Gina woke and reached for her swollen belly as everything tightened to the point she could hardly see.
“Breathe, Gina,” Emily murmured, brushing a cool cloth across her head. “Relax. It’s all right.”
“No, Badb is coming now. It’s too fast.”
“It’s fine. You’ll be fine, I promise.” Emily took her hand and captured her gaze. “Look at me, Gina.”
She managed to open her eyes and stare back. “Too much pressure.”
Emily nodded. “But you got this. You’re still werewolf, but you’re more now. You are just as much Fae as werewolf, which makes no sense, but everything is working as it should.” Her smile brightened. “I promise you, everything will be okay.”
“Hope you’re right.”
She is, Badb answered in her head, but even she seemed distressed. She laughed, but it was tight. Of course, I’m about to be born. It’s not a pleasant experience for any of us.
Gina let out a laugh and thought about calling Mark. Only, she didn’t want to interrupt whatever they were doing. It was important, and this wasn’t going to end with snuggling a baby.
Her eyes closed.
Not yet, but soon for you. You will have that, Gina.
Her body seemed to knot up even tighter.
“You can do this,” Emily murmured.
Gina managed to nod. “She’s coming. Is it supposed to be this fast?”
Emily frowned. “What? Uh…in this case maybe you need to take the sweats off so I can check you.”
“Right.” She managed to rise up and slip them down her thighs. Then she fell back as the tension broke, though she felt so full it was ridiculous. Then wetness gushed.
“Your water broke, and you’re crowning. Ready or not, here she comes,” Emily said.
* * * *
Mark was on his feet and grabbed Robert’s arm. “You need to get me home now.”
“Why?”
“It’s happening. Shit, it really is happening already. I need to be there. With Gina.”
“Go, it’s fine. I’ll stay here and maybe I can find out what Mom is really doing,” Valen said.
Mark nodded. “Thank you. I’ll be back, but I need to be there for her now.”
“Yeah, I got it. I wonder why they didn’t call.”
“It’s happening fast. Just please, take me now.”
Robert’s answer was to translocate them into the bedroom. “Oh my.” Robert quickly zapped away, leaving Mark there.
Emily held a fully formed person in her hands. There was a blanket draped over Gina’s lap. And all he smelled was blood and something sweet.
“Gina, are you okay?”
“Perfect, but tired. You didn’t need to come.”
“I’ll always come for you.” He took her hand and leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead. Then glanced back at the small person in Emily’s hands. Not a baby, not a child, but a small adult.
“What the…” He let the words trail off as he stared.
“Badb.”
“I’m whole, and soon I will grow to full size,” Badb answered.
Gina giggled. “That was not what I expected.”
Emily shook her head. “Uh…are you…can you bathe yourself?”
“I can. Or rather a shower. Simply start it for me,” Badb answered.
“Right.” Emily took the small woman to the bathroom.
Mark focused on Gina. “You should have called.”
“It happened so fast. I was asleep, then woke and it was time. I couldn’t have called if I had wanted to, but even then, she isn’t ours. I was okay.”
“But you were distressed. I would have come just to hold your hand.”
She smiled up at him. “You did. And seriously, I woke up and it was time.”
Emily came back into the room nodding. “She’s right. It happened that fast. In fact, at the rate she’s growing, she must need food. I’m going to send Clint to the store, but I think I should call Morrigan. She should know better what her sister will need.”
“Good plan.” Mark ran his finger across Gina’s cheek. “After she’s done in there, I’m going to take you into the shower and take care of you.”
“Don’t they need you?” she asked.
Mark shook his head. “You need me more. And they are working out how to find them. Besides, Kindra’s there, and the last person I want to deal with is her.”
“But your son is there too.”
“And he knows you need me and that I needed to be here. He’s having his own child. I think he understands. Either way, I told you before, you come first, and you still do. Valen is a grown man, one I hardly know, and he loves his mother, as he should. He can do more good there, with her, than I can.”
“Hate her that much?”
Mark sighed. “I didn’t say that. But whatever I once felt for her is long since over. I have no desire to work things out or mend our relationship. I doubt I could trust her enough to become her friend now. And really, why should I?”
“For Valen.”
He shrugged. “We can worry about that after we deal with the doppelgangers for good. That is our primary concern right now. Later, after I see if we can even trust her with this, I can decide.”
