“A few sites have said morning sickness peaks around nine weeks,” Lucas tells me, and I’m hit with another wave of emotions. I know he’s overwhelmed and scared just like I am, but he’s already downloading apps and logging onto pregnancy websites, all while making me pasta salad from scratch because I mentioned that it sounded good.
And I’ve been over here, wistfully thinking about the bottle of wine I have in the fridge and wondering if my black leggings will be able to stretch over my stomach in the later months of pregnancy.
“But then you’ll start feeling better after that.”
“How long after?” I ask and give him his phone back. I want more pasta.
“About a month.”
“Ugh,” I grumble. “A whole month?”
“A month isn’t that long,” he says, setting his phone down.
“For you,” I tell him, not really thinking about what I’m saying. A month isn’t a long time for a vampire. They live forever, and thirty days out of the sixteen hundred years Lucas has been undead is nothing.
But for me, and for our child, a month is a decent chunk of time. The sour feeling in my stomach starts to come back, and I’m not sure if it’s from the unwelcome thought of Lucas having to watch his family grow old and die or if it’s morning sickness again.
I take one last bite and groan. Yep, it’s morning sickness. This really isn’t fair. I love eating, and now that I can’t drink, eating is all I have. Maybe I’m being a little overdramatic, but I can blame that on hormones, right?
Yawning, I put the bowl back down and lean against Lucas. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me into his lap. Eyelids feeling heavy, I close them and snuggle in closer. I’m almost asleep when my phone rings.
“I’ll get it for you,” Lucas offers.
“I can get it,” I say, lazily sitting up. “I have to pee anyway.” My phone is on the mantel, next to the angel-killing dagger that we probably should lock up somewhere safe and spelled. I hold out my hand and telekinetically bring my phone to me.
Abby is calling, probably to check on me, and the realization that I have to tell everyone I’m pregnant hits me like a slap to the face.
“Are you going to answer?” Lucas asks, looking at my phone.
“I don’t know what to say,” I rush out.
Julian looks over at me. “Hello. That’s what you say when you answer the phone.”
“I know. But she’s going to ask me how I am. What do I say?”
Julian doesn’t follow, but Lucas knows what I’m thinking. He takes the phone from me and answers.
“Hello, Abby,” he says. “Callie is in the bathroom. I’ll have her call you when she’s out.” He ends the call and holds the phone out for me.
“Thank you.” I take the phone and look down at the screen.
“You don’t have to tell her. Not yet. Not until you’re ready.”
“I know. And I know a lot of women wait until they—” I cut off, realizing yet another thing that sneaks up on me.
“Until what?”
“Until they go to their doctor and get the blood test or an ultrasound. I…I can’t do that. I’m not human, and the last time my blood was processed in a lab, it came back as inconclusive.” I look down at my stomach, slowly shaking my head. “So I guess…I guess there’s no point in waiting to tell everyone, right?”
“It’s up to you, Callie.”
“And you,” I press. “It’s your baby, too.”
Lucas smiles at my words. “I’d like to tell Eliza.”
“Me, too. What about inviting everyone over for dinner tomorrow? I need to fill them all in on the other stuff. Tabatha should know that someone on the VC is trying to set up vampires. The Grand Coven would jump on a reason to restart the war, and if they’re given the heads up…I don’t know…it might help.”
“Who is everyone?” Julian questions, looking at me with a bit of concern.
“Kristy, Evander, Tabatha, Nicole, Naomi, and Abby. Ruby, too, I suppose. That’s everyone who knows I’m a nephilim, though Ruby doesn’t know who my father is.”
“And you trust her?”
“I do,” I tell Julian. “She helped fight the root-monsters Bael conjured and is still helping me hunt down Ruth.”
He gives me a curt nod. “If you trust her, then so do I.”
“Then tomorrow,” I say and feel nervous all over again. “We’ll tell everyone.”“Callie,” Lucas whispers, slipping his arms around me. “I’m taking you to bed.”
“Okay,” I mumble as he lifts me as if I weigh nothing at all. I fell asleep on the couch, and all I want now is to cuddle up with Lucas under the heated blanket.
Lucas carries me upstairs and lays me down in bed. He turns on the blanket and lies down next to me. I nestle closer, resting my head on his chest.