p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="20a92ccf4201d442e41217970e9acb81"strong5 years later.../strong/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="20a92ccf4201d442e41217970e9acb81" /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="20a92ccf4201d442e41217970e9acb81""Trian would you put Accalia in her highchair? Alex and Eden won't stop pulling my hair."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d6da9a0a58c11ed5c5270cfc0e219b68"I called out to my chosen while struggling with our 3 year old twins. Alex and Eden had been born a few months after Trian and I had finally decided to seal our lifetime bond. Our 'marriage' tattoos stretched across our biceps before curling into our shoulders in the traditional way, bound by ink and the shared love we felt for each other. Five years had been kind to us, gifting us twin boys with another child on the way in the coming months on top of our two girls./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="5e336a9bb06193ff9e7bc88f8c76f5ee"Dashing down the stairs, Trian's breathtaking smile never failed to make my knees feel weak. The sight of him holding our adoptive daughter nearly caused me to faint he was that hot in his fathering duties. This was where our story got sad but we had tried to make the most of the difficult situation. Lexie Griffin, the little miracle that my sister and traveling companion had somehow managed to conceive was left motherless on our doorstop hours after her birth. Clarke had attached a heartbreaking note and had simply disappeared, never to be seen again by anyone. My guess was that she had returned to the drop site where this had all started and ended her own life but many others believed she had simply left. No one could blame her, what she and Lexa had was painstakingly real. The kind of love that one only finds once and once it is found one can no longer go on without it./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="3b6430e2217b85fb18e0120bef7f506e"Trian picked up Accalia into his other arm before setting both of our girls into their joint highchairs. The girls detested being apart and were closer than any siblings I had ever seen, we even had to get a special double highchair made for them to stop their crying when they were apart. We told everyone in the small community we inhabited that Accalia and Lexie were twins, they looked close enough in appearance for it to be mostly believable, Accalia inherited Trian's icy blue eyes and my dirty blonde hair while Lexie boasted Clarke's glowing blonde locks and soulful blue eyes. The main difference between the girls was their skin colour, Lexie's tone matched my own; deep, dark and typical of the TreeKru whereas Accalia looked exactly like the little ice princess she was with her pale complexion./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="056ad885a1c5fdb3e20d10830d866232"Alex and Eden on the other hand were exact clones of each other. Their mischievous smirks, deep brown eyes and blonde hair matched my own perfectly giving me a tantalising glimpse of what my childhood would have been like if it had been anywhere near the perfect upbringing I'm sure my mother had planned for me from the moment I was born 23 winters ago. After one particularly painful hair tug I gave in and set my toddlers on the ground, freeing them. Trian shouted after our boys in annoyance when he saw me rubbing my sore head./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="dbfab26b65632c39b6bf64865fa729a9""Boys! Stop hurting your noumon or I will separate you!" (Mother)/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="30faed8c7d37e8c8df34617986b7a1f5"He was still so protective of me, even after all of these years together and even when it was our old children doing the hurting. Trian placed his hardworking hands over my swelling belly and gave my forehead a quick kiss,/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6dddd8cfa61410f98869980a956a58d5""Let me know if they keep hurting you."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="b5d2b8a1f61912e75be19eb755f2354d"I rolled my eyes at his antics and settled myself in between his oh so familiar arms with a huge smile on myself,/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="16bcc3aae0c7ba3849884d0675850ea9""Don't worry husband, I can handle myself."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9477b278a34158fa98b6f84e9e473251"His grumbling answered me but we were shortly interrupted by a heavy nocking on our front door. I glanced up at the clock and sighed, I hadn't had time to get ready for them with all the children distracting me. Trian kissed my cheek before running off to find our twin boys as I went to answer the door, like I did every other Wednesday./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d53870fadefae721517433063691b37e""Mother! Father! Come in."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="25dbd126b8a0b07308439cde6b578687"I greeted them as they stood smiling on my doorstep with my baby brother, Tyler. I had been incredibly surprised when Anya told me off her pregnancy but in reason I should have known it would happen. My mother may have been middle aged but she was still in her late 30s so there was no reason whatsoever that she couldn't have another child. I looked around the doorframe and noticed the all to familiar guards that followed my father and now my baby brother everywhere./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="39c11d3cbba2f076868b2e86de36159e""Hey guys, your welcome to come in you know. The boys love seeing you."