“Gods, I can’t wait to hear her call me that.”
“Her?” I said, perking up, my heart skipping a beat.
“Ignore him. We don’t know what it is yet,” Anna said, turning to head for a row full of countless fluffy greens. They almost resembled... parsley? But there was so much of it. Why would she grow so much parsley?
“I just know it’s gonna be a girl,” Vincent said, his eyes lit with something that had warmth filling my chest. Had Damien been like this when we were expecting Emilia? My chest swelled at the thought of it, and I wished I could remember, even a little. I wished I could experience that with him one day.
“Do you guys have names picked out yet?” I asked, kneeling on the other side of the row as Anna’s eyes passed over the plants in quiet assessment.
Vincent beamed. “Sophia.”
Anna huffed a laugh. “Ifit’s a girl.”
“It will be,” he said with a knowing smile.
She elbowed him, and he huffed a laugh before she continued. “Vincent picked out her name a few weeks after we found out. We decided he would get to choose the name if it’s a girl.”
“Awe, that’s such a cute idea,” I said.
“And if it’s a boy…” she started.
“Did you decide?” he asked, his blond brows rising as excitement lit his eyes.
Anna smiled, as if answering his question and she lowered her bare hands onto the soil, stretching her fingers out into the loamy earth as she closed her eyes.
“What did you decide?” Vincent asked eagerly when she left him hanging.
Her lashes lifted, but her eyes stayed on the plants before her. “Andreas.”
Vincent’s smile faded, and he blinked. “You…”
She turned her gaze to him, a soft smile curving her lips. “I thought it would be nice to name him after your father.”
Something in the recesses of my mind saddened. I wasn’t sure why, but it left me unsettled.
“I…” His silver eyes glistened as he blinked. “Really?”
She nodded with a smile.
“Vincent’s father died during The Fall of Kingdoms,” Anna said, and my heart squeezed at the adoration in his eyes. “I wished I’d gotten a chance to meet him. You and your mother always speak so highly of him. I thought it only fitting to honor his memory.”
“It’s perfect,” Vincent said, wiping residual tears from his eyes before he pressed a kiss to her cheek. “We’ll have to save it for the next, though, because it’s definitely gonna be a girl.”
Anna snickered, shaking her head before closing her eyes, her fingers sliding through soil as she fell into a strange concentration.
I leaned in to whisper to Vincent. “What’s she doing?”
“Feeling if they’re ready,” he answered. “She’s a Dendron user and can manipulate plants.”
Plant magic? My eyes lifted to the abundant plant life surrounding us.
“They’re ready,” Anna breathed, her shoulders sagging, her breaths picking up a bit as if she were winded, and for a moment, it almost looked as if that bit of magic had taken more from her than she anticipated.
“Are you sure you’re okay to be using your magic?” Vincent asked, his blond brows furrowing as he leaned in to stabilize her.
“I’ll lose my mind if I can’t from time to time,” Anna said as she reached for the base of a plant.
“So, what are you gonna do with all this parsley?” I asked, eyes sliding along the length of the row. It was easily ten feet long and filled to the brim.
