Chapter 37 Putting Myself Back Together (1/2)
It had been a month since Cayden left and Ariana regretted everyday that she didn't see him off. To make up for her lack of courage she decided to writes Cayden at least once a week in order to mend their relationship. Four letters had been sent out and not one reply had been received but it didn't make her depressed. She just thought that he was busy as he transferred so late into the semester. Christmas break was only 6 weeks away and according to the Academy's schedule it also meant examination time.
She asked Zula's girls if it was a good idea to make a homemade charm for Cayden's success in his exams and the girls went nuts trying to come up with the best charm design. They all finally settled on a simple red pouch with the golden phoenix embroidered onto the bag and to have an adder stone made of lapis lazuli inside the pouch. Ariana quickly got to work and was able to purchase a lapis lazuli stone and learned from Becca and her team how to refine the stone to make it into an adder stone. It took weeks to finish the project and she barely made the deadline to send it in the mail so that Cayden would receive before his exams started.
She could barely contain her excitement as she counted down the days before the students were let out for Chris break. She spent the remainder of her free time making everyone she cared about their Christmas gifts and planning the Christmas feast they would be holding at the cafe for anyone who was interested. The Lumas were excited to see Adonis again and could barely hold their excitement when their were decorating the Christmas cookies Ariana had baked.
'Master, it's only 10 more hours until Cayden and Adonis come back home!' Duko barked as his tail wagged vigorously, smacking Aroha and Lorelei. Ariana laughed as she picked Duko up. ”I know! This will be everyone's first Christmas with us and I want it to be special!” She said as she scratched behind Duko's ears. Vasu was busying himself by licking the left over frosting off the spatula. While Rahul and Davita curled themselves up by the stove. ”I think all we need to do now is wash the dishes and then we can go up to bed. Can I count on you to help me out?” She called out to her Lumas. Instantly everyone started to get up and gather what they could.
Ariana beamed in delight as she let Duko go and walked over the sink. She rolled up her sleeves and started scrubbing away. It didn't take her very long to clean and put everything away but her body felt drained. She half dragged herself out of the kitchen and towards the stairs. She placed one foot on the first step and felt a sharp pain run down her abdomen. ”Ugh!” She breathed out and doubled over. 'Master are you alright?' Davita asked as she started using her bat wings to fan Ariana's paling face.
”I'm fine, I think. Just a really weird pain... I think... I think it's finally over.” She said as she tried to stand up but instantly dropped to her knees as she broke out into a cold sweat. 'Master!' The Lumas shouted as they tried to give her body support. Her vision started to get blurry and the pain was starting to get worse. She wet her lip before she took a deep breath in. ”Mom!” She shouted before she blacked out.
Ariana woke up to someone looking into her face. She blinked a few times to try and focus her vision. ”Sammie... I'm sorry you must have been with your family.” She started to say and was instantly surprised how weak her voice sounded. ”You are my family too, so think nothing of it.” Sammie said as he gave her a reassuring smile. ”Now can you tell me what happened?” Ariana nodded and found that she was feeling extraordinarily lightheaded. ”I walked to the stairs and felt a horrible pain in my stomach. Like someone made me swallow a knife and it was now stabbing me.” Sammie nodded his head. ”Can I feel you stomach?” He asked and Ariana nodded her head very slowly.
Lady Zula watched closely as Sammie started pressing down on her abdomen but Ariana barely gave him a reaction instead she started sweating even more. ”Lady Zula have you noticed Ariana acting strangely recently?” Lady Zula pondered a little and suddenly came to a realization. ”Mood swings, not bad ones just cries very easily. I just thought that because Cayden was gone it was the cause but now....” Sammie nodded his head. ”You seem to be reaching the same conclusion.” He then turned to Ariana and patted the back of her hand. ”I'm going to leave this conversation with your mother but I can tell you in a couple of days there will be some changes in your body and it's perfectly natural.”
Ariana had no idea what to think and watched Sammie get up, kiss the back of Lady Zula's hand before walking out of the room. Lady Zula sat on Ariana's bed and gave her a gently smile. ”You are becoming a woman and I have mixed feelings. I feel like I hadn't had the child version of you for very long and in the next few days something will happen and you will start blossoming into a beautiful young lady.” Ariana quietly waited to hear the rest but soon realized that the rest was not something she really wanted to know.
After Lady Zula explained what was going on and how it would repeat on a monthly basis, she kissed her forehead and decide to take her leave. ”Rest for now, when you feel a little better get out of bed okay.” Ariana nodded her head and felt her eyelids starting to get heavier. Soon enough Ariana was out cold and Lady Zula left the room, unknown to either of them that the Lumas were nervously looking at one another.
Morning came and Ariana felt ten times better. She hopped out of bed and got herself ready. She decided on wearing a satin, red tea dress that flared out from the the waist down into a glittering sea of waves that stopped above her knees. The dress was tied with a sash around her waist and it was decorate with red and white roses. She styled her hair into soft curls and and tied half of it up. She wanted to wear her red ribbon that Roy had given her but after searching every nook and cranny of the building she had no luck finding it.
With a small sigh she cheered herself up again with thoughts of Cayden coming home. It was Christmas Eve and the plan was for anyone who didn't have somewhere to go were to come to the cafe where they would be welcomed with open arms and celebrate Christmas with Lady Zula, Roy, Rin, the Lumas and herself. The girls were welcomed too but some had found romance and were spending it with their lovers. With a giant grin Ariana ran down the stairs and started to gather the gifts to hand out to all the neighbors and friends. They weren't going to start cooking untill noon so they could have a hot meal by 6 o'clock that evening and keep eating until midnight when they could do their gift exchange.
Ariana saw that her mother was already ready and waiting for her downstairs. She was happily sipping a cup of tea and quietly stared out the window as the snow fell. ”Good morning mother!” Ariana said cheerfully as she walked over and planted a kiss on her cheek. Lady Zula looked over her daughter and smiled back. ”You look so beautiful today.” Ariana giggled. ”And as always you look even more lovely then the last.” Lady Zula's smile slightly wavered as she looked at her daughter. ”Sweetie, about today...”