“Maia, where’d this come from?” he asked, sitting back to check out the chair’s smooth gliding functionality.
She sighed. “I bought it yesterday.”
“Darlin’, I love that you’re excited about the baby, I mean babies, and it’s fine to buy anything and everything you want. I want you to have it all, whatever your heart desires, but listen … next time you want to buy a large item like a chair, let me know. I want to help with that part.”
“Okay. That would actually be very nice and possibly enjoyable. But getting back to the subject, it wasn’t only what the woman said, but how she said it. And then to vanish without anyone seeing her but me, don’t you find that a bit peculiar?”
“Not really, no. You’re taking the word of an eighty-five-year-old man, Maia.” He stood and walked over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders and turning her to face him.
“Four.”
“What?”
“Eighty-four. Manny is eighty-four.”
“Who the fuck cares? Come on now, you can’t expect him to notice every person that comes into that market. Didn’t you say there were a bunch of teenage girls in there?”
“Yes,” she said, looking down at her fingernails.
He tilted her head up. “Well, there you go. If I know Manny, and I do, he wasn’t paying any attention to some old woman when there were bonny young ones around. Just forget about it, darlin’, and kiss me.”
Maia’s lips curved and parted to accept his. He slipped his hand inside her silk nightgown and rubbed his fingers over her nipple, grazed his tongue down her neck and nibbled her shoulder. Slipping her nightgown down to expose her firm and slightly fuller than normal breasts, his mouth took over where his fingers had left off.
She groaned when her nightgown fell to the floor and she stood there naked in his arms. His hands slid down over her swollen belly to her silky inner thighs.
“I know what you’re trying to do, Gerry,” she whispered in his ear.
“You do? Is it working?” he asked between kisses.
“Yes,” she admitted, sounding very playful.
Then without warning, he scooped her up and took her to bed. She fumbled with his belt, finally releasing him from the confinement of his pants.
“This is okay, isn’t it Maia? We can still do this with two babies in there, can’t we?” he asked, placing tender kisses over her shoulders and down her breasts. He didn’t want to hurt her or the babies, but he needed this right now. He needed it for himself and for her, needed to take her somewhere else for a while, away from the thought of babies and crazy old women.
“Yes, it’s all right. I don’t think I could stand it if we couldn’t.”
Maia was ready for him, and his erection jerked as the head of his cock skimmed over her nub and the slick wetness between her thighs.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said before slipping inside her. She groaned as he filled her with tender strokes of love and she matched him, force for force, sending them both on a ride of ecstasy.
***
Maia opened her eyes to the faint signs of morning fog floating by the large picture window facing the sea. She reached for Gerry, stroked her fingers through the small patch of soft brown hair in the middle of his chest.
He moaned as he turned to face her, his eyes still closed.
“It’s morning,” she whispered, placing little kisses over his chest.
“Still sleeping here.”
“I think your ‘brain’ has other ideas,” she said as she stroked his already erect shaft.
“Funny, Maia. It’s no wonder … but as always, ready to serve.”
“Hmmm … yes, you can serve me later.”
His eyes blinked open. “Hmmm? … Christ, woman. Even in your pregnant state, I can’t seem to keep you satisfied. Not that that’s a bad thing,” he added, and decided to just close his eyes and go with it, letting her take him wherever she wanted him to go.
***
Gerry braced himself, hands on the cold tile wall, as the shower’s soothing pulse flowed down his back. Maia stepped in behind him.
“Gerry?” Her voice was soft and timid.
“Yes, baby…” Her hands came around his waist and he became putty in them. “Christ, anything.”
“I’m frightened.”
That wasn’t what he’d expected to hear. There wasn’t much that scared Maia—having grown up with an older brother who had … well, the most powerful abilities Gerry had ever witnessed until Addie and Cael got together. He turned to face her, studying her eyes as water flowed over both of them.
