Chapter 10 Ivy
Ivy
“Blindfolding the pregnant lady isn’t a great idea, you know,” I muttered, taking every step carefully as Hawk guided me towards his surprise.
I knew he’d been working on something with help from the others, just not what.
He’d already made a gym with Adrian and Elias, and there was something about him lending a hand to Orion on another project.
All I knew was he liked to keep himself busy with home projects now that he couldn’t exactly go back to being an agent.
As it was, Hawk didn’t want that life anymore.
He’d already spent a couple of decades as an agent, a soldier, a pawn.
He was happy living a more…quiet life.
I think we all were now.
The others surrounded me, though they allowed Hawk to be the one to share his surprise.
Hawk had one of my hands trapped in his, our fingers entwined, with his arm around my middle.
I could sense the others, through scents and bonds, all around me, like a guiding path towards whatever waited for me.
Since our ceremony last week, I’d been inundated with gifts.
That wasn’t an unusual occurrence; Maeve understood how much I liked schedules, so we had several variations around the house, particularly in the family room off the kitchen, and she’d had a special kind of diary made by a mage in the Underworld just for me.
Xerxes and Arthur took to managing the outside gardens while I couldn’t, bringing back cool things they found.
Like a little hair comb they dug up that must have belonged to someone who lived on the island previously, or an old potion bottle that I now kept fresh flowers in from the morning runs Rowan and Adrian went on.
Orion brought me books any time he left the island, and they were about anything and everything—I didn’t care, I loved them all, but Damon specifically always found the raunchiest, dirtiest romances.
It turned out House Lust had a lot of prolific romance authors penning some of Avalon’s bestsellers—as well as some in the human world.
Elias was a master at making my morning coffee. One pro of being a supernatural being: I could still drink the elixir of life and eat raw fish if I wanted to. Baby wolf made sure of that, and baby charm really liked caramel lattes. There was always one waiting for me, even before I craved it.
Hawk was always fixing something—when he wasn’t bringing me little daggers from around the realms, Houses, and Courts.
I had a full collection in my walk-in that was in a charmed case so the kids couldn’t get to them.
And every blade had something different about it; like the first one he gave me was imbued with a feather from his wings.
Or the delicately small one hidden in a pen.
It was pretty fucking cool. I never thought I’d be a dagger girl, but they were awesome to look at.
Now, though, with the ceremony over, I was given bigger gifts. Partially for the wedding, but also partially because we were T-Minus a few weeks from the twins being born.
The gifts had ranged from an entirely new wardrobe for my postpartum journey with some of the prettiest, most comfortably loungewear I’d ever felt in my life, to a planned day trip with the girls, just one-on-one time to see a museum in the Spring Court, followed by a spa trip hosted by House Sloth in the Underworld.
There were some smaller things, too, like a brand-new laptop because my old one technically couldn’t be used here, so I no longer had to use the tablet Maeve had gotten for me when we first arrived.
Or the years’ worth of my favourite coffee syrup from the human world, as well as a mountain of paperbacks I’d been wanting for ages—that was Thea’s idea, of course.
But none of my gifts thus far had required a blindfold and blocked bonds.
I pressed my lips together as I poked around at all their thoughts, but none of them budged. I couldn’t even get a sense of where in the house we were. We were in the house because it smelled like our house. But otherwise, we could have been down in the creepy ass basement for all I knew.
My mates wouldn’t risk my wrath for that, though.
“Alright,” Hawk murmured low in my ear as someone brushed their fingers over my hair. “We’re here. Keep your eyes closed.”
I sighed but kept them squeezed shut. “Okay. They’re closed.” I sniffed, still unable to place where we were. There was a waft of fresh paint, so that could mean anywhere. But hidden in that was the familiar aroma of books and…one of my old candles?
Back home, I had a small collection of Halloween-themed candles. I was a fall baby. I loved the season, and maybe it was basic of me, but I liked pumpkin spiced candle scents.
Over everything else, I could just faintly smell them, and that had heavy emotion rising within me, tears burning my eyes.
The blindfold fell away, turning the thick darkness behind my eyes into a lighter one.
Hawk released my hand, moved behind me, and rested his hands on my hips. “Now,” he said, bond thrumming with excitement, “open.”
I released a slow breath as I opened my eyes. For a moment, I had to blink to clear my vision, and when I did, I brought a hand to my mouth.
We were in an office. With deep purple walls and built-in bookshelves made of dark wood.
There were books already on the shelves, with items—my things—filling up the spaces between.
There was a huge window in front of me that showed we were in the tower, the one area everyone said I couldn’t go because it was the least stable, the floors and walls needing work.
Now I understood why they’d told me that.
Thick curtains framed the window; I could imagine drawing them so I could sink the room in darkness, pretending like me and my books were the only things that existed.
The bookshelves to my left had a ladder, and the ones to my right were set up with the books I’d written, showcasing them all.
