THIS MADE THE second time that Phoenix had gotten babysitting duty. The first time was when Gerald had kidnapped Payton and tried to kidnap Vaughn and Naya. Technically, it should have been someone else’s turn, but she knew she was still proving herself to Vance for going after Gerald without backup.
She was not happy about the assignment, but she wasn’t going to dare complain. She was in this situation due to her own zealousness. She had no one to blame but herself. But, minus her and Dante’s injuries, she didn’t regret it. She’d take the next ten babysitting assignments for the pleasure of killing that asshole Gerald.
Phoenix left the quick meeting in the clinic room to find Sawyer and Kenzie since she needed to figure out how she and Sawyer were going to trade off shifts.
Kenzie was in the waiting room, sleeping in a chair, and Sawyer was nowhere to be found. So much for looking after his own mate. Of course, Kenzie was pretty safe in the clinic, surrounded by everyone waiting for Naya to give birth. Lilith and Payton were several chairs away, also napping, and neither of them would let anything happen to Kenzie.
Phoenix sat down next to Kenzie and waited for Sawyer. She had her fingers crossed that she could go back home and sleep, and she wouldn’t have to be here when Naya delivered. Since Sawyer was Vaughn’s best friend, Phoenix assumed that Sawyer would want to stay, and she would be able to leave soon. Then, she wouldn’t have to pretend that all this excitement didn’t bother her.
As she waited, she watched most of the meeting’s members file out of the clinic to go home or go on duty. Only a few people remained. As long as it was still dark out, Dante was responsible for bringing the king and queen to see their grandchildren once they were born. Vaughn stayed because he was obviously going into the delivery room. The last few people staying behind were Vance, the soon-to-be grandfather; Damien, who was with his mate, Payton; and Sawyer because he was friends with Vaughn and his mate was friends with Naya.
Kenzie stirred beside her. When she saw Phoenix sitting next to her, she quickly sat up. “Hey. Where’s Sawyer?”
Phoenix pointed to Sawyer and Vance, who were still in the hallway, talking. “Over there.”
Kenzie relaxed. “Oh, good. I thought maybe something had happened.”
“Nothing exciting.”
“So, what are you doing here?” Kenzie asked.
Phoenix admired her directness. “You’ve got yourself a new watchdog.”
Kenzie frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Didn’t Sawyer tell you that you were going to have twenty-four-hour protection?”
“What the hell? No. That’s ridiculous.”
As much as Phoenix didn’t want the job, it wasn’t exactly ridiculous.
“Not when a group is out there, committing crimes against shifters and vampires. And since you’re…” Phoenix couldn’t bring herself to say pregnant, so she gestured toward Kenzie’s abdomen. She was turning into such a wuss.
“Great. I go from being an independent woman who doesn’t need a man to someone who needs a babysitter. Be careful what you wish for.”
Phoenix chuckled. She liked this human. “Sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry. My life is very mundane, and you will probably die from boredom.” Kenzie winced. “Does this mean you’ll have to follow me around at work?”
Phoenix shrugged. “I don’t know. Sawyer and I have to figure out the details.”
“Great.”
Sawyer and Vance broke apart, and Sawyer walked toward them. Kenzie crossed her legs and arms as she waited for her mate. When Sawyer approached, he must have sensed Kenzie’s irritation because he stood in front of her instead of sitting down.
“Have you heard anything?”
“No, I haven’t heard anything. Is there something you would like to share with me?”
Sawyer nervously rubbed the back of his neck.
A few months ago, Phoenix wouldn’t have believed that she would see this side of Sawyer. Frankly, she hadn’t even realized that he had it until recently. It was quite comical.
“Uh…well…Vance and I decided it would be safer to have someone watching over you all the time, just in case.”
“Vance and you?” Kenzie asked skeptically.
“Yes.”
Kenzie narrowed her eyes.
“Okay, okay, it was mostly me,” he said, plopping down into the chair on the other side of her.
“Sawyer, you are making poor Phoenix hang out with me when I can take care of myself.”
“Uh, one, Phoenix is not poor, and, two, you cannot take care of yourself. Not when there are people out there who outnumber you,” Sawyer said. “And they might be shifters or vampires who are stronger than you. I can’t let you get hurt. Or the baby. It would kill me.”
Kenzie’s expression softened as she turned to her mate. She leaned toward him and tenderly kissed his mouth.
Phoenix felt like a voyeur, watching their intimate exchange, and it made her feel guilty and really, really alone.
She turned away and pulled out her phone to pretend like she wasn’t paying attention to the couple and to give them some space. But then she started to hear kissing noises.
Then, Kenzie whispered, trying not to let anyone hear but forgetting that she was in a room with shifters and vampires, “Let’s go find someplace to be alone.”
Phoenix heard Sawyer hop out of his seat, and she turned in time to see the big grin on his face. He pulled Kenzie up to follow behind him as she giggled and let him drag her off.
“Hey, wait, we haven’t talked yet,” Phoenix called after them.
But they were too into each other for either one of them to hear Phoenix.
Wonderful. Who knew how long it would take them to do it? Why does everyone have to have sex all the time?
Feeling sullen, Phoenix leaned back in her seat to wait. She really should just leave, but she was already on thin ice and didn’t need this to be one more thing she messed up.
She propped her head back to rest, but sleep eluded her. She was halfway to dreamland several times, but she kept waking up when she heard a noise or sensed something. But then she smelled the wonderful scent of cinnamon and male, and before she knew it, she was out like a light.
