by Unknown
“Don't feel bad and don't pay for anything,” I whispered back. “That's the Devil's wife. They've probably got more money than God. Literally.”
“I heard that,” Holly called over her shoulder, then smiled brilliantly. “And we do. Jerry isn't even half the business man Luke is.”
So yes, that bit was fun. But then we'd gone back to Azrael's home in Shehaquim and Holly started bombarding me with decisions on everything from lettering on the invitations to the flavor of the cakes... as in multiple. What the hell was a groom's cake? Didn't we just share a cake? I mean, wasn't that the point of getting married? And even worse, each groom had to have his own cake. As if he'd be eating it all by himself. Then again, knowing my men, maybe they would. Big appetites there.
Holly had wanted us to go to her house but I refused to make my mother walk through Hell. The Garden of Eden, yes. Hell, absolutely not. As it was, my mom was passed out in the living room. She'd made the mistake of drinking a glass of sacred wine to settle her nerves and it had gone straight to her head. Which meant that I was alone with the wedding-crazed Holy Spirit.
Until Az walked in, that is.
“Mom, what are you doing to Vervain?” Azrael sighed and sat down beside me. “We expected her home hours ago.”
“I'm just going over the necessary details,” Holly huffed.
“I saw Vervain's mom sprawled across the couch. What happened to her?” Az asked.
“She had some wine,” Holly sighed.
“I was in the bathroom,” I added.
“Mom,” Azrael chided Holly. “You need to remember that she's human.”
“I know,” Holly sighed. “But Darlyne's fine. She can come home with me.”
“I'm going to say this one more time, Holly,” I held up a hand, “I'm not leaving my mother in Hell for the night.”
“Oh, please,” Holly rolled her eyes. “Our home is lovely.”
“And it's in Hell,” I reminded her. “She'll have to literally walk through Hell to get there. Nope, not happening. And let me just say that it's Luke's fault for not allowing people to just trace into his home.”
“Well the Devil can't have people just showing up in his living room whenever they want,” Holly huffed. “What if he was doing something devilish?”
“Like rearranging the furniture?” I rolled my eyes. Luke was more Martha Stewart than Master of Sin.
“Mom, enough,” Azrael slid his hand around her waist and helped her to her feet. “It's time to call it quits for the day.”
“And night,” I sighed.
“You've worn out Vervain,” he waved a hand to me. “And you know she has both fey and goddess resilience. That's a lot of wearing out.”
“Well she's pregnant,” Holly huffed.
“Yes, exactly,” Azrael looked pointedly from my belly to Holly.
“Oh!” Holly clamped her hands to her mouth. “I'm so sorry, Vervain. I guess I wasn't thinking about how exhausting it gets when you're pregnant. I went through some rather stressful pregnancies myself. Did I ever tell you about the War in Heaven?”
“Another time, Mom,” Azrael hurried her out the door.
“Goodnight, Vervain,” she called back to me.
“Goodnight!” I called and then sighed, sliding down into my seat.
“I'm so sorry,” Azrael rushed back in. “What can I do? Do you want a back rub? A foot rub?”
“Not unless you want to bring on labor,” I sighed deeper.
“What?” He blinked.
“There are pressure points in the feet that can make a woman go into labor,” I gestured to my feet, which actually weren't all that sore, considering. “My mom could probably use a back rub though,” I laughed.
“I'm going to carry her up to a bedroom,” he started to get up. “I told the others that you'd probably stay the night. We can trace her home in the morning.”
“Yeah, that sounds good,” I yawned. “Hey, before you go, I need to tell you something.”
“What is it?” He sat back down.
“I saw Re today,” I said simply.
“What? Where?” His eyes went wide and angry.
“At the bridal boutique,” I sighed. “It's okay, we talked and I think he's going to back off now. He promised he wouldn't be at Anubis' party.”
“Are you sure we can trust that?” His eyes narrowed.
“He got a little bitter and told me he'd be over me as soon as he had another woman beneath him,” I chuckled. “I don't think that will take too long and I don't think he'll show up at the party either.”
“Well, bitter is better than determined,” Azrael sighed. “I still think we need to be careful with him.”
