19
Scar
It turns out being pregnant fucking sucks.
Three months in—and only halfway through—my back hurt, my feet were swollen, I was always cranky, and I always wanted to eat disgusting, weird food. This was all made worse by the fact that I still went to work every night and had to deal with the stink of alcohol wafting in the air.
This is bad enough going through it once,I thought in annoyance.I can’t imagine why anyone would want to do it a second time…
Thankfully, my mate had the kindness and patience to take care of me without complaint. I’d cancelled the rental on my apartment (good riddance to old man Pete), and Ryu helped me move all my things into his place, where I was now staying permanently.
It was a Friday night, and the Drunken Dragon was busy as usual. Good thing I had Ryu by my side to help, and I’d even hired Nate to work a few shifts a week. He was a competent, chatty employee, good at talking to the other customers when I just wasn’t up to it.
“You know, with two kids and the both of us, maybe we should think about finding a bigger home,” Ryu commented. As he said that, Angel—lazing in his arms—burst out into laughter, like she approved of the idea.
I groaned and nearly tossed the cleaning cloth into his face. “Moving again is literally thelastthing I want to think about right now. Can’t it wait until after I pop this baby out?”
Ryu chuckled. “Yes, you’re right, sorry.”
He strode over and gently stroked my swollen belly. Angel copied her dad, stretching out her hand to do the same.
“Do you feel that, Angel?” Ryu said to her. “That’s your baby sibling. You’re going to be a big sister to them soon, you know.”
Angel gurgled with a smile.
I couldn’t help but smile back. I knew the discomfort of the pregnancy was going to be worth it in the end. The six months of aches and pains would result in a beautiful baby that I wouldn’t trade for the world.
I guess this is how people wind up doing it more than once.
But right now, as another sharp pain flared up in my back, I groaned and sat back in my heavily cushioned chair. Ryu frowned.
“Aches again?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I muttered. “This part I couldreallydo without.”
As another round of customers lined up at the bar counter, Ryu sheepishly glanced back and forth between them and me. I sighed and held out my arms. “You take the orders. Give Angel to me.”
“Sure you’ll be okay?”
I nodded and waved him off. I’d rather sit with my child than deal with half-drunk alphas any day.
“You’re the prettiest face in this whole bar, you know that?” I said to her as I bounced her on my knee.
She giggled. Her long blonde hair flew up and down with every bounce. I noticed how long it had grown since that night we found her. I didn’t know if I had the heart to cut it.
“One thing’s for sure, you certainly didn’t come out of a mess like me,” I mumbled playfully. “That Halo guy must really be something else.”
In the months since we got Angel back, my constant paranoia slowly diminished. For the first few nights I had nightmares—ones I didn’t even want to mention to Ryu. I was petrified that Halo Fire-Eater would show up one day and snatch Angel away, like Mav and Henry did before. Losing her again was my greatest fear.
Sometimes I wondered where Halo was, andwhyhe’d left his baby on the front step of my bar. Did he really not want her? Or was it more complicated than that?
I glanced down at my daughter. She smiled brightly up at me, without a care in the word. Sitting in my lap was the child of a mage so powerful some considered him a god—and she had no idea.
Whatever Halo’s reason was, I supposed the truth was lost alongside him.
“Da.”
I stopped bouncing Angel. I stared at her. “Did you just—?”