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="bc7cd70db73e806cf81e98d92b0ee080"With a friendly smile and a quick bow the guards entered my humble home and shut the door firmly behind them. The ice nation now knew about me but because of the birth of my baby brother it was not demanded that I return to the Ice Palace and train to become the next Queen. However, since I was the firstborn and the rightful ruler of Aszgeda my Accalia would become the next Queen when my father stepped down, if she was of age when that time came. When she hit her 7th birthday I would be forced to leave her in the castle every other weekend so her training could begin. But that was a few years off so I wasn't worrying about that just yet. br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d9d7b6e2ef9a5db31f6ea7124a0655dd"I curled up against my mother right besides our outdoor fire pit that generated heat for our home in the summer when it was too hot to have one inside but too cold not to have one, and rested my legs on top of my chosen. My father was tending to Tyler, Eden and Alex inside while Accalia and Lexie played happily together at my feet and the guards sat on the other side of the fire having a jolly time. It reminded me of the drop ship where the 100 teenagers laughed and shared memories, even for the short time that it lasted./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="eb6d79bab7caad5950ac4720d3bb39d6""Lexie looks so much like them."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1ca315778b47e63bb0718107a79ecf54"I sighed and turned to my mother as she stared at her only grandchild from her eldest with haunted eyes. Lexa's loss still haunted us all, everyday of every year. It pained my heart to know Lexa's daughter would never know her, would never know her more than her dead Aunty Lexa. It has been a hard decision to make but it was my mother in the end who called it, Lexie would never know her true parentage. It would just hinder her, send her on a pointless mission to find out what happened to Clarke if she ever did find out. A mission that could very easily end in her death if she ventured into enemy territories in a wild goose chase./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="414a50725123dcd8daf1eed946e17819"I never knew that I would come so far. From being a caged child in the mountain to a mother of four beautiful children with another one on the way, even married to an amazingly kind man. My life had changed so much so quickly but I couldn't have been happier with the way it ended up. With my chosen and mother at my side and my children at my feet I could safely say that I had achieved the greatest dream I had ever dreamt. To have a family, forever and always. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="414a50725123dcd8daf1eed946e17819"strongThe End./strong/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="414a50725123dcd8daf1eed946e17819"strongAhhhh the end has finally been reached. This has been a fantastic journey and i thank all you brilliant readers for all your love and support. /strong/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="20a92ccf4201d442e41217970e9acb81" /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="20a92ccf4201d442e41217970e9acb81""Trian would you put Accalia in her highchair? Alex and Eden won't stop pulling my hair."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d6da9a0a58c11ed5c5270cfc0e219b68"I called out to my chosen while struggling with our 3 year old twins. Alex and Eden had been born a few months after Trian and I had finally decided to seal our lifetime bond. Our 'marriage' tattoos stretched across our biceps before curling into our shoulders in the traditional way, bound by ink and the shared love we felt for each other. Five years had been kind to us, gifting us twin boys with another child on the way in the coming months on top of our two girls./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="5e336a9bb06193ff9e7bc88f8c76f5ee"Dashing down the stairs, Trian's breathtaking smile never failed to make my knees feel weak. The sight of him holding our adoptive daughter nearly caused me to faint he was that hot in his fathering duties. This was where our story got sad but we had tried to make the most of the difficult situation. Lexie Griffin, the little miracle that my sister and traveling companion had somehow managed to conceive was left motherless on our doorstop hours after her birth. Clarke had attached a heartbreaking note and had simply disappeared, never to be seen again by anyone. My guess was that she had returned to the drop site where this had all started and ended her own life but many others believed she had simply left. No one could blame her, what she and Lexa had was painstakingly real. The kind of love that one only finds once and once it is found one can no longer go on without it./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="3b6430e2217b85fb18e0120bef7f506e"Trian picked up Accalia into his other arm before setting both of our girls into their joint highchairs. The girls detested being apart and were closer than any siblings I had ever seen, we even had to get a special double highchair made for them to stop their crying when they were apart. We told everyone in the small community we inhabited that Accalia and Lexie were twins, they looked close enough in appearance for it to be mostly believable, Accalia inherited Trian's icy blue eyes and my dirty blonde hair while Lexie boasted Clarke's glowing blonde locks and soulful blue eyes. The main difference between the girls was their skin colour, Lexie's tone matched my own; deep, dark and typical of the TreeKru whereas Accalia looked exactly like the little ice princess she was with her pale complexion./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="056ad885a1c5fdb3e20d10830d866232"Alex and Eden on the other hand were exact