Julian From The Book Wonder Novels & Stories

"You'll be okay. He's waiting outside by the library." ****** Julian was in the library, but he wasn't reading. He stood by a big old globe, spinning it slowly with one finger. He wore jeans and a white t-shirt with a loose grey shirt over it, not buttoned up. He looked over when she walked in. His eyes moved from her head to her feet. "Better," he said. That was it. Nothing else. "They're ready outside. Follow me." He led her through glass doors onto a big stone patio. The morning sun was warm, and the city stretched below—buildings and trees going on forever. A man with a camera and a younger guy holding a big white circle-thing were waiting.

With a slow gesture, Julian slipped his hand into his coat pocket and pulled out the book she had given him days ago. The one she thought he'd probably forgotten. He placed it carefully on the counter between them. "I finished it," he said. Lena's eyes fluttered closed. "You. did?" He nodded. "And?" Julian's jaw tightened. "It made me angry." She took a breath. Not the reaction she'd expected. "Why?" "Because the protagonist ran," he said, voice low and rough. "He lost something. Someone. And instead of fighting. he gave up. He fell in on himself. He wasted the second chance he was given."

​To everyone’s shock, Robert Sterling took off his suit jacket, draped it over a folding chair, and picked up a paper plate. As the party wound down and the Brooklyn moon began to rise, Julian returned home. He walked through the gate, his scrubs stained with a day’s worth of reality. He saw his parents sitting on the back porch, Aria and Caleb asleep in their laps, and his grandparents actually laughing with the local baker. ​He sat on the steps next to Clara. ​"How was it?" she asked softly. ​"It was hard," Julian said, looking at his hands. "But I heard it, Clara. I heard the heartbeat. Without the computers. I actually heard it."

All she could do was victimize her until she wouldn't be able to take it anymore, so she would pack and leave by herself. “I will make your life nothing but hell. To me, you are nothing but a cursed child.” Living with her uncle, the innocent orphan knew nothing but pain. Bowyer, her uncle, Anita, her uncle's wife and their two daughters, Anya and Vera, were her sadness designers, and they sewed a garment of sadness that fitted her perfectly and she dwelled in its realm both day and night.

Julia stood, her legs shaking. "She's... she's brilliant. Funny. She loves princesses and dinosaurs equally. She can count to fifty in English and Italian. She insists on wearing her princess dress over her regular clothes at least twice a week. She's afraid of thunder but not of spiders. She..." Julia's voice cracked, "she calls Massimo 'Papà' and runs to him every time he comes home. She trusts him completely. Loves him completely. And the thought of taking that away from her, or limiting it, or confusing her about who her family is... it terrifies me."

I murmur and his aunt smiles. "You're right. She would have improved the dramatic ending of Romeo and Juliet." she smiles and everyone gets up as the back-to-school alarm goes off. Walking into the place, I watch as someone in the middle of everyone, smiles at me. My heart drops to the floor when I see him: Julian. I run to get to him, but before I do, Julian denies. "I just wanted to see how happy you are. You deserve to be happy, to move forward without guilt. You deserved this, sweetheart. You deserved everything good that's happening to you now. You deserve them," Julian whispers and then disappears.

I feel like all the air has been sucked out of my lungs. "What's wrong son?" I don't know when my mom turned up but clearly, she has seen something that she doesn't like as she looks sick with worry. "I'm ok Mom... I... Jesus Christ!" I get up from my seat and start pacing. "Riley, whats going on?" I turn to see that Josh is now also next to me. I look at both my best friend and mom as I slowly feel like I've gone crazy. "The little girl, Julia's daughter. Her name is Nina... Nina Smith Willow." "Holy fuck!" Josh shouts, a little too loudly. "That's a naughty word. Momma doesn't like naughty words." The innocence of the little girl... Nina makes me smile but it only lasts a few seconds as I'

I’d noticed his dark black hair that curled slightly at the nape of his neck, his piercing blue eyes, and his lithe, athletic frame, but I’d looked away quickly. Julian had done so much for me at school, defending me from the bullies in our class who couldn’t stand that a human had gotten into the same medical program as them. I doubted the gorgeous Alpha would want to socialize with me outside of class, though. Why would he want to burden himself with defending me outside of school hours?

“Crying sister? Do you have a sister who’s crying?” She asked. The little boy shook his head. Aira and I looked at each other, we didn’t understand what this kid was trying to tell us. “The crying sister next to our apartment. She cries a lot especially when the mean looking lady comes.” He said. I suddenly understood what he meant. He must be talking about Amelia, she must be the one crying and the mean looking lady he’s referring to must be Natalia. I looked at Aira and I could see that she was finally putting the pieces together.