Chapter Eighteen
“What do you mean, you aren’t coming?” Vaughn’s burnished gold eyes were lit with anger and a small measure of fear.
“I’ll be right here talking Marcus through it.” Nell’s voice sounded soothing and professional, radiating from the speaker of Vaughn’s phone that had been set down on the bedside table.
Vaughn scowled, noting Marcus exit the bathroom, he’d changed his soaking wet top for one of Vaughn’s and he was currently drying his hands on a large, soft towel. Riya was bustling about the room giving orders. Dash had been sent for ice chips. Flynn for more towels. Rafe had been instructed to boil water. Nate was laying a clean sheet over Hadleigh’s lower half. While Drum sat on the bed next to Hadleigh, applying a damp flannel to her brow and making low, soothing, growling sounds.
“I don’t understand what the fuck is going on?” Vaughn yelled. All his plans. All his preparations. For naught.
“Just breathe.” Nell’s voice commanded firmly.
“Me?” Gasped Hadleigh.
“No, I was talking to Gaia.” Nell sighed softly. “Carl, come and play catcher.” There was a brief exchange of words but only Nell’s side was clearly audible. “I don’t care if she is your sister, you’re a doctor. Get in there. I’m not going anywhere, but I need to talk Marcus through helping Hadleigh.”
Riya ducked into the bathroom, grabbed a spare towel to dry her hair and blot at her damp clothes before washing her hands thoroughly, just in case Marcus needed some help.
Heavens, who would have predicted that Gaia would be going for the gold with a thirty plus hour labour? Of course knowing Gaia, she’d probably turned up at the newly refurbished birthing suite at Haven Bay Hospital the moment she felt the first twinge.
Returning to the bedroom, Riya glanced at all the pale faced Warriors standing around looking helpless, not a mode they were used to. She didn’t think she could convince any of them to leave, but she did shoo them away from the end of the bed.
“Push!” Nell sounded surprisingly drill instructor like.
“Me?” Hadleigh enquired between clenched teeth as she gripped Drum’s massive hand and the two of them panted through the pain. Vaughn watched as his second actually winced, Hadleigh must be squeezing the hell out of Drum’s hand.
“No, me!” Gaia yelled. “Hadleigh, don’t you dare push. Cross your legs. But whatever…” Pant. “…you do..” Pant. “…don’t… push.”
Hadleigh glared at the phone as she likewise panted. “I’m not sure if I can help it.”
“Marcus, how dilated is Hadleigh?”
As the team medic, Marcus had trained extensively for a lot of contingencies, but childbirth wasn’t one of them. Sure, he’d attended a mandatory intensive first-aid class or two, but crap, forgive him for switching off mentally when the topic of childbirth had arisen. Excuse him for thinking it was a challenge he would never be faced with.
Riya gave Marcus a sharp elbow to the left kidney as he continued to procrastinate.
Manning up, Marcus sank to his knees, raised the sheet and took a look. Huh, that was certainly a different view. “What do you think?” Marcus raised the sheet slightly higher so that Riya could see.
“Why are you showing me? Because I’m a woman?”
He kind of thought the answer was obvious, she had a kid, but then he supposed when you were giving birth you were focused on a variety of other things. The pain, for one. Damn, Marcus’s gut clenched, he didn’t like the thought of Riya having to go through the birth of her own baby alone. Dipshit loser father should be hunted down and strung up by his ankles.
“Marcus?” Nell’s voice broke through his musings.
“Looks fully dilated to me.”
“No.” Gaia grunted. “I don’t care… Hadleigh is not allowed to push.” A harsh guttural sound followed. Everyone in the room winced, hmmm, so that’s what it sounded like to push a baby out of you, yikes, scarier than facing down a Harpy stricken with a bad case of PMS.
“Can I see?” Flynn’s green rimmed hazel eyes were alight with curiosity.
“No.” Hadleigh’s head whipped around to glare at him. “You stay exactly where I can see you. This is not the nature channel…. Urgh.”
