Page 22 of Bedrest Blues & Otherworldly Clues (Mystical Midlife in Maine #17)

T he house had become a fortress under siege.

Nearly two days had passed since Stella and Aidon had been followed home.

The change was palpable in every corner.

The walls hummed with constantly shifting magical barriers as Aidon and Hades reinforced them against increasingly aggressive attacks.

The air was electric from the residue of clashing power systems. And I had officially hit thirty weeks of pregnancy with triplets who seemed determined to save their family from inside my womb.

I shifted uncomfortably on the bed that had been my prison for what felt like an eternity.

My belly was a mountain before me. My skin was being stretched to what had to be its absolute limit.

The babies were more active than ever. Their movements were punctuated by random bursts of magic that sent objects flying across the room without warning.

"Damn it," I muttered as one of my favorite mugs levitated off the nightstand and smashed against the wall. That was the third one this morning.

"Language," Nana scolded from the doorway, though her eyes twinkled with amusement. "Those little ones have ears, you know."

"If they're offended by my language, they must be appalled by yours.

They need to stop breaking stuff," I retorted, wiping sweat from my forehead.

The room temperature had been fluctuating wildly all morning.

It was a lovely side effect of my Pleiades power deciding to dance the tango with the triplets' developing abilities.

It was beyond my control and something Clio was monitoring closely.

Poor woman had to be beside herself living in our crazy house.

Nana crossed to the window and whistled low. "Would you look at that? We've got ourselves quite the light show."

I struggled to sit up enough to see outside. The sight stole my breath. Shimmering curtains of light—greens, purples, and blues—rippled outward from our house in expanding rings. It was like the northern lights had decided to relocate to our backyard.

"That's new," I said as we watched the magical aurora pulse in rhythm with the babies' movements.

"And attracting attention." Nana pointed to the tree line where shadowy figures gathered. Some even looked human. "We've got admirers and enemies alike coming to gawk."

I placed a protective hand on my belly. "My power is as restless as I am."

"Stubborn power for a stubborn woman," Nana quipped. "It knows what's what. It’s trying to stop that vile bitch without putting you or the babies at risk."

The door opened as Mom rushed in, followed by Clio and Persephone.

All three women carried an assortment of herbs, crystals, and strange-looking instruments.

"It's happening again," Mom said. Her eyes moved to my growing belly.

The triplets' magical signatures were becoming visible through my stretched skin. I’d become a live aurora borealis .

"The magical infrastructure throughout the house is destabilizing," Persephone explained. Her divine power was constantly stabilizing the energy around us. She did the light lifting while Aidon and Hades handled the bigger energy problems. "Two light fixtures exploded in the kitchen."

"Sorry," I grimaced. "The triplets are particularly frisky today."

"It's not just them," Clio said, setting down her supplies and immediately checking my vitals. "Your magic is fluctuating in ways I've never seen before. It's amplifying them in unpredictable ways."

As if to emphasize her point, the windows suddenly frosted over despite the summer heat blasting outside like a furnace.

The frost melted into a perfect water droplet that hung suspended in midair.

It defied gravity like it was giving the middle finger to physics.

It danced a sassy little jig in front of Nana, making us all burst out laughing.

Mom's eyes widened as she stared at the water sculpture. "That's Thaniel showing off, isn't it? He’s the one with precision and control over matter, right?"

"Yep," I nodded, popping the 'p' sound. "Total show-off."

The water droplet suddenly shifted, expanding and contracting like it was breathing.

Thaniel was just getting started. It froze into a perfect crystal, then shattered into a thousand tiny shards that hung suspended in the air.

Those pieces darkened and then caught the light, making prisms dance across the walls.

The fragments rearranged themselves into a miniature version of our family.

Each detail was perfect, right down to Mom's perpetually worried expression. Melaina and Nyssa hijacked Thaniel’s show.

"His sisters couldn’t let him get all the glory," I chuckled as pride swelled in my chest.

"We need to stabilize you immediately," Clio said. Her expression was grave as she examined me. "Your magical pathways are overloading."

