Night Finds

by Amber Lynn

  I don’t see why the obstacle course isn’t suitable for them. With parents like us, they are going to be learning to fight before they can even walk. I wonder if they make little pint size punching bags.

  “Don’t you think it is weird that you and Sebastian have both claimed my womb?” I think it is really creepy. I love both of the guys, but I will never understand how this is supposed to work. It is something I bring up and think about often. I still haven’t received an answer that satisfies me.

  “We all love each other. There isn’t anything weird or creepy about it. I won’t say I am going to try to steal any alone time with Sebastian, but through you we have formed a bond. Not long ago, I would have said that was impossible. As you know though, I don’t have any problem with you guys doing the kinds of activities that created little Sophia. At this point, you are the only one that still gets spooked by the way things are going.

  “We were both scared about what your reaction would be when you woke up to find us both in your bed. He and I had been talking about it for a while and we finally just decided to try it out. You don’t like being cuddled too much, which makes it easier on us. Tuesdays he gets to be close to you and I get Saturdays. The other nights we just each have our own space.”

  I do find it a little funny that they have cuddle time with Nyx penciled in on their schedules. Maybe after a century of us all being together I will be as blasé about it as they are. Until then, we will just make sure I don't sleep with sharp objects nearby.

  Alex brings us to a halt and turns me so I can see what he has put together for the future hordes of children he is planning. By the look of things, my count isn't far off. He has brought me to an area on the west side of the house that almost looks like another dwelling.

  It is a mini castle playground set that has swings and slides, like I assume any playground has, but this one comes equipped with a castle and a moat. I haven't seen any crocodiles roaming the streets of Night Owl City, which I hope continues because I am sure any future boy children we might have would try to procure a few for their moat. I probably shouldn't put that past the devil kicking inside of me now. I can see her riding a crocodile down the driveway before showing it its new home.

  “You are giving her ideas. She may block you from hearing her, but she is always listening in on what you are thinking,” Alex says as he drags me over to the swings. “Sit. Let me push you for a few minutes.”

  I do as commanded a little reluctantly. “I thought I was supposed to be getting a tour of my new home. We haven't walked enough that I need a rest and I really want to get a look inside.”

  “In a second. First, I have been thinking a lot about a particular human custom that I wanted to discuss with you.”

  I don't like that lead in at all. In fact, I think I should take off in a run as fast as the beer gut will let me. “Not a very interesting subject I assume.” I stay where I am and kick my legs out taking myself higher as he pushes me.

  “In our world, mates are just mates. We don't really become husband and wife in any big ceremony. It is just understood that we are stuck together as long as we both live,” he says.

  “Okay, I acknowledge that to be a true statement, but I would like to point out that most human marriages don't last like the paranorm ones do.”

  “I cannot dispute that. I don't want us to get married, so you can stop worrying that I am trying to ask you. What we have is perfect and I was just hoping I could get you to wear my ring. You spend some time in the human world, even if it disturbs you, and they are accustomed to seeing that symbol on women that are already claimed. I will be marking you, probably soon, although who knows if when your angel stuff kicks in we will feel the need that this month triggers for other wolf mates. Until then, and even after, I would love for you to wear this ring,” he says and grabs me to stop my momentum. He wraps his arms around me and he holds out a small black box.

  Shocked is a little bit mild for what I am feeling. I didn't see this request coming ever. “I am not exactly a jewelry type of girl. I thought that was well-known.” I grab the box anyway; curious to see what he thought would win me over.

  “I think you will be surprised,” is all he gives me.

  I open the box and I have to agree with him. There is no super huge diamond residing within. Instead I am greeted by the rim of a bullet attached to a silver looking band. The bullet is stamped with TC on the top and 9MM Luger around the bottom. It looks just like one of the bullets I buy. I take it out to get an even better look.

  “It is one of your bullets. I had it saved after Jonas pulled it out of me the first night we met. I didn't expect to use it in this capacity, but when I got the idea to get you a ring, I couldn't think of anything more appropriate to symbolize our relationship.”

  I obviously didn't know what shock was when I thought I was experiencing it before. “You not only saved the bullet I shot you with, but had it made into a ring for me. I love it,” I say and slip the ring onto my ring finger on my left hand. It fits perfectly, which was expected, and I like that it is low profile so I don't have to worry about it catching on something. Huge and pointy might have been fun in a fight, but for every day wear, flat is good.

  “The band is titanium, so it should last for about forever. If you look inside, I had it engraved.”

  I have it on my finger and he wants me to take it off, foolish boy. I do anyway because I am curious. It takes me a second to figure out where to start, but when I do, I smile. Inside it says Two parts male, one part angel. It also includes a little trinity symbol.

  I understand that it isn't referring to only me because I think everyone involved has done a check and verified that there aren't boy parts hanging in between my legs. The ring is forever documenting the bond we share with Sebastian. I like that with something that Alex picked to symbolize that I am taken he included everyone in it.

  “Brilliant,” I say sliding it back on and positioning my head to share a sweet kiss with him. Sophia starts moving around and that draws us apart. She had been calm since we got here. I guess she doesn't like PDA.

