“How are you feeling? Morning sickness?”
“Just once. Today. Well, twice today. Once before the pixelated baby test and once after it,” I admitted.
He produced the familiar bottle of orange-flavored morning sickness gummies from his bag and then pulled out another.
“Leave one on your nightstand. It might save you some days,” he said, finally sitting down at the table with me. “And if we don’t hear from them soon, we’ll figure out where exactly he’s buried at and I’ll go fuck up her world in person.”
I nodded. That’s exactly what I didn’t want. Dad didn’t need to see another war or another tyrant.
“Don’t worry about me. You survive one tyrant and you sort of develop a taste for their flesh,” he laughed.
I fell into telling the story again. This time leaving out only the most intimate parts that no one ever tells their parents no matter how old they are. I told him about Finn and the dagger. I told him about how Sharon Claudis got her tit frozen and lost an arm. How Vallis swore he saw her go towards his world and how before that we didn’t even know if there was a path there from Earthside. I even told him how Mori suspected that his dragon friend, Annila, was pregnant or had an egg somewhere and that Sharon Claudis may have been the cause of that. I told him more than I planned to and as I emptied out my worries guilt beat me upside the head. Dad had been through too much and I was bringing him more troubles.
“I’m not going to say I’m happy to hear anyone got hurt but I’m not made of glass, Lero. I’d be more worried if you weren’t worried about all that going on. If the people who aren’t getting hurt don’t believe there is a problem that’s when you have really fucking big problems. I know looking at the larger picture doesn’t always help but think about it this way – Pami going down now probably means that she’ll never reach her full potential.”
That made me feel a little better. Her face flashed through my memories. I’d die to save Vallis and she killed her true-mate because he didn’t want to take over a world.
I kept an ear open to the group links and family links, but I didn’t hear anything from Mori. When I finally felt as if my emotions were back in place and not practicing their acrobatics throughout my body, I stretched out on the sofa. Sure, I really wanted to wait for Vallis but sometimes an ultrasound proved a false positive on a pregnancy test and other times it diagnosed potential problems with the baby.
I took my shirt off and stared up at the ceiling wondering if Vallis would’ve been the type of alpha to bite Dad for trying to do an ultrasound or would his parental role in my life take away the fear he might rip open my belly and gobble up the baby? I mean, that’s what they feared, right? What else was there to fear about an exposed belly?
“Years ago there was freezing cold gel you had to try to warm up before an ultrasound,” Dad said. “Modern magic bypasses needing a conductor with the newer machines but sometimes I still find myself reaching for the gel.”
Dad stared at his handheld machine as the wand moved across my stomach. I knew when he found the baby because the corners of his mouth perked up in a grin.
“Just one?” I asked, hopefully.
“Just one and from the shape of the jellybean and size, I’d say a bear cub. That means you’re in for a long pregnancy but also long means the changes will happen slower, giving you more time to adjust. You’ll be grateful for that later.”
“I just hope Vallis gets to see his baby,” I said and bit my lip.
“One way or another, kiddo, that’s gonna happen. War or not. He’s one of ours now and I don’t think Pami knows what that means for her. Plus, you told Mori, of all people, first. Seriously, that’s like lighting the dynamite and shoving it in her ear. I’ll print these out on the laptop in a bit. How about we go for a walk?”
“Are you trying to take me to tell Grandpa?” I asked, unsure if I was ready for that.
“Honestly? I’m trying to kill time. So that you don’t have as long to worry,” Dad shrugged. “We can sit here and worry if that’s what you need to do.”
“Won’t they get worried if you aren’t home before them?” I asked.
“I left a note with the broad strokes. So, they’ll probably be here. Maybe.”
“You’ve sentenced me to death by carrier,” I groaned.
“Well, maybe if he drowns you in his tears,” Dad shrugged. “Come on. Up and at ‘em. Gotta keep your nervous system regulated for the baby. Then when they get here I’ll make some sweet and sour steaks or something, okay?”
“You better cook. Just thinking about it makes me hungry.”
“See. You’ll be alright. A hungry bear is a healthy bear,” he teased, holding out his hand to help me up off the sofa.
CHAPTER TWELEVE
Vallis
The Other World, Frost’s Pit, Dern’s Kitchen
We all sat around the table as Mori filled in his dead wolf friend about the events of my life. The old wolf leaned back in his chair, resting an elbow on its back, and nodded along. I had a feeling that Dern knew what was going on before Mori did. He wore that expression that older people often did when they knew more than they were letting on but remembered the confusion of youth and wanted to let Mori talk his way through it. Mori drank from his own ‘tea flask’ but I took the risk that the old wolf might try to kill me and drank his sweet rose and honey tea. It was sweeter than what I normally drank but sugar was energy and these days, besides Lero, energy was the one thing I couldn’t seem to get enough of.
The kitchen looked old-fashioned but tidy. A phoenix shifter came in and out seemingly for no reason, but I didn’t believe that for a second. There were a few phoenixes on my home world, and those birds never did anything without a purpose.
