Chapter Seventeen She could move absolutely silently when she wanted to. Lindy slipped out of the bedroom, carrying a pair of sneakers. Quietly, she glided past Nathaniel, who had spent the night in the living room on the couch. She eased the front door open, making sure the ray of sunlight that spilled inside came nowhere near his resting place, and slipped outside. She didn't see Nathaniel sit up and frown at the closing door. Lindy sat down on the steps and pulled on her shoes. She was lacing them up when Sabryn pulled up. She walked over to the car. Bryn grinned cheerily at her. "Sorry I'm late. I had to convince a 190 pound man that I'm not a mattress this morning." She frowned when Lindy didn't smile at her joke. "What's wrong?" Getting in, Lindy sat down in the passenger's seat and buckled her seatbelt. "Nothing much...my house burned down, I miss my family, and Nate doesn't seem to want anything to do with me. That's all." "Want to tell me about it?" "Not at the moment." Bryn winced, pulling out into traffic. "You're going to have to give me directions." Lindy nodded and told her where to go. She was quiet for a while, despite the fact that Bryn was chattering on about wedding plans. When they were on the freeway, and Bryn turned her attention to Lindy, she couldn't escape an interrogation any longer. "You're going to have to tell me what's going on sooner or later, Lindy. You're sitting over there like a bump on a log. You haven't even noticed that I got a new car. And I know you can smell like bloodhound, so obviously whatever is bothering you is pretty big. So spill." Lindy sighed. "Nate and I went to the beach last night. It was really romantic, and I told him that I loved him." Bryn glanced over at her. "And that's a bad thing?" "No, but what happened afterwards