“I feel like a beached whale!” Mystic told him after they had finished off two huge steaks he had grilled, baked potatoes and a large bowl of ice cream.
“Give it fifteen minutes,” he laughed.
“So you say. I can’t believe I ate all that.”
“Trust me. You’re going to burn through it in no time.”
“I guess we will see. Thank you for dinner. I will let you get on with whatever it is you need to get back to.”
“Nope. I’m all yours for the evening. What do you want to do?”
“Sleep,” she said with a little laugh.
“That will pass, as well. My friend Jake’s surrogate was the same way. I got most of my information from him, rather than Dr. Stanford. Don’t get me wrong, she knows all the science and biology type stuff, but I wanted more of a day to day perspective on it. Only difference was that it took his surrogate several months to get pregnant and he made sure she ate properly from the moment she did. That’s on me. I signed up for this. I signed you up for this. I won’t let you down again.”
“Stuff happens. I’m fine. Don’t sweat it.”
“Well, like I said. It won’t happen again. I hope you don’t begin to feel claustrophobic, but you’re going to be under a bit closer watch from now on. I will try to make sure you don’t feel like a spectator sport around here, but I don’t want you left unmonitored after today.”
“That’s a bit much, don’t you think?”
“No, I don’t,” he said.
There was something about the way he said it that made her feel like maybe there was more to this than she knew, but it wasn’t her business when it got right down to it. She’d like to think this was some sweet little romance budding, but it wasn’t. He was, by his own admission, not interested in settling down. She read that as him being a bit of a playboy. He might be rich and gorgeous, but he certainly wasn’t someone she should mistake for a potential partner. She had made that mistake once and she was older, wiser, and broke as a result.
At least things between them were a little more comfortable now, which meant she might make it through this pregnancy without going completely mad. That, alone, was something worth begin thankful for. He was right about the sleepiness. It passed as they settled in to the den to watch a movie, some weird film about people exploring an alien world. Last week, she would have called it farfetched, but today, it seemed like there might be a lot she still didn’t know about the world around her. If there were shifters that turned into creatures no one believed existed, perhaps there were also aliens. After the movie, she realized she was feeling tired again and decided to head off to bed.
“Okay. I’m going to wake you for breakfast in the morning. I promise,” he told her.
“I’d prefer to set my alarm,” she told him.
“I understand. I’m sorry that I’ve offended you so much in the past couple of days.”
“No. It’s not about that. I’m just a little weird about people waking me up in the morning. I prefer to do it on my own,” she replied.
“Okay. Well, then, breakfast will be ready at eight. The staff will be back then, so it won’t be up to me. Whatever time you want to get up is fine. Just come downstairs by eight and if you get hungry in the night or before then, you can use the intercom to buzz my room or just go down to the kitchen and help yourself, if you feel up to it. If you feel weak, I’d prefer that you wake me.”
“Buzzer?” she asked.
Mystic thought about the layout of her room. She didn’t remember seeing a buzzer of any sort in there. Rocco grimaced and shook his head.
“Another thing I should have shown you when you got here. Todd is a sweet kid, but not the best escort around the place. His mom told me he took you for a tour.”
The last part of that seemed to be a quick add-on to what he was saying. She had a feeling that Todd’s mother hadn’t mentioned it, probably hadn’t even seen him. Instead, she found herself wandering if the place was all on cameras. The more she thought of it, the more she realized it probably was, for security reasons.
“I’m headed to bed too. I’ll show you on our way up.”
Rocco followed her up the stairs and into her room. Inside, he showed her a small panel that she hadn’t even noticed on the wall beside her bed. It looked like a part of the wall other than a very thin handle to put your fingers into and slide sideways. It wasn’t really hidden. She just hadn’t noticed it because she had felt so tired. There were various buttons labeled for the kitchen, the den, his study and his bedroom. There was a red button that was unmarked.
“What is the red one?”
“Don’t push that one unless you are in trouble. I mean, real trouble, like someone broke into your room or you are dying.”
“Why? What does it do?” she asked.
“I’d rather not say. If it becomes necessary, you’ll find out, but hopefully, you won’t need it.”
Mystic looked at him, puzzled. So much of his life was a mystery. It was intriguing and, she had a feeling, probably more dangerous than she wanted to know about. At the same time, she found herself wondering if she were in any real danger here.
“Sounds mysterious.”
“It’s not. Just the equivalent of calling in the cavalry, which shouldn’t be necessary. Trust me when I say you shouldn’t push it unless necessary. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Alright. I’m going to get going then and let you get your rest. I will see you in the morning.”
“Of course. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Mystic.”
