Kabayo moved around the table to stand next to my chair, extending his hand to me. Our scarred Xs brushed together as he gripped my forearm, forcing me to do the same to him. “Thank you, Queen of the Dancing Fairies.”
Two.
Butthole
The next morning, I awoke to the sound of the door to my bedroom in the mansion creaking open. A sliver of light shined on Mason, who was snoring softly next to me. I was expecting Ezra to poke his head in to see if I was sleeping, just as he’d been doing once or twice a week since I’d decided to stay in the mansion. Only this time he caught my eye and whispered my name. “October Grace, are you awake?”
“Yeah. What’s up?”
“Get dressed and come on out, please.”
I pried Mason’s covetous hand off my belly, smiling softly when his hand searched the bed for me in his sleep after I gingerly climbed out.
If you’ve never seen a pregnant girl climb out of a bed stealthily, I highly recommend the replay button. I felt like a cow trying to tiptoe. Totally entertaining and YouTube worthy – unless you’re the pregnant woman. Then it’s all just irritating.
Mason was the only person I allowed myself the luxury of wearing clothes that weren’t two sizes too big around. We slept in the same bed, so he knew the shape of my body – no use hiding it from him and making myself sweaty all night under too many layers. I pulled on a red hoodie to cover over my tank top, and exchanged my pajama pants for maternity jeans that Mariang swore up and down were at the peak of fashion trends these days. I moved into the light of the hallway, my toes bunching in the carpet as I stuffed my socks into my pocket.
“What do you need?” I asked in a whisper, pulling my auburn tangles into a messy bun atop my head.
“I thought you might like to go for a drive. I figured you were most likely awake.”
I raised my eyebrow at him. “Um, sure. That’s fine. Where to?”
He offered me his elbow, treating me like a lady, as he always did. “The joy is in the journey, and the surprise of the destination.”
“That’s nice. Is it a famous quote or something?”
“Only if you consider me famous. Come, now. Let’s you and I have ourselves a little adventure. I’m bored of the inside of the house. Aren’t you?”
I shrugged as I clumsily toed on my socks when we reached the foyer, hopping as I tried to balance on one foot. Yet another missed opportunity for the blooper reel. I leaned my butt on the wall as I fumbled with my shoes. Though my belly was sticking out only just enough to make me uncomfortable, pregnancy had made me a total klutz. I was always bumping myself in doorways, tripping over my own two feet, dropping things... I’d even fallen quite a few times. Mason had gone from zombie slayer, to losing his hulking muscles because of me, then getting them partially back in the healing waters, only to have to use his bulk to pick up a pregnant woman who couldn’t walk like a normal person. Though he never complained, it felt like a demotion to me.
Ezra smiled as he watched me try to tie my shoe standing up, my heel resting on my knee as I wobbled. He knelt down before me, taking my foot and placing it on his knee, where he patiently tied my shoe for me. It was maybe the sweetest thing a father figure had ever done for me, or maybe I was just mood-swingy. It was hard to tell anymore. I’d cried in bed last night because Mason told me he was grateful we were getting to be good friends, and had gotten past our uncomfortable romantic stuff. That was what started the tears. Then when he told me he’d help me raise the baby, I sobbed in his arms for a solid twenty minutes. I blinked down at Ezra, determined not to cry. “Thanks, Dad. You didn’t have to do that.”
“But you let me do it. Good for you. You’re getting better at having a dad.” He placed my foot on the floor and double-knotted my other shoe, standing and offering his elbow again. Ezra had been insistent that even though he’d never married Bev, he was very much our father still. Ollie and I had no objection to that, lost as we were.
Somehow Ezra kept me on his arm while still opening the door for me, making me feel like a princess instead of a single mom.
Ezra drove us onto the freeway, his classical station featuring a violinist who could only play sad songs that made me tear up. Again. “Another package came for you. The sender seemed quite put out that you wouldn’t let him deliver it in person.”
My spirits lifted a moderate amount before the guilt crashed down on me. “It’s best for Finn if I’m not in his life. I told him as much.”