clones of each other. Their mischievous smirks, deep brown eyes and blonde hair matched my own perfectly giving me a tantalising glimpse of what my childhood would have been like if it had been anywhere near the perfect upbringing I'm sure my mother had planned for me from the moment I was born 23 winters ago. After one particularly painful hair tug I gave in and set my toddlers on the ground, freeing them. Trian shouted after our boys in annoyance when he saw me rubbing my sore head./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="dbfab26b65632c39b6bf64865fa729a9""Boys! Stop hurting your noumon or I will separate you!" (Mother)/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="30faed8c7d37e8c8df34617986b7a1f5"He was still so protective of me, even after all of these years together and even when it was our old children doing the hurting. Trian placed his hardworking hands over my swelling belly and gave my forehead a quick kiss,/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6dddd8cfa61410f98869980a956a58d5""Let me know if they keep hurting you."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="b5d2b8a1f61912e75be19eb755f2354d"I rolled my eyes at his antics and settled myself in between his oh so familiar arms with a huge smile on myself,/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="16bcc3aae0c7ba3849884d0675850ea9""Don't worry husband, I can handle myself."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9477b278a34158fa98b6f84e9e473251"His grumbling answered me but we were shortly interrupted by a heavy nocking on our front door. I glanced up at the clock and sighed, I hadn't had time to get ready for them with all the children distracting me. Trian kissed my cheek before running off to find our twin boys as I went to answer the door, like I did every other Wednesday./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d53870fadefae721517433063691b37e""Mother! Father! Come in."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="25dbd126b8a0b07308439cde6b578687"I greeted them as they stood smiling on my doorstep with my baby brother, Tyler. I had been incredibly surprised when Anya told me off her pregnancy but in reason I should have known it would happen. My mother may have been middle aged but she was still in her late 30s so there was no reason whatsoever that she couldn't have another child. I looked around the doorframe and noticed the all to familiar guards that followed my father and now my baby brother everywhere./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="39c11d3cbba2f076868b2e86de36159e""Hey guys, your welcome to come in you know. The boys love seeing you."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="bc7cd70db73e806cf81e98d92b0ee080"With a friendly smile and a quick bow the guards entered my humble home and shut the door firmly behind them. The ice nation now knew about me but because of the birth of my baby brother it was not demanded that I return to the Ice Palace and train to become the next Queen. However, since I was the firstborn and the rightful ruler of Aszgeda my Accalia would become the next Queen when my father stepped down, if she was of age when that time came. When she hit her 7th birthday I would be forced to leave her in the castle every other weekend so her training could begin. But that was a few years off so I wasn't worrying about that just yet. br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d9d7b6e2ef9a5db31f6ea7124a0655dd"I curled up against my mother right besides our outdoor fire pit that generated heat for our home in the summer when it was too hot to have one inside but too cold not to have one, and rested my legs on top of my chosen. My father was tending to Tyler, Eden and Alex inside while Accalia and Lexie played happily together at my feet and the guards sat on the other side of the fire having a jolly time. It reminded me of the drop ship where the 100 teenagers laughed and shared memories, even for the short time that it lasted./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="eb6d79bab7caad5950ac4720d3bb39d6""Lexie looks so much like them."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1ca315778b47e63bb0718107a79ecf54"I sighed and turned to my mother as she stared at her only grandchild from her eldest with haunted eyes. Lexa's loss still haunted us all, everyday of every year. It pained my heart to know Lexa's daughter would never know her, would never know her more than her dead Aunty Lexa. It has been a hard decision to make but it was my mother in the end who called it, Lexie would never know her true parentage. It would just hinder her, send her on a pointless mission to find out what happened to Clarke if she ever did find out. A mission that could very easily end in her death if she ventured into enemy territories in a wild goose chase./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="414a50725123dcd8daf1eed946e17819"I never knew that I would come so far. From being a caged child in the mountain to a mother of four beautiful children with another one on the way, even married to an amazingly kind man. My life had changed so much so quickly but I couldn't have been happier with the way it ended up. With my chosen and mother at my side and my children at my feet I could safely say that I had achieved the greatest dream I had ever dreamt. To have a family, forever and always. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="414a50725123dcd8daf1eed946e17819"strongThe End./strong/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="414a50725123dcd8daf1eed946e17819"strongAhhhh the end has finally been reached. This has been a fantastic journey and i thank all you brilliant readers for all your love and support. /strong/p