There was something about the way he said her name that made her long for him to stay and hold her, lull her to sleep, perhaps more. Instead, she pushed those thoughts aside and got ready for bed once he was gone, pulling her door shut behind him as he left. Just as it had been the night before, she fell asleep almost instantly the moment her head hit the pillow.
She quickly fell into a dream. In it, she was somewhere unfamiliar. It was dark and seemed like endless darkness around her. She was outside, but there were no landmarks, no trees or paths. It was just black and void all around her, only sound guided her as she ran away from loud, thundering sounds. Something was chasing her, but those weren’t footsteps. It was only as they gained on her that she realized it was the sound of large wings breaking the air around them.
She was overcome by dragons, flying low and knocking her off her feet. One dropped to the ground and approached her. It was then that she realized she was hugely pregnant, her belly bulging on the verge of delivery from the looks of it. The dragon hissed and she screamed, trying to scramble to her feet to run away, but it grabbed her in its talons and took flight into the darkness.
Then, the dream just ended. There was no horrible ending or glorious rescue. It just stopped and she was suddenly looking into the light from a tunnel it seemed. She began walking, trying to find the end, but it didn’t seem to come, always seeming as far away as it had from the moment she had begun to move toward it. She didn’t know how long the dream went on or what it meant, but it was disrupted by the sound of a low chime that grew increasingly louder.
She opened her eyes, disoriented for a moment before realizing it was the sound of her alarm that had woken her. Getting out of bed, she got a shower and dressed for breakfast, the dream already fading away as it was replaced by thoughts of how ravenous she was. Rocco wasn’t kidding that this baby needed to eat. After last night’s dinner, she had thought she wouldn’t be hungry at all, even the next morning. Instead, she felt like she could eat another steak with all the trimmings . . . for breakfast!
Making her way downstairs today was far different from yesterday when the house had seemed abandoned. It was full of life, with staff members going about their jobs all over. Todd greeted her in the foyer with a bright smile.
“Good morning, Mystic!”
“Good morning, Todd.”
“Todd, come on and leave her to her breakfast. We’ve got work to do,” his mom told him impatiently. She nodded in greeting and escorted him quickly toward the hallway that led to the elevator.
Mystic continued on to the kitchen, where Joan and the staff were already well into the process of making breakfast. She walked through and had a seat at the large dining table in the adjoining dining room, for the lack of knowing what else to do.
“You’ll probably be more comfortable in the breakfast nook,” Joan told her, stepping inside the room for a moment.
“Oh? I didn’t know there was one. I thought this was the dining room.”
“You can eat in here if you prefer, but it’s usually only used for formal meals.”
Mystic shrugged and stood up to follow her. She and Rocco had eaten at the larger table last night, so she had assumed it was the usual place for meals. Now, she wondered why he had chosen to eat in the more formal setting. Just another mystery to figure out.
Joan led her through a pair of doors she had assumed went to a pantry of some sort. Todd hadn’t taken her through here on their tour the day before. She was surprised to find a small round nook enclosed on three sides by glass so that there was a view of the front of the estate from the table. Taking a seat at the table, she found herself being served with a glass of juice, water and milk. She looked at it all for a moment, wondering why she’d want to drink all of it, but by the time Rocco had arrived and their breakfast was eaten, she’d finished all three glasses and asked for more water.
“This pregnancy is crazy,” she mumbled.
“Why is that?” Rocco asked, not realizing she was mostly talking to herself.
“It’s like you see in crazy horror movies where someone just goes mad and eats everything. You know, they are always hungry and want to eat everything. That’s how I feel right now.”
“It’s just because you aren’t used to eating this way. It will get more normal when you get accustomed to eating like this.”
“I just hope I don’t keep eating like this after the baby is born! I know you said the baby would burn most of it off, but what if I get used to eating this way and keep eating until I’m just a blob!”
“You won’t,” he replied, starting to laugh.
“How do you know?”
“I know other women who have had shifter babies and are just as small, if not smaller, after they’ve had the baby. It’s just your metabolism shifting into overdrive and once the baby isn’t there anymore, it will shift back down to whatever is normal for you. You can talk to the nurse about it when she arrives. She will tell you the same. Besides, so what if it doesn’t change? You could weigh twice as much and you’d still be a beauty.”
“Be careful now. That was almost a compliment.”
“It’s just the truth. Now, let’s go. I have something to show you.”
“What?”
“Just come with me and you will see. I sure hope our kid has more patience than you do!”
Mystic was speechless. His referring to the baby as theirs had thrown her off a bit. She knew it was just a figure of speech and he didn’t really mean anything by it, but it still threw her off a little. Putting down her napkin on the table, she finished the last of the water Joan had topped off for her earlier and followed him out.
Much to her surprise, he led her to the elevator and inserted a key to the fourth floor. So, perhaps one mystery was about to be solved.