Temper

by Mary E. Twomey

  “What happens if yours and Mariang’s baby starts freaking out like mine?”

  “Then Terraway will just have to deal.” Danny’s tone was steely, his ruling resolute.

  Von stirred behind me. “If you’re going to wake me up with all your talking, at least let it be about how amazing I am.”

  “Von, you’re amazing,” I said, facing away from him so he couldn’t see my hint of a smile. Von was amazing. He’d been calm when I’d freaked out, and dealt with the situation when I’d been in denial. I’d been the one who wanted to run, but Von had grounded me, holding me in the shelter of his love until the storm passed.

  “That’s more like it.” Von kissed my cheek, rubbed my belly, then sat up and stretched. He inhaled the scent of my hair, and then got up to go use the bathroom and make good use of the private shower each maternity room had been fitted with.

  Danny wasted no time saying his piece as soon as the water started running. “Finn stopped by with a gift for you.”

  I frowned. “I asked Ezra to send a message to him that Von and I were sort of getting back together.”

  “It’s a gift for the baby and you, actually.”

  Guilt washed over me at the complications that didn’t need to be. “How did I let this happen? I told Finn I was off the market even before Von came back. I let it go too far.” I rubbed my forehead, and then tried to sit up, which was way harder than it sounds. I felt like a beached whale trying to do Pilates.

  Danny moved over to the bed and gripped my arm, winding one hand behind my back to lift me to sitting. “There you are.” He returned to his chair after I thanked him. I was embarrassed that I couldn’t do something as simple as sit up by myself. Lame. Danny studied my careful movements as he spoke. “I think the fact that you’re unavailable now only makes the prize more enticing. Captain Finn’s a competitive man; it’s how he got to be the number two in his country.”

  “Super. Though I do want to know how the series ends of the books he’s been giving me.”

  “You need to make it clear whose team you’re playing for. No niece of mine is growing up in Dagat. I’d never sleep again knowing she was around all those sex-starved Kataw.”

  We grimaced in unison. I rubbed my belly, silently promising September I’d never let anything like that happen to her. “You’re getting better at being nice. That whole protective uncle thing? Make sure to try that out around Mariang; she’ll bed you right good after hearing that.”

  Danny’s eyebrows raised as he snorted at my suggestion. “I’ll try to remember that.”

  The doctor came in to examine me and September, making Danny nice and uncomfortable, though he didn’t leave the room. He stayed near the window, which was the furthest point away where he could still be in the room, but not near the action. When it was ruled that it had been false labor, I was released with instructions for strict bedrest starting immediately. My jaw dropped as Danny’s chin raised in triumph that he now had a doctor backing him up. “You can’t be serious. I feel fine now. It was just a little hiccup.”

  “You can stay in this room for the next month, if that works better for you,” the doctor threatened. I almost demanded to see his medical license, but part of me knew I was being a little touchy.

  “No, sir. Thank you.”

  “Are you the father?” he asked Danny, who held his hands up as if the very thought of sex with me was repulsive. Jerk.

  “No, this is my brother, Danny. The father’s in the bathroom.” The look Danny gave me at my declaration was unexpected. He almost smiled. His shoulders relaxed with a tender expression that told me he didn’t mind being my brother one bit.

  The doctor continued only to Danny. “Very well, it appears to be stress induced, so the more you can do to keep things calm, that’ll help.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  I was released, which meant I could wear pants again – a solid win all the way around. I shifted off the bed to grab my clothes once the doctor exited, but rocked forward when a contraction hit me hard out of nowhere. I held my belly, breathing through my teeth as the pain vibrated through my body.

  Danny ran to me, one arm around my back and the other palming my belly like a basketball. I could feel him pulling, taking the pain away in mild waves as he held September and me in his steady grip. “Easy, easy,” he cooed, sitting me back down on the side of the bed. “I bet it’s the pulling. You’re going to go into full-on labor without it. Von’s been touching you all night, so the contractions went away.”

  Though the pain had passed, I held tight to Danny’s shirt, afraid to be alone through the most terrifying event of my life. “I can’t have this baby yet. It’s too early!”

