“We had names picked out.” Maia glanced at Gerry
“Up to you darlin’.” He smiled and cooed at the baby girl in his arms.
“We planned on naming them Quinn and Rachel but I think, considering that one’s fiery disposition, we should call her Reese instead of Rachel.”
“Why?” Breena asked.
Maia smiled. “The meaning of the name ‘Reese’ is fiery. What do you think, Gerry?”
“Well, hello little Reese. That’s a lovely name.” Gerry touched his baby’s hand and she instinctively curled her tiny digits around his index finger. “She’s a strong one, that’s for sure.”
“Those are beautiful names, Maia and very well suited. I’m so happy for you.” And extremely relieved everything turned out so wonderfully, Addie added silently. The private anxiety and painful agony of not knowing whether or not she would lose her aunt the way she lost her mother had taken its toll on her spirit. She hadn’t been sleeping well. Between the missing crystal, the absence of which meant she could not communicate with her father, and the pending birth of the babies, she’d been a nervous wreck. The whole controlling her fire problem still had her baffled as well. She was glad it hadn’t been an issue during the rescue. She hadn’t tried conjuring up fire and moving it over her body since that strange episode Cael had to save her from for fear she might not be able to control it. She didn’t seem to have any problem controlling the fireballs last night, though. She fingered the crystal now in her pocket since the chain had been broken. She’d need to get another one and make sure to have the clasp permanently closed good and tight. She’d need a new locket too, considering those monsters destroyed the one it was in, and it was going to be difficult to find one large enough. The crystal grounded her, gave her control, afforded her abilities she didn’t possess without it. She was different from the others; she knew that now. She had a connection with the crystal the other people with abilities hadn’t acquired. It must be a connection from her bloodline, a power that only she and her descendants could control.
***
Light filtered in through the window as the sun peeked up from behind the mountains across the street from the beach house. Feeling a great sense of relief over the delivery of healthy twins, a good night’s sleep was certainly on Addie’s agenda. But as Cael started to lead her up the stairs to go to bed, she glanced at the front door. There was still something she needed to do in order to free her mind and rest. A longing stirred in her heart that she couldn’t deny. “Not just yet,” she said, skimming her fingers over his arm. “I’ll just be a couple of minutes.” Heading toward the door, she opened it and stepped outside. She inhaled deeply, taking the cool morning salt-filled sea air into her lungs, Addie strolled toward the cliff’s edge out to the archway. The first time she’d ever talked to her father after he died was at that very spot and she needed to try to communicate with him again now that she had the crystal back. She hoped it would be possible.
The tide was in. Waves crashed up against the rocks, shooting sprays of salt water into the air and Addie caught a few misty sprinkles on her cheek. Foaming waves partially obscured the bottom part of the angel in the middle of the archway before they dissipated back into the sea only to form again and flow over the rocks in a continuous motion. The scene before her eyes seemed so ordinary and inevitable, yet so unpredictable in its movement. And all of a sudden it dawned on her. Inevitable, like fate. Unpredictable yet unavoidable.
“Yes, Addison.” The sound of her father’s voice sent a wave of excitement through her body as she turned to look into his eyes. “Like fate.” He smiled and she lunged into his comforting and welcoming open arms. As his hand stroked her head, he whispered against her hair. “Cael came back to you. It was fate.”
“Dad, I’ve missed you so much.”
“Me too, sweetie.”
“Why can I only talk to you when I have the crystal? Why can’t anybody else make the crystal enhance their abilities?”
“There are others who can talk to their loved ones, but none of them can see them and feel them in the flesh the way you see me. Honey, there are so many things left for you to discover, but, it is true, the crystal is a part of your heritage alone. It belonged to Colluthus and you are a direct descendant of his. No one but you can use it. Unless …” He tilted her face so she had to look into his eyes. “… you have a son.”
“What if I don’t have a son?”
“You will.”
“How do you know?”
