CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Vallis
Nightshade Bear Territory
It wasn’t until the start of Lero’s second trimester that I felt ready to host a memorial for Broug.
No one here had ever met him and it felt silly to ask them to mourn him or celebrate him.
Still, when I brought up the idea again with Lero he was enthusiastic.
Since Broug was unknown here we decided it was best to have a feast in his honor.
The bears here loved a good feast and I was starting to think that way too.
Besides, I hoped wherever Broug was that he was too happy to pay attention to what the living did.
It was Lero’s idea to get Broug’s story set into a dragon metal plaque.
I thought he was going to hang it up inside the house or something, but at the feast it was drilled onto one of the picnic tables.
Only then did I realize his wasn’t the only one.
Many of the tables had plaques commemorating events and people who had passed on.
My mate had cemented Broug’s story into the history of the Nightshade Bears. He was a part of our story forever now.
Each day, Lero’s stomach grew a little more as the life inside him stretched out and made itself known.
Some mornings, when I woke up before Lero I marveled at it.
His belly was big enough now that he needed to sleep on his side to avoid pain and complications.
I always spooned in behind him and it was perfect for the mornings I woke up first. Peering over his shoulder, I marveled at how much our cub had already grown.
Even more than the sonograms on the fridge, his belly showed the progress life made from nothing to something.
I liked to run my hand over his belly, grateful he still slept without his shirt on.
It was on one such morning that Lero startled awake because our cub decided it was time to kick me.
I laughed and Lero startled awake, fist drawn toward the empty room, ready to fight.
“It was the baby,” I laughed and he did too, sitting back down.
“I’ve felt them move before but that was--- intense,” Lero said, staring down at his pregnant belly. “He was like trying out his first spin kick or something.”
“I’ve spent almost six months petting them through your stomach. They’ve probably been waiting for the moment they could kick the hand that kept waking them up early every morning,” I grinned.
“I know you say they because we don’t know yet but oh my Juda! I hope there isn’t a second one hiding inside me,” Lero laughed.
“We’ll find out today,” I said and kissed him on the cheek. “Your dad is coming to do another ultrasound.”
“If there’s a second one, you snuck them in there when I wasn’t looking.”
“Uh… Mate, you’ve seen every time I put something…” I started but Lero blushed and smacked me with a pillow.
“Keep that up and I’ll put a baby in you!” he said and whacked me again.
I laughed so hard I almost fell off the bed.
“You think that scares me? You wouldn’t be the first pregnant bear who decided to mount his mate,” I said, dodging the playful pillow. “You have a whack on you. Trying to knock me through the wall.”
“Show you wall,” Lero growled, wiggling around until he straddled my legs and leaned in for a long kiss.
He growled against my lips, and I ran my hands up and down his warm thighs.
It didn’t always start with a pillow fight but every morning we ended up getting each other off.
It was fun and it helped manage Lero’s ups and downs.
I’d get him off every hour if that’s what it took to keep him happy while pregnant.
***
Over the months I’d lived with the Nightshade Bears I came to appreciate that there were so many healers in the family.
Not only was Ivan managing most of Lero’s pregnancy stuff but he was also the one who found the right combo of teas and herbs so that I slept soundly at night without dreaming of being buried alive but also could still wake up if Lero needed something.
I had a feeling that it wouldn’t be long before he needed help every time he got up from bed and I didn’t want my medications to get in the way of that.
Because it was Ivan, we were able to stretch out on a blanket in the backyard and enjoy the fresh air while he performed the ultrasound.
Our baby was huge compared to the first time we saw them.
When his little foot popped up on the screen I was pretty sure that was the biggest baby foot I’d ever seen.
Then again, I hadn’t seen many babies in utero.
Though, that big foot also meant I wasn’t all too surprised to find out our baby was a boy.
“Urso,” I teased Lero, harkening back to his little sister’s name.
“Stop it or I’ll get attached to the name and you’ll be stuck with it,” he teased back, happy tears glistening in his beautiful eyes.
“I think Ursla is a nice name,” Ivan said. “Not every name has to reinvent the wheel and everything that goes out of style comes back eventually.”
“I didn’t mean anything by---” I started and Ivan shook his head.
“I’m not offended. Don’t let Bolt hear you tease about it because then I’ll have to be offended on his behalf,” Ivan shrugged.
