by Martha Woods
"If it makes you feel any better, you've come close a few times."
She placed a finger on her chin, tilting her head back in consideration. "You know what? That does make me feel a little better."
He leaned down, his next kiss being placed upon her stomach. He smiled softly at the prominent slope, running his hand lightly over the skin. "How are we today?"
She covered his hand with hers, smiling at the feeling. "They've been kicking a bit all day, I think they're starting to get restless." She sighed happily, "Not long until we meet them, is it?"
"With the rate they've been growing? I'd be surprised if it's more than two months from now."
With that realization however came a wave of bittersweet feelings. They both couldn't wait to meet the new member of their family, in fact it was one of the moments they had been looking forward to most in their lives, though they couldn't deny the obvious danger they were in. Skylar would apparently be fine if she had supernatural blood coursing through her veins, but so far they had no confirmation that it was the case. They had their suspicions, certainly, but when it came to the matter of her life neither of them were satisfied with mere suspicion.
If Skylar didn't have a supernatural bloodline... Well, then one of her greatest fears would come true. She wouldn't live to raise her child. She would be relegated to the realm of memory for her husband and fantasy for her child, her absence a glaring black hole in their household for the rest of their lives.
No, neither of them would accept that. Not for one second.
There was no use in thinking about it today however, it was a wonderful day that they were having. What was the use in spoiling it?
"I keep thinking that you can't possibly get any more beautiful." He looked down at her stomach with something almost like reverence. "And then I see this, and I think 'Wow, this woman is carrying a human being inside of her, something that we made together.' Do you have any idea just how radiant you look to me?"
"We do have mirrors you know..." She looked up at him, her eyes wet with emotion. "But I'm not going to stop you if you want to keep going."
He kissed her lightly on her forehead. "Beautiful..." Her lips. "Beautiful..." Her stomach once more. "So beautiful..."
She pulled him back up, her lips crashing against his as she sought to show him just how much she loved him, her tongue plunging into his mouth before he could so much as blink. He chuckled, angling her head just right that he could push himself against her, the feeling of their mouths against each other making them lose track of everything around them. After many a breathless minute, they pulled back, desire at the front of their minds but sense close behind.
"I think you're a little too tired right now."
Skylar desperately wanted to protest, but she knew he was right. The full morning on top of their most recent session had left her completely wiped out, every movement she made highly labored. Reluctantly, she forced herself to calm down, her heart rate gradually slowing down to a more normal speed.
"I hate when you're right like that." She pouted, crossing her arms. "That's one thing I'm going to be glad about after the baby is born. You're not going to leave this bed for an entire day."
Liam chuckled, "I look forward to it."
Deciding to bite the bullet, she asked the question that had been on her mind the whole week. She sighed, "Have you found out anything about... about my bloodline? About my birth parents at least?"
He leaned over, squeezing her hand. "I've got Brett working on it for us, he should be able to find out what we want to know, then it'll be a piece of cake to work out ourselves."
"Is it really going to be that simple? Just... wait for the names to come in and see if I'm going to be alright when the baby comes or not?"
"Hey, hey..." He ran a finger along her cheek, wiping away the tears that had started to fall. "It'll all be fine, Brett will have what we need in no time, he's a professional. Once he's done that, if you'll let me I'd love to go through the family tree with you, I want to help you as much as I can."
She nodded slowly, "And if we don't find anything? What then?"
He paused for a while, thinking of what he would do if he lost Skylar. He decided it didn't even bear thinking about. Instead, he let a smile come across his face, a small laugh leaving his mouth, "I wouldn't worry about it Sky. You wormed your way into my heart, made me feel things that I never even thought I would be capable of. You've pushed me in so many ways and utterly transformed me as a person." He kissed her once more. "I think you're too stubborn to let something like this beat you."
For the moment, she was willing to believe it was true. The world was often pointlessly cruel, and the odds were always stacked against you. But despite this, despite everything... She felt like he was right. Everything would be ok.
Chapter 3
Liam was in no hurry to get up any time soon, it was only mid-afternoon, and he could think of no better way to spend the day than in bed with his wife. Just as they had thought, she had dozed off no long after their conversation, her body under enormous strain from a combination of the baby and needing to organize their business prospects. Liam was very proud of her, she had kept her head with the contractor in what must have been a draining experience for her. If he wasn't already married to her a quality like that would have surely gotten his attention.
He had to get up though, he had promised his mother that he would speak to her about his father. It was not a conversation he was looking forward to having. Groaning to himself, he threw his legs over the side of the bed, standing and walking to the bathroom. He didn't want to have this conversation, but it was going to happen regardless, and he would be damned if he had it while he smelt like sex.
He ran his hands through his hair, the water running in streams down his arms and torso, his muscles stretching as he moved. He let his head rest against the wall, breathing in and out to prepare for the look on his mother’s face when he would tell her his father tried to kill her. Liam clenched his fist, turning off the shower and stepping out.
"Fuck it, let's get it over with."
When he stepped into the lounge, a crisp button up and pants giving no indications of what he had been up to an hour ago, she was already sat in a chair. Her face lit up when he entered, standing so she could pull him into her arms. "Liam! It's so good to see you, how have you been?"
