It's nearly time to meet the Madonie heirs!!!
Delilah POV The surgery itself took about an hour. Alexander was in scrubs, holding my hand the whole time. I was glad they had the curtain over my midsection so I didn’t witness them cutting me to retrieve the babies. Alexander’s attention bounced like a tennis ball between my face and the surgery. I started to cry each time Doctor Damiani announced one of the babies was out. I know I’ve said I haven’t felt anything maternal for them, and I hold to that. But when I heard the first wail from baby A, I felt a tug in my heart. And it continued as each baby made their presence in the room known. They sounded healthy, at least. “They’re perfect,” Alexander assured me as he kissed my forehead or tried to kiss it, but he had a surgical mask on, which was a little weird. “Do you want to see them?” a nurse asked. “No. The honor of meeting them first belongs to their parents. Bring them to Alpha André and Aleph Darren.” I shook my head. I wanted to see them. I desperately wanted to see th
The first month after the heirs were born was hard on Delilah. Not physically. She recovered from surgery nicely. The recovery time only took a little over a week between her natural werewolf healing and having me. The delivery, especially giving herself space from the heirs, has taken an emotional toll. As a result, she’s spent a lot of time crying in my arms and having therapy sessions with Giosuè. I’ve seen the heirs once since they were born, but Delilah couldn’t bring herself to see them then. I offered to show her their pictures, but she refused. She wasn’t in a good place to connect with them as an extended family member rather than the woman who carried them in her womb. No one tried to push her to meet them. I would probably go off on anyone who dared. I’ve had my therapy sessions, too. And yes, one included Delilah, where I told her about the nightmare. She was justifiably freaked out by it. I don’t think there’s anyone who wouldn’t freak out at the head of a dead witch sho
I didn’t know why I was nervous when I went to Alexander’s office at the pack house. We’ve made love plenty of times before I gave birth. So, I shouldn’t feel so damn shy about making love now that I’m not pregnant. That’s even if it’s the making love part that worries me. I made up my mind that we should mark and complete our bond. I thought I’d prepared myself when I walked into his office. I’d had it planned out. We would take the rest of the day off. I’d already talked to Amelia and Gildo, and they were happy to ensure ranked duties were taken care of. From there, we’d take a run. Helia has been itching for me to shift and officially meet Lucius. We’d be going on a run with a destination in mind. Amelia had told me about a small cottage her family owns deep in the forest. She said it would make a perfect getaway for a newly mated couple who wanted to be undisturbed. So, I had it all planned out. We’d make a weekend of it and enjoy being away from everything. I hadn’t planned for
I won’t go into how much I ended up paying Amelia in damages to her little cottage after spending a weekend there. I consider myself lucky that she didn’t keep any family heirlooms there. The furnishings destroyed during mine and Delilah’s mating weren’t antiques or anything she or her brother held dear. All you need to know is it wasn’t cheap. But that was a month ago. A month of being fully mated has been great for us. After Delilah’s heat ended, she finally asked to see the heirs. I don’t know if it’s from her therapy or because we completed our bond, but her emotions about André and Darren’s children leveled out. It was still an emotional visit, especially when she held each of them. That first meeting was a huge step for Delilah. She saw, held, kissed, and whispered sweet words to them. She got to say goodbye to their connection and move forward to the new connection they’ll have. Delilah was already the most selfless person I knew. She became the bravest after seeing her keep h
Since we know about the prophecy, Delilah and I have been cautious in our family planning. Delilah wanted and needed time to recover from fully emotionally being a surrogate. I was more than willing to give her that time. Then, we also wanted time to be just a couple before risking starting our family. We decided we would try to start our family late last year. We were trying to be as thorough in our baby planning as possible. We even checked the upcoming year to identify any blue moons. Given that I’m not the blue moon prophecy child, I knew Ersilia was off the mark in thinking the conception needed to be on a blue moon. So Delilah and I wanted to avoid delivery on a blue moon. We knew there would be a blue moon in August, so we were actively targeting to have our baby either before or after August. We even stopped having unprotected sex when her possible due date could have landed anywhere near the blue moon. And our planning paid off. When we learned Delilah was pregnant and calcu
I always knew I wanted to be a mama. I dreamed of having a big family with my future mate when I was little. When I discovered that Alexander was my mate twelve years ago and the drama we faced, I started to think a big family might not even happen. I’d been pregnant when we reconnected, though not with children that would be mine. He had PTSD from the emotional damage Liar had put him through two years prior. However, the biggest reason I worried we might not have a large family, let alone children, was the blue moon prophecy. Ersilia did awful things to get her hands on the blue moon child of prophecy. A child she assumed would be conceived on a blue moon from Alexander’s line. She hurt Alexander. She hurt her great-granddaughter. She even got angels involved in it. And she paid the ultimate price for it. Despite our worries about the prophecy ten years ago, Alexander and I started our family. We thought we’d taken all the necessary precautions to avoid the blue moon. While Ersilia
