Put Out My Fire

"Wow, she looks so beautiful."

"No wonder brother has not been coming home lately."

"What's her name?"

"I think it was Esmée."

Esmée had never had the best sleep in her life. She wasn't sure if it was the luxurious sheets and floral fabric conditioner, or the fact that she was staying in a comfortable room. 

The bed she was sleeping in that evening was incomparable to the hand-me-down mattress in her previous bed. The guestrooms at the Bardin's mansion had better cushions than her own. 

Just as she was still in dreamland, however, she thought she heard voices of children.

She merely dismissed the idea, focusing on her peaceful sleep, but after a while, the voices became louder and louder and she swore she felt a weight on her slender body. 

When she fluttered her eyes open, she screamed, hastily getting up, "Ahhh! Oh, my goodness! Who - who are you?!"

In front of her were two twin girls with caramel hair, and the boy who was earlier climbing on top of her was a blond boy with the same color as Orion's eyes. 

"Oh, sorry, sister Esmée. Did we startle you?" One of the girls asked. "We are Orion's siblings. We came inside your room just to take a peek, but we are sorry. We did more than just a peek."

"I'm Cora and this is my twin, Clara. My younger brother here is Zander," the girl added.

'Right. Orion had younger siblings,' Esmée thought as she was catching her breath, still recovering from the shock. 

There was no questioning Zander, however, he looked so much the same as Orion. 

"How - how did you get in my room?" She asked, panning her eyes on the three. 

Just as she asked the same, Orion came rushing to her room, right after hearing her scream! He yelled at the three, "You guys! What did you do? What are you even doing here?!"

"Her room was open, brother," reasoned Clara. 

Orion shook his head. With his hands on his waist, he said, "No, I doubt it. Why would Esmée not lock her room - "

"No, I - last night, I went down to get a pitcher of water from the kitchen. I must have forgotten to lock the door," Esmée revealed. She then forced a smile at the children and said, "It's okay. They are just kids."

"See, brother. Sister-in-law likes us. No need to be angry," told Cora. She then turned to Esmée and offered a hug. 

While startled, Esmée could never bring herself to deny such a gesture of sweetness from a beautiful young girl. Moreover, one who was claiming to b her... sister-in-law.

"Esmée, I'm sorry if they disturbed your sleep. I'll have them leave you alone, but if you don't mind, my family is actually downstairs waiting to meet you," Orion revealed. "I was hoping you could join us for a family breakfast."

'Family breakfast?' She silently thought. Her meals with her father and his family were never pleasant and rarely did she join them on the dining table. For some reason, she wanted to see how Orion's family was like. 

With a tinge of gleam in her green eyes, she said, "I'd - I'd love to meet your family, Orion."

"Then, you can go, brother," said Clara. "We will go down with sister-in-law. Zander will go down with you."

"No, don't disturb her," Orion instructed his sisters, but the twins gave Esmée puppy eyes that she wound up letting them stay. 

Giggling, Esmée said, "I suppose we could go down together."

Zander acted to get off Esmée's bed, but before walking out with Orion, he gawked at her face and told, "You have the same eyes as our mother. No wonder my brother likes you. Nice to meet you, sister Esmée."

Hearing the remark, Esmée found herself blushing. He clearly saw the triumphant grin, painting in Orion's eyes as he walked out the door. She swore this man is easily making her embarrassed more and more. She frowned, thinking, 'Is he using his siblings?'

She squinted, but still wound up chuckling at his efforts.

As Esmée took a bath, the twins waited in her bedroom, just talking about anything under the sun. They were being careful, however, not to spill the beans about their world and that of magic. They knew Esmée did not know this part of Orion's life... Not just yet. 

When Esmée changed into more comfortable clothing, she made her way to the kitchen with the twins, both holding each of her hands. The gesture made her smile from ear to ear. Never had she had this kind of bond in the past. 

Arriving at the dining table, she heard gasping moments. Several awws and ooohs echoed through the dining room upon her presence. 

The first woman who approached her was incredibly beautiful with white hair and was nearly teary-eyed at the sight of her. 

"Oh, so beautiful. Reminds me so much of Amanda," said Agatha. She caressed Esmée's face and said, "My child. Welcome to the family. It's so nice to meet you."

'Welcome to the family?' Esmée thought while awkwardly receiving the embrace of this woman. 

When the woman let go, she said, "My name is Agatha. I am Orion's grandmother."

Esmée's eyeballs were ready to pop out of her eyes, shocked at how the woman could be Orion's grandmother. The next thing she noticed was how everyone was chuckling. 

She heard Agatha said, "I have the best plastic surgeon in the world, so I look really young."

Esmée practically swallowed her own spew at Agatha's words. Then came another man who also looked young, introducing himself as Orion's grandfather. Theo was his name. 

Amanda and Christopher also made themselves known to Esmée. 

She received the warmest embrace coming from Amanda, and she even got a peck on her cheek. Amanda said to her, "Esmée, I want you to live a better life now and I hope that you can trust Orion to give you the happiness you deserve."

"Come here. You sit beside me and let's talk about your date with my son? Did you know he had been planning to take you there for years? Haha!" Amanda held Esmée's hand and dragged her to a seat at the dining table. 

Their breakfast gathering was both amusing and informative to Esmée. She learned so much about Orion, including how his siblings look up to him. 

She learned that Orion's family came from another place, only to come here for a day and give her a visit. When she asked about the place they live in, Christopher answered, "Oh, it's in Aeros."

"Where?" Esmée asked with a frown. 

"It's an island that our family owns," Christopher explained. "There we have our own world, really. It's a very private place that nobody knows about it. You can't even find it on google."

Esmée's mouth fell open. She awkwardly said, "Oh, wow."

She frowned right after, but she found herself envious of such a private place. She said, "I wish I could go."

"Soon, my dear. After your wedding with my son," told Amanda. 

Esmée did not know how many times she blushed that morning, but Orion's family did a fantastic job of letting her know that they all wanted her for Orion. 

After their meal, Esmée was too overwhelmed with the number of compliments she was getting that offered to help the maids prepare coffee. Orion did not allow her a first, but she insisted. She revealed how she was very good at making coffee. 

From the kitchen, as she was lathering sugar and coffee in each mug, Orion apparently came to follow her. 

"Can I help?" Orion asked, leaning his well-molded frame on the fridge. His blue eyes glistened as he smiled. 

For a second, Esmée was caught in a trance, looking at his charm, but she soon smiled at him and said, "No, you just go back. You, standing there is such a distraction."

Unfortunately for her, Orion remained. He instead walked towards her and offered to help, either way. 

Orion wasn't fond of specially blended coffee. Sadly, he did not have an espresso around, just a mere coffee maker. Thus, Esmée had to cream the sugar and ground coffee manually by hand together with two other maids. 

Orion stood by the kitchen sink, tasked with putting hot water on all the cups when another maid washed her hands. 

Water suddenly erupted from the faucet as the maid tried to turn off the water. The faucet apparently broke.

The maid, including Orion, was completely soaked from the top. The two cups of coffee he was about to move to the center countertop were mixed with tap water. 

While the maid was in a panic, Orion merely said, "It's fine."

He put the two cups of coffee down and outright took off his shirt. 

Esmée wound up ogling at his beautiful frame, her face turned into a red tomato. 

When Orion unconsciously turned to face Esmée, she saw the dragon mark on his chest and it made her pout and think, 'Oh, nice.'

She always thought a gorgeous man with a nice tattoo was sexy. 

"Excuse me, Esmée. I just need to get change," Orion said, but Esmée remained silent, staring at him unwittingly.. She was stirring on the coffee cup and had been since she could not even recall.