Vaughn sank to his knees next to the bed, grabbing Hadleigh’s other hand. “What can I do?”
Hadleigh glared at the phone as Gaia issued another guttural cry. “I really want to push.” She tensed as sharp pain pulsed through her lower body.
“Then push.” Nell instructed.
“No!” Gaia protested from between harsh pants.
“Everyone who is pregnant, push.” Nell sounded exasperated, which was a rare tone for her to use.
“Here we go.” Vaughn positioned himself so that Hadleigh could lean into him for support as she pushed. “Okay, now pant…. ew, ew, ah.” He looked down at Marcus who gave him a sharp nod. “Okay, and again, get ready-”
“Wait…. Argh… wait. Grrrrrrrrr. It’s coming. Grrrr. My baby… is coming.” Gaia’s last scream tapered off and ten seconds later a high pitched baby’s cry could be heard.
“Okay, Nancy, clean up the baby. Someone get Serge a bucket… and maybe one for Carl too.” There was a click, the background noise was cut off and all they could hear over the speaker was Nell’s calm voice. “It’s a boy. A healthy baby boy. Now, Marcus? Where are we at?”
Hadleigh pushed, she had to, there was no stopping this baby now.
“Ah… I’m seeing the….”
“The crown.” Riya rolled her eyes, hadn’t he ever watched Animal Planet? “The baby is crowning.”
“Okay, good. Hadleigh… you need to push hard now. Vaughn, help her.”
Grrrr, both Hadleigh and Vaughn grit their teeth. Hadleigh pushed. Panted. Fought the urge to push again.
“I see the forehead.” Marcus announced. “Okay, one more big push… now!”
Everyone in the room held their breath as Hadleigh pushed, screaming at the same time, a Warrior’s war cry.
Marcus eased the baby into the world, a little in awe, surprising, given the amount of interesting fluid the baby was covered in. “Vaughn, you want to come down here and cut the cord?”
Riya wrapped the baby in a waiting warm towel, taking a moment to wipe its little face, head and chest clean.
“I don’t hear anything. Is it okay? Is the baby okay?” Hadleigh used Drum to get better leverage, trying to see over everyone’s wide shoulders.
Vaughn turned to her, a tiny bundle in his arms, a goofy smile on his face. “The baby is fine. He’s perfect.”
“A boy?” Hadleigh collapsed back onto the pile of pillows Nate had thoughtfully placed behind her. There was general stunned murmuring as the large Elite Warriors of Maat all tried to get a look see. Vaughn just kept smiling as he approached Hadleigh, sitting on the edge of the bed he handed over the baby. Wrapping an arm around his wife’s shoulders so they could both stare down at the human being they had created.
Hadleigh contemplated the baby. So this was Lump. “He’s kind of red. And so tiny.”
Riya wasn’t sure about tiny. The little boy looked pretty long to her. But then given the height of his parents that wasn’t a surprise.
“How’s his breathing?” Nell enquired over the phone. The sounds of Gaia’s baby boy still crying could be heard faintly in the background.
“Good.” Vaughn murmured as the baby chose that moment to open his eyes and stare up at his parents. “He has Hadleigh’s eyes, or he’s going to.”
“And your hair.” Hadleigh smoothed back faint wisps of white blond hair that covered the baby’s head. “And your nose, chin, and definitely your skin tone.” The baby sighed softly, looking pretty content, if a little dazed to find himself out in the big wide world. “Damn, we don’t have anything here for him, everything is back in the nursery at the Sanctuary.”
The words had barely left Hadleigh’s mouth when the bedroom door opened and Maat sauntered in carrying a large wicker gift basket full of blue and white clothes, toys, blankets, and nappies. “A boy! What a lovely surprise.” Her left hand clutching a large handful of bright blue balloons. Nothing got past their Goddess.
“And just what are we going to call him?” Vaughn reached over to brush the baby’s tiny fist, delighted when his son grabbed hold of his finger tenaciously.
