by Honor James
“Why would you have to?” he asked, folding her pants and adding them to the pile he had going on the vanity. “You planning on leaving us? Cause, I have to say, that’s a really bad plan. Nothing good comes out of a mate running off. Into the bath,” he told her, taking her hand in his.
“Heavens no, I don’t plan on leaving you boys.” She moved into the tub and leaned back with a sigh. Closing her eyes she smiled. “I’m saying when I’m like as big as a house with a babe growing inside of me, please don’t stop touching me?” She opened her eyes and looked up at him. “Especially you.” She was worried that when she began to show Ansell would begin to back off from her, and that would destroy her.
He frowned at her as he began to strip down, folding his clothing and adding them to the pile on the vanity. “Why especially me?” he asked as he stepped into the water with her. Easing down, he moved her feet into his lap once he was settled.
“I’m terrified that when I start to show you will want to back away from our mating, our bond, because the child is Zhubin’s. I don’t want that. I never want that. In my mind this child belongs to all three of us. You are going to be our child’s father just as Zhubin will, won’t you?” It was a question laced with concern and fear that he would tell her no.
Moving toward her he lifted her up and settled her into his lap. “I know this goes back to what I said when we were talking about mating, Lacey. I know I don’t always find the right words to express my thoughts, I’ve always had that problem. But you should know by now that I love you and will be here for you always. Yes, the child is Zhubin’s genetically but it is also yours. I am a part of this mating and will be with you through it all, the pregnancy, the birth and even the diapers. Though”—he held up a finger—“I’m still not going to do anything that could be classed as a biohazard.”
Leaning into him she nodded and smiled. “Deal. No biohazards for you.” She teased him with a smile. “Thank you.” Her hands moved up and down his arms, she held onto him and squeezed him tightly. “I do love you, Ansell, never doubt that.”
“I couldn’t even if I dared to try. You show me each and every day, Lacey. I just hope you know that I love you as well and, while I refuse to do nasty diaper changes, I will love this child. He or she may not be mine by blood but they will never doubt the love I feel for you or them.”
“Thank you for that. I want you to love this child as if it were your own child and I know you will. Now. I know that you will treat this child as if it were your own and that makes me so very happy. I know that we will all be good together and we will have a great little family, don’t you think?”
“Little?” He stared at her. “Oh, you poor delusional little human. You have no clue do you?” he asked with a mischievous grin curling his lips. “Gennette wants at least a half dozen grandbabies to spoil and since she only has the one child, it’s all on you darling.”
Lacey laughed. “We will see how we do with the first one. Gennette might just be disappointed because if this is going to hurt like crazy I seriously am not so sure that I can have more than a couple, at most.” Then again with the leaps and bounds in medical science, especially on the other side of the Veil, she was sure it would be negligible.
“Well, don’t look to me, no way am I popping out any kids. Even if medical science did get there, no way, no how.” He gave a shudder and made a face. “Gods, even thinking of that is creeping me right the hell out.”
“All I’m thinking of is the pain. That’s it. I don’t mind being pregnant, actually I kind of like knowing that I’m growing a new life inside of me but it’s the pain that I’m so not looking forward to. To the sickness, the swollen ankles, the backaches, all of it. That’s something I’m not looking forward to, but I am looking forward to holding our baby,” she admitted to him.
“Given medical advances I doubt that you’ll have to suffer any pain, the drugs are really very good. And there are ways to combat the sickness and other pregnancy problems.” Pressing a kiss to her cheek, Ansell hugged her to him. “We’ll figure it all out, Lacey. Together, and as a family unit.”
“Good. That’s what I had to know. What I needed to feel.” She rubbed her cheek to his and sighed happily. “Goodness, this is nice. Thank you for reassuring me.” He always was doing that for her, reassuring her and loving her.
“Part of the gig of being your mate,” he said with a chuckle. Hugging her close, he relaxed his hold on her and, dropping a hand to her thigh, gently rubbed at her leg. “It’s one of the better ones, actually.”
