Chapter {67}

Damon Mortimer:

The world around me was suddenly in slow motion but my thoughts were racing a thousand miles per hour. I felt like I was drowning. It was bad enough that hours ago my wife and kids were attacked and my son kidnapped but now I come to find that the man behind it all is possibly related to me. A blood relative. Something I'd never had until Aurora was born.

I never felt left out as a child or as if I didn't belong. Ever. there might have been some mean kids at school who loved to point out how I didn't have the same coloured eyes as my siblings. Or that I was a lot taller than all of them or the fact that I tanned much easier than they all did in the summer. But I felt no different. I am my parent's child even if I wasn't biologically theirs. I never wanted to look for the family that had treated me so poorly because I was loved and accepted as a Mortimer. I am a Mortimer and Asher and Everleigh always made sure I knew I was a part of the family. My siblings don't see me as some sort of adopted brother. My nieces and nephews never questioned why I don't look like their parents or grandparents and when I look back at daily photos I look like dad. We both have brown hair, though mine is probably darker but nowhere near as dark as Carter's. I have Mum's smile and bright-spirited eyes, but Dad's composure and presence. I learned so much from both of them and can never thank them enough for all the love I have received from them.

But until those words left my mother's mouth, I never realised that I could actually have a blood family somewhere waiting for me. It wasn't until she spoke those words that I could actually see how different I looked to all my loved ones in this room. How much Carter actually looks like Dad and Uncle Ben or how Rose and the twins are literally clones of Mum or how Wolf is the perfect blend of both my parents and Alexander is just a carbon copy of Dad. It wasn't until now that I saw that I actually was not one of them. I have never felt this way before. The thought of Steven possibly having anything to do with my past never occurred to me, because why would it? I've never had to think about any of this before because there was never a need to. I never had to urge to look unlike some other people who might want o when they know they are adopted. I never felt like a part of me was missing because it was never missing in the first place. Everleigh saved me that day and though I have tried not to remember what happened that day or anything before the day Everligh found me in that house, all those memories suddenly come rushing back to me.

The only thing that brought me back to earth was Emrys's hand in mine. I felt her small hand try and squeeze mine. I shook myself out of those thoughts for a brief moment. Her gorgeous blue eyes caught mine, the dash of brown in her eye-catching the light reminding me of where I am.

"Damon? You okay?" her soft voice reached my ears calming me down.

I couldn't be mad at her for not telling me straight away about what Jeremy had said and quite frankly I'm glad she spoke to Mum first because if I went it head first to get Aj and not think it through and then discovered what I know now god knows what the situation would be like. I needed my mum to tell me, I needed her to be there and have her tell me that we would find a solution to all of this and understand what is going on. She's good at being there and knowing what to do in difficult situations. If Rhys had told Dad he would have done like me and gone in head down and not cared about anything or thought about anything before heading in. And right now Mum taking over was what was best. I hate to admit it but Mum is a stronger leader than Dad, sometimes a woman knows best and in this case, it could not be more true.

"Yeah.. trust a lot to process with such little information," I replied after a beat of silence.

"I understand honey, It's a lot to take in. But time is critical. Now that we know this information and we know where Aj is, it's time to map out what is the best way to go about it." Mum spoke in probably a softer voice than Emrys as if not to startle me more.

We started discussing what had to be done and all the strategic parts. Emrys refused to leave the room and wanted to know what was going on and what she could do to help. I was very reluctant to let her in on this meeting, I knew this was going to be dangerous for her and could not afford to have my other half faced with that danger. On the other hand, I know she needs to know, she wants to be there and as much as I want to stop her from coming she would find a way to sneak into one of the cars.

Once we had a solid plan and had a talk with all the teams about what needed to be done and how it was all hopefully going to go down it was time for us to leave.

I went to look for my daughter before I left. She was in the playroom with her auntie Roro and her cousins. Both Rory and Leora were on a play mat on their bellies trying to reach for toys. Rose gave me a small smile as I came into the room. Lloyd and Luke came running and crashed into my legs making me let out a chuckle at how excited they were to see me. I ruffled their hair and attempted to make my way to my daughter and niece while the boys brought me all the toys they were playing with.

"Boys, let Uncle Damon have some space. He can play with you later. You remember what mummy said about Daddy, nanny, grandpa, and all your uncles having to go help Auntie Em and Uncle Damon get Aj back?" Rose calmly explained to them.

"Yes mummy but I want to play with Uncle." Luke pouted and sat on the floor crossing his arms in protest.

"We can play with Daddy and Uncle when they get back and then we have Aj to play with us!" Lloyd excitedly said to his brother, trying to cheer him up.

It always amazes me that my sister is a mother, she has raised those boys so well and I can see how happy she and my best friend are. Looking at them my heart pinches a little. I'm looking too hard to find any similar traits between my sister and me and my nephews. I'm looking for the smallest similarity and I can't see it. All I see are mini versions of my best friend in the shape of the boys and then a baby Rose when I look at Leora with her big brown eyes looking up at me from the floor.

I pick up my little sunshine and hold her close to my chest. Little giggles of excitement erupt from her and she wriggles in my arms, her legs kicking as she's happy to see me. I kiss the top of her head then pull back so I can have a proper look at her.

She looks like me. I know she does. She has her mother's smile and blonde locks but everything else is me. I have her and she's all I need. I don't need to know what Steven is to me. I don't need the validation  of knowing where I came from. I have my family and though we are physically different in certain aspects we are so similar in others. Looking at my daughter reminds me that all I need is my family. My perfect little family.

I got so lost in my thoughts and smiling at my little girl that I didn't feel Emrys standing next to me until a scream of joy came from Aurora when she realised her lovely mummy was next to us. Her arms were bouncing as she continued to scream looking at my sunshine.

"Hello, my baby." Rhys matched her daughter's excitement and took her from my arms for a brief moment.

I looked at both my blonde-haired beauties and knew that they were all the family I needed. All that was missing was my son. All this happening was only making me more determined to make AJ feel like I did growing up. Like he belonged and I didn't want him to ever feel like I had felt in that living room. Felt like I didn't belong. I was more determined than ever to do what it took to get my son back and have him feel like he belongs in this family.

I kissed and gave one last cuddle to my little sunshine and placed her back on the play mat. I kissed the top of Leora's head and hugged Roro and the boys, promising them that I'll come back to play with them.

Emrys and I both stepped out of the playroom, closing the door behind us. Emrys was about to walk off, I reached out for our hand and tugged her back to me pulling her into my arms. I felt her arms wrap around my waist, her hands meeting my back while he placed her head against my chest.

We just stood there, in each other's arms. Her steady breathing calmed my raging nerves down. She is my anchor. I don't think she realised the impact she has had on my life and how she keeps me grounded and centered. I held onto her for a second more, not really wanting to end this embrace that we both clearly needed to have, but time was running out and we needed to get to our son before things got too out of hand.

My son's safety is more valuable to me than dwelling on my origin story. Whoever Steven is to me doesn't matter right now. His motivation behind all this doesn't matter to me, what matters is that Aj gets home safe. That all of us make it home safe.

Who knows what Steven is capable of? If he's managed to stay on the down-low all these years and plot to ruin Emrys' life, only God knows what he has waiting for us.

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Hello my loves,

As requested, here is the much anticipated chapter with Damon's POV.
Hope you enjoyed it!
Thoughts? Predictions?
What will happen next?
Until next time...
As always, thank you all so much for sticking with this story, it really means a lot to me ❤️