Chapter Twenty-Two
Alvis
Pierce’s Family Estate
Time was a strange beast. For seven hundred years, I’d loved, lived, worked and survived mostly on my own.
I loved my deceased spouses more than life itself while I was with them, but I’d known more love and support in the few short months I’d been with Raiel than I’d known my whole life.
Though, to be that loved, you had to let someone in enough to love you that much.
As my belly grew so did our relationship.
We fell into an easy rhythm that wound around us.
I expected more morning sickness but with a steady supplementary diet of Raiel’s blood it hardly reared its ugly head.
Some days I was still achy but Raiel loved to massage me in this green lotion stuff that smelled like aloe vera and sunflowers had a baby.
His parents sent it from where they lived, and I wasn’t sure what was in it but whatever it was eased my pregnancy aches and pains like nothing else did.
I tried not to be too sad about Preston and Mori packing up to go home to their parents.
Mori swore he’d be back but life had a way of pulling us all around like ships on a dark ocean.
I’d see him again, of course. He wasn’t dying but he was going to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
Sure, he could visit through the mirror, but my gut said that he’d be busy for years to come.
I remembered being his age. Finally old enough to know enough but not nearly enough all at the same time.
Their going away party was the night before our ‘big’ ultrasound. I loved how excited Raiel was. The big cat didn’t stop grinning whenever he looked at me, but I knew what to expect. The baby would be a boy. My babies were always boys. That’s just how life was.
Nic and Crilus hired Moonscale Security for the twins’ going away party in case Sharon Claudis decided to rear her ugly head.
Preston had been writing Venal, Baby Andy’s sire, because as much as Preston didn’t need the alpha bear around, he knew that someday Baby Andy might want to know him.
If Venal decided to never meet the kid, never had to stay never because the time of his life where Baby Andy wouldn’t remember who was and wasn’t there was running out.
Preston wouldn’t let the alpha bear be the sort of parent who promised to be there and let his son down by never showing up.
Sure, he had the right to choose not to be a parent, but I couldn’t imagine telling any of my kids that I never wanted to know them.
I’d lay down my life even now for my adult kids.
Sharon Claudis didn’t show up and neither did Venal.
It was our happy little makeshift family spending time with two of our own before they whisked themselves away to the other side of the pond.
Nic and Beal were already talking about having another baby after the holidays so that Baby Antonio had a little sibling close to his age.
Crilus and Pierce were so doting on Baby Hex that they decided to wait at least a few years before having another baby.
I would’ve walked with the twins to the Other World gateway but I was stuffed and huge and didn’t want Raiel to have to carry me there and back when my feet hurt too much to walk. So, I hugged him goodbye in the shared front yard and I almost didn’t let him go.
“You remember, you know what the fuck you’re doing, okay?
Don’t let Dern or anyone else get inside your head,” I said and kissed him on the forehead because I was a pregnant mess.
“You got this. Life is a rollercoaster but sometimes you have to take the safety straps off and drive the damn thing yourself.”
Mori hugged me tight before heading off with his brother and nephew. Once they were out of sight I let Raiel carry me back inside of our house and I cried myself to sleep.
“Shhh…. Mate…” Raiel rubbed circles on my back as he lay behind me. “You’ll have our kitten to teach and Crilus does magic too. You can tell me all the stuff you were telling Mori. I’ll kidnap you a student if you want. Just choose one.”
I managed to chuckle and mean it before sleep pulled me under again.
***
The next morning, we were back at Little Fangs Midwives Clinic bright and early. As much as I hated riding in a wheelchair when I could’ve waddled in on my own, I let Raiel run in tvo grab one. He was right. This was the time to save my energy for when the baby came.
“Your latest labs are still looking good,” the midwife said in lieu of hello. “I have to say I doubted that you two could work out the diet part of this without Raiel getting lab provided guidance but you two have done well.”
Raiel held back a roar – half vindication and half annoyance that anyone had ever doubted his ability to provide for me and our kitten.
