by Tamara White
I pour myself a cup of tea to help with the migraine I can feel coming on. Things are becoming very complicated with Evie, and I have no idea how to handle it. I thought it would take a while before feelings developed between us, but she’s just a naturally beautiful person both inside and out. Maybe I should talk to her guys about what to do. At least then they can tell me if they want me to back off or not.
I’m taking a sip of tea when Dane yells my name through the house. My cup slips from my fingers and I run to him. The only reason any of them would yell out for me is Evie.
Something’s wrong. Taking the stairs two at a time, I bolt into the room to see the council standing back while Dane’s cradling Evie in his arms and she’s crying. The others are standing around them as if they have no idea how to help them.
“What happened?” I ask.
“We don’t know. One minute she was fine, then the next she was bent over in pain. Dane’s been holding her since she collapsed under the pain,” Ky says.
That doesn’t sound good. Pain in pregnancy is never a good sign. It could be something as simple as ligament pain or something more complex and worrying like a miscarriage.
“Evie, can you tell me what’s going?” I ask Evie softly.
She has her eyes squeezed shut, but looks like she’s trying to speak. She gasps, before shaking her head. I’m going to have to do a scan to check.
“Ok, guys. I’m going to take her with me downstairs. I’ll need to do a scan and have a look at what’s going on inside,” I say calmly, reaching down and picking Evie up in my arms.
Evie wraps her hands around my neck while I carry her out of the room. All the guys follow us downstairs, where I tell them to take a seat. I’ve brought them to the birthing room because it has the machine that can check everything out.
“How’s the pain now?” I ask Evie, noticing she’s calmed down.
The machine has finished warming up, so I lift Evie’s shirt up to expose her stomach. I run the wand over her stomach and almost sigh in relief. Both babies are fine and there’s no distinguishable internal bleeding. They’re both playing around and rolling in her uterus.
There’s a flare around her rib, though, so I’m guessing one of them or both have bumped into her rib hard causing some bruising.
“I’m ok. It still hurts, but I it’s easing up a bit now. Are the babies ok?” her voice is trembling from concern.
“Look, they’re fine,” I reassure her moving the wand over her uterus, so she can see where the babies are.
“Guys, you want to come in here? There’s nothing wrong with her. It looks as if the babies have bruised the two outer ribs on her right side. It would have been pretty painful for Evie, but the babies are ok. You should rest though, Evie. My guess is they reacted to something that set you off. When your heart rate rises, the babies will feel it. The same can be said for your emotions. Your babies will be able to sense the emotions you’re feeling too, especially because they are so far along in their development. You need to rest and relax as best you can, and try not to let them get out of hand. Try those breathing exercises I was telling you about to help centre yourself ok?”
Evie
Oh, thank god! Feeling the pain in my side absolutely terrified me. The last thing I wanted was to lose the babies. All the guys are as worried as I am, but they have no idea how to help me or reassure me. Thankfully Dane called Christian when he did, because I was in too much pain to call him myself.
“Ok, I’ll try to remember to breathe through it next time. It just caught me by surprise,” I say, feeling guilty I may have caused myself and the babies unnecessary harm.
“They’re a bit bigger now. I can actually tell you the genders if you want?” he asks smiling down at me.
I’m not sure if I should find out or not? Part of me wants to know, but it would be nice to have it be a surprise. Maybe the guys should decide?
“I think I’m going to let the guys decide this one,” I say, before turning to face the guys “Each of you should say what you want and majority vote wins.”
The guys all look shocked that I’d leave the decision to them, but who better to do it then the fathers? I’d feel better knowing it was their choice, not mine.
Ky’s the first one to make his decision “Well, if you don’t mind, I’d like to know. It would be more exciting to be able to buy the right colour clothing and bedding, I guess.”
“I’d like to know as well,” Mike says.
“It would be awesome if it was a surprise. We could buy gender neutral colours it doesn’t have to be the right gender colours,” Teddy says, blushing.
Well, that leaves Dane. He looks like a fish out of water, while the others all wait for an answer from him. He looks ready to bolt from the room rather than answer what he wants.
“Um, I’d like to know. It would be nice to know what theme to do the nursery,” Dane says looking at me.
“Ok, sorry, Teddy, but you’re overruled. What genders are the babies?” I ask Christian.
He smiles wide before opening his mouth to speak when Jimmy bursts into the room.
“Zach’s missing.”
Kylan
How the hell did Zach disappear?
After Jimmy burst in, we sent Evie upstairs with Christian and Dane to guard her while we search for Zach.
“When did you last see him?” I ask Jimmy on the way to the back of the property.
Jimmy told us he knew Zach was missing because he hadn’t been back from checking the property. Apparently, Zach has been placing sensors around the property so he could monitor if anyone came onto it without us knowing. I let my father know that we were looking for Zach and he volunteered to help. He and Victor are looking over on the other side of the property while Neil stayed back to help guard the house. I called out for Max to come help us, but he wasn’t in his room, so I figured he must have went out.
We scour the area where Zach said he got a warning the sensor went off but we find nothing. We’re just about to give up hope when Jimmy gets a text.
