He smiles and returns the wink.
The butlers place the food and the conversation continues, though I keep holding Bay’s hand under the table the whole time. We exchange a few words with Winter, who also congratulates me on my doctorate, though he doesn’t seem particularly impressed.
Winter has a very business-oriented mindset and is already essentially co-running my uncle Jacob’s company, so my academic career doesn’t wow him. And that’s fine, everyone has their thing, so I’m not offended by his slightly dismissive tone. Especially since I know he secretly holds a grudge about not being able to beat me at chess despite his Mensa-level IQ, ha!
The family meal turns out to be genuinely pleasant, and after a while even I start to relax. It feels good to belong, to be acknowledged, after years of isolation. From time to time, Iglance at Bay. He’s talking easily with Storm, joking, clearly in a good mood. Eventually, I find myself sitting next to Damien, and I start a shy conversation with him, asking about his studies, which he’s finishing this year, and his plans for the future.
My initial fear that my half-brothers might still keep their distance from me turns out to be unfounded. Damien brightens almost immediately and responds warmly, without a trace of prejudice. He sincerely congratulates me on the baby that’s on the way and mentions that he himself would like to grow his family once he’s done with school. For now, he’s working part-time as a programmer at DevApp under the supervision of his uncle Jacob.
The conversation is genuinely pleasant, and time passes quickly. I’m surprised by how smoothly everything unfolds.
Can life really be this comfortable? This light? This calm?
Even though several months have passed since Bay and I got together, I still appreciate every day how much I’ve come back to life, how the clouds have finally lifted after that terrible decade. I don’t take any of it for granted.
The only pleasant souvenir from those dark years is a certain interesting element that found its way into our sex life.
Later that evening, I find myself in the forest, where the Messenger of Fate is hunting me. And I, a cute little revenant, am about to be impaled on his ashwood stake…
A few months later
ALEX
My delivery, which is a C-section, stirs a bit of controversy, especially among the younger Nolans and their partners, who all gave birth naturally. But Lake shows me nothing but support, withholding any hint of judgment.
A few of Bay’s brothers express from time to time a certain kind of surprise, accompanied by raised eyebrows, assuming that nothing can ever go wrong in a True Mate pairing when it comes to childbirth, but I am simply too afraid that my petite body will not handle it as well as I want it to, and the doctors are on my side.
On the scheduled day we arrive at the clinic, Bay stays beside me the entire time, holding me close and even cracking jokes, which is not something he usually does, but he tries so hard to make this whole experience feel light and positive for me.
Exactly at ten in the morning the operation takes place, and a healthy little boy with a dark pink tuft of hair on top of his head is lifted out of my abdomen.
My beautiful son.
Bay is the one who gets to hold him first, and I see a rare, powerful emotion wash over his face.
"Welcome, Gem," he says and presses a gentle kiss to his tiny forehead.
Lake is next, his eyes filling with tears, and I am the third in line to hold my baby.
Blue and Sebastien arrive at the hospital as well, of course. The moment Blue sees Gem he laughs and says, "You can tell he belongs to the Lowen family, that pink hair. Maybe you should hyphenate? Gem Lowen-Nolan has a nice ring to it."
Sebastien also takes little Gem into his arms, even though he already has several grandchildren, but there are tears gathering in his eyes as well.
"I am so happy, Alex, it’s feels like my family is finally complete," he whispers and leans in to press a kiss to my forehead. I know the past years still weigh heavily on him.
My relationship with him has grown much closer over these last few months. Bay and I visited him a few more times at his home, and I had a chance to get to know my half-brothers better.
The loneliness I grew up in, followed by the years in college when I lived in a sort of vacuum without any sense of belonging, all of it fades away, my life is becoming more stable.
Bay surrounds me with love and support every single day. I share a strong, meaningful bond with Lake as well, but the warmth and acceptance I receive from Sebastien and his family have become especially important to me. They give me a sense of stability and belonging that feels so perfectly… grounding.
My life is finally safe. Normal. Simply normal. And step by step, Bay and I are building it together.
That evening, when we are alone, I feed Gem for the first time. I do not have much milk yet, but we carefully weigh him before and after to make sure he gets the right amount, and after offering him both nipples we manage to reach a satisfying twenty milliliters. I know that after a C-section it does not alwayscome in right away, but Bay promises to support me and to help me build up my supply, and I… hold him to that.
When it is time to sleep, Bay and I put our masterful plan into motion.
Everyone knows that Joining between True Mates regenerates wounds and heals illnesses, so that night Bay lies down beside me and even though I am only a few hours out of surgery, we join gently and he stays inside me the entire night. By morning my scar is only a pale shadow on my abdomen, and I feel… wonderful.
