“Just a few short months. By this time next year, we’ll already be spoiling her with our affection.” He ticks his head to the side. “Do you want to live at Whitehorse—eventually?”
“At the house you generously built for me with nothing more than your love? Yes. The boys and I belong here with you. Not with Chloe and Gage living next door to Emma. God, I can’t even breathe in that house. Sometimes I think that I was under hypnosis during that entire marriage to Gage. Why didn’t you stop me from buying that place?” I playfully kick my heel over his thigh.
“Because I let you make your own decision.” That side-lying dimple I gifted him goes off. “And you were rife with hormones, sort of the way you are now, and I knew enough to tread lightly.”
A laugh bucks out of me. “You better watch it, Oliver. You’re walking on thin ice.”
“And you just proved my point.”
“Seriously, though. If you ever see me heading for a bear trap, feel free to navigate me in the opposite direction. I’m just thankful that this nightmare with Nathan didn’t turn into some explosive custody battle. I couldn’t handle having my children taken away from me.” My hand covers my belly a moment. “And that’s another reason I’m thrilled to be having this child with you. I will never fear that this child might be ripped from my arms, nor will she ever live under the influence or same roof for that matter as Chloe Bishop. Our baby is safe because I’m safe with you.”
“True as God.” He lands a string of kisses up my cheek. “So, what do we have to tackle next? Do you want to sell the old Walsh house? We can take ’em. By law that house is half yours. But if you wanted it back, I’d make sure you got all of the money you put into it, which was more than half and we both know it. Not that we need it. What’s mine is yours and we have more than enough.”
A ragged breath escapes me. “I think we should, but I think we should wait until this time next year. I want to enjoy my pregnancy. I want to enjoy you—my future husband.” I shake my head. “You do realize you are still my husband and I never let you go no matter what the law says. But to appease the authorities that be, we will have that big wedding. And I’m excited about it.”
“Good. I want you excited.” He dips his hand between my thighs.
A dark laugh bubbles from me. “Everything about you excites me.”
Logan gets right back to the business of doing just that.
Gage expertly dodges Logan and me at the house. Chloe, however, is indifferent to our presence. The novelty of having me under my own roof seems to have worn off, and for the first time in two days I’m feeling well enough to trek with Logan and the boys to the Landon house, where we’ll break the good news to them. Ezrina just stopped by to pick up my latest not-so-greatest batch of vomit. Logan helps me catch it in a bucket and either Ezrina or Nev swings by to get it.
Logan and I offered to buy a freezer to help store it, but Ezrina was emphatic about having it fresh—something about delicate enzymes. Ellis came by once and did a vomit run but ended up puking into the bucket himself, thus polluting the offering.
I’ve only been away for less than a week, and yet the Landon house feels utterly new and strange. As soon as Logan and I unleash the boys into the house, they run straight for their cousins who they’ve been asking about nonstop. As much as I dislike the fact I’m still living at home, it indeed feels like just that, home. Not to mention it’s a virtual familial playground for the boys. For as many things that are wrong with the Landon house, there are twice as many things right.
Logan and I step into the family room, fully expecting to see Ethan and Drake belching in front of the television set, or Mia and Melissa ripping each other’s hair out over their latest boy-toy endeavors, or perhaps my mother giving Demetri a lap dance—all very plausible scenarios—but this?
“Oh my dear God.” The words strum from me numbly as I try to assess whether or not what my eyes are telling me is reality.
Logan grunts, “What in the hell?”
Someway—somehow, an oversized golden throne has erected itself to the right of the dining room table, ornate, heavily carved, padded over the backrest and seat with plush red velvet. A relic from the baroque era, something horrifically gilded and best forgotten. But far more out of place than that chair in the Landon house is the person firmly seated in it.
Logan takes a step forward. “Gage?”
Nathan and Barron run into the room and shout, “Daddy,” in unison before leaping onto his lap.
Nathan points to Gage while looking my way and inadvertently picks his nose. “Daddy—Daddy’s Santa!”