“You know I love you Maia, more than life itself. I won’t lose you or the twins. The day you accepted me, even after I’d kept my abilities from you, was the luckiest day of my life. I’m not about to let some old hag ruin that.”
“I never had the slightest problem with your secret, though I still don’t understand why Ristéard never told you I knew about his abilities. He was my brother after all; you had to figure I knew.”
“I’d hoped you knew, but still, considering Addie hadn’t developed her powers yet, and being aware you didn’t possess any, I couldn’t take the chance.”
“Well, you’d better not keep anymore secrets.”
“If I do, I could just make you forget about them,” Gerry teased with a devilish grin.
“Hmmm … maybe I should start leaving myself notes and hiding them from you just in case.”
“Then I’d have to make you forget where you put the notes.”
Taking her face in his hands, hoping his eyes revealed the seriousness and devotion he felt, he shook his head just a little to help. “No secrets, Maia, I promise. And everything will be fine. Addie and I will make sure.”
“Okay, no more talk of old women or any other scary thoughts.”
“If you have frightening thoughts, Maia, you still need to talk about them. I just don’t want you dwelling on them, but please, for Christ’s sake, tell me. It’s not healthy to hold them in, and I’m not a bloody mind reader like Cael and Addie are with each other.”
As they stepped out of the shower, Gerry handed Maia a towel before taking one for himself. “Listen, when I meet with the guys in the band, I’d like you to be there. We’re going to discuss financing and building plans and I want your input. It’s your bar too.”
She stepped back and gave him an incredulous stare. “Since when?”
“Since I just said so, since we’re having babies … twins. Christ, Maia, do you expect me to ignore the fact that I need to support you and the babies? What’s mine is yours—I thought you knew that.”
***
What Maia knew had very little to do with what she wanted, what she dreamed for, but would never speak aloud. The fact that Gerry would be there to help support the babies seemed to be a given. But it always came down to the same thing.
His responsibility.
She had no doubt he would be responsible. Responsibility was his middle name, for crying out loud. God, how had she let this happen? She’d always been so careful. Always. Well, except for that torn condom three months ago. At the time, she didn’t think she’d been ovulating so she hadn’t given it much thought and had completely forgotten all about it until she missed her period.
“I hadn’t really thought about it,” she lied, avoiding looking into his eyes. Needing to work at hiding her disappointment, she tugged up the old sweatpants. It wasn’t as if they were married and everything he owned, she automatically owned. She never wanted to force Gerry into that type of relationship, not that he would even consider it. He’d never mentioned it and she wasn’t about to bring it up. He’d never skip out on his responsibilities but Gerry Briden was not the marrying kind. She knew that up front. Even if he did ask her, she knew she’d say no. She guessed it was just that he hadn’t asked that hurt so much. No, she didn’t need a marriage certificate or a ring on her finger to bring two children into the world. She realized now, for the first time, he was willing
to give her all that he had, but it was only because of the babies. He’d give her everything, pay for everything, provide a home for her and the twins, and she knew he would do that even if they weren’t living together as a couple—a couple in a healthy loving relationship. They were in a healthy loving relationship, weren’t they? Gerry would always be there for her and the babies whether they were married or just living together or even if they decided not to live together.
Gerry wasn’t a stupid man and Maia feared he could see right through her. She didn’t want to marry him just because she was pregnant, but she didn’t want to bring two babies into an uncommitted relationship either. But she had to remind herself, if marriage had never been important before, why should it be now?
“Are the babies the reason you’re accepting Finn’s offer?”
“Absolutely. It will bring in more customers and I think it might be fun to have some live music, and maybe we’ll even build a small dance floor. Would you like that?” he asked, looking up from tying his shoes.
“A dance floor would be nice.”
His eyes lit up. “Then you’ll be there?”
“What time?” She managed a smile.
“Two o’clock, after the lunch rush.”
“Okay.”
He walked to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I love you,” he said, kissing the side of her neck before leaving.
