Two months later

Aster walked to the main house with Dem. It was a lovely walk through a canopy of trees with birds singing. As they approached, she could see everyone inside. “Are you sure I look okay?”

“You look so damn sexy. I’m surprised we made it here at all, to be honest.” Dem bent down and nibbled on her ear.

She giggled, something she’d been doing an embarrassing amount of in recent weeks. Her hand hovered over her bump. It was tiny, hardly even noticeable, but she knew it was there, and she suspected the others were going to start noticing soon. Aster had been worried because she thought she should have a bigger bump at that stage of the pregnancy, but Vivienne assured her everything was fine and even had a strong suspicion as to the gender of the baby.

They’d had an ultrasound to check the baby’s size, and while everything was okay, Vivienne still wanted them to come back again a few weeks later just to be safe, and she’d be able to confirm the sex at that time too. The woman was amazing. Over the decades, she’d built up her own lab with all her own equipment, and all without revealing her immortality to humans.

Dem opened the front door of the main house, and Aster walked in. It felt odd to be back there after so much had occurred. Without her knowledge, Dem had redecorated the room that had been his office into a nursery and had moved the few things she had into his house, surprising her with her own section of the closet and a brand-new chest of drawers. Ever since she told him she was pregnant, he had been unbelievably supportive and their connection had become so much deeper. While she would never admit it aloud, she knew deep inside that he was her soulmate.

“There they are!” Thad’s voice rang out as they entered the large dining room and kitchen area, startling her out of her thoughts.

After exchanging a round of greetings, Aster sat down and joined the family brunch. Cin sat with their mom, Julie, on one side and Thad on the other, while the other couples filled in around the table as well. She remembered the brunch where everything had changed. At that meal, Dem had sat on the opposite side of the table from her and they had both been wrestling with their feelings. Now, he was by her side come hell or high water, his hand ever present on the small of her back. When he sat by her, his hand circled around her waist so his fingertip brushed the edge of her bump. He looked at her with those midnight-blue eyes of his, and she still got shivers at the intensity of his gaze.

Aster had taken to inviting Chloe, Lycus, and Julie to family brunch, which was why it had moved to the main house instead of staying at one of the brothers’ houses. The dining room and kitchen combo could probably seat fifteen comfortably, twenty if they pushed it. The long wooden table was new, since the number of people frequenting the island had grown so quickly over the last few months. Hal had donated some of his hand-carved chairs, which were stunning, and Ellie had been working on making the space more livable and less like a museum.

“Just so you all know, the new surveillance system is up and running,” Robin announced as she heaped a spoonful of hash browns onto her plate. “I’ll give you all the codes so you can switch it to standby mode if you’re in the area.”

The redhead had spent weeks working on setting this up. Ever since Randall and his cohorts were planning on invading the island, she had pointed out the security flaw. If someone somehow made it past the wards, what was to stop them from just coming onto the island? The cameras that she’d set up around the dock and the other beach areas were strictly for alarm purposes.

When the brothers were planning on using an area, all they had to do was access a control panel and enter the code, which would change it to standby mode. If the cameras were active and it sensed movement that was bigger than an animal, then it would send an alert to all their phones, where they could log in remotely and check on the disturbance. That way no one’s privacy was invaded and they were all kept safe at the same time.

Chloe appeared moments later, and Aster got up to give her a hug, the woman’s soft blonde curls mingling with her own as they embraced. Aster bit her lip. She hadn’t told Chloe that Lycus was going to be in attendance that day. Usually if Lycus decided he was going to attend, Chloe would back out. Her biological mother was scared—that much was clear—but what exactly she was scared of, Aster wasn’t sure. She hated the idea that it was purely physical, that Chloe didn’t want Lycus to see the markings his father had left on her, but she also knew from her chats with her mother how superficial gods could be.

They sat down and began to fill their plates, the general chatter warming Aster’s heart. When Lycus popped in, she felt Chloe go rigid next to her. The rest of the family greeted him before promptly going back to their conversations. Aster could feel their eyes on them, though. They all knew something was going on but were trying to give the pretense of privacy. She loved each and every one of them all the more for it.

“Just say hi. He’s been wanting to see you, and you look beautiful,” Aster whispered in her mother’s ear.

She did look stunning; that wasn’t a lie. Her cream dress was dotted with pale pink and yellow flowers, highlighting her gold hair and skin. The white cardigan she wore was simply to hide her markings from others. She didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable, and she preferred keeping them hidden as much as possible.

“Chloe?” Lycus’ voice was full of wonder.

“I should go,” Chloe said as she stood, leaving her untouched plate on the table.

“No, please! Can we just catch up? Just this once. Then if you are still uncomfortable, I’ll never come back when you’re around.”

Chloe’s eyes flashed with blatant desire as she took in the dark mop of hair on his head combined with his crystal-blue eyes.

“Say yes,” Aster muttered.

All her mother managed was a nod, but that was all Lycus needed. He came and sat by her.

“You’re just as beautiful as ever.”

“Don’t,” Chloe said, turning away, trying to hide herself from him.

“You think I’m saying it and don’t mean it? You know me better than that, love. I see the marks, and I think they make you all the more beautiful, because I know what it took to survive that. I know what you did for our girl, and I can’t imagine how hard that must have been, but I wish you would have shared it with me. I wish we could have shared the past twenty years with each other instead of giving in to my father.”

