by A. B. Marie
Collins speaks up when we are almost done eating. “So, we will spend the first week here in on the grounds, and next week we should tour the neighboring towns, shop, and book Maya a prenatal massage? I looked up some hot springs that are only about thirty minutes away.”
I pout at him. “I don’t think I can go in the hot springs while pregnant. Maybe you guys can do that, and I’ll spend a day at the spa?” Everyone nods and we get settled in the living room watching movies for the night.
Chapter 4
Markus
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The first week in Finland has been relaxing. The storm brought a lot of rain, and we spent the days watching Troy and Graham hiking up and down the hills in the backyard and sled down the muddy mountain. Maya stayed in the enclosed area to stay out of the rain, while reading books or shopping for the baby. She won’t tell us the names she’s picked out, so we keep throwing out random names at her throughout the day.
Ross comes up behind her, “I would add Amy for the middle name for our mom, but it’s too close to Amelie…” He says with a scowl on his face.
She winks at him. “Don’t worry about it babe, I already have her first, middle, and last names picked.” She sticks her tongue out at him and continues tapping on her tablet. “I set up my appointment for the spa tomorrow, are you guys still planning on going to the hot springs?”
Troy jumps onto the couch next to her and lays his head on her lap. “Fuck yeah! I’ll go pack a bag with towels, blankets, and extra clothes. You’ll be okay on your own in town?” He moves his head and kisses her belly.
“I actually talked Maggie into coming with me, so I won’t be alone.” She replies with a smile. We spend the rest of the day drinking and watching movies. The cold front is finally leaving, and the sky has been clear for the first time today. Finally, it’ll feel more like summer in the mountains.
In the morning we pull a Range Rover SUV out of the garage and load up the back with our duffel bags for the hot springs. I go walking around the house and look for Maya.
“Hey babe, what time is your appointment?” I find her sitting in the library on the third floor looking through the books on the shelves.
She looks over to me. “In two hours. I think Maggie and I will head down soon to have brunch first.” She puts the books away and walks over to me.
“We are about to leave. Need any help with anything?”
She glares at me. “I’m just fine, thanks.” We make it down to the foyer and she gives everyone and hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Troy, be good. Don’t do anything stupid. You’re still scraped up from your sledding down the mountain bullshit the other day.” We all laugh.
He gives her a kiss and shoves his tongue in her mouth. “Mmm. Don’t have too much fun today, babe. We will see you tonight!” We all get loaded up in the car and Collins drives us to the hot springs. We park and we all grab our bags and the coolers filled with food and beer. “Who’s ready for a party in the hot springs?!” Troy crows and strips down to his swim trunks.
Nolan rolls his eyes and claps his hands a few times. “Since there’s no service up here, we need to stay together, teams of twos or threes if you want to explore.” We all agree and settle in for a, hopefully, relaxing day. After several hours, we make our way into the house after unloading the car. Nolan is dragging Troy’s limping ass into the house. He starts mumbling about no one telling Maya.
She walks into the room in her robe with her hair piled up in a bun on top of her head. “Don’t tell Maya what?” She glares around at all of us.
Nolan elbows Troy into his sore ribs. “This idiot thought it would be a good idea to jump out of a tree into one of the pools. He drank too much, missed, and landed on his ribs. He should be fine after a few days.”
Rolling her eyes. “I knew it would be you getting hurt, Troy. Go put him in a bath and get him to bed. I’m going back to my show.” He all chuckle at her and Nolan passes Troy over to Ross.
I give her a kiss on the head. “I’m going to go shower. See you in a bit.” She waves me off and I make my way to her master room and come back downstairs wearing some gray sweatpants after I dry off. I sit on the couch next to her. “How was your spa day with Maggie?”
She curls up on my lap and cuddles up. “It was relaxing. We had brunch and a long day of massages, facials, and we got a manicure and pedicure.” I nod at her and we watch a show for a few hours. The rest of the week is spent shopping, walking around the town, trying out restaurants, and hiking around the mountains.