  “We’ll take care of it. You’ll have to stay with your Duwendes until your due date. That was only five minutes without a Puller that sent you back into labor, so get ready to be tremendously close with Von.”

  “Where’s Ollie?” I asked, dangerously close to tears as I clung to Danny. I was snuggled in his embrace while he stroked my belly almost tenderly. My legs dangled over the side of the bed as I tried to calm myself down.

  “He’s still in Sakuna with Prince Langgam. Ezra summoned him last night when we heard you were here, so he might already be back at the mansion.”

  Von came out, freshly showered and unprepared for Danny standing next to where I sat, palming my belly with loving affection. “Um, what’s going on, kids?”

  Danny explained the situation, making Von’s eyes go wide. He rubbed the back of his neck, looking down uncomfortably. “I need some help, then. Pulling all night by myself for two? I’m a touch anxious for blood, Danny. I can’t pull for her anymore until I get either a mountain of food or half a pint of blood. I can’t risk accidentally attacking her. This whole hospital reeks of the stuff, and I can only hold on for so long.”

  “Can you drive home if I pull for her?”

  “Probably.”

  Danny shook his head. “‘Probably’ won’t cut it.” He rolled up his sleeve and offered his arm to Von with a determined look. “Drink what you need, and let’s go home.”

  Von’s face twisted in distaste. “What’re you on about, offering up yourself as the solution? You hate me.”

  Danny’s face turned stony. “Just drink so we can get her home.”

  Von stepped closer to his brother, picking up Danny’s arm tentatively and pressing the swollen forearm muscle to his lips. Danny’s slight intake of breath when Von punctured his arm was expected, but Danny’s hand tightening around my back was not. I could feel in his touch that he was afraid. It wasn’t that he disliked Von’s vampiric tendencies – he feared them. My hand that had been bunched in his shirt shifted to rubbing Danny’s chest to soothe him, while Von made greedy noises that sounded borderline sexual. When Danny’s eyelids started to droop, I ran my fingers through Von’s damp hair. “That’s enough, hun. You don’t want to take too much.”

  Von indulged in another long pull before letting go. When he released Danny, there was a trail of blood that trickled down his forearm, and Von lapped at it with too much longing. Danny swayed and plopped himself ungracefully on the side of the bed next to me.

  I reached for the rolling nightstand and opened up one of the little tubs of juice I’d been given some time in the night that I didn’t have need for. Peeling the foil lid back, I tipped the cup to Danny’s lips, holding the back of his head while he slowly drank. I needed to get his blood sugar back up so he didn’t crash.

  “Can we go, then?” Danny asked impatiently, not liking being babied or feeling weak.

  “Give it a few minutes. If you try to walk now, you’ll give the ground a nice little kiss. Let your body chill for a second.” I turned to Von, who had new light in his eyes. “Von, why don’t you go bring the car around to the maternity entrance? We’ll meet you down there.”

  Von leaned forward and kissed me, tasting like Danny’s blood. I was totally grossed out, but the swirling colors started dancing for me to distract
me from the smear of red I could feel Von licking off my lower lip. I shuddered and found the wherewithal to gently push him back, finding his eyes clouded with a lusty hunger. He shook his head to blink the room back into focus. “Right. Car. Yeah, I can do that. Let’s get you dressed first.” Von picked up my pile of clothes and laced his fingers through mine, leading me into the bathroom while Danny laid down on the bed to fight off fainting.

  Von shut the door behind us, giving us the privacy the surprisingly large bathroom provided. Everything was white and beige, with Von wearing a red t-shirt in the center of it, standing out like – well, like a vampire in the middle of regular life. Without a word, Von slowly untied my hospital robe. He smirked when I covered my breasts as my only covering fell to the tiled floor. “It’s nothing I haven’t seen before, love.” Then he proceeded to take off his clothes, leaving himself bare and exposed for my jaw-dropped ogling pleasure. I kept vacillating between gaping and looking away with a crimson face. “Fancy a shower before we go home?”