“If by Santa you mean a complete fabrication of my better judgment, then I’m with you on that.” I dig my fists into my hips, and it’s only then I notice the bodies lining up next to the throne of lies. “Laken? Coop? Ellis? G? What are you guys doing here?”
Laken shrugs a moment. “Coop said you were on your way here, so I wanted to see you.” She trots over and offers me a hearty embrace, her stomach already protruding and hard with Wesley’s child.
Coop shrugs, too. “Gage told me you’d be here.”
I glower at my ex a moment. As much as I don’t like calling him that, it just seems easier than calling him the jackass who stole my husband’s identity.
Logan takes a deep breath. “So, what’s up with the impromptu coronation?”
“I’ll tell you what!” Tad harps from behind and we turn in time to see Mom, Mia, Melissa, and Bree following him like a procession. “I’m celebrating my latest win! Twenty-five G! It’s like I’m cursed in reverse!” He sheds a toothy grin, and I can’t help but grimace when that diamond he has soldered onto his tooth gleams from the light of that garish crystal chandelier he recently installed.
Giving Tad large sums of money is proving a questionable move by the universe.
“Again?” I look to my mother, more than mildly alarmed. “What in the heck is going on?”
Tad lifts a finger laden with garish gold rings. “I’ll tell you what. I’m a winner, that’s what.” He heads over to admire the throne, which I’m assuming he bought for himself, but since Gage is so power-hungry, he couldn’t help but dart over just to sit in it himself.
I head to my mother. “Cursed in reverse? I think not. More like cursed in the traditional sense. I smell an Edinger at the bottom of this unlucky barrel and he’s about to roll Tad off a steep financial cliff.”
She’s quick to wave it off with a scoff. “Please, Skyla. If Demetri was behind all this, why, I’d bow down and kiss his bare feet!”
A hard roll of what feels like battery acid churns in my stomach. “Would you hold off on any talk of Demetri’s bare body parts? I’m being serious.”
“Oh, I am, too,” she’s quick to correct.
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
Logan nods over to Gage. “Checking out some new furniture for the house?”
Gage frowns a moment. His dimples dig in deep as the boys scamper off. Beau Geste comes up and kicks him over the shin.
“You don’t give good presents!” He runs off laughing his head off, and for the first time in years I see Drake in him.
Gage looks from me to Logan. “I came to extend a personal invite to my coronation.”
Bree pops up beside me. “Ooh! Should I call and order pizza?”
“Yes, Bree,” I say. “And see if Em is around in the kitchen so she can fashion a tin foil crown. That should about cover it.”
“Skyla!” Mom growls. “Is that any way to talk about your king?”
“He’s not my king,” I’m quick to say.
Mom rolls her eyes. “He’s everybody’s king,” she whispers it low like something unmentionable, and it should be treated as just that. “Demetri explained it all to me. Just like you were the celestial leader for so long, now it’s his turn.”
“And by his, he meant himself, as in Demetri.” I look to Gage. “See that? You’re just a sock puppet your father is using in an effort to destroy the
whole human race.”
“I’m saving them, Skyla,” he says without missing a beat.
“From who? Me?”
He looks to the side and blinks as if considering this himself. Figures. Demetri has fed him so many lies he doesn’t know what he believes himself.
Giselle slings her arm over my shoulder as Ellis steps our way.
“What about Skyla?” Ellis directs the question to Gage himself, rife with attitude because his devotion to me and my people is undying. I’ll have to find a special way to thank Ellis after we come out of this nightmare, and I truly believe we will.
Logan looks to Gage. “What about Skyla?”
Gage rises from his throne, his stature only seems to grow, the girth of his body prominent and stunning. Gage really does have an air of royalty about him, but then I’ve always thought that.
Chloe comes up with Em in tow, her hand rubbing circles over her belly as if that were its job. “His coronation is tomorrow. Gage is personally inviting those he wants in attendance.” She sneers my way. “We’re swinging by The Enchanted Closet on the way home to pick up my dress. It’s from a French designer. The beading is immaculate.”
