Page 61 of Oracle
Just the word vomit had my stomach churning at the memory of the morning sickness I'd been riddled with in my first trimester. I rested a hand on my stomach and cringed.
Morgan noticed my movement and grimaced, "Sorry, Kira."
"It's okay," I waved her apology off. "When did you want to head to the store to get your school supplies? We should go before everyone is swarming the stores for last-minute shopping."
Her face shone with relief at my changing the subject and I gave her a conspiratorial wink. "We can go tomorrow and also pick up any last-minute supplies we might have forgotten for the baby."
We all knew damn well that we were overprepared when it came to supplies. What she really meant was that we could add more outfits to the hoard we had been hiding from the guys in her room, because they would be an easy giveaway that we were having a girl.
"We can grab breakfast tomorrow for a girls’ date before shopping," I suggested.
"Sounds good! I'm going to read by the pool for the day. Let me know if you need me," she called as she left the room and ran back upstairs.
"Don't think this conversation about your date is over, young lady!" Luca called.
"Whatever!"
Seth chuckled lightly as he pinned Luca with a look. "And you want to add another girl to the mix."
Just as I went to retort that there was nothing wrong with that, I felt a sensation like I had to pee. An intense pressure that made me feel like I was going to burst. Grabbing onto the countertop, I hissed out before relief came in the form of a feeling like a balloon inside of me was popping before water was gushing down my legs.
“Your water broke!” Seth shrieked, the normally calm man turning white as a ghost, eyes pinned to the floor where the liquid had ended up, thanks to the dress I was wearing. Maternity dresses had been my go-to for exactly this reason the past week. This one even had pockets, which I had triumphantly shown off to my men when I’d found it at the store.
“Grab the bag,” Luca instructed Seth, swiftly moving into action. “I’m going to call Jameson and leave a voicemail. He’ll be like a bat out of hell once he gets that.”
A rush of euphoria came over me as I realized we were about to embark on a new phase of life for our family. A life that I had once given up all hope of having, but my best friend had gifted back to me.
Thank you, Lux.
Turnthe page for a sneak peek of Monsters Within by R.L. Caulder: mybook.to/MonstersWithin
I knew life wasn’t sunshine and rainbows for everyone, but honestly, it felt like piss and vinegar for me.
The only bright spot was when I was able to climb into my bed, crack open a spiral notebook, and forget reality even existed while being transported into a world I created when I put my pen to paper.
I poured my every desire onto those sheets. The ink was my pain, and the pages were my savior.
It’s where I found myself now, contemplating the events of the day and how I would cope with them. I was lounging on my bed in an oversized Aerosmith t-shirt I'd found at the thrift shop and some black sleep shorts.
Shoving the rest of my chocolate chip cookie into my mouth, I grabbed the plastic cup filled with the delicious delicacy known as rumchata. Taking a gulp of the cinnamon milk, I swallowed down the lump of cookie that lodged itself in my throat before setting the cup back down on my nightstand.
The rumchata left a trail of light heat in its wake as I reached for a black spiral notebook that had seen better days, flipping to the next blank page near the back of the book. The edges of the pages curled slightly from being bent a bit when I wrote at odd angles. Soon, I would need to grab another and add this full one to the plastic bin beneath my bed. That bin held the only things in the world I cared about or that held any value for me.
The alcohol had been given to me as a move-in gift by a girl across the hall. Actually, it was more of a bribe to not tell on her for having her boyfriend over past curfew, but I didn’t care.
As a ward of the state, I didn’t get many luxuries in life. Even now, being on an academic scholarship for my freshman year at a small private college, I wasn’t afforded much.The single dorm room was definitely a plus, though.
I couldn’t dwell on the pathetic fact that all the possessions I cared about could fit in one measly bin. One day, things would be different. That day just wasn’t today. I was what you would call a pessimistic optimist.
Often, I dreamt of myself being one of the supernatural creatures of the world. Not just a boring human stuck in a mundane life. But unfortunately, this seemed to be the hand I'd been dealt. I just needed to find a way to make the most of it.
It didn’t stop me from checking my teeth to see if they’d elongated to sharp points like a vampire's, trying to will fire into existence in my hand like a witch, or wishing I’d grown a pair of demon horns over night.
Maybe I was just a late bloomer in the supernatural community? At least, that’s what I liked to tell myself when I found myself sinking in the bleakness of my life.
My scholarship covered my classes, school materials, the boarding, and a small stipend for food. I was the first to admit I had a pretty shit diet. I wouldn’t eat all day, then I’d use my budgeted allowance for the day to order a large pizza and cookies and binge eat as I wrote through the night.
My sleep schedule was almost non-existent, and I often found myself cursing the first rays of morning light as they streamed in through my small window, taking me away from my fantasy world filled with delicious men I was unhealthily obsessed with and signaling that I'd once again be heading to classes running on fumes.