After landing back in London, we’re all exhausted from staying up drinking most of the night.
“Ha, fuckers! That’s what you get for drinking too much!” Maya walks ahead of us to the front door of the estate and walks right to the kitchen to eat the snacks that Malek set out for us. “What are we doing today?”
Troy grumbles and sits on a stool next to her. “Sleeping.” He lays his head down and puts a few chips in his mouth to eat. I roll my eyes at him and head upstairs to unpack and shower. Maya has her next appointment tomorrow with Beatrice and she’s getting another ultrasound. The new club should be completed within the next month, so Ross and Troy will be busy with that and their first club, Killian’s. Who knows what the others will be up to?
Maya peeks her head into the bathroom. “Mark?”
I look over to her with a smirk. “Miss me already?”
She rolls her eyes at me. “No, I just wanted to see your ass. Bend over for me.” I chuckle and ignore her to finish my shower. When I get out, I don’t see her anywhere and decide to lay down for a few minutes. We haven’t planned on any more traveling for the next month and a half before Collins and Nolan have to return to campus, so it should be some nice down time with everyone. I end up falling asleep before I can go look around for Maya.
The next morning, we all have breakfast outside on the deck and wait for Beatrice to show up. “You excited for the ultrasound, babe?” I ask Maya and look over to her reading in the hammock.
“Yep! Can’t wait to see how much she’s grown.” She looks down to her stomach. “I’m definitely getting a lot bigger and feel her rolling around more.” I smile over to her and take all of the dishes inside. I grab my phone and look through my emails and relax in the living room until Gerard walks in with two people in tow.
“Mr. Kreuss, do you know where Ms. Strom is?”
I shake my head. “I haven’t seen her in a few hours. Last I saw her she was on the deck.”
I gather up the guys and we make our way up to the master bedroom where we find Maya talking to the two healers already.
“Alright, Maya. This is Travis, he’s going to take your vitals and check the position your little baby is in.” She walks over to the ultrasound machine they brought with them and gets it all set up. Travis takes her vitals and has her lay down.
“Everything looks great! Baby is in a breech position, but we won’t worry about that for another several weeks. How have you been feeling?” Travis asks her while backing away from the bed.
She scoots up to rest her head on some pillows. “Feeling great! Just tired.”
He nods at her and Beatrice comes over with the machine. “Cold gel again, watch the screen.” She moves the wand around Maya’s belly, and we see the baby’s head, her arms, stomach, and legs. We listen to her heart and then Beatrice takes some measurements. “Healthy baby! You’re right on track and she’s measuring perfectly for almost seven months along. I’ll just clean up here and we’ll see ourselves out. I’ll see you in another few weeks, Maya.” She smiles warmly to her and hands her some printed images from the scan.
We all take turns looking over the images with her. “Wow, she’s so beautiful. Definitely my kid!” Fucking Troy exclaims while rolling onto the bed beside her.
She rolls her eyes at him. “Well, we’ll know soon enough.” She rubs her belly and gets off the bed. She claps a few times. “Alright, team! I’m going into town with Penny and we are going to baby stores
to fill up little miss’s wardrobe. See you later!” She goes into the bathroom to shower and we all disperse around the house.
Chapter 5
Maya
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For almost a week straight after coming home from Finland, Penny and I shop at every imaginable baby store for clothes. I even bought a whole wardrobe of maternity clothes since I can barely fit in any of my regular clothes anymore. The guys and I checked out the new club again last night and it just needs some finishing touches. After the new staff is hired and trained, we should be opening up within the month. I’m fucking ecstatic! I want to live on the third floor and bask in all of dirty shit the guys and I can get up to.
There’s a large, empty bedroom down the hall on the second floor of the estate that I can turn into a fun room here… I’ll have to talk to Gerard about if he knows anyone he trusts to set it up an appointment for me.
An unknown number has been calling me a few times a week for the past few months and I finally get annoyed enough to answer the damn call that’s blasting in my hand.
