Page 59 of Winter Unleashed
Stella and Ciara entered the room. Stella held three wine glasses and Ciara had a bottle of wine and a platter of snacks. I smiled then pressed my hand to my stomach when it growled at the sight of food.
“You didn’t come down to dinner, so we thought we’d bring you some sustenance,” Ciara said as she set the platter on the coffee table in the sitting area.
“Thanks. I didn’t realize what time it was.” I rose from my seat, stretched my tense muscles, and joined them in front of the fireplace. “How’d it go today?”
“Everything is under control. Don’t worry,” Stella said, passing me a glass of red wine.
Ciara handed me a small plate full of dried meats and aged cheeses. “You’re spoiling me. Is something wrong? Do you have bad news?” The panic rose way too fast, and I had to put the glass down before I spilled it all over Liam’s expensive chair.
“Relax,” Ciara said. “We just thought we’d have some girl time since Liam is gone, and Isaac and Philip are still dealing with their packs.”
“Hmm,” I grunted. It was a rare moment of calm, and I didn’t trust it. Lately, whenever things settled down, something else popped up. “I guess I just feel like it’s always something. One thing after another, you know.”
“We know,” Stella said with a frown.
We sat quietly sipping wine and munching on cheese for a while, then Ciara cleared her throat. “Isaac is drawing up plans to make his house bigger… because we want to start a family.” She blurted it out so quickly I thought I’d misheard.
Stella’s squeal of excitement let me know I’d heard her correctly. “Oh, Ciara! This is so exciting. A baby! Between you and Isaac, it’ll be the cutest baby ever.”
I smiled at Stella’s dreamy eyes and beaming smile. She had wanted babies as long as I could remember. When we were four or five years old, she’d play house, pretending her teddy bear was her baby, while I’d play war with Isaac. And if Isaac or I got fake hurt, she’d mend our wounds and tuck us in like a mother would.
“That’s great news, Ciara,” I said, reaching over to squeeze her hand. “I look forward to being a pseudo-auntie.”
She bounced in her seat a little. “I have waited almost two thousand years to be a mom. I’ve always been calm about it but now that I know there’s a chance it’s all I can think about.”
Even though I didn’t want children of my own, I could understand her excitement and impatience. It’s so hard for most females to get pregnant. Ciara would have to make sure she didn’t shift from the time they started trying until the baby is born. That’s a long time to lock up your wolf. The first shift after the baby comes is brutal. Or so I’ve heard.
“It’ll happen, just be patient. Um, are you trying right now?”
“Oh, no. We’ll wait until after we take care of Celeste and Cybil. We want to wait until there’s less chance I’ll have a stress-induced shift.”
“That’s smart,” I said. “So, Stell, have you and Phil talked about it?”
She turned her beaming grin on to me. “Yes! We’re doing the same thing. The waiting, not the moving.” She bounced up and down. “We can raise our kids together!”
Both women looked at me with huge smiles and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Uh-uh. Nope. I’m good with being Auntie Ember for a while, thank you.”
They both rolled their eyes and sighed but said nothing else on the matter. We finished the bottle of wine, ate every crumb on the platter, and talked until Isaac and Philip came into the room looking for their mates.
“Thanks for this,” I said to the women. “It was a delightful break from the chaos.”
They each hugged me, and I watched as they walked out with their men. Then my thoughts bounced right to Liam, and I decided it was time for bed. Not that I thought I’d fall asleep until I heard from him, but I could try.
I’d been in bedover two hours and Liam still hadn’t returned, and there was no chance of sleep as I stared up at the ceiling holding my phone in a death grip. I’d been waiting for him to call for so long, when the phone finally rang, it startled me, and I nearly threw it across the room.
“Hi,” I breathed. The relief was clear in my voice.
“Hi,” he replied. “Artemis requested a meeting with me tomorrow. I’m sorry I won’t be back tonight. I’ll be home tomorrow no matter what. Tell me what’s going on there.”
I filled him in on the plan with the squirt bottles and guns. “Isaac handled our pack, Phil handled yours, and I called Wallace and Porter to handle telling theirs. I also spoke with Fleming. He’s going to need a long vacation after this is all over. Hundreds of children running around with water guns they can’t shoot each other with.” I sighed. “It’s going to be chaos there.”
“You handled things very well. Thank you,” he said. I could hear the smile in his voice.
“It had to be done,” I replied. “Do you know when you’ll be home tomorrow?” I missed him so much and it’d only been half a day.
“I don’t. Artemis is unpredictable. She says she wants to meet for breakfast, but tomorrow will come and she could change it to dinner.”
“So, there’s a chance you won’t be home tomorrow then?”