Treasure Of Dragons, Royal Dragons Book 1 Chapter 48

Ria

It's hard to come back from that peaceful place to this place that is full of agonizing pain, but my kids are here.

That first night I couldn't interact with Brand. I fed him, changed him, and eventually put him to bed.

Isobel stayed with the girls, and she's taken over the twin bed in the nursery. We both felt better with one of us being close, and since it can't be me, she stepped in.

That night I walked into the bedroom and the guys all just watched me with worry and uncertainty. I didn't say anything. I put on sweats and a hoodie, then sat in the sitting room on the sofa, and watched the fire.

I knew Drago was here, "Ria, I'm not sure where you went today, but you need to come back. The children need you, and honestly, so do we.”

I turn and look at him but say and do nothing. I turn to watch the fire again. I hear him sigh. He comes and gets me for bed. I follow him to the room still numb and empty.

I lay in the bed, and they crawl in next to me. Drago and Ash are sleeping next to me tonight, and they are snuggling me. I just stare at the ceiling, floating off somewhere.

I can feel things coming back the next morning with the kids. I am finally able to smile and speak to them more naturally. It's still not normal, but it's better. If the guys come in I retreat again.

It takes three days for me to fully come back from that whole fucking hell. I am worried it might get increasingly difficult for me to come back if they keep subjecting me to that.

“I know you've talked about remodeling the 2nd floor for the kids as they get older. I thought you might enjoy a project of drawing out your ideas and plans for all of it. We got you a bunch of new drawing supplies, and we set up a drawing table in the solarium.”

I look up at him and nod,” Thank you.” It's the most I can squeeze out.

“We keep hoping that you'll realize there's no threat to the children in town. No one will hurt them, and we would never allow it. You can relax and not get so upset.” Drago just watches me and I look down and move the food around my plate.

Cinder leans forward to look at me,” How about we take the children out to the garden this afternoon?” I just nod.

The guys set up a big penned in area, so that we can control how far the girls can walk around. We have several blankets and toys for the girls. I have Brand in my arms, and I have a special pillow to prop him in.

Cole sits next to me, "You know it might help if you decided to actually talk to a therapist we bring here.”

I look at him, "When one of them actually does their job, that's a person I would actually speak with.”

He doesn't say anything else, just sits there next to me. I watch Brand and the girls. They play and bring me things to show me. I tell them the names of things, and I ask them questions about objects and colors.

The guys read to them as they roll around on the blanket. To anyone just looking at us from the outside, I'm sure we look like some happy family, but looks can be deceiving.

Natalia comes and sits by me, and I can feel myself stiffen up at her proximity. She sighs and looks at me sadly.

“I never really imagined things going like this. I imagined you meeting the people in town and thinking, " Hey, yeah, I can see why the guys wanted to save these people so much. Then you would forgive all of us for doing what we had to do to prevent a war. I didn't think we were actually starting another kind of war. I miss my friend Ria. I wish you could see how much they love you.”

“You don't actually miss me Natalia, you miss the idea of me you had in your head. You miss the imaginary Ria. I was never that person. If you had honestly and truly known me, you never would have believed that bullshit you just spouted. You would have known right off the bat, oh fuck no, that will never work with her in a million years. I lived too long with men who abused and used others and made a billion excuses for their behavior. So, I lost the ability to forgive that shit when I was a kid. So you guys always bet on the wrong horse. You bet on the Female Royal Dragon, you didn't bet on Ria the actual person. So, now the guys have their dragon, and I'm just what gets dragged through the streets behind their parade. If it were me in that situation, and I had to choose the person I “love” and the town I was responsible for. I would choose the one I love and fuck town. If you truly love someone, no one is more important than them. I keep trying to make the guys see that. Those girls over there, I love them, and would fight to the god damn death for them. I would go to war with fucking anyone who wanted to hurt them or use them. They are the priority and what's most important, not everyone else.”

For a moment I thought she might cry, but she got up and walked away. I looked up and Cole was watching me with a strange look in his eyes.

I just looked at him and eventually he shook his head sadly, got up, and walked to where the other guys were.

“Ria, I don't ever want to see what happened in the café happen again. So I have come up with a compromise that maybe we can all live with. We will toggle the kids and you. On days you go to town it will just be you and one of Natalia or us. On the days the children go to town Isobel will go with us. This is only valid till the girls reach 5. Then they decide who gets to interact with them or not. The same will go for Brand and any other kids we have. If for some reason we all go to town together, no one holds the kids while you're there.”

For the first time in quite awhile I actually looked at Drago and smiled a genuine smile, as a tear tracked down my cheek.

He nodded, got up, and walked away. I bent and kissed Brand's head as he nursed in my arms, and smiled at him.

They had actually done something beneficial for me. I reveled in it for right now. I was happy.

Then they broke me in a new way.