Diamond Legacies: Part 18

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 Chicago, September 2226

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Nova Cullen

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Nova Masen was not my name.

I hated the sound of it and yet knew I couldn’t argue about it.

The name itself of course was a fine name. I liked that my father and grandfather gave me a name that wasn’t just one they picked from a random generator. I recognised the significance of it. I knew it was one of my uncle’s surnames as a human, I knew it was the middle name of my uncle Eddie. They gave me the name because it’s still close to those I love without being a beacon of my family heritage. Any name linked to Esther was out of the question, Balev or Josephson were not up for discussion. My sister had taken the name Balev years ago and it was too late to shield her from any attention it warranted. At the end of the day very few knew that my grandmother’s legal married name was Balev, and no one in the world outside of the Volturi mansion knew that Ivana Balev had children, let alone two, and with all the protections and spells cast on myself and Eden, no one would actually be able to trace us from our mother but my parents and even grandparents were now being even more overprotective than ever before.

Ever since these fanatics showed up on the Volturi doorstep. They wanted to make sure there would be no single trace of me under the Cullen name. At least for now.

It made my stomach churn in knots.

I wasn’t like Eden. I loved our name. I loved being a Cullen. I wasn’t ashamed to admit that. I loved being the centre of attention in school. I loved the power it gave me. I never wanted to give up my name. I wanted to make my family proud. I wanted my entire childhood to live up to the name ‘Cullen’. I never wanted to hide. I knew from childhood one day I would stand next to my father and his father; I would be listed as one of the people that helped forward humanity, I would do good as a Cullen. I wanted to continue their legacy and do the right thing. I wanted to be everything they were.

And here I was, my second week of my residency in the Cullen Chicago Hospital. The hospital my grandfather built from the ground up. The heart of the Cullen dynasty, the hospital my father was raised in, the hospital my parents worked at together, and I was meant to walk in here with my head held high. The next generation of Cullen doctors and yet I couldn’t. I was Nova Masen, just another resident.

No one knew the blood in my veins ran through the great Carlisle Cullen. No one knew that I called one of the powerful men in the world, papa.

It sounded conceited and vain. I knew that. But when I had been raised to be proud of who I was, to be grateful for what I had, I couldn’t help but feel revulsion over the fact I had to pretend otherwise.

I was being robbed of the legacy I so desperately wanted to live up to, to protect. All because of some fanatics obsessed with my grandmother.

My father called me just a few hours before I was due to start my first day at the hospital to tell me the news. He knew I wasn’t going to be happy but insisted it was just a short-term thing. I would be able to be Nova Cullen again soon, I just had to wait. Focus on my career, prove I’m worthy of being a surgeon and then I’d get to surprise everyone I had been a Cullen the whole time. I liked the idea of that. I’d get a taste of Eden’s victories. A chance to prove the name Cullen didn’t get me where I was.

Although who was I kidding. I knew it definitely did get me where I was, but at least I could prove I was deserving of it. Medicine ran through my blood. It wasn’t just my name that got me here, my grades proved I was every bit my father’s daughter. I was the only person in the last decade to get a hundred percent on the last exam. All my worrying, my stress and my fear of failure was for nothing. I had passed with flying colours, just as everyone in my life said I would.

It boosted my confidence immensely. It wasn’t money or my father that got me through school. It was me. I still had to work for those grades, and I did. I did it. That was enough to ignite the faith I had lost. The faith I had as a five-year-old little girl that watched my mother heal an injured bird in the snow, the little girl that knew there and then I wanted to be like her. I wanted to save lives. I wanted to help those that couldn’t help themselves.

Losing Lucan also played a part in my new found out look on life.

I didn’t lose him exactly, but I replayed that day every night as I curled into his blazing heat at my side. Every night I watched as his chest evened out and he fell asleep and every night I closed my eyes and I saw him bleeding out in front of me. I saw my mother covered in his blood. I could hear Amirah’s words over and over.

