I guess this is my life now

Location | Sophia's house
Date | 2nd of June
Time | Afternoon
Attire | Link
Topic for | @Sophia x
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She had not really realized where she was going till she suddenly had stopped her bike and found herself outside the stone house again. It was weird looking at it, and she had thought about reaching out more than once. But it was also hard to suddenly process the death of a loved one, and on top of it having so much of your life turned around. Victoria however got closer each day to finally feel like she had found herself, she knew who she was; she knew what she wanted. One of those things were to get to know her biological mother better, and Mateo as well, but well right now she was standing outside her mother's house, leaning against her bike for a second before she exhaled and walked further up to knock on the door. Coming unannounced, it wasn't even sure she was home. Even so, Victoria knew she was. Because she could recognize the scent far to easy by now. Once the door opened, she took a deeper breath in and gave the angel a warmer smile, "hey."

She had Mateo and Zolia standing with her in the kitchen baking a cake, or rather, they were trying to. It had ended up being more a comic show than anything else. Flour was everywhere, and her two children were laughing their asses off as they had managed to make her mother's hair almost entirely white. Just as she was about to scold them lovingly, she heard someone knock “when I get back here, the cake better be in the oven, and that means stop eating the cake batter!” she laughed as she dried off her hands and then walked over, she noticed who it was long before she even opened the door. Feeling how her heart started to beat heavily in her chest, she breathed softly out, stealing her nerves before opening the door.
A warm smile that matched Victoria’s spread over her lips; “Hello”, she greeted before quickly stepping to the side “you’re welcome in; Mateo and Zolia are baking cake, or well”, she pointed at her hair ““, and making a fool, out of their mother while they are at it” she said with a small smile. She had an overflow of questions but managed to keep them at bay so that she wouldn’t overwhelm Victoria too much.

Instead of the nervousness controlling her entirely, she got distracted from it when she saw all the flour and wondered for a second if it was due to Sophia perhaps had dropped it or spilled it the second the knock had heard. But she still had that warm smile spread on her lips, feeling it pull up even further when Victoria saw how warm her mother's smile was. Looking at the space for a second to think if she wanted to step in or not, it sounded like a fun family gathering, did she want to interrupt it? Then she thought of herself as a fool, it would be rude as well to just go again. And it wasn't like she wasn't keen on meeting and spending time with her newfound family, but you still got some nerves hitting you from left and right when it was an entire situation you weren't used to and people for that matter - what if they didn't like her? "Cake - how can I possibly resist," she chuckled a little bit before stepping inside, taking her serpent jacket off, hanging it over her forearm. Victoria wasn't about to judge anyone for their kitchen skills or the like. "Are you sure it's alright? I don't want to interrupt if you are doing something?" Victoria asked wanting to be entirely sure before she did anything else, then exhaling. It was something else talking to your biological family, people whom you could have known your entire life, but you didn't. Instead you were a stranger, and yet not a complete stranger. You felt the connection somewhat in your bones, or maybe it was just because she was a shapeshifter.

Sophia’s smile grew a little wider, if that was even possible at this point. Closing the door after Victoria, she made a slight hum; when Victoria asked if it would be all right, she turned her gaze toward her daughter, and her smile subdued a little, almost as if she understood why it could be a little intimidating to walk into a family reunion “of course it is all right, Mateo is meeting Zolia for the first time as well, so it seems like you found the perfect day to come visit” she walked toward Victoria “here, you can hang it in the closet” she opened the hallway closet and found a hanger for the heavy leather jacket and handed it to Victoria.
There was another set of laughter from the kitchen; with a small sigh, she shook her head a little “I’ll just see what the pair of them are up to; want some tea or coffee?” she asked, turning around after she had been walking away, “just take your time, yeah? Don’t rush, but know you are more than welcome” she added, before stepping into the kitchen “Right you guys, what on earth are you doing?” Mateo and Zolia stopped what they were doing, what looked like a sword fight using her wooden spoons. “My god, what was about the cake being in the oven?” both kids pointed toward the other as if they were responsible “could you behave? We have company”, she added, nodding toward Victoria that making them both stop and giant smiles appeared on both siblings lips. “Hi again, Victoria” Mateo walked over and gave her his hand as a greeting. Zolia, on the other hand, bounced toward her sister. “Aw, it's so nice to meet you finally!” she said with a giant smile before pulling her into a hug.

