Tymber Dalton - Triple Dog Dare

“Down’s syndrome, yes. Is she going to keep the baby?”

“Yes, she says she is.”

Lacey let out a relieved sigh. “Oh, good.”

“Um, why?”

“You might not want me to tell you.”

“Saying stuff like that doesn’t discourage me from asking, you know.”

“I saw something. I don’t know what exactly it means, but that little girl is very important. Protect her at all costs.”

“And I can’t tell anyone that?”

“No. Things will grow apparent to you eventually. You might even have visions of your own about it.”

Unable to help it, Lina caught herself stroking her own belly, where her twins were apparently having an in utero summersault competition. “Why can’t you tell me?”

“Because all the pieces aren’t together yet.”

Lacey looked across her living room at where Baba Yaga, in her matron form, was sitting on her couch and sipping a mug of coffee. Jasper sat in front of her, wagging his tail and hoping for more of the treats she’d fed to him earlier.

Lina sounded frustrated. Lacey couldn’t blame her. “What pieces?” Lina asked.

“I don’t know,” Lacey fibbed. “But please, trust me.”

Lina sighed on the other end of the line. “All right.”

“I have to go now. Thank you. Take care, and say hi to everyone for me.” She hung up and looked at Baba Yaga. “Good enough?”

The matron nodded. “Yes.”

“Why aren’t you telling Lina this yourself?”

“Because I believe she’s a little irritated at me right now. I’ve been avoiding her because she needs to be able to stand on her own and learn to trust her instincts. Suffice it to say, it’s better the information comes from you than from me. If she talks with me now, she will lose her focus on what’s important.” She finished her coffee and gave Jasper one last pat on the head before standing.

“I feel like I lied to her,” Lacey said.

“You didn’t lie. You had a vision, and you’re passing on what you can.”

Lacey arched an eyebrow at her. “You showed me the vision, of what’s to happen in the future.”

Baba Yaga shrugged. “Doesn’t matter where the vision comes from, does it?”

“No, I suppose not.”

“Regardless, they cannot ever let their guard down. Rodolfo Abernathy, among others, will kill to get their hands on that little girl in the future. She must be protected until she can fulfill her own destiny.” She set the coffee mug on the counter.

Lacey put a hand on her to keep her from leaving. “Is she going to die?”

“One day. Do you mean right now? No.” She pointed a warning finger at Lacey. “I will tell you this because we are good friends. You cannot pass it on to anyone. That little girl will live a long and happy life as long as those around her take heed of my warning.” She smiled. “ Your warning, I should say. Remember, Lina cannot know I was the source of this. You know how she feels about me sometimes. I don’t need to be on her bad side right now. She’s going to have her hands full with her babies. I would only be an unwanted distraction.”

“Daniel talked to me. He asked me about nightmares Callie is having. You wouldn’t happen to have any information on that, would you?”

Baba Yaga frowned. “He talked to me about them a few months ago. Is she still having them?”

“He says she has no memories of them when she wakes up.”

“I swear to you, I don’t know why she is.” She went silent for a moment. “I will follow up with Daniel and my sister. Deal?”

Lacey nodded. With that, Baba Yaga disappeared.

Lacey dropped onto her sofa. Jasper shoved his head into her lap. She absently stroked his head as she pondered the immortal’s warnings.

To take Mai’s mind off the news, Lina, Elain, and Carla decided to throw her a kick-ass baby shower-slash-belated bridal shower.

Well, mating shower.

None of the women had the heart to leave the men out of the celebration, so they included them in the fun. Following an afternoon full of games, snacks, and cake, Elain eventually snuck away to have a few minutes alone.

Elain sat on a fallen log at the edge of the woods and stared at the house. On the lanai, she could hear the happy sounds of her family, both real and adopted, celebrating. She didn’t look up when Ain separated from the group and silently walked across the yard to join her on the log.

He clasped her hand in his. “Penny for your thoughts?” he finally asked.

She took a deep breath and let it out as a long sigh. “I don’t know what I’m thinking right now. The past few weeks have been nuts. I’m still trying to sort it all out.” She looked at him. “And I feel bad for Mai and her guys.”

“Why?”

She arched an eyebrow at him. “Duh.”

He shrugged. “Does it look like they’re feeling sorry for themselves?”

She watched the three lovebirds chatting with Zack and Kael. All of them were smiling and apparently happy.

Ain let go of her hand and draped his arm around her shoulders. “Let me let you in on a little secret. While we might have a shitload in common with wild wolves, there is something we don’t share. If a child is born with a disability, we gather around the family to love and protect the child. We don’t kick it out of the den to die.”

She snorted. “I bet the Abernathys would.”

“You’re not half wrong. But if you haven’t guessed, there aren’t any other Clans who do stuff the way Rodolfo Abernathy does things. And for damn good reason.”

She laid her head on his shoulder and watched the festivities.

“What else is bothering you?” he quietly asked.

Why deny it? “I want a baby,” she whispered. “I didn’t think I would. At least, not anytime soon. But I do. I really do.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Not right now.”

He must have felt her tense to rebut him, but he squeezed her tightly against him. “I don’t mean that as an order. I made you a promise to do things our way for six months, and that I wouldn’t get you pregnant during those six months. Remember?”

“Oh. Oh, yeah.” He had, after she rescued him from the animal shelter in Virginia. She sighed. “Can I ask you to let go of that promise?”

He chuckled and pulled her into his lap. With his hand on her chin, he gently tipped her head so he could stare into her eyes. “I keep my promises, love. I promised to be a kinder, gentler Prime. And yes, I do want children. As much as part of me would love to carry you back into the woods here and take you right now, I think we need to wait. A few more months isn’t a long time. You’re going to be an aunt to Mai’s pup, as well as to Lina’s…well, whatever they call baby dragons.”

She laughed.

“There’s my girl,” he said. He kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and slowly savored it. When he lifted his mouth from hers, he said, “Believe me, when we’ve all sat down and talked about it and we know all four of us are on board, then okay. I’ll fuck your sweet brains out until you’re pregnant.” He slipped one hand down her body and laid it on her belly. “I’ll kiss your beautiful body every morning and thank you for being our mate.”

She laced her fingers through his. “I don’t know. I’ve heard women in labor curse their men. Remember what I did to Paul Abernathy.”

He nuzzled the side of her neck. “I’ll make sure I have a set of three locking steel chastity belts ready to protect us.”

That made her laugh. She snuggled in his arms and watched as Liam and her mom talked off to one side of the lanai. She didn’t miss how often her mom smiled at something Liam said, and how he’d been looking at her the past few days. She didn’t want to hope despite what Lina had said, but some tiny piece of little girl still inside her desperately prayed.