Maia stood in the bedroom holding her sweater in her hands, tears welling in her eyes.
She sighed. “Stop it. Just stop it. God, I know it’s just these stupid hormones. He loves me. He says he loves me. Does he need to marry me to prove it? No.” Maia shook her head. “You are being ridiculous,” she said to the sad looking person in the mirror before walking away.
***
Gerry sat in his office, perusing website after website. All these damn baby monitors and sonogram machines were a bit over his budget. He picked up his coffee, sipped, and frowned at the cold bitterness. Focusing back on the monitor, he squinted from the brightness. The sun had suddenly popped out from behind the clouds choosing his window to blaze through just when he needed a little darkness to study the small details on the screen. Why did they have to use such a small font and display these tiny pictures? He clicked on an image to make it bigger and frowned when he realized it was the glare, not his eyes that kept him from seeing the picture. He stood and walked to the window.
When they built the bar, the previous owners were smart enough to put the office on the north side so the view took in the mountains as well as the ocean. Normally, he loved the view and would spend most of his day in his office enjoying it if he could, but then, that would mean the bar would go to hell. He yanked the blinds shut and went back to sitting in front of the computer. The sound of the back door opening and closing startled him and coffee spilled all over last night’s receipts, already tagged, separated, and ready for filing.
“Damn it.” He grabbed the bar rag hanging over his shoulder and mopped up most of the spill.
“Gerry?”
He glanced up for a split second before returning his eyes to the display screen. “What?” he bellowed with a little more agitation behind it than he had intended.
“Is … everything okay?” Addie leaned against the doorjamb and bunched up her apron under her chin as if it were a security blanket.
“No. Fuck. It’s not.”
She walked to the front of his desk, eyes crunched together, staring at him.
“Maia’s worried about having twins.”
“Well, that’s understandable. Did you forget about my mother?”
He looked at her, perplexed. “Your mother? Christ, Addie, I’m sorry. No, I didn’t forget. I … I know you and Maia think about it and I’ve considered it, but it was a long time ago. Things are different now.” He placed his face in his hands and rubbed, wanting desperately to believe his own words. “Fuck, some father I’m going to make.”
“Men.” Addie sighed and shook her head. “You look exhausted.”
“I am. I don’t think I caught more than a couple hours of sleep last night, worrying about Maia.”
He’d shrugged off the warning from the old woman as nothing, for Maia’s sake, but in truth, it frightened him. Terrified him for her.
Maia wasn’t one to make things up. And Manny, yes, Gerry knew Manny well, and the old man was as sharp as an eagle and knew what was happening every minute in that store. He would have seen the old woman if she’d been visible.
So what did that leave?
An invisible woman with a warning about the babies—a ghost? A hallucination? A premonition? The latter most likely. Maia may not have had supernatural abilities before, but now that she was carrying his children, Christ … anything was possible. Given the fact that there was always somebody hell bent on exposing or destroying people with abilities, he wasn’t taking anything for granted.
Maia had become Gerry’s life. Every breath he took was for her and right now, he was drowning. His chest was heavy and he pressed his hand to his heart; it ached and he wondered if that was what a heart attack felt like.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this. You really look frightened.” Addie walked around the desk to where he sat, placed her hand on his shoulder. “Gerry, you’ll make a great father. You’re not really an uncaring moron, just a moron.”
Gerry managed a smile at that. “Addie, you have a way with words that can take a man’s breath away.”
That made her laugh and she nodded. “Yeah, I get that a lot.”
“It’s a wonder how you managed to hold on to that man of yours.”
“He enjoys a good challenge.”
“Aye … that he must,” he chuckled.
She was used to his digs and he knew she’d get even with him. She glanced at the screen. “What are you looking at?”
“Ahhh … these damn monitors—sonogram machines. I’m going to buy one so we can look at the twins. I thought it might help ease Maia’s fears some.” As well as his own.