I look to Gage and peg him with my gaze. I dare him not to invite me. Go ahead, Gage. Let’s see how inflated your balls have become.
“Skyla, Logan, of course, you’re invited.” He glares at me as if maybe I weren’t. “You’ll bring the boys like we discussed. Sage will be there.”
A small thrill rides through me at the thought of seeing my daughter, but considering the circumstances, considering how much she has come to loathe me, I’m guessing it won’t be such a happy reunion.
Logan wraps his arm around my waist and I feel his love coursing through me as sure as I feel Marshall’s vibratronics when he touches me.
“We will be there.” Logan presses a light kiss to my cheek. “In fact, we’re glad you’re here. The more, the merrier.”
I blink to life, completely forgetting the real reason we stopped by.
“That’s right.” I clear my throat. “Logan and I have an announcement to make.”
Mom shuffles over and Mia gives a shrill whistle until the room is called to attention.
“Skyla has something to say!” Bree riots it out before bouncing in front of me. “Go ahead, girl. Tell us whatever the hell you want. You’ve got the floor.”
Chloe rumbles with a laugh. “Would you like to sit on the throne, Skyla? A fearless leader such as yourself deserves the most prominent seat in the house.” She pretends to wince. “Oh, that’s right, all of your people have abandoned you. But with Logan Oliver by your side, what more could you possibly ask for?”
I choose to ignore the Wicked Witch of West and take a breath as I survey all of our loved ones in the room. It’s true. My people are bleeding from the Factions as if it were a sieve. Gage has them convinced staying with me is a death sentence—or worse yet, a one-way ticket to Raven’s Eye.
“Logan and I are having a baby!” I shout it loud and proud for everyone in the room to hear, and it comes out joyous and celebratory because despite the negative energy in the room that’s exactly how I’m feeling.
“What?” Tad squawks, but the rest of the room breaks out into congratulatory cheers.
“Skyla!” My mother lingers over me and breaks out into an all-out sob. “Oh, I’m so happy for you. Oh, the baby feet we’ll get to kiss! I can’t wait to eat those precious tiny toes. I’m so very thankful. I’ve needed this.” She pulls back—her face already soaked with tears. “You have no idea how badly I need this.”
A laugh bubbles out of me. “Well, in that case, congratulations to you as well. And I agree, this was much needed.”
Tad gags. “Like hell it was!”
Before I can respond, Laken is on me, only to be knocked away by Bree.
“Bree, she’s having a baby.” I reprimand her wrestler-like move.
“So are you, and you’re the only person I care about. I’m so happy for you guys.” She pulls Logan into a shared embrace. “And damn it all to hell, I need to catch up. Drake!” she barks as she stalks off.
Tad convulses as if he were just electrocuted. “Don’t you dare!”
Laken is on me once again, and this time I secure her to me like a life raft. Her hand swims up my sleeve and she clutches onto my bare skin.
“Congratulations!” I have something to tell you. I can’t let on. “We get to do this together.” She pats her tummy with her other hand. Wes thinks he has the key to cover the markers. It’s done, Skyla. It will be announced tomorrow. I was forbidden to tell you.
“I can’t believe it.” I force myself to laugh, but only because I want to cry. It seems at every turn I am usurped, bested, and shown the celestial door. “We need to shop. I’ve had intense cravings for Chinese food.”
“We’ll do lunch. Maybe tomorrow after the coronation? Or sometime after that?” She shrugs.
“If you’re available, that would be wonderful.”
Coop comes up and wraps an arm around Laken’s shoulders and she doesn’t flinch. In fact, she presses her body against his and they look every bit like a couple again.
“I won’t be staying long tomorrow.” She wrinkles her nose. “Gage is holding a strategy meeting after the reception.”
“You know what they say”—I look to Gage and Chloe as they close in on our circle—“there’s no rest for the wicked.”
Chloe lifts a dark smile. “We’re not wicked, Skyla. We are wise.”
Laken scoffs as if she’s fighting the urge to deck her. “For a Celestra, you sure don’t bear allegiance to your people. Gage and Wesley plan on eradicating them.”