With those words Victoria nodded a little, feeling slightly more confident about the fact that Mateo was meeting Zolia for the first time as well. Now, Victoria had met her and Selene's half sister Angela. And Victoria was still getting used to the fact she had so much family that she had never known about till now. Victoria walked over to hang her jacket up on the closet, exhaling a little bit," coffee please," she gave her mother a warmer smile. Don’t rush, but know you are more than welcome, Victoria nodded a little and took another sharp breath in, watching her mother walk to the kitchen.

Victoria could clearly hear the laughter, which made her smile with ease. It felt comfortable, she liked that feeling. Then she walked slowly towards the kitchen, because if she wanted to create an actual relationship and get to know her both mother, but also siblings, she would have to make an effort. This was the first step. "Hey," she smiled and took Mateo's hand giving it a firm shake, then turning her head towards Zolia who bounced towards her and pulled her into a hug, "nice to meet you too," Victoria couldn't help but escape a joyful laugh. Flour was everywhere, "looks like you guys have had your hands full," she shook her head a little bit, now just as partly covered in flour as they were. Not that she minded it.

Zolia giggled, letting her tongue run over her lips as she turned and looked at her older brother and then her mother “well, they were so dull the both of them; so I thought I would lighten the mood”, she admitted, but even though some might have gotten angry, it had seemed to do the trick as both her mother and Mateo had been far more enjoyable to hang out with after it had happened, “besides everyone looks good in white”, she chuckled giving Victoria an even brighter smile than before, guiding her toward the kitchen island where you could sit on some bar stoles. “Anyone else want some coffee?” Sophia asked and got confirmation from both children that they had been in the kitchen when Victoria had knocked on the door.
It didn’t take long before she poured coffee to all four people and handed it over; she then turned and looked into the oven to see how much longer the cake needed before it was done. “So, Victoria, tell me about yourself,” Zolia asked, being far more direct and curious than most people, Sophia rolled her eyes with a soft smile on her lips "You don't have to feel pressured by your sister's forwardness, she just really likes to meet new people" the fallen angel chuckled  

She liked Zolia's energy it was upbeat and made her feel warm as well as comfortable. Victoria sat down on the chair she was gestured towards then exhaling a little bit, realizing something about the scent - something she hadn't really thought too much about till coming back here. Gladly, the shapeshifter took the cup of coffee once served and lifted it up blowing on it a little bit to cool it down, then looking towards Zolia as she wanted to get to know her. Luckily, Victoria wasn't scared of talking to people, otherwise she wouldn't be behind the bar. "It's okay, I don't mind sharing a few things," Victoria exhaled a little bit softly, wondering where to begin. "I live in Southside - happy and proud to," she felt like saying, mostly because of all the judgement that had been going around lately, it was important for her to point out she was happy by staying in that part of Gaia. "Very passionate about dancing, I used to teach at the academy for a few years time, but now I'm back bartending again, which I am very happy about. Oh, you know a little fixing cars and bikes," she chuckled a little bit and shook her head softly. Maybe it was a bit over the top, but she also liked that they knew that. So it didn't come as a surprise. "Also I'm an Aquarius and my favorite color is moss green," Victoria added with another short little laugh as she took a sip of the coffee.

Zolia turned toward her mother and gave her a toothy grin; “see, she doesn’t mind”, which earned her a loving eye roll from Sophia before she turned and started doing the dishes, with the help of Mateo, that kept himself somewhat quiet, not that he didn’t have questions on his own or didn’t want to engage, but he liked to be the silent observer at times; maybe it came from the overload of sensory that came with the ability he had inherited from his mother.
When Victoria started to share some of the things that she felt were the most important, it was clear that Zolia listened very intently. Every word hung in her ears, formed in her head. She had always found it interesting what people started to share; sometimes, it was mundane things like; names, ages, where they worked or went to school. Why they were where they were, as a justification. Or, like Victoria’s case, you started with what was the most important, living in Southside. It wasn’t really something you would start with off the bat, but it was clear to Zolia at least how much weight it carried for her to have people accept that part of her.
“We should totally dance together someday,” Zolia said with a giant smile forming over her lips. “I’m sure Mateo is hiding a dancer underneath that stoic impression” she wiggled her eyes while a small giggle left her; Mateo turned and pointed a very wet knife toward his sister. “Don’t even think about it; these hips were not made for dancing, running yes, dancing, no”, he laughed before turning around so he could dry off the cutlery in his hand.

