Page 36 of Vawn
“Ah, thank you.” I found it weird how Ret went from not wanting me near his brother to helping me make the union proposal. Though it didn’t come close to the way I’d planned. Maybe he didn’t hate me after all.
Genj helped me get the contents out of the envelope. A ring. One forged from dlog that was set with a shiny green stone from the sixth moon of Yunj. Apparently, it was the custom on Trid to give one of these as a promise of commitment before they used a mating mark.
I reached for Vawn’s hand. “Will you accept this ring as a symbol of my commitment to you? I was told there’s a whole ceremony that goes with this, but we can do that on Orez when I’m more mobile.”
“I do.” He sniffled. “I want that. I want to be yours. You’ve had my heart for a while already.”
Enif clapped her hands hard before tugging on her father’s shirt again. “You godda kiss now. Kiss. Kiss.”
I would kiss Vawn anytime, anywhere. But, in my condition, I had to wait for him come to me.
When his lips met mine, I smiled into the kiss. But I knew it couldn’t last long with the audience we had.
Didn’t matter. There’d be plenty of time for me to kiss him hard, soft, and every way in between in the future, when I wasn’t confined to a bed, and our friends and family weren’t around.
Chapter Seventeen
Vawn
“Are you sure my belly doesn’t look too big in this outfit?” I ran my hands over the pastel pink lace of my dress that covered my stomach.
Utahn straightened my off-shoulder ruffled sleeves. “You look absolutely gorgeous. And a big belly simply means you have a healthy baby in there.”
I covered my mouth, suddenly aware of how that must have sounded to him. “I’m sorry.” How could I have been so inconsiderate? What was he going through, seeing me pregnant again? We’d discussed how he felt when I had Enif but not with this baby.
He waved me off. “You need to stop worrying. It’s almost time for the ceremony to start.”
“Ann I gedda trow fwowers.” Enif spun around in her dress that I’d made of the same lace as my own.
I booped her nose. “Yes, you do. And you’ve been practicing hard for that role all week.”
She crossed her arms and nodded her head with confidence.
The door to the changeroom opened, my brother, Genj, stepping inside. “Are you ready?”
At this point, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to run past him to see Ojo or to the bathroom to vomit. I no longer had morning sickness, meaning it was simply nerves churning my stomach. I was about to be mated again, in a public ceremony instead of one with only my mate in the privacy of our bedroom. Definitely very different. My fathers had occasionally mentioned this type of ceremony when I was young, but I never expected to be participating in one.
“Yeah, I think so.” I glanced over to Utahn. “Am I?”
His smile was warm as he turned his gaze from me to my brother. “He’s ready. Let’s get this ceremony started.”
“Well, you all look amazing.”
I think Genj meant Utahn, Enif, and me, though his attention never left my best friend.
I stepped toward my brother and shoved him out the door. “Quit flirting, and go tell everyone we’re set for the ceremony to begin.”
His smile faded as his eyes widened. “I wasn’t.”
I chuckled. “Well, you should be.”
His face paled right before he turned and rushed toward the main room.
Utahn swatted me. “What was that for? Don’t tell him to flirt. It’s going to make him awkward around me.”
I snorted. “He already is. He’s liked you since we were teens, before he became a racer. And I’m sick of the two of you tiptoeing around each other. Just hook up already.”
“What’s ’ook up?” Enif stared up at me, her nose wrinkled in confusion.
