Von reached over me and rubbed his baby brother’s arm. “We’re here. We’re all here.”
“Bishop’s not here!” Boston wailed, his cries of distress reaching new heights. I was scared for him, worried at his level of grief that swung hard and fast. He was shaking in my arms, a shiver that started and wouldn’t stop.
“Von, can you pull for him? He needs help!”
“I am, but it’s hardly making a dent. Hold on. I’ll get Danny.” I barely heard Von before he ran out of the room. I did my best to hold Boston together while he grieved. He was howling like a madman into me, and I worried at what point his panic attack would become physically damaging.
Von ran back in with Danny, who was bleary-eyed and wearing only red flannel pajama pants. “Okay, mate. Hold on. We’ll help you calm down.” Von knelt on the bed beside Boston. He gripped the back of his baby brother’s head, and snuck a hand between us to palm his chest. Danny held his baby brother’s calf and waist from his position at the foot of the bed. Boston realized hands were on him, but he was too disoriented to make sense of why or who. He clung to me and started thrashing around like a fish out of water, struggling and fighting with weighted hands. Von cried out, “October, get back!”
It was hard to do anything fast, but the unexpected hands behind me slid me away from the mayhem. I looked up and found Ezra, messy-haired and surprisingly focused, despite the late hour. He managed to extract me from Boston for the few seconds it took the pulling to ramp up to the dose Boston needed. Slowly he stopped fighting, his howls muted to quiet moans of agony.
I pushed my hair away from my face. “Okay, that’s enough, guys. We don’t want him to never deal with his grief. Just take it down a notch so he doesn’t lose his mind.”
“Did he hit you?” Von asked, his shoulders tensed and his body lithe.
“No,” I lied. Boston hadn’t hit my stomach, which I’m guessing was what Von was worried about.
Ezra helped me to stand, hugging me like I was the one who needed it. When his embrace judged me to be stable, he moved to Boston, his hand on his forehead as he sat on the edge of the bed. “Oh, son. It’s been a long road for you.”
Boston’s wet face looked like it barely understood English, but when his eyes locked on Ezra’s, I knew they understood kindness, which was the only language Ezra spoke. He let out a few sniffles. “It hurts,” he informed Ezra.
“I know, son. It’s cruel to lose someone so wise and gentle. Bishop was a good man.”
“He was the good one. I need him to remember how to be good, otherwise I don’t know the way.”
Ezra permitted half a smile as he shook his head at Boston. “You have plenty of goodness in you. Bishop taught you well.”
Boston sat up and embraced Ezra, the two gripping each other in a manly hug that pulled at my heart and made tears cascade down my cheeks. Boston had a desperate need for tenderness and strength, and those things always rolled easily off Ezra.
Boston would make it through this because he had a good dad now. It was amazing the difference something so simple like that made.
Von sucked in through his teeth. “I need a little blood. That was a lot of pulling on an empty stomach. I’ll be back.”
Ezra laid Boston back down and tucked the covers up under his chin as if he was a child – as if Boston was his child. I climbed into the bed and slid in next to Boston. As if we were magnetized, Boston turned toward me and draped an arm around me, his eyes closed as he softly wept into my breasts. He could still feel his grief, but due to the pulling, it was more manageable now. Painful, but not overwhelming.
I don’t know at what point Boston and I became the sort of friends who could lean on each other when we needed comfort, but that night I was his good medicine.
Twenty-Two.
Mama Vandershot
The moon outside the mansion passed carefully and slowly, as if waiting to make sure Boston was asleep before progressing. I held Boston until he cried himself to exhaustion in my arms. Von spooned me and rested his hand on his brother’s shoulder to pull for us both while the three of us slept. I felt Von’s breath on the back of my neck, and tried not to let my body react to the slow and constant reminder that Von’s lips were inches away and begging to be kissed. I made it through the night without kissing him, but only just.