Victoria chuckled a little delighted. "That's a deal," her smile grew a bit closer. There was a familiar flair to Zolia's expression, then the scent other than it being because it was her sister. Then turning her head in the direction of Mateo when she mentioned perhaps there was a dancer in him after all, shaking her head in a bit of disbelief when he claimed he couldn't dance. Everyone could dance, then there was the difference if they were good or not, but she believed dance was one of the cheapest therapies, just letting yourself go into the music and the beats. Then her phone made itself aware by a set of messages kicking in, so she picked it up to mostly turn it on silent. Then remembering what she actually had made it to Oakheart for. She was going to deliver something to Angela, maybe it was the opportunity. She had to know before saying much, yet maybe this time it was her turn to be the one surprising with information.

"I met someone few weeks ago - her name is Angela, I was supposed to deliver something for her. She lives down the street, is it alright if I just meet her outside?" Victoria wondered. Angela had perhaps greater senses than Victoria, if there was something familiar to pick up on, wouldn't her older sister react rather fast - and if not, then Mateo would. Victoria didn't even know if her mother would react to the name - she just knew Angela had told her that she had been taken from her mother when she was a young kid and believed her mother was dead when trying to keep her in the pack when her father had thrown her out. So, Victoria slightly waited with adding further information to the conversation and let it sink in as she took a sip of coffee.

It was clear to both Zolia and Mateo how Sophia tensed up by the mention of this Angela. It was gone as quickly as it had appeared, and Sophia turned and looked at Victoria with a soft smile; there were many people out in the world that was called Angela, which made it a very slight possibility that it would her daughter Angela that Victoria was talking about—but there was something in her tone that told the old fallen angel, that it was precisely what she thought. How had they come to meet? And what was she doing here in Oakheart so closed to the old pack that she had been born into? Her questions were endless, but she couldn’t get them answered if she didn’t agree that it would be all right for Angela to stop by; “Of course, I shouldn’t see if there should be any problem in that”, Sophia said and dried off her hands in a towel before she hung it back on its place.
Now Mateo could have commented on how his mother had reacted, but just like Zolia, they didn’t say anything and just took a cup of coffee for themselves. Intrigued by the person that was going to stop by and what the connection seemingly was.

Something told Victoria that her mother already knew, which meant she as well felt the pressure a little less. But still Angela had know idea, and she didn't know much about their story. But she could smell her soon enough, maybe she had already been out walking close to the street? Victoria couldn't know. She just nodded and started walking out towards where she had just gotten in few minutes ago. She didn't look how Mateo took the scent, honestly it didn't come to her mind in the first second like she thought it would've.

Angela was out walking towards where Victoria at first had mentioned for them to meet, then the message had made her change direction. Luckily it was in the area. Odd, she stopped for a moment then taking a sharper breath in. It wasn't just Victoria's scent she picked up on as she walked faster again, her steps took a greater deal of speed as she recognized the scent more specifically. Now, Angela wasn't an emotional person, people often assumed she was cold and stern at first. Years of experience had taught her that, but there was something about catching the scent of the person in your life you loved the most, but thought had lost forever. Angela hadn't even realized she had run the entire way to the door, Victoria barely got to open it before she stood there out of breath. "Mum?" She called, feeling her heart beat so hard in her chest. Sounding in this moment, only this moment like a lost child trying to find their mother, the reaction made Victoria step aside and let Angela inside, not finding it in her heart to let her stand out and wait.