“That’s brilliant. You know, you’re not such a moron after all. Except …” she leaned closer to the screen, whistled, “Wow, those things are pricey.”
“Yep, a wee bit above the average bar and grill owner’s income.” He sighed.
“Maybe you could borrow one or lease one. Wait, they must have one at the Sectory.”
“Hmmm …” Gerry rubbed his chin. “You think so?”
“I’m willing to bet my next paycheck on it.”
“If they do, and let us borrow it, I’ll double your next paycheck.”
“Deal. I’ll call Cael right now and he can take us there.”
“Hold on. You can call him, but we can’t go yet, and why do we need to take him?”
“He is our ride. And … it’s still early and we’re not open yet. Darcy can cover for a few minutes if we’re not back in time. Remember, it only takes the blink of an eye for Cael to get us there.”
Gerry had been training Darcy as backup bartender ever since Addie and Cael had left on their Bora Bora vacation and Darcy had jumped at the chance. Besides, Gerry figured he owed Darcy, having had to replace her memory recently after Eidolon had kidnapped her, used his powers against her, and threatened her life. Darcy didn’t possess any abilities and as far as Gerry knew, she didn’t have a clue about any of theirs. He’d hated to do it, but wiping her memory of the event seemed to be the only logical solution.
“Right.” This he knew, but was still unsure if he liked the idea of his cells floating through space unattached from his body. He nodded a bit reluctantly. “Let’s go. Oh yeah, before I forget, there’s a meeting this afternoon with my pals from the band. I want you there.”
“Really? You want me to attend the meeting?” Her smile, a mix of both pride and shock, tickled him.
“Aye, your input is important to us—to Maia and to me.”
“Okay. Thanks.” With a grin, she reached into her pocket for her phone to call Cael.
&nbs
p; Chapter 5
Like A Swoosh of Cold Air
Gerry’s gut turned over and over, his apprehension of traveling with Cael giving him some serious heartburn. He had never teleported before and he wasn’t too sure about the whole concept. The thought of having his body matter dispersed all over, God knows where, and re-created again didn’t sit too well—if that was indeed what actually happened during the process. He wasn’t entirely sure.
“I can’t believe you’re scared,” Addie said.
“Not scared, just cautious. Is this going to hurt?” Gerry said at the risk of sounding wimpy and stepped away before Cael could take hold of his arm.
Cael chuckled. “No, not unless I lose my grip on you and your molecules scatter into space.”
Gerry took two more steps back.
“It doesn’t hurt and Cael is just kidding. Aren’t you, Cael?” Addie said with a hint of skepticism.
“Of course … though, I really don’t know for sure.”
“That’s reassuring,” Gerry said.
“Seriously, the most it will do is give you a little dizzy feeling, that’s all,” Cael said.
Addie shoved Gerry closer to Cael. “Just keep your eyes closed.”
Cael grabbed Gerry’s arm and Gerry wrapped his arms around Cael, pulling him in close, hugging face-to-face.
“This is cozy,” Cael said, smirking, looking Gerry in the eyes.
“Shut up. Let’s go.”
“You still don’t trust me, do you?”
“The jury’s still out.”
“Close your eyes, man,” Cael said and wiggled one arm free to grab on to Addie. A swoosh of cold air flowed through Gerry’s pores and two seconds later …
“See, Gerry, you’re still in one piece,” Addie said.
Gerry opened his eyes, and still holding on to Cael, glanced around at all the medical equipment in what he assumed was the Sectory’s examination area and laboratory. The room housed two leather exam tables, three stools tucked under a long metal work bench covered with glass canisters filled with cotton balls, swabs, tongue depressors and disposable syringes. In the corner next to a scale, a red container with the words TOXIC WASTE written on the front glared at him forebodingly. He blinked, a little light-headed, not sure if it was from the cells in his body reforming or from his heart pounding so hard. Certain it would pop out of his chest any minute, he took a deep breath.
Reflections Page 4
