Jillie
We’d just finished watching a second episode when Jarren texted me, saying he would be with his dad and grandfather for a bit longer. I turned my attention back to the TV for a few minutes before glancing at Xander. Every time I was around him, I tried not to think about what he’d said as we danced at the wedding, but it was difficult. He looked so sad, so broken. I wanted to ask him what it was about, ask him who the girl was that broke his heart.
“Xander,” I said, drawing his attention. What happened?” I questioned. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but I’d like to know. What you said at the wedding made me wonder. You were just so…sad,” I finished in a voice barely above a whisper.He sighed. “No offense, Jillie, but why do you care?”“Because I care about you, stupid. You&rJarren When I entered the living room, Jillie was sleeping with her head on Xander’s chest and his arm around her waist. I raised an eyebrow at him in a playful fashion.“Is there something I need to know about?”“Yes, Jillie and I are in love, and there’s nothing you can do about it,” he countered with a smirk.I rolled my eyes. “Sure you are. How long has she been sleeping?”“About an hour or so.”I nodded. “What have you two been doing all day?”“Nothing, really. She had her royal lessons. I fixed her something to eat and told her about Maya.”“Wait. Stop. You told her about Maya?” He nodded. “Why?”He shrugged. “She asked what girl broke my heart, and I just told her.” If it had been possible, I wou
JillieThe smell of pancakes wafted through the house, causing my stomach to growl. They began to slowly blend in with the other things Jarren was cooking, but I could still smell them—probably because I was having a craving for them. I’d been eating them every morning for the past week, and I hadn’t grown tired of them yet. When everything was done, Jarren fixed my plate and sat it in front of me with a glass of orange juice. I dug in almost immediately. After all, I was eating for two, and the little person growing inside me seemed to want to eat all the time. My food intake had almost tripled in the last week or so. Once I was done eating, I helped Jarren clean the kitchen before taking my vitamins. I was waiting for Xander to call me. He was supposed to let me know how the venue setup was going. I’d laid out specifically to the
JillieJarren walked back in and grabbed the bassinet before leaving again. I assumed he was going to set it up in the bedroom. I stopped rocking Reyna, picked up her carrier and bag, and headed up the stairs. When I made it to the room, Jarren already had the bassinet set up at the end of the bed. I sat the bag by the bassinet before sitting the carrier on the floor and gently picking Reyna up. I laid her in the middle of the bed before sitting on my side. She was adorable. I was honestly in awe. What was it about babies that made people star-struck over them? She closed her eyes as she continued to suck on her pacifier.“It doesn’t matter how long you stare at her, Piccolo; she’s pretty much just going to lay there,” Jarren said, playing with a few of my curls.“So, I don’t care. She’s adorable,” I responded.
JarrenOnce Jillie was asleep, I returned to the book I was studying. I was almost done with it, and I didn’t plan on starting a new one for a while. Jillie was right. I had been neglecting her, but I wasn’t doing it intentionally. I just wanted to get this out of the way. When I sat down and went over things like this, it helped me forget about the other problems that were occurring. Xander was supposed to use his contacts and connections to see if he could find a way for us to get this flower easily, though I was sure there wasn’t an easy way. His head had been somewhere else lately. He was still doing what I’d asked him to do, but he hadn’t been putting his all into it. I was becoming upset. I knew he had his own life, but at the moment, there was nothing more important to me than finding an answer to this. He’
Jarren“Baby, I know I agreed to let you drive my car, but I was under the assumption that you would tell me where we were going.”She sighed. “I did tell you. We’re meeting Xander and Mina for dinner.”“Where?”“This place Mina was telling me about.” Realizing that I wasn’t going to get anything else out of her, I sat back in my seat and closed my eyes. She turned the radio up and began to hum along to the music. I glanced over at her, and my eyes instantly went to her stomach. She hadn’t said anything, and I’m sure it was because she hadn’t noticed, but she was starting to show mildly. We pulled up to a building, and Jillie parked the car. Once we got out, I took her hand, and she led the way to the door and inside.“Surprise!”  
