Chapter 21
Serra groaned as she shifted and tried to push herself off the bed. It wasn’t possible, but she felt like she’d gained twenty pounds during her nap and all of them were resting on her bladder. She groaned and tightened her knees when she didn’t budge. Just getting up shouldn’t be so damn hard. She blinked back frustrated tears as she inched her hips off the bed, landing in a crouch and waddled to the bathroom. Yes, she was waddling, like a damned duck, no matter how much Pops insisted it was all in her head.
She eyed the toilet, looking all cheerful and white in the light of the bathroom. It was a trap that she’d fallen for before. Sit, do your business and get stuck. She was sick and fucking tired of getting stuck everywhere. Jared was supposed to be her to make fun of her and make her feel better about it. But he wasn’t, and she couldn’t even be mad at him for it. Not able to hold it any longer, she surrendered herself to the coming battle.
When it was finally won, Serra washed her hands and eyed the bathroom scale before stepping onto it and trying to see over the bilge of babies in the way. Finally, jutting out a hip and twisting hard to the other side, she could read the digital numbers. Her eyes flared. That wasn’t possible. No way in hell could she have gained ten pounds in two days.
Placing her hand against the wall for balance, she stepped off and eyed her reflection. Pops was right. It was time to call Asher and find out what was going on because this couldn’t be normal. None of the baby books mentioned anything like this. Sure, they were for humans, but how different could it be? Bracing her hand against her lower back, Serra made her way back to the bed and scooped her phone from the night stand to dial the clinic. Holding the phone to her ear, she ghosted on clothes, sipping her feet into flip flops, not at all sure that they were a matched set, before heading down the hall to check on the twins.
“Hi,” she said when she heard the click of the line being picked up and rolled her eyes when she was talked over by the answering machine.
“We can’t come to the phone right now, leave a message and we will get back to you as soon as possible. If this is an emergency, come in. Whatever you do, DO NOT call 911. I repeat do not dial 911 The humans have lost their damn minds!”
Serra pulled the phone away from her hear and arched a brow at it. What the hell was going on? She put it back against her ear and waited for the tone, “Yeah, this is Serra Morgan and I,” her voice trailed off as how stupid this was going to sound hit her. “Never mind, I just want to make an appointment with one of the Docs. Thanks.” She hung up and cracked the door to see the twins curled together and sleeping. They were sleeping in their won room, that had to be a good sign, right? She hoped so, but in all honesty, she missed having them in the bed with her.
Closing the door quietly, she turned and made her way down the hall to the stairs. Her foot rolled on one of the twin’s balls left on the stairs. Her heart felt like it was about to explode as her arms flailed and she began to fall. Her hand gripped the banister just before she began to tumble. Shaking and pressing one hand to her chest, she carefully swept each step with a foot before using it and made her way down the stairs, with a death grip on the rail. Not being able to see her feet was more of an issue that she’d thought.
When she was sure she’d reached the bottom, she forced her fingers to uncurl and listened. She didn’t hear Damion or Daniel. Right now she’d pay money to hear Edge, but he seemed to have abandoned them completely, choosing to stay with Jared’s parents instead. “don’t need him anyway,” she grumbled under her breath as she scanned the house for anyone. “Good,” she sighed when she was sure she was alone.
Waddling to the living room, she stopped in front of the book case and began pulling down the books she’d hidden amongst the others, piling them in her arms and carrying them back to the kitchen island. The sofa was a no go if she needed to get up quickly and hide these. Using her chest, she pushed them onto the marble surface and pulled the first off the pile, opening it scan the table of contents. Her brow arching at the ‘Summon a horseman’ ritual. Quickly she flipped to the assigned page and sighed her disappointment. It was for a man on horseback and not what she needed. Closing it, she pulled over the next.
She wasn’t how long she spent leaning over the books, but her back was screaming. Stretching, Serra got a glass of milk and returned to the pile of books, praying that the last one would have something useful. Flipping through, her brow arched and she retraced her fingers a few pages. The chapter’s title was ‘Master Trans-Dimensional Travel.’ Sipping her milk, she began reading. Yes, this was it. Serra pulled a pad of paper and a pen from the drawer and began taking notes and listing necessary ingredients.
Blood, she could get and most of the herbs, someone in Nola would have on hand. The rest she wasn’t sure about, but she was willing to do the research. The fresh heart of a man with no honor, could be tricky, but she’d get one, even if it forced Salvation to put her down after the cubs were born. She rubbed her hand over her stomach. Serra had no doubt that if they could only have one parent, Jared was the better choice. She reread the ritual and it was doable. If someone didn’t come up with something in the next few days, then she’d take matters into her own hands.
Dog earing the page, she returned the books to the shelf, taking care that none of them stuck out to draw attention. Serra ripped the page from the pad of paper and folded it to stuff into the pocket of her sweats, before putting it away. Sipping her milk, she tried not to look guilty when Damion opened the door. “I was about to make snacks for the twins when they get up. You hungry, Pops?” Serra tried to stay busy, hoping she could keep her plans to herself until it was time.