by Lane Hart
"We've got to get to work on some anti-aging spells before you boys get any older. Kate and Sam have agreed to bring three more witches into the world."
"Sam's agreed to all of them?" Tom asks.
"Yeah. We heard it straight from his mouth," Jason assures him.
"That's great," Sebastian says. "And you all doubted me?"
"How do we know this isn't another self-fulfilling prophecy?" Jason asks the man with a smirk. Even though he jokes I know he believes Sebastian now. Something happened while they were gone that freaked him out.
"This is what is meant to be, you jackass!" Sebastian yells, splashing water toward us. I jump behind Jason's body and use him as a shield while he gets soaked, or Tom's clothes he happens to be wearing gets soaked.
"So when can we get this obstetrician of yours here?" Sebastian asks Tom.
"Joselin, can you get in touch with her? I'm not sure what all she'll remember after you wiped her mind," Tom asks his wife. Joselin’s sitting beside him, underneath his arm, and looking ridiculously happy.
"Yeah. I'll call her in the morning and see how soon she can be here. This is so exciting! I can't wait for all these babies to get here!"
"Joselin, you can wipe memories?" Jason asks her.
"Yeah, you need to have someone scrubbed?" she teases.
"Well, hopefully not, but Cyn and I would like to head to North Carolina and see her family. If you and Tom don't mind, it might be good to have you go with us. You know, just in case someone notices us from the wanted list."
"Sure, just let us know when," Joselin agrees.
"Thank you," I tell her. I've missed my family, well my brothers mostly, and can't wait to see them again.
"Ooh, ooh, could we go and blow some more D.R.A. offices up on the way there? I bet we could hit one or two each way," Sebastian asks excitedly.
"Sure," Jason agrees. "At least Joselin can brainwash any LEOs that come after us, but I don't feel right about blowing shit up with people in the building. Can't we just make a bomb threat and then blow the bitches up?"
Sebastian sinks back down into the water. "Fine. The agents need to go, but if we can take down the buildings maybe they'll all retire or quit."
"So, are you, Matt and Jacob ready to do your spells?" Jason asks.
"Yeah, let's do it," Sebastian stands up and says with a smile. The small man has a nicer body than I would've expected underneath his clothes. Madison will be a happy girl with his smooth and permanent six pack, defined pecs and buff arms. His whitish blonde hair is spiked up from the water, and he’s smiling at me like he knows I’m checking him out. Looking him over, and imagining a combination of Kate and his baby, well, she’s going to be a knockout.
"What are you looking at, Red?" Sebastian calls me out in front of everyone.
"I was just thinking Madison is a lucky girl, and Matt, I think our little girl is going to be gorgeous. So you've got eighteen years to figure out how to woo her."
"Is that right?" Jason says with a raised eyebrow.
"Of course all my daughters will be gorgeous. I've seen them, and they all take after their beautiful mothers," Sebastian says with a smirk.
"Is it weird that you're going to have kids with Kate and her daughter?" I ask.
"Hey, we're saving a species here with limited resources. It's not like I'll ever sleep with her mother. That would be gross," he says with a shiver.
"Are they going to let you see Madison now?" I wonder.
"I don't know, and haven't seen it," he says with a shrug before drying off with a towel. "Up to Sam and Kate to decide, but I'd like to."
…
I’m lying completely still on my back, afraid to move.
"You okay?" Jason asks with a kiss to my forehead.
"Yeah," I assure him. "Are you?" I ask.
"Me? I'm not the one that just had an embryo implanted in my uterus," he says with a big grin.
"I'm serious. Are you sure you're still okay with all this? Because she might can come back and yank it out real quick if you're not," I tell him.
"I'm great with this, more so every day. I didn't think I'd ever get to be a father because I didn't want to bring kids into the world, to have them forced to hide in fear. But here…I feel like we're about as safe as we can get. We're taking out the fucking D.R.A., so that hopefully the next generation won't have to live the way me and my sister and mom had to live," he says shaking his head.
"I can't imagine what that was like," I tell him.
