting herself off, "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don't know you. I know you say I should recall you, but I'm certain we haven't met." She smiles at her and extends a hand, "Esme Hartfelt, ma'am, a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh please, Cher, we're past pleasantries." The woman waves her hand, dismissing her offer. Her eyebrows rose in an impressed expression, studying every feature across The Siren's face, taking her all in before introducing herself, "I'm Abigail...Hartfelt, sweetie.."

Esme's eyes widen and her breath gets lost in her throat. How could she had been so naive? Of course, this made perfect sense, but it was rather embarrassing to be introduced to her own mother-in-law in such a manner, "Oh...oh my...forgive me." She bows her head in respect, only to be nudged by Abigail in a friendly manner.

"Oh, now stop that! No need to be so formal with me, dear." Abigail smiles proudly at her, looking down at her form. With a small gulp, Esme stiffens up, sensing that she was being inspected, observed. Her form, the way she presented herself, her voice, his mother wanted to know and see absolutely everything about the woman her son married. She soft voice cuts through Esme's thoughts, "What a fine mother you are, why as soon as little Geneviève came to join us she was well mannered as a fairy."

Esme smiles and looks down at Geneviève, "She better have been..." She raises an eyebrow, knowing her daughter too well to be labeled as 'well mannered.' That didn't sound all that right, Genny was always one for getting into shuffles with other children, causing lighthearted mayhem..

Geneviève smiles innocently.

"Well, despite the occasional rallying of the other children for mischief." Margo huffs, crossing her arms and looking down at her niece.

Yeah, that sounds about right...

She smiles and picks up her daughter, cradling her close in her arms, "Oh, I've missed you my dove." She kisses the top of her head, "I wish I could stay longer." She glances at Emily who gives her a sad smile, "But, mommy is only visiting." Running her fingers through her curls she notices how her hair has the slightest dark brown hue at the tips. It was astounding how much she resembled her father, even now. She was the most perfect little angelic fawn, with only slight similarities to her mother. But, alas, isn't that always the way it goes, carried for nine months only to look like her father..

Geneviève turns her face to her mother, placing her little hands on The Siren's cheeks, "Why?" She pouts.

"Well...." Esme struggles to find an excuse to explain to the little girl. She couldn't exactly say 'Oh, well, Mommy has murdered several people and was an accessory to multiple crimes - haha nothing to worry about!' She had wanted to be an example for Genny, but it seems that her past did have a way of catching up to her, "Mommy has to go back to Daddy, and there are no children allowed. Top secret, parents only!" She scrunches her nose playfully.

"Daddy comes back, right?" Geneviève questions, looking excited. Looking too excited. Almost as if she's been expecting this.

"What did you say?" Esme questions, her expression hardening at her words.

He's been here before?

AND HE HASN'T TAKEN ME?!??!?!?!

Abigail puts a hand on her arm, "Hunny, why don't you settle in, and then we can all head out together."

Esme smiles, hiding her frustration in respect for her, " Of course." She passes her Geneviève. "I'll be right back, Genny." She smiles but drops it as soon as her back is turned to Abigail.

I'm going to kill your son. I'm going to relish in his screams, suck his corpse dry, and hang that elk's head on my wall as a fucking prize.

When she gets to the hotel room, she finds Charlie rambling about rainbow sprinkles. She stops and glances at Esme, worriedly, "D-Did it work...are you okay?"

Esme chuckles, sticking her hand out, "Esme Rose Hartfelt, Princess, a pleasure to be meeting you, again, really." Charlie's face lights up and she runs over to her, pulling her into a big hug, causing Esme to laugh and pet her head. 

"Seriously, this actually worked?" Vaggie asks with a shocked expression, moving closely to look at Esme's head. The two never did exactly see eye to eye, but there are the slightest, tiniest, smallest tears welling up in her eyes as she gets closer to Esme. Over the past couple of months, she had grown fond of these two girls, learning to love them as her own.

"Hmm, what else could I say? Born in 1900 in Manhattan New York to Frank and Gabriella Luciano. Later moved down south to Louisiana in 1927 where I met...someone..and then-"

"Alastor, right?" Charlie asks. Esme's eyes dart to her and narrow.

"How did you kn-"

"He made me promise I wouldn't tell you. Well, actually, he kinda told you himself...you.." Charlie hesitates.

"You had a meltdown and ran away. It didn't look good." Vaggie finished, shaking her head from side to side, "Not your best moment if we're being honest..."

"I don't remember that." Esme's eyes fall to the floor, moving across the tiles as she tries to recall that moment. She was certainly Emily had brought everything back, how could she have missed such a vital detail?

"You wouldn't! You asked my dad to wipe your memories." Charlie smiles with a saddened expression. Oh, well, on that end one could imagine that angelic magic is not so easily undone by a rookie. Emily did say that this was her first time. Still...