Von stirred next to me when his phone rang an hour or two after the sun rose. He fumbled around without looking on the nightstand, knocking over a pen before locating his phone. “Hallo, Mum. Do I sound taller today? Wiser? I feel wiser. That’s a first. Better late than never.” His eyes weren’t even open, but his personality never seemed to sleep. “Of course I’m having a happy birthday. The woman I love is carrying my child. I can’t imagine anything cheerier than that.”
Von tried to talk quietly, but Boston woke with a puffy-lipped frown, his eyes barely able to open from all the crying. Boston sat up and stretched, avoiding my eyes until I rubbed his back with the flat of my hand in a circular motion. Then he looked down at me, clearly embarrassed. “Sorry about last night. I’ll keep myself together better from here on out.”
“Oh, honey. Don’t even try that kinda talk on me. I’m proud of you for letting yourself feel all that. I’m here, just like you’ve been here for me through all this. We’re in this together, alright?”
He let out a gust of relief and reached down to muss my hair. “Is this what it’s like to have a sister?”
I nodded with a small smile. “I like being your sister. You don’t have to be perfect in front of me.”
“I think I’m just starting to figure that one out.” He quirked his eyebrow, but his eyes didn’t open any wider. “Are you implying I didn’t have myself together last night? Are you saying bawling like a baby isn’t what top drawer professionals do?”
I smiled up at him, unwilling to get out of bed yet. “I’m glad you’re here with us.”
“Me too, little sister.” Boston squeezed my hand and stood. “Biggest baby gets to shower first. New rule.”
“With my blessing,” I allowed. “I’m not ready to get up yet.”
Boston shuffled into the attached bathroom, leaving me to try and doze through Von’s conversation with his mama. My eyes shot open when Von pressed the phone to my ear, giving me a clear shot of his mama’s British accent. “Hello? Hello? Lady October?”
“Um, hello, Ms. Vandershot.” I sat up, situating my shirt to make sure I had no cleavage showing, and straightening my hair to attempt to look somewhat presentable.
I shot Von the filthiest look I could muster when he started sniggering as Ms. Vandershot asked how Omen duties were going. “She can’t see you, you know,” he whispered.
I gave him the finger and started in on the pleasantries. “Yes, ma’am. Von’s the best there is for the job. He’s Ezra’s go-to for most problems. He and Danny both, of course. And Boston, too. Your sons are really just fantastic. You did a great job raising them.”
Okay, I was babbling, but to be fair, Von ambushed me.
“You can call me Lavinia. Or Mum, if you like,” Ms. Vandershot offered graciously. “After all, you’re having my granddaughter. I trust the pregnancy is going well? Von doesn’t give me specifics.”
“Oh, well what do you want to know?”
She paused, as if unprepared for me being so open. “Any morning sickness?”
“In the first half, yes. But not so much now. Baby’s measuring normal, according to the doctor.”
“What about your Omen duties? Does that interfere with taking care of yourself and the baby?”
Von had the look of boyish mischief about him, which made me nervous. He moved toward the foot of the bed and ripped the covers off of me, making me jump. He picked up my foot, tipping me back on the bed as I tried to wriggle away.
“No, ma’am. I mean, Lavinia.” I winced at the informal greeting. I mean, she was a true adult. “I mean, Mama.” I closed my eyes and smacked my palm to my forehead, wishing I could erase the beam th
at burst from Von at me calling his mother ‘Mama’. I cleared my throat. “Lady Mariang and I are keeping everything on schedule. It looks like Terraway’s starting to rebuild itself, slowly but surely. We only have to reap two souls a day between the two of us to keep Terraway afloat, so we’re working on building up a stockpile for when we go on maternity leave.”
Von pinned my left leg to the mattress and lifted my right one so he could suck on my ankle, making my eyes roll back as I fought off a gratuitous moan. His mama said... something, but I couldn’t hear it. Von was kissing his way up the inside of my calf, just begging for a kick in the face. He wore his best wicked grin, eyeing me with devious glee.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you. One more time?”
“I was wondering if you thought of any names yet. You know, Lucille was my mother’s name, and her mother’s middle name. It’s also my middle name. If you needed any suggestions.”
