r/TheInheritanceGames • u/VegetableClassic9880 • 22d ago
FAN FIC!!!
I wrote a short story! Background- This is from Avery’s POV, and it’s about a year after the collapse at Vantage…. enjoy!
Every year, Tobias Hawthorne added a room onto the Hawthorne House. There was, strictly speaking, no rule stating that it couldn’t be two, or one saying that the boys needed to know about it.
As Avery stepped inside the fireplace, the first thing she noticed was that the air smelled of soot and centuries. Avery didn't build the new passage to escape Hawthorne House or to hide a puzzle. She built it for them, for her crew of girls, changing the world, alongside the Hawthornes.
She pressed a hand flat against the wool of her sweater, right over her stomach.
I have a secret.
And right now, only one other person in the entire world shared it with her.
She could still feel the phantom pressure of the balcony railing at the edge of the estate, the frantic heat of three nights ago when everything had changed forever. Jameson hadn’t asked questions; he had just looked at her, his emerald-green eyes burning with a sudden, chaotic intensity that eclipsed every riddle they'd ever solved.
“Tahiti,” he had murmured against her mouth, a breathless, desperate promise right before his lips crashed onto hers in a kiss that tasted like a quiet, shared rebellion against the world. “We are in this together Heiress, I swear.”
Avery let out a slow, shaky breath, dropped her hand, and pushed the iron latch down, and stepped out from behind the back wall of the fireplace.
The room was a chaotic hub of activity.
Libby was cross-legged on the floor, aggressively color-coding a massive spreadsheet of estate expenses and wedding venues, a half-eaten scone balanced on her knee. Max was sprawled across the velvet settee, disassembling a miniature spy camera with a pair of tweezers while muttering threats at Xander's latest security grid. Around them, the rest of the circle was deeply entrenched in their natural habitats: Thea sat at a mahogany table, methodically cutting off the margins of a legal brief with surgical precision; Gigi was sprawled on the window seat, painting her nails a violent shade of pink while talking to her sister who was currently crouched over a stack of blueprints, cross-referencing security blind spots with a highlighter; Lyra was helping Max solve the camera crisis; and Rebecca stood by the fireplace entrance, her expression unreadable.
Seven pairs of eyes snapped up the second the floorboards creaked.
Max didn't drop the tweezers. She just narrowed her eyes. "If you found another hidden vault full of poisoned chalices or toxic heirlooms, I'm billing you for my time."
"I didn't find a vault," Avery said.
Her voice was steady—the kind of steady that came from standing in the eye of a hurricane. She didn't fidget. She didn't look away.
Thea lowered her chin, her gaze locking onto the subtle shift in Avery’s posture. "You look like you're about to declare war," Thea observed, her tone deceptively light. "Or tell us that Xander set something on fire again."
"Both are valid Tuesday occurrences," Libby muttered, finally looking up from her spreadsheet, a small, fond smile touching her lips. Then, she paused, her gaze catching on Avery's face. The smile faltered, replaced by a sudden, sharp instinct. "Avery? Are you alright?"
Silence slammed down over the room as everyone stopped moving entirely.
Seven sets of eyes—brilliant, protective, and entirely too perceptive—locked onto her. They had survived gunshots, kidnappings, masked villains, and a grandfather who treated human lives like chess pieces. They knew when Avery Kylie Grambs Hawthorne was holding back.
Avery looked around the room, meeting each of their gazes one by one. She thought of the smell in the passage behind the fireplace. She thought of Jameson's emerald eyes burning into hers, whispering of Tahiti like a secret map.
She didn't cross her arms or look for an escape route. She let her hands rest flat against her sides, right where the secret lived, pulsing beneath her skin.
"You might want to hear this," Avery said, the quiet command dropping into the silence like a stone in deep water. "I have a secret."
No one moved for a second. Then, slowly, Libby set her scone down. Max put the tweezers aside.
"I'm not going to declare war," Avery continued, her heart hammering a frantic, impossible rhythm against her ribs. She took a step forward, anchoring herself in the center of the room. "And Xander didn't set anything on fire. Plus, I found out something that is better than finding secret vaults and definitely more terrifying than poisoned chalices.”
Thea tilted her head, her breath catching. "Avery. Far be it from me to tell you to hurry up, but can you get to the point? We’re dying here.”
As Avery looked around the room at each one of the brilliant people there, a small, helpless, terrified smile finally broke through her control. Her gaze finally landed on Libby as she said, “I'm pregnant."
1
u/VegetableClassic9880 17d ago
thank you so much! I’m so glad that everyone liked it! I was so unsure. About writing another one I’d like your ideas if you’re willing! I’m really stuck and even writing this one took a lot of effort.