He helped me from the chair onto the table and rearranged my clothes for the ultrasound.
Since today was only an ultrasound appointment I didn’t have to change into the robe.
I was grateful because everything was taking more and more energy.
“He’s close,” Raiel said to Ophelian as he stepped up next to my head and took my hand.
“May I ask why you think that?” the midwife asked, turning on the monitor.
“His belly is lower. His center of gravity has shifted. He smells close,” Raiel listed out the reasons, ticking them off on the big fingers of his free hand.
“Let’s take a look. I know we’re hoping for a little guidance on who the baby might be….”
“It’s a boy. They’re always boys,” I chuckled.
“We’ll see,” Ophelian said.
A second later, the face of our baby was on the screen, as full and complete as any newborn’s I’d ever seen. The baby was pointed in a different direction than I’d last seen too. Ophelian took his time examining every inch of our baby and eventually the tell-tale signs came onto the screen.
“Huh?” I blinked.
“Mate, I think our daughter has already proven you wrong,” he teased and squeezed my hand.
“A big healthy girl,” Ophelian said.
“I see her,” I blinked back tears and Raiel kissed my cheek.
“Our perfect little girl,” he nodded. “And you are close. Her head is pointing down. She’s ready to come out and meet her daddies.”
“You are closer than I expected you to be at this point,” Ophelian admitted, pushing his glasses up onto his nose. The tortoiseshell glasses were new, and I wondered if they were prescriptions or a fashion statement. Either way, he rocked them.
“A few days, huh?” Raiel grinned.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw you two in the birthing center in a few days,” the midwife nodded. “Are there any changes you liked to make to the birthing plan?”
“No. Just make sure to have extra blood on hand. I don’t want to drink him dry,” I said, jerking my head in Raiel’s direction. “It took gallons last time to bring me back to normal after I gave birth.”
“I’ll start bottling it up,” Raiel said.
“No,” the midwife and I said at the same time.
“It should be fresh,” the midwife went on.
“Fresh blood is best for labor and delivery. There will be plenty of blood there and we always have donors on hand for vampyric deliveries.” He turned his attention back to Raiel.
“The donors won’t be drank from directly. So you can calm down.”
“Don’t –” he started and stopped himself. He took a deep breath and I squeezed his hand.
“Our little girl will be here soon and then we’ll all be safe and sound back at the house. We won’t have to see the midwife as often. It’s just a few more things and then we’ll be set,” I said, switching to our mating link.
“If that’s your only concern, you’re good to go,” Ophelian said. “I’ll see you in a few days. Call or come in straight away if you think it’s getting too close to your time. You’ve done this five times before. I trust you to know your body. You can pick up your sonograms on the way out.”
I lingered in the examination room to rest and soothe Raiel’s lion. The big maned and sabertoothed cat paced inside his inner sanctum. He needed to get out for a run or a hunt before the baby came but Raiel refused to leave me on my own.
“I’m fine,” he said as soon as the thought crossed my mind. “I really am.”
“Beal could come over or Crilus or anyone. We could hire a bodyguard or a nanny or---”
“Mate, I am fine,” he said and pushed a lock of my sort of messy hair behind my ear.
“He is worried and impatient and you are hungry. Before we came to Earthside to work we lived with many cats. There would have always been someone to sit with you but over here is different. Over here is…” he paused, selecting his words carefully. “There are less people we trust here.”
“What does he think will happen if I’m alone?” I asked.
“Anything could happen. You could fall and get hurt or get stuck somewhere. Someone could break in and hurt you or kidnap you.”
“I’m not that easy to kidnap and just between us if someone actually tried to hurt me right now, I’d hurt them. Like a lot. It wouldn’t even be conscious. All vampires have some genetic self-preservation but pregnancy kicks that into overdrive. You can go out for a while.”
“I’ll shift when we get home,” he said and kissed my forehead.
“Will that be enough?” I asked.
“It’ll be more than enough. He just likes being out with you.”