Page 26 of From the Edge

The three guys perked up. “Gym?”

She sighed and opened the panel to the basement off the main entry. “Downstairs; listen for the thuds. Enjoy yourselves. Everything is rated for enhanced strength.”

She backed up as they barrelled past her into the basement. She heard excited voices. The rhythmic thudding stopped, and she heard conversations. Machines began to clink, and the men were laughing.

She snorted, made an orb with a timer and exhaled, sending it drifting downstairs. The bubble floated, and it would pop at dinner time.

She sighed and walked up the stairs. She knocked softly at the door. Norecayet opened the door with a dazed smile. “Come in.”

Rowan stepped inside, where Mell was sitting in the rocking chair and feeding their son.

Rowan inclined her head. “This wasn’t on my bingo card.”

Mell laughed. “Mine neither. Rowan... did you do something to time around me?”

She drawled the answer out. “Mayyybeee.”

Her orc asked, “How?”

“I asked the trees. Trees grow slowly, so I just slowed your sap, so to speak. The plants told me how to do it.”

Norecayet asked, “Why?”

“She couldn’t speak or be seen. I didn’t know what the curse would do to the baby, so I stopped it. Well, I slowed it. He still developed, but it was slowly.”

Mell finished feeding him and put him over her shoulder. “He’s big.”

“Yeah, well, he’s gonna grow fast. It’s why we needed the healer on site. He could issue the birth certificate.”

“How fast is he going to grow?”

“He will be at the six-month mark by the end of the day. Then, he should be normal. Norecayet, start taking pictures. You’ll need them.”

The camera came out, and he followed her orders.

Rowan blinked. Mell smiled softly and posed with the baby. He spit up a little, and Mell frowned. Rowan walked to the change table, got a burping cloth, and took the baby, lifting him to her shoulder and rubbing his little back until there was a small tremor beneath her finger.

“He gulps his milk, so he gets air in. You need to get him upright right away to get the bubble to travel up, like a level.”

She returned the little one to his mother. “What are you naming him?”

Mellwyn looked at Norecayet. “We discussed it, and we agreed. We are going to announce it at dinner.”

“Dinner is in twenty-five minutes. Roast beef, roasted potatoes, roasted vegetables, all the fixings, and dessert. Norecayet, your buddies have brought all your stuff and tucked it into the adjoining room. Then, they headed downstairs to play in the gym.”

Norecayet perked up. “The gym?”

“New dad, you have to help Mell get ready for dinner. Maternity dresses are in the wardrobe. Flats are recommended because you are getting your balance back. All the other ladies are out talking with Aspen. Norecayet, I will show you to the gym later.”

Mellwyn smiled. “You put a gym in?”

“I have been doing less and less stuff off the estate. The house is my territory. I have put myself into it, and it provides what I need.”

Mell gasped. “You are stuck here?”

Rowan laughed brightly. “Yes, Mell, that is how I made you that hidey hole in the woods, and why I drive a motorcycle all over the city.”

“Oh. Right. Did you ever get a pet?”