"It was horrible. When I was little I'd wake up having nightmares in a cold sweat, panicking, thinking they'd found us and were going to kill us. So it's not that I never wanted kids, I just…never thought I'd find someone like you to stick around after they found out what I was, and even so I didn't want to be selfish enough to put kids through all that."
"You could have told me and I would have stuck around. Even after we first met I knew I was safe with you. And I'm glad you're willing to have a baby with me."
"I wish it was mine, but since I can't make girls, and definitely not any with my niece, we don't have a choice this time around."
"Next time?" I ask, unable to help my grin.
"Damn right, next time. And it'll be the old fashioned way," he assures me with a kiss that’s interrupted with a knock.
"Time's up," Dr. Wilson says when she comes back into the spare room at Sam and Kate's.
"Are you sure? I can stay here longer if it'll help," I tell her.
"I think you're all set. In about ten days you, Joselin and Kate can all take pregnancy tests and hopefully we'll be three for three. If not, there's always next month," she says, like it’s no big deal she’s making witch babies with warlocks and vampires.
"Anything I should or shouldn't do until then?" I ask.
"Try and stay off your feet unless absolutely necessary the first twenty-four hours. No strenuous activities or any type of sexual activity for at least five days-
"Five days?" Jason exclaims, like its years instead.
"Five short days. Jeez, you sound like Tom and Sam. Seriously, it's not even a week. No traveling either. Just relax and make him wait on you, okay?" the doctor teases.
"Okay. I think I can do that."
"Good luck, and call me if you need me. Joselin's putting me up for the next two weeks at some all-inclusive resort a few hours away."
"Sounds nice. You sure we can't go with you?" I ask.
"No traveling," she says with a smile. "I'll be in touch." Then she slips out the door.
I look over at Jason, and he seems so sad. "I guess that means you're in for a lot of blowjobs," I tell him.
A smile stretches across his face, but he shakes his head. "No way. That's not fair, and you know if you do that it'll only lead into us doing everything else."
"Then what are we going to do for five days?" I ask him.
"Hmm," he says, biting his lower lip as he thinks it over. "Might have to actually talk to each other. We can watch some movies. Look for places to live. Think of names for our girl. Decide when to head to North Carolina and tell your parents you want to marry a warlock, but you're knocked up by a different warlock and the warlock you're marrying's niece," he says with a chuckle.
"We could do all that on day one. What about the next four?"
"I guess we'll have to get creative. We can hang out with the other couples since they'll be just as desperate to figure out how to pass the time. The men can get drunk, and you women can talk about us men and babies."
"We do like to talk about our men and babies," I agree. "That's all we've been talking about for the last few weeks." Joselin and Kate have quickly become my best friends. All of us are like a great big family, and I've never been so happy. And Jason, well, the man blows my mind on a daily basis.
After I’m fully dressed again, we return to the living room. Joselin and Kate had gone before me, so we’re all finished for the day. Now we just have to wait.
"Sit," Jason orders, pointing to the
empty seat on the sofa.
"I'm going," I tell him. After I do as he says he pulls the ottoman up and puts my feet on it. "Aw. You're so sweet."
"Yeah and I hope you remember how sweet when we play catch up in five days," he says.
"Hell, it's going to be the longest five days of my life," Sam complains, rubbing a hand through his hair.
"I think you'll survive," Kate laughs with an eye roll.
"So, if you don't mind sharing, who's your baby's daddies?" I ask the other two women.
"Matt for us," Joselin says with a smile as she lays stretched out across the love seat.
"Sebastian is ours," Kate responds from beside me as she lays on the couch. "Who's yours?"
"Sebastian."
"So let me get this straight. Matt's daughter will be Seth's witch, and Sebastian's daughters will be Ryan and Matt's witches?" Jason asks.
"From what Sebastian's said, yeah I think so," I agree.
"This is going to cause one hell of a fucking crazy family reunion," Sam laughs.
"We picked Sebastian so he could be around me and Madison. If I'm impregnated by him then there won't be the lust to get in the way," Kate explains.