“Alright,” I gave another yawn. “I'll tell the others about it tomorrow.”
“Good,” he stood again. “I'll go put your mom in a spare room.” He stopped and turned to me. “Did she see Re? Did my mom see him?”
“No, he waited till I went to the bathroom,” I rolled my eyes. “And I didn't tell them.”
“Good,” he nodded as he left the room. “Let's keep it that way.”
“I agree,” I leaned my head back in my chair and closed my eyes. I was asleep before he got back.
Chapter Five
Shopping for my wedding dress had been fun but when I got back to Pride Palace, I realized that it would have been more fun if I could have tried on the dresses. Then it occurred to me that I'd have to come up with yet another dress to wear to Anubis' party... and this one would have to be maternity wear.
I spent the morning flipping through fashion magazines for pregnant women, trying to come up with a design that wouldn't make me look like balloon. I ended up on the floor in the library's sitting room, pictures of beautiful but pregnant models spread around me. My belly was so big now, it pushed my legs apart when I sat, and my boobs had gotten bigger too, going from DoubleD to Double-WTF. They bulged over the mass of my belly like they wanted to fall off and roll away. I wanted to roll away with them. I was looking more like the prehistoric fertility variety of goddess than Greek love.
I felt ugly and fat and swollen and tired and I didn't think I wanted to go to a party anymore. Maybe I'd stay home and just roll around the floor till someone felt sorry for me and threw some food in my mouth. I could bark like a seal and clap my hands for more.
That's when I began to cry.
Oh and they were ugly tears. The sniffing, hiccuping, snot-nosed variety. I couldn't reach the tissue box on the table so I tried to wipe my nose with a magazine page. It crumpled against my face and only made things worse. I pulled it away and the poor pregnant woman in the picture glared at me angrily.
“Oh screw you,” I snapped at her and balled her up so I could throw her across the room. Then I gave up and just wiped my nose with my sleeve.
“Tima?” Kirill walked in.
Why is it that whenever I look my worst, some gorgeous guy walks in? Kirill was dressed in worn jeans and a button-down gray shirt. It brought out the jewel tones in his eyes and made his ass-length hair look blacker than sin. His forearms bulged beneath rolled up sleeves and the top two buttons of his shirt were undone, giving a tempting glimpse of smooth muscled chest. He looked like a fantasy come to life.
I started crying again.
“Tima,” Kirill rushed over, coming down to the floor beside me. He slid a hand along my neck and another across my belly to pull me against him. “Tell me,” he said simply.
“I'm fat!” I wailed.
“You're not fat, you're pregnant,” he corrected gently as he smoothed my hair back from my wet face. “And you're beautiful. Even vith crying, you're still beautiful.”
“You have to say that,” I whined. “Look at me,” I pulled away from him and gestured to my belly and boobs. “I'm gross. Like a giant ball with limbs. Not even a ball, a ball is smooth at least, I'm all bubbly. I can't go to the party looking bubbly.”
“Ah, so zis is about party,” he gathered me up easily, despite my bulk, and draped me
over his lap. One large hand went to my cheek and settled me against his neck. I fit there perfectly. I swear, his neck was made for my face to nuzzle into. “You vill look amazing at party and ve all vill be proud to valk in beside you.”
“Stop lying to me,” I sniffled. “I'm staying home. It's settled.”
“Stop zis right now,” he chided sweetly. “You have baby in belly and zat is beautiful. You're a goddess of life right now, a true vision of fertility and love. You're stunning. So magnificent zat it hurts to look at you sometimes. I can't vait for moment vhen you carry my child,” his hand laid over my stomach and rubbed gently while a wistful expression crossed his face.
“She's going to be amazing,” I sniffled, some of his words finally working their way past my insecurities.
“Lesya,” he whispered and smiled wide. “The defender of man.”
“Is that what it means?” I wiped my eyes.
“Just like her mother,” he nodded. “It's Russian. I must have picked it.”
“You must have,” I agreed. “It's a wonderful name.”
“Tell me more about her,” he urged. “Vhat vill she look like?”