“Addison, my lovely daughter, you are talking to a dead man.”
“You’re not dead to me. You’ll never be dead to me.”
“No. You’re right, but that is why I know. I am a spirit, which gives me a little insight.” He placed his hand against her womb. “Right here. You have a son.”
“No. I can’t. I’ve been … we’ve been very careful.”
“Not careful enough. Believe me, you have a son.”
She placed her hand on top of his and stared, unable to completely understand how he could know. Then the fear kicked in. “But Dad, I’m scared.”
“Don’t be afraid of your son. He is a part of you and he will be powerful, but not until his time.”
“But what about Cael? He doesn’t even remember that he wanted any kids. How will he deal with this?”
He took her hand in his and opened her fisted fingers to reveal the crystal. He tapped his finger on the bright ornament. “Use this, Addison.”
“The crystal? But how?”
“You’ll know when it’s time. I must go now.”
“No, please Daddy, don’t go yet. I have so much to tell you. Maia and the babies …”
“I know. Through you, I know.” He touched his finger to her temple, skimmed it down her cheek. “Just as through me, you’ll know. Use the crystal, Addison.” She opened her mouth to beg him to stay longer but he disappeared before she managed to utter a sound. She hung her head and stared at the crystal as its brilliant light went out and the gem in her hand reverted back to the amber-colored stone it had been.
She sighed. A baby? She didn’t feel pregnant, and what did he mean, through him she’d know? God, she wished she understood.
***
Cael stood in the doorway of the beach house, watching Addison talk to the air. He figured she was speaking with her father, something she’d longed to do since she’d lost the crystal and now it was back in her possession. He watched her latch on to and embrace a figure he couldn’t see, but from his experience with Ristéard, he understood and believed Addison could. He was glad for her knowing how depressed she’d been about it. She looked down and placed her hand on her stomach and he worried that maybe she was feeling ill. He wouldn’t be surprised if she felt a little queasy after everything she’d been through the past day; fighting nothing short of a demonic creature, healing his shoulder, then witnessing the birth of her aunt’s twins, in a pool, no less. Good God. He had to hand it to her. In fact, he could hardly believe she hadn’t collapsed from all the added stress. He admired the way she seemed to take charge and do whatever it took to help save his sister and him. Throughout the entire experience, she never lost her composure. Although it was a bit unorthodox in light of the situation they’d been in, it struck him now how he particularly loved the way she’d cared about Elizabeth and what had happened to her. Addison was a very caring person, full of love for others, always giving of herself. To top it off, she was intelligent, beautiful and sexy. He had to admit, Addison MacKenna was certainly the kind of woman any man in their right mind would want to marry.
So what was his problem? They’d been engaged. Even though they’d resumed every aspect of their relationship as far as he knew, she hadn’t put that ring back on her finger. Wasn’t she happy with him? How different could he be? True, he still felt like a twenty-five-year-old free-spirited young man without a care in the world, ready to take on anything and everything, but maybe there was a part of him that felt a bit more mature. Well, he thou
ght he acted more mature anyway. He was still pissed off that there were five years of his life missing from his memories and from what he’d read, those five years between twenty-five and thirty were pretty important ones to a guy. He suddenly felt cheated and he wanted those memories back.
Chapter 34
The twins were a week old now and Addie had been over at Maia and Gerry’s house everyday helping with things like meals, baths, laundry—man, babies had a lot of dirty clothes, especially two babies.
“Oh my, little one,” Maia said. “Okay, that does it, no more Brussels sprouts for me. Phew!”
Addie laughed and followed Maia into the twins’ room to the changing table. Maia had the room decorated with white cribs angled so the ends of each one met at the same corner of the room. Little wooden pink hearts hung on the wall above each crib. Every heart contained a letter, spelling out each baby’s name. Nine-inch brown ribbons dangled from each heart, ending with a pink and brown polka-dotted bow at the end. Maia looked radiant as ever and already back into her old jeans. Addie had marveled when she first saw her until Maia revealed the elastic she so cleverly used to keep the button closed, now hidden by the yellow blouse hanging loosely over the tops of the pants. The weight she’d gained was barely noticeable and Addie figured she’d be back to her pre-pregnancy size in no time.