Hadleigh couldn’t comprehend how quickly this tiny human being had stolen her heart. As she stared into those blue eyes that already hinted they would change to her clear grey, she tried to decide what name would suit him best. Opening her mouth, not even aware of what she was going to say she just went with her gut. “Asher.”
“Asher?” Vaughn stared down at his son. “Yeah.”
“Okay.” Nell’s voice interrupted. “I’m going to grab a quick shower and then I’ll be over to check on Hadleigh and the baby in about fifteen minutes… oh, hold on, there’s someone here who wants to say hello.” The sound changed as Nell hit the speaker button on her phone.
“Hadleigh?” It was Gaia, sounding exhausted but happy. “Congratulations. I hear you had a boy.”
“You too.”
“Can you believe it, the first Southern Sanctuary babies born in almost fifteen years. And I… I just wanted to say sorry for being so… silly about the whole giving birth first thing.”
“Um… okay.” Hadleigh wasn’t sure if that was actually an apology or if Gaia was boasting that she had won the non-existent race. Frankly, she didn’t care. Asher was here and he was healthy, that was all that mattered.
“But it all worked out in the end, didn’t it? Theo… that’s what we’re calling him, after Serge’s Dad, got here first.”
“Um.” Dash stepped closer to the phone so he could be heard. “Technically, he didn’t. Australia is over the dateline; you guys are a day ahead. Asher was born your yesterday.” Dash looked pleased that he could set the record straight.
Everyone, including Maat, stared at Dash as if he’d lost his mind.
“I… I…” Gaia’s voice tapered off to be replaced by the sound of exhausted sobbing.
“What?” Dash looked around the room mystified.
“You’re an idiot.” Flynn cuffed his brother up the back of the head.
“What? She was wrong.”
“Guys.” Vaughn looked around the room. “Inside voices, lets not scare the baby.”
Everyone glanced down to make sure the baby was alright. Disconcertingly, Asher met their gazes individually in a strangely assessing manner, as if he was determining how big a threat they were, before dismissing them one by one.
“I think I just got stared down by a newborn.” Drum rumbled gruffly.
“Oh.” Maat leaned over, patting the baby gently on the head. “He’s just not any newborn, are you, Pudding Pop?”
“What are you saying?” Hadleigh queried, suddenly worried. Was there something wrong with Asher?
“Oh, just that with two such extraordinary parents like you, I think we can all expect great things from our gorgeous new addition.”
Hadleigh stared at Maat hard, the Goddess delighted in dropping hints and teasing them about the future without giving any substantial information away. She’d always refused to rise to Maat’s taunts and she wasn’t about to start now. Not when she had something… someone, so much more important to focus upon.
Hadleigh dropped her gaze to find Asher staring up at her. And call her traumatised by the whole birthing experience but if she didn’t know better, Hadleigh would have sworn her newborn son just winked at her.
* * *
“To the new parents.”
Everyone took a sip from their beverage of choice.
“And to Marcus for stepping up, or should that be stepping down to catch the newest addition.”
Glasses were raised once again.
“You okay?” Riya sat down next to Drum on the sofa. They’d moved the celebration to his apartment to give the new parents some breathing space. “You look kind of pale.”
Drum shrugged massively wide shoulders and took a big gulp of whiskey. His head snapping around as the apartment door opened and Nell entered, looking cool and elegant in a dark grey pencil skirt, a filmy sage blue blouse and sky high Louboutin gladiator half shoes. Her honey gold hair was pulled up in a sleek knot, she was smiling, but there were dark circles under her gorgeous blue eyes.
Nell collapsed gracefully, more on top of Drum than the sofa but her meld mate was not complaining as he pulled her in close, wrapping one large muscular arm gently around her delicate shoulders.
“Hey Nell, everything okay with Asher?” Riya leaned forward so she could see around Drum’s bulging chest.
