“Yeah. It’s so nice having a place of my own again!”
I put my hands on my hips and step back, looking at the window to try and get an idea of exactly how to set things up. Betty eyes my stomach again, which is more prominent the way I’m standing. I’m not keeping my pregnancy a secret, and I know I’ll quickly come to a point where it’ll be obvious by looking at me. I still haven’t figured out what to tell people, since I’m married to a vampire.
We decided to go to a sperm bank, and Lucas used a turkey baster to inseminate me?
“What have you been up to?” Betty asks, dropping to her knees to start taking things out of the boxes. “I don’t mean to creep, but I do see you drive up and down the road occasionally.”
“We’re pretty much the only people who regularly use that road. And nothing much.” Other than obsessing over the fact that I’m Hell’s royalty and basically a ticking time bomb that will go off and alert my aunts and uncles. “It’s cold, and I don’t want to go outside, so we’ve been home a lot. We’re a boring married couple already.”
“You haven’t killed any…any…” She looks around, making sure we’re out of earshot of anyone. “Demons?”
“Oh, yeah, I have. Not a lot, and it’s been pretty quiet since I took care of those pesky ones around the Winter Solstice.”
Her eyes widen. “Are they always like…like walking around the town?”
“No, not always. And when there are, I handle it.”
“The woods behind the house kind of creeps me out,” she admits. “But I feel really safe once I’m inside.”
“I left the warding up around the house. They never failed me.”
Betty smiles. “That’s so cool. Do they, uh, fade away?”
“Yes, and if you want, I can come over and recast the circle. You probably have another month or so left before they weaken.”
“Can I…can I watch you cast it?”
“Sure. It’s not as cool as you’d think, though. There’s no wind blowing back my hair or mysterious glowing lights like there are in movies. I say an incantation and wave my hands around a bit.”
“That’s so cool.”
“Yeah,” I say with a smile. “It is. So, what else should we use?” I ask, shifting the attention back to the window display.
“I’m going to do a balloon arch, and if I can find a few different shades of pink and red balloons, I thought maybe a pink rainbow would be cool. Kristy said she’ll bring a white fuzzy blanket from home tomorrow, so we can put the books on it and try to make them look cuddly, which I know doesn’t make sense, but I swear it will.”
“I know what you mean. And I see a snuggly blanket and immediately want a book.”
“Same! Every year for my birthday, my mom gets me books and a blanket.”
“You can’t go wrong there. Now I want a fuzzy blanket to snuggle up in. It’s so cold today I almost told Lucas to cancel dinner plans so we wouldn’t have to walk outside at all.”
“I wouldn’t blame you. It’s a takeout by the fire night for me.”
“That sounds wonderful. I love the natural heat of a fire, and that living room heats up fast when you have a good fire going.”
“It does and I love it! I might have slept on the couch all week.”
“I used to do that, too,” I say and then yawn.
“There’s coffee in the back.” Betty pulls out another package of balloons. “I just made it maybe five minutes before you came in. I got the grounds from Curlew Café.”
“They have the best coffee.”
“They do! And you convinced me to start taking my coffee black. I’ve been weaning myself off creamer for the last month. It was one of my New Year’s resolutions, which is ridiculous, I know.”
“It’s a good resolution. If the coffee is good, you won’t need creamer. Want me to get you a cup? I’m gonna need a refill myself soon. I got an early copy of TL Smith’s latest romance and was up all night reading it. It was so good, but my heart still hurts!”
“Lucky! And no thanks.”
“You sure? It’s no problem at all,” she says, no doubt remembering how I used to survive on only coffee. A warm cup of black coffee from Curlew sounds good right now, but I’m already at my caffeine limit for the day.
“No, it’s fine.”
“Okay.” She smiles, and we go back to taking things out of the box, sorting out what we want to use and putting back what we’re not. Kristy helps us in between customers, and we have a pretty good layout going, minus just a few things we need to bring and order.
I’ve been on my feet for a while, and wearing my favorite heeled boots was probably a mistake. My back is starting to hurt from standing in heels, and I lean back to try and relieve the pressure. I feel a slight fluttering in my stomach, which I felt for the first time yesterday, and freeze, hand going to my belly. Is that gas? Or am I actually able to feel the baby moving?