He told me?

"Oh...." Esme pauses and there's a silence in the room, "Well, I would love to stay and chat but I have a very excitable and clingy little girl waiting for me in the lobby." She smiles, placing her belongings down and heading to the door.

"Esme..." Charlie begins.

"Yes?"

"She's adorable." Charlie smiles.

"Thank you." Esme nods as she exits the room and heads downstairs. The group had so much to discuss, so much time to catch up on, and so many questions to be answered.

~ Time Skippy ~

The four are relaxing on the beach while Esme catches Margo up and all that she missed after passing away nearly 90 years ago. The shore was just breathtaking, nothing compared to Esme's ocean. Her waters were filled with the blood she had split over the years, read and murky, but these were beautiful clear blue. It was closest to those she remembered from her youth, only glittering with sparkles and ever shining skies above.

"Wow, you really married him to get away from Pop?" Margo raises a brow.

"Partially~" Esme chuckles, "Although, he found it hysterical to relish in father's anger. Oh, it was his favorite pastime."

"Sounds about right." Abigail chuckles from next to Esme. Esme turns to her and quickly turns her face to watch Geneviève splash in the water, "She's a lot like him, you know?"

"Humph, tell me about it." Esme says, "She and her father always got the same morning attitude. Oi, it was the worst."

"Nasty faces and groaning?" Abigail smirks.

"Sticking out tongues and huffing?" Esme added.

"Yep..." The two said in unison.

Margo laughs, "She's a lot like you though. She's friendly and bubbly. Oh my, you should see her in the square. She's everyone's favorite person." Esme turns to face her sister, glued to her every word, "She's like a little major, she is so famous. She's a charming, talkative, little gal." 

"Yeah, but Alastor's like that too."

"Not as a child."

Esme glances to Abigail in a surprised state, "Really?"

"He was mostly quiet. He would keep to himself. Didn't like social interaction. It wasn't until he grew up and I saw him get into radio that he became so charming." She waves her hand as she continues, "Why, the poor boy never left my side most of the time. His father practically forbade him to go into the town square, so it was just us. He would run along in the Bayou from time to time - would always come back with some sort of creature."  

"Huh..." Come to think about it, Alastor and her never did dive into his childhood. She had been open and honest with him about hers, but whenever she would ask questions to him, he would brush it off by saying that it 'wasn't important', never allowing the conversation to go further than surface level. The closest they ever got to talking about it was when she had became with child, then his past slowly started to leak through, but never fully. Esme clears her throat, "I never knew that..." There's a pause and Esme turns to her, "You know, can I tell you somethin'?"

"Anything, dear."

"That Gatsby book you had cost me a lot of money. First editions? Where did you even find one!?" She throws her hands back, "I ran all over town with that one just barely the size of an apple inside me, struggling to find a replacement."

"Oh, it was only a little bit of tea." Abigail waves her hand in a chuckle. "It was nothing to fret over!"  

"Yes, but it-" Esme pauses and looks back at her, "How do you know that?"

Abigail doesn't answer vocally, she just winks at her with a playful expression.

Oh God, how much did you see? The office? The....the telephone?

"You know..." Abigail reaches for Esme's hands and pulls her up out of her chair, "I have to thank you."

"Thank me? For what?" Esme's face appears puzzled, taken a back by such an idea. She had only been in heaven for less than a day, and even if she was visiting for longer, what could an angel possibly have to thank a sinner for?

Abigail smiles at her, placing a hand on her cheek, "For giving my son the best love of his entire life." Esme's voice gets lost and Abigail continues, "He's not easy, that I know. But, I know my boy, and he does deeply care about both of you. I know you remember that. I could only hope he's managing down there, if you would please give him a squeeze for me..."

Esme nods slowly, swallowing the words that linger in her mind.

That's sweet! I'm still going to hunt him for keeping this from me, though.

The silence is broken when Esme notices Geneviève wondering away, slowly approaching a woman in a beach chair. She runs over and scoops her up, "Now, honeybee, we mustn't bother people when they're relaxing." She smiles, looking towards the woman, "I do apologize, she can be a bit of a handful."

The woman turns her face to her, her appearance mostly covered by her sunglasses and large hat. She doesn't say anything, but Esme senses extreme danger. Her body tenses up and she slowly backs away. She retreats to the group.

"Esme?" Margo asks quietly, "Is there something wrong?"

"We're leaving, let's go." Esme commands, instructing the group to follow her off the beach. "Margo..."

"Yes?"

"Don't ever bring my child back here again." 

~ Author's Note ~ 

'You Didn't Know' is next....YAY! 

🖤Words: 2150🖤

~ Artemis 🦌💗