He smiled, running his hand up and down her back. 'I'm fine mom, just been a bit busy. How are you? Have you been feeling better?"
She nodded, pulling him to sit down next to her. "Much better, it feels like a miracle honestly." She looked at him through the corner of her eye, a smile in her voice, "Was it your doing?"
Liam shook his head, she deserved the truth. "No, that would be Farah. When she... took care of her coven, it broke the spell that they put on you." He grimaced, not wanting to continue. "Which brings me to the next part."
Leah looked at him in concern, her hand wrapping around his own and squeezing down. "Lima? Are you ok? What happened?"
"Farah found the witch that placed the spell, that made it seem like you had cancer. We thought maybe that was it, just a result of hate between witches and shifters, right?" He shook his head. "She wasn't alone in it."
"Liam? Liam come on, you can tell me."
He squeezed down on her hand, letting her know that he was not going anywhere. "Mom... Dad hired her."
He would remember the look on her face for the rest of his life, her body almost recoiling as if he had struck her, her mouth opening in frozen horror as he uttered words that she never in her deepest nightmares thought he would say. If it wasn't for the fact that she could feel his hand clamped around hers in a vice grip, she would think she were actually in a nightmare.
"He... He hired her? W-Why would he do that?" She covered her mouth her in shock, not wanting to believe it for a second. "Did... Did he truly want to kill me?"
He shook his head. "That I'm not certain on, what I do know is... He wanted to use it to
get me to come back. He wanted me to take what he thought was my rightful position."
The horror on her face slowly morphed, a sad combination of anguish and fury taking its place. "So I was just supposed to be a... a tool? Something that he could use and throw away when it served its purpose?" She placed her head in her hands, mumbling into the skin, "Did all those years we spent together mean nothing to him? Was it all just one big lie?"
He wanted to comfort her, but he also didn't want to lie. There was nothing that he could say that would make her feel better, so he settled for pulling her into his arms, the dam finally breaking as her tears started to stain his shirt. Her arms dug into his back, so desperate to feel close to someone that she almost squeezed the life out of him.
He could take it, she was one of the most important people in his life, someone who he swore to protect. If this was the price he had to pay to make her pain even a little less overpowering, he would gladly pay it.
She pulled back, wiping tears from her eyes as she looked up at him. "I'm sorry, I lost myself a little there."
Liam shook his head, squeezing her shoulder. "Don't apologize, you just learned something horrible. I wish that you never had to know but... You know you're not alone right? You have me, and Skylar, and Michael." He chuckled, "To be honest, you have quite a few people who will be there for you now, and most of them are because of Skylar."
Leah nodded, a smile crossing her face once more. "You've married a truly incredible woman Liam, I hope you realize how lucky you are."
He nodded. "I do."
"Then take this advice, do not keep secrets from each other." She shook her head, a touch of bitterness tainting her voice, "I allowed your father to keep things to himself, at first they were small and then they started to grow. Now look at where we are. One less son, and one less husband."
The mention of Lucas hit a very raw nerve within him, his face turning remorseful before he nodded. "I promise, I won't keep anything from her. I want to share my life with her, I want to share my everything with her." He smiled shakily. "She's mine, and I'm hers."
Leah pulled him in again, clutching him tightly. "I'm so proud of you and your brother. You've grown into such strong men, you've done the name proud." She stood, shaking out her shoulders and taking a deep breath. "Well, I should probably get out of your hair, shouldn't I?"
He shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Skylar and I are happy to..."
she waved him off, smiling through her words, "Nonsense, I've got a friend in town to meet anyway. You enjoy your time with your wife."
Liam walked her to the door, helping her into her coat and hugging her close once more. She spoke into his hair, "It hurt but... Thank you for telling me. The truth is important."
"Don't worry about it, just... be safe, please?"
She chuckled, "Trust me Liam, unlike you I have no interest in inviting danger into my home." She opened the door, coming face to face with Cayden and Farah. "Oh! Hello you two!"
Cayden waved nervously, Farah spoke, "Hello Mrs. Conway, we're not interrupting, are we?"
"Oh no, I was just leaving." She walked through, waving goodbye to Liam and continuing down the driveway.
Liam looked at the two of them. "What can I help you with?"
"Do you mind if we come in? It's not something that we can talk about outside." Liam was skeptical, but the look in Cayden's eyes told him that he was very serious.
Liam sighed, "Fine. Skylar would probably like to see you two anyway."
He stepped aside, allowing them to walk past to the lounge. Before they could sit, Farah place her hand on Cayden's shoulder. She leaned in, her voice carrying between the two men in front of her, "I think Cayden can handle this alone actually. I want to go check on Skylar."
They nodded, she left their company and walked through the hallway, leaving the two former enemies alone together in a very uneasy truce. Cayden cleared his throat, "I'm coming to you with this because I care about Skylar, and I think that we need to start acting like actual allies for once."
Liam felt the familiar pang of jealousy shoot through his body, but it quieted very quickly, remembering that Cayden was very obviously head over heels for Farah. He nodded, "I've gotten tired of our little feud anyway. What is it you need to tell me."