JarrenI sat up as Jillie made a beeline for the bathroom. This was the third time she’d awaken feeling nauseous. I sighed and leaned back against the headboard. Usually, I’d go check on her, but after her second time and her nearly kicking me out of the bathroom, I figured it would be better to leave her alone this time. I heard the water in the sink turn on, and after a few minutes, she emerged from the bathroom. Climbing back into the bed, she leaned against the headboard. Reaching over, I placed my hand on her stomach and rubbed slow circles.“I don’t think I’ll be going back to sleep anytime soon,” she stated, exhaling. “This little one is seriously kicking my butt today.”“Maybe it’s something you ate at the party last night.”She shrugged. “Maybe. Whatever it is, I just wish it would work its way out of my s
Jillie“So, how was the party?” Kaileeh asked.I readjusted the phone to my ear as I continued to season the chicken. “It was good. I was able to surprise him, so I’m proud of myself for that.”“Well, lucky you. His birthday makes me sad, though.”“Why?” I questioned, sliding the chicken into the oven.“Hello, September eleventh. That’s enough to make me cry just saying it.”I rolled my eyes as I put on a pot of water to boil. She was overdramatic more often than not. “So, how is school?” I questioned, changing the subject.“Paradise
Jarren I paced back and forth as I waited on Xander. He’d gone earlier today to meet with whoever it was that was going to help us. He’d called and said that he checked out, and I was now waiting for both of them to get here. Jillie had gone to lunch with Elise, so I figured it would be the perfect time to discuss this issue. My patience was wearing thin as my pacing increased. I’m sure if I kept up like this, I would etch a pattern into the floor. Jillie had already been gone for over an hour, and I wasn’t sure when she was coming back. What I did know for sure was that I didn’t want her here when Xander and this guy were here. I didn’t know him yet, and just because Xander said he was legitimate didn’t mean that he didn’t have his motives for doing this or that he would even be able to help at all. I didn’t want he
JillieI reached over beside me, but Jarren wasn’t there. Opening my eyes, I found his side of the bed empty. Figuring that he must already be with one of the kids, I swing my legs out of the bed and make my way to Avarie’s room. She’s sleeping peacefully, so it must have been Alec crying. I make my way into his room and he’s sleeping as well. Puzzled, I drift back out into the hallway. I could have sworn crying woke me up. I noticed that there was a light on downstairs. Making my way down, I follow the soft light into the living room. Figuring out what Jarren is doing up at this time is a little beyond my tired brain’s capability. Vampire or not, he was about to get in the bed with me so I could go back to sleep. Stepping into the living room, however, I didn’t see Jarren. Instead, Kaileeh was curled up in the corner of the sofa. She was rocking back and forth slightly as she gazed at her hands, frightened. I took a cautious step towards her. I’d never seen he
JillieThe words that came out of Hollie’s mouth felt foreign to me, even though I’d heard them less than about forty-five minutes ago. I couldn’t be crowning again. That would insinuate that I was having twins, which I was not. Hollie had shown me the sonograms, and there was only one baby in them. Yet here I was, pushing as if my life depended on it. I looked at Jarren again, who looked a little paler than usual.“Hollie,” I started through breaths. “Can vampires faint?”“Not that I know of, but you never know. Why?” She questioned, glancing up.“Because I think my husband is about to pass out.” She didn’t respond and instead told me to push. Just like the first time, we worked as a team, and this birth was much quicker, with only the use of one syringe. That was a small victory that was quickly forgotten when I
JarrenPacing. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last thirty minutes. I was pacing and trying to soothe Jillie. I was worried, and the more I worried, the faster I paced. I’d freaked poor Ean out. He was the kind that liked to live in denial and pretend that certain things didn’t exist. I wondered how much of this he would actually be able to ignore. I glanced over at the bed to find Hollie staring intently at the monitors and Teya dabbing Jillie’s forehead with a cool cloth. I felt so helpless because I couldn’t do anything other than be here for her. I couldn’t take her pain away, and I desperately wanted to. I sighed and resumed my pacing. I knew I should have gone with them. The suspense of not knowing what was going on or where they were was killing me, but I realized this is how Jillie would have f