You’re not immortal.

How many times do you think you can go through this pain Nova?

How many times do you want to be ripped open?

My hand rests on the side of his chest every night, I feel the blood pulsing through his veins, and I find comfort in it.

He’s alive and he’s next to me.

As he will always be.

I would wake up screaming quite often. Screaming his name, my nightmares consisted of him not being saved. Him dying and my aunts failing to bring him back. Him bleeding out in front of me and being unhealable. And sometimes, sometimes I had versions where I’m the vampire ripping my wolf carotid artery out instead.

“Nova” his voice echoes around my head and I wake with a jerk. I’m sweating even with my loose silk pyjamas. “I’m here babe” his voice is barely audible, even for me, even in the silence of the dark.

I don’t open my eyes. I let the heat of him, his voice, and his breathing comfort me as I relax back onto the bed.

It’s funny really. I used to hate how clingy he was. I used to hate how controlling and how much he used to linger on my skin when he wasn’t around but not anymore. Not now I’m haunted by the pain of seeing his blood on my hands. I used to feel smothered by him, I never felt free because of the imprint. I recognised his love for me, and I would always be grateful for that, but I also saw the downside of the imprint, the weakness it brought, loving someone as much as Lucan loved me was suffocating for both parties.

But that had changed. Seeing him dying in front of me had changed that. I clung to his arm as he wrapped it around me. I tucked myself under his chin just for a moment and breathed everything about him in.

We were never this cuddly before. We were never this close. Not before he’d almost died.

I didn’t realise until now how I tried to rebel against the imprint in the only way I could. The imprint was about the heart, about instincts and protection above all else, and so the fact I pushed him away regularly with intimacy was completely under my control. Lucan would go celibate for the rest of his very long life as long as I was safe. Imprints weren’t about the physical side of a relationship. They were the emotional side, except an imprint magnified it tenfold. I say imprints weren’t about the physical side, but the emotional connection definitely affected it. We couldn’t keep our hands off each other at the start, I remember thinking how fun it was to have him, to have my own wolf at my side who was always eager to do what I wanted. But the physical connection of intimacy also strengthened the emotional one. The one I slowly began to feel suffocated by. Over the years I began to feel cold towards him in that aspect. I blamed it on school mostly and he didn’t seem to mind when he had to train so hard with his newfound mission, but I knew really it was my own mind trying to assert control. Hoping that some part of my life would be on my own terms.

And bless his heart, he never asked for anything more. Not once. Even though he knew I had changed from the beginning of our relationship. He knew the stress of school, of losing my grandmother, of my sister leaving and of my mother’s grief was enough to change me.

The last few years had changed us all.

“I need a shower” I murmured into his hot skin. Being this close to him only made me sweat more. I pulled way to look at him biting his lip, he was watching me with concern.

“Nova, if I had known. I wouldn’t have done it if I knew you’d be like this. I know I was impulsive and stupid. Trust me, Amirah has drilled it into me since. I just…” he said, he always had a problem with words, he struggled expressing himself. That was part of our problems too now i thought about it.

“This isn’t your fault” I said trying to soothe his worries. I knew my words were the imprint too. It was his fault but there was no use blaming him for his instincts. He couldn’t control his urge to fight that vampire no more than he could control the act of imprinting on me.

“I don’t want to cause you pain” he said, his voice breaking in pure emotion. It was probably the most real and expressive sentence he had ever said to me. His eyes swam with tears. I had never seen him cry. He blinked making sure this wouldn’t the be the time I did. I gently pushed his large arm off my body as I moved to leave the bed. I stripped my sticky clothes from my body and made my way to our en suite bathroom leaving him in the bed. Emotional talks were foreign with us, and I didn’t know how to respond. I was never taught how to be in a relationship. I was never taught what an imprint was or what it did to you. I was avoiding it all as much as i could, like my sister did. It was the only thing I knew to do when it came to Lucan.

