by R. E. Butler
New light wood cabinets and granite counters were waiting in the hall as well.
“Thanks, guys,” Merrix said. “I’ll be at the hotel site. Call if you need me.”
Aeryn smiled at the workers, then headed toward the elevator with Merrix. “They must be fast workers to gut the kitchen and remodel it so fast.”
“Don’t forget that vampires are particularly strong and fast, so they can do what a human could in a shorter amount of time and with fewer workers. It’s probably overkill for there to be three of them, but that way, for sure, they’ll be done in one shift.”
“I don’t think tigers work super-fast like that,” she mused. “But then again, they get paid by the hour.”
He laughed. “That’s why Mishka pays by the job. It motivates the workers to go faster so they can get to the next one. Bigger jobs and long terms ones, like the hotel, have a higher payout.”
“What are you working on today?”
“My team is gutting the top floor.”
“How many apartments are going to be on each floor?”
They stepped into the elevator, and it descended toward the lobby. “Two and four are the floors set aside for families, and there are six three-bedroom apartments on each floor. On the mated couples’ floor—those without children or who can’t have children—there are twelve two-bedroom apartments on each.”
“Do they all have kitchens?”
“Yep. Cyrus thinks you and I should put in for one on the fourth floor since they’ll be done first and have a nicer view of the city when the shutters are open.”
“Sounds good to me. Are there any coven families right now?”
“Nope. You and I are the first ones who can have kids. There aren’t a lot of young males in the coven who could have children though. Sometimes a male or female will have children from before they’re turned—like my mom—and they’d be eligible for a family apartment if the kids are still in school.”
“I never thought about school. Does the coven have one?” She’d always thought about sending her kids to the ambush’s private school in Whisper Creek, but that wouldn’t be feasible if they weren’t living there.
They walked out into the lobby, and he pulled her aside. “Yes, there is, but it’s not something that’s common knowledge. So, this can’t go any further than you and me, all right?”
“Of course.”
He glanced around the lobby, waiting until a group walked outside. When they were alone, he said, “The coven’s school is a combination of daycare, preschool, and school. Only coven members with children know about it. When I say it’s heavily guarded, you can trust that it’s watched like a bank. The only reason I know about it is because my mom works in the daycare. Right now, there are only two kids in the whole school. In the daycare, there’s a fully-human child whose parents were turned right after she was born. The other is something my mom calls a tween—a young human girl whose dad was nearly killed and was turned by a family friend to save his life, and also turned her mom.”
“Wow.”
“Can you imagine what lengths the church would go to in order to find coven children?”
Aeryn shivered. “I don’t even want to consider it.”
“Exactly. So, the good news is that my mom can take care of our kids while we work, and you’ll know they’ll be one hundred percent safe.”
“Who guards them?”
“A combination of trolls, select vampires, and some other immortals. It’s unlike any school you’ve ever seen, trust me.”
“That sounds awesome. I was wondering what we’d do about our kids and working.”
He looked thoughtful. “If you want to quit work and stay home with our kids, that would be fine with me. It’s entirely up to you.”
“I’m sure I’ll want to take time off, but I never pictured myself being a stay-at-home mom.”
“Whatever you want will be perfect for us.” He hugged her and kissed her neck, taking a deep inhale of her scent. “Delicious kitten.”
She swatted his shoulder with a laugh. “Careful. Sexy talk like that will make us both late for work.”
“Later, then.”
“Most definitely.”
Chapter Fourteen
Merrix had always liked working. He was good at swinging a hammer, and he enjoyed being head of his crew. But damn if he didn’t loathe the concept of work now. Being away from Aeryn was difficult as hell.
The first night had been the hardest, but then again, every day since had been tough. He looked forward to meeting her for her meal break at midnight when they could shut the door to the restaurant manager’s office and enjoy some private time together. He walked her to and from the restaurant every night and couldn’t wait for the end of their shifts so they could be together once more.
Cyrus and Davina had put them both on strict Monday to Friday shifts so they could work the same days and hours. While Saturday was a big night for the restaurant, Aeryn’s crew could handle it. She purposely chose easier desserts that were no less stunning in his book for those nights she was gone, so they weren’t struggling through some of her more complicated things.
“Hey, love,” he said as he walked into the kitchen early Saturday morning.
She wiped her brow and kissed him. “Hey. I’m just finishing up.”
“Take your time.”
He leaned against the counter and looked at the line of clear bowls that contained something frozen in varying shades of red, from pale pink to dark purple.
“What are you doing?”
“I was trying to see if I could get frozen SyBl to turn white if I mixed it enough. I wanted to try a patriotic dessert with red, white, and blue colored SyBl.”
“And?”
“It’s not going well. The staff has enjoyed eating my mistakes though.”
“I bet.”
She tapped one of the bowls. “Wanna eat while I clean up?”
“Sure.”
The Fourth of July was coming up, and he knew she’d been trying to create some special desserts. She said it was far easier for her to make regular desserts patriotic than turn a red liquid into a different color.
He took a bite of half-melted SyBl and sat in a chair near the wall. The kitchen was mostly empty, save for Boyd and two janitors.
