Kian wasn’t going to like her idea, Syssi knew it, but at some point, she would have no choice but to tell him.

This wasn’t a trivial thing she could get away with hiding. Taking fertility drugs wasn’t like deciding to add highlights to her hair and then asking him if he liked it after it was done.

She loved him to pieces, but sometimes he could be so overbearing. She hated to see him frown at her.

Stop being a mouse.

It would be a long time before Bridget got back to her, but it didn’t feel right to keep Kian out of the loop. He needed to know what she was planning even if it was months away from happening. If the roles were reversed, Syssi would’ve wanted to know right away.

Kian might huff and puff, but it was all bluster. In the end, Syssi always got what she wanted. In fact, she needed to be careful with what she told him because he often interpreted her musings as requests and had them immediately fulfilled.

With that in mind, she strode into his home office and took a seat. “I need to talk to you.”

He lifted his head from the report he’d been reading and smiled. “That sounds ominous. What did I do this time?”

Right, as if she was so scary. Syssi rolled her eyes. “It’s not about what you did. It’s about what I want to do.”

He sighed. “I know I promised you another vacation in Hawaii. But with the way things are going, it will have to wait.”

“It’s not about a vacation.” She took a deep breath and plunged right ahead. “I talked with Bridget about our fertility issues and suggested attempting some of the treatments that work for humans.”

He lifted a brow. “Our fertility, as in yours and mine, or the clan’s in general?”

“Both. You know how much I want a child, but this is bigger than just me and my longings. This village is perfect for raising children, but one baby and one more on the way are not enough. Every time I walk by the deserted playground my heart squeezes a little.” She put a hand on her chest.

“Oh, my sweet girl.” He pushed to his feet and walked over to the other side of his desk. “What do those fertility treatments entail?” He sat in the chair next to her and took her hand.

“Bridget is still checking up on that, but from what I read it seems that drugs that increase ovulation are the first step.”

Kian shook his head. “The problem is not limited to immortal females. Immortal males are not all that fertile either. Are there any drugs for that?”

“There are for humans. I didn’t discuss it with Bridget yet, but there might be many reasons for the infertility, and we can’t treat something until we know what that something is. The low fertility of immortal males can be caused by a low sperm count, or by weak compatibility with human females, or by other factors we are not aware of.”

“The same is probably true for immortal females as well.”

“Yeah, but the explanation seems simpler. We don’t ovulate as frequently as human females. But males produce sperm all of the time, so the limiting factor must be something else.”

“We need more research to be done on the subject.”

“Exactly, but there are several problems with that. Bridget doesn’t have time to conduct in-depth research, and we need volunteers who are willing to get tested.”

“What about Julian?”

Syssi shook her head. “He’s too young and inexperienced. I don’t know about you, but as much as I like the guy, I wouldn’t entrust something like this to the hands of a doctor who didn’t even finish his internship.” Not to mention that she would feel very awkward with the handsome young doctor who looked a lot like her husband.

Kian raked his fingers through his hair. “So what are you suggesting? I assume that you have a plan.”

“Not really. I’m willing to be the first test subject and start taking fertility drugs. Maybe that would be enough, and no further research would be needed. If that doesn’t work, we can try in vitro fertilization. That should work for sure.”

As she’d expected, Kian didn’t like her idea at all. “No way. You’re not subjecting yourself to anything before it’s thoroughly researched. Are you out of your mind? What if the drugs cause irreversible damage and you wouldn’t be able to conceive at all?”

A shiver ran down Syssi’s spine. Was that even possible? The truth was that she didn’t know enough. No one did. Immortal bodies functioned differently, and until research was done on them, it wouldn’t be prudent to take risks. It was like taking shots in the dark and hoping no one would get hurt.

“Then what do we do? Just wait?”

“Why not? Let nature do her thing.”

Syssi pulled her hand out of Kian’s and crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t want to wait. And it’s not only because I’m impatient for a child. If the clan is to survive, it needs to grow at a faster pace.”

That was the backup argument she’d prepared in case Kian wasn’t willing to risk her health. As a leader, this was a consideration he couldn’t dismiss out of hand.

But her husband wasn’t a fool. Wagging a finger at her, he smirked. “Good one, Syssi. How long did it take you to come up with this argument?”

She lifted her chin. “Not long. It crosses my mind every time I walk by that empty playground.”

That had gotten rid of the smirk pretty quick. “As I see it, we have two options. One is do nothing and let nature take her course like we’ve always done. The second one is to start serious research. But since Bridget is busy with running our humanitarian undertaking and Julian is not experienced enough, we need someone else to do it.”

“Like who?”

“We have two more medical doctors in the other clan locations. Merlin in Scotland and Rebecca in Alaska.”

“Merlin? Like in Arthurian Merlin?”

Kian chuckled. “No, he is not the legendary one. His mom liked the name.”

“I can just imagine how much he got teased about it.”

“He did. But instead of getting annoyed, he grew a long beard.”

“That’s funny. Is he any good?”

Kian shrugged. “He is older than Bridget, but just like her he stays on top of the most recent developments in the medical field.”

“What about Rebecca?”

“Rebecca was a nurse for a long time before becoming a doctor. She has a lot of experience both with humans and immortals. Either one of them is capable of doing the research. The question is which one would agree to actually do it. That’s a major undertaking. I’ll make the calls tomorrow.”

Was he the best or what? As always, all she had to do was ask, and Kian would jump through hoops to fulfill her every wish.

Syssi got up, sat in Kian’s lap, and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love you to pieces. Thank you for being you.”

He arched a brow. “Meaning?”

“Meaning that I can always count on you to do your best to get me what I want. Even when you’re not too enthusiastic about it.”

“You don’t ask for much. So when you do, I’m glad for the opportunity to finally give you something.”

Syssi chuckled. “Poor baby. I know I’m a problematic wife. I don’t like expensive gifts or fancy clothes. But I think this research is going to compensate for all of that. It’s going to be costly. I would assume that a lot of expensive equipment is needed. Can we even afford it? I know that money is tight.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll find the funds for that.”

Syssi lowered her eyes. “We can sell the jewelry you bought for me. I think that alone could fund the research.”

“Not going to happen.”

“Why? You said it was an investment, and that we could sell it if we needed the money.”

“I meant in case of an emergency, and funding research doesn’t qualify as such.”

“But…”

Kian put a finger on her lips to shush her. “This is not up for discussion.”

Syssi swallowed the rest of her argument. As it was, she’d already achieved more than she’d expected. A smart woman knew when to quit.

“Okay.”