Alpha's Regret-My Luna Has A Son
Chapter 16
Another two months later.
Today was the day, the last inspection to say whether or not all our hard work had paid off.
Macey, Zoe, and I watched as Valarie talked to the health and safety inspector from the balcony.
He had walked around the entire building with his measuring tape and torch, his clipboard
tucked
under his arm and pen behind his ear as he went over every nook and cranny in this place.
We secretly called him the birdman. His nose looked more like a beak, his beady little eyes too
far apart. Macey snorts when a gust of wind has him clutching his toupee. It was chocolate
brown and not even close to the greying on the sides of his head. Valarie watched over his
shoulder as he wrote on his clipboard on the front lawn, giving the place one last scrutinizing
look before shaking his head in disbelief.
He tears off the piece of paper and hands it to Valarie, who stares at it. He walks over to his red
sedan and climbs in while Valarie stares at the form.
“Come on, we should go see what birdman says needs doing this time,” says Macey. Zoe and I
went to retrieve our kids from our room, who played happily in their playpen with their blocks.
Scooping up Valerian, I set his feet on the ground, and we carefully walked down the steps to
the ground floor. He started walking earlier than expected. Last month he just stood up and took
his first steps. He was pretty smart for his age.
Valarie is still standing in the yard, staring up at the Hotel. As we approached her, a look, I
couldn’t decipher painted her face.
“He said four rogue women would never accomplish anything on our own without help, ladies,”
Valarie says, and I sigh, wondering what he has told her needs fixing.
We stop beside her and look back at the huge building. No more peeling paint, the exterior
white with blue and light grey trims, the hedges cut to perfection, the roof painted a deep grey,
flowers hung from the top, and flowers along the hand railings. It looked like a brand new place.
I lost track of the number of times doubts rained down on us, but now standing out the front
looking upon the building a year later. I realized all the blood, sweat, tears, and frustration, and
anger when people refused to help, were all worth it. Four rogue women with no future, no help,
and just pure determination gave this run-down Hotel a new life.
Every callous, every blister, every cut and graze was all worth it, every sleepless night. It all paid
off, and seeing the look on Valarie’s face was priceless. She was a tough woman, with an even
tougher exterior, yet not even she could hide her emotion as we stared at what we
accomplished.
“So, what’s the verdict?” I ask, staring at our hard work.
“The verdict, ladies, is we are now open for business,” Valarie says casually.
“Well, we will get it done. We can- ” Macey starts to say before stopping. I look at Valerie, her lips
tugging up at the comers, and Macey looks around me at her. It took a few seconds for her
words to register.
“Wait, you said?” Macey asks before stopping.
“I said we are open for business, we did it, girls,” Valarie says, and we all erupt in squeals of joy,
jumping up and down excitedly. Macey Howls loudly, and we join her.
It must have been a sight from the road to see four women standing near the road howling at
the sun and cheering, but we didn’t care. We did it. We did the impossible. But most of all, we
proved to ourselves that we could do anything with a bit of determination and probably
stubbornness, hard work.
We had proven to everyone who said it was impossible that they were wrong and that we were
more than just four rogue whores with an unrealistic idea. That unrealistic idea was now real and
standing in front of us, showing us we were capable of so much more than anyone believed of
Laughing and walking back to celebrate with the kids, we talked about advertising and hiring. I
had an idea. I ran that idea past Valarie last month, and now we only needed a chef for the
restaurant when things kicked off.
Four rogue single mothers made this place what it is, so sticking to that, we decided that
everyone we hired would be rogue women. A hotel owned and run by rogues, the cities less
desirable. Valarie loved the idea, so Macey, Zoe, and I went to every community center and put
out word last month that Valarie was hiring.
The next day the lineup went halfway down the street. It was hard work interviewing everyone,
but once we opened, we had fifty staff on rotational shifts. All that was needed was a head chef.
But for now, Valarie and I would have to make do, Valarie was an excellent cook and had been
teaching me, and that would have to be good enough until we find someone.
Walking into the restaurant, Valarie walks out back to grab a bottle of wine while I hold the
glasses
Hearing a cough, I pause, looking out the doors leading to the storerooms.
“Are you okay, Val?” I ask before I hear more coughing.
“Val?” I ask while walking into the storerooms. I see Valarie hunched over, having a coughing fit,
the worst one I had seen her have as she gasped for air. The wine glasses slipped from my
hands, shattering on the tiled floor when I saw her collapse.
It was like watching everything in slow motion as I saw her clutch the steel shelf, her hand
covered in blood. Valarie turns to look at me, no doubt to tell me not to worry when she coughs
again. Blood sprays from her lips and dribbles down her chin as her eyes glazed over, and she
was falling, her skin pasty and covered in a cold sweat. I screamed as I saw her tumble to the
floor as I raced toward her trying to get to her in time, but she crashed against the floor.
“Valarie : “I shriek as I clutch her, her hand weakly grabbing my arm as I pull her head into my
lap.
“Call an ambulance,” I scream out. Valarie starts choking, her hand clutching my arm as I turn her
head so she doesn’t choke on her own blood while she gasps for breath.
“Hang on, Val, help is coming, “I tell her as Zoe races in, grabbing Valerian as he walks out and
nearly walks over the broken glass. Zoe holds both babies, clutching them as she looks on in
horror as Valarie lay gasping for air. Macey is talking frantically on the phone to emergency
services while I look down at her in my arms.
“It’s okay, you’ll be okay,” she says as she gasps. Tears stream down my face as I hold her hands.
Holding the hands of the woman who had the biggest heart in the world. I admired her strength,
a woman I saw bigger than life and gave me a home. My heart broke when she squeezed my
arm, trying to comfort me even though she was the one that needed comforting.
“They will be here in twenty minutes. They are flat out, ” Macey says, pacing. Twenty minutes? I
knew it would be because she is rogue; no one cares for rogues, not even the health system.
Valarie turns her face to look up at me and smiles sadly.
“Where is Valerian?” She gasps, barely audible, and I look over at Zoe.
“He’s here,” I tell her. Macey grabs him bringing him over so she can see him. Macey stops next
to her, kneeling next to us.
“He looks so much like his father,” Valarie tells me; I nod, wiping the tears that were dripping off
my chin.
Valerian pats her arm, not understanding, and Valarie smiles. I move her hand for her so she can
touch his little foot that was beside her, she closes her eyes, and I see a tear slip down her cheek.
“I am so proud of you girls,” Valarie croaks out, and we all nod, all of us crying and blubbering
messes as we watch one of the most inspirational women we know suffer.
“Don’t speak like that, you will be fine. Help is on the way.” I tell her. Valarie coughs; more blood
spills from her lips that were a bluish tinge. Zoe hands me some paper towels, I wipe her mouth
with shaky hands.
“Not this time Evie” She replies. My lips quiver, and my heart breaks at her words because deep