Page 59 of Under the Dragon's Spell
He shook his head. "I want all of you, but if I had to choose…"
I grimaced. It wasn't an easy thing to ask, I knew. "I need you to be on my side."
He gave me a long look, and then he went back to working on his pancakes. "Take your vitamins," he said.
Sighing, I did.
Once he'd served me food and he saw me try to eat the huge portion he'd made, he went out, claiming he had to do research. On what, he didn't say and I didn't ask. Much as I loved him, I could do without him fretting over me for an hour or two. When he was out the door, I grabbed the phone and called my best friend.
"Guess who's having twins…"
She shrieked. I laughed. I felt good, and I was going to bejust fine.
Tyrel went out for research a lot after that, and he never seemed too happy when he came home after, so one night, when I was tired but he obviously couldn't sleep, I asked him what he was doing when he left the house.
"My mother said something weird when I went to talk to her last week."
"What did she say?"
"I inquired why she was so against you and me, and it seems to have something to do with the notion of fated mates."
"That again?" I yawned. Truth be told, I didn't care whether Tyrel and I were fated or not. I enjoyed lying in this bed with him either way, one of his arms around my shoulder, my head on his chest… I never even thought of life before him anymore. With Rory, a part of me had always been scared that everything could be over in a moment. I never got that vibe from Tyrel, and that was enough for me.
"She said they existed, but that people had forgotten them for a reason. She said my father had learned about it somehow."
"Were your parents fated then?"
"It seems that way, although I can't honestly imagine it, the way they parted."
"I guess just because you're fated doesn't mean you don't have to work on your relationship." I closed my eyes and inhaled his scent. I was sleepy, but I was nearing the end of month three, and I was always sleepy now. It was to be expected, I supposed. The kids weren't sleepy, though. I could feel them move. Sometimes it seemed they liked to hear their daddy's voice almost as much as I did.
"It simply feels as if whatever my father discovered… my mother didn't like it, but she's not going to tell me about it."
"Ask him?"
Tyrel snorted. I wasn't surprised by his reaction, but it had been worth a try.
"Do you think our children will be able to use magic on me?" I asked, because that might make being a strict parent difficult at times.
"I don't know," Tyrel said. "But you could resist both me and my mother, so I think you'll be fine."
"Sometimes I can't resist you," I admitted. "And sometimes I don't want to."
He laughed softly, stroking my hair. "I suppose that's only fair, because I can never resist you."
I laughed, too, and then I kissed him. He kissed me back, and everything else slowly ceased to matter. Fated or not, I felt like he was made for me and I for him, and as long as we were together, nothing bad could happen to us.
Optimism didn't change the reality I was facing by the time I entered my fourth month. In short, I was huge, exhausted and miserable. Mostly, I just wanted to stay in bed all day—and I would have, if it hadn't been for the frequent trips to the bathroom the babies forced me to make by chilling out on my bladder. Little bastards.
I was also thirsty a lot. I was thirsty now, and I was about to yell for Tyrel to come bring me something to drink, but he'd left to get more food a short while ago. He didn't do that much anymore, going out. It was as if he feared I was going to topple over and die the moment he left the house, so we ended up watching a lot of bad TV. Which, honestly, I kind of liked. I had a thing for trashy shows and Tyrel didn't seem to mind. The shows we watched seemed a whole world removed from his reality, but they got some laughter out of him. I liked to drift off to that sound, knowing he'd still be there when I woke up.
For now I was alone, though. And I felt one of the little ones kick, as if to tell me to move my lazy ass. Not even born yet, and these kids were already bossing me around. Seemed like I had a couple of interesting years ahead of me. Sighing, I got up on my feet and moved toward the kitchen. Feeling the onset of a dizzy spell, I braced myself on a wall. I had a lot of these recently, so I knew to stop and breathe through it. The babies moved as if they could feel my unease.
"It's alright, kids," I muttered.
And that was the moment everything went black.
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