E


    Sunlight warmed the ground outside, making hot mist rise into the morning air. For the first few moments of waking, I let my eyes remain closed, just listening to the gentle sounds of cicadas droning in the distance and birds chirping in the treetops around us.


    The treetops.


    My eyes snapped open as I remembered where I was<b>–</b>not in bed with the curtains closed, but in an old treehouse,ying on the wooden floor. Notying miles away from Alexander on a mattress that was toorge, but rather tangled up in his arms with my head resting on his chest and the sound of his heartbeat beneath my ear.


    Andst night…


    We’d made love again. Right here on this dusty floor with thunder crashing outside and rain beating against the roof. It had been different from the other times–slower, more tender. Like we finally had all the time in the world instead of stolen moments and brief trysts that had toe and go before logic


    returned.


    Careful not to wake him just yet for fear of shattering the moment, I shifted slightly to look at Alexander’s sleeping face. His red hair was still damp from the rain, and there was a peaceful expression written across his visage that I rarely saw when he was awake.


    He looked sopletely and utterly perfect.


    It hit me, then, that my ankle didn’t hurt anymore, which was weird considering how much pain I’d been inst night. I flexed it experimentally and felt no twinges at all. The mate bond must have kicked in during our intimacy, feeding off the energy of the full moon and elerating the healing process.


    Finally, Alexander stirred beside me, his eyes fluttering open. When he saw me watching him, I was surprised to see a slow smile spread across his face rather than any indication that he thoughtst night was a mistake.


    “Sleep well?” He stretched, bones audibly cracking from a night spent on the hard wooden floor. He had it worse than I did; nofortable chest to lie on. No warm arm to prop himself on. And he hadn’tined at all.


    “Yes,” I admitted. “Oh, and my ankle feels better.”


    “Really?” Alexander sat up and inspected my ankle. Indeed, there wasn’t even so much as a bruise marring the skin. It was as if the injury had never even happened. “We should probably head back to the house. Have the healers look at it just to be safe.”


    I nodded and let Alexander pull me to my feet. We gathered the rest of our things and began making our


    way back to the house, not hand in hand but instead shoulders bumping as we walked quietly alongside one another.


    As we approached the mansion a little whileter, I found myself stealing nces at Alexander. Last night had changed something between us, shifted us into territory we’d never explored before. And if my feelings weren’t already intense before, they certainly were now.


    I was falling in love with my husband. Hell, maybe I already had fallen in love with him.


    The thought should have terrified me, but instead it just made my chest feel warm and full. For the first time in five years, I could actually picture a future where we were happy together. Where we raised our child in a house filled withughter and love.


    But would Alexander feel the same way?


    As we went inside and went our separate ways to shower and change, I made a decision. I would tell Alexander I loved him, but not yet. I’d wait until the baby gender reveal. That seemed like the perfect time -when we found out whether we were having a son or daughter, when we took another step toward


    bing a real family.


    Even if he didn’t reciprocate my feelings, I couldn’t keep them in any longer.


    Over the next few weeks, Alexander was busier than ever, dealing with territorial disputes and trade negotiations, while I spent my time preparing for the baby. We hardly saw each other, and we certainly never talked about that night spent in the treehouse.


    But there were moments–brief nces, the sensation of our knees bumping under a table and the way he didn’t pull away, his hand resting on my lower back–that made me think that Alexander’s feelings might be deepening too. I tried not to instill myself with false hopes, but it became more difficult by the day.


    Finally, the day of the ultrasound arrived. I’d been looking forward to this appointment for weeks, eager to find out whether we were having a boy or girl. Alexander had promised toe with me, but that morning he got called into an emergency meeting with the Alpha Council that he couldn’t miss.


    I told him to go ahead. I would wait to find out the gender for myself until we were together.


    Lilith came with me instead, and the ultrasound appointment itself was routine. Dr. Evelyn spread the cold gel on my belly and moved the wand around, pointing out various body parts on the grainy ck–and -white screen. Everything looked normal–ten fingers, ten toes, a strong heartbeat.


    “And here,” Dr. Evelyn said, angling the wand slightly, “we can see the gender. I know you want to wait, so I’ll make sure you don’t see it.”


    She turned the screen away and smiled, then wrote something on a piece of paper and sealed it in an envelope, which she handed to Lilith.


    “One gender reveal cake,ing up,” I said, beaming at Lilith as Evelyn left us so I could clean myself up.


    “You sure you don’t mind doing this?<b>” </b>


    “Are you kidding? I love baking.” Lilith clutched the envelope to her chest. “This is going to be so wonderful. A little one running around…”


    There was something in the way she said it that reminded me of herment at the coronation. About how this was her grandchild. At the time, I’d assumed it was just a figure of speech, but now…


    “Lilith,” I said carefully, “you said something at the coronation. About how this baby was your grandchild. What did you mean by that?”


    Lilith froze.


    “I… it was just an expression, sweetheart. You know how much I care about you and Alexander.”


    But I could see it in her eyes now. Lilith wasn’t my biological mother, but she might as well have been. And it hit me then that when she’d mentioned it on the day of the coronation, I had basically brushed her


    off.


    “Lilith.” I reached over and took her hand. “I hope you know that I don’t care about blood or gics or any of that. You’ve been more of a mother to me than anyone else ever has. And if you want to be this baby’s grandmother, then that’s what you’ll be.”


    Lilith’s face crumpled, and she pulled me into the tightest hug I’d ever received. Her shoulders shook as she cried, and I found myself tearing up too.


    “I love you so much, E,” she whispered. “You and this baby. More than you know.”


    “I love you too,” I said, holding her just as tightly. “Friend. Grandma.” I pulled back just enough to look at her, and added in a whisper, “Mom.”


    Lilithughed thickly and pulled me close again. We held each other like that until the nurses basically


    had to kick us out.