For a moment, it was like everything stood still. She couldn’t breathe nor move or do anything productive other than standing there in the kitchen with the towel still in her hands. The word left Angela’s mouth, but she had known soon before that, that it was her Angela. Her daughter.
Mateo and Zolia both stepped aside and just watched how the two women stood and looked at each other; it was indeed like time inside the house had frozen itself, letting everyone in the room process what was happening. Especially for Mateo, that could smell the same scent on Angela and Victoria, meaning they weren’t half-sisters, but sisters, which means that her mother hadn’t told the whole truth about what had happened and why she hadn’t had the heart to drag people through it—which was very much like her.
Mateo looked towards Zolia, who just shrugged, not knowing what to do either, but they waited—letting both Angela and Sophia take at this moment.

It was clear, though, to anyone, that Sophia had no idea how to react, the way she just stood there, looking at Angela. She could feel how a weight crushed down her heart—how many times hadn’t she thought about finding her daughter again but never had the heart to do so, blaming herself for what had happened and not being strong enough to face what had gone on in the pack while she had been a prisoner.

Victoria even stepped out of the area walking closer to Zolia and Mateo rather than being in the way of their mother and Angela. Of course she didn't know the story of the two, but she soon also realized that there was much more history there than realized before. It was seen in their faces, so clear. And for a moment she felt guilty that she had thought her theory to the door without saying more, guilty enough to wrap her arms around herself to see how this unfolded.

Angela felt like her insides were twisting around, making her refuse to breath as she then looked into her mother's eyes again. No, Angela didn't blame her mother for not finding her, even if Angie had believed she had been dead. Angela perhaps didn't know her mother had been captive or a prisoner, even if she had the traumas from living in the past had removed themselves in her mind. But one thing from her early childhood she would never forget was the look of her mother's face. "Hey," Angela broke the silence tugging her lips a little bit in, "I'm sorry to come unannounced like this -" she exhaled a bit more carefully trying to control her emotions. "I can't believe its really you." Angela took a few steps closer, reaching out to touch her mother's left arm, even just to get a sense of if it really was her or not, and not something her mind projected. She couldn't let another cruel mind trick fool her again.

The tears came as soon as Angela’s voice broke the silence, not that it made her move, not yet, because she felt like her entire world was crumbling down around her. How she wanted to flee, run out the door and never look back because all of this was opening old wounds she knew had never healed, so she had done the best way to do it, start over, try again—even if it hadn’t worked the first time.
Then her hand found her arm, and as if that was the only thing needed to get her to move. Her arms folded around Angela, took her daughter into her embrace so she could put her nose into her beautiful thick hair. “It’s really you”, she whispered, pulling her closer. It was like she was being put back into a memory of when her daughter had been so very young. How she had used her body to protect her from Crispen’s attacks and how angry he had been when she had produced him a girl, not only a girl, an alpha.
She moved away, placing her hands on Angela’s shoulder, and then took her face. “Oh, just look at you, how beautiful you have become”, she whispered, and a small smile appeared amidst the tears gliding down her cheeks.

Angela took a sharper breath in, parts of this scared her, yet she had learned to make the first move if she wanted to get something in life. Nothing came to you, you had to take the steps to archive it and work for it. But it was like the last part of her soul settled to some sort of peace when she finally could feel her mother's arms around her. "It is," she whispered choking a sob, not wanting to cry and yet she was overfloated with emotions she hadn't been prepared to be facing in this moment. Out of the embrace she felt her mother's hands on her shoulders, and just like her mother looked at her, Angela took her mother in once again. Smiling while the tears finally escaped just a little bit, much like her mother. Her sobbing increased once her mother once again spoke, trying to fold her lips a bit more together in a light tug to prevent further crying, but it was like her eyes had their own lives in this moment. "I can't believe it," she exhaled a little bit, lifting her hands up to dry her eyes. Perhaps also just returning a bit more to reality, the other scents that were to play in the house, "I just invaded your house didn't I?" she laughed a little bit realizing the second Victoria had opened the door Angela had already just walked right through it without thinking really.