“Huh, it’s from Zach. He says he didn’t see anything, but he needed a break, so he went back to his place for a beer,” Jimmy says with confusion.
What? He disappears for over two hours and only now tells us?!
“Son of a bitch! Give me that,” I demand, snatching the phone from Jimmy and calling Zach’s number.
I wait while it rings, but he doesn’t answer. That bastard! He should know we have better things to deal with than running around after him! Why didn’t he just tell us so we wouldn’t have to spend our time searching for him? I project to Teddy and Mike so they know we can stop searching and go back inside.
After all that, we still missed out on finding out about our children’s genders. Hopefully Evie will still want us to find out in the morning.
I meet up with everyone back at the door to the house.
“So, where was he?” Teddy asks us.
“Lazy bastard said he was at his place having a beer,” I tell them irritated with Zach’s behaviour.
“What a douche bag! I can’t believe he’d just leave without telling anyone!” Mike says appalled by his behaviour too.
“Who’s a douche bag?” Max says from behind me. Where did he come from?
Max is standing there holding a bag in his hand and a coffee in the other. Where has he been now? And how the hell did he sneak up on us without us hearing him?
“Zach’s the douche. He left without telling anyone where he had gone and then had the guts to text us saying he was at his place having a beer. Can you believe that? Where have you been? I tried getting you to help, but I couldn’t find you,” I say to him.
“Oh sorry, I told Zach earlier that I was going out to get Evie a little something. Look how cute these are,” he says with excitement, pulling two baby rompers out of the bag. One yellow and the other green, they both say ‘Grandad’s Favourite Grandchild’ written across them.
Evie’s going to love them. They�
��re so adorable and that’s coming from me, imagine how she’ll feel seeing them.
“They’re pretty cute, but could you let one of us know next time you disappear? Not just Zach because, as you can see, none of us knew you had gone and, apparently, Zach just disappears too. I’ll be speaking to Zach about that but yeah just let someone else know next time.”
“Ok son, why don’t we all get some sleep and we’ll talk to Zach when he comes back in the morning. At least now we know he’s safe,” my dad says to us gesturing inside.
I sigh. He’s right. We’ll talk to Zach tomorrow, and I’ll give him a piece of my mind for leaving. I thought he would be good for Evie if he got past having to share her time, but he just seems to immature to be with all of us. I know his sensor idea was brilliant, because none of us were even concerned about the property, but he should have made us all aware so we could take shifts. The only person that knew was Jimmy, and it was lucky he came to us rather than our parents. They may not have taken it as seriously.
The guys and I head for showers before joining Evie and Dane in bed. Christian’s curled up on the sofa on the other side of the room with his quick bag of tricks beside him. Dane’s wrapped around Evie who’s snuggled in under him, almost invisible. I climb in behind Dane while Mike and Teddy climb in on Evie’s side. Hopefully, we all have a good night’s rest.
Evie
Everyone ran off to find Zach, leaving Dane, Christian and I inside. Christian’s sticking around in case something happens to me or the babies and Dane’s staying back to protect me.
While I’m worried about Zach, I’m still glad to have some time alone. I feel crowded all the time lately and I have no idea how to tell the guys without making them feel bad.
“I’m going to have a shower. I’ll be back in an hour, so just let me know if you need anything,” Christian says, walking to the door.
“You can go to bed if you like. I feel fine now, just tired,” I say, yawning.
“It’s ok, I don’t mind. Besides, I like being around you,” Christian says, smiling.
“Ok then. I’ll see you when you come back,” I smile back as he leaves.
Dane and I are alone. It feels like forever that we’ve been alone together. I still feel his conflicting emotions and know he must be having trouble coping with everything.
When I found out my parents weren’t my real parents, it felt like I would suffocate under the pain. I’d imagine it’s harder for Dane right now because of everything else that’s happening.
“Dane, are you alright? Do you want to talk?” I ask him.
He stands still as a statue, just staring at a point on the wall. I’m not sure how to fix it so I do what I would want in his situation.
I walk over and wrap my arms around him, showing him I care and if he needs to talk about it, he can when he’s ready. There’s nothing I can do until he’s ready to talk about it. I don’t want to push him into reacting the same way as he did before when he found out.
He sighs and hugs me closer to him while resting his head on mine.
“I missed you so much. I hated not knowing where you were and what you were going through. Don’t ever do that to me again!” he says fiercely, and I feel it from him just as strong.
I laugh, startling him “Ok I’ll try my best not to get kidnapped again, if you don’t lose your temper. I have a feeling no matter how hard we try, we’ll both break our promises. I’m carrying the future of the elemental race, and you’re bound to get irritated by every little thing that happens until the demons have been sent back. I’ll try but there’s no guarantee I could keep that promise.”
“You’re right, I’m sorry. I hate that this is happening, and I’m terrified I’ve ruined it all by letting everything slip earlier, and you’ll be taken again. Raphael’s gone, so I have no idea how to fix it but I will do everything in my power to make it right. I can’t lose you. I love you so much,” he says kissing me softly.
I groan and wrap my arms around him deepening the kiss. He walks us back to the bed laying me down softly.
