SEVEN
With the same resolve they had shown in the building of their respective businesses, Macy and Aaron prepared for what would within a year be their new reality as a party of five.
Aaron continued to accompany Macy to all of her doctor’s appointments. This was perhaps the easiest part of it, as each of them was “the boss” at work and could get the time off with no problem. Other adjustments posed a bit more of a challenge.
The first decision was never to spend another night apart. That was the happiest part of their “new normal,” spending every night either at the penthouse or Macy’s apartment. At the beginning, their evenings and overnights were filled with “we’re expecting babies” celebration sex, which was in every way as satisfying as the time they had spent in bed that one fateful weekend, if not more so. After several weeks of this—and of Aaron helping Macy through morning sickness that did not necessarily come first thing in the morning, but was apt to strike at any time of day—came the next decision: to occupy a single residence. The most practical thing, of course, was for Macy to move to the penthouse, which she did. In a very real way, Aaron found himself in a place where he never thought he’d be, at least not now: making space in his home for one woman who would be there for keeps, and changing one of the bedrooms to a nursery.
Then again, the part that made him feel a warmth inside that he’d never known in his life was that very thing of knowing that Macy would be there for keeps and that soon his penthouse would be the home of his family. The alpha dragon had made his nest. It made him feel swollen and puffed up with pride to know this. Let half his walk-in closet and drawer space now be taken up with a woman’s things. Let a woman’s things now occupy his bathroom. Let three cribs and assorted baby things now fill one of his rooms. He was a dragon with a nest, and every unfolding day made him love the reality all the better.
Aaron studied up on the needs of a pregnant spouse—or lover, as the case may be—and made himself an expert on tending to Macy’s needs. One day, he surprised her with a full-body pillow for the bed. Pregnant women, he had learned, did best sleeping on their sides; the full-body pillow was designed to support the back and cradle the belly. Macy would start using this when she began to show. It impressed her that Aaron was actually being proactive about the whole thing and planning things ahead. He was already looking out for her and the little Nathairfear they were expecting, which gave her a most welcome sense of security.
Other things presented a bit more of a challenge, and it was difficult to say whether they were more challenging for Macy or for Aaron. It was Aaron’s love of raw, unbridled, uninhibited, constant sex, and Macy’s love of Aaron’s body and what he brandished below the waist, that had brought them together, and in the carnal abandon of sex, they had fallen in love. But in the third trimester came an abrupt and steep downward shift in Macy’s sex drive. To Aaron’s utter dismay, even though he had read about this and knew it was possible, Macy entered a phase of either wanting him inside her just once a night or not at all. Aaron did his best to cover his disappointment and frustration at this, accustomed as he was to getting as much as he wanted whenever he wanted it. Entering a dry spell, and one should only pardon the expression, was a complete shock to Aaron’s libido. He did not complain to Macy because it would only make him sound insensitive and selfish, and hurt her feelings. But during this time, Aaron found himself spending more time in the gym than he had spent since his early modeling days, straining and grunting with his weights and on his machines the way he wished he were doing on top of his frustratingly disinterested mate. Alone in the shower after a workout, he would gratify himself with his hand the way he wished Macy were gratifying him with her mouth or with a vigorous pumping between her thighs, and he would pour out his appreciation onto the shower floor as he wished he were pouring it into her.
It was to his everlasting credit, however, that Aaron never came to Macy with indignation or wounded pride or masculine demands. He was not that kind of Alpha. Instead, at those moments when he was feeling most depressed for want of sex, or when Macy was feeling most uncertain and insecure and frightened, Aaron never missed an opportunity to reassure her of his real feelings. One night, Aaron came into the bedroom from the shower after a workout, towel draped over his shoulders but otherwise naked. His hose hung stiffening, hoping for at least one time inside Macy in spite of the odds against it. He found her sitting up on the bed, clad only in a T-shirt—crying. For an instant, he froze there, the sight of Macy in tears cutting cruelly through him. Then, he bolted from where he stood and bounded onto the bed to take her in his arms and ask her what was wrong. Macy poured out her heart with her tears about her own frustrations with working through nausea and the image of herself becoming fat and unattractive, and her worries about her loss of desire leaving Aaron unsatisfied, and her fear that not being there for Aaron sexually would make him not want her. Aaron held her and took in all the feelings she was expressing, and when she was done, he softly, gently told her, “Sweetheart, not wanting you, that’s not going to happen. I never expected you to end up carrying one of my kids, let alone three. But here we are, looking forward to something neither of us has ever expected, and it’s hard on both of us—but it doesn’t nearly turn me off. Not a bit. I’ll tell you what: it makes me proud. I'm proud of us for committing to this. I’m proud of you for wanting to have my kids. And I’ll tell you something else: the day you told me you were pregnant, I thought I knew how much I’d fallen in love with you. But it didn’t even come close to how it feels now. I’ve loved you more every day, not less. I fall in love with you more all the time.”