  “I, um... I... Can we really do that?”

  He was quiet as he started up the shower, testing the temperature before he came back to stand in front of me. My cheeks were pink and warm, having zip experience showering with a man. My limbs felt clumsy, like Gumby weighted down with concrete cinderblocks – each movement a choice.

  Von picked up my hand and kissed the unmarked backs reverently. “Do you remember our first kiss that blew everything up? We were married before any of the mind-bending sex. Before the baby. Before we admitted aloud that we were madly in love with each other. In some level of consciousness, I’m already your husband, and you’re my pregnant wife. Let me help you. Please.” He pressed my fingers to his chest. “I need to be able to take care of you in ways no one else can.”

  “You still want me? Even though I look like this?” I glanced down at my belly and my slightly wider hips. I didn’t feel sexy or desirable. I felt like a big, giant mom blob.

  A low growl started in Von’s chest. “You’re exactly what I want every day for all my days. No matter how your body stretches, you’re always the standard I use to measure perfection.” He tugged my hands toward the shower. “Come, darling. Let me be good to you.”

  I was so touched at his sincerity that I let him lead me into the shower. I stood in awed gratitude as he lathered up and started soaping my body, paying special attention to the parts I had a hard time reaching. He took his time on my fingers, too, soaping in between each one several times until we were both sure there were no more germs lurking. He massaged my hands, all the while looking deep into my eyes and telling me all the ways he loved me.

  I’m not sure when the tears started. I had a hard time keeping a cap on my random crying – especially in this last trimester. “I want to kiss you so badly, but I’m afraid we’ll slip and hurt the baby. But when we get back to our bed in the mansion, I want to make up for lost time.”

  I licked my lower lip. “That’s a plan.”

  Von’s kisses couldn’t be stopped completely. He sucked hard on my neck and other parts of me that made me gasp. “I love you,” he breathed into my ear, making me shiver, despite the warm water and steam that encompassed us. “No matter what, I promise to never leave you again. I’ll be by your side through all of it, even when it’s hard. Even when you’re tired of me and my accent. Even when we’re old and gray. I’ll love you every moment of it.”

  The tears were falling hard and fast now, with no chance of being concealed by the shower spray. “But what about the life where I’m a dragon and you’re a fly?”

  A slow smile spread across Von’s handsome face, entrancing me with that constant beauty. “Even that one. I insist to be by your side in all our lives, no matter what. We can start with the one where I’m a half-vamp and you’re an Omen.”

  “I’ll stay with you, Von,” I promised. “Only you. In this life, and the next.”

  Von blinked down at me, shocked that I’d finally handed him the ticket to the fidelity he’d been asking me for every day. “I want to kiss you, but I’m afraid I’ll lose control and we’ll slip.” He pressed a closed-mouth kiss to my lips, which was the smallest portion of what we both wanted. “I love you.”

  “I don’t blame you.” I smiled up at him to admire his beauty as he laughed. The water dripped from his dark, thick lashes that framed the most captivating eyes I’d ever seen. He looked at me with reverence I knew I didn’t deserve, but was determined that someday I might.

  Twenty-Seven.

  October Grace, November Peach

  Danny sat in the back of the car with me, his labored movements informing me that Von had taken too much blood. He leaned heavily on the door, his arm around my back to give the baby and me a steady pull. I was too keyed up to be normal, my eyes like saucers. My leg was unable to stay in one place as Von drove us to the mansion.

  “Calm down,” Danny ordered. “I’m pulling as much as I can, but it won’t do any good if you don’t work with me, here.” He made a show of taking in a deep breath. “It’s okay. If the doctor told you to go home, then it’s safe.”

  “I’m trying. My mind’s going a mile a minute.”

  “We need to finish baby-proofing the mansion,” Von spoke up from the front seat. “We did our room and Mariang’s, sure, but what about the rest of the place? It’s a deathtrap for September and little Mariang Junior.”

  “I can help with that after I get some food in me,” Danny offered. “I was thinking we should go through your stuff and ours to see what duplicates we have that we don’t need. I mean, September will be out of the bassinet long before our baby’s born. No use in having two.”