The power of emotions I felt about him, swinging from one end of the spectrum to the other often overwhelmed me. How could you hate and love your partner all at the same time? How could you hate the control he has over you but also want to die for him and never leave his side at the same time?

The intensity of my feelings for him, the confliction was overbearing, and I just needed to breathe for a moment.

“Are you coming back to bed?” he asked in the dark. I knew he feared asking, he probably ran it over his head a dozen times before he finally said it out loud. He hated asking anything of me. Unless it involved keeping me safe in his mind of course. He was fine telling me what to do or where to go but when it came to the bedroom. He was spineless. He struggled with the intimacy and how to ask, he let me control every aspect of our personal life when it came to our actual relationship.

He was as inexperienced as I was when we first got together so the hesitancy was natural but even as the years went by, he was the perfect gentleman, always asking for consent, for permission with nearly every touch. He treated me like a porcelain doll, like I could break under his touch at any second. He would stare at me lying next to him and sometimes I couldn’t handle the love he had in his eyes for me. It was like I was his entire world.

I guess I was.

That’s what an imprint was wasn’t it?

“yeah” I called out of the bathroom as I turned the shower off. It was still only early morning. I had to be at the hospital for five am, but I still had two hours before I had to be there.

I walked out to see different coloured sheets on the bed and Lucan throwing the top sheet back over himself.

“You changed the bedding?” I asked astonished. He had never ever ever done housework. He had never so much as put a plate in the dishwasher. I wasn’t even sure he knew where the spare bedding was kept, let alone how to change the sheets.

“You sweat right through, I figured you wouldn’t want to get into a damp bed” he chuckled, and his boyish smile grinned back at me. I couldn’t help but smile back.

“When did you learn to make a bed?” I asked although little things were wrong. The pillowcases were backwards, the top sheet was upside down.

“I um I googled it” he blushed as I pulled on fresh pyjamas and climbed in next to him. He waited to see if I wanted to cuddle, he had learnt my cues well. He knew when I wanted sex, he knew when I wanted to be left alone, he knew every part of my body language. I tucked myself into his side, my head resting on his shoulder, and he let out a small sigh as he laid his arm around me. His palm coming to my hip and the waist band of my shorts. Not to take them off. As I said, he never initiated anything I clearly didn’t want to do. He was just making skin contact. Like he needed to feel me under his fingers, to make sure I was real.

“I’m impressed” I smiled up at him. I genuinely was and I didn’t give him many genuine smiles that weren’t the imprint reacting to his goofy grin.

“I love you” he said his eyes catching mine in a trance I couldn’t look away from. I moved so I was sitting across his lower torso as I leant down to kiss him in response to his words.

Both his hands went to my hips now as I welcomed him into more than just kissing.

It used to be methodical, at least for me, something I did for pleasure alone but now, now there was a little less obligation and a little more love behind my kisses and touches. Now I wanted him because I loved him and not to scratch an itch because he was there.

I hated that it had cost almost losing him to feel this way, but it had, and I was never going to be able to cut the imprint out. I was never going to be able to separate it from either of us.

We’d never have picked each other if an imprint wasn’t involved. I’d never have dated someone like Lucan, and I knew he’d never have dated a vampire either but here we were. Desperate to get closer to each other and to show our love to the other.

All because of one little event in an alley way.

Being apart from him in the day was harder than it was before. When we had to be apart before he would message me constantly, when ever he could and If I didn’t reply within an acceptable timeframe he would get upset or turn up on the doorstep asking if I was okay. With my twelve hour shifts at the hospital I welcomed his messages, in fact I eagerly anticipated them and if he hadn’t messaged me within a few hours, id be the one messaging him.

I hated who I was turning in to but sometimes I felt he was all I had in this world. Especially at the moment with my sister so far away and the fact i was practically banned from Volturi premises. I barely saw my parents with my new job, i couldn't see Ophelia because of the drama at the Vand my sister rarely let me in her head at all.