"So Sebastian is going to be the father of one of your daughter's and end up married to the other?" Jason asks.
"Fucking crazy family reunion," Sam repeats "Sebastian will be Ryan's father-in-law and brother-in-law."
"So how are Sebastian and Matt doing with their anti-aging spells?" Tom asks.
"Good. They're both glad they'll stay forever in their twenties. Seth's only eighteen so we've got time to do his."
"Why do you have to wait for Seth's?" Kate asks.
Uh-oh. No one has told her what all’s needed for the spell. I look at Jason and motion for him to come on out with it.
"Well, there's unfortunately something unpleasant each person needs for it to work," Jason starts.
"What? It's bad isn't it?" Kate asks, paling.
"She doesn't need to get upset or stressed after in vitro," Sam warns.
"I want to know," she tells him.
"Fine. You have to kill someone," Sam explains.
"I have to kill someone?" she asks, looking appalled. "I can't kill anyone. That's…oh God, that's how you…" she freezes, looking at Jason.
"Yeah. I killed the man that wrecked our mom's car and didn't call for help. He only served six fucking months in prison for taking her life. So when he got out, I paid him a visit."
"Holy crap. How many other people have you killed?" Kate asks him.
"Ah, one other. The D.R.A. agent that came with Tom after Liz and myself. He'd seen Tom kiss Liz when he was dropping her off in the parking lot that morning and was going to turn her in. Tom tried to lie and say she wasn’t the witch they were looking for but he didn't buy it. I snuck up behind him and hit him with the spell that causes a heart attack," Jason confesses.
"If Jason hadn't killed him, I would have," Tom admits. "There was no way I was going to let him turn them in, even though I'd only known her a day."
"You met her the day before that happened?" Kate asks, clearly wanting to know more about her mother.
"Yeah. I'd found out from the bank their mom worked at that Elizabeth was a waitress at Tex & Shirley's. I walked in and…I swear it was love at first sight. I had no idea she was the witch I was tracking down to warn. She was so beautiful. We talked and then I asked her out because I had to see her again, even though I was still married. She agreed, but then changed her mind and left me sitting there," Tom says shaking his head. "I followed her outside and that's where we had our first kiss. After that, I knew I'd do anything for her. Then that night we met for dinner."
"Then what happened?" Kate asks with a smile, and Tom blushes.
"There's a small possibility that you were conceived that night. We weren't thinking clearly, obviously."
"So you started dating after that?"
"Yeah and during Christmas break I took your mother to the beach and proposed to her at sunset on the island."
"Wow. Did you know that?" she asks Sam.
"Not before I proposed to you, no, but he told me afterwards he'd done something similar," Sam replies with a smile.
"When we got back to Greensboro my wife was waiting in the hotel room, and told your mother we were still married. Elizabeth left and wouldn't see me for months."
"But I did enjoy hitting you, what, seven days in a row?" Jason asks with a smirk.
Tom nods. "Sounds right. But it was nothing compared to how much losing her hurt me."
"Those months you weren't together were horrible. Liz cried all the time, especially after she found out she was pregnant," Jason says, and I kick him. "No, I mean, she wasn't upset that she was pregnant. She wanted to have children. Lots of children actually. She was just sad that you weren't there to share it with her."
"I hate I missed those months with her," Tom says sadly.
"I lost count of how many letters and flowers she threw away. But even though she tossed it all in the trash I think she was glad you were still sending them every single day. She knew you were thinking about her and not giving up. And good lord she went ballistic one day in March when nothing came. Apparently the mailman accidentally put it in our neighbor's box because the next day there were two letters," Jason tells them.
"I was such an idiot," Tom says with a shake of his head.
"Yeah you were," Jason agrees.
"So Jason, you were a police officer?" Kate asks.
"Yeah, for about eighteen years for several cities before ending up in the Metropolitan Police Department in D.C.," he says giving me a smile. "That was your dad's idea actually, as being the best place for me to hide. I just had to phony up the date of birth on my driver license’s every few years since I don’t age."