“Some of us are just thick in the head, I guess.” Ezra steered with one hand and reached into the backseat of his sleek, black top-of-the-line sedan to hand me a package wrapped in brown vellum and tied with red twine.
I slowly undid the knot, an unbidden smile creeping across my lips as I pulled out a book, the cover old and the pages stiff and waterproof. The title was written in Mer, which was the written language of Dagat. I’d been working hard to figure out how to read it when I lived in Dagat for a short while – me teaching myself the bulk while Finn was at work, and then him coming home at night and reading to me the most beautiful stories. This particular series of books were about a Mermaid who fell in love with a dude who had legs, and the forbidden love between Ricardo and Lissima that forever changed the ocean. I’d read the first book in the series while staying at his house, and over the past two months, Finn had been sending me the next book every few weeks. Each book had a note with it that tugged at my heart. He would either remind me of a fun time we’d had together, or he would tell me he’d wait for me to get over Von so I could see him clearly.
If only it was that simple.
The logical side of me knew that I couldn’t be with a man who’d enslaved hundreds of his own people for the sexual torment of his boss. I could overlook it to some extent when he’d been controlled by Banak, but the harem wasn’t disbanded until long after Finn’s curse was lifted.
There was also the matter that being an Omen was a lifetime commitment. I couldn’t ask him to give up his job no more than he could ask me to give up mine. A whole country depended on him remaining at his post of power, and a whole world depended on me continuing with my reaping responsibilities.
My eyes flitted over the note, translating as best I could without a guide.
“May I be so bold as to inquire what the letter says?” Ezra asked, changing his approach from polite interest to out and out prying.
I read slowly as the words started to make sense, taking a chance and letting Ezra in an inch, since he’d planned an after-hours adventure for us. “I think it says, ‘My Dear Sinta, This is where the story gets sad. But don’t worry, I only believe in happy endings for you. Have Ezra call me if you need a translator.’” I scanned the next few sentences, picking out the words “love”, “forever”, “come home to me” and “kiss”. I cleared my throat. “Then there’s a bunch of personal stuff, but that’s the gist.”
“Ah, I see. And would that personal stuff be the reason you won’t see him when he comes to drop off the packages he brings you?”
I nodded, staring out the window at the scenery rushing by as we traveled on the freeway to... wherever. I hadn’t even thought to ask where we were headed. “I let it get too complicated in Dagat. He’s a good guy. I think he’s only just realizing that about himself. Figuring out he can be good, I mean.”
“I’ve known Captain Finn for many years now. I admit, I never imagined him capable of such humility and restraint. But when I sent him away, he didn’t fight it. He just looked sad, almost resigned. Like he knows you’re unattainable, but he’s still trying, even if the closest he can be is on our front porch.” He shot me a sideways smile. “It seems he’s quite smitten.”
“He’s part fish, and I can’t swim.” I tucked the letter into the book. “And there you have it. Everyone around me seems to be dying off. Finn’s safer in his world. He’ll find someone nice, someone who can be what he needs. I know myself, and I’m not that girl.”
“You’re firm on that, yeah?”
I shrugged, fingering the book I was itching to dive into. “I’m pregnant with another dude’s baby, Ezra. I’m in love with Von. Fat lot of good that’s doing me. When there’s a pill that lets you control who you love, let me know. I’ll buy that sucker by the bucket.”
Ezra gripped the steering wheel. “Von will come home. He always does. He has a habit of running away when he gets scared.”
“What a nice luxury, to be able to run away from your life. If only millions of people wouldn’t die if I ditched my responsibilities, I might do the same thing. Good thing I’ve got a spare Duwende. You know, the one who’ll eventually want to eat me and my baby.” I pursed my lips, having had too much time to think about this. “Von doesn’t give a crap about me, to leave me pregnant with a Matruculan to pull the corroding souls from me. I get that it’s hard to wrap your mind around, but he split without making sure Mason could handle the temptation. Von doesn’t care if I die.”