“Well, I happen to love that part of it,” she assured him with a grin. “Especially when you touch me. I know that’s part of the gig as well and I really, really love it. I think that perhaps I need to have more touches, more caresses. I think that I need to be able to touch and caress you as well, often.”
“You know you can whenever you get the urge, even in the office. Though you should try and refrain when in front of the Captain. As much as that pulsating vein on his forehead fascinates me, it could one day lead to something very bad. For him of course.” He grinned.
“Yes, good point. As much as he is on the board with the men and women from the other side of the Veil coming over here I think he really, really hates the fact that so many human women are being bonded to those from the other side. Does that make sense?”
“Doesn’t matter what he thinks or believes,” Ansell said quietly. “The universe has chosen the human women as our mates and that’s all that truly matters. We didn’t make this happen, we didn’t do anything to cause this to occur, it just is. And I for one am extremely grateful and glad that it did happen. There is no other woman I could ever think of or create in my head that is more perfect than you, Lacey.”
“I am as well. I’m happier than I can possibly tell you that fate or the cosmos or karma put us all together. I could care less what he thinks. You and Zhubin are the only ones that matter to me. I’m happy that you are mine and I am yours. I would thank whoever tied us together if I possibly could.”
“There are many theories about that, but nothing proven. It just is,” he said with a shrug. “Which I am happy enough to go along with, the results cannot be argued with after all.”
“What results?” Zhubin asked as he walked into the bathroom. “Move over, you two bathtub hogs.”
Chuckling, Ansell shifted their position to give Zhubin room to climb in without having to step over them. “The results of us having our mate. I was telling her I didn’t know how the whole thing worked, just that the results were great.”
“Oh,” he nodded, sliding in next to them with a sigh. “Well, that’s true enough. We have the best mate there is so I’d have to agree that the results are all that truly matter.”
Blushing Lacey shook her head. “And I have the two most handsome mates alive.” Which she knew without the shadow of a doubt that she did. She loved her mates. So very much. “So tell me, Zhubin, what have you been doing while Ansell and I have been sitting here in the tub getting all nice and comfortable with each other?”
“Making you something to eat. Which is waiting for you to eat in the other room. It can wait, so don’t worry about that part. Just relax and enjoy the bath and don’t forget to wash your hair. That stuff they use to clean the medical ward may kill all germs but it’s particularly harsh on Luhpyne noses.”
“I couldn’t agree more. I want to be able to get clean. I really, really hate smelling bad. And I hate offending your senses even more.” She would do anything for her mates, always. “So we will ensure that I’m nice and clean all over and get the Luhpyne stamp of approval.”
“More like a sniff of approval,” Ansell pointed out with a grin. Then he snickered and once he started he didn’t appear able to stop. Even Zhubin started to chuckle and they were both soon laughing hysterically.
Lacey’s lips twitched once, twice and then she broke out into laughter as well. “Oh that was bad. So very bad.” She teased the men between the giggles. �
�Good thing that I love you both like crazy or I would seriously have to have you boys checked out or something.” Not really, they had great senses of humor and she loved it.
Both were wiping tears from their faces. “Oh Gods that was horrible,” Zhubin said with another snort of laughter. “True, but absolutely horrible.”
“I know, but I couldn’t help myself. It just popped out before it fully processed in my brain,” Ansell said with a huge grin. “Gods that was terrible though.”
“That was too funny. It was perfect. The timing was amazing. I swear I don’t think that anyone could ever have pulled that off in that moment, unlike you,” she teased and leaned back against Ansell once more. “So good. That was so good.”
Chuckling he gave a shrug, “Timing is everything, I guess.” For the rest of the bath they chatted about mundane things, just enjoying being together and having her home. Her mates bathed her, washing her from head to toe and everything in between with care.