The desk in front of me was heavy, made of the same thick wood, and atop it was a brand-new computer, my notebooks, and some new planners, too.
A heavy rug carpeted the ground, and when I turned, there was a spiral staircase leading up to another floor.
I couldn’t stop the tears from falling as I took it all in. There were little stars painted on the ceiling, sconces on the wall allowing for muted light. A green velvet sofa faced the desk, with a couple of my old throw pillows and two new blankets neatly folded over the arm.
And on one wall, where a bookcase had been shortened, my daggers from Hawk were on display, as well as Maeve’s carefully placed on a stand.
“Do you like it?” Hawk asked, watching me carefully.
I tore my eyes off everything, finally noticed my other mates standing in the doorway, waiting for my reaction, and met Hawk’s stare. “It’s amazing,” I whispered, throat thick with tears. “This is…this is exactly what I’ve always wanted. How did—?”
“Thea helped me,” he said in a rush, stepping towards me. “And technically, Orion started the project. I just took it over. But I wouldn’t have been able to do it without help.”
Hawk cupped my cheeks and wiped my tears, but there were so many now.
All I wanted to do was sob, but I also wanted to explore the space more.
Like the desk. I had a feeling Maeve had been the one to stock it.
Had she gotten me my crazy coloured Post-it notes?
What about my favourite pens? Or the massive collection of highlighters—how were they organised?
Knowing her, she probably colour coded everything.
And what about the books? I itched to run my fingers over the shelves to get a feel for the layout. And because I was still in nesting mode, I wanted to sort everything out to make sure it went where I wanted it to.
“I love it,” I said quietly, biting back a sob. “I really, really love it. It’s perfect. Thank you.”
I threw myself into his arms, breathing in his spiced scent, committing the feel of him to memory. I thought I was all out of surprises, but this was one I was more than happy to accept.
“You haven’t even seen the reading nook,” he murmured, smoothing a hand down my hair. “It’s all yours, Princess. A place you don’t have to share with anyone. Somewhere you can work in total peace. If you’re in here, we know it’s time for you.”
“We know it’s been hard for you to find time to work with the craziness here,” Adrian added, stepping into the office.
“And you can’t focus when everyone needs you,” Rowan said, joining us.
Xerxes entered next with a smile. “With the kids ready to start school and the little ones about to be born, you need a space that is entirely your own. Something outside of being our mate and a mother.”
Cue the waterworks and sobs. That’d been one of those small fears hanging in the back of my mind, a noose waiting to slip around my throat. I had no problem being a mate or a mom. I loved both things. But just like with the idea of being Queen, I didn’t want those things to be my only identity.
I’d already lost my one passion when coming here and trying to find it again was hard.
Over the last couple of months, I’d been able to steal a few hours here or there to nurture it again, but never more than that.
Because there was always something needed of me.
And it wasn’t the fault of my mates or the kids—we were all still finding a new normal.
But it meant more knowing they’d carved out a space that was mine. A place where I could go back to doing what I loved.
Thank you, I whispered down the bond to Hawk. Really. Thank you.
Hawk held me tighter, his embrace the only thing really holding me together. “Let’s go see the reading nook. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by it.”
I sniffled and pulled back enough to take in the spiral staircase. It was not a fat girl’s friend, especially not a fat, pregnant girl. But I doubted Thea would let him get away with it if it weren’t extra sturdy.
Just use my power, sweet wife, Damon said, sensing my thoughts—though, I had a feeling my shields were down right now, so they would all hear my internal dilemma. Use the shadows.
A small smile tipped Hawk’s lips as he gave me a small nod.
Curiosity got the better of me, because when I sucked in a deep breath, I called upon the shadows and used them to take us upstairs.
I was the only one the shadows would allow to go directly to places.
Something about me being the Daughter of Nyx—and now, the Guardian.
I had no complaints there, and it came in handy a lot.
As soon as the shadows receded, I got to take in the reading nook.
It was more than a nook. It was the same size as the room below, though with three windows instead of one, and with it being the top of the tower, the ceiling was a little higher.
Above, little stars dangled from the rafters.
Like downstairs, every wall had shelves built in, which were filled with books.
A large rug covered the ground, with two big armchairs set up beside one another and a table between them.
“Two?” I asked quietly.
From the stairs, a familiar blonde head appeared. “You think I’d let you have an entire reading room all to yourself?” Thea asked with a grin. “No, babe, we still have book club. And Outlander to watch. I scored us a projector.”
Did I do good? my mate asked.
I glanced up at him with a smile. Very good. You all did. I love you.
Hawk pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I’ll leave you two to get acquainted with the space. Just let us know if you need anything. Enjoy, my love. It’s all yours.”
Goddess above, he made me feel like the luckiest girl in the world. In all the realms. They all did.
And to think, I gave up on love.
But I was glad it found me in the end.