Ezra hissed. “You and I both know that’s not true. He doesn’t know the baby’s his. For all he knows, you’re pregnant with some other man’s child.”
“Yup. Ran that through the ol’ logic filter, too. It’s cool. I’m fine.” I fingered the letter. “Stuff like this, though? It’s like a stab through the heart, knowing there’s someone out there who’d be with me even though I’m having another man’s baby, while the father of the baby’s MIA. Penny isn’t Von’s biological child, and he still stuck around to help raise her. Just hurts, is all.” I worked up a convincing smile. “Poetic, isn’t it? I feel like I could play the princess in any number of fairytales right now. Knocked up Cinderella, Morning Sickness Merida...”
“You’ll always be a princess to us. And I’ve been keeping a close watch on myself and on Mason. I know the whole thing is troublesome,” Ezra said, steering me away from my dismal parade I seemed to be stuck in. The books from Finn were one of the few highlights I allowed myself to enjoy.
“Thanks, Dad.”
Ezra’s chest always swelled when Ollie and I claimed him as our father. “Are you hungry, dear?”
“I’m alright. Hey, where are we going?”
Ezra chuckled that it had taken this long for me to ask. “To the airport. We’re picking up an old friend.”
“Oh yeah? Someone who knew you back before you were King Ezra the Mighty?”
Ezra laughed. “I rather like the sound of that. Maybe I’ll change all my letterhead to that title. We’re picking up Boston. He’s going to come stay with us for a little while.”
“Huh.” I swallowed hard, wishing it was anyone but Boston. He was Bishop’s identical twin, and I’d been the last one to see Bishop Vandershot alive. I’d held him in my arms while he died when we’d been captured and tortured by the vindictive Manas. Bishop had been a wonderful person right up to his last breath. Boston, on the other hand, was a pervy tool who’d had more conversations with my breasts than my face. “He bored of Europe?”
“No, but it seems Europe’s tired of him. He stopped showing up for work at the steel mill, lost his job and has been more or less floundering since Bishop passed. He’s normally a hard worker though, so I thought perhaps a change of scenery might help. Lavinia, his mother, is worried about him. I try to help her out whenever I can. She’s my oldest friend, so we’ve always tried to look out for each other through the years, both of us being single parents and all.”
“That’s right nice of you. Is he staying at the mansion?”
“I suppose that’ll be up to you.” Ezra paused, and I knew that whatever came out of his mouth next wouldn’t be all that great. “Mason’s going to have to take a leave of absence soon. Your third trimester’s just around the corner, and he’s not as practiced at abstaining as I am.”
“Abstaining?” My nose crinkled in confusion, but then it dawned on me his meaning.
“We’re Matruculan, darling. It’s difficult for us to be around a pregnant woman without getting hungry.” He said the last word with a note of guilt in his voice. “Apologies for the frightful topic, but you need to be made aware of the changes coming. Mason will take a leave of absence from the start of your third trimester until probably a month or so after the baby’s born, just to be safe. I myself had a sabbatical when Mariang’s mother gave birth. Dreadful time to desert my wife, but it was the only option, and she understood completely.”
My voice was small, but I had to get everything out on the table. “So you won’t be with me when the baby comes?”
Ezra closed his eyes for a brief moment of pain before looking at me with such sadness, I could barely stand it. “I want to, my dear. More than anything in the world, but it’s not safe for you or the baby. I can control myself until the due date, but Mason’s not as practiced as I am. Then I’ll be gone for a short few weeks to make sure you and my grandchild are safe.”
I fought down the depression that was always so close to the surface. “That’s cool.”
“No, it’s not, but it’s unavoidable, I’m afraid. I would do anything to change it, but there’s nothing to be done. It’s my genetics, which I’m sad to say cannot be altered.”
I cleared my throat, reaching for a change of topic. “So Boston’s coming to hang out for a while?”
“He’s coming to see if he can manage taking over for Mason while he’s gone. You won’t do any reaping while Mason’s gone, of course, but for day-to-day pulling, you need someone. Really, you need two someones, especially now with the baby.”