“Lavinia Lucille. That’s lovely. I’ll make sure Lucille is put on the table when Von and I nail down the specifics in the final round of debate.”
“Then Von gets to stay in the picture? He’s going to stay in the Americas and raise the baby with you?”
Von stilled, his tongue on the inside of my knee as he waited for my response. I cleared my throat. “Of course. It’s his baby, too. I told him from the start, he can be as involved as he wants.”
Von sat up and cupped his hands to his mouth to sound like he was calling to me from a distance. “Lady October, you’re needed for Omen duties.”
“Oh! I heard you being summoned. It was a pleasure to talk, Lady October.”
“You, too. And if I’m calling you ‘Mama’, you can certainly drop the ‘Lady’ from my title. Just October’s fine.”
“Thank you, dear. Keep my number and use it as often as you like.”
“Pleasure’s all mine. Have a great day.” I ended the call and whipped Von’s phone at his head. He caught it, keeping it from knocking him in the face, so you know, one point for him. “You’re a jerk, springing your mama on me like that. I’m in my pajamas! I would like to’ve made a good impression. I was barely awake, you jag!”
Von went from devious boy to serious man, kneeling between my legs and leaning forward so his arms hedged me in beneath him. “You want me here,” he stated, like it was some kind of revelation.
“Of course I do. You’re the one who wanted to leave.”
“You want me,” he rephrased, his eyes clouding over with something darker, more intentional.
I debated running, but the argument on the other end was for me to stay – to see this thing through to whatever conclusion might turn out. I couldn’t find the words, so instead I nodded, no doubt looking like a girl who’d been caught in a lie – the lie that I was ready to take my chips off the table and leave him. I didn’t want to leave Von, but knew it would be a risk to stay. He could run out on me again; it was his M.O.
He lowered his head, giving me just enough time to let loose three of the foulest swear words I had under my hat before his lips closed on the crest of my bottom lip. He tugged my fears out of me and replaced them with a blur of blue, shimmering gold, chimes and bells.
It seemed with Von, there would always be bells.
Our legs tangled through each other’s, teasing and caressing as the kiss picked up speed, transporting us from our abstract bliss back to the park we’d shared when we’d been more easily in love.
We tumbled on the green, purple and blue grass, smearing the colors on our clothes and streaking them through our hair. It was easier to move in our special place. I was still pregnant, but less inhibited by it.
Von was frantic to get my clothes off, and I was eager to let him. Though we’d never made love in real life, our imaginations knew the dance well. I’d suspected that I was still in love with Von, but our epic bliss world confirmed what I’d been trying to fend off, bathing me in the confusing and explosive beauty that was us.
Twenty-Three.
Von’s Birthday
We made love for what seemed like hours of emotional and physical paradise. When Boston cleared his throat to slowly bring us out of our haze, I’m guessing it had only been about eight minutes, which was how long his showers tended to last.
Von took longer to come out of the mind-meld than I did. He was still blinking the room into focus while I frantically patted my body down to make sure that I was, in fact, clothed in front of Boston. The park had felt so real. Von had felt so real. He collapsed beside me on the bed, spent and breathing hard. The only article of clothing lost between the two of us was his shirt that had been discarded onto the floor.
Boston kept his eyes on the ceiling. “Seriously, mates. Put a sock on the door or something. I don’t need to see that. I mean, you look and sound like you’re having sex, just with all your clothes on.”
“I’m sorry,” I breathed, my chest jumping up and down, my face flushed. “It’s hard to get a handle on things.”
Boston shoved his shirt over his head, moved to the dresser and pulled something out of his wallet to whip at Von. “Might want to suit up next time. You don’t want to reimpregnate her.”
Von tossed the condom back at his grinning brother. “Pretend there’s a sock on the door, mate. We’ll be down for breakfast in a few.”
Boston acted out a crude gesture before he left the bedroom, looking more like himself than he had in months. I wasn’t so sure if that was a good thing or a bad one. Boston unplugged was a total perv.