“Mother and baby are in excellent health. Did you see how long he is?”
“I know. And Hadleigh was going on and on about how he’s so tiny. He’s going to be a tall one.”
Nell nodded, smiling. “With that gene pool, I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
Drum, if possible, turned even paler, lifting his glass to throw back the remainder of his whiskey in one large gulp. Riya frowned, watching as Nell absently patted her husband on the chest reassuringly… suddenly a light bulb thought went off in her head.
“You guys?” She made sure to keep her voice low. “You’re pregnant?”
Nell blushed charmingly. “We wanted to wait until… well, I didn’t want to steal Gaia’s thunder.”
“That’s fantastic news.”
Drum issued a low, almost inaudible rumbling sound.
“Oh, ignore He-man.” Nell patted him again. “He’s worried about the mathematics of it all. But I keep telling him I’m perfectly healthy, it will turn out fine.”
“The mathematics?” Riya queried curiously.
Nell chuffed a laugh, rolling her eyes. “Height. Shoulder width. I’m no Hadleigh, chances are our baby will top the percentile size wise.”
Riya glanced at Drum’s double wide shoulders and gave a small shudder. “Yikes.”
Nell tipped her head back and laughed. “I’ll be the one squeezing our progeny out into the world, if I’m not dwelling on it, no one else should be either.” She poked Drum hard in the ribs. “It’s good news. Wonderful news.” Nell sounded weary all of a sudden, and a little emotional.
Drum’s head whipped around, liquid black eyes melting with concern and love. “It is… the best news ever. Come on Doc, you’re all but weaving on your feet. Come lie down with me for an hour.”
Riya watched, smiling as Drum herded Nell towards the bedroom. Huh, must be nice to be partners, to be in love. To have someone respect you, trust you. Riya wanted that on a daily basis.
She couldn’t help it, her gaze drifted over to Marcus who was across the room talking to Nate. Riya’s stomach clenched even as things low in her body tightened. Damn, how could she still want Marcus… love him, when he didn’t respect her, trust her?
Not only did he think her magic was lame, but despite proving how capable she was, Marcus thought she was reckless and declared right to her face that he thought she was stupid.
Riya had briefly considered making a quick escape after Asher was born but she’d seen that wide eyed look in Hadleigh’s eyes. Her cousin was daunted by new motherhood and a little scared of the not-so-tiny bundle she’d been holding in her arms.
Despite the very fast delivery, Hadleigh’s body would need a few days to recover enough before she and Vaughn took the baby back to the Southern Sanctuary. Hadleigh would need support, a friend. Riya couldn’t just up and leave, abandon her.
No, she’d just have to tough it out for a few more days. Avoid Marcus. And it wasn’t like she didn’t have a ton of stuff to do. She had Dimity to watch over. Outfits to get ready for tomorrow’s scheduled photo shoot and a whole slew of half finished baby clothes she could complete, now she knew the sex of Gaia and Hadleigh’s babies. Fate did like to withhold information when it came to the spoilers in her personal life.
Yes, that’s what she needed to do, keep her head down. Keep busy. And above all else, avoid being alone with the temptation that was Marcus. With that in mind, Riya got slowly to her feet, not wanting to attract attention, and began making her way to the door. She could do it, stopping and chatting briefly with Dash. Laughing at a joke Rafe told. Keep moving, keep smiling… the door was right there, she was only ten feet away.
But before Riya could make a discreet escape, a pair of broad shoulders slipped in from the left and bolted out the door first. Marcus was leaving? Ducking out without talking to her?
And yes, okay, she’d been in the process of doing the exact same thing to him, but she had just cause. She was avoiding him. Why the hell was he avoiding her?
Marcus slipped away, he wasn’t being cowardly, he was being discreet. He had a ton of work to do. There was one more contract killer yet to be identified. Plus he needed to start mainlining coffee so he wouldn’t sleep and end up at the mercy of the Dream Vamp. And another thing, he couldn’t go without sleep forever, so he needed to come up with a way to defeat her. Or at least banish the Vamp from his dreams.
