Newt couldn't wait any longer. He needed to see Adele. He pulled out his phone and called Delia.
“Hi Delia. How is Adele? Is she okay? When can we come by? I - we - need to see her,” rattled off Newt.
Newt was frustrated. “
Delia inhaled deeply before replying. She knew how bad this was hurting him.
“I love her Delia. I need to see her. I don't care how she lived, she is here now. I am here now.”
Newt was incensed. “Delia,
, I am not the same man either! We will be able to find each other again, I know it. But if she won't see me that can't happen!”
"I - I love you too. I am sorry. Goodbye Delia."
Newt hung up the phone and stared at it. Delia said she loved him. He couldn't remember if she ever said that to him before. He knew that the bond they had was fragile, threatened by her husband. He didn't like at all what they had done and Newt couldn't blame him. When he saw Cordell carry his daughter out of the room that night, his heart was in his throat. She sacrificed herself for him and her mother. She was truly a treasure.
* * *
“Mom?” said a surprised Adele as Dee walked in. She had remembered her as a beautiful young woman with raven black hair. Now she was an attractive older woman. She almost didn't recognize her. It was proof positive that she had been gone for 200 years.
Dee gasped when she saw her daughter. She couldn't believe it was really her. "Adele...," was all she could say.
Dee threw her arms up and grabbed her daughter and pulled her into a fierce hug. “I never thought I would ever see you again. I feel like this is a dream. You and Newt have an amazing daughter to make this a reality.”
“She is pretty amazing isn't she?” agreed Adele.
“Let's sit and talk,” replied Dee, “I know you must have a million questions.”
They went into Delia's living room and sat down. Adele started first, “Yes, Mother, I do have a lot of questions that I think only you can answer. Delia tried to explain why you couldn't find me. I was angry at first when I saw you were still with Daddy. But she explained it was the spell. But why couldn't you reverse it?”
“Oh honey, I was so afraid for you and your unborn child that I made it so it couldn't be reversed in case your father tried to coerce me into revealing where you were. I am so sorry. That was the biggest mistake of my entire life. I thought Newt was dead. You weren't gone more than 12 hours before I discovered that Niall went to your room to tell you that he was going to bless your union and give you back your wings. He found me packing my bags - and furious. I was leaving him.”
“Mother...Daddy was so angry. I thought he had had Newt killed as well. It was the law and he was the leader. The only thing that kept me going was the fact that I was carrying Newt’s child and would always have a part of him. I am afraid I didn't do a very good job of being a mother as I got older. I became obsessed with finding a way to restore my wings.”
Dee ignored her self loathing and said, “Darling, Niall and Newt, they are hurting badly. They both want to see you.”
At the mention of Newt, Adele began to cry again. “I am not the naive young girl that I once was. I have changed so much. How can Newt love what I have become? I am hard, angry and bitter. As far as Daddy is concerned, I still hold him responsible. His reaction to my marriage to Newt was wrong on so many levels.”
Dee threw up her hands, “You are right, he was shocked and reacted horribly! But he realized his mistake and decided your happiness was more important than Fae law and has lived everyday for the past 200 years with the knowledge that his 12 hour lack of judgement caused so much unnecessary pain and heartbreak for so many people. You, your unborn child, Newt, me and him too.”
“Mom, I lived my whole life thinking he was a murderer and my husband died at his hand or at least at his order. That anger is deep and difficult to let go of.”
“Newt forgave him. Together we searched for you but just had no idea where you were. You passed so soon. Newt felt when you were no longer in this world. The day you passed was the day Newt wanted to die too. We placed him under a sleeping spell to keep him from taking his life just in case we found you. Please, baby, talk to your father. Give him a chance.”
Adele wasn't convinced, “I don't know…”
“At least see your husband," said Dee exasperated, "He's a wreck. He can't sleep or sit still. He is making us all crazy. He loves you so much.”
“
Loved me Mother…past tense. Loves who I used to be. He no longer knows me. I may look the same, but I am
not the same.”
“I disagree. You are the same deep inside. You care deeply. If you aren't ready to see your father, please, see Newt. He is miserable.”
“Mother, I - I am afraid. What if he doesn't find me desirable anymore? What if things are - well - different?”
“Ahhh, so it’s your heart you are protecting. I understand your hesitation sweetheart. You don't want to experience his possible rejection so you are rejecting him first. Honey. Of course things will be different, but maybe it will be a good different.”
“I couldn't bear it. I spent my whole life mourning him. I made myself stop feeling. I don't know if I can let myself feel that kind of love again just to lose it.”