JillieMy baby girl was kicking my butt like she was mad at the world. It had almost been nonstop for the past few hours. To top that off, those stupid cramps just wouldn’t let up. As luck would have it, Jarren was out doing who knows what at the moment. So I was on my own, dealing with my high-maintenance daughter, who was a complete daddy’s girl. I’d tried everything. I’d placed headphones on my stomach and played calm, soothing music. I’d rub my stomach until both of my hands and arms felt like they were limp noodles and about to fall off at any minute. I’d tried talking to her, then begging. I’d even resorted to bribery. None of that worked. &n
JarrenWhen Jillie got up, I waited a few minutes before following her. I stopped just on the other side of the patio door and listened to the silence. I knew she’d gone out there. I could hear her heart beating, but she wasn’t saying anything. When she finally spoke, I realized that she’d noticed that something was wrong with Nunny as well. As I sat and listened to them talk, my heart broke. Nunny was right; I wouldn’t be able to handle it if something happened to Jillie and our child. My world would literally come crashing down, and I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. They were my life, and just thinking about this scared me, and I was never scared. Life was cruel sometimes. It seemed like we couldn’t win for losing. When we caught a break, something else came along and ruined it. Not this time. I was dete
Jillie When I opened the gifts, I was overwhelmed by the amount of clothes, shoes, toys, diapers, and wipes. It looked like we’d have enough to last for the next few years, though I knew that was unlikely. I knew that babies went through a ton of diapers in a year. I had four gifts left to open. Three were wrapped in pink paper with little baby rattles on them, and the other was in a gift bag with clouds and the words “It’s a girl” written on it. My Dad brought the rather large boxes over to me one by one, and I ripped the paper from them. There was a highchair, a walker, and a baby swing. Upon seeing what they were, I turned to my mother, w
Jillie New Year was full of friends, family, and food. We’d rung in the year at my parent’s house and spent the day at the boys and girls center with most of the kids from town. I couldn’t play with them like I once had, but the Fang gang, Wolf Pack, and Kaileeh were making up for that. While they ran around playing dodgeball, I had to remind Xander not to throw too hard; I got to watch Sara and Kinley draw. They were both very talented little girls. We’d had lunch with all of them, and Xander got hit on quite a bit, along with Carson and Garret, by the teenage girls. Kaileeh hadn’t been too happy about the last one, but she was trying not to show it. Overall, it was a good day. I was currently sitting in the living room watching TV. I hadn&rs
JillieI didn’t know what to say. It was absolutely beautiful. I couldn’t have imagined anything more perfect than what I was looking at as a room for our little girl. It was done in sky blue and pale yellow. He’d painted the ceiling, and there were clouds all over it. The floor had been done in the same blue, but it was more textured. The crib was sand brown with a blue and yellow color scheme for bedding. There was an armchair and ottoman of the same color as well. The room had so much beauty that I couldn’t describe it all. It looked like a small castle for a princess. He’d even taken all of her clothes and put them away in the closet and the bureau he’d gotten to match the rest of the room. There were toys on a shelf, a changing table, and plush animals hang
Jarren Rian had lost his damn mind talking to the women in the house that way, and if he thought that I wasn’t going to say something about it, then he had thought wrong. When Mason shut the door behind him, I pushed Rian into the side of the house. My anger was at an all-time high.“Have you lost your mind?” I questioned, fuming. Mason stepped between us.“Look, I know what you’re going to ask me, and it’s none of your business. What happens between Sage and I is just that, between Sage and I.”“Wrong!”I snapped. “When it’s affecting the two of yo