Chloe’s mouth opens and she takes a breath as she looks to Gage. “I realize this.”
Logan shakes his head. “How the mighty have fallen. I guess it’s official. Chloe Bishop doesn’t give a rip about her people.”
I shake my head. “As long as she’s balls deep in Gage Oliver, the rest of the world can go to hell in a handbasket,” I say it low enough, but judging by the fact Chloe is turning a ripe shade of crimson, I’m betting she heard.
Logan glides an arm around my waist. “So, Chloe, how does it feel to give up your morals for a man?”
“Ask Laken,” she grunts. “You might say I took a page out of her book.”
Coop’s chest expands in defense of the love of his life. “She’s not doing any such thing. Laken and I are strictly friends.”
My stomach turns hearing poor Coop make such a proclamation.
He takes a breath as he glances to Laken as if he dreaded what comes next. “In fact, Laken is attending tomorrow’s event with Wes. And if you don’t mind, Gage, I’d like to ask Lexy Bakova to be my date.”
The entire room seems to still and Laken’s eyes enlarge with a newfound rage.
Okay, now I see where this is headed. Get Laken good and riled up and she’ll come running faster than a locomotive. Coop is brilliant in just about every realm of his life.
Gage grunts, “Anything for you, Coop.” He says it curt and somewhat sarcastic, and it makes me wonder why Gage would bother. It’s almost as if Coop is irritating him on some level. Come to think of it, whenever Gage is out in public, Coop is by his side. I’ll have to make a note to inspect this further. It wouldn’t be the first time Coop was up to something.
Gage takes a breath as he looks from Logan to me. “So, when’s the big day?” He glares at Logan a moment. “I suspect you’re going to make an honest woman out of her.”
Logan blinks with a bored sense of disbelief. “I’ve already done that. I’d like to think it’s still in effect.” A wry smile comes and goes because his bold statement just made my relationship with Gage seem insignificant, but I won’t hold it against him. Gage is flashing his horse-sized balls all over the place these days. He deserves to be taken down a notch. “But yes”—Logan clears his throat—“we’re going to have a wedding. A big one.”
A riotous scream of what I’m
thinking is joy escapes my mother. “Holy mother of God! This is the best day ever!” Another cry of elation bleats from her lungs. “Skyla! Don’t keep us in suspense. When’s the big day? There’s the décor, the guest list, the venue, the food. There’s so much to think about. I need to know what I’m up against. Oh, how I’ve wanted a big grand wedding for you more than you realize.”
Gage hangs his head a moment as if he had in some way let my mother down.
“You did pull off a humdinger in the Transfer,” I say to her, but in truth the words were to make Gage feel better. I’m not sure why I did that. Most likely for the old Gage, the one that Logan and I loved more than ourselves.
She waves it off. “I’m much more eager to serve the masses right here on Paragon. Unless, of course, you’re thinking a destination wedding, Fiji, Hawaii, the Caribbean!”
“Oh no.” I shake my head at Logan. “I’m marrying the love of my life at Whitehorse. The house he built for the two of us.”
“Hear that, Gage?” Chloe quips with the idea of a smile curling on her lips like a pair of devil’s horns. “Logan Oliver is the love of her life.”
I take a quick breath. So much for being sensitive to the old Gage’s feelings.
Gage lifts his chin. “I realize that. Logan and Skyla have always been meant for one another. It’s the primary reason I took a step back.”
Ellis strides into our circle once again and shakes his head. “Dude, nobody believes that’s why you took a step back. You would have given your life for this girl. You’ve hit your head.”
“He had his head replaced by Demetri,” I’m quick to point out.
“Now, now”—my mother lifts a hand—“the boys are present.” She mimics zipping her lips. “When’s the date, Skyla? I’m about to burst right out of my skin.”
“Um”—I look to Logan and tip my head to the side—“our original date was December thirteenth. Maybe we’ll stick with that one? That way, the baby will already be here and I won’t be so huge and uncomfortable.”
All Hail the King (Celestra Forever After Book 6) Page 35