"And thank goodness you were a police officer, because that's how we met. Jason saved me from my abusive ex," I tell them.
"Well, I had less than honorable intentions when I let you stay with me," he jokes with a grin.
"Can you believe he had three different women that came over every Friday, Saturday and Sunday?" I ask the other women.
"That’s nothing. Sam had slept with five or six hundred women before me," Kate replies.
"Okay, on that note I think us men need a beer break. You women okay for now?" Jason asks. We all nod, so they headed to the kitchen then outside to the patio.
"Five or six hundred?" I ask, stunned.
"Yeah, and I was a virgin."
"Wow," I laugh. "That's quite a gap in experience."
"Sam said he’d been with a total of five or six hundred?" Joselin asks, shaking her head. "He must have forgotten about those thirty years he lived with me. There were easily that many just during those years."
Kate gasps. "Thank God vampires can't get diseases," she says making us all laugh.
Chapter Sixteen
Jason
"I never thought I'd be hoping my girlfriend's knocked up by some other man," I tell Sam and Tom. "Are you sure we're not all nuts?"
"I just hope this time worked so we won't have to wait five fucking days again," Sam replies.
"Amen," Tom agrees.
"And at least Kate won't cry for hours if this one's positive," Sam said on an exhale. "Hell, she'll probably cry if she's not pregnant."
"How much longer?" I ask.
Sam pulls out his phone. "Another minute."
"God I hoped this worked. Joselin's going to be crushed if not," Tom mutters.
"At least we get to be the first to know some other men knocked up our women," Sam laughs.
Since none of us are the actual fathers, the women wanted us to be the ones that found out first. It was their way of making us feel like we're a part of this too.
"Oh, Tom, yours is doing something," Sam tells him.
We all bend over the pee stick that had a digital readout, "Pregnant," no doubt about it.
"Thank fuck," he says with a hand on his chest and a huge smile
.
"Congrats," I tell him with a slap on the back. "Hey, I'm going to be an uncle again! Although this time your daughter is your daughter's daughter, or your granddaughter is your daughter." I can't help but laugh at the absurdity.
"Joselin is going to be so excited. She's going to be a great mother," Sam says.
"Hey, look. I'm going to be an uncle to my daughter too!" I tell them, showing the "Pregnant" on Cyn's stick.
"Shit, Kate's is going to be really disappointed if she's the only one that's not," Sam responds, staring down at the annoying hourglass and waiting for it to go away. "Finally!" he exclaims. "Madison's got a sister on the way!"
"Alright, let's go tell them the good news," I say, pulling open the bathroom door. Three beautiful, anxious faces sat on the edge of Sam and Kate's bed waiting impatiently.
"So?" Joselin asks, looking at the three of us then back to Tom, who hasn't stopped smiling.
"You're pregnant."
She shrieks and comes off the bed and into his arms. "Oh my God! Two-hundred and sixty years and I never thought I'd ever get the chance to be a mother! Much less carry a baby," she cries as she clings to him. Then she’s down and hugging Kate, picking her up off the bed and spinning her. "Thank you so much!"
"Hey, go easy on my wife. She's pregnant too," Sam teases and they both freeze.
"I am?" Kate asks with a smile. He holds up the stick, then she jumps up, wrapping her arms around him.
I know Cyn’s been watching me, trying to read the answer on her test from me. "Well?" she ask as I go to stand in front of her.
"Well, I'm going to be an uncle to three more little girls, and a father to one of them," I tell her.
"Really? I-I'm pregnant too?" she asks with a smile.
"You're pregnant too," I tell her before brushing my lips over hers. She throws her arms around my neck to hold me to her while our tongues meet and dance urgently. My arms go around her waist while I stand between her legs.
"Everyone out of our bedroom!" Sam yells. "Not you. You stay," he says to Kate, tossing her playfully on the bed while the rest of us hurry out.
"Let's go tell the warlocks," Joselin says, so we walk out the front door to their SUV. I can't wait to get Cyn back to their guest bedroom.