“Wow, I didn’t realize what you ate could have such an effect on the babies.”
“Apparently. Now that we’ve learned, no more of those nasty things, huh, Quinn,” Maia cooed. As she unwrapped the plastic diaper exposing the God-awful stuff, Addie’s stomach lurched up into her throat and she had to dash to the restroom, barely making it in time.
“Oh, no, Addie.” She heard Maia laugh as she closed the door before puking her breakfast into the toilet.
After rinsing her mouth and swishing some lukewarm water over her face, she thought she should feel better. After all, it was just a little baby poo. But her stomach wasn’t having any of that logic and she found herself over the toilet again, losing whatever was left inside her. From the looks of it, she not only puked up the morning’s meal, but yesterday’s and the day’s before, because there was nothing left but clear, yellow icky stuff.
“Addie, are you okay in there?” Maia knocked lightly on the door.
“Yes. I’ll be okay.” She studied her face in the mirror after rinsing her mouth again. I will be okay, right? Her father’s voice came back to her, “You have a son, here.” She placed her hands over her stomach. “Oh my,” she whispered. With all the excitement and helping with the twins all week, Addie forgot she wanted to get one of those home pregnancy kits. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe her father at the time, it was just that she thought maybe he was speaking of the future. She hadn’t given it much consideration after that night because up until this moment, she hadn’t felt pregnant. Of course, she didn’t know what being pregnant felt like. Now that she thought about it, though, her breasts had seemed overly tender last night when she and Cael made love. Even now, as she cupped one in each hand, they still were. She gasped. “Oh God.”
“Addie, are you sure you’re okay?” The door handle jiggled. “Open the door, sweetie. What’s wrong?”
Addie opened the door and stood against the frame. “Sorry, I didn’t mean for it to lock when I shut it.”
“Addie, you’re as white as a lamb. Come sit down.” Maia, holding a baby in one arm, guided Addie to the chair with the other. “There. I’ll get you some water.”
“No. No water. I’ll be fine.” But as she said those words, the chair moved beneath her and she had to plant both feet firmly on the floor to keep the chair from gliding and making her nauseous again.
“You don’t look fine.”
“Maia? Do you have any of those at home pregnancy kits left over?”
***
“Are you sure those tests are accurate?” Addie asked, nibbling on a saltine cracker Maia had given her along with a small glass of ginger ale.
“Positive.” She chuckled. “Oh sorry, that’s probably the wrong phrase to use.”
“Maia, what am I going to do now?”
“Well, sweetie, I guess you’d better let Cael know.”
“But what if he doesn’t want kids anymore? He’s different now. He doesn’t remember how much he wanted a baby and all the talking we’d done about it.” The arguments, Addie corrected silently, remembering how they disagreed on the subject.
“Addie, Cael may be five years younger in his mind, but he’s still the same man. I’m sure once you tell him you’re pregnant, he’ll be very happy about it.”
“I don’t know. He hasn’t even mentioned anything about being engaged. What if he no longer wants that?”
“He’s told you he loves you, right?”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean he wants to be strapped down with a wife and a kid.”
“Addie, give yourself and him some credit. You’ve seen him over here holding the twins, talking to them. You see how he is with Breena. Even if he hasn’t come to realize it himself yet, he wants kids. Tell him, Addie. The sooner the better.”
“Shouldn’t I wait to see Red first? You know, just to make sure the test is correct?”
“You could, but how are you going to see Red without causing suspicion? You can’t get to him without Cael or Siana.”
“I could see a local doctor.”
