Page 18 of A Fate of Blood and Magic (Fated #2)

“Nonsense.” His smile only grew wider. “I’m a prince. I don’t need an appointment.”

“You’re a . . .” I smacked his shoulder, ready to adopt Brenton’s favorite insult. “Arrogant ass.”

I glared at Elias when Leah curtsied.

“It would be my pleasure, Your Majesty,” she said.

“Elias,” I grumbled .

“Okay, okay.” He held his hands up in defeat. “I promise we’ll make appointments from now on, but I’m overly excited and would love to hear the heartbeats today.”

I angled my body to the side and kicked his thigh.

He flashed me his dimples as he rubbed his thigh. “That is, if you have time,” he added.

She looked around the empty room. “I have time.”

“See?” The idiot I loved widened his eyes at me.

“Appointments from now on,” I pressed.

Leah rolled a machine that looked like our ultrasound machines. After touching several buttons, a screen turned on.

“Before you leave, we’ll schedule your two-week follow-up,” she said.

“Could we schedule the next three or four appointments today?” Elias asked. “I want to make sure I don’t miss any of them.”

My heart squeezed at the tender look in his eyes.

Leah held up a wand that again looked like the ones we used in the human realm.

“Are you ready?” she asked, holding the wand.

“Can we record it?” I pulled my phone from my back pocket. “Your mom might like to hear it,” I told Elias.

And I knew our friends would. Ryenne especially. Hell, I wouldn’t put it past her to walk into Leah’s office and demand to hear it in person. I could picture her saying something about being friends with the prince.

When Leah nodded, Elias helped me lie back, giving me a glimpse of how he’d treat me when my stomach was bigger and heavier. I handed him my phone to record.

Leah squirted warm jelly onto my stomach.

When she pressed the wand against my stomach, the galloping sound of our boys’ hearts beating echoed inside me.

An impossibly fast beat that was both a delight and a relief.

It was a beautiful sound that I already knew I’d listen to over and over from the recording on my phone.

I grinned up at Elias, taken aback by the tears that shimmered behind his eyes. Yet his smile lit up his entire face.

“We’re pregnant.” He said it reverently.

“It’s hard to make out the two different heartbeats,” Leah said, moving the wand over my stomach. “They’re almost perfectly in sync with each other.”

“But there are two of them?” Elias asked.

“Yes, hold on.” She pressed her cold hand against my stomach, and I felt the warm tendrils of her magic swim inside my stomach.

One of the heartbeats grew clearer without the distracting whooshing sound.

“This is babe number one,” she said, holding the wand still.

More of her magic danced through me as she moved the wand again. “And babe number two.”

“No number three, right?” I asked, only half joking.

Although Elias chuckled, his eyes widened in shock.

“Just two,” Leah said.

I missed the babies’ heartbeats the moment she withdrew the wand. After putting it atop the machine, she handed me a warm towel. Elias gave me my phone back and wiped the jelly from my stomach while I played the recording he’d taken of the heartbeats.

“I can’t believe we’re having twins,” I said in wonder.

Once he finished wiping the jelly, he rested the side of his head on my belly. I took him in and smiled. He was happy. More than happy.

He took his time kissing my stomach softly, slowly with such tenderness I thought I’d fall apart .

When he stood back up, he kissed my lips. Just as slowly, just as tenderly.

I wound my hands behind his neck and pressed my face against his. My lips caressed the tip of his ear.

“I love you,” I told him quietly.

His hug tightened. “I love you, mo elma .”

Still beaming, he wiped his eyes as he drew away.

“We should have a feast to celebrate,” he announced, as if it were a formal declaration.

“Please not tonight.” I scrunched up my nose that he pinched. “Because if you’re pulling the I’m-a-prince card and assuming Chef Xander would be happy to cook for us last minute, I might kick you.”

He stepped back, covering his groin area. “No, not tonight,” he agreed. “I need to figure out how to get Brenton back so he can celebrate with us. You should come too, Leah,” he continued. “You’re going to be a huge part of our lives for the next few years. We should get to know each other.”

“Years?” I gasped. “How long are fae pregnant?”

Leah’s laugh was light. “Nine months.”

I let out a sigh of relief before I tugged on Elias’s hair. “What the hell? Years?” I glared at him. “You scared me.”

“What about future babes?” he asked, all too excited about getting me pregnant again.

“Slow down, big guy,” I said. “Let’s have these two first, and after they’re a couple of years old, we can talk about it more.”

His pout was adorable.

I turned back to Leah. “I’ll let you know when we set a date. I hope you can make it.”

She linked her fingers together, rocking on the balls of her feet. “I’d like that.”

Elias scooped me up from the examining table before he set me down on my feet.

“We should let Chef know what you want.” Without waiting for me to reply, he tugged on my hand.

“I think one of Javier’s friends can reach Brenton,” I told him about Javier’s friends and how they’d come over a few times after school so Kieren could teach me more about my mind-speak magic.

While I hadn’t practiced keeping an open connection with anyone the way he kept his mind open to whoever wanted to speak to him through his mind, I was getting better at speaking to one person at a time.

I didn’t tire as much and felt that part of my magic strengthening.

“Excellent,” he said. “Can you reach him to ask him to come over after school? I’d love to meet all his friends.”

“Sure.”

“Do the kids know?” He stopped to rest his hand on my stomach.

Something about the way his large hand covered my stomach made both joy and peace rise inside me. It was a sweet, protective gesture that I soaked in, letting it fill me to the brim so I could turn to the memory after Elias left for the human realm again.

Guilt churned. “Only Javier. He knew I’d gone to the healer and noticed I was acting strange. Kieren told me Javi was worried something was wrong with me and that I was keeping it from him.”

He kissed my forehead, wrapping me in another big hug.

“George also knows because of his seer magic.” I bit my bottom lip that he tugged loose.

“Do you think I’d be upset with you for others knowing?” When I shrugged, he continued. “I’m happy, Teddy. I’m happy you’re pregnant and that you have people in your life who want to share in your joy. Our joy. We’re having two babes. Two of them. Do you know how unbelievable that is?”

I let him ramble on, his excitement blooming inside me, where my earlier concerns didn’t seem to fit.

He took my breath away with his bliss. Kept stealing my heart with his words. At that moment, it was as if he held all the wonders of all the worlds imaginable.