"We've been developing new methods to help," Persephone explained as she put crystals around my bed. "It combines divine power, healing magic, witchcraft, and shifter stabilization techniques."

"Think of it like magical fusion cuisine," Nana remarked with a smirk.

"It's experimental," Mom admitted as she mixed herbs in a mortar that steamed unnaturally. "But the triplets' powers have outgrown conventional approaches."

"I'm willing to try anything," I said, wincing as another surge of power rippled through me.

Clio began her stabilization process. Her healing magic flowed into me like cool mountain water.

Mom added her mixture to my skin. It smelled like cinnamon and herbs.

Persephone’s energy hummed with the power of rebirth and renewal and flowed into me.

The combined approach eased the immediate discomfort.

These babies were like three miniature suns, and my body was struggling to contain their radiance.

The house had been mercifully quiet for almost two hours. I'd managed to doze off. I was briefly lulled by the steady rhythm of the triplets' movements within me. Their magical signatures pulsed in harmony. It was a comforting reminder that despite everything, they were thriving.

Clio finished checking my vital signs for the millionth time in the past twenty-four hours. "The fluctuations are stabilizing," she reported with cautious optimism. "Your power seems to be adapting to the pregnancy's demands and is no longer pushing things into dangerous territory. "

"Or the triplets are adapting," I suggested as I shifted to find a more comfortable position. My swollen belly made every movement an exercise in careful navigation.

"Either way, it's progress," she conceded with a small smile. "Try to rest while you can."

I nodded, though rest had become an increasingly elusive luxury.

Between the magical surges, the constant vigilance against Lyra's forces.

.. and the physical demands of carrying triplets with extraordinary powers, I felt perpetually exhausted.

And I was only getting up to go pee. Sure, I had to do that every few hours, but I barely racked up two hundred steps.

Mom came in and placed a cup of herbal tea beside my bed. "Drink this when it cools. It should help strengthen you."

"Thanks," I murmured, grateful for her practical approach to crisis management. Since learning about the problems, she'd thrown herself into researching magical pregnancies with characteristic determination.

The relative calm was shattered before she could straighten. An explosion rocked the foundations of the house. The windows rattled ominously, and dust sifted down from the ceiling. The triplets did triple back flips in response to the sudden surge of adrenaline flooding my system.

"What was that?" I demanded as I threw my legs over the side of the bed.

Mom and Stella rushed to the window. Her expression hardened as she surveyed whatever was happening outside. "Another wave of attacks is hitting us. It’s bigger than the last. They've brought reinforcements."

More explosions followed in rapid succession. Each one was closer than the last. I could hear shouting now. Familiar voices were calling out warnings and battle commands. The distinctive crackle of combat magic colliding with defensive wards came through the open window.

"I need to see," I insisted as I stood despite Clio's protests.

"Phoebe, you can't—" she began, but I cut her off with a look.

"They're fighting for us. The least I can do is bear witness." My body protested the movement as I walked over to the window. It was astonishing how quickly bodies became accustomed to doing nothing. My muscles shouldn’t be trembling with the effort of supporting my pregnant frame. I’d been literally running around and fighting less than two weeks ago.

The Pleiades power within me surged in response and sent iridescent sparks cascading over my skin.

It eased some of the weakness, which was nice.

"At least let me help you," Mom sighed, recognizing the set to my jaw that screamed I wasn't taking no for an answer.

It was the exact same expression Nana got right before she whipped out her shotgun and started threatening supernatural beings.

The stubborn-as-a-constipated-mule gene ran strong in our family.

Mom slipped her arm around my waist, and we shuffled toward the bedroom window.

Outside, flashes of magic lit up the night like a deranged fireworks show.

"Shit." Stella pressed her face against the glass.

"They've breached the south ward." She looked back at us, her expression grim. "I need to get out there."

"Go," I ordered. "They need you more than I do."

Stella didn't need to be told twice. She bolted from the room with Mom and Persephone following behind her like mothers on a mission. Mom hesitated, torn between staying with me and joining the fight.

"I need to get downstairs," I announced as I switched directions and began waddling toward the door like an overloaded penguin.