“You will do the right thing. You always do.”
He shook his head. “I wanted to strangle her when I first saw her.”
She lifted a shoulder and smiled. “But you didn’t.” Gina sat up and pulled him down beside her. “By the way, I’m a mess. You sure you want to deal with all of this?”
“Of course. It’s going to be no different when you have our baby. All that mess is part of the process. And I’m in this for every part of it. You have to do all the hard work, let me help.”
“You’re sweet, you know that? And very good to me. I love you.”
* * * *
Badb stood under the shower and looked at the products beside her. She’d watched over Gina’s bloodline for long enough that she knew enough about what everything was and even how to read the language. So she managed to clean herself up and then sit down.
Her body ached, but there would be no relief as she grew for the next six or so hours.
A portal opened into the bathroom, and in stepped Morrigan. She knelt at the side of the tub. “It’s good to see you again, though you are so very small,” she teased.
Badb rinsed out the conditioner and nodded to the knobs. “Won’t be for long. Can you take care of the water?”
“Sure. I’ll help you with the towel.”
At a little over two feet, Badb needed all the help she could get. As much as she wanted to be self-reliant, she just wasn’t big or strong enough yet, and if she was going to be, she needed to conserve what she could while growing.
“Thank you. I’m sorry you have to do this.”
“I’m not. I’m glad I have you back finally. Quite honestly, I never really believed the opportunity would present itself.”
“I told you it would. I didn’t realize it would take so long.”
Laughing, Morrigan shook her head. “I shouldn’t have given up hope.”
“I don’t blame you. The only way I was coming back was if I found the right situation with a blood relative. That’s why I watched my bloodline for so long. If Gina’s father hadn’t angered Henroyld, I wouldn’t have found my way in. And it just happened that she had enough feral blood left over to alter what she already is without completely changing everything. Her shifts will be magic from now on. The moon will not control her shifts, but I’m sure she’ll want to shift with Mark. He truly cares for her. I miss that. Emrette was so good to me. And Gerard ripped him from me. He will pay.”
“They all will,” assured Morrigan. “They took from me too, the day they killed you and those I considered family. Every last one of them will die.”
“I’d say by my hand, but I believe Mark and Gina truly want them dead.”
“I do not envy Mark. His wife never stopped loving him, though he very nearly died,” Morrigan answered. She picked Badb up and set her on the rug.
“Hmm, what should we do about clothing?” Morrigan asked as she plucked a towel off the rack. “I could create one of my enchanted dresses for you. It will grow with you.”
“That will work for now. I’m sure that once I’ve eaten, I’ll be able to summon my armor, or transmute something that will be comfortable enough to battle in.”
Morrigan rolled her eyes. “I don’t believe they are foolish enough to come so soon. Besides, none of them know you’re back. And if they did, they might just leave Gerard behind to face his own battle.”
“I’m glad he didn’t kill Mark. He seems perfect for Gina.”
“Perhaps too cautious,” Morrigan answered.
“He’s in love and wants to protect what’s his. She pushes back and he relents. Now, if he only demanded his way and wouldn’t listen to her, there would be cause for concern. He’s willing to admit he’s wrong. And she keeps thinking he shouldn’t worry so much about her, but considering the life she’s had, he has every right to.”
“What do you mean?”
“What her original pack did to her was unforgiveable. And if the man who turned her wasn’t so repentant, I would kill him now that I have the opportunity. However, he attempted to grant her mercy. Only his Alpha had other plans, and she had managed to survive unimaginable torture. I wish I could have the horrors expunged from my memory as her condition ensured.”
“That bad?” Morrigan asked.
“Worse, honestly. But he’s dead. The man was a monster, worse than the doppelgangers.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“He was truly depraved,” Badb insisted. “That hardly matters now. What does is that I eat, and soon, so fashion me a dress, and we can head to the kitchen.”
“You can, I’m not hungry.” She held up the towel and a dress formed in her hands, small enough to fit Badb.
“How ridiculous do I look?” she asked as she snatched the dress and pulled it over her head.
“Like a miniature you.”
“I’m sure that is a disconcerting sight.” Badb rolled her eyes and looked up at the door. “Please, take me downstairs.”
“I’m sure you’re famished.”