EPILOGUE
KAITLYN
“Wow, you are very pregnant,” Wynter says as I walk (waddle?) through the doorway into the main hall where both she and Alice, the mate of the Lambton Wyrm, are sat at the table.
“Yeah, sorry I wasn’t here when you arrived. Putting clothing on takes forever.” I run my hand over my big belly. “And Linton didn’t mention Bluecaps always have multiple births.”
“Multiple?” Alice’s eyes widen.
“Looks like you have a football team in there,” Wynter says.
“Most likely…triplets.” I groan.
“Triplets!” they chorus and then descend into laughter.
“Sorry, Kaitlyn.” Wynter pulls out a chair for me. “I’m so sorry. I thought being the mate of a Barghest put me at the highest risk of more than one at a time.” She puts her hand on my stomach briefly. “But it appears you’ve got it worse than me.”
“I don’t know.” I eye her dress which is not fitting as well as it should. “I’m not the only one here with a bun in the oven.”
“No, you’re not.” Alice gets up from her chair and comes round the side of the table, her pregnancy clearly visible. “What can I say? Fenrother is a fast worker.”
Wynter dissolves into laughter. “If he’s anything like Reavely, you’re probably always going to be pregnant.”
Alice smiles a smile I know only too well. It’s one I see in the mirror often. A contentment I don’t think any of us could have had beyond the veil.
“Have you heard any news about your sister?” Wynter asks me.
“Nothing concrete. From the information Warden and Linton have managed to find out, she is still in the Yeavering, but she wasn’t linked to a Faerie Lord, so it’s going to take much more time to find her.” I sigh. “I’d love her to meet Linton before these little tikes are born.”
“That’ll be an interesting meeting.” Alice chuckles.
I laugh in agreement. My sweet mothman has improved incredibly in terms of his memory and general behaviour in social situations, but he’s still chaos.
I wouldn’t have him any other way.
As if to prove Alice’s point, there is a loud crash outside of the hall and then a ball of what appears to be Linton and the Wyrm roll through, followed by Reavely in his dog form.
“At least it’s not mine doing the tail biting this time.” Wynter sighs.
I spot Linton has his fangs buried in Fenrother’s tail, not that they seem to be making any impression at all.
“Any chance you three could behave like adult monsters?” Alice asks over the din.
“I doubt that very much.” Wynter shakes her head, still chuckling.
Linton disengages from the Wyrm and shakes himself off with a cloud of scales which makes Fenrother cough and is clearly enough of a distraction, meaning I have a panting mothman in my face.
He wraps his arms around me, his red eyes search mine to make sure I am well.
“Anything?” he asks.
“Linton is convinced I’m going to give birth any time.” I tell the other two women. “I keep telling him humans have a nine-month gestation.”
“And I keep telling her she carries impatient Bluecap young within her,” Linton says, pressing a kiss to my lips. “She makes milk to feed them, so they will be arriving any day.”
I’ve long since stopped being remotely bothered by anything which comes out of Linton’s mouth. He speaks whatever comes into his head and it is, like so many things about him, weirdly refreshing.
“I like your milk.” He nuzzles into my neck.