Then, once everyone was dried off, they tucked her into bed and she got the tray Zhubin had brought up set over her lap. There was a glass of juice and a plate of fruits, little breads and slices of meat and cheese. All finger foods and nothing too heavy, which was perfect given she wasn’t up to a full meal yet.
“You both are so very good to me,” she told them with an honest and open smile. “You make me so happy. Thank you for being you. For being in my life and for loving me enough to give me time to pull my head out of my ass. Life will be good, right?”
“We knew you’d get there eventually,” Zhubin said, flopping onto the bed on one side. “And if not we would have started to send you emails with directions and helpful hints.” Smiling, he lay back, hands behind his head, and closed his eyes.
She began to laugh. Lordy, if anyone would do something like that it was her men. They would totally have sent her step-by-step instructions on how to get over life and simply live in the moment. “I’m glad that I have you to show me instead,” she told him with a smile.
“We do like demonstrating better,” he said with a chuckle. “Besides, you got there all on your own, thank the Gods. And you never once even had to throw anything at our heads to warn us off. Though we were a bit worried that one day when you were going on about the…Shit, what was it, Ansell?”
“Mm.” He frowned and stole a chunk of her cheese to nibble on. “I think the first time was that big-ass tape dispenser that was on the boss’s desk. The second time was the chair she had been sitting in, the metal one with the sharp edges. The third and fourth time were the pair of razor-sharp scissors she used for nearly three months to stab at the corner of her desk because we were ignoring her. The fifth time through the tenth was the clock someone sent her for her birthday. And pretty much after that it was anything right at hand that she would brandish in a threatening and yet adorable manner.”
“You guys are such dorks,” she told them with a grin. “But yes, I was about to brain you both with the nearest hard object I could find if you didn’t stop moving the stuff on my desk around. I swear I was ready to kill you both. Mostly because I was in desperate sexual need, you asses. You never failed to heat me up when you were around and I was trying so hard to fight it.” Like an idiot.
“We know,” Zhubin said. Shrugging when she looked his way he smiled. “We always knew when you were thinking of sex. Of course, so did every other person of the races that worked in the same area. But we’ll just avoid thinking on that too heavily as Ansell and I can’t kill them like we want to.”
Lacey began to blush. “Well hell. I keep forgetting that you guys can scent a woman’s need, and even when she is ovulating and everything. Crap. I need to figure out how to hide my scent I do believe or else I’m going to be carrying around a cast iron skillet to bang some heads with.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “You are mated, they won’t touch you, sweetheart. They know the consequences of touching you without permission. Which, in our culture, is harsh. A mate is a sacred being, especially when she or he is not of the races. To be cherished and protected, inappropriate contact except in a life-or-death situation where there is an imminent threat, can get the perpetrator of the offence killed.”
“I’m not talking about touching. I’m talking about the looks,” she said with a smirk. “It’s the looks that those damn boys get on their faces, especially when they sniff the air. Asshats forget that I can still taze them.” She wouldn’t, but it was a matter of pride for her, or something like that. “Crap, they will smell the pregnancy on me now, won’t they?” she asked suddenly.
Zhubin nodded but Ansell was the one who answered. “They likely already know. The gossip mill is the fastest form of communication even with all the technological advances in the world. Someone would have caught your scent at some point, figured out there was a change and put two and two together. By the time you come back to work you should have a very large stash of things going in the office. The races tend to be big on the gift giving for pregnant mates.”
“Very big on it,” Zhubin muttered. “We’ll be dragging shit home pretty much every single night, I’m sure.”
That had her grinning. “But they won’t try to keep me from working for a while, right? I mean yes I know that I will eventually have to go on medical leave and all that but I’m not ready to yet. I need to help you guys find this asshat. Please?”
“You won’t have to go on medical leave until Briar says so. But you are off for at least a month, your body needs to recover from what he did to you and she needs to monitor the baby. Which, I probably should mention, she will do some at the office but otherwise she will be here,” Ansell said.
