Page 65 of The Final Battle

Helena whipped around to look at me, hands covering her mouth as her eyes grew wide. “Is it true?“

Smiling, I nodded causing her to let out a shriek as she wrapped me up in another hug. “Oh, this is the most wonderful news! Just wait until I tell Ballard, oh who am I kidding I’m telling everyone!“

With that announcement, she released me and hurried off into the castle.

“You did that on purpose,“ I said glaring at Cole.

“Now, little mouse, would I do a thing like that?“ he asked, giving me a grin.

Arms wrapped around me, pulling me away from the face I wanted to punch. “Whoa there spitfire, I know how good your right hook is and I don’t think you want to be giving him a black eye just yet. We have a feast to go to tonight, you want to keep him looking pretty, right?“

“I suppose,“ I muttered.

“Isn’t being pregnant supposed to make you sweeter?“ Jade asked as we all gathered in our sitting room.

Abbott smacked him. “Don’t believe everything you hear, besides Cassarah is already sweet. It makes sense it would make her feistier.“

“That’s it, none of you are sleeping with me tonight,“ I announced.

They paused a moment then shrugged, clearly not at all worried.

“Bet you a gold coin she’ll be worming her way into our beds looking for some lovin’ before the night is over. Normal Cassarah is energetic, but pregnant spitfire is relentless,“ Paxton said as he flopped into a chair. “I mean, really I shouldn’t be complaining, who taught her the tongue trick?“

Grabbing a pillow I hurled it at his face, smacking him right in the nose. “No more tongue trick for you, and you’ll also be at the end of my list of people’s beds I crawl into. Keep talking, I’m sure I can come up with some other punishments.“

The guys backed away from him, leaving him to his own demise.

“Nice, assholes, real nice,“ Pax muttered, clutching the pillow to his chest.

As the world changed, so did I, my belly grew bigger, ankles swelled up, and I craved pudding all the time. I would wake up in the middle of the night and need to eat my fill of pudding. The guys were amazing dealing with my mood swings that I knew made me more challenging to live with. They loved the high sex drive and I used it to make up for all the things I did during the day. They always knew if I was feeling guilty about my behavior when an afternoon delight happened in the planning hall between meetings.

Becka was my saving grace, as she acted as my external brain, helping me to remember what I was doing with my life. Carrying two babies left me waddling around the castle continuing to do all that I could, but I was slowing down. Once I was on the first floor of the castle, that’s where I would spend the day until going up for bed. The guys argued but we all agreed I would continue to rule as normal while I could manage.

“Cassy-Bear, don’t bite my head off when I say this, but I’m not sure you should hold an audience hall session today. We’ve kept you to the second floor and I’m not sure we could get you back up to our rooms later,“ Dayson explained, watching me warily that I wasn’t going to throw anything at him.

“Day, I hear you,“ I answered. “The problem with that is, this is so important to the new way we want to have all our countries running and Sheca has been doing this the longest. Everyone from Errit, Utros, Norden, and Creisal are here to see how I conduct this session.“

“Love of my life, I fully understand that and I wouldn’t ask you not to if I didn’t have a reason to,“ Day countered.

Frowning, I looked at him. “What reason is that?“ A wave of pain hit me and I clutched my stomach, groaning.

“That, that is my reason. The pain is happening more often and it seems to be getting worse,“ he pointed out. “What if you end up giving birth right there in the throne room?“

“Well, that would certainly be a story to tell,“ I chuckled as I pushed on the table for leverage as I moved my massive belly in the right direction. Standing, I took a deep breath and smiled. “See, I’m fine.“

Taking a step, I gasped as fluid poured out of me, splashing onto the floor.

“That’s it, you’re done, it’s not gonna happen and I’m calling Alto once I get you in bed,“ Dayson muttered as he hauled my round body up in his arms and hurried me to our room.

Becka spotted us and her eyes went wide. “Alto?“

“Yes, go now her water broke,“ Day answered, marching right past her. “Make sure the others know!“

“How do you know my water broke? Maybe I just peed myself?“ I countered.

He just gave me a look that told me I was walking on thin ice, so I shut my mouth and hung on. Another wave of pain hit me, and I crunched up in his arms.

“Oh god, that one was awful,“ I cried, trying to rub the tight skin of my belly to make it feel better. “Could you two try not to kill me before you’re born?“