I dressed and said goodbye to Lucan, leaving him in our bed and making my way to the hospital.

I had to admit, I did get a thrill being a doctor. I was finally here, finally starting the life I was destined for, and it wasn’t quite as scary as I thought. And I was also a lot better at managing the blood than I thought too.

I didn’t struggle with bloodlust, not in comparison to my full vampire relatives but it was still my main and only form of sustenance. If I went a day without drinking, the smell of human blood would send a strange sensation through my throat, not painful, just uncomfortable. Like when I tried to help the girl on the street during her transition. I followed my fathers training and made sure no matter what I started my day with a full belly of animal blood. Whether it was from the stash in my fridge provided by my grandfather or straight from a deer itself in the surrounding forests.

Drinking every day was overboard, but it was the safest option for now until I was a well-seasoned doctor like my parents and grandfather.

I arrived at the hospital slightly earlier than needed and decided to head to my favourite patient.

I had been warned about this, but I had been here two weeks now and there was one particular patient already seared onto my heart. My mother told me ‘don’t get attached’ but when a frail lonely old man tells you his entire life story in the time it takes you to check on him every morning it’s hard to resist.

“Nova!” Mr Griffith exclaimed when he saw me entire his room. I quickly put my finger to my lips to shh him.

“Mr Griffith you can’t call me that remember” I warned him with a wink. He chucked and shook his head mischievously.

“Dr Masen” he repeated with a whisper and a smile. I smiled back as I went to check on his vitals.

“Looking good for surgery today John” I said with a happy smile.

“Hoping so” he said in return as he shuffled to get comfortable in his bed. He’d been here a week now, various things had to go right before he was able to have the surgery he needed. It wasn’t life threatening; it was just a minor growth that shouldn’t be there. Its funny, because it would take my mother all of about ten seconds to completely obliterate it with her mind. He wouldn’t even need to be put under anaesthesia, but it takes a week and a four-hour surgery for a normal person to do it. I could see why my mother used to practically live at the hospital. So many to help. So many to save. My father too. He could do John’s surgery in thirty minutes with his eyes closed, I was sure.

My pager buzzed with a message for one of my other patients.

“I have to leave you for now Mr Griffith but ill be back before your surgery to check on you” I said to him with a warm smile.

“Get that nurse Jackie to bring my breakfast would you dear?” he asked with a wave of his hand.

“You can’t eat today remember?” I asked him and he chuckled in realisation.

“I forgot!” he said with a tone of pure delight. “Have a fantastic day dear! And save lots of lives” he encouraged me as he always did when I left him. I smiled widely at him as I left waving him goodbye and making my way to my next patient.

Overall, my morning went great. Residents were mostly given the nonurgent, less likely to die patients early on and I was grateful. I knew the death and pain and blood would come in my career but for now, I was just happy with the likes of Mr Griffith making my morning.

I knew there was a lesson to be learned but I was holding onto the happiness the job brought as much as I could.

Being in a place like the hospital was a true test of my ability. I wasn’t quite sure how my father managed it. So many auras, so many souls around to decipher. I couldn’t evaluate them all or id have no time to be an actual doctor. But there was often a select few, mostly like Mr Griffith that I felt gravitated towards. Over the next few weeks of my job, I had many patients like him. I saw their auras; how bright and optimistic they all were in the face of uncertainty and some even in the face of possible death and I lived to be by those people. Their kindness and their humanity were infectious, and I sort of fed off it. Their auras boosted my own.

However, the opposites equally diminished my mood. Pain. There was so much pain here sometimes I felt like I was drowning in it. Even the optimistic ones felt the pain, they were just better at hiding it. Sometimes it was literal pain, from what ever they were suffering from, sometimes it was fear and grief and worry. Id never have put those emotions in the same box as pain before now but being here I realised they were all very similar and often came as pairs. Rarely was there one without another.

