She scrunched up her pillow and struggled to roll over, eager to find a more comfortable position. In the past week, there didn’t seem to be any position that was comfortable for long. It wouldn’t be too much longer until the baby arrived and she was able to get a good night’s sleep.
In the meantime, with sleep being elusive, she played over the events of the evening. What was Apollo doing here? There was nothing she’d heard about him that said he wanted to raise a baby. He couldn’t even take time away from goofing off in order to attend his own brother’s funeral. What sort of person did that?
Her arms moved protectively around her baby bump. This little one needed someone to adopt him or her that saw them as more than a Drakos heir. She could do that. She was uniquely qualified to be a loving adoptive parent—just like her adoptive parents had done for her and Andrina. They’d taken them both in at the tender ages of three and four and shown them that not all promises were broken. And most importantly that real love was in fact unconditional.
Could Apollo offer that to this child? Or would he be too worried about the position this child would hold in the Drakos dynasty? No matter his intentions, she would not be parted from this child of her heart.
Her sister and brother-in-law hadn’t had the opportunity to make a will. Now it would be up to a judge—a total stranger—to decide the fate of this baby. She hoped and prayed they’d come to the right decision.
Was she scared of becoming a mother? Definitely. Did she have a clue what she was doing? Not at all. Just the thought of this little baby growing into a teenager with an attitude made her palms grow damp. But with love and a heaping dose of patience, they’d get through the growing pains. Popi had faith that all the good times, from the first words to the first steps to the first day of school, would greatly outweigh the challenges. That’s what her parents had told her when she asked them how they put up with her through the teen years.
She would do her very best. It’s the least she owed her sister...
Guilt welled up in her.
It felt wrong to be stepping into her sister’s role as mother. Maybe if their last conversation hadn’t gone so terribly wrong, Andrina would still be here. If Popi had been more understanding, maybe it would have made the difference between life and death.
But no matter how many times she went over the scenarios in her head, it wouldn’t bring back her sister. Andrina was gone. And Popi had to pick up the pieces and move forward. No matter how difficult it could be at times.
Popi kicked off the sheet that was twisted around her legs. Using her arms to prop herself up in bed, she swung her feet over the edge of the mattress. She sat there for a moment. She never thought getting out of bed would be so much work.
She struggled to her feet, pressing a hand to the small of her back. She felt like she’d swallowed a beach ball. The baby agreed with a stomp of a foot or punch of a hand on her bladder. Popi waddled off to the bathroom for about the fourteenth time that night.
After answering the call of nature, she didn’t feel like lying in bed and staring into the dark. And standing made the discomfort in her back ease a bit. Without turning on the lights, she paced around the bungalow. She paused next to the window.
She glanced out at the moonlight-drenched sand beyond her small yard filled with lush foliage. She was so fortunate to live in paradise. But even this beautiful land couldn’t keep nightmares from landing at her doorstep...
A movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. That was when she noticed an unusual shadow on the porch. It could be an animal. But as she peered closer, she realized that it was a person. The breath caught in her throat. Who would be on her porch at this hour of the night?
Apollo?
Popi squinted harder into the night. Yep, it was him. She let out the pent-up breath. He was sitting in the older rocker on her porch. His head was tilted back and his arms were crossed over his chest as he slept. He’d repurposed an old crate that she’d turned into a plant stand and used it for a footrest.
It was then that she realized by his waiting for her to come home from the reception, where she’d stayed late to oversee the cleanup, that he’d missed the last ferry to the mainland. And since the island was shut down for the pending renovations, there was nowhere for him to stay but with her. She sighed.