“Ly, come on, you know we had to.”

“But you don’t have to anymore,” Aster chimed in. “He will leave you both alone if you choose to see each other again. He promised.”

Chloe’s mouth fell agape, and Lycus’ eyes widened.

“How did you . . . ?” Her mother trailed off.

“It’s not important. What is important is that there is nothing standing in your way.” She smiled at her mother.

Aster knew only a fraction of what the other woman had been through, but it only gave her more respect for the woman and what she had endured on her behalf.

“Would you come and talk with me outside?” Lycus asked as he stood.

Looking up at him with tentative eyes, Chloe nodded.

They were out the door and on the patio, and still Aster’s smile hadn’t faded.

“You had something to do with that, didn’t you?” Dem growled in her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

“You mean aside from standing up to the god of nightmares? Maybe a little bit.”

“Um hum.” Dem smiled knowingly.

The rest of the chatter got quiet at that moment as Robin asked Ellie how the wedding planning was going. Apparently it had been well over a year since the happy couple had mentioned anything about their nuptials.

“Oh, um, it’s fine. Lots to do. Ye ken how it is.” Ellie stabbed at her scrambled eggs with her fork in a vicious manner.

It had been an unspoken rule that no one talked about the lack of wedding details, as this was a result. Alec shot a glare over at Robin, who simply shrugged, before he glanced down worriedly at his soulmate. Their love was so pure, so good, that it was hard to watch them encounter a hurdle, and something about planning a wedding was definitely a hurdle for Ellie.

“How’s the cabin?” Ellie asked as she clearly tried to deflect the topic of conversation to anyone but her.

“Wonderful. I never thought I’d love living in the woods as much as I do.” Robin smiled up at Hal, who curled his arm around her shoulders.

Ben popped in at that moment. He stayed on the opposite side of the room from Aster, which was probably safer for him. Dem had become even more protective since she’d told him she was pregnant, and Ben always seemed to bring out the worst in him.

“Just so you know, Leonard is secured down in the Underworld. Phobetor has my contact info for when he wants to begin working the guy over.”

“Did you pick a good room for him?” Cin asked, malice in her voice.

“It’s pink, covered in unicorns and princesses, and there are kids’ movies playing on repeat twenty-four seven. I thought it was a good choice, personally.” Ben chuckled darkly.

Cin’s peal of laughter startled everyone, but all Aster knew was she was glad to see her sister happy once more. She shoved a forkful of pancake into her mouth and let the doughy-syrupy goodness fill her senses. Everything felt right for the first time in a long time, and she was going to cherish it.

Chloe and Lycus came back in holding hands. A soft blush lingered on Chloe’s cheeks, and Aster felt content knowing that even if her biological parents didn’t get back together, they were at least friends once more. The emotional scars that Phobetor had left on her mother might have a chance to start healing, especially with Lycus’ help. They came and sat next to each other on the other side of Aster.

“Thank you,” Chloe said quietly.

Aster grinned and flung her arm around her mother’s shoulder, pulling her into an awkward hug. When she turned back, her plate had magically refilled with bacon and pancakes.

She glared at Dem, hissing, “I’ll be five hundred pounds before the baby is born if you keep feeding me like this!”

“Speaking of?”

When she nodded her head, he cleared his throat loudly. The chatter around the table quieted. All eyes were on them, and Aster had to force herself not to squirm in her seat. She’d never been opposed to being the center of attention, but this all seemed to be going so fast that it made her a little self-conscious. It was like she never had a chance to adjust to one piece of news before the next big milestone came along.

“We’ve got some news we would like to share. Aster had an ultrasound last week, and Vivienne thinks she knows the sex of the baby . . .”

“Spit it out!” Ellie said with a huge smile on her face.

“She thinks it’s a boy.”

There was a round of cheers and well wishes as everyone congratulated them. Aster tried to keep a tight rein on her emotions so she didn’t blubber all over the place, but it didn’t work. The one thing she had wished for throughout her pregnancy so far was that it was different from the vision Phobetor gave her. When Vivienne had said she thought it was a boy, relief and joy had bubbled up inside her, and she was still trying to work out which one she felt more of.

“It’s not completely certain yet . . .” she added as all the men came up and slapped Dem on the shoulder as though he had something to do with determining the sex.

“You getting ready?” Robin asked from across the table.

“Yeah. We’re getting there. I still can’t believe this is all happening, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.” A beatific smile spread over her face as the room seemed to overflow with love.

Dem turned to her at that moment, giving his brothers a momentary cold shoulder, and leaned down to kiss her. His thumb ran over her cheekbone as his lips pressed against hers delicately, and yet there was a fire hidden underneath. When he pulled away, she didn’t notice anyone else in the room. There was only him, only the two of them.

“I love you, my amazing Sunshine.” His voice was hoarse with emotion.

“I love you too.” Aster sighed, knowing that it was useless trying to fight the nickname. The funny thing was, she didn’t mind it as much when it came from his lips. She had a feeling that was going to be true of a lot of things. So long as she was with him, she felt ready to handle whatever the world threw at her, and she knew that he felt the same way. They may not have publicly claimed each other as soulmates, but they were and they both knew it.