“Like you,” I said immediately. “She has... will have your hair, though it's wavy like mine, and she'll have your beautiful eyes,” I stopped to touch his cheek. The more I spoke of Lesya, the calmer I got. Like I needed to remember why I was going through this. “She'll be tall like you too but she'll have my nose and the shape of her face will be closer to mine.”
“I love your nose,” he kissed the tip of said nose and sighed happily. “She vill be beautiful.”
“Definitely beautiful,” I slid my arms around him and snuggled closer. “And brave. You should have seen her stand up to Zariel.”
“Stand up to Zariel?” He pulled away and looked down at me in confusion.
I'd forgotten that I hadn't told the men about Zariel's betrayal. I'd thought it was bad enough for me to hold a non-existent future against her, I didn't want them to do it too.
“She was fighting Lesya for the Pride,” I confessed.
“Nyet!” He growled.
“You helped Lesya stand up to her but Zariel took advantage of my death and abused several Intare,” I went on. “She used their past damage against them and made them subservient again.”
“Zariel?” His eyes looked wounded. “Nyet.”
“Yes, Zariel,” I sighed. “Our little lion princess turned on us. I'm trying hard not to hold it against her. And I've been debating whether I should tell Fallon or not. I'd decided to tell him but now I'm reconsidering again.”
“Vhat good vill it do?” Kirill looked away sadly. “A father vill never believe such zings of his child. Leave zat future vhere it belongs; in your past.”
“Why don't I just come to you whenever I have any kind of problem?” I teased.
“I don't know,” he grinned, “but you should.”
“Yes, I should,” I leaned forward into his kiss and forgot about being fat or feeling ugly. In Kirill's arms, I was always a love goddess.
Chapter Six
I was floating in the pool in front of Pride Palace, my belly bulging out of the water like a buoy, when a tingling emanated from my son inside me. I opened my eyes and found myself floating in a river instead of our natural looking pool with its little waterfall. Shock flooded my limbs and I jerked upright, treading water as I scanned my surroundings.
It was dark, full night, but there was firelight coming from somewhere behind me. Before I could turn to see the source, a boat floated silently up to me. It was flat-bottomed and very simple in design but I wasn't paying too much attention to it. Its occupants were way more interesting.
They were in the shape of people but definitely not human. More shadow than flesh, they consisted of condensed darkness. That thought would have frightened me once but after creating the dark fey and helping them find their balance, I didn't fear the Darkness anymore. So I didn't even flinch when one of the shadow people leaned forward to speak to me.
“Beware of the Eye of Re,” the shadow spoke even though he didn't have a mouth.
“Who are you?” I demanded.
“I am no one,” he stood straight again. “Nothing but magic and shadows. An ushabti, made to serve.”
“Serve who?” I frowned. “Re? What has he done? Why should I be wary of him?”
“I serve the dead,” the hollow voice continued. “And it is not Re whom I warn you of.”
“No, just his eye,” I huffed.
I was about to ask him what exactly was wrong with Re's eye, when he, the boat, and the whole dang river disappeared. I found myself back to floating in my pool. I was so shocked that I fell beneath the surface and came up sputtering.
“Vervain!” Thor was standing at the edge of the pool, looking like he was about to jump in.
“I'm fine,” I held up a hand. “Just help me out, please.” I waved to the shallow end of the pool.
“Alright,” Thor met me there, then reached down and helped me up the steps of the pool. “Are you sure you're okay?”
“I'm fine,” I nodded but my hand trailed to my belly.
What the hell was that? Was it a vision or a hallucination? Had Rian given it to me or had someone sent it to me? And what was wrong with Re's eye that I had to be wary of it? Damn it, I hated prophecies.
“Vervain?” Thor was peering into my face with concern.
“Sorry,” I waddled over to a little iron dining set and sat my wet butt down on a metal chair. “I just had some kind of weird vision.”
“A vision?” Thor took a seat beside me.
“It was probably the fried pickles I had for lunch,” I shook my head. “Never mind that. What are you doing here? Is everything alright with you?”
“I'm well,” Thor sat back in his seat as he placed a manila folder down on the table. “I just wanted to bring this over for you.”
