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The baby arrives in April.
Not mine—I’m on birth control and too busy having wild sex with my mate to worry about bringing a child into the world. But this baby is still a member of our family, and I’m so,sohappy to meet her.
Charlotte’s kid.
Reyes’grandniece.
I sit at Charlotte’s bedside at she and Elijah’s little cottage in the country, Suyin chatting quietly with Elijah outside the front door. Charlotte is finally sleeping, and I’ve taken the opportunity to hold the little ball of soft pink blankets and little toes that they’ve called Daisy. The baby sleeps in my arms, and I rock back and forth in an old wooden rocking chair as I stare down at her.
I’ve never had much of a maternal instinct to speak of. I had to protect Enid for so long that I never really got to love her.
But this little girl…I’m going to do all the things with her that I didn’t get to do with my sister.
Reyes crouches on the floor beside me, watching Charlotte sleep. She gave us a bit of a scare in the last couple weeks, having to go on bedrest so she wouldn’t go into premature labor, but now all is well. Suyin is confident that she’ll be on her feet again soon, and Daisy is in perfect health.
Reyes reaches out to put his hand on my knee, looking up at me with a tired smile.
“I feel old,” he whispers.
I roll my eyes. “Absurd,” I say quietly. “You’re—what—like twenty in lycan years? We get quite a few back when we catch the wolf bug, don’t we?”
He nods. “Yeah, but that’s my little brother’s grandkid,” he says. “I don’t know. I had a whole life before the Convergence, and now it feels like that life is slipping away completely. It’s been twenty years. There was awar. And we’re suddenly back to starting families and having babies?”
I cover his hand with mine, keeping my right arm around the baby. She barely stirs—probably exhausted from the whole process of being born, though I’m certain she’ll be up and crying again soon.
“I think what you’re experiencing is called a mid-life crisis,” I smirk.
“Tilda, I’m being serious,” he says. “It feels strange, doesn’t it? There’s so much…new.”
I take a deep breath, looking down into Daisy’s little face. She’s sosmall, so delicate.
So precious and new.
Reyes’ eyes go wide as I meet his gaze, anticipating what I’m about to say. “I wasn’t going to suggest—”
“That’s not what I was thinking,” I say. “Though it’s been…on my mind, a little bit. After seeing what Charlotte went through, I’m notquiteso eager to pop out one of my own, but she’s beautiful.”
“Then what?” he asks. His lips tilt in a smile. “I’m always eager to hear what you have to say.”
“I was thinking…” I pause. “I want to build out a little bit. Expand the border fence, construct more housing and widen the farm plot. Maybe start scouting lycan packs that need a home and see if they want to join us.”
“It could be dangerous,” Reyes murmurs.
“Could be,” I nod. “But we have a strong foundation. Let’s make something.”
He looks up at me, shaking his head in wonder. “You have the biggest dreams, Tilda Bingham.”
“And you think too small and cozy, Reyes Garza,” I laugh. “Though I can’t take credit for all this. You were the one who helped me crack my mind open to wider possibilities.”
He squeezes my hand, and I squeeze back.
“And maybe, once we get our own little town up and running,” I say, “we can think about having a little one of our own. We’ve got all the time in the world, haven’t we?”
“We do,” he replies.
“That’s right,” I say, looking down at Daisy. “We do.”
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