  Von glanced in the rearview mirror at his surprisingly cooperative brother. “Um, yeah. That’s a brilliant idea, Danny. October got loads of stuff from the baby shower.”

  “You’re sure Mariang doesn’t want a baby shower?” I asked Danny.

  “Most of her friends were overseas when she was healthy enough to have a social life. She hasn’t been well enough for friends in ages. There’s no one to invite.”

  “But she loves parties. Seems like she gets the raw end of the deal on this.”

  Danny’s arm tightened around me, his affection for me blooming as my concern for Mariang grew. “She’s getting a wedding; that's plenty celebration for her. Two weddings, actually. One for mum in London, and one in Terraway for the kingdom.”

  The corners of my mouth pulled down. “I don’t like the idea of her being in Terraway. Or my little niece or nephew, for that matter.”

  “It’s expected. You and Mariang are queens to them. The heads of all the nations will turn out to pay their respects.”

  “What about Sama? What about the threat of war that’s always hanging over everyone’s heads? What about the famines that are only just starting to lift? You’ve gotta know it’s not safe for her down there.”

  “Kabayo’s volunteered to play host for us, though that wasn’t without debate. Everyone wants a piece of the shiny new thing. He’s been pretty accommodating so far.” He waved his hand. “But don’t worry about that. It won’t happen until well after the babies are born. Plus, we’ll have to present our children to the people, so we’ll do the wedding ceremony plus presenting our babies at the same time.”

  “I’m not taking September to Terraway,” I ruled.

  “I love that you think you have a choice in it.”

  “I’m not joking, Danny. I’ve been starved, beaten, locked in a prison, molested and nearly drowned there. Not to mention the whole zombie army thing that happened on Kabayo’s land. You don’t need the parent of the year award to know that’s not where a child should be.”

  “Those things happened because I wasn’t there to protect you.” Danny’s arm tightened around me. It was sweet, but not quite enough to fend off the Mermen I still winced at the thought of. “I’ll keep her safe. It’ll be one day.”

  “One day where Sama has us right where he wants us. Ceremony isn’t worth all
that. It’s just not.”

  Danny frowned as Von pulled into the mansion. “I’ll speak with Ezra about it.”

  Ezra met us in the driveway, running out to help extract me from the car. “Darling, are you alright? Danny told me they were releasing you. How are you feeling?”

  “I’m fine. The guys are starved, though.”

  “Lynna’s already taken care of that. In the house, boys.”

  Danny and Von didn’t run ahead, but each took one of my hands as we walked toward the house, knowing I was going to be about five minutes away from going into labor for the next month without the contact.

  The second we stepped over the threshold of the mansion, Von shot up the stairs, leaving me confused next to Danny.

  “Boston!” Danny called through the house. When Boston came bounding up from the basement with Mariang, Danny said, “I hope you’re full, because I need to eat now. You have to take over pulling for her.” Danny explained to everyone what they’d discovered, sending Ezra off into the next room to call for reinforcements.

  It was all a lot of fuss, but I reminded myself that as much as I didn’t want to be a pain, every day that kept September inside of me was another day for her to grow stronger and develop healthier organs. Mariang laced her fingers through mine and led me to the living room with Boston, where she moved the ottoman under my feet and covered me with a chenille throw from the arm of the white leather couch. It was a steep flip from her being the helpless one to letting her rub my swollen ankles with her strong hands. I saw a fire in her eyes that grew every day since her dip in the healing waters. She was a fighter, and had hated every moment she could barely make it through before collapsing. Now she had a chance to participate in life, to help instead of be helped, and she didn’t miss an opportunity to love on me when I was the one who needed to take it slow.

  Boston brought down his tablet and turned on a sports movie for us to watch, pulling Mariang up to sit on his other side, so the three of us could cuddle. Everything was hushed and low-key, which was sweet. I didn’t know how long it would last, but I liked it. I don’t know at what point the Vandershots and the Manauls became family to me, but I didn’t question the gift that was always there when I needed it.