“Same. And I like dressing up every once in a while. I haven’t worn some of the clothes I bought in California yet, and that purple crop top isn’t going to look good on me for much longer.”
“Why?”
“You knocked me up, remember? I’m going to have a big belly.”
“If you want to wear the crop top while you’re pregnant then wear the fucking crop top.”
Lucas is very much a rules-don’t-apply-to-me sort of person. He doesn’t worry about anyone’s opinion of him—other than mine, of course—and I never realized how much I do things not to raise eyebrows without even thinking about it.
I’ve always walked to the beat of my own drum, and once I was thriving at Grim Gate Academy, I made a promise to myself never to do anything to appease assholes like the Martins ever again.
“Every part of you is beautiful,” Lucas says, deep voice rattling right through me. “And it will continue to be beautiful when our child grows.”
“I am so lucky,” I whisper, cupping his face in my hands. The rough stubble on his jaw feels good against my palm. Lucas puts his mouth to mine, tongue pushing past my lips. He moves on top of me, kissing me with fervor.
An alert sounds on his phone, and we break apart.
“Something triggered the camera in the back.”
“Probably a bunny,” I quip, still a little annoyed Lucas installed a high-tech security system. Nothing can beat my warding.
“It’s a raccoon.”
“See? Not a demon. I’m all for the cameras on the porch, but maybe we should turn that one off. It’s going to go off in the middle of the night and freak us out. If anything tried to walk through the warding, I’d know.”
“I can turn down the sensitivity of the alerts.”
“Thank you.” I give him one more kiss and then get up, needing to pee. I put on makeup, magically curl my hair, and then get dressed, wearing black jeans, the purple crop top I was talking about, and one of my favorite sweaters. It’s a thick black cable knit that hangs just past my butt and has deep pockets. I pretty much lived in this thing last winter.
“Should we invite Eliza?” I ask quietly. “It’ll be our first family dinner together at a restaurant.”
“Speaking of family, Abby called while you were sleeping.”
My blood runs cold. “What did she want?”
“Checking on you. I told her you’d call back.”
“Oh, okay.” Guilt creeps up on me fast and I swallow hard, pushing a lump down my tightening throat. “This will never be fully behind us, will it? Unless I tell her.”
“If telling her makes you feel better, then do it,” Lucas says. “Know that not telling someone in order to protect them isn’t the same as lying.”
“Isn't it, though?”
“She has no memory of it. She’s been healed. I don’t see the point in telling her.”
“You’re good at keeping secrets.”
“So are you.” He takes my hand in his. “It will be fine, and I think if she was given the choice, she’d choose not to remember. Wouldn’t you if you were in her shoes?”
“I suppose. There’s stuff I wish I could forget.”
“Everyone has things they wish they forget. Unfortunately for us, no one can get into our memories and take away the bad. Call Abby and you’ll see. You did the right thing.”
“Yeah. I think so too.”
I grab a pair of heels from the closet and go downstairs. Lucas tells Eliza we’re going out to get something to eat, and I step onto the back porch, letting Scarlet out while I call Abby.
“Hey,” she says as soon as she answers. “I’m at work so I might have to hang up. It’s nothing personal,” she laughs.
“Hah. Thanks for the heads up. Lucas said you called.”
“Yeah, just wanted to check in. Did the Zofran help?”
“It worked really well at first. It wore off really fast, though.”
“Yeah, that’s common. Are you able to keep anything down? The doctor in me is coming out and I really don’t like you not getting prenatal care, and I’m sorry to be preachy on this. I get why you can’t go to the OB, though, and I’m not judging you or anything. I’ve been wracking my brain trying to come up with a way to get you taken care of without anyone finding out.”
“There are a few midwives in my coven. That would be better than nothing, right?”
“Yeah, it would for sure. You left your coven to marry Lucas, though. Will they still see you as a patient?”
“They will because my coven wants me back.”
“That’s a good thing, right?”
“Very good. Basically, they know they owe their lives to both me and Lucas, so we’re cool.”
“Wow. That’s amazing, Cal.”
“It’s a big relief. Oh, and that reminds me. Lucas and I were going to leave as soon as we could so I wouldn’t be sad to miss out on all the Halloween festivities, but now that I can go to them, we’re staying in Thorne Hill a bit longer. We do trick-or-treating downtown this Saturday. It’s super cute, and if you can, you should bring Penny.”