Macy wanted to cry again, hearing that. But instead, she felt as though the tears were evaporating inside her, dried by the light of Aaron’s love. She took herself from his embrace just enough to kiss him, a long kiss of unfolding joy. She then broke the embrace and pushed herself to her side of the bed—and peeled off the T-shirt. Casting it aside, she lay herself down naked and offered herself to Aaron. She was not showing—yet—but she soon would be. And she searched his eyes for the look of thrilling lust that he’d worn when they were first together. She found it and more. Aaron cast the towel aside, reached over, and petted her muff and stroked her moistening petals and bud. Responding, she petted his hand and his wrist while he petted and played with her sex, and glanced down his body to see his member standing at full, hot, and pulsating attention. With a gaze back into his eyes, Macy invited him. At Macy’s deep sigh and the dreamily aroused shutting of her eyes, he moved on top of her and slipped his fully erect pipe into her. He made the humping last a long time. He went slowly, pausing to hold it inside her and grind his crotch in circles against her mound, stoking the fire inside them and making it hotter, then continuing his deliberate and sweet thrusts. Having missed it so many nights, Aaron wanted to make it something for them both to savor, and they did. He was in her for almost an hour before he came, having brought her to climax by the rubbing of his pubis at her bud. It was the only time he did it to her that night, but that night, once was plenty.
Macy insisted on continuing to work. Her business was exactly that—her business. She owned it and was responsible for everything that happened in it, regardless of the present situation. Her condition notwithstanding, she wanted to work. She could easily have gone on leave, delegated most of her work to staff, and telecommuted, supervising from afar, and Aaron had suggested it to her more than once. Each time, her answer was the same. She had no interest in spending her days hanging around the penthouse, going back and forth from bed to the gym to the office to the bathroom. She needed to work until the last possible moment, even if it meant she was in the middle of a commercial shoot when her water broke. Aaron cared neither for the idea of it nor the image that it put in his mind. He would much rather have her at home, preferably with him, when that time came, so that he could take care of her on the spot. But there was actually no way of knowing when and under what circumstances the moment would come, and Aaron decided the wiser thing was to give in and not fight her on this. He made no protest at Macy continuing to work, and work she did.
_______________
In the eleventh week, Macy could just fit into a non-maternity party dress for the annual Manhattan Media Awards gala. It came every year, and every year she went, as she had been doing since she worked for her father. Everyone who worked in print and electronic media in New York, and everyone who used media firms in the city, attended. It was a night to see and be seen, to socialize and make contacts and initiate deals and proposals. Even if she had been showing, Macy would have wanted to go. She would have gone proudly, pregnant “out to there” with Aaron on her arm, and held up her head. As it happened, there was no need for her to present herself to her gathered industry and its clients in full bloom of pregnancy, and there would be no need to mention it at all if she preferred to keep it quiet. If anyone pointed out that she was gaining a little weight, it would be easy enough for Macy to say that she was now living with a billionaire who was spoiling her and leave it at that. She would play it by ear, and whatever happened would just happen. Outside the entrance to their building, Rudd Ainsleigh was waiting by a white limousine in which he would drive them to the party. Rudd complimented Macy on how especially lovely she looked this evening. Macy thanked him, he helped her and Aaron into the spacious back seat, and off they went.
The event was held at the Plaza Hotel and was as glittering as ever. It reminded her of the night she and Aaron met, except in a public setting. There was an awards presentation, at which it happened that Macy and her firm were not nominated for anything this year. Macy did not care. She had her award, and he had given her three little prizes that she would treasure more than any plaque or statue.
It was the same beautiful, glittering evening that it always was, and Macy had no reason to expect it to be anything else—until it came time for the after-dinner socializing.