I rolled over (harder to do than it sounds), and put my hand over Von’s lips when he leaned in for another round of too much passion. “First off, happy birthday. Second, that was amazing. Third, we have to start our day, so don’t even think about a round two right now.”
Von’s face shifted to a tender adoration as he traced my cheekbone and thumbed my lips. “Best birthday yet. I’ve got my girls. I’ve got the rest of my pepper, ketchup and chocolate cake. What else could I possibly need?”
“Presents,” I whispered.
His hand migrated down to outline my curves all the way down to the swell of my hip. “You’re my present, and I think it’s time I unwrapped you.”
I bit my lower lip. “Crap, that was good.” I indulged us in a simple kiss that only reintroduced sparks of blue and gold with a faint sole wind chime in the background before I pulled away. I knew I was on the verge of ruining the mood, but I had to voice my fear. “You’re not leaving this time?”
“Never,” Von vowed, running his knuckle over my baby bump. “I’m never leaving you again.”
My nerves gave way to a smile of relief. “Happy birthday, Von.”
He let out a low growl as he brought my wrist to his lips and sucked on the delicate skin.
I groaned, but then yanked my hand back and lightly shoved him with it. “Okay, okay. Up you get. I’ve still got to finish your birthday present, so go eat your breakfast. I’ll be down in twenty.”
When he left for downstairs, I dressed for the day, and then slipped into the guest room and pulled out the pieces of the gift Boston and I had been working on. I set them up in our bedroom and all down the long hallway. When I’d suggested the idea, Boston had laughed and called me mad. Little did he know that madness was my specialty.
I dressed in a long, fitted peach blouse that hung down past my hips and hugged my belly, paired with black leggings that were super amazingly comfortable. After pulling my hair up into a bun and brushing my teeth, I went down to join Von for breakfast. He was opening his gift from Ezra, which turned out to be a pocket watch. “So you’re never late for work,” Ezra told him with a gentle smile. Then he took the watch by the end of the chain, pressed a button on the back that slid out a ring of razors on the side. He shocked us all by flinging it around his head like a lasso, and letting the watch fly, striking out at the napkin on the table. Then he yanked the chain, recoiling it like a yo-yo, and retracted the razors that had retrieved the napkin and partially shredded it for him. “It’
s a handy little thing if you’re in a pinch and find yourself without a weapon.”
“Wicked!” Boston and Von said in unison. Von took the watch and turned it over in his hands, depressing the button to test it over and over.
Mariang was too excited to stand still; she bobbed on the balls of her feet with a grin that couldn’t be contained without the occasional muted squeal of anticipation.
Von turned to her with a sweet smirk. “Have you come bearing gifts for your king, love?”
Mariang produced a rectangular package that had been expertly wrapped, thwapping it on the table with too much excitement. “Open it!”
Von made a show of shaking the package, taking the wrapping paper off without tearing it, and gently sliding the paper off the box with excruciating slow-pokeness. “Is it... Did you get me a roller coaster?”
“You’re absolutely killing me, Von!” She looked like she was ten seconds away from opening the box herself just to have done with it.
Von laughed at her, setting the box down completely to adore her antics and pull her into a tight hug. “I love it already, and I love you for loving me this much. Best sister a handsome bloke like myself could ask for.”
Mariang was a ball of eagerness in his arms. “Just open it already! You’re drawing it out to torture me. Don’t you know how much I’ve wanted to give you this every day? I simply can’t wait another minute!”
Boston made a crass joke about Mariang giving it to Von every day, but luckily his mouth was full of food, so only I caught the bulk of it. I slapped Boston upside the back of the head. “Behave,” I admonished him with a squinty eye he returned to me.
“Well, if you can’t wait another minute.” Von yawned and stretched. “I think I fancy a nap before I finish opening my gifts.”
Mariang picked up the box and shoved it into his arms. “Don’t you dare.”
Von sniggered at her as he lifted the lid, pulling out a book with my name and Von’s on it in beautifully scripted letters. “What’s this now?” He flipped open to the first page. His antagonism softened, and the teasing was replaced with a tender expression. “What did you do?”
Temper Page 13