“But Von’s being a butthole.”
Ezra managed a wan smile. “Yes, I suppose he is.”
“I dare you to say it. Say ‘butthole’ for me. Give me a good laugh, Ezra.” My mischievous smile migrated to him, painting his face with a boyish guilty charm.
“Very well. Von is being a... a butthole.”
I laughed loudly, clapping my hands at the entertainment as Ezra blushed through his shame at being so crass. “Woo! That was incredible. I wish I’d gotten it on video.”
His hand migrated from his steadfast ten-and-two on the steering wheel to straighten his shirt, as if that would undo the awesomeness. “I suppose I’ll never live that one down.”
“Oh, Dad. That was priceless. Thanks for that. I needed a good laugh.”
Ezra was my good medicine, and we drove the rest of the way with matching smiles.
Three.
Boston 2.0
I wasn’t sure what to make of Boston when he met us at baggage claim. I expected the brash smile and cocky smirk, but what greeted us were slumped shoulders and a hard look that had no small talk hidden in it. He shook my hand like a colleague and endured Ezra’s hug without smiling or participating in the gesture.
Ezra filled in the gaps on the way home with details of Danny’s proposal, the oceanic parade Dagat had thrown Ollie for delivering the stone without incident, and other happier things that didn’t inspire much from Boston, other than the occasional grunt. Ezra finally gave up, sighing. “Do you have any questions, son?”
Boston leaned forward from his place in the backseat. “I’ve never done pulling full-time. When do I start?”
“You can discuss that with October. She’s got an aversion to being touched, so best she knows when it’s coming.”
I cleared my throat when the conversation was thrown to me. “Um, yeah. The touching thing, especially since we don’t really know each other. In the beginning, Von and Mason would rub my arms every now and then. They never snuck up on me. That way I knew it was coming.”
“I can do that. How often?”
I shrugged, unsure what alien had taken over Boston, replacing his brash behavior with a coachable professional. “You’ll have to ask Mason. I don’t really know what I need as far as that goes.”
Ezra chimed in with, “She needs light layers of pulling often. Mason hasn’t been able to get her to zero since she was returned to us. Perhaps it’s the pulling for two issue, and the fact that he’s used to sharing a job with another Duwende.”
&nbs
p; “Pulling for two?” Boston inquired. “Like pulling for October and Mariang?”
Ezra’s head snapped in my direction. “You haven’t told Von’s family?”
I pulled my sweater down, giving Ezra a sideways look. “Why would I? I barely know them. You only just sprung this on me now. Why didn’t you tell him? You’re the one who’s hiring him. Seems like basic job description stuff to me.”
“Yes, well, I told Von’s mother. I just assumed she’d spread it to her sons.”
“I haven’t been home in a while,” Boston admitted. “Missed a few phone calls, I guess. I pretty much jumped at the job offer when you called, and hopped on the first plane out. I didn’t think to ask for details.”
“Well, here we are, then.” Ezra put on a lighter tone as he addressed Boston. “You should know that your charge is pregnant, just starting in on her second trimester, by our best guess.”
This brought about a flicker of life in Boston’s eyes. “Pregnant? That’s... Well, congratulations. Who’s the lucky bloke you passed on Von for?”
I kept my mouth shut and chickened out, leaving Ezra to do the dirty work, spilling my secrets and cluing Boston in on a bit of magic we didn’t even know was possible until now.
Boston’s mouth was practically on the floor. “So Von doesn’t even know he knocked you up? You’ve never actually had sex?”
Ezra hated the term “knocked up”, and cringed whenever any of us threw it around. “Yes. My daughter is pregnant, and we’re all very happy about it.”
“Wicked.” Boston came to life in bits and pieces as he thought through all the things we’d already covered. “But Mason’s Matruculan. Ezra, so are you!”
“Yes, which is why we brought you on. It’s not just to replace Von while he’s off on holiday. It’s to cover for Mason throughout the whole third trimester, and the first month or so of the baby’s life. You’ll also be watching the grounds with Danny while I take my leave when the baby comes.”
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