Her lips folded together in a gentle smile, her thumbs gliding over Angela’s cheeks to dry away the fallen tears that didn’t seem to have an end, even though her daughter tried to be brave and not let it show.
“Best believe it because all of this is real”, she chuckled, then let out a small sigh, fighting every instinct screaming at her that she needed to run. If it hadn’t been for the calming hand from her younger daughter, she might have told everybody that it was time to go, and she actually had something else to do. Not that she didn’t want to be with her newfound daughters, but it was also a reminder of something she would rather forget.
“It’s okay” she dried off some of her own tears and then turned and looked at Zolia “this is Zolia, my youngest daughter,” she said with a soft smile and then nodded toward Mateo “and this is Mateo, my oldest, his sister is around here somewhere, but she just couldn’t make it today” she explained, trying to talk about something that was more down to earth and gave her a moment to collect her thoughts. Both Zolia and Mateo stepped forward and reached out their hand to greet Angela, both weary about the fact that there might be more to this story, than either of them knew, even if it was easy to piece together the image, given the small drops of information that was given.

Angela knew something bad had happened to her mother, and if Victoria was product from the same abuse, which it didn't take an idiot to figure out. She therefor understood and let her mother take in everything as she needed, now that the blow had hit, it was easier for Angela to pick the mosaic of her emotions up again. She understood it could be more odd for Victoria not to fully understand the range of what was going on, after all, she hadn't grown up in that chaos, or had memories in the back of her head of it. Not that she believed Victoria's life or any of the others hadn't faced some sort of traumatic experience. So, Angela was more or less ready to leave, reading Zolia's face without asking questions to it. Even so, her mother presented her to the two.

Zolia the youngest, she was even younger than Victoria - not a blow Angela took, but she could see how Victoria took a slightly deeper breath in, or perhaps it was just the heart skipping a beat. Angela could understand why, realizing your mother had gotten a child after you, and kept it but not you - it had to sting somewhere no matter the story. But Angela held her hand out to Zolia giving it a firm shake, doing the same with Mateo - see him, she found more interesting, maybe it was a wolf thing and given that he was a beta. Showing that her mother had been running with wolves and the like. Not that Angela knew much about her mother when it came to it, neither did Victoria. "Nice to meet you both," Angela greeted them with a brighter smile. Then exhaling, "I live just a few blocks away with my wife and kids, if today is too much, we can perhaps just talk another day, I won't take offence," Angela suggested her mother, knowing it hadn't been the plan for her either of them to be surprised by this. And Victoria perhaps also knew now it hadn't been the best move made. "I don't want to disturb more than I already have."

“You have kids?” Sophia’s voice whispered, and she nodded with a sad smile; funnily enough, it didn’t even surprise her that Angela had a wife and not a husband, but there was something that made it so real and surreal at the same time to be standing in front of your child knowing that they had managed to make a life for themselves; that you had grandchildren that you hadn’t met. She wanted to ask many questions, but this was starting to overwhelm her to the degree that she couldn’t quite cope with. Not only were two of her children that had been produced under circumstances that were less than favourable; her son, the firstborn child that had been killed, had come back too.  
There was only so much a woman could take before the mind slowly started to break apart till she had no idea how to pick up the pieces and put them back together. “maybe another day would be good, right, mom?” Zolia spoke with a soft voice, pulling Sophia out of her trance as she stood there just looking; “Hm, yeah, maybe—I’m going to lie down a little” Zolia nodded, helping her mother to walk over to the stairs before letting her walk upstairs to her bedroom on her own; “sorry, she, hasn’t really dealt with the trauma of what happened to her” she whispered to both Victoria and Angela.

Angela could see Victoria was conflicted, but the shapeshifter also understood the need to having to slow down once in a while because of the traumas that you perhaps hadn't dealt with whereas you should have. And even if you had, it didn't mean something couldn't trigger it without warning. "No need to apologize, its a very unlikely meet up all of us has, no one is ever really prepared for that," Angela replied with a warmer smile looking towards her youngest sister. "We will leave you now, if that is what you want," Angela looked towards Victoria with a slight nod to that they could get going. The werewolf wasn't really sure if her mother liked the idea of waking up later and seeing the four of them sitting drinking coffee in the living room, "or if you want we can go for a walk outside, I can show you were I live - and you can swing by anytime you would like to just talk or steal an amazing cup of coffee," she looked towards all of her siblings. Even Victoria hadn't been to her house yet. It was an open invite to just know where you could seek shelter if you wanted, or just if you wanted a shoulder to lean on.