Ella “I can’t wait any longer” I say, two hours, one shower, and three sandwiches later. I stand up in the tiny steel kitchen, accidentally scattering the bag of chips I was picking at all over the counter. Honestly, I wasn’t even eating because I was hungry. I was just trying to distract myself.
“How do you know?” she asks, laughing and casually brushing his hair away from his face. “Because,” he says, smug, “the child has incredible genes – the paternal line is especially fierce, not to mention good looking –“ Cora and I both laugh and she swats his head a little, making him sit up and
Ella We all go a little pale, I think, as we consider the possibility that Cora, too, is an accidental – or not so accidental - surrogate. “I’m sure that’s not true,” I say suddenly, shaking my head but a little shaken – I admit – by the idea that the baby was conceived during a storm that basic
Ella We had dinner a little later, and Henry got to give Cora his shocked congratulations on her pregnancy. His eyes were wet, a little, at the thought of his second grandchild, but it was all for joy. It was a wonderful evening that we all spent together – surprising after such a horrible mornin
“I mean,” Sinclair says, interrupting my reverie and sliding his hands down my back to grip my ass. “If you’re that eager to get knocked up – I’m right here – and there is a bed – I am very happy to oblige –“ I laugh, biting my lip as I look up at him and pressing my body closer to his. But then I
Ella Sinclair and I wake up late the next morning and frankly I’m grateful that everyone let us sleep in. We had to get up to feed Rafe, of course, but even with that? It’s the most sleep I’ve gotten in a long time. “Morning,” I murmur, turning over to Sinclair and slinging a leg up over his hi
Roger stands up straight, though, when Cora and Ella come through the door, saying warm greetings to everyone they encounter, Ella showing off the baby to anyone who wants to come greet him and Cora handing out little cups of coffee that they thoughtfully made. “Uh-oh,” Roger says, his eyes wide a
Sinclair “All right,” I say, keeping half an eye on trouble and sister-trouble as I look around the room at my assembled team. “We’re here today to make a concrete plan regarding our next moves against the Cult that attacked our pack and attempted to kidnap my child. Everyone here has been briefe
He shakes his head at me as tears fill his own eyes and he leans forward, pulling me against him while somehow miraculously managing not to crush our children between us as he holds me tight in his arms. “So, I guess it wouldn’t matter,” he murmurs against my hair as I sniff back my tears and nod.
“Even more than the kids!?” I gasp, my mouth falling open a bit. “I mean, the kids,” he says, shrugging as if they’re not much, which makes me laugh. But then he goes a little rigid as he realizes something, raising his eyes to glare at me a bit. “Wait, are you saying you like the kids more than m
Ella “Nope,” Sinclair says, heaving himself out of bed and grabbing his phone off the bedside table as he does. “I can’t live like this, Ella – I’m calling Roger, I’ve got to know –“ “Dominic!” I say, laughing and grabbing for him, trying to catch the edge of his pajamas and failing because I’v
She laughs and I look first at Sinclair, who shrugs, and then back at my sister. “Come on,” Roger says, nodding at the crowds of people waiting to congratulate us and at the small table of refreshments. “Let’s decide this over some champagne.” Sinclair nods at me and I sigh, moving with my famil
The last image, though, lingers. Ariel, with Rafe and Jesse on either side – as they always are – and her two mates behind her. All standing together on a battlefield with Ariel at the center, magic welling between her hands and passing to her brother, to her cousin. Their faces are serious as t
Cora The images of Ariel’s future come in quick flashes, and somehow I get the impression that the Goddess is eager to share these glimpses of her life. The ones that come first are what I sort of expected, especially after seeing some images of Rafe’s childhood and hearing about the ones that
“We are not,” Cora scoffs, gently taking Ariel into her arms as Sinclair and I laugh. Roger grins, leaning forward to kiss me on the cheek before passing Jesse to me. “You know I’m kidding, right, Ells?” he whispers. I smile at my brother-in-law and gently pat his cheek. “When in doubt, Roger,”
Ella Three weeks later – Ariel was born under a waning quarter moon, not a new moon like her brother and her cousin – I stand anxiously in the woods, my little girl held tight in my arms. “I’m sensing some anxiety,” Cora says, grinning at me with a little too much glee as she comes up to my sid
“Oh my god,” I say, the words spilling out of my mouth. “Oh my god,” I sit up straight, staring at Henry, my eyes flicking to his legs – because honestly, I don’t even notice his chair anymore, or think of him at all as someone whose abilities are hindered. Or of me as someone who is able to do an