Chapter 35
Cael waited in the dimly lit living room of the beach house for Addison to get home from the Bar and Grill. She’d been called in at the last minute to work for Darcy who had been taking over most of Addison’s shifts lately until tonight when she’d come down with a head cold and fever. Cael had everything just about the way he wanted it. Tonight was the night. He wanted Addison to put the ring back on and he decided since he didn’t remember asking her to marry him in the first place, the best thing to do was to ask her again. Well it would be the first time as far as he was concerned. He studied the room. The fire was lit, candles glowed from various places in the room. A bottle of red wine sat on the table, open and breathing. He had steaks seasoned and ready for the grill. “The salad! Damn it.” He hurried into the kitchen and quickly chopped up the lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and even added in a little avocado. He was mixing in the honey Dijon dressing as he heard the front door open. God, he was nervous. What if she didn’t want to marry him anymore?
“Hi,” she said. “Wow. This is unexpected, and nice. What’s the occasion?”
“I just wanted to spend a romantic evening together. That’s all.” Christ, his hands shook as he helped Addison take off her coat. He took in her work outfit, jeans and an old, nearly worn-out black T-shirt. Even dressed like that and stinking of spilled beer, she still got him riled up. Had her breasts suddenly gotten larger?
“Well, this is certainly romantic.”
“I’ve got some steaks ready for the grill, but would you like a glass of wine first?”
“Um … no. I don’t think I’m up for it tonight. I’m a little tired.” She did look weary he thought, taking in the dark circles under her eyes. He hoped she didn’t have to work so many hours much longer. He’d been under the impression that she was thinking about quitting that job now that Darcy was fully trained. There wasn’t any need for her to work, not that there had ever been, but now she had more things in her life, like him. He smiled at that last thought and hoped he’d still be smiling after he proposed. But he had to admit, her decline of the wine and complaining of being tired sort of dampened his mood.
“Okay, I guess I can hold the steaks until tomorrow night.”
“I’m sorry. It looks like you went to a lot of trouble. You know, I think I could probably eat a little. Go ahead and pour the wine. I’ll be back in a minute. I just want to wash up a bit.”
***
Addie splashed water over her face and studied her eyes in the mirror. Come on, wake up. This could be a good sign. He went to a lot of trouble to be romantic. Especially greeting her shirtless
like that with nothing on but his jeans with the button undone, exposing the sexy ripped V-cut shape of his obliques. The patch of soft hairs he teasingly revealed always led to a wonderful surprise. God, she had a hard time resisting him dressed that way. So, maybe tonight would be a good time to tell him.
She closed her eyes and clasped her hand around the crystal now circling her neck once again. She thought back to what her father had told her the other night; the crystal would give her extra abilities if she only learned how to tap into them. If that was at all possible, perhaps the crystal could give her some much needed energy. She concentrated on its strength and thought hard about how she wanted to please Cael tonight. Addie opened her eyes as the bathroom illuminated with a purplish glow instead of the bright white one the crystal usually released and her body filled with a new sense of power and energy. Excitement exuded from her soul and she breathed deeply until she became wide awake. Now she had energy to eat at least a little bit of dinner with Cael, even make love to him. She wasn’t sure what to do about the wine yet. How long would it take him to realize she wasn’t drinking it? Oh well. She shrugged. I have to tell him anyway.
***
Addie barely nibbled at the steak he’d grilled to perfection and he had to remember how tired she’d looked when she walked in the door. When she came-down the stairs no longer wearing the old black T-shirt and jeans but a pretty, pink, low cut nightgown, he had a renewed surge of hope. But she didn’t seem to have much of an appetite and hardly touched her glass of wine, but that was okay with him. Having her sober and thinking clearly when he popped the question was better than having her agree to be his wife while intoxicated. He, on the other hand, downed the rest of the wine in his glass because he needed the extra help to battle the jitters. The knot in his stomach grew tighter as he considered just how he would ask her.
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