Dee was getting frustrated with her daughter. “Adele, you have been given a second chance! If you didn't want to live fully, then you should have refused and gone back to the Netherworld. Because you didn't, I have to believe you have hope. Hope that you will be loved again. Don't be afraid. See Newt. Take it slow. You can get to know each other again. He has changed as well. People do.”
Adele sighed, “You are right. When Delia and her genie told me Newt was alive it gave me a reason to live.”
“Cordell. Addie - his name is Cordell. We may have had a few disagreements along the way, but that man is why you are here with us now.”
Adele looked away at her mother's admonishment, “Of course. Cordell. He loves Delia more than life itself. I can see it in the way he looks at her. How does a genie find love with a human?”
Dee smiled, “The same way a fairy does Addie.”
“You win Mother. Tell Newt to come by this afternoon and we can go to the park and talk. I need to get out of this house for awhile anyway.”
“Excellent! You won't regret it.”
* * *
When Adele saw Newt come through the door she caught her breath. She forgot how handsome he was. She wasn't sure what she was expecting. Her mother had aged, but he had been under a sleeping spell so hadn't. She had to stop herself from running into his arms.
She just stood and stared. Newt was doing the same thing.
Finally, Newt spoke, “Adele...I...I don't have the words.”
Adele forced herself to smile, “Me - neither." She swallowed hard, "Why don't we just go - and figure it out.”
"Of course. I - uh - packed us a lunch in case it gets late and we get hungry."
How lame he thought.
Newt turned to take the short walk to the park with Adele next to him. He so badly wanted to take her hand, but was careful to give her space. Both Dee and Delia had warned him she was afraid of his reaction to her and he didn't want to do anything to scare her off.
They sat together on a park bench. “Adele, please don't be afraid of me. I would never hurt you.”
“It's not you I am worried about. I am not the same Newt. I don't know if I can let you in again, not like it was. I feel like we are strangers.”
“Then we start over. Take it slow and get to know each other. I am not the same either Adele. We both suffered great loss. I lost my wife and unborn child. I wondered everyday if you were okay and whether I had a son or daughter I would never know.”
Adele looked into his beautiful blue eyes, the color of the sky, just like their daughter’s. The ones she never thought she would see again and replied, “I mourned your loss fortified only by the fact I still had a piece of you with Delia. But I was so lonely. I thought if I could get my wings back I could destroy my father. It was my only goal for the remainder of my life. Vengeance.”
Newt put his arm around her to give her comfort. He was thrilled when she didn't pull away. “It’s okay. You were hurting. The person you looked up to and loved betrayed you, or at least you thought they had. Your heart was broken into a million pieces. You had a child to raise all alone with absolutely no one to help you.”
Adele pulled out of Newt’s arms. “That's no excuse for what I became. I was a hermit, growing herbs and practicing magic trying to find a cure for me so I could hurt the one that hurt me, pining for what could have been. I hid what I was from our daughter. How can you love someone that could do that?”
“Shhh...you raised a tough, resourceful and loving child the only way you knew how. We would not be here today if you had not done a good job as both mother and father to our daughter. Delia knows you loved her.”
Then Newt pulled her back into his arms. “Now let me tell you what I have been doing since I discovered you gave me a wonderful daughter to love. And Adele, Delia and I had to get to know each other as well. It wasn't instant bonding. It took awhile. In fact, she still calls me Newt.”
Adele closed her eyes relishing the warmth of Newts arms around her imagining what could have been.
He asked about what Delia was like as a child and eventually asked her about seeing her father. She finally agreed to meet with him, if only to get her wings back.
“Let's eat. I am sure you must be starving,” said Newt as he got up and spread out a blanket and took the hamburgers and cold drinks out of the basket.
They talked and even laughed all through lunch staying on much lighter topics.
After they finished eating, they went and sat on the abandoned swings. It reminded Adele of when they first met at the festival and he taught her how to skate.
It was getting late. He wanted to get her home so she could get some rest. It has been a horrible few days.
When he brought her back, he took her hand and his heart skipped a beat when she didn't pull away, “You are still wearing the ring I gave you.”
“There was never anyone else Newt. Only ever you.”
“May I see you tomorrow?”
“Yes. That would be nice.”
“Great. I will call Delia and make arrangements, maybe after you talk to your father.” Adele took a deep breath at the mention of her promise to Newt to see Niall. Newt noticing her discomfort said, “It will be okay. I promise. If you need anything, please Adele, call me.”
Adele finally pulled her hand from his and went inside. She felt empty when she released his hand. Once again she longed to go to him, to kiss him, but she resisted. She would hurt him.
Newt turned reluctantly and walked back to the little rental filled with more hope than he had since the day her father locked him in the sparse little room 200 years ago. He would see her again tomorrow. And he would kill Niall if he hurt her.
