Chapter Nine
Clothes began to show up daily. Em looked around at the garment bags draped over every chair. “Good lord. Where am I going to put all this?” Wearing it all was impossible.
Samsor chuckled. “The room next to my room has been turned into a change room for you. Well, it is being changed today. Toros is coming over, and we are going to make it pretty. What is your favourite colour?”
“For walls? You put down the primer, and I will handle the rest.”
He grinned. “Fair enough. Your second big canvas. How is the baby room coming, by the way?”
She snorted. “I am heading out there today.”
“You like it?”
“Yeah. They are startled that I am just a beta. I think that really shook them. And then... I got dirty.”
Samsor snorted and handed her the plate full of waffles. She carried them to the table and set the platter near Echel. “Eat and then you can go back to nerding out.”
He grinned and kissed her quickly. “You have no idea how happy I am that I can work from home.”
Duran was flipping through a tablet. “Yeah, yeah, rub it in.”
She smiled. “We aren’t there yet. We are closer than we were a week ago.”
All three of them groaned, and she went to get her tea.
She returned and reached for a waffle, piled on fruit, and glopped on the whipped cream, sending a splat off her plate.
She scraped it up with her fingers and said, “Don’t read anything into this.
” She neatly licked the whipped cream off her fingers in front of an audience before returning to her waffles to destroy them.
She glanced up, and the guys were still staring at her fingers. “Guys, I am going to be out of here in ten minutes, and you are going to be staring at the whipped cream smear on the table. Eat!”
She laughed and got going on breakfast. She had an image in her mind and wanted to get to it. Persephone said she and Owen would be up, but the staff would let her in if they weren’t.
Echel said, “What are you doing today?”
“Books and sky. It’s really coming along.” She smiled. “I missed the baby shower, so this is my gift. They were going to get Amble to do it, but he’s busy.”
Duran smiled. “I didn’t know he knew them.”
“It’s complicated, but yeah. Ruby was going to pay for him to do the mural. Now, I get to do the whole room.” She laughed wickedly.
She finished her waffles and sipped at her tea. “So, Duran is in the office today, Samsor is doing sneaky things, which is hilarious for a guy his size, and Echel is travelling beta sitter?”
Echel grinned. “Yes. It is a remarkable side gig with entertaining benefits.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I know you are talking about the food there. A cook like that, you have to compliment every day.”
They chuckled, and everyone finished breakfast, put the dishes in the dishwasher, and one by one, the guys kissed her goodbye.
That had started on her first morning after court, well, the morning after that, as she had slept through to the late afternoon.
Now, four days later, they kissed her, paying attention to her responses, before they got into their respective cars and drove off, except for Echel.
He remained at her side and kissed her softly, even though he didn’t have to go anywhere. “Want to have a second cup of tea?”
She grinned. “Sure.”
She got her tea and walked with him to the living room. He sat in the big chair and held her tea while she got settled on him. “This is a weird ritual.”
He chuckled. “I know, but it is ours and helps you centre yourself.” He handed her the tea.
Cuddling with him in the morning did help. It gave her something solid and trustworthy at her back before she faced her own creation. She closed her eyes, sipped her tea, and let her mind imagine the mural completed. Today would be the day.
It was after lunch when she finished, but she had pushed past the meal.
She grinned as she stood in the middle of the space and laughed.
It was spectacular, the tale of a woman who loved writing, and the elves who surrounded her.
It was all created with child-friendly figures who were very recognizable.
The room was filled with bits of life, of focus, and interest. She grinned and cleaned her hands and then organized her paints into the carry bag that Samsor had given her, the special brushes that Duran had obtained for her, and she picked up the water bucket and carried it down the stairs, the door locking with one of the first bits of magic she had used deliberately.
She walked into the kitchen and scrubbed her hands and nails again, and Echel looked up, smiling slowly. “It’s done?”
“Oh, yeah. Give it an hour, and they can go look at it. I took a quick pan with my phone, but it will be better once the water-based varnish is dry. The window is open, so it should be good in about an hour.”
Byron came in and saw her. “Well, aren’t you colourful?”
“We can’t all rock basic black.” She fluttered her lashes.
Echel laughed. “I have a change of clothes for you.”
“Great. I will change after I eat if there is anything left.”
Echel snorted. “There is plenty. Myrtle didn’t eat either.”
