I let go of her finger. “Baby doll, nothing wrong with that.”
I would spoil her for an eternity. Hell, I planned to.
30
LAYLA
Iwas sitting in a rocker in the nursery, inhaling and exhaling, practicing my breathing exercises for more than just being pregnant. Excitement stirred low and deep in my belly. Today was my freaking wedding day. I was marrying a man I was hopelessly in love with. I was a vampire’s bride-to-be—something I never thought would happen, given that I was a vampire hunter. I was also ecstatic that Sam and I understood each other. That we didn’t have secrets between us, unlike my mom who had kept so many things from my father.
I frowned as I rocked in the chair. I wanted my parents here with me. They might not agree with what I was doing, but I had to believe they would’ve supported me, unlike Rianne and my grandmother. I shook those two from my mind. They didn’t belong in my thoughts on this special day. Besides, I had Jordyn and two other women. Jo and Harley were turning out to be great friends I could call sisters.
During the last six days since Sam and I had returned from Maine, I’d spent a good chunk of time hanging out with Harley, Jo, and Jordyn. I couldn’t thank them enough for what they had done for Sam and me. Sure, Sam had asked if they would take on the task, but he didn’t have to bribe them. The women had been more than happy to help.
I’d also had my three-month checkup with Dr. Martin and Dr. Vieira. My pregnancy was on track, and with how fast the babies had grown, I should deliver in the five-to-six-month window—a phenomenon only recorded once in vampire history. Since I couldn’t deliver naturally and to reduce complications, we’d scheduled my C-section for mid-July, which would put me at about five and half months pregnant.
Despite that, when Doc first told me about Emily Crawford’s case, I heard him, and I had no reason to discount the facts, but I didn’t exactly believe my pregnancy would follow the same path. Boy was I wrong. I could feel my belly stretching almost every minute of the day. I weighed more, I was eating like a horse, and I napped, which was so weird because unless I was sick, I’d never dozed during the day before. I just prayed I didn’t end up like Emily—dead. I shivered at the thought before I pushed it out of my mind. I had to believe my fate wasn’t a coffin in the ground. That my destiny was for something far greater than just giving birth.
To say I was overwhelmed was an understatement of the century, and not just over the fact that I would be the second woman in vampire history to have supernatural babies. It was also due to the lightning speed at which things were moving. I felt as though I was on a bullet train. One minute I was sleeping with a vampire; the next, pregnant, then engaged, and now tying the knot.
Still, below the surface of my happiness, I couldn’t shake the uneasiness. My dreams of late had been messing with my psyche. I’d been plagued with a variation of the recurring nightmares I’d been having for months—dark road, the soft voice of a young boy warning me about a woman, then urging me to go with him to help his sister. Then the scene changed, and I was chasing a woman with brown hair, but I never saw her face. In the far reaches of my mind, my intuition was telling me that the woman was Rianne. She had brown hair. Jordyn did as well. But I wouldn’t or couldn’t believe Jordyn would betray me. Yet my stomach churned like a storm at sea at the idea that she was the woman in my dreams.
Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me. My hormones were sure as fuck on a wild roller-coaster ride. Whoever the woman was that I’d been chasing would reveal herself at some point. I was learning that my visions during REM sleep were a window into my future. Case in point: after Sam had been taken by Intech, I’d dreamt of standing in a room overlooking the mountains during a storm. That was the same room where I’d recently been held at the facility in West Virginia. I’d also seen the initials EML during one of my crazy nightmares. This logo that had been stamped on Rianne’s ball cap and on the wall at the Intech lab in Chicago.
Steven had counseled me to pay attention to my dreams, saying that they could save my life. It wasn’t mine I was concerned about, though, but the lives of my children.
As I rocked back and forth, rubbing my belly, Sam graced the doorway with one of his lopsided smirks. “You love it in here, don’t you?”
“It’s peaceful,” I said.
He leaned a shoulder against the doorjamb. His black hair was tied at the nape, his jaw clean-shaven, his green eyes flickering with a mixture of mischief and happiness. “Are your vows ready?”
I shrugged. “Maybe.” I fought a smile. I knew what I wanted to say as we wrapped the ribbons around our hands. I thought handfasting was a cool way to express our love in front of our family and friends. “Are you?”
“I’ve never been more ready for anything.”
Suddenly, one of the babies kicked. They’d been quite active, but this one was a strong one.
Sam was at my side in a flash. “What is it? I’ll call Doc.” He had his phone out of his pocket at the speed of light.
“Chill, vampire. One of them just kicked like an expert football punter. Feel here.” I rubbed the right side of my stomach. He’d felt the movement before, but, again, never as pronounced as this one.
He set his phone on the floor, squatted down in front of me, and placed his hand where mine was. When one of them moved again, he sucked in air. “Fuck me. It must be the boy. My star NFL kicker.”
He stole the breath right from my lungs at how he lit up like the sun on a beautiful summer day. Such a poignant moment that I would embed in my memory forever. “Probably is a boy.” I agreed with him, and only because I didn’t want to ruin this moment or erase the gorgeous grin on his face.
He leaned in and kissed my belly, then pressed his ear to it.
I smoothed a hand over his hair, his woodsy scent surrounding us. “Do you hear them?”
“All four.” He raised his head. “If you can hear me,” he said to my stomach, “we can’t wait to meet you.”
A string of tingles spread throughout me as if they heard him. “They got your message.” My voice cracked with so much emotion I was a second away from bawling.
He massaged my belly lightly. “I feel their energy.”
His phone rang, shattering our tender and heartwarming moment.
He grumbled as he answered. “What is it, Tripp? Here? Now?” Creases lined his forehead. “Copy that.” He stood, sliding his cell into the side pocket of his cargo pants. “Jack and Tabitha are in the lobby. Tabitha would like to see you.”
