by Amira Rain
"Okay. We don't have to talk about this anymore tonight, I guess. I need to start the sauce simmering anyway."
After draining the last inch or so of his whiskey at a gulp, Desmond set his glass on a brushed-brass coaster on the coffee table, looking visibly relieved that I'd agreed to drop things.
"Dinner sounds wonderful, and I want to give you a hand in the kitchen. After that, let's just focus on us and our baby. Also, maybe we can start thinking about moving your grandma here sometime soon. That might be better in the long run anyway, so that you can see her as often as you'd like without having to drive two hours round-trip every time."
"Yeah, but...her home is in Quincy, where she was born and raised, and where she's probably the happiest she can be at Eloise's care home. I think a move might be really upsetting for her at this point."
Just then, a knock sounded at the door, and I glanced in that direction, wondering who it could be, since I wasn't expecting anyone. After just a momentary pause, the knocking sounded again, even a little louder this time, and I flew up from the couch.
"Let me just see who it is. The only person I can think of might be Emma with an emergency or something."
It was Emma with a sort of emergency, though fortunately, not a medical or life-threatening one.
After saying that she needed an emergency babysitter, she handed me Jake and the handle of a large stuffed diaper bag.
"Can you please, please just watch him until tomorrow afternoon for me?"
"Well, of course, but what's going on? What's wrong?"
It was then that I noticed that Emma's warm brown eyes were red-rimmed and kind of puffy, and when she spoke again, I detected just a faint tremor in her voice.
"I've just been doing some serious thinking the past hour for some reason, and I've decided that I just need to take a little four-hour road trip, back to my hometown. I'll stay at a hotel or with my cousin tonight...I still need to figure that part out...and then first thing tomorrow morning, at dawn, I need to go out to the cemetery and visit Josh. That was his favorite time of day, when we usually had nice long talks with breakfast before he went to work.
“And I know he's not there anymore; it'll just be his body I'm visiting, but I still need to visit him and tell him that I never meant for him to drive so fast to get back home to see my stupid power. I just need to try to get some feeling that he understands that, wherever he is. I also need to ask him if maybe it's okay that I move on with my life in certain ways...."
Cringing, Emma suddenly covered her face with her hands.
"I think I really love Eric."
Heart aching for her, I hiked the diaper bag up on my shoulder, then pulled her into a one-armed hug. In my other arm, Jake patted her head, frowning and slowly saying no in a low, mournful sort of voice.
Desmond, who must have quietly come up behind the three of us, now spoke.
"I'll call a car service to drive you, Emma, so that you don't have to drive while you're upset. I'll have them come pick you up in a roomy limousine so you can rest and relax on the way there and back home tomorrow...and I insist on paying for this, and I'm very glad to do so."
Heart melting because of his thoughtfulness and kindness, I looked from Desmond to Emma, who'd now lifted her tear-stained face.
"I want to go half on the car service with him. We're both behind you on this."
In response, Emma just nodded, bursting into tears again.
Soon she left to go wait for the car service, who, when "Commander Grant" had called, had said they'd send a chauffeured limousine immediately.
A short while later, Desmond and I got started on dinner, both agreeing that Emma's trip was probably going to be the very best thing for her. After seeming to be listening intently, Jake lifted his arms above his head while on my hip, shrieking a sound that sounded like yay, as if he, too, thought that Mommy's trip would be good for her.
While we made the meal and set the table, Desmond and I both took turns holding Jake, who seemed completely at ease with both of us, and it struck me that Desmond really looked like a natural dad. Cradling Jake in one strong arm while he transferred warm rolls from a baking sheet to a basket, he looked just as masculine and authoritative as ever, yet somehow at the same time, he looked as if he were just made for domestic life and holding babies.
Probably getting hungry, Jake had begun fussing a bit, and Desmond counted the rolls out as he put them in the basket, poking Jake in the tummy with the last one, making him giggle. He then pinched off a tiny piece of roll and "airplaned" it into Jake's mouth, making him giggle again.
Stirring the pasta sauce, I smiled over at them.
"You're going to make a really great dad, Desmond."
He smiled in return with his face coloring just slightly. I hadn't expected to ever see such a strong dragon shifter blush, but I found it incredibly attractive and charming.
During dinner, I held Jake on my lap, feeding him bites of minced pasta and then taking bites myself while he chewed. Periodically, he began giggling for no reason, banging a roll on the table, and maybe the third time he did this, I told him how strong he was.
"If you're not careful, you might break the table!"
With his sensual, full lips slowly curving, Desmond just looked at me for a long moment.
"And you are going to be a wonderful mother."
I smiled back, heart swelling in my chest.
Later during the meal, when Jake had started throwing more little pieces of roll than he was eating, Desmond caught a piece in midair and returned it to Jake's plate, grinning.
"I hope our son is as cute as this little guy."
I feigned indignant sputtering, fighting a smile.
