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TWENTY-ONE
EPILOGUE
Lily
Lily realizedthat Gabriel hadn't exaggerated when he spoke about the differences between human pregnancy and that of a shifter. She was a human holding a shifter inside her body, swelling and growing as each day went on. She had known people … family, friends, and coworkers … who had gone through the process. It had all seemed very arduous but, at the end of the day, utterly worthwhile.
Lily went the entire nine months of her pregnancy but thought many times that their little cub was going to come early. Gabriel had said that it could happen … his growth rate was certainly fast. She felt like she was holding a bowling ball inside her stomach by the third month of gestation.
They were sitting on the porch, absorbing the last of the evening light as they spoke about the biological elements swirling around inside her womb. Summer was just on the horizon, a June baby likely in the cards.
Gabriel had given her information about shifter babies throughout the past few months. She had done some of the other research herself, and some was filled in by Claire. She could sense his hesitation, sitting there with their lavender iced tea.
“Come on,” she said playfully, nudging him as he rocked back and forth on the swing they were sharing. “I'm a grown woman. I can take it.”
He pursed his lips. He was the most nurturing, caring man she had ever met. His heart was always in the right place when it came to her and her physical experiences. Lily laid a hand over his, cupped in his lap, then tilted her head.
“That’s not fair,” he said, smiling. “You know I can't resist you.”
She giggled in a way that was far freer than she had ever felt. He sighed, then looked out onto the street where his pride prowled in their magical universe.
“Your body wasn’t made to house a being of our kind. A female shifter’s uterus expands when pregnant because our bones are different and are meant to change as we shift. Make sense?”
He was trying not to spook her, and that made Lily love him more. She curled into his shoulder, her plump belly resting like a watermelon against his.
“So the pain and morning sickness is because the space in me isn't big enough?”
He nodded, intentionally remaining wordless.
“And does that mean there could be complications?”
Gabriel went quiet again. She could sense his fear. To her, as his mate, it was pretty obvious.
“You can tell me,” she whispered, softening her gaze.
She wasn't playing with him anymore. She was a woman who obtained confidence from preparation. It wasn't that she didn't feel his fear. The tugs and cramps she sometimes felt in the dead of night that were enough to send her fleeing for the toilet would certainly be of cause for concern in the average partnership. But they were anything but average.
Lily possessed the utmost faith that both she and her child were going to come out of the process unscathed. It was a feeling that she couldn't explain, and it had been planted inside her ever since the alpha had left that pink mark lining her hip.
She thought about it in a very supernatural way. She also trusted it without a single splinter of doubt.
“It's always a possibility,” he said, whispering into the air. “But we will have human doctors on the scene with Piper, just in case.”
His face hardened at the mere thought of anything happening to her. There was so much about shifters that Lily still needed to learn, but what she had already learned was that their intensity was undeniable.
Shifters lived on the edge of their emotions and sensations. It was such a delicious way to exist.
She snuggled in even closer, pulling his face to look down at her. The stone-hardness melted away. His eyes were hazy but began to clear like the sky after a storm.
“I’m going to be okay,” she said, touching the globe of her stomach. “And so is our little bundle. I promise.”
Gabriel kissed the top of her head, appearing slightly reassured. She knew he wasn't going to be soothed until the baby was in his arms and his mate was given the all-clear. She understood that. Still, she couldn't wait to bring her child into the vast, beautiful world they inhabited.
It was only a week later when the contractions began. Gabriel had planned for the date, which was quite on the dot. He knew all of the jargon as well as urgent signs to look out for. Piper was on-call, ready to take them in, along with the few human doctors that he had on speed dial.
“Is it time?” he asked, eyes as wide as saucers, standing in their living room.
A hot surge of pain poured through Lily's torso, intruding upon her response and sending her forward in groaning anguish.