And let’s not forget he had Sek and Mot to track down. An ancient sarcophagus and the Mummy corpse of a long dead God of Chaos to find. Oh, and five frustrating chaos rubies to destroy.
See, more than enough work for any man, let alone an Elite Warrior of Maat. More than enough work to keep him occupied. Keep him focused on anything but Riya… the way her waterfall of silken hair shimmered. The way her legs looked long and imminently touchable in that ridiculously short denim skirt.
Grr, and now he was thinking about her again. It had to stop. He had to stop.
Before he did or said something he couldn’t take back, like ask Riya to stay. No, it was too dangerous here for her, she had a kid, family and a business to think about, to put first.
Marcus would give Vaughn a day or two to get over the afterglow of Asher’s arrival and drop a big hint that Riya should be sent on her way. There was nothing and no one to keep her here after all, she’d made it perfectly clear that the sex was just a momentary passing… mistake. That he was a mistake.
Okay, so maybe he was running… just a little bit. Marcus stepped into the elevator, turned, eyes widening as Riya stepped on to the lift right behind him. The green threads in her hazel eyes shimmering brightly with heat. She shot him a hard look before reaching over to stab the button for the production floor. Marcus nodded his thanks, his office being on the same floor. Twenty awkward seconds passed by as the doors slid closed and the elevator descended. He should say something, anything.
“Where are you headed?”
“To check on Dimity. You?”
“Office. Lots of work to catch up on.” Damn, and the reason so much work had piled up was because they’d spent the entire day in bed together. A cascade of hot memories assaulted Marcus. His cock hardened. The lift doors slid open. They both stepped out, stopped, looked at one another, silence stretching between them.
“I’m sure Dimity is fine.” Marcus rasped, hands clenched by his sides, he would not touch her, he would back away, fast. But he continued standing there, staring at Riya.
“And I’m sure your team would send up an alarm if they had found anything.” Riya absently fingered the top button of her shirt… damn, Marcus’s shirt. “I suppose you’re going to want your shirt back eventually?” Was that her voice? Soft? Low? Teasing? Double damn.
Marcus found himself nodding, stepping in closer he hooked two fingers into the low neckline. “It is one of my favourites. I’d hate to lose track of it.”
Riya’s breath caught in the back of her throat, she found herself leaning into his heat. Letting him pull her in closer until only inches separated them. She was so weak when it came to Marcus. What had happened to her dramatically proving her point that she could walk away from the man without a second glance? Damn, even her knees were beginning to tremble.
“By the way, I wasn’t accusing you of being stupid earlier. I was commenting upon the ridiculous risk you undertook. Bargaining with the Stalker like that.”
“He was killing you.”
“But he didn’t… thanks to you. But then you offered yourself up like bait for him to swallow whole.”
“I didn’t factor in that he would head for the patio. It kind of changed things.”
Marcus chuffed an unamused laugh. “I think my heart stopped beating when you went over that railing. One second you were there, and the next, you weren’t. I don’t think I knew what being… terrified meant before that moment.”
Riya’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. Charming had been frightened for her? That’s why he’d gone ballistic? That was kind of… sweet, frustrating because she could take care of herself, but still sweet. “I’m sorry. I hadn’t considered things from your viewpoint.”
“If only I had remembered what you told me about being very good at falling.”
“It’s a family trait. So, we’re… okay?”
“Yes, we’re okay.” Marcus tugged slightly on the front of her shirt, where his fingers were still hooked into the material. “But there’s still the little matter of you holding my lucky shirt hostage.”
“Lucky? I thought you said it was your favourite shirt?”
Marcus began walking backwards down the corridor, pulling Riya along in his wake. Not that she even considered resisting. “It’s my favourite shirt but I think you’ll find that who ever is wearing it is about to get very… very lucky.”
It seems some people were Fated to repeat their mistakes over and over again.