Page 35 of Sassy Embrace
Leigh watched Claude saunter down the hall and walk into the hospital room with the elderly vampire. She drifted with the intention of meeting up with Tristan and Barbara, but felt compelled to look in on the vampire clan and the fresh, bouncing baby.
She peered through the glass of the door, laying her fingers longingly against it. She got there just in time to see Aria hand Claude the child and something tugged at her heartstrings.
It was like an orchestra was tuning up for the big crescendo. The music in her heart guided her forward, pushing the door open to a sea of vampires turning their heads to welcome in a doughy-eyed wolf.
Claude’s gaze was soft and glassy as he handed the baby back to her mother. When Leigh came into the room, he glanced up. The dark eyes bloomed with something magical. Something affectionate and tender.
“Leigh,” Aria said, smiling broadly. “Come! Do you want to hold little Mai?”
Leigh felt her cheeks flush. She didn’t know Trevan and Aria at all, mostly based on reputation. Though she knew that Trevanwas part wolf, it still felt strange standing in a room of mostly vampires. And one of them was offering their baby to her.
“Oh, I don’t have to, it’s okay,” Leigh said, grinning politely. “Mai is a beautiful name. Andshe is beautiful, of course."
Aria balked, then waved her over with a lot of enthusiasm for a woman who’d just given birth.
“That's nonsense, come on over here.”
Leigh knew that Aria wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Her wolf whispered to her faintly that Claude was indeed her mate, she had no doubt, and what that meant was that she was part of the family. She had no clue as to whether or not Claude had shared any of his possible feelings with Aria, but there was something in her eyes, a twinkle of sorts, that said she too sensed something special.
So Leigh moved forward through the collection of vampires, all watching her with a kind and curious eye. Aria gently handed the baby over into Leigh's waiting arms.
When Mai settled into the crook of her arm, a strange glow grew at the center of Leigh’s chest. It was like her heart was increasing in size.
“Wow," she whispered.
Leigh felt like she was on the edge of tears as she rocked baby Mai back and forth. The little girl was asleep, swathed in a light pink blanket with a tightness that resembled that of the womb. Leigh kissed her forehead, breathing in that natural baby scent that put her defenses on high alert.
Nothing had ever given her that maternal instinct.
“She is really something, isn’t she?” Claude said, his eyes brighter than Leigh had ever seen them.
“She really is,” Leigh murmured back.
All of the vampires marveled at the birth of the new family member, a half-vampire, half-wolf result of a half-vampire half-wolf reproduction. It felt right, to Leigh. It felt like providence.
“All right, I think it's time for mom and baby to get some rest.”
A nurse had walked in and began to usher everyone but Trevan out of the room. Leigh’s arms felt oddly empty when Trevan carried Mai back to her mother.
Claude walked out with Leigh, side by side, and they traversed the hallways to meet up with Tristan and Barbara in the cafeteria. She was surprised by how relaxed the vampire was, affectionate too, placing his hand on her lower back before sitting at a table with the patriarch and matriarch of the Wolfe family.
"How was it?” Tristan asked, cradling a plastic coffee cup in his hand.
“Oh, lord,” Leigh said, bringing her palm flat to her chest and crooning. “She is so adorable. A little bundle. So perfect and tiny."
“It must have been quite a sight,” Barbara chimed in, finishing off the remnants of a cheese bagel. “It's not very often that we get to see a half-vampire, half-wolf from the get-go. It’s about time though. Things are changing.”
The matriarch gave Leigh a grave look, and she interpreted it twofold. Barbara knew all about Leigh's guilty feelings about being mated with a vampire. She also was a big supporter of blending the two supernatural communities, and seemed to be placing some of the responsibility on the shoulders of Leigh and Claude’s potential relationship.
It really was a lot to carry for one event-planning wolf.
“For the better, I think,” Tristan muttered.
They started to chat about Mai living up to the standard of her magnificent mother, when Mason Wolfe came bolting down the corridor. Leigh stood quickly, ready to jump into action.
“She’s here!” Mason exclaimed, slightly out of breath. “Little Babs has arrived!"
Tristan clapped with delirious excitement, and they all stood, racing down the hallways as one big, happy family.