  “Let's take the soccer player in the house. I have quite a few rooms I want to show you. Our wing is through the doors right over here. I thought being close to the playground would be a good idea.”

  We walk over to the door. I should say that he walks and I kind of waddle along. Most days the extra belly doesn't really affect me, but others leave me feeling like a duck. I think all of the walking through the store today is starting to catch up.

  “Hold on just a little bit longer before you run off for your nap. I don't want you getting lost in all of the extra space.” He quickly picks me up and opens the door to carry me in. A totally unnecessary move, but it does save me a couple of steps.

  We enter into a sitting room of sorts. It isn't large and has two red couches that face each other. Nothing else of great interest, other than a fireplace that I doubt will ever be used.

  “The main living room is in the center of the house. This is just a place where we can talk if we want to be out of the bedroom. I think most of our time in this wing will be spent sleeping. The main kitchen and gym aren't located in this section. We do have a small kitchen for emergencies when you feel famished all of a sudden.”

  He sets me down and we walk through the sitting room and the space widens out to a large hallway filled with doors. Sebastian loves artwork and the Penthouse was filled with it. It is strange to see it missing from the walls.

  “His main collection is through the rest of the house. He is having some pieces imported from his overseas homes to fill our space. Your friends David and Venus are already standing in the foyer of the main entrance,” he says as he opens one of the doors to the left in the hallway.

  “Just how many rooms does our little wing have?” I ask while I count another five doors just in this hallway.

  “Actual bedrooms, there are ten. About half of those have attached bathrooms and there are three separate bath
s. There is a large library, which we have used as office space for the three of us, in case the need to work from home ever arises. This is our bedroom.”

  He ushers me into a room that is about as big as the penthouse apartment, if you don't take into account all of the hidden doors the apartment has. Our bed is up against the wall with matching night stands on each side. The rest of the room is pretty barren, except for a very large armoire.

  There are five visible doors and with the house being as old as it is, I don't imagine it has a ton of hidden rooms. I don't think Sebby has had enough time to tinker with his secret passage obsession. I open the door closest to us and find a modern, luxurious bathroom. There is a large whirlpool tub that stands as a focal point in the center of the room. I walk over to it and check out its jets and a keypad full of buttons sitting next to it.

  “Did you let the workers sleep at all? How long had you planned this move?” I know it was just brought up a couple of weeks ago, but I cannot imagine this much work getting done in that time frame.

  “Money talks, Babe. I didn't start until it had been mentioned to you so I could gauge your reaction. Crews worked twenty-four-seven to get it ready in time. Thankfully, everything went as planned and we had no setbacks.”

  I stop reading all of the things my new tub can do for me and get up to investigate the other doors. The one closest to the bathroom opens up into an armory slash closet. The left side of the wall contains the majority of my weapons neatly sorted with the guns separate from the knives and the novelty items in their own corner. The back wall hosts a beautiful cherry wood dresser that I imagine houses my undergarments. To the right, my clothes have already been moved in and are sorted the way I like them.

  It is a really nice space and it is all mine. I wonder if the door has a lock on it in case I want to hide out. I push Alex back out the door and ponder the three other doors. I realize two of them are the guys' closets, but the third one is perplexing.

  “Go take a look,” Alex instructs and I skip over in my hobbling way to see what is hiding behind curtain number five.

  The second I turn the knob and get the door open just a fraction, “Surprise!” is yelled out by numerous voices. I throw the door all of the way open and find the guards, Sebby, Phee, Sam, and some woman glued to Marcus' side. Crap. He is an idiot of epic proportions if he thinks keeping a girl on the side is going to go over well with Hilda.

  Notice that I focus in on that fact and not the one that the group is standing in a finished nursery filled with black “It's a Girl” balloons. How they found them in black is a quandary. Pushing that and the Marcus issue aside, I smell steak and that makes me hungry. We better get some food in me before I figure out what my reaction to what looks to be a surprise baby shower is. I push past the group focusing right in on the buffet table. Food is probably the only good thing I will find at this party. Maybe after a couple of steaks I will change my mind. Only time will tell.

  Chapter 4

  Baby shower for the win

  Sophia and I are calmed with meat in our belly. It took three steaks to get us to this point, but everyone will be thankful that they allowed us the time to find a little inner peace. I don't even feel like throwing a fit anymore. Okay, maybe I do, but it is less likely that I actually will.

  “So, what brought you all here today?” I ask dabbing my lips with a napkin. Finding napkins provided was almost as shocking as the party itself.

  “You can be really dense sometimes, angel girl. I am pretty sure we didn’t come to get our nails done,” the woman next to Marcus says. The voice is familiar, but the appearance is anything but. From the height to the skin color, nothing looks normal on her; however, I don't doubt for one second it is her.

  “Is that the mug you were born with, witch lady?” Even without the green skin, she is still going to get a hard time from me. The fact that she could have looked like the image before me all of this time is mind-boggling. Her new appearance is borderline beautiful and I don't say that often about other women. She is tall, probably five nine or so; she has a short pixie haircut that really accentuates her elf or pixie like face. The hair is blonde and she has brilliant purple eyes. Demon Boy tries to pull off the purple eyes, and he does very well, but it is nothing compared to how amazing hers look.