“What's this?” I nudged the edge of the folder open with a wet finger. It looked like bank papers.
“I sold Ull's law firm,” Thor sighed. “Then I put the money in a trust for him. The account is in your name. You may use the money for his upbringing or save it and give it to him when he gets older. I'll leave that up to you.”
“Thor,” I scanned the pages in surprise. “There's almost twenty million dollars here.”
“It was a very successful law firm,” Thor nodded.
“No kidding,” I laughed and closed the folder. “Thank you for taking care of that for him. I wouldn't have thought of it.”
“I'm his father,” Thor frowned. “I was his father.”
“Thor,” I leaned forward and took his hand. “You will always be Ull's father. This life will be Rian's but that doesn't mean he won't know you or who you were to him.”
“Thank you for saying that,” he cleared his throat. “I couldn't bring myself to sell his homes so I just hired a company to maintain them until Ull... I mean Rian, is old enough to decide whether he wants them or not.”
“I'm sure he'll appreciate that,” I smiled. “I'm sure there will come a day when he'll want to know about his old self, and his personal things will help with that.”
“So you're not upset?” Thor lifted a brow.
“Of course not,” I eased back into my seat. “But I'd like you to have the maintenance companies send me the bill. It should come out of this account instead of your pocket.”
“Alright, I'm okay with that,” he sighed. “Vervain, I don't remember if I've said this yet but thank you for bringing him back to us. Even if it isn't in the way I would have liked. It's so much better than him being born to some random family. We may never have found him again.”
“He's safe now,” I laid a hand on my stomach. “That's what's important. And no matter what name he bears, deep down, he'll always be our Ull.”
“I miss him so much,” Thor took a shaky breath. “We were close, closer than father and son.”
“I know,” I said softly. “And that kind o
f bond will surely be carried into his new life.”
“Do you really think so?”
Rian shifted inside me, edging closer to Thor, and I knew exactly what he wanted. I took Thor's hand and laid it on my belly. Thor's eyes widened as I felt Rian lean into that hand, like he was laying his head into Thor's palm.
“Ull,” Thor whispered brokenly.
Then he laid his cheek to my stomach and cried but I think they were happy tears. Tears of relief. I don't think he had truly accepted that my son carried Ull's soul inside him until that very moment. Even if he had, he'd believed that Ull wouldn't remember him in this new life. Thor had mourned his son, thinking that he would never have Ull back as he'd once known him. Even though that was true and Thor would never see Ull again, he now knew that his son remembered him. When Rian was born, Thor would have a second chance, a second life with the man we both loved.
I held Thor there and hugged him as he hugged our son; once his and now mine. There was a time when I'd thought about having children with Thor. But that was a long time ago and I'd believed that our chance had passed. Funny how our daydreams sometimes come to life in unexpected ways and at unexpected times.
Chapter Seven
Two weeks later and it felt like my belly had grown five inches. I made a face at myself in my full-length mirror. Maybe it wasn't so bad. I turned to the side and slid my hands down the chiffon silk, cupping them beneath my belly before releasing the pale blue folds. I'd chosen a Grecian style gown, with swaths of silk falling from gold, lion head clasps at my shoulders. Layers of thin silk gathered over my breasts to form a deep V and show off my significant cleavage. Directly beneath my cleavage, right above my belly, a gold band held the silk together. From there, it draped in wispy elegance around me, just over the tips of my gold Versace heels.
“You look spectacular,” Trevor whistled as he came into my dressing room.
“Says the sharp dressed man in my doorway,” I looked him over appreciatively.
Trevor always cleaned up well, even though his best look was rough and a little dirty. He had a pale blue dress shirt on, which matched my dress perfectly, and black designer slacks. Shiny leather shoes peeped out beneath the cuffs. His unruly dark curls were slicked into order so they formed attractive waves down to his nape. He'd cut his hair recently, so it wasn't quite as wild as normal but he could never look perfectly civilized. His wolf came through in the way he held himself, like he was on the verge of attack even when he was relaxed. It showed in his smile, which was almost feral sometimes. And most of all, it peered right out of his lupine eyes. Werewolf Prince was the perfect title for him.