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When sunset finally came, I brought him upstairs and showed him the tests.

Caspian, of course, was useless.

I had barely gotten the words out before a grin spread across his face.

“Caspian, how the hell am I pregnant?”

He shrugged. “Shit, I guess my boys still swimming.”

I almost killed him a second time. “Caspian!”

He laughed so hard he had to sit down.

Eventually we called Miss Veda, because there wasn’t exactly a section in my OB’s office for paranormal conception. She reminded us that when she had given Caspian that temporary living body before Halloween, it had been exactly that—a living body, with every physical function restored for those two hours.

Apparently, every meant every.

Even Miss Veda admitted she had never personally dealt with a pregnancy under those circumstances, but nine months later I had stopped caring about the mechanics of it. My daughter had been born healthy, beautiful, and loud enough to make it very clear there was nothing ghostly about her lungs.

Explaining her existence to everybody outside our family had been much simpler.

I told people I had a one-night stand… that was it.

No fake boyfriend.

No elaborate story.

No unnecessary details.

When people got nosy because I was pregnant with another man’s baby while still wearing the engagement ring Caspian had given me, I told them my children were loved, supported, and none of their damn business. Eventually, most people learned to stop asking.

Because what else was I supposed to say?

Yes, the father is technically dead, but he’s solid after sunset, and apparently death had no effect on his sperm count.

Absolutely not.

Caspian had been there for every doctor’s appointment, even if nobody else in the room could see him. We brought Kaidence to each one so Caspian could follow through their connection. My son thought he was there to supervise his baby sister’s progress, and we let him believe it. I slipped up a couple of times and answered Caspian out loud, then had to pretend I was talking to myself while my doctor looked at me like we might need to schedule a different kind of appointment.

As far as the birth went, we went the home-birth route. Caspian was adamant about not missing his daughter coming into the world. Miss Veda handled the timing so labor got serious after sunset, when he could be there physically. She showed up in solid form and became the midwife, doctor, nurse, and whoever else she decided we needed that night. Apparently, after enough years dealing with the dead, she knew a thing or two about bringing somebody into the world too.

Between them, they could’ve sped up my contractions or stopped the pain, but I wanted Caspian to experience the whole thing with me—the waiting, the worrying, the hand-squeezing, and me telling him this was his fault every time another contraction hit. That man had spent months bragging about getting me pregnant. He was going to put in a full shift helping me deliver the results… and when Cassiane finally arrived, he was right there to hold her.

After everything he had missed with Kaidence, watching him cradle our daughter from her very first night made every hour worth it.

Granny had needed some time when we finally told her everything. There was no gentle way to explain that the man she believed had been missing for six years had actually been murdered, was currently a ghost she could see and talk to and would have a solid body she could hug after sunset.

The first night Caspian let her see him, Granny stared at him for what felt like forever. Then she touched his face, grabbed both his hands, and cried harder than I had ever seen her cry.

Caspian held her until she settled.

Afterward, Granny wiped her face and told him, “Baby, I don’t know what the Lord got going on with you, but I’m glad He sent you back to my granddaughter.”

That was basically the end of the discussion.

If the Lord wanted Caspian talking to us in broad daylight and sitting down with us after dark, Granny wasn’t about to question His business.

Granny was doing better too. Her pulmonary fibrosis hadn’t disappeared, but her condition was stable, and between her doctors, medication, and the extra help Caspian arranged, she had everything she needed.