“Want me to put these in the freezer?” Boyd asked.
“I’ll do it,” Aeryn said. “Why don’t you head out?”
“If you’re sure.”
“You bet. Say hi to your mate for me.”
“Will do. See you Monday night.”
Aeryn sighed and rolled her neck, rubbing her shoulder through the white chef’s coat she wore. It wasn’t quite so white anymore but was splattered with red from the SyBl. “You okay, love?” Merrix asked.
“Tired.”
“It’s been a long week.”
“It has. I’m looking forward to the weekend.”
He finished the scoop of SyBl and put the bowl and spoon in the dishwasher. “Are you sure you don’t want to go to the ambush?”
“No. Not with things as they are right now.”
Midas told them that they could come for the full moon, have their mating ceremony, and then shift with the ambush. Aeryn declined, saying she didn’t want to have the ceremony when her parents were banned from shifting and things with her family were tense. He knew she wanted to mate him officially in the eyes of her ambush, but she wasn’t willing to do it when tensions were high.
Aeryn tugged on the jacket's collar and then said, “Fuck it,” and unbuttoned it. She wiggled from the jacket, tossed it into a laundry bin, and then returned to the counter where she continued her clean up.
His brows rose, and he moved closer.
There was something around her neck.
He tilted her head, and she clutched the counter. “What are you doing? I almost fell over.”
“Sorry, love, there’s some weird rash on your neck.” He tilted her head a little further to look at the mar
k in the light. It was a pink flush on her skin, a few inches wide. It went the entire way around her neck.
“There is? Lemme see.” She walked into the employee bathroom and turned on the lights. He followed, watching her as she looked at herself in the mirror, tilting her head one way and then the other. Her fingers grazed the mark, and she frowned.
“Are you allergic to something?”
“How long have we been together?”
“Two weeks. Why?”
“This isn’t an allergic reaction.”
“How do you know?”
“Well, I’m not allergic to anything, for one, but for another, I recognize it. It’s a cub collar.”
“A what-now?”
“A cub collar. It shows up on females two weeks into their pregnancy.”
She turned to face him, her eyes wide and her fingers rubbing lightly on her neck.
He stared down at her, his mind spinning. Two weeks. Pregnancy. Cub.
Holy shit!
“You’re pregnant?”
“Yes!”
There was a heartbeat of silence, and then they embraced with a laugh, and he swung her around in a small circle, holding her tightly. “Are you sure, sweetheart?”
“Positive. I should take a pregnancy test anyway, but I’m sure. I guess you knocked me up our first night together.”
“Well, I always was an overachiever.”
They kissed, and he could taste the salt of her tears. He would be crying right now if vampires could.
He eased from the kiss and brushed tears from her cheeks with his thumb. “Happy tears, right?”
“Absolutely. There’s a little you and me inside me right now. Can you believe it?”
“It’s incredible. I’m so happy.”
“Me too.”
“We should celebrate.”
“I love how you think. If you help me clean up my mess, we can get out of here faster.”
“On it.”
They worked quickly to clear the station, and in no time, were walking across the street to their apartment. He wanted to sling her over his shoulder and race into the building, but he held back. Barely.
Safely inside the apartment, they sat on the couch and hugged again. “I can’t believe it, I really can’t,” she said. “This is such great news. I thought it would be a while longer before I got pregnant, but I couldn’t be happier.”
“Me too.”
“So, I need a pregnancy test. They make some especially for shifters that can be used early. But the only place I know that carries them is the pharmacy in Whisper Creek. I wouldn’t want to go there because someone could see and tell my parents. I’m not ready for them to know yet.”
“We could ask Eynd to get one for us. She’s discreet.”
“That would be great. Plus, we’ll need to talk to her anyway about being a Valkyrie, if that’s what a shifter-vampire baby would turn out to be. And I need a doctor. Oh man! There’s so much to consider. What if I go into labor while it’s daytime and you can’t come with me?”
He chuckled at her immediate panic over something happening months in the future. “Calm down, sweetness. We can worry about that later. For now, let’s get Eynd over here so you can take the test. Then we’ll reach out to Cella and ask her to find us a doctor. Mishka has a coven doctor, but he doesn’t do deliveries.”
Aeryn blew out a breath. “I can’t believe it. It’s like a dream.”
“A wonderful one.”
Chapter Fifteen
Aeryn paced in the apartment complex lobby while they waited for Eynd. She still couldn’t believe she was going to take a pregnancy test two weeks after meeting Merrix. It seemed both impossible and wonderful.
They heard the outer door unlock and then close, followed by the beeping that signaled someone was entering the code to open the door into the lobby. Eynd, hair up in a messy bun on the top of her head and wearing ripped jeans and a T-shirt with a cartoon llama on it, greeted them.
She was carrying a fabric bag over her shoulder.
Aeryn hugged her and smiled. “Thanks for running to the store for us.”
“Of course, it’s my pleasure. I’m excited for you two, but you can trust me to keep quiet about things. It’s not my news to tell.”
