While the Dawsons were searching for desperate means to escape a life without the luxury they once knew, life on the mountainside was progressing rapidly. As soon as winter passed, Rohan had brought in men to begin working on their new house. Belle had described everything she wanted in it, down to how she wanted the bedrooms and drawing room arranged, and Rohan had sketched the entire house and submitted the parchment to the workers. Only what his wife had pictured was made into something even more elaborate than she had imagined once he put it down in his drawing.
Once the building started, it continued to progress steadily, and each day it grew more into a large mansion rather than a small cottage. Rohan had turned everything Belle requested into something even bigger and better for her, insisting that a larger house was better for their future family. šš£ššš°ššš§š¼ššš.š°šØš¦
Since the house was still in progress, they continued living in the cottage, and in those months that had passed, Belle couldnāt have asked for anything more. Their children were growing, and Roseline had begun to take her first steps just as Evenlyās babies had also started to crawl, or more precisely, Aryen had begun to crawl, while Arielle, or more like Elle as they all called her, was growing slowly and was often sick and weak despite everything.
Though Evenly tried to act as if she had moved on, Belle could tell she hadnāt. She always caught her staring at Ravās portrait, the one Rohan had made and gifted her, which Evenly was so grateful for. She had framed it and placed it on her nightstand.
To keep Evenly from always sinking into sadness, and also to clear her own mind from dwelling on the memories she longed to remember, Belle made sure they went out more often to enjoy the spring air or sit under the birch tree next to the flowing creek behind their house. The water there was so clear one could see the stones beneath, and its sound flowing over the rocks was soothing, with their children sitting on the mat, playing... well, not exactly playing, not when Rosey was concerned.
Roseline and Aryen liked to fight over a toy even though Rohan made certain he made each child its own toy; the two would fight over one particular one until one finally ended up in tears, and it was always Aryen, as Roseline was a headstrong little demon who used her strength on the boy, who was just a vampire.
So to avoid their fight, and to keep Roseline from hurting the boy the way she always did, they kept the children apart. Sometimes Angel, who was almost always buried in a book now, would sit with them and take charge. Heād tie a rope around his sisterās ankle and loop the other end around his own wrist to keep her from charging across the mat toward the other toddler, who played on the opposite side in peace.
Arielle was always with her mother or secured gently against Angelās chest because of her condition. The little toddler always looked interested in playing, but God forbid she was kept with Roseline, who played way too aggressively for her age and liked to go rough. That was why she got along more with Rohan, who entertained her rough play, flinging her around like a doll and catching her.
Sometimes Belle would get so scared with the way he played with the girl, but Roseline seemed to like it, being carried by the back of her dress or being carried on his neck. There were days he treated her like a princess, which he always called her, but their daughter didnāt like the princess treatment like the rough play.
"Was Angel this way when he was a toddler?" Belle had asked one day, watching how Rosey was laughing to the high heavens as her father raised her up above his head with one hand.
"No, Angel was not half as rough as this little princess. I canāt help but wonder who she took after," Rohan had replied with a laugh.
"Youāre worried. I can feel it. What is bothering you?"
Many things were bothering Rohan, and one of them was her constant sadness of not remembering and getting her memories back, and the other one was Ravās condition. And then his most worry was the fact that vampires were building another town across the other mountainside, and though it was far and hundreds of miles away from their place, he didnāt want them finding out that he was still alive with his family here. He had begun to build their new home and didnāt want any reason for another war.
This place had already felt like home enough, and in no time their three-story building mansion would be completed and they would move into it, and the furniture he had paid for to be made would be brought in.
He wanted to put the life of killing aimlessly aside and become the family man he truly wanted to be, but having the vampires building new towns anywhere around here wasnāt really putting his mind at rest. Nobody knew he had caused the destruction that made many lose their possessions and close ones, and having them near meant there was a real risk of them finding out and the whole world coming for his family.
Knowing he could not hide his worries from his wife, who could feel them even when he tried, Rohan turned to lie on his side, his head resting on his bent elbow as he sighed and then finally told her about the vampiresā new towns.

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