"Oh, so you're still thinking you're going to be getting a boy, when actually, you should be planning on a girl...because I'm becoming more and more certain that we are having a daughter."
I really was. It was just a deep gut feeling. I was even starting to be able to picture her in my mind, all thick, dark hair and blue-gray eyes, just like her daddy.
Desmond just shrugged, mouth twitching.
"Well, we'll just have to see about that."
The evening really couldn't have been a more perfect picture of domestic bliss. After dinner, Desmond cleaned up, insisting that I rest, and after that, we both gave a sauce-covered Jake a bath.
Shampooing his dark curls with sweet-scented baby shampoo, I wished that I was much farther along in my pregnancy. I already couldn't wait to care for my own baby, couldn't wait to hold her and also see her nestled against Desmond's broad chest.
That night, Desmond, Jake, and I all slept in my room, with Jake in a playpen Desmond had gotten from Emma's apartment. To my surprise, after crying for his mama for just a few minutes, just about breaking my heart, Jake settled down and went right to sleep. After that, I was out like a light pretty quickly, too, wrapped in the comfort of Desmond's arms.
Jake slept through the night, and I was actually the first one to wake, disappointed to find myself in bed alone. However, on the pillow beside me was a note, written in bold, masculine scrawl. You look like an angel when you sleep. I'll be back with breakfast after patrol.
Too happy to be bothered in the least by a little wave of morning sickness,, I snuggled back down in the blankets, smiling. I also made a sudden decision. I wasn't going to bring up the matter of me fighting the Angel dragons again, at least not anytime very soon. I was far too blissed-out on Desmond's and my new-found domestic happiness to want to rock the boat.
Late that afternoon, when Desmond was out on a surveillance mission with his elite Destroyers, Emma returned to my apartment looking absolutely exhausted, with clear dark circles beneath her eyes; but she was smiling, looking genuinely happy and somehow contented.
After giving Jake at least a dozen kisses while holding him tightly, she beamed at me.
"The trip went well. And guess what? It turns out that you and Eric were completely right...I just had some sort of a really
funny mental block. I can now levitate again."
Thrilled, I gasped, and Emma laughed.
"That was my reaction, too, when I first did it again. Maurice gasped, too...then said, 'I'll be darned,' about ten times. It was kind of his catchphrase."
"Who's Maurice?"
"Oh, this really nice older guy who drove the limo. I ended up just sitting up front with him on the drive home, and we got to talking about life, and me being a Gifted, and all sorts of other stuff, and he suggested that I give my levitation power a try right there in the car. First, I levitated his clipboard, and then his phone, and then when we were just outside the city, he pulled over, and I levitated the whole limo with us still inside it."
Smiling from ear-to-ear I was sure, I wrapped Emma and Jake in a bear hug, congratulating her. Hugging me back tightly with her free arm, she said thanks.
"I think it was really good that I tried again not at practice, but with a nice old guy in a limo. There was zero pressure...it was just fun again, like it was when it first happened to me in the grocery store."
A short while later, I tentatively asked her how her visit to the cemetery had gone, and she smiled big, but with her eyes instantly pinking.
"It was good. I could really feel Josh's presence very close to me...and I could feel that he knows that I never meant for him to drive so fast and crash. I also could feel that wherever his spirit is, he just wants me to be happy, even if that means me moving on with Eric."
Emma paused, eyes growing increasingly pink.
"The grass was really dewy and cold where I was sitting by Josh's headstone, but once I really got talking to him, I started feeling like something warm was wrapping around me...like an invisible heated blanket or something...and it felt like Josh was giving me his blessing."
Her voice had cracked on the last word she'd spoken, and a tear had begun rolling down her cheek.
Wincing, she wiped it away and then smiled.
"These are really happy tears. I'm not going to burst right out and tell Eric how I feel just yet...I'm just going to kind of wait for a time when it feels right...but I think that maybe happy days are ahead. And not just for me, but you, too. I think we're both about to get our happily-ever-after endings."
Putting an arm around her shoulders, I smiled, thinking she was exactly right.
CHAPTER 16
The next week or so passed with me in a near-constant state of bliss. Desmond and I grew closer, sharing many meals together, as well as many passionate late nights. Even a few passionate early mornings, too.
Though he was extremely busy with leading his men in surveillance operations, trying to determine when the Angel dragons were going to strike, one Saturday he made time to surprise me with a picnic in one of the city parks, complete with a basket he'd packed himself.
Afterward, we strolled around the park, hand-in-hand, in the warm May sunshine, and then Desmond took me shopping for maternity clothes, not that I needed them quite yet, having only the tiniest hint of a baby bump. However, my regular jeans had become too snug by maybe just an inch.
Near the end of the shopping trip, we did a little window shopping, and I briefly admired a gorgeous ruby-and-diamond necklace displayed on a velvet cloth in a storefront window. But then, I quickly moved on to an antique shop next door, not wanting to seem like I was wanting something else, especially a ridiculously expensive something else, after having been bought an entire maternity wardrobe by Desmond. Really, I felt vaguely embarrassed for some reason that I'd even paused to admire the necklace.
