Hope

Chapter 31

Cindy's POV

I sat at my desk looking over all of the documents with Ember in one of my arms, her bottle propped up on my chest. Ember was doing better than when she was first born but she is behind on the milestones. She'll hit them in time though, we just need to be patient.

My office door opened and Qin poked his head in. I gave him a smile, "I see you're enjoying some free time."

"I felt my paperwork could wait another day," he said as he shut the door. "I wanted to come see how you were doing."

I nodded, "I'm doing great. Better than I expected honestly."

He came over to my side of the desk, "You're not overworking yourself are you?"

I shook my head, "I promise, I'm not."

He raised an eyebrow, "Really? A certain mate of ours has informed me you're not letting her assist with any of the genie paperwork."

"That is because my Queen is already being pulled in multiple directions," I explained. "Alice is already helping with so much everywhere else. I hope I'm not hurting her feelings though. It's not that I don't want her help, I just don't want to add on to her workload."

"That is very thoughtful of you. Did you explain that to her," Qin asked me.

I nodded as I placed Ember's empty bottle on my desk, "You know how Alice gets. She wants to help everywhere she feels she is capable of helping, not caring if it adds to her own workload. I want to help Alice by giving her one less thing to do so she has more time for resting or eating or simply spending time with us." I gestured to the stack on my desk, "Slapping a signature on pieces of paper is something that she doesn't need to waste her time on when it can be better spent else where."

Once I burped Ember, Qin took her from me. "So how are the genies adjusting to the move," he asked me next. "They're all happy and are impressed with the work everyone put into making it," I answered with a bright smile.

It truly was amazing that all of this has happened. I just wish it was for better reasons.

When Qin left, he took Ember with him and I went back to the paperwork.

When I took a break, I left my office to walk around the castle. I was looking out the window at the city that was below me. It looked like something out of a book.

Arms wrapped around my waist, startling me. It was Shelton. "It's really beautiful isn't it," he asked, looking out of the window.

I nodded as I leaned into him, "Yeah it is. They really outdid themselves." Buildings with unique architectural design were scattered about. There was less rushing about like many of the human cities possessed, as if all of our people were enjoying the home we had made for them. It really proved that we made the right decision.

My smile widened as I watched children run care free below. I wasn't naive enough to think that our people were going to be entirely free of crime, because every bunch has a few bad apples, but when that crime arises we will address it swift and fairly. I loved that we now have a place where kids can run about joyously without fear of being harmed. It was so much different compared to the street we lived on when we first met Alice. Although we were in a good neighborhood it wasn't like how things used to be when kids stayed out without supervision till the street lamps came on.

Thoughts of our old house brought back memories of when we first had Alice enter our mating circle. I truly haven't been one of the best of mates throughout our relationship with her. There wasn't a single excuse to give to justify any of my past behavior towards her.

I wasn't so easy for the guys either. My emotions were on the horrid side of managing when it came to ensuring they  didn't change at the drop of a hat. That was why I had been seeing a therapist. With everything going on, I hadn't been able to meet with them in person, but I make the effort to clear enough space in my schedule to meet with them virtually. 

I love my mates and communication is very important to keep our mating happy and healthy, but there are times when a professional is needed. Dr. Strown has been incredibly helpful with helping me navigate the mental load of my duties as Queen, mate, and mom. They've also help me realize how a lot of my struggles with handling emotions comes from how I was raised.

As future Queen of genies, I was under a lot of pressure. I also had to deal with the dislike from my father that I had not been male. Throughout my life before my mates, I rarely spoke unless it was to request something from a servant. As a female I was raised to be seen and not heard. My father did not care that I was to rule, he had made it his life goal to find the perfect husband for me since I never found my mate among the nobles of my people. It had been the night of my arranged engagement party that I tried climbing down from the palace window. I still can't believe how stupid I had been. My room had been four stories up and it had rained earlier that morning so the side of our castle had been slick. Thankfully I had been holding on to my magic all week which allowed me to quickly teleport to the ground mid fall. Back then my magic reserves were rarely filled even a quarter of the way. Now that I'm surrounded by so many mates with many wants and desires my magic always feels full. Once out of the castle I had been so overwhelmed with varying emotions I had broken into one of the ugliest cries I had ever done. I didn't know emotions could have felt so powerful and suffocating. After that I did a horrible job at learning how to communicate them as well as navigate them in a healthy way.  Dr. Strown has really been a huge help in teaching me the dos and don't when handling ones emotions.

Shelton gave me a slight nudge, pulling me from memory lane. "What has you sniling?"

I gave a slight shake of my head, "Just reminiscing. A lot has happened since we met Alice."

He nodded, "It feels like hardly time has past."

I felt the same way. One day we were all living in secret among humans, running our businesses, pushing away our thrones. Now we are embracing our respective leadership roles and living in a part of the world that our mates put so much time and effort into to make it perfect for not just us but all of our people. Despite already so much having happened, we still have plenty more things to take care of. For now I will selfishly enjoy this single moment of peace.