Page 22 of Love Bites Really Hard (Mated to the King #4)
epilogue two
ZORA—EIGHTISH MONTHS AFTER EPILOGUE ONE
“I can barely walk right now, and you think I can go to a baby shower ?” I asked Clem over the phone, my voice skeptical. I was currently parked in the pool, letting the water carry some of the weight of my monstrous belly.
I spent pretty much all day every day in the water at the moment.
It took what felt like forever (but was really only a few months) for Bane to knock me up. But when he did, he fucked me so good that he put two babies in me.
I’d kind of hated him for it at first, to be honest.
But he did so many sweet things, like talking to my belly, and rubbing my feet, and feeding me an excessive amount of McDonald’s cheeseburgers when that was all I wanted to eat. So, I couldn’t hate him. Not all the time, anyway.
Okay, fine, I loved him.
All the time.
Even though I was having twins, and had barely stopped puking since the moment I found out I was pregnant. They had to give me an IV frequently. It sucked. And the monsters’ herbs didn’t help my stomach, because I wasn’t a monster.
“What baby shower?” Bane asked, from the desk he’d carried all the way across the Manor and set up in the pool room that had become mine. He wasn’t leaving me to deal with my pregnancy alone, which I appreciated immensely.
“Clem wants to throw a party, but I’m trying to talk her out of it,” I explained.
One of my babies kicked, and I grunted.
My stomach turned.
“Who was it this time?” Clem asked. I could always tell which of my babies had kicked, because one was a gargoyle, and she spent almost all of her time in her stone form. I was going to have to have a c-section because of that cute little punk.
And she was going to be cute. Her dad was too freaking gorgeous for her not to be, and I was a siren, for Pete’s sake. Cuteness was in our blood.
Or sexiness, but I didn’t exactly feel that. Not when I was pregnant. Bane was still all over me, and I’d never had a desire to turn him down, but I didn’t feel sexy.
My little gargoyle’s twin sister was a siren, which worried me a little. I didn’t like knowing that they would be looked at so differently their whole lives. Or that one would be a predator and the other would be prey. We were probably going to have to figure out a way to help them manage their differences, but we would make it work.
Sierra had managed to get pregnant sooner than me, and had already popped out a big, strong male gargoyle a few months earlier. Bane’s mother was already planning the wedding between him and our daughter, but she was keeping it on the down-low.
If we heard anything about dick pics when they hit teenage years, Bane would kill the kid. Not a single question would be asked. He was already overprotective of the girls, and his mother had received a calm but stern talking to the one time she mentioned an arranged mating between the babies.
“Hailey,” I said. Hailey was the siren. Amelia was the gargoyle.
Clem sighed happily. “They’re going to be so stinking adorable. I’m never leaving your house after they’re born.”
“Something tells me your mate won’t be on board with that. Mine either.”
“Yeah, probably not. They can suck it, though.”
I laughed, and she did too.
“Look, I know you don’t want a baby shower, so how about I make things simple. You stay in your pool, and we’ll bring the shower to you! Including chlorine. You know having glitter all over your lady parts will make giving birth far more comfortable,” Clem teased.
“I don’t think anything will make it more comfortable.”
“But think how many people you won’t be flashing,” she pointed out. “The glitter will protect you. Bane will appreciate it when he doesn’t have to kill your doctor.”
“She has a point,” he agreed.
“He just said yes, right?” Clem asked.
“No.” I narrowed my eyes at him, and he grinned at me.
My anger didn’t scare him at all. It was annoying, even though I liked it.
She shrieked anyway. “He totally did! We’ll be there in twenty minutes, okay? We may or may not be at the store with a cart full of decorations right now. Your baby bump will be so freaking adorable covered in glitter!”
“My baby mountain , you mean?” I drawled.
She laughed. “See you soon! Love you!”
Amelia kicked me, hard, like she couldn’t stand to be outdone by her sister, and her kick was hard enough to knock the wind out of me. I grabbed my puke bowl, sucking in a breath as I tried to recover.
I definitely wasn’t going to make it much longer.
Bane’s hands brushed my shoulders, and I pressed the side of my face against his chest.
“How many days until they’re evicted?” I panted.
“Only two.”
“I’ve got this.”
“Damn straight you do.”
“Tell Clem not to come. You don’t even like me covered in glitter.”
“Sweetheart, I love you every way there is. The glitter could lighten your mood. Make the next two days go by faster. I think you should do it.”
“Alright, fine.” I didn’t peel my face off his chest, even though I’d caught my breath. “Can you ask them to bring me a burger or two?”
“I already texted them.”
My lips curved upward, and I finally looked up at him. “I love you too, you know.”
“I know.”
He kissed me lightly, and I swear, it made everything worth it.
Him, and the sweet little lives growing inside me. They were everything I’d ever wanted—and I was the luckiest woman in the world.