* * *
“Hi Addie…” said Niall using his pet name for his daughter when she answered the door, “thank you for seeing me. You don't know how much this means to me.”
“Come in,” she said stiffly the turned and led her father into the living room.
“You look beautiful, just as your mom and Newt said...”
“Niall,” she said using his name feeling like he didn't deserve to be called her father, “let's cut to the chase. Can you restore my wings or not?”
“Oh Addie, please. Let me explain," said Niall softly.
“There is nothing to explain, Niall,” she said vehemently, “I have heard all the excuses. Bottom line, you stripped me of my wings without a second thought and locked me in my room making me think you had killed the father of my unborn child AND that you were going to abort said child!”
“Addie,” he pleaded, “You were my baby, I was trying to fix things. I was wrong - so - so wrong. And I know I can never make it right. I am so very sorry. I nearly lost your mother as well. I realized what a monster I must have seemed like and went to fix it. I was too late. Your mother thought she had to protect you from me. You were gone. We tried so hard to find you. Your mother, me and Newt. I have lived with pain of my actions for 200 years.”
Adele sat down. All she could do was let him talk. It surprised her that it hurt to hear how much he had suffered even though she was still bitter.
Niall followed her lead and sat down on the couch and continued, “You are amazing to be able to have overcome such hardships and raise such a strong, unselfish and giving woman as Delia - she has been through so much, doing as you asked her to on your deathbed. In the process she found her soulmate in Cordell. I truly believe they are - just as you and Newt were meant to be together and your mother and I. That is special and you should never take that lightly. I think Cordell has been having a hell of a time convincing Delia she isn’t going to somehow cause his premature death.”
“What do mean? Premature death?”
“Delia told me some of her previous husbands and how she used the potions to remain young. The same ones the two of you used to bring you back and restore your youth and health. All of her previous husbands died a premature death. I think some of them still haunt her to this day.”
The hair on the back of her neck stood on end at his words. She recalled seeing several of the same spirits and wondered why. They must have been her daughter’s late husbands. But one was a young girl so that made no sense. “Why are you telling me this?”
“I just want you to know how much you are loved and the sacrifices that Delia
made to bring you back. She didn't do it for her or even me or your mother, but for Newt and you. I am sorry, I said too much. This is all Delia's story to tell.”
Adele was crying again and got up. “I don't understand why I am being given this gift. I don't deserve it. It feels like a fantastical dream and when I wake up I will be back in the Netherworld again.”
“Addie, I can't say why. I think it is all of us that have been given a gift. A gift due to the drive instilled in your daughter by you. She was only 17 when you passed. She is a survivor. Just as you were. You have a man that loves you with his whole being waiting to take you home and begin your life together. You two have waited too long and suffered too much. It’s time to put the past behind you and be happy.”
“It’s all too much. I am not sure I know how to let anyone love me anymore.”
Niall couldn't stand to see her cry. He got up and placed gently placed his hands on her shoulders and said, “Darling, this isn’t a dream. It’s real and it's okay to move beyond the pain and begin to love again.”
She began to cry harder so her turned her around and pulled him into his arms to let her cry it out. All she could say was, "Oh Daddy."
Niall closed his eyes at her words. This was a gift. After 200 years he had his daughter back in his arms and it seems as if she was going to forgive him even if he didn't deserve it, a gift for sure.
Dee and Newt walked in with Delia and Cordell. They came back to make sure everything was okay. When they saw Adele in her father’s arms, Dee busted out in a huge smile and put her arm around Newt while Delia put her hand on his shoulder. Cordell threw his arm around his wife grinning and thinking t
he worst is almost over, I can have my life back.
Adele looked up when she heard the door. She saw everyone standing there and locked eyes with Newt. He was trying to gauge if she was okay and whether or not he needed to knock the old man out and she was trying to figure out how to beg for forgiveness.
"Newt..." said Adele as rushed over to him. Adele couldn't look into his eyes she was so full of regret, “Newt, please forgive me," she chocked out in between sobs, "I never really stopped loving you, I just buried my feelings so deep...because the pain was...too hard to live with...I vowed to never let anyone in again....If it hadn't been for the child I was carrying...I just need to remember how to let you love me..."
Newt had to make her stop. He pulled her to him and began to try to soothe her. He was crying too. "Shhhh. It's okay baby. I know. I was dead inside too."
While the foursome watched with their hearts breaking for the couple, Adele wiped Newt's tears and said, "Take me home and let's start over.”
THE END....
EPILOGUE
Go Back to Chapter 169
And it sometimes led to other forms of relaxation.