Dear Readers, We have reached the end of another book. It's always bittersweet to publish the final chapter of a book. These last few chapters may have felt like we skipped some things. Yes, we glossed over some moments as they were less significant to the story, and trying to write a chapter of Alexander or Delilah sitting in the therapist's office wasn't exactly compelling, nor was it enough to fill a chapter. Please don't worry- there are always chances to get glimpses of those smaller moments in more detail in future books or possible bonus stories. Now for the question everyone's been asking. WHAT'S NEXT!!?? I am taking the month of November off from my current series to participate in NaNoWriMo. For those who don't know what that is, I'd like to explain. NaNoWriMo is the National Novel Writing Month. During November, writers from around the world will challenge themselves to start a new project and write 50,000 words in 30 days! This is the first year I'm going to give this a
The following chapters are a bonus story called A Mama's Love. I know it's a couple of months early, but the idea came to me and couldn't be helped. So the following short bonus story is a Mother's Day Celebration that takes place the Mother's Day after Clover is born. I hope you enjoy it. Story Blurb:It’s been nearly thirteen years since Delilah Fayte gave birth for the first time. Now that the Madonie Heirs know the truth, they want to join their half-siblings... er cousins... it isn’t very clear to celebrate the woman so full of boundless love she has brought nine lives into this world. Besides, no one throws a party like a D’Amore.
I’ve felt anxious since André told me that he and Darren told their children I was their surrogate. I knew the day would come. We couldn’t keep it from them forever. It was only natural that they’d be curious. Especially now that Amaryllis and Éowyn were starting to look more like me at their age with hints of Darren. It was easier when they were little and looked more like Darren. Caspian and Aragon still look more like André, but there are moments when they say or do something, especially their smiles, and I can see myself in their faces. Alexander didn’t help my anxious feeling when he told me Chris went to see the quads so he’d know, too. How would he handle that? I wished Alexander hadn’t let him go to André’s villa to hear this from the quads. I was napping and needed the rest since Clover had been teething. She’s been extra fussy because of the teething, and beyond lack of sleep, my breasts are tender from her feedings. It’s not like I haven’t been through this before. Our old
I may only be ten, but I know enough about the world and my future role in it. I’m the Madonie Beta heir, and as much as my parents wanted to shield me from knowing it, I am the Petridis of the Blue Moon prophecy. These roles are my fate. It wasn’t my choice, but it is what the Goddess ordained, and who am I or anyone to argue with her will? The prophecy doesn’t affect my day-to-day life. It just means the only witch I trust is Zia Kat, and I don’t trust angels, period. Being the Beta heir does affect my day-to-day life. It has defined my education and friendships. I don’t want to think the only reason I’m friends with Caspian, Aragon, Amaryllis, and Éowyn is simply because one of them will be my Alpha. They are my cousins, so to speak. Our Papas and Monnos have been best friends for years, so we are like family. Though it’s always felt like there’s more to it than that, when my family link snapped into place when I was nine, I realized I had a link to them. Sure, it could be explain
Caspian POVThis wasn’t going the way I thought it would. We’re the ones that are supposed to be guilting Papa into the truth about our Mama. Instead, we are getting a guilt trip about Dad and our guards being worried that we snuck away. Maybe we couldn’t escape them so easily if Filiberto and Dorian were better at their jobs. I know they are good warriors, and given the trauma they went through with Zia Amelia during the war, Papa and Dad are kind to them, but if four twelve-year-olds can escape them, what good are they at protecting us? I do feel bad that we worried Dad and Papa. I won’t feel bad for our guards. They need to be better at their jobs. And maybe we should have more than two guards. There are four of us, after all. This isn’t the first time we’ve duped Filiberto and Dorian. Aragon and I are identical, though we style ourselves differently—the same for our sisters. I’ve lost track of how many times we’ve fooled our guards and the staff at the school into thinking we were
Amaryllis POV I’m not saying we’ve been lied to for our WHOLE lives, but people need to realize we aren’t babies anymore and stop trying to spare our feelings. We are the heirs of Madonie. We shouldn’t be treated with kid gloves. And while nothing would ever change how much I or my siblings love our Papa and Daddy, how could they expect us never to find out? They teach us about the mate bond, females going into heat, and sex at school, for the Goddess’s sake. We were bound to learn that a baby cannot be made without a female. Even if that wasn’t all a factor, Éowyn and I are getting older, and it’s easy to see we don’t look like any of the women in the D’Amore or Delaney women. We have Daddy’s eyes and ears, but that’s like it. If anything, we look more like Nonna Crista and especially Zia Delilah. Maybe if we were naive people, we’d write it off because they are family. But Nonna Crista is Papa’s matrigna, so we aren’t blood-related to the Fayte line. At least not that anyone’s admi
The following chapters are a bonus story called A Mama's Love. I know it's a couple of months early, but the idea came to me and couldn't be helped. So the following short bonus story is a Mother's Day Celebration that takes place the Mother's Day after Clover is born. I hope you enjoy it. Story Blurb:It’s been nearly thirteen years since Delilah Fayte gave birth for the first time. Now that the Madonie Heirs know the truth, they want to join their half-siblings... er cousins... it isn’t very clear to celebrate the woman so full of boundless love she has brought nine lives into this world. Besides, no one throws a party like a D’Amore.