A couple of hours later, Phoenix woke, disoriented until she remembered that she was at the vampire clinic. She was lying on her back with her head on Dante’s lap. He was also snoozing with his head back against the wall. He looked so peaceful when he was asleep. Dante carried a lot of weight on his shoulders as the leader of the Guardians, and while he didn’t act like it was a stressful job, it clearly affected him.
Phoenix slowly sat up so as not to wake Dante, but he still was slightly roused from his slumber. Half-asleep, he reached out until he touched her leg, and as if he was eased from knowing that she was there, he went back to sleep.
The action startled her, mostly because it didn’t bother her. At all. She liked that she brought comfort to Dante instead of the other way around.
Phoenix looked around the room, as if finally remembering they weren’t alone. Sawyer and Kenzie were back with Kenzie resting her hand on Sawyer’s shoulder while he looked down at his phone. Vance was on the phone and out of earshot. Payton and Lilith were both awake and playing cards, but Lilith glanced over at Phoenix and smiled and winked before turning back to playing her game.
All of a sudden, there was a commotion from the hallway, and Vaughn came out with a big plastic bassinet. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stood to see the new babies.
Everyone but Phoenix.
Dante woke from all the noise but stayed sitting with his hand on her knee. Now, it was she who was taking security from knowing that Dante was beside her.
“Are you going to go see the babies?” she asked Dante.
“Nah, I’m not close to either of them, and I’d feel like I was intruding.” He looked at his watch. “As soon as Vaughn gives me the okay, I’m going to pick up Naya’s parents.” Dante looked at Phoenix. “Don’t you want to see the little ones?”
She shrugged. She was dying to see them, but at the same time, she was absolutely terrified. Sawyer glanced over at her. He was the only one besides Saxon who knew that she really wanted to be a mother. She’d told Sawyer in confidence when he was making some bad decisions about being with Kenzie. Thankfully, he hadn’t told anyone else her secret.
For many others, it probably didn’t seem that hush, hush. Many beings wanted families. It wasn’t unusual by any means. But, for Phoenix, it felt like a vulnerability. She knew she came across as tough and even unfeeling sometimes, so she could just imagine everyone laughing at her once they found out she wanted to be a mom. And she didn’t want anyone to know because she hated being pitied.
Poor sexually dysfunctional female who wants a family. She could practically hear them whispering behind her back already.
“I’m good right here,” she finally told Dante. “I’m splitting guard duty with Sawyer, and we haven’t worked out the details yet. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even be here.”
Dante nodded, as if he understood, but there was still speculation in his eyes.
“How’s Naya?” Lilith asked her son as she cuddled a baby.
“Good. It was kind of scary for a while there. The doctor almost had to take her for a C-section because Naya was getting tired and weak, but that’s when these two decided to make their entrances. Naya is sleeping now, so I wanted to give her time to rest.”
“After more than fifty hours of labor, I can imagine.”
“Well, not all of it was active labor, Mom.”
“It’s still labor, dear, and until you experience it, you don’t get a say,” Lilith told her son.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“That’s it. I’m never having kids,” Payton said as she held the other baby. “I don’t like pain, and fifty hours is just too long.”
“You’ll change your mind,” her mother told her.
“About pain? I don’t think so.” She looked down at the baby. “Although you are pretty cute.”
Damien pulled his mate close and whispered in her ear, and she smiled.
“Okay, I might change my mind for you.”
“What are their names?” Kenzie asked. “Do they finally have some?”
Vaughn laughed. “Yes. The boy is Aidan Vaughn, and the girl is Victoria Anaya.”
“Oh, isn’t that cute? A.V. and V.A.,” Lilith said. “I love it.”
Everyone took chairs after that and took turns holding the newborns.
Phoenix thought she had managed to avoid the whole baby-holding situation when Kenzie, who was sitting beside her, put the baby in her arms without asking and jumped up. “I have to use the restroom.”
Phoenix looked down to see a little scrunched up face with a pink hat. Little Victoria fussed, and Phoenix instinctively clutched the baby closer to her.
The baby calmed immediately while Phoenix was overcome with emotion. It was easy to ignore wanting a baby when she wasn’t ever faced with one. It was easy to pretend that she didn’t yearn for the things she wanted in life, that she was okay with how things had turned out.
But holding Victoria in her arms made Phoenix realize just how much she wanted to be a mother. The desire was so strong, she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to breathe from the longing. And, without warning, her impending mating heat loomed over her. To know that she would be spending it alone and drugged up in a room by herself was so depressing that Phoenix almost choked on it.
“Phoenix. Phoenix.”
She looked up into Dante’s deep brown eyes.
“Are you okay?”
No. Not at all.
“Is there anything I can do?” he asked when she didn’t answer.
Phoenix thought to a couple of days ago when Dante had told her she could trust him and that he’d never hurt her. There was a moment that night when she could have sworn she’d actually felt what he was feeling, but then the feeling was gone. She believed him one hundred ten percent, and she trusted her feelings. That was why he would be perfect for the job.
“Yes,” she told him.
“What can I do?” He looked so sincere in his question that she knew she was making the right choice.
“How about I come with you to pick up the king and queen? I’ll tell you all about it.”
He looked like he wanted to press, but he nodded his okay.
Suddenly, feeling lighter than she had in days, Phoenix sat back and kissed baby Victoria on the head before snuggling her close.