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“Better,” she answered, waving her hand over the breakfast tray Gunner had delivered.
“I can take that if you’re finished.”
“I can get it.” Zary started to get up.
“Let us take care of you,” Madeline said, making Zary smile. “What?” she asked.
“That’s what Gunner always says. I should get up anyway.”
“I remember feeling the same way you do when I was pregnant. I’ll tell you what my mother told me.”
“What is that?”
“Once this baby is born, you’ll no longer be able to stay in bed when you don’t feel well. For eighteen years, maybe longer, you’ll have to take care of someone else before yourself. Rest, relax, and sleep while you can.”
“Thank you,” Zary murmured. She understood Madeline’s words, but before Gunner, it had been a very long time since anyone had taken care of her. It was a difficult concept to get used to, especially coming from so many people.
In addition to Gunner and his mother, her own mother, Odette, and even Ava and Aine fussed over her.
“I don’t know why I feel so tired,” Zary confessed to Madeline. “I feel like all I’ve done is sleep.”
“That’s because your baby is sapping everything he or she needs from your body,” said Ava, joining Madeline in the bedroom’s doorway.
“You’re both welcome to come in…”
“I need to go check on Gunner, your mom, and the turkeys. I’ll take your tray and come back a little later,” said Madeline.
“You’re sure I’m not intruding?” asked Ava.
“Definitely not.” Zary pulled the covers up and tucked her arms under them.
“Are you cold?” Ava asked.
“A little.”
“This is one of the things I love about this place. Razor and I have a fireplace in the bedroom too.” Ava flipped a switch. “This will help. It is chilly in here.”
“Thank you.”
“Is there anything else you need?”
Zary smiled again. “You’re pregnant too.”
“I’m further along than you are, though.”
“Doesn’t that mean you should be more tired than I am?”
Ava smiled too, and then studied her.
“What?”
“Sometimes I feel like I’m looking in a mirror, and then at other times, I don’t think we look anything alike.”
“I’ve seen it too.”
“You have?”
“You sound surprised.”