Byron cursed and went into her office to pluck Myrtle from her computer to put her in the kitchen. Myrtle blinked slowly. “Oh, right. Lunch.”
Byron got the meal set for the two ladies and gestured for Em to join them. She grinned, and Myrtle looked at her. “How is it going?”
“It’s done. It’s just drying. Window is open, and I used all water-based acrylics. The room is ready for the crib, chair, bassinet, or whatever.”
Myrtle smiled, and they shared the lunch that Denith had prepared. It was pretty good.
Myrtle asked at one point, “How are you adapting to life with three elves?”
“Life with them is fine, and we are slowly drawing closer and closer.”
Echel chuckled from behind his laptop.
“What did you put in the mural?”
“Did you want to see it on your own, or did you want to wait for your guys to be home?”
Myrtle grimaced. “I am not much into deferred gratification.”
Byron grinned. “I have called everybody home. Denith is taking a break and bringing dessert.”
Em nibbled her last fancy sandwich. “You are calling them home for a picture?”
Echel explained. “If she is as enthusiastic as they think she will be, there will be some overflow, and at that point, we will head home.”
“Oh. You mean... right.” Emhara nodded.
Myrtle blushed. “I don’t do that sort of thing in public. Well, occasionally Denith and I make the point that some of the new servers aren’t aware of. Mind you, now I can’t squish to human, so once they have seen me, it’s hands off.”
“Right. Well, my sister’s pack used to make me watch, and they were watching for signs of arousal, so watching does not do it for me.”
Myrtle blinked. “Why?”
“They wanted another outlet, but if I didn’t cooperate, it would be impossible to hide or explain away.”
Echel was looking at her, horrified. “So, you don’t show signs...”
“Because signs meant horror. So, I am slowly loosening my control, day by day. I am also close to unlocking the other thing, so next week ought to be very distracting.” She sipped at her tea.
Myrtle blinked. “So, you have been on lockdown?”
“Yup.”
Echel asked, “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“You never asked. It has been really sweet, and I am just waiting for the other thing to happen.”
Echel sat back, stunned, and then he picked up his phone and started typing.
“You guys were right. I needed time to feel safe. When I come to you, I will be whole, and you will have to deal with that.”
Echel looked at her with a slow smile. “That sounds like a threat.”
She held up her fingers and blew a stream of air across them. A crackle of energy across the visual spectrum moved from one digit to the next.
The door opened, and Teyval and Toros came in. Denith was a moment behind them.
Em grinned. “I am getting out of here. It’s about to get sticky.”
Byron snorted.
Echel grabbed Em’s bags and nodded. “Let’s go.”
She nodded, hugged Myrtle, and patted her head. “Enjoy the baby room.”
Emhara grinned and got out of the house with her delta.
They were in the car when excited sounds happened from the house. Emhara looked at him. “Drive.”
He put it into gear, and they got on the road.
“So, what did you put on those walls?”
“Fairy tales, books, with all of Myrtle’s guys as the princes. Toros got to be the prince under a curse for one of them, and they weave one into the other. I also included as many of Myrtle’s friends as I could. Keres, Achilles, and Dante were there as the wizened wizards.”
Echel laughed. “And Myrtle loves stories, so she will be able to sit with the little one and read the walls.”
“Yup.”
“That’s beautiful, Em.”
“Thank you. I was very impressed with myself.”
He held her hand all the way home.
Her phone began blowing up two hours later while she was sketching Persephone’s den or pack from memory, with the babies held by their fathers. Em looked at her phone warily. She looked and started smiling.
Duran was making dinner, and he looked at her. “Good news?”
“They like the mural.”
She giggled. “The guys are all posing next to the character versions of themselves. Thankfully, not naked.”
“Myrtle wants me to make a mural for her office so she can get back to work after the baby arrives.” She blinked. “Oh, shit. They paid me for the room.”
Echel was working at the table. “Of course they did.”
She frowned at the payment. “How do I send it back?”
Duran smiled. “You don’t. You keep it and buy something that you want, or donate it somewhere you think it can do the most good.”
She paused and nodded. “That is an idea. I will talk it over with Mik and Meritha. What happened to me should not have happened. This money is a way to start assisting. Mik has mentioned Roane’s link to the recovery centre, but I want to get in before things need to be recovered or repaired. That will require some plotting.”
“Do you need help?”