At first, nothing seemed amiss. She expected to be surrounded by other women, mostly those she knew or those with whom she had worked, who were intrigued at, and a little envious of her relationship with Aaron, and wanted to know all about the two of them. And she was. As soon as dessert was over and people began to get up from their tables and cross over to other tables to talk, and gather together in clusters of friends and acquaintances, Macy found herself in one part of the room with other formally dressed women while Aaron became part of a nearby knot of men in suits in another part of the room. Aaron took care to keep Macy within his line of sight, attentive to his mate and the mother of his nest even when they were not within arm’s length. Out of the corner of her eye, Macy watched him watching her even as she was set upon by fascinated females.
Macy was buffeted with questions, some of them more intimate than she would expect anyone to ask. But then again, she was in the company of other women, and women did like to talk. Some of the things they were asking her, she would expect to be confined to the more discreet setting of a ladies’ restroom, but at least they were lowering their voices. She was rather relieved that the most intimate and personal questions came from the women who knew her best or those with whom she had worked most closely, but still, this was hardly the kind of talk in which she expected to be engaging this evening. She supposed she was being naive to think they would not ask these things. She was, after all, living with and sharing the bed of one of the wealthiest, hottest men in New York and indeed the whole country. It was to be expected that people would want to know these things. Macy minded her manners and either answered as discreetly as she could or deflected as gracefully as she knew how.
Through it all, she was sorely tempted just to blurt out, I’m pregnant with him, and we’re having triplets, just to see how they’d all react. She pictured the cluster of women surrounding her to make such a collective gasp that everyone present would faint for a sudden lack of oxygen. She imagined lower jaws dropping onto bosoms, eyes bouncing forth like ping pong balls, squeals rising to the ceiling. People were always taken aback to learn that a human woman was having a child with a Nathairfear regardless, but if Macy were to drop this piece of information on them that she was expecting three little dragons, the hotel staff would no doubt be running for the smelling salts. She volunteered no information on that subject.
Her next surprise was the last person to join in on the conversation.
The woman came striding up in a flowing, off-white gown, moving in a way that made her seem almost as if she were levitating over the floor. Macy blinked at the newcomer at first, certain that she had seen this person somewhere before. She was definitely familiar; the decoration—no, the transformation—of parts of her skin was definitely something that Macy had seen, and she soon remembered where. The red hair and the natural dragon scales on her neck, shoulders, and arms, and the rows of small horns dotting either side of the top of her forehead all took Macy back to the night that changed her life. She had seen this woman, though not spoken any more than common pleasantries to her, the night of Aaron’s birthday party.
She stopped in front of Macy. Other women nearby instinctively moved to one side, as human females sometimes did in the presence of a dragon female showing her nature. Macy suspected the woman had shifted part of her human skin into scales deliberately, both to get her attention and to create a space in the gathering and the conversation. And it worked. Everyone went silent at the arrival of Sophia Leland.
“Macy, how do you do? I hope you remember me,” Sophia said.
“Yes, Sophia, I remember you,” said Macy, cordially and curiously.
“I know we didn’t have much of a chance to talk at Aaron’s party,” said Sophia, “but you caught my eye that evening because I could tell how much you’d caught Aaron’s eye. I noticed how he never let you out of his sight once he arrived.”
Macy glanced over at Aaron again, and once again he was casting a watchful eye in her direction, noting that she and Sophia were speaking. “Aaron,” she said, politely turning her attention back to Sophia, “is a very good host.”
“Yes…yes, he is,” Sophia replied in a tone that suggested she knew something that she wasn’t saying.
At that moment, Macy flashed back to that night and remembered the little pas de deux that she and Aaron had done, and of course the hot little detour into the wine room. It was to be expected that people might notice something going on as an undercurrent to the rest of the party. Other people who were there had mentioned to Macy that they sensed something might be going on and that the only surprising thing about her present relationship with Aaron was that it was still in progress and had turned into something that seemed at least to have the intention of permanence. She wondered again what they would think if she told them just how “permanent” it had worked out to be.
In another flash, Macy also remembered what Aaron had told her about Sophia Leland. Oh no, it couldn’t be… she thought, and then she realized that if there were any truth to the redhead’s reputation, she might already have an insight into Macy’s situation that no one else shared.
Sophia asked, “Could I impose on you for a moment, Macy, to discuss something personal? I hope you won’t mind…”
Macy glanced around at the other women gathered and tried to read their quizzical expressions before she politely replied, “Um…of course, Sophia. Is there some problem?”