“Good. As long as she is able to take care of us that’s all that matters. As long as our babe is fine then life will be good.” She honestly didn’t know if she would continue to work after the baby came along, but that was to think about then. “And when the baby comes along? Will we live on this side of the Veil or the other?”
“Your choice,” Zhubin said. “It really doesn’t matter to us but it is something to consider. We have the ability to live worry-free for the rest of our lives in either place. This place is paid for in full and we’ve got a good bit in the bank, so…” He shrugged.
“But which side is the safest?” she asked quietly. “Honestly. Which side is safer? I love my job, I love what I do but I’m not sure that when our child comes I will want to continue to work. Does that make sense? I mean don’t get me wrong, I’ve never thought I would be a motherly type, but since finding out we were pregnant I can’t help but to sit here and think about what’s going to be best for our child.”
“Well, think on it, Lacey. You don’t need to make the decision today. We’ll just have to weigh the pros and cons of our options out when the time comes to make the choice. There is good and bad to both, we just have to decide which we feel is best for our family.”
“We have plenty of time. I’m in no hurry,” she said with a smile. “Somehow we will figure this all out.” One day. They had plenty of time to figure everything out. Plenty of time. “For now, we will just deal with the right now.”
“Exactly. Now, eat your dinner and then we’ll talk and hopefully form some sort of game plan for drawing this shit out of the woodwork and onto our turf. I’ve had more than enough of him and he’s seriously starting to piss me off again.”
“That sounds perfect to me. The sooner that we get this ass off the streets the happier that I will be. I just want to get this guy gone. I need for him or her to be gone well before our child comes along if you would please.” The sooner that they could handle things, the better.
They just stared at her. Right, she was supposed to be eating. Apparently neither one was planning on saying anything until she did eat. Men, so damned cute, so damned annoying at the same time. Ansell grinned at her, a knowing look.
Lacey just smiled, that was all she could do. She winked at them and began to eat, knowing that they were waiting on her to eat as w
ell. Just another of the things she loved so much about them. She loved that they would always wait for her, that they would always ensure that she was taken care of.
When she was done they moved the tray off the bed. Then they both settled next to her, their shoulders to hers, their large bodies close to hers. “So, we did some extra digging around and found out you had some not-so-nice fan mail in your first few months with the AEDA. Stuff that you were apparently never told about because it was deemed a non-credible or low-risk whack job. Their words, not ours. We got the original letters and read them. Apparently your fan was literally a fan in the beginning, thought you were amazing, raved on about you and so forth. Then about six months in he started going creepy weird talking about your hair and such things,” Zhubin told her.
Ansell shook his head and picked up from there. “Two months after that the letters took on a decidedly not-so-much-a-fan-anymore tilt. He basically was pissed that you were ignoring him and that he would just have to show you how he was the better choice for you to mate with. It progressively got worse from there and then the letters stopped. Exactly, to the day, one month before the first murder in our district. Two months after that murder there was another letter, this one berating you for not seeing his work for what it was. Another letter two weeks later asking why the hell you weren’t doing it right, whatever it was. He never specified.”
“One month later again, another kill,” Zhubin told her. “What we do know from the letters and those first kills, it’s definitely a male and definitely a Luhpyne. We spoke to Briar and she gave us a few other details. She figures he’s about six-four, two hundred and eighty pounds and we know for a fact that he’s got dark brown hair. Samples found on the first three bodies that were all identical and showed a chemical breakdown that can only come from living on the other side of the Veil,” he said when she looked his way.
“After that he got smarter which was the last time he actually sent a letter. From there he switched to the gifts after each kill. Something we verified with the logs and the records,” Ansell said. “Not all the kills made it onto the radar because of certain gang factions and still-happening scuffles between the various groups. So, some were deemed collateral damage, innocents in the wrong place and all that, or drug addicts who didn’t know when to duck in a fight. Unfortunately the guy who had been running the ME offices before Briar took over fully was an idiot, a lazy idiot.”