“Besides, she growls already. It’s the perfect name for her.
She’s a shebear and I think she already knows she’s going to be the biggest one in the forest. Plus, a little advice for free – for both of you.
It’s okay to tease about it when it’s just a name. Now it’s her name.”
“Sorry,” Lero said even though he wasn’t the one who made the joke.
“No harm, no foul, kiddo. Everyone talks about everyone. That’s how the world turns. Also, I think Urso is a fine name,” he said and grinned at me and that was the moment I knew I’d accidentally named our child and now had zero room to speak about the creativity of anyone’s name.
With little Urso only three months away from entering the world it was time I got down to business to with the nursery.
The first step was to take all our ideas from my notes and draw up a blueprint.
A lot of practitioners of architectural magic skipped that step these days but I was old fashioned.
The mage who taught me and Broug did it that way and I still liked to see it all laid out in front of me.
I spent a whole afternoon drawing it out.
I took over the coffee table while Lero alternated napping and reading on the sofa.
I got him snacks each time he woke up and it kept me from losing myself too much to the magic.
Afterall, it was the first time I worked on anything seriously since Broug died.
It was odd working on it without my partner in crime.
Still, magic was meant to better the lives of those around us and I couldn’t think of a better way to honor Broug and those who practiced the magic before us than to keep it alive.
Perhaps, I’d teach someone else eventually.
Maybe Urso when he was older if he showed an interest.
After the blueprints were drawn up, I needed some supplies.
Sure, some things really did come out of nothing in my branch of magic but if you hadn’t conjured a material before you needed some of it there in the room to teach your magic how to make it.
The supplies were easy enough to get once I let Xenos in on what I was planning.
He’d never heard of such magic before, but he was more than happy to prepare and learn what he could about it.
We were in the middle of setting the stuff up to be used on the night of the full moon when from the living room tore a sob that made my heart stop.
We both dropped the wooden beam we carried and sprinted into the living room to where we’d left Lero asleep on the sofa.
My bear roared undiscernible words into my thoughts.
Despite having decades on me, Xenos reached his grandson before I did.
Lero stared at his phone and sobbed. I picked up partial thoughts.
It was something to do with whats-his-name.
The guy that he was upset about the night we met.
“They named the baby after me!” Lero sobbed and I wasn’t sure if it was a happy sob or if I needed to go beat the name out of the guy’s head and tell him to choose another one.
“They’re still sort of friends. They grew up together,” Xenos filled me in on the details as he sat down on the sofa next to Lero and pulled him close.
The phone hit the sofa cushion, and I caught it before it bounced onto the floor.
I sat on the other side of him unsure of what to do since Xenos was doing what I’d normally do.
“He named the baby Leros,” he said, through his tears.
“Honey,” Xenos said, pulling him closer. “He loved you and when he said he’d make it work, he thought he could. True-mates change things.”
“I don’t want to be poly. I just… I was all alone there. All our friends took his side.”
“Well, fuck them,” I snapped.
“Well, that’s one way to put it,” Xenos nodded, shooting me a questioning look.
“Don’t mind him. He’s picked up my cravings, my back pain, and apparently my anger too. Should’ve seen us last night eating pickles and tartar sauce. Like the whole bottle is gone,” Lero managed a little chuckle and wiped his eyes.
“Ah, we’ll get more sauce,” Xenos said. “And it’s not a bad thing to have a sympathetic mate.”
I opened my mouth and shut it again. I’d seen firsthand the dark side of true-mates and I’d never be that alpha. If it came down to it, I’d go back into the coffin if that was the only way to save Lero.
“Now, that’s not necessary,” Xenos said. “We’re all safe here. Enjoy these moments. Before you know it, you’ll be the ones who are great grandparents.”
“And what will that make you?” Lero laughed through his tears.
“An elder. I think at that age, I will accept the title of village elder,” Xenos laughed. “The day that you become great grandparents we’ll have a feast for that. By then maybe…”
Maybe Andy will be ready to lead.
That was the part of his thought that Xenos didn’t dare speak aloud. I met Lero’s eyes and he grinned at me. All that anger that had bubbled up when I heard about him being lonely dissipated. How could I stay angry when my mate smiled at me?