That evening, while we waited for dessert after having dinner at the nicest restaurant in the tower, just the two of us, Desmond stunned me by presenting me with the ruby-and-diamond necklace, saying that he hadn't been able to resist, knowing that it would make me smile.
However, at first, I couldn't even manage a smile, overcome with gratitude and emotion while I looked from the sparkling gems to his face and then back again. But then, as Desmond fastened the necklace around my neck, eliciting a collective murmur from everyone in the restaurant, as well as envious looks from women sitting nearby, I turned my head to look at him, beaming, and brushed a kiss against his lips before thanking him with my heart feeling as if it might soar right out of my chest.
Later that night, Desmond confessed that he'd fallen "head-over-heels in love" with me, and I admitted I'd done the same for him.
"In fact, I've fallen so head-over-heels in love with you, Desmond, that I'm willing to keep letting you pretend that we're actually having a son."
This had come up once more again at dinner.
Mouth twitching, he pulled me into his arms.
"I'm so head-over-heels in love with you, dear Madison, that I'm willing to further indulge your delusion that the baby we're having is actually a girl. You can just apologize to me later on, when you're proven wrong. You can apologize to our son later on, too, for ever doubting his masculinity."
All the happiness continued a few days later, when Jake's doctor gave the green light for him to begin standing without the corrective braces. If all continued going well with his development, he'd never have to wear them again.
The afternoon of that momentous day, Emma called me up, sounding nearly hysterical with joy, and told me to please come to her apartment when I could and just let myself in. I all but flew over and came into the living room, where Jake was wobbling around on his feet, with Eric following behind, holding Jake's chubby little hands up for support.
Emma grinned at me, positively glowing.
"He's been toddling around like this for over an hour. He just loves it. Even though I think he's not quite sure what to think yet about being able to bend his knees."
Proving her point right then, Jake took a few jerky little steps, saying "Oh!" and "Uh-oh!" The look on his face was priceless, something like a mix of wonderment, intense concentration, and surprise. The look on Eric's face was equally as priceless, however. Grinning, he watched Jake with a look of such obvious pride that if I didn't know any differently, I would have thought he was Jake's father.
Another week or so passed just as blissfully. The weather started getting much warmer, with a few days approaching eighty degrees. Desmond found time to take me on another picnic, just because I'd mentioned a few times how much I'd enjoyed the first. Our steamy nights and mornings continued, bringing me to feel more sexually fulfilled than I'd ever dreamed was possible. Though at the same time, I never became so satisfied that I ever stopped hungering for the feel of Desmond's body against mine.
We were also becoming much closer on an emotional level, too, sharing different things about our pasts and childhoods. Desmond told me that he'd decided to join the military at age twelve, after joining his grandpa at a local veteran's club and hearing one of the men give a speech about defending one's country being one of the greatest acts of love a person could do for their family and future generations. Desmond also told me that at age six, after his dog had been hit by a car, he'd grieved so deeply and for long that his parents had taken him to visit a child psychologist.
I found this story heartbreaking and sweet, but it also clued me into the fact that Desmond's fear of losing those he loved might have even started long before he'd lost Alison, which just endeared him to me even more. I wanted a man who loved hard and felt losses deeply. I just didn't want the fear of loss to ever make him push me away again.
During our weeks of bliss, I never once brought up wanting to fight against the Angel dragons, even though I still definitely did want to take part in the fight. In fact, during a few visits to my grandma with Emma and Jake, I'd become even more determined to be a direct part of keeping my grandma safe, along with all the other elderly folks and Eloise, too.
I almost felt like I had a moral obligation to, that it would be unethical if I didn't. If I just sat back and crossed my fingers that all the other Gifteds and Desmond's Destroyers could handle things, I wasn't sure what kind of a granddaughter that would make me. Or what kind
of a mom. I wanted to be a part of keeping Chicago safe and free for my child's sake, too.
It wasn't like I thought that I, as just one Gifted, would be likely to turn the entire tide of a battle or anything. However, I knew that sometimes, just a single person could play an important part in a fight, and that important part could ripple. And that's what I intended to be, a "rippler," if I could be.
I just wanted to be part of a successful defense, and not a finger-crosser. Besides, like I'd try to get across to Desmond, Brianna had told me a lot about fighting against the Angels, and from what it sounded like, she'd been able to do some serious damage while at no point being in very serious danger herself.
Yes, she'd gotten zapped a few times, but the way she explained it, Gifteds were usually so surrounded by Destroyer dragons on the ground that it was rare for any Angel zaps toward Gifteds to even meet their mark, let alone the dozen or so times in rapid succession that it took to cause serious injury or death. In fact, Brianna had said that sometimes during the fights she'd participated in, she'd had to yell at the Destroyers protecting her to just make way a little so that she could hit her targets.