“We appreciate that,” Merrix said.
“Where did you get the test?” Aeryn asked.
Eynd took the bag off her shoulder and handed it to her. “There’s a pharmacy near the wolf pack that carries shifter-specific tests like you need.” She paused for a moment and then said, “Can we talk privately for a minute?”
“Of course,” Aeryn said. They moved over to the corner of the lobby where a set of stylish couches were set up for visitors. Eynd sat on one couch, and she and Merrix sat on the other.
“Is everything okay?” Merrix asked.
“Definitely, but I wanted to tell you a couple of things that I know because I’m a Valkyrie, and what you’re carrying is one. I’m the product of a vampire and a human, so I’m a straight-up Valkyrie. I eat real food and drink blood once a week, I can be out in the daylight, and I’m immortal. The thing that I want you to understand about Valkyries is that they develop twice as fast.”
“What do you mean?” Aeryn asked.
“I mean that instead of carrying your baby for nine months, you’re looking at around four months, four and a half tops.”
Merrix’s brows rose. “Seriously?”
“Yep. And we develop twice as fast up until we reach age eighteen, and then we stop aging from that point on. Your baby will be immortal from the moment he or she is born. But you’re looking at having an adult in your house in nine years instead of eighteen.”
“Holy crap,” Aeryn said.
“But the cub collar didn’t show up until two weeks,” Aeryn said.
“Does it always show up at exactly two weeks?”
She thought for a moment over all she’d ever heard about cub collars. “Well, no. Two weeks is the earliest it can show up, but I have a cousin who didn’t get her collar until she was six weeks along, and by then, she already knew she was pregnant.” She let out a little “eep.” “Do you mean I’m already a month along?”
“Wait,” Merrix said. “We were told that no one knows what a shifter-vampire baby will be like. You’re assuming he or she will be a Valkyrie.”
Eynd nodded. “Any vampire baby is going to a Valkyrie. It’s just how it is. Traditionally people think a Valkyrie is vampire and human mixed together, but it only matters that one-half of the baby is vampire. The other half can be anything—fae, Wiccan, shifter, or anything else. Your baby will be slightly different from me because he or she will be half shifter and not half human, but you’re still looking at most of the same traits, including immortality and fast development.”
“Wow,” Aeryn said. “I suppose that’s because shifters and vampires don’t often have babies.”
“I’d say so,” Eynd said. “Plus, a male vampire has to have the child within about ten years of turning, and that’s not necessarily common knowledge. Now I don’t know everything there is to know about Valkyrie pregnancies, so I can put you in touch with my mom if you’d like. She can also be discreet. But aside from that, I have the name of a doctor I think you should consider for handling the pregnancy and delivery.”
“You do?” Aeryn asked. “We were going to ask Cella to find someone for us.”
“I’m sure she’d do a good job,” Eynd said, handing Aeryn a piece of paper with a name and number on it. “But Grace Atlana is my friend, and she’s also crazy adept at strange pregnancies. She’s a dharling and used to live in the Medes Realm and handled deliveries for the Centaurs. Talk about difficult pregnancies—those kids come out of the womb with hooves!”
“Damn,” Aeryn said. “What’s a dharling?”
“A fae who gave up her wings. She lost her fae power when her wings were taken, but she retained her healing powers.”
“Where is she now?” Merrix asked.
/> “She just moved to our realm, and she’s living with the bears. She’s friends with another dharling named Shaylee, who’s mated to two bears, so she’s staying there with them until she settles somewhere. I can take you to meet her at the bears’ territory, or the bears can bring her here. It’s up to you. If you’d like to see her, that is.”
Aeryn looked at Merrix. He shrugged. “I’m in new territory here, sweetheart. I don’t know that Cella could find someone more capable of dealing with a unique pregnancy than a dharling. They’re known for their healing skills. It’s up to you.”
She looked at the piece of paper and then at Eynd. “I’d like to meet her.”
“Great. Give her a call and set up a time and place, and then I’ll go along to make the introductions.”
They stood and hugged each other. “Thank you so much,” Aeryn said.
“You’re welcome. Congratulations.”
When they were up in the apartment, Aeryn emptied the fabric sack and chuckled.
“What?” Merrix asked, joining her at the counter.
She showed him the two pregnancy tests, a jar of pickles, and a pint of vanilla ice cream inside a freezer pack. “She’s adorable.”
“And a good friend to have.”
“Well, I guess I should go pee,” Aeryn said. She looked at the tests and fisted one.
Merrix put his hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him. He tilted her face to his. “You okay, love?”
“Yeah. It’s just...a lot to take in all of a sudden.”
He exhaled softly. “Does the cub collar show up any other time in a female’s life except for pregnancy?”
“No.”
“Then you already know that you’re pregnant.” He tapped the boxed test. “This is just a formality.”
She smiled, relief filling her. “You’re right. Thanks.”
“You’re not alone in this at all. You’ve got me and the coven and Cyrus and Gavin. Nothing else matters but you and the little bundle you’re carrying.”
She tilted her head. “You’re probably going to be extra-strength crazy about my safety now, right?”