I was having a particularly hard day. A month into my job one of my favourite patients died on the table. It was a risky procedure; the patient was prepared for possible death, but they took it in stride. I hadn’t been in the operating room; it was still too early in my career, but I felt the loss all the same. It felt like it was me, like I was responsible. Even though they couldn’t have been saved. Maybe not even by my father had he been the surgeon, but it didn’t change a thing about how I felt. Other things went wrong too during the hours that followed, no deaths but just a string of bad news after the other.

It was my first real hard day and seeing the emotions and auras of others around me feeling the same was a burden I hated to bear.

“Nova” Tilly sighed as she saw me in the locker room. I was leaning over my legs sitting on the bench. I felt like I could sleep for a week I was exhausted. Tilly was a fellow resident. We had become fast friends in the craziness of our job, and I was glad I had someone by my side that understood it all. I knew I had my parents, but I had to stay away from them, and they were rarely at the hospital at the moment anyway. I wanted to ask about the Volturi every day, but I knew I had to stay away. I had promised my mother I would. But It didn’t stop me worrying about them. Especially when I heard whispers around the hospital. My father’s absence was noticeable. He had dropped from six days a week to four and people were beginning to ask questions. He had put his deputy in charge the other three days, and I was fairly sure he knew who I was because he always seemed to pick on me to answer questions in lab. Whilst residents were officially doctors now and we were allowed to treat patients, we were still learning and we were still training to eventually become a surgeon, if possible. So, two days a week were still mandated to training in what was called the ‘lab’. It didn’t make sense really. It wasn’t a laboratory as such, but alas that was what everyone called it.

It was no secret I was the top of the class; it took barely a week before my exam result was known amongst the class, but I still felt extra pressure when it came to my father’s right-hand man.  Considering he was a close ‘work friend’ of my father, I had a feeling he might know more than most at this hospital when it came to my father’s family.

“Nova are you okay?” Tilly asked again when I didn’t raise my head. I felt like I was drowning, my head was pounding in my skull, and I couldn’t lift my head to look at her even if I wanted to.

“Do you need help? When did you last drink some water?” she asked concerned as her hand went to my forehead.

I needed to pull it together. I needed her to stop worrying before she tried to prod tubes and tests into me to make sure I was okay.

But the auras, the emotions of the day were still overwhelming me. This was a struggle I never knew I’d have to face.

“I think I should get someone” she said after another moment.

“Tilly” I managed to say, and I moved to look at her, but looking at her aura was blinding to my eyes.

“I’m going to get someone” she said and stood before I could stop her. I was too weak to stop her. I cursed myself for not being able to pull it together. I needed to fix myself, and quick.

It was a nurse that entered with Tilly. Tilly was a qualified doctor, but she knew that the nurses were the backbone of the hospital. They had seen so much; they knew so much more than you would think. Tilly knew I was showing signs of exhaustion and yet she brought someone in as a second opinion, just in case.

“Nova,” It was nurse Maggie. She was the oldest nurse in the hospital. She had been here long before even my father was born let alone me. She had been offered retirement years ago but refused to take it. Saying the hospital was her home and she would die here before leaving. I asked my father about her on my second day, and he joked that Carlisle would probably kill him if he fired Maggie. As long as she was capable of work, he was happy to have her here. Too many people loved her to let her go. It was sweet and over the month I had watched Maggie work with an admirable impeccable attitude I hoped I would have decades into the job. I smiled at her use of my first name. It wasn’t often nurses called doctors by their names. But Maggie was different, she knew everyone’s name.

“we’ll be okay now Dr Maven, thank you for finding me” Maggie said with a dismissive nod to Tilly. It was funny really; she was like the hospital’s grandma. Everyone did as she said without question, even those that technically outranked her. As Tilly left, Maggie came to sit next to me, her arm came around my shoulders in comfort.