We break apart to stare into each other’s eyes and that’s when I yawn. Dane laughs and rolls to the side while I smile and face him.
“Sorry, I’m just so tired,” I say holding back another yawn.
As much as I want things to go further I’m too tired for anything right now. It would feel wrong to do anything while the others were out searching for Zach.
“It’s ok, Evie, let’s just rest until the guys come back, then we’ll all get some rest. God knows we need it.”
“Do you think Zach’s ok?” I ask, worried that we haven’t heard anything.
“Yeah, he’ll be fine. He may not think he’s strong, but if it came to it, he can defend himself just as well as I can. I’m sure he just went home and forgot to tell us, or told someone else and they forgot to let us know,” Dane says reassuring me.
“Ok,” I say, not entirely believing him. After the way Zach took off, surely he’d tell us everything was fine? Otherwise we’d all be here worrying like we are now. I pray that he hasn’t been hurt. We may not be close, but it would still make me sad to see him hurt.
Chapter 21
Evie
Climbing out of the shower, I sigh out loud. Everything that has happened over the past few weeks is catching up to me. My dreams, last night, went from good to bad, in seconds.
I had a dream that I was sitting down having tea with Christian, Zach and my father, but a demon possessed elemental showed up dragging me away. No matter how loud I called for the guys to help me, they couldn’t hear me. The elemental holding me laughed and faced me in the opposite direction where the guys were all on the ground covered in blood. I screamed and screamed until I woke up. The guys were all hovering around me, and their fathers were in the doorway looking around for the source of my terror. Once I had convinced them it was just a nightmare, they left and my guys finally calmed down.
Christian took my blood pressure saying it was high, and that a shower would help me wake up properly. After telling them to go get things ready for the day, Christian asked me if I wanted to go have tea in the garden. He said having a good memory come from the place of the nightmare will help get rid of its influence in my mind and while that seems like a good idea, something in my mind is telling me not to.
I want to ask Mike if there’s any chance that the nightmare could be a foresight vision. I know mine usually come in drawings but maybe they’ve changed? Maybe I can have them in dreams too? I know Mike can get them in multiple ways so, why can’t I?
Drying myself, I stare at my body in the mirror. The changes in my body have become extremely noticeable now. I have stretch marks from the top of my pubic bone to the bottom of my belly button, my thighs are bigger, my boobs are bigger, my ass is bigger. Basically, everything’s bigger.
I know Christian said the rapid growth will show soon but looking at myself right now, I’m awed by how fast it happened. If I keep growing like this, I’ll definitely be having my babies in a couple of months, which terrifies me. I’m definitely not prepared. I still need furniture, clothes, blankets and so much more that I haven’t even begun to comprehend.
A knock on the door startles me “Evie? Are you done yet? Your dad and Christian are waiting for you,” Mike calls out.
I grab my clothes, hoping they’ll fit. Most of them have been too tight for my expanding body. I’ve had to resort to wearing the guys’ boxers because my underwear doesn’t fit anymore.
“Yeah, I’ll be right out. Tell them I’ll meet them down stairs,” I say squeezing into my sweater. Damn it feels tight enough to bust.
Mike
When Evie finally comes out of the bathroom, I try not to laugh. She’s squeezed herself into a sweater so tight it highlights her shape. The thing is, it’s so tight that she looks uncomfortable, and I can feel her irritation as she stiffly walks over to me.
“What?!” she asks, waiting for me to say something, but I just laugh.
“Oh, honey, take that off. I’ll give you my hoodie if you’re cold,” I say between my laughter.
She huffs and tries to rip the sweater off, but it gets caught at her chest.
“A little help please,” she says, frustrated.
I laugh and pull the sweater off causing her shirt to rise up over her bump.
“Oh, wow. We’re going to have to get you some more clothes. Look how much you’ve grown overnight!” I say, awed by the size of her bump.
Rubbing my hand over her bump, I swear I feel something move, but Evie doesn’t say anything, so I assume it’s nothing but gas bubbles. I can’t wait to feel them move.
“Yes, I get it, I’m huge already. Can I please have a jumper? I’m cold, and it’s too chilly in the garden,” Evie says shivering slightly.
I jump up and grab my blue hoodie from the closet and wrap it around her.
“There you go, all warm and snug.”
“Thank you. I’ll definitely need a new wardrobe soon. This is becoming ridiculous. Before you know it, I’ll be wearing your clothes and you’ll be wearing mine,” she says, with a mischievous grin.
I laugh at the image she sends into my head of me wearing one of her dresses.
“No, I don’t think I’ll be wearing a dress anytime soon, but I’ll talk to the guys about taking you into town to get some clothes that might fit you better. Now, your dad and Christian are both waiting downstairs for tea, so off you go,” I say, playfully pinching her on the bum.
Instead of laughing and leaving, she freezes. She must be truly terrified after her nightmare. When we heard her screaming during the night, we freaked out thinking someone was hurting her, but once we realized it was a nightmare we relaxed.
Christian’s idea was to take her out into the garden for tea to give her a good memory. It’s a great idea, but it could be making her anxious. The rest of us were going to paint the nursery room we had set up. Jimmy offered to help as well so we could get it done quicker.
