Axoular smiled. “Can I get you anything?”
“No, but thank you.” I snuggled into Elias, eyes on Axoular, while Anthony reached over and played with my hair. I absorbed the calm, knowing chaos was on its way.
Axoular's phone dinged, and he checked it. “The healer said to call when your contractions are two to three minutes apart, or if the pain gets too intense.”
“Okay. Rakesha said she could help with pain, but I'm a little apprehensive about taking potions.”
“I trust her,” Elias said. “She knows her business, and she's helped deliver hundreds and hundreds of babies.”
“Were you there for Charlie's birth?”
He shifted behind me. “I was, yeah. It was a home birth.”
“We've never talked about the kids' moms. I’ve been scared to ask.” It was stupid. Knowing what happened to the mothers of my husbands' children was pretty important, but I'd been in a pretty strong avoidance cycle. Why I chose that moment to finally ask about it, I didn't know.
“She died,” he said, voice clipped. “I really don't like talking about it.”
“Did she die in childbirth?” I asked. “I can handle it if she did.”
“No! Oh, no, sorry.” He kissed my head. “We don't really know what happened. She disappeared.”
I sat up and faced him. “What? Why didn't you tell me?”
“It happened about two years before Michael died. Charlie was just a baby. Supay women aren't immune to postpartum depression, but it's rarer. We assumed Skye went through a postpartum episode and decided to take off. Now, seven years later, though... I told Charlie I think she's dead. I was honest with him.”
“Is the Supay life completely full of drama? Do none of you live calm, regular lives?”
Anthony burst out laughing. “We live such long lives, there are times that it's downright boring, and times that the events are exhausting or dangerous, like now.”
“Did you love her?” I wasn't sure I wanted to know.He might've loved people before in life. Don't be jealous, you idiot. You certainly loved before him.
“Not like I love you. I thought I loved her a great deal, and I don't mean any disrespect to her memory, but my love for you shines like the sun.”
“You're not being disrespectful. Were you happy together?”
“Yes, but looking back, it felt more like a great friendship love with her. We, as Supay, are expected to have children as often as we can. It's a societal norm.”
“And if someone decides they don't want children?”
“It's uncommon to decide that in a life that lasts hundreds of years, but it does happen,” Anthony said. “We don't judge those people. Sometimes, it's not a right fit.”
“What about you?” I asked. Before he could answer, my first contraction hit like a strike of lightning. I cried out and sat forward, clutching my stomach. I counted backward from thirty and by the time I got to the number one it was easing.
“What does that feel like?” Axoular asked. “I've lived a long time but never been present at a birth.
“Well,” I said, laughing. “You're in for a long day. They start in my back and wrap around to my front. The pain is intense.” Breathing deeply, I closed my eyes. “With David, my water didn't break until I was quite a bit dilated. I think I was six or seven centimeters, and the doctor broke it himself. Those contractions were much easier since there was a cushion of water inside.”
We sat in silence for a few moments. “Don't think you've gotten out of answering my question, Anthony,” I said suspiciously. “Where are Jaime and Stephen's moms?”
“Lily is alive. She’s Supay and Stephen sees her on occasion. Molly, Jaime's mom, is human. I told her she died. I'll tell her the truth when she's older.”
I looked at him in surprise. “What? Is she alive?”
He nodded; shame splashed across his face.
“How'd that happen? Does she know Jaime is alive?”
He nodded again. “She does.” He blew out a puff of air. “You're going to be pissed.”