“Your father is in his office you know,” she spoke to me, and I immediately span my head to look at her at my side. She winked at me, and I should have guessed she knew. This woman knew everything about this hospital. Everything. “I remember sometimes he would get overwhelmed too. He thinks he hid it, but I noticed it. So did your mother. She knew ways of calming him with just a simple touch. It was a delight to see those two here. I miss them greatly. But so glad I get to see the next generation.” She said with her calming voice and a small nudge to my shoulder.

“My mother has been going through a lot the last few years” I informed her. I didn’t know how much she was told. She clearly knew who we were, very least she knew the connections of our family. Whether she guessed the last Carlisle was the original Carlisle, or that we were all immortal I wasn’t sure. It honestly wouldn’t surprise me if she did.

“Yes, things have been hard on your family.” She said with a nod. I frowned at her.

“How much do you know?” I asked instantly.

“I’m very perceptive my dear.” She said with a wink. “If it helps, your father used to go see the babies” she said changing the subject away from questions about herself.

“Pardon?” I asked confused.

“When it was all too much for him, when he felt like he was drowning, if Ivana wasn’t around, he went to visit the nursery. I think he liked seeing them, they made him feel better. It would distract him from all the pain he saw, life and happiness were a nice change for him.”

I could understand that. Honestly, I was stupid not to think of it myself.

“Thank you” I said to her with a nod. “I might just go visit”

“Go by the chiefs office. I know he’d want to know what you’re going through. I know you suffer from the same… affliction he does… the same ability.” She corrected herself before continuing. “Your mother had miraculous hands, but your father had empathy and a personal understanding I have never seen before in my sixty years on this job. Not even Carlisle has a candle to his sons touch when it comes to that man’s affinity for humans”

She said the word ‘human’ and I knew that this woman knew exactly what creatures my family were.

“I will, thank you Maggie” I said with a soft smile. She gave me a courteous nod and we both left the locker room to return to our jobs. I headed straight for my father’s office, hoping I would get away with a small visit. I promised him I’d stay away to avoid questions from others, but I really just needed my papa right now, and I hoped he wouldn’t scold me for it.

I could see my father pacing around his office as he spoke to someone through the phone. The glass windows that were normally hidden behind blinds were clear to view. I arrived at his PA’s desk outside his office.

“I...” I didn’t even get a chance to finish.

“You can go in Dr Masen” she said, and I frowned at her promptness. I could see my father deep in conversation.

“I can wait until he’s finished,” I said wondering why she would let someone interrupt him.

“I’m under strict orders to let you in whenever you want to” she said with a knowing smirk that made me feel slightly uncomfortable for some reason. I returned a fake one to her and entered my father office. He let out a warm smile at the sight of me but continued pacing and talking into the phone.

It was hospital business, thankfully. I was glad it wasn’t anything to do with the Volturi. My father went around lowering the blinds so no one could see in before he hung up and turned to me. His fatherly smile beamed at me for a moment before he likely took in the train wreck that was my own aura and emotions.

“you’ve exhausted yourself” he said instantly falling next to me on the couch. His hands went to my face as if he was examining me for marks that weren’t there.

“It’s been a hard day” I said choking on my own voice. He let out a sigh and pulled me into his chest.

I thought I was strong but being held by my father just made me break. I let the tears fall from my eyes onto his white shirt and he held me close.

“Days like this are the hardest of all, but there are so many good ones in between. Our profession is one of the hardest imaginable, but its also one of the most rewarding.” He coaxed me and I pulled away from his embrace for a moment and gave him a small nod as I wiped my tears.

“Tomorrow will be a better day, I promise” he said, and I knew he wasn’t lying to me. I held onto my fathers’ words like a prayer.

“Maggie told me to go to the nursery. That it used to help you, well that and mama of course” I said with a grin, and he rolled his eyes.

“you’ve been talking to the village crazy lady, have you?” he asked.

“I really don’t think she’s crazy. Crazily perceptive maybe” I said with wide eyes. He laughed at this.

“She was Carlisle’s best friend. Well one of anyway. She knows it all. So don’t let her trick you or tell you otherwise.”