Cayden sighed, his hand running through his hair. "I'm guessing that you remember Sarconi?"
Liam was surprised to hear that name again, though his face morphed into an unimpressed sneer. "I would say it's hard to forget him, yes. But that problem is dead and buried, so to speak."
The hunter shook his head, looking into his eyes. "Actually Liam, no it is not."
He raised an eyebrow, confusion in his voice, "It's not? And how do you figure that?"
"Because I got cornered by some greaseball a few hours ago, demanding I tell him where Sarconi was." He clenched his fist, anger biting into his words, "Scumbags are converging on this town probably, and they're not going to stop until they find him." He looked up pointedly at the shifter. "Or who killed him."
Liam put his head in his hands. "Why must everything be complicated? Why can't things just have a clean solution for once?"
"If things had a simple solution you would have killed me, and you wouldn't be worried about having a half supernatural child." He chuckled, "People like us don't get to have things be uncomplicated."
He breathed out, the exhale turning into a groan halfway through, "Tell me about it. I suppose I can handle some mobsters, hardly the worst I'll have had to deal with."
"I'm sure you can handle yourself, but you're not who I'm worried about." Liam looked up, seeing the seriousness written on Cayden's face. His next words chilled him to the bone, "I'm worried about Skylar."
Realization hit Liam like a bucket of ice water, he sighed deeply, "Of course, her father... If they get wind that Skylar is related to him it's not going to take long before they figure out what happened, and who did it."
"Exactly. You I don't have to worry about, but Skylar? Even if she has some sort of completely unknown power from a bloodline that might not even exist, she's still pregnant. The mafia isn't going to hesitate to use that if they figure it out."
Anger boiled in the both of them at the thought of harm coming to her, fingernails digging into their palms in an effort to remain in control of their tempers. One thing was certain, neither of them were going to let harm come to her.
"Thank you for telling me this. I..." Liam couldn't believe he was saying this, "It's good to know that Skylar has people that care about her so much."
Cayden snorted, "Wow Liam, if I didn't know any better I'd think you were starting to get fond of me."
"What can I say?" Liam's expression and voice were completely deadpan, "Your personality is just so... charming."
He shook his head, chuckling to himself, "If you need any help, and don't be so arrogant to think you won't, trust me I know the feeling, give me a call alright? I'm done with the lone wolf bullshit, and so should you be."
"Networking Cayden?" Liam smirked. "You finally learned rule number one of business. But fine, if things get to be too much then... I'll give you a call. I don't particularly fancy taking a chance on my wife and child's life."
"Spoken like a true father, we're really growing together huh?"
"Don't push it."
* * *
Michael scanned his eyes over the same sentence five times in a row before he accepted that he had hit his limit of reading for the day. He leaned back, blinking wearily as he stretched his arms above his head, dry eyes hurting with every movement they made.
Hayley wasn't faring much better, palms rubbing into her eyes in an effort to give her brain a short rest. She opened her mouth to speak and instead ended up yawning deeply, "I think we've hit the limit on what we can do here. No matter how much we look we're not going to find the answers we need."
Michael groaned, standing from his chair and walking around. "What then? How are we going to figure out what we ne
ed to do to help Sky if we don't read through all of these?"
"By the time we finish reading through all of them the baby will have long been born, there's no point." Hayley shut the book in front of her. "We're going to need to try something else."
Michael looked at her confused. "Something else? What do you..." His eyes widened. "No. No I said that I didn't want to ever do that!"
She stood, walking to his side. She placed a hand on his arm, trying to comfort him. "I know. I know you did. But you also said that if we didn't find anything here then we would go to see her." She shook her head. "Trust me, I don't really want to see her either. Her power is... Strange."
"Then why? Why are you insisting that we go to her now?"
She looked up at him, her eyes hard with emotion. "Because I care about Skylar. My feelings for her come before anything, including my fears. I'm not going to let the fact that I'm afraid stop me from doing everything I can to protect her."
Michael sighed, rubbing his temples. He looked to the ceiling, breathing deeply before he nodded. "I hate that you're right. I just... there's something about her you know? I didn't feel right when we went and saw her last time."
"It's ok." Hayley squeezed down, bringing her other hand to his chest, feeling the steady heart beat beneath her palm. "It's ok to say that you're scared, who wouldn't be? But we need to do this don't you think? I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened to Sky and I could have done something about it."
He nodded, taking her hand in his. "Neither could I..." He groaned, "Alright, fine. Let's go get set up to leave, the sooner we take care of this the better it'll be for everyone."
She grinned, pulling herself into his arms. She squeezed around him, her thanks slightly more affectionate than she would have liked but right now she could hardly be bothered by it. All that mattered right now was showing that she was going to support him, that she was going to be beside him every step of the way as he faced his fears.
He hugged back, enjoying the feel of her soft hair tickling against his neck. He pulled her in closer, her head fitting snugly into the crook of his neck, his cheek resting against the top of her head. Eventually, after many a minute of standing there in each other's arms, they pulled away, eager to get started on packing to leave. "So the obvious things need to be packed, food, clothes, a tent. What else do we need?"