  “I don't know why Gabe thought it would be easier to deal with you now that you know your true heritage. I told him you wouldn't change your ways just from being told you were an angel. I guess that new deluxe cauldron is all mine.” She gives her heartiest witch cackle that solidifies her identity in my mind. No one can cackle like Hilda does.

  “Gabe? As in my angel Gabe? What is he doing talking to you?” There is all sorts of wrongness going on in my mind at the thought of those two getting together. I wouldn’t think the angels would take kindly to all of the pranks Hilda likes to play on her customers.

  “You don't really think I had some crazy ‘Great Spirit’ rattling things off in my head, do you? I couldn't very well tell you that I was recruited by the angels to keep an eye on you and received daily updates from their lead messenger on things that were going to happen in your life.”

  Jaw, meet ground. I have had a lot of jaw dropping news lately, but I think that tidbit takes the cake. Okay, maybe the two mates deal and being an angel top it, but still this is crazy. The angels sent Hilda to keep an eye on me. Who on earth thought that was a good idea? I guess I should rephrase that to exclude earth and make it Upstairs. I think I have found another species that needs to work on getting their heads examined.

  “Gabe recruited you to keep me out of trouble. How has that been working out for you?” I ask and am forced to smile when Sebastian walks behind me and wraps his arms around me. For some reason his touch makes me happy. I think Sophia digs it too.

  “It had been an easy task for years. After I got you away from your mom and over to the Collective things were pretty smooth for me. The heist to grab you while you were still in your little egg took a month of planning, but I got it done. Then I just had to wait a couple of days for you to hatch, and add in a few days grace time to make sure everything was okay, before I dropped you off in the safest hands available at the time. Keeping you with me would have been dangerous for us both. Me suddenly towing around a kid when I hadn't been male friendly in decades would have looked suspicious. You just had to become one of their assassins though. Talk about keeping me up late at night,” she shakes her head slowly, most likely remembering one of those wonderful nights. Her description jumps around a little, but I follow well enough to get the big details.

  “Is this bombshell day or something?” Hilda being my surrogate mother in a sense is pretty much insane. I can understand why I am so screwed up, though. A week in her care would do that to a person.

  “While I am at it, I should probably tell you the biggest news. Your dad doesn't know it and I am sure he isn't going to be happy when he finds out. His plans are probably going to need to be adjusted a little. Your birthday isn't January 21. It is actually on the fifteenth. I flubbed it up a little when I handed you over to the Collective. I didn't want the correct date to be known in case your mom knew the exact moment you were supposed to be born. A baby appearing out of the blue around the same time was already a red flag.”

  “Let me get this straight, you are saying that I am going to turn twenty-three in a week instead of the two weeks I thought I had. What about the angel trials? I thought I had to get those all done before my birthday.” Now I am getting really confused.

  “I cannot in truth say what is going on with the trials for sure, but Gabe has always known the correct date. You would have begun them already if it weren't for the baby. Some of them may have a level of danger to the task and no one wants to endanger Sophia. Things are being reworked on the angel side of things to get everything ready for you. The fact that the little one will come out any day now works in your favor. You are still going to have to cram a lot into a few days, but Gabe has faith in you. Wh
y don't we move on to the present part of your shower? I cannot wait to see what everyone got you. I, of course, know, but I will try to act surprised.”

  I don't really care for the quick subject change. I have a lot of questions that I am sure are going to focus themselves in my mind and come pouring out any second. Yup, any second now. I am still waiting.

  “I think that is a good idea. Nyx is going to need a little time to digest everything you just unloaded on her. The mundane task of opening presents and pretending to be excited about them is just what she needs,” Sebastian claims leading me over to a rocking chair.

  My brain seems to be unable to process things, so I take my seat and I am handed a package.

  “That one is from me,” Walt says with a big smile on his face. The package is wrapped in what looks like tin foil and is a decent size.

  I start unwrapping it and a ton of pacifiers come falling out onto my lap. The main box inside is a pacifier sterilizing kit. I grab one of the fallen Binkies, as the package says, and find it to have a mustache attached to it. Oh no. I start grabbing the other ones and find one with a mouth and teeth that includes a nice set of fangs, one with a little cutsie devil face, and a set with different sayings including: pull to sound alarm, volume control, and I enjoy bacon periodically – the bacon is written out in periodic elements.

  “I figured Clyde would probably try to help out and you would need a mess of those things to deal with his slobber and sanitizing them never hurt anything,” Walt explains.

  “Yeah, I helped pick some of them out. When you get a chance to read them all, let me know which ones you think were my idea,” Clyde says coming to lie down in front of my feet. I bet those special ones are put in the back of the rotation.

  “No explanation needed. It makes sense to have extras, although this quantity might be a little bit much. We will have to find a special drawer to store them in. I am kind of afraid to open the rest of the presents now.” I have a very strong feeling these gifts are good for my sense of humor, but might not translate into Sophia’s world. It is one thing when the baby doesn’t know they have a silly saying on their pacifier, but I am pretty sure Sophia will understand the message.