“She knows what we are?” I asked in astonishment.

“of course, she does. She and your grandfather have coffee nearly every week on Sundays to catch up. Well Carlisle doesn’t drink the coffee, but you understand the sentiment. She has been by his side through it all.” he said with a shrug. I laughed at this, the idea of my grandfather, in his eternal youth sitting down with a little eighty-year-old woman on a Sunday afternoon catching up like old friends was the best picture imaginable.

“And your assistant?” I asked looking to the door.

“Oh, because she let you in?” he asked wondering why I was asking. I nodded. “I just told her that you didn’t need permission or appointment to see me. That you were allowed to enter whenever you wanted.”

“Did you explain why?” I asked him horrified.

“She doesn’t need to know why.” He said with a frown. I couldn’t believe his innocence over the situation.

“Yes. Yes, she does papa” I said panic rising in my voice. I suddenly realised why her smirk was slightly off to me.

“Nova?” he frowned in confusion at the panic in my voice.

“Papa!” I exclaimed I really really didn’t want to say the words to my own father, he couldn’t be that stupid, could he? I was not going to say the word mistress out loud. Nope. He would work it out. Surely. I barely looked a few years younger than him; ‘daughter’ was not the first thought people would have when they saw me and him together, we didn’t look alike enough to even pass as siblings. Not really. I had his eyes, but my features were definitely my mothers.

“Oh shit” he mumbled as he caught onto my reasoning. “I’m married, she knows I’m married!” he said as he stood and pointed at the picture of my mother and him together smiling on his desk.

“That doesn’t stop most men” I warned him, but I saw his body physically repulse at my words.

“I will tell her immediately. In fact,” he said as he walked over to the door. “Cassie, can I have a word please?” he asked poking his head out. She followed him in moments later and eyed me curiously at the couch.

“I’m going to tell you something and you have to promise not to tell anyone” he said carefully and my hand went straight to my forehead.

“That is not how you’re supposed to word it papa” I said scolding him immediately. Realisation came across my fathers face again and honestly all I could do now was laugh at the situation.

“She’s my daughter!” he exclaimed pointing at me across the room. The horrified look on his face was a picture and I wish I could have captured it to show my mother later so we could laugh together.

“Mine and Ivana’s daughter. Ivana is my wife. Dr Balev. Nova is our child. Fully genetic, biological, child.” He said emphasising every single word to make sure Cassie heard it. I mean legally he was lying about the wife part, but I knew my comment wouldn't help the situation. To those that knew my parents, they were practically married. Cassie just stood there looking between us for a moment.

“I can see the resemblance” she nodded in acceptance as she tilted her head looking at me and back at my father. I saw my father let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank god for that. Please, please Cassie, don’t tell anyone, or I will fire you.” he turned to her then.

“What my father means is, eventually I will be known as Dr Cullen as my father and his father and grandfather were. Its not that we don’t want people knowing who I am, it’s just, I want to settle and prove myself worthy before I reveal I’m a legacy” I explained glaring at my father for his tone. I knew he feared people finding out who I was, but it seemed a little extreme when everyone would know eventually.

“I understand” she said with a nod.

“Thank you” my father sighed in relief and my bad mood had definitely disappeared seeing my dad freak out so much over the situation. Cassie gave a small nod and left us alone again in the office.

“Get back to work Nova” he said with a chuckle and a smile in my direction. “Go see some babies, it helps with the auras” he said with a wave of his hand.

“Bye papa, thank you for the pep talk and the good laugh” I said and hugged his waist.

“I’m sure I won’t live it down” he gave me a knowing smile as I left. I waved to him as I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face as I left him.

I almost skipped to the nursery on the fourth floor. Feeling lighter than I had in weeks.

Babies would make me feel better. Sweet little babies. Hospitals had so much death and pain, but they also had life.

Life and pure happiness and this was definitely going to be my favourite floor of the hospital in years to come, I was sure of it.