by Kian Rhodes
Epilogue
Paul
Sitting in the large master bathroom of the house that I shared with my Alpha and our fourteen-month-old son, I stared in disbelief at the two pink lines on the plastic stick in my hand.
Pregnant.
But..how? I mean, for most couples the answer would be obvious but with Sylas’s unusual genetic makeup, we’d been told repeatedly that not only was natural conception not an option for us, but that invitro fertilization was unlikely to work either and that was after I’d spent months convincing my husband that I consider it an honor to carry his demon spawn as he tended to unpleasantly refer to it. As it was, I’d only nipped into the convenience store on the way home from the sentencing hearing for my former family -if one could even call them that- to buy the silly thing because the stomach flu I thought I was fighting seemed to be unusually insistent.
“Da, Da, Da!”
“Be right out, Benny!” I called, shaking my head in absolute astonishment.
“I’ve got him, Tiger,” Sylas called back, the other side of the door erupting in giggles as Sylas swooped in.
A nervous flutter ran through me as my palm brushed over my not-as-flat-as-before belly. What would Sylas say? Would the knowledge that he was going to have a child of his own cause him to pull away from the boy he’d chosen to raise with me? Almost as soon as the thought occurred to me, I dismissed it.
If there was one truth I knew in the world, it was that Benny and I were Sylas’s entire world and while his universe could expand, I didn’t believe for a minute that it would shrink.
Taking a deep breath, I stuffed the test into my pocket and slowly opened the bathroom door, my heart jolting at the sight of my husband and son curled up on our large bed as Benny read Daddy a story in the way only a toddler can.
Sylas caught my eye and grinned, sending me a wink before his brow furrowed. “Bun, can you go get Daddy some water, please?”
Our son immediately jumped up, a broad smile on his tiny face. “Yup!” He scurried off to the cupboard where we stashed bottled water as Sylas pushed himself to a sitting position.
“What’s wrong, Tiger?”
I opened my mouth, shaking my head helplessly when nothing came out. Finally, I walked over to stand before him and pulled the test from my pocket.
“What..” Sylas trailed off, his eyes widening comically. “You’re not!”
“I, uh, think I am,” I stammered, hoping I didn’t look as terrified as I felt waiting for his reaction.
“Oh, God, Baby,” Sylas’s face fell. “I’m so sorry. It’s got to be early, right? We can talk to the doctor, get a referral…”
His devastated look turned to shock when my palm struck his cheek, the unexpected force moving his head to the right. Catching my wrist in his hand, Sylas gaped at me. “You hit me?”
The enormity of my action left me horrified. “Oh, God, Sylas,” I choked. “I..I wasn’t thinking. I just reacted.”
Sylas’s face softened and he pulled me to his chest. “It’s okay, Paul. This has to be an incredible shock. It’s understandable for you to be angry.”
Shoving my hand against his chest, I stepped back. “That’s not why I hit you!” I snapped. “You were going to say the doctor could refer us to terminate it!”
Sylas shook his head, but I knew it was confusion and not disagreement. “Well, yes. You know what I am, what the baby will be.”
All of the anger drained out of me, replaced with sadness that even he believed that he wasn’t worth leaving his stamp on this world.
“I do know what it will be,” I agreed, laying my hand gently on the same spot I had slapped. “It’s going to be a baby. A baby that will most likely grow up to be one of the rarest and most amazing creatures that most people will never see.”
“You’re sure?” Sylas forced the words out. “I couldn’t bear to lose you, not after everything we’ve been through.”
I stroked his cheek. “I’m not her, Sylas. I know you for what you are and I love you. I want to bring your babies into this world and love you for as many years as we have together.” It gutted me to see my Alpha so hesitant to rejoice.
“You’re sure, Paul?”
“I’m positive, Alpha, but I need to know that you want this, too. With me, with us.”
The anxiety drained from Sylas’s face and he pulled me to him, burying his face in my neck. “I honestly can’t think of anyone that I would rather have as the carrier for my child,” he murmured. “I don’t deserve you, Tiger.”
“You absolutely do,” I said firmly. “And you deserve this baby to carry on your family line, too.” I twitched a brow at him. “Or maybe what you’re really worried about is me getting fat again?” I teased.
Sylas growled deep in his throat, making my dick harden in my pants. Despite my concerns when I’d finally started really showing my pregnancy, I’d found that my husband was one of those partners who found everything about their pregnant spouse arousing.
Watching his eyes darken, I knew he was remembering all those weeks when he’d barely allowed me time to shower and eat in-between taking me any and everywhere he could. I’m pretty sure we’re actually blackballed from the neighborhood automotive store, in fact. Sylas says the owner is just jealous.
“What time is it,” he muttered, craning his neck to see the alarm clock. “As soon as we get Bun tucked in, I’m going to start working toward twins.”
I choked on a laugh. “That is absolutely not how you get twins in humans,” I snorted before stopping to consider what I was talking him out of. “You know what? I’m not a doctor, I say we give it a shot!
The End
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Epilogue