“I wouldn’t call it a ‘problem,’” Sophia replied. “It’s just something I’d rather discuss between us.”
Macy guessed that the other women must suspect that Sophia and Aaron were once lovers, and that the private matter she wanted to discuss was between one of Aaron’s past bedmates and his present lover, and it was thus for their ears alone. She said to her other friends, “You all don’t mind if I give Sophia a minute, do you?”
There were no objections. The group of women calmly dispersed, and Macy and Sophia went to a place near a wall, away from the main body of the party. Macy once again checked for Aaron’s glance and found his eyes darting away from the men with whom he was conversing to keep tabs on her.
Once they were away from everyone else, Sophia, having no more need of the scales on her skin as her calling card, let her reptilian flesh melt back to completely human, and asked Macy, “It’s not about me, actually. I was more interested in knowing about you.”
“What about me?” Macy asked.
“I’ve just been wondering how everything has been going with you…and Aaron. I’m really not one for eavesdropping, but certain thoughts have a way of standing out…”
Macy arched her brows at that. “‘Certain thoughts…?’”
“Well, yes,” Sophia said frankly. “There are some things—the most important things—that are never far from a person’s mind.”
“And you picked up on something…from me?”
Sophia grinned, almost like a red-haired Cheshire Cat. “Yes, I did. I’m sure you know about me. Aaron must have told you. Yes, I see the moment now; he did tell you.”
Macy blinked. In fact, she was just remembering that Aaron told her who Sophia was and what she did for some of the newspapers that Aaron owned. Did Sophia actually “see” and “hear” that? From Macy’s own thoughts? Could it actually be true and not just a “reputation”? Macy was reluctant to go to the exotic, paranormal answer until she was absolutely sure that all other answers were off the table.
Carefully, Macy asked, “Just what is it that you think you’ve…‘picked up?’”
Sophia almost chuckled at that. “You don’t need to be so cautious about it, Macy. Everyone knows what I do. And I promise I’m not about to go telling people. I’m not a gossip columnist; I’m a psychic, and I don’t put out information without people’s permission. I was just interested because it’s a very unique, very special—possibly very important—position you’re in now, expecting Aaron’s children.”
Macy felt her skin turn suddenly as clammy as some people thought a reptile’s skin was. She took a step away from the dragon female and, in a startled and nervous hush, said, “You…know that?”
“Yes,” said Sophia, again being candid. “I know that the little bump under your gown is not from eating a billionaire’s rich food. I know you’ll start to show more in another couple of weeks. And I know there are three of them. Triplets.”
Raising a hand to her throat as if to choke off a sudden wave of nausea, Macy could only say, “You actually know that…”
“I do,” replied Sophia. “And I also know that you’re not really aware of how important your pregnancy might be. That is, important in ways you haven’t realized.”
Now Macy’s nerves were on edge. “What are you talking about?”
“You mean Aaron has never spoken to you about this?” Sophia considered, then answered herself, “No, of course he hasn’t. He’s not spiritual, is he? He wouldn’t…”
“Spoken to me about what?” Impatience crept into Macy’s voice.
“There’s a prophecy about this,” replied Sophia. “In our faith, we have a prophecy, the Prophecy of the Dragons Three. We all learn about this, even those of us who stop practicing the faith. Naturally, since Aaron doesn’t have a spiritual life to speak of, he’d never bring it up…”
Macy now felt the tension in her shoulders that warned her that her patience was growing ever more finite. “Will you please just tell me what this is about?” she insisted. “I don’t know about any Prophecy of any Dragons Three, and if you want to know the truth, I’m about as ‘spiritual’ as Aaron is.”
“Of course you are,” said Sophia. “That’s probably why you’re such a good match for him. You’re both such…physical people. The Prophecy of the Dragons Three goes back to the beginning of our kind, when the Vonsahlans first created us out of the common people of Kinross Green, Scotland. From that day to now we’ve waited for the day our makers would return. And we’ve had a prophecy about who would help them come back. Our ancestors foretold of the day when three weredragons with gifts of the mind would use the Beacon that the travelers left behind and help them return to Earth. We’ve waited for that day. We’ve known it was coming, and we’ve waited for the sign of three Nathairfear born with special gifts. Your children, Macy, could be important—very important.”
Macy frowned, already weary of this dialogue and the portentous supernatural overtones of it. She had always found human superstitions tiresome and she was quickly finding dragon superstitions were not much better. “My children,” she said with a touch of defensiveness, “are very important.”