I scowl down at my phone before I answer, “Hello?”
No one replies, and I can’t hear anything on the other line. It must be muted. I hang up right away and throw my phone to the side. Speaking of idiots, no one has heard from Amelie in a while. Last we heard from her, she was causing a scene while I was in the infirmary and she was removed from campus and the wards. Who knows how she’s even paying her bills at the Strom house?
“Ross, have you heard from Amelie?” I ask him when I find him up in the library.
“Hm? Not really. She sent me a text the other week asking if we are moving back home anytime soon and I didn’t reply. Why?” He looks up at me from his laptop that’s sitting on his lap.
“Just wondering.” I walk away and into my master bedroom down the stairs, and sort out all of my weapons. The guys won’t let me train while pregnant, I’m only allowed to do light workouts. Rolling my eyes, I creep down the stairs and head outside, luckily, I don’t see anyone. I balance out my sword and do a few moves and slice through the air while spinning around. I should see about building another building back here for a gym or training room. Once I’m done playing with a couple other weapons, I pick them all up and walk back into the house. I take a shower and go looking for Gerard for my updates I want to make here.
“Hey, do you know of anyone trustworthy that can build a second building by the pool house and change one of the bedrooms upstairs?” I ask him while I sit next to him on a stool in the kitchen. He inclines his head and opens up his planner from his pocket. He gives me a few phone numbers and I add them to my phone. “Thanks!” I kiss him on the cheek and rub my hands together and set out a quiet place to make my calls.
The next week flies by in between making plans with the contractor for the estate, setting up the nursery, and setting up a birthing area in my bathroom. Beatrice and I decided to use the bathtub, so I put together a rolling cart that has extra towels, hair ties, and has room on there for whatever else Beatrice will bring. As I’m heading out to my car to meet Penny at the spa for our nail appointments, I see an incoming call from Amelie.
“Are you done being a cunt?” I ask as soon as I answer.
“Funny. I was wondering when you’re going to stop monopolizing my brothers so that they can move home. I can’t afford it here without them and my friends already have their own places so I can’t get any roommates.” She haughtily responds.
Rolling my eyes. “No one is forcing Ross or Troy to live here.” I link my Bluetooth up in the car and start driving.
“Bullshit, you nasty whore. Tell them they have the next two weeks to move back in. The banks are giving me a hard time about paying late and they might take the house. Just a heads up!” She hangs up on me. I tell the car to call Ross and he answers after a few rings.
“Just got off the phone with your lovely sister. Have you been paying attention to the payments to the mortgage company by chance?”
He curses under his breath. “Fuck, no, I haven’t even checked anything. Troy and I have been focused on the clubs. I’ll give them a call. What did she say?”
“Don’t worry about it. Let me know if I can help. She should probably just move in with a friend and you should sell the house. It’s too big for just her and she can’t even afford the payments.”
He hums under his breath. “Let me make some calls. Don’t stress about my fucked-up sister, beautiful. Enjoy your day.” I roll my eyes and call Troy to ask him to pull up the lender’s information. He doesn’t question why, thankfully. I call them and pay off the damn mortgage so that this doesn’t fuck up their credit. After those calls, I make my way into the spa. Penny spends the next hour talking about her human girlfriend and how she’s upset about not being able to bring her to the new club opening for the BDSM floor.
“Well unless you can turn her into a witch…” I sarcastically reply to her.
She rolls her eyes. “Why can’t someone open up a regular BDSM club for the humans?” She pulls out her phone to do some research. I just chuckle at her antics and pay on our way out. “Anyway, you look amazing! Look at that belly! Want to go out to lunch?”
I nod my head at her. “Sure. I’m ready for a nap though, so I might not be a good date.”
She winks at me. “Nonsense. You’re the hottest date anyone could have!” She slaps my ass and goes to her car. I follow her to the restaurant she chooses, and we place our orders after sitting and looking through the menu. “Would you like to meet Danika some time this next week? She’s been asking about you and is complaining that I haven’t introduced her to any of my friends.”
