AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I knew Rayla was a big girl. I knew better than most that she could take care of herself, but I’d been training all my life to be at her side, to be her sword and shield. It was difficult to split up my protection between her and our new child, but I also didn’t have to do it alone anymore.
I opened the door, motioning for Ternin to get in first as I took Rayla’s left hand and rubbed my thumb over the five thin,diamond-studded rings that stacked on her finger. Each band was circled by several little diamonds that made up one carat. Each ring had different color diamonds representing each of our commitments to her. Pink for Avery, black for Lex, red for Ax, gray for Falcon, and purple for me. We noticed that she would stack them differently every day, then smile at us and wink. It drove us crazy to not know what that meant, each of us having our own theories, but I was okay with waiting to figure it out. We had all the time in the world.
Lifting her hand, I turned it around and kissed her pulse, swiping my tongue out just to hear her light gasp. It was one of the best sounds in the world, hearing out loud how my touch affected her. “Your father is right, don't worry about us. We can handle it. We can handle anything for you two.”
She gave me one of her melty, sweet smiles, eyes glossing over as she squeezed my hand. “I love you, Cosmo Desmond.”
My chest tightened as my pulse quickened. I loved hearing her say that. To profess her feelings out loud. I opened my mouth to respond when a droll voice came from the car. “All right, you love birds. Let's get going.”
She yanked me by my neck, surprising me as she pressed her lips to mine and let go far too fast. “All right. All right.” She handed her almost gone cup to her father as she climbed in. “I thought you all wanted to spend time with your kids.” Letting her go, I jogged around the front of the car to the driver's seat and motioned for Rayla to put on her seatbelt. She snarled at me but complied, so I mouthedgood girl, and she smirked.
Ternin’s eyes were glued to his phone before his jaw ticked, and he growled at the phone. “We did, at least that was the idea, but now Syris keeps blowing up my phone with texts about…” his eyes shifted like he forgot who he was talking to.
Rayla perked up. “About what?”
He laughed it off, obviously being sneaky about something. “Oh, you know him, he just gets a thought in his bone head and runs with it. That's why I need to go home, to stop those bone-headed thoughts before they sprout and make a skeleton.”
“Do skeletons sprout from bones? Do they need to be watered?” Ray asked before she broke down and laughed.
Ternin looked at her seriously. “Oh, yes, they do. But you don't water them, you give them a blood sacrifice, and then-” He kept going as I pulled onto the street, and I tuned out his nonsense. Rayla and him could talk about crazy things all day together, keeping the joke running until one of them broke. It was annoying growing up like that but still interesting to see how imaginative their minds could be.
A part of me wanted my child to have the Desmonds smarts and tenacity, and other times, I looked at them and wondered if I could handle another one of them in this world. The only saving grace was it would only be half, so hopefully the other half will balance them out.
For this first baby, we decided that we wouldn't get it DNA tested until after it was born. We all agreed to have the first one be a mystery, then we would need to figure out who was going to benext and so on to ensure that each line had a child, even if we were all going to be their fathers. If it was just us, I bet we would all just see what happened each time, but we were bound by the rules for the Syndicate.
Making and growing the baby seemed straightforward, my role made very clear; protect and serve Rayla to the best of my ability. If she wanted something, I got it. Needed emotional support, I was here for her a hundred percent. She was the one taking the reins, and I was the one to make sure it all ran smoothly, business as usual. It was after the baby came that made me nervous.
“Oooh, oh! Pull over. Pull over. I’m craving something salty. Lets get some fries and blood sauce!” Rayla pointed to one of the mom and pop eateries that cater to the supernatural community.
I swerved just in time, gritting my teeth as I cut off four lanes of traffic to turn down the street I needed to. My eyes glared at the other drivers through the rearview mirror, but Rayla’s eyes were already glued to the food stall, salivating at the thought of the salty potatoes. I chuckled to myself, thinking that while Rayla has always enjoyed food mixed in with her blood, she was ravenous for it now, eating anything she could get her bloody fingers on. It was adorable.
Parking in the sections next to the stall, I got out and opened Rayla’s door, helping her out of the car. Ternin stuck out his hand, and I smirked, turning to follow Rayla. “Damn insolent boy! Is that any way to treat your father!”
“Father-in-law,” I corrected him. I could hear his grumblings behind me as he got out and slammed the car door.
“I raised the damn boy. Even if he’s mates with my daughter, I should be getting extra good treatment. I'm a dad and father-in-law to that damn boy!”
“Don’t worry about him. He’s just jealous that he now has three others, his close buddies at that, who he has to battle for the attention of this little one.” Rayla patted her belly, smiling up at me with a happy, lazy smile I have yet to get used to.
It disarms me, seeing her like this. Blood thirsty Rayla, I got that. Pissed off Rayla, knew how to handle that. Horny Rayla, I would give her anything and everything she needed, but this at ease, happy Rayla, she stunned me. Even with all her complaining about her body and what it was going though, she still had this calmness I was not used to. Just when I thought I knew everything about my little Ray, I realized I was in for a surprise.
“Okay, so you might kill me, but I think I want one of everything on the menu.” She glanced up with a devilish smile and a twinkle in her eye, and I knew I was just going to cave. She had already done this to us a few times, all of us guys agreeing that if she did it again, we would explain that she was never really that hungry and would only eat a fraction, leaving it to the rest of us to finish her food or be wasteful and thrown away.
I nodded, motioning to her to order whatever she wanted, and she skipped to the cashier, proclaiming with wide expressive arms, “I want one of everything!” The cashier glanced at me for a moment, wondering if this lady was just crazy, but I nodded, andthey rang her up. She was crazy, but she was my crazy person, so I would take responsibility.
Ternin popped up next to me, gazing at Rayla with a soft smile. “She reminds me of her mother when she was pregnant. Always complaining and always hungry. Makes me think of the good old days when she was just a baby. Savor those moments because once they’re gone, they’re gone forever.” His wistful expression grew painful for a moment before it cleared up when Rayla made her way over to us with something already in hand.
“So they said that it would take them about twenty minutes. When I told them I needed something now, they handed me these.” In her hands were the fries we originally came here for, covered in cheese and blood. She hesitated before she motioned them to both of us to share, but we both shook our heads, and her smile grew as she dug in. Greedy little mate.
Ternin's phone beeped again, his eyes pinching as his hand clutched the phone, and he huffed under his breath, “Idiots. Can't get anything right.” He quickly shoved his phone in his pocket. “I need to head back to the house. Syris is causing all sorts of havoc.”
Rayla brows furrowed. “Wait, do you need us to come? I can send someone else to pick up this food.”
“No. No. No. Don't you worry about a thing, my sunshine. Daddy is just going to put a hurtin’ on one of your father-in-laws, but you have two others, so I don't think you will mind, right?” He didn't wait for a response. “I’ll just go on foot. See you back at thecompound.” He was a whirlwind as he kissed her cheek, patted my head, and then took off. Something was going on.
“Do we have to worry about that?” Rayla asked as she watched where he disappeared from, still snacking on her fries.
“No.” I hesitated before shaking my head. “They have the others there with them. They really couldn't get into much trouble.”