“They may be important to more than just you,” Sophia maintained. “They may be important to all of our kind and the world. You should raise them in the faith, help them be ready for when the time comes.”
And now, Macy was no longer even mildly amused. “Listen,” she said, “I don’t know how you found out that I’m pregnant or that I’m having triplets. If someone at the hospital leaked confidential medical information to you, there’s going to be a hell of a lawsuit, and Aaron and I may be taking them and you to court. If you do have these psychic gifts you claim to have, and that’s how you know I’m pregnant, I wish you’d keep your talents to yourself—that, and your ideas about the way I should raise my children. Aaron and I will decide how to bring them up for ourselves.”
“Macy, please,” said Sophia. “I don’t mean to frighten or offend you and I didn’t want to make you angry. I only wanted you to know what your family could mean. Your children could have the most incredible future. When the Vonsahlans return, they could bring secrets from their world, from so many other worlds, to share with us in ours. It could change everything. It could be the beginning of a new age…”
“Our children, Aaron’s and mine, have already changed our world. And we’re looking forward to it changing for the better. We’ll love them and take care of them.” Macy paused a meaningful beat before she added, “And we’ll protect them. We’ll be responsible for them growing up safe and healthy. And we have the means to do it for ourselves. If we need help, we’ll decide who comes into their lives and what kind of influence they have over our children. We’ve got all that covered. And if they grow up to change the world, it will be because they’ve been raised smart and strong and brought up to care and be kind. They won’t need any special gifts. Just being who they are will be gifts enough.”
“If they have the kind of gifts I think they may have,” Sophia pressed, “they’ll need to have someone in their lives who can help them develop in the proper way, teach them how to use what they’ve been given. Oh please, Macy, I know you’ve always lived in a human world of human ideas…”
Macy cut her off. “There are plenty of people with ‘ideas’ like this in the human world. Look, this is upsetting me. You’ve come to me knowing something that Aaron and I have kept private, and you’re bringing up all these magical ideas about who my children are and what they’ll do in the future, and I don’t need to hear any of it. And frankly, I can’t believe you’d risk your job over this. When Aaron finds out that you’ve been coming to me with these stories about our kids, which you’re not supposed to know about, what do you think he’ll do? He could not only fire you, but blackball you from ever working anywhere else. Is that what you want?”
Soberly, Sophia answered, “I don’t believe Aaron would do that. I don’t believe he’d be so small, so petty and vindictive.”
“It’s not ‘small, petty, and vindictive’ to look out for your family—which I know Aaron would do. I suggest you drop this or there’s going to be trouble, maybe trouble that you can’t afford.”
“I truly didn’t mean to upset you,” said Sophia. “And I would never, ever have any kind of inappropriate intentions towards your children.”
“Then we’d really better end this conversation right now. It won’t come to anything good. I’m going to go back to Aaron, and I’m going to tell him about this. I don’t want you to lose your job or be kept from working, so all I’m going to do is have him warn you that our family is off limits from now on. I think I have enough of an influence with Aaron to save your career—as long as you agree to stay away and keep your…faith…away from us and the kids. Understand?”
Sophia sighed, finding herself no match for a mother’s instincts and protectiveness, and said, “I understand. And I hope someday you understand. I think the future says you will. When the time comes, I think you will. That’s all I’ll say. I’ll leave you alone now. I’m sorry—but I believe we will be speaking again.”
Macy watched the dragon woman turn and glide away back into the party. She took a moment to compose herself, touching her stomach and silently telling the three growing inside her that everything would be all right. Then, having mostly kept her calm, and satisfied that she would be no more upset tonight than she had been during her strange and unnerving talk with the “psychic,” Macy found Aaron still in that same group of men where she’d last seen him. She studied them for a moment, focusing her attention not on Aaron but on the man standing nearest to him, who seemed to be addressing Aaron in the same grave and portentous manner in which Sophia had accosted her. There was something familiar about him as well. She tried to remember talks that she and Aaron had had about people that he knew, people with whom he’d done business, and other Nathairfear with whom he’d had dealings of one kind or another. She was sure this was someone that Aaron had brought up in some conversation. She couldn’t place him at first.
Then, she did. She realized who the man was—and knew that Aaron was probably now in a spot not unlike the one in which Macy had found herself. Perhaps it was time for the dragon’s lady to take a hand in the dragon’s affairs.