“Sure. Pick a time and a place, I have nothing coming up.” She nods at me and we head our separate ways after a nice lunch. I take a nap as soon as I’m home and wake up to my phone going off like crazy. I see that Ross and Mark have called several times, what fucking time is it? It’s already nine o’clock at night, fuck that was a long nap.
“What’s going on, are you okay?”
Breathing heavily on the other line, Ross responds “Fuck, Maya, finally! Troy has been in an accident. He’s being taken to a normal human hospital, but Beatrice is on her way there to try to get him moved to campus. Graham is on his way to pick you up.”
“What the fuck happened?” I rush into my closet and throw on some clothes.
“No idea, he’s unconscious. He left Killian’s about an hour ago to pick up dinner since we were still going over applications and then I received a call from paramedics that he’s being taken to the hospital after a bad accident. Just get here soon.” He hangs up and I rush downstairs to wait for Graham. I jump into the car as soon as he pulls up, but he doesn’t have any updates. We make it to the hospital in silence and I’m trying hard to just breathe.
“He’ll be okay, babe. He’s strong, healthy, and young. Let’s just stay calm until we know what’s going on, okay?” He rubs my hand while he parks the car, and we make our way inside the emergency entrance. I look around and find Mark and Ross sitting in the waiting area.
“Where’s Collins and Nolan?” I ask as I make my way to Ross and sit next to him.
“They’re on their way. They were out to dinner with some of the faculty from campus.” Mark replies and just stares off into space. Graham brings us all food from a vending machine and some bottles of water while we wait. Collins and Nolan show up after a while and we sit in silence.
“Family of Mr. Strom?” A woman in scrubs and a mask asks, while coming out of the door in the back of the room. We make our way over and she pulls down her mask. “Mr. Strom is currently in a coma. Not sure how it was even possible for that much damage to his body from the residential streets the paramedics found him on. We ran a toxicology screening and there were no drugs or alcohol in his system. It is possible he was speeding, but that is up for the police to look up. He has swelling on his brain, lacerations and scrapes from being ejected from the vehicle, and burns that cover his entir
e back. The paramedics said the car was not on fire when they arrived on scene, so I have no idea where those were from.” She looks back down to her chart. “He will be in the ICU for several days at the least. Once he’s out, he’s been approved for your private doctor to take to your home. She’s been calling and harassing my nurses, please see to it that she understands the severity of his injuries.” She turns and walks back the way she came.
“Wait! When can we see him?” She looks down at the watch on her wrist.
“Give me a few more hours of close observation. I don’t want him having any stimulus that could hurt his brain more than it is. Be patient.” She leaves the room. A nurse walks over to us and walks us over to the waiting room near the ICU on the other side of the hospital.
We all sit down after she leaves. “Jesus, fuck. This was a witch or warlock that did this to him. The council? Amelie? Fuck should I even call her?” Ross just keeps talking and staring at his phone, looking lost.
I take it from him and sit beside him. “Did anyone go by the crash site?”
Collins looks over to me. “We tried, but they had it all closed off. We came straight here after we couldn’t get close enough. The SUV is in shambles and no other cars were around. It has to be the council or someone else watching us.” We all sit in silence while we wait for more updates. I end up falling asleep leaning across Mark’s lap and wake up to hearing hushed whispers.
“I don’t think she would do something like this, but it is a little strange that she left the house yesterday and never went home. I’m going to try calling her.” That sounded like Ross. I hear someone walking away and I slowly maneuver myself into a sitting position after stretching.
“Any news?”
Collins shakes his head. “None. Ross just walked out to call Amelie. How are you feeling?”
“Fine. I’m going to go ask a nurse if there are any updates.” I get up and use the restroom then go to the nurse’s station. I stand there waiting for a few minutes and check my phone and see there are a few missed calls from the unknown number.