Dear Readers, We have reached the end of another book. It's always bittersweet to publish the final chapter of a book. These last few chapters may have felt like we skipped some things. Yes, we glossed over some moments as they were less significant to the story, and trying to write a chapter of Alexander or Delilah sitting in the therapist's office wasn't exactly compelling, nor was it enough to fill a chapter. Please don't worry- there are always chances to get glimpses of those smaller moments in more detail in future books or possible bonus stories. Now for the question everyone's been asking. WHAT'S NEXT!!?? I am taking the month of November off from my current series to participate in NaNoWriMo. For those who don't know what that is, I'd like to explain. NaNoWriMo is the National Novel Writing Month. During November, writers from around the world will challenge themselves to start a new project and write 50,000 words in 30 days! This is the first year I'm going to give this a
I always knew I wanted to be a mama. I dreamed of having a big family with my future mate when I was little. When I discovered that Alexander was my mate twelve years ago and the drama we faced, I started to think a big family might not even happen. I’d been pregnant when we reconnected, though not with children that would be mine. He had PTSD from the emotional damage Liar had put him through two years prior. However, the biggest reason I worried we might not have a large family, let alone children, was the blue moon prophecy. Ersilia did awful things to get her hands on the blue moon child of prophecy. A child she assumed would be conceived on a blue moon from Alexander’s line. She hurt Alexander. She hurt her great-granddaughter. She even got angels involved in it. And she paid the ultimate price for it. Despite our worries about the prophecy ten years ago, Alexander and I started our family. We thought we’d taken all the necessary precautions to avoid the blue moon. While Ersilia
Since we know about the prophecy, Delilah and I have been cautious in our family planning. Delilah wanted and needed time to recover from fully emotionally being a surrogate. I was more than willing to give her that time. Then, we also wanted time to be just a couple before risking starting our family. We decided we would try to start our family late last year. We were trying to be as thorough in our baby planning as possible. We even checked the upcoming year to identify any blue moons. Given that I’m not the blue moon prophecy child, I knew Ersilia was off the mark in thinking the conception needed to be on a blue moon. So Delilah and I wanted to avoid delivery on a blue moon. We knew there would be a blue moon in August, so we were actively targeting to have our baby either before or after August. We even stopped having unprotected sex when her possible due date could have landed anywhere near the blue moon. And our planning paid off. When we learned Delilah was pregnant and calcu
I won’t go into how much I ended up paying Amelia in damages to her little cottage after spending a weekend there. I consider myself lucky that she didn’t keep any family heirlooms there. The furnishings destroyed during mine and Delilah’s mating weren’t antiques or anything she or her brother held dear. All you need to know is it wasn’t cheap. But that was a month ago. A month of being fully mated has been great for us. After Delilah’s heat ended, she finally asked to see the heirs. I don’t know if it’s from her therapy or because we completed our bond, but her emotions about André and Darren’s children leveled out. It was still an emotional visit, especially when she held each of them. That first meeting was a huge step for Delilah. She saw, held, kissed, and whispered sweet words to them. She got to say goodbye to their connection and move forward to the new connection they’ll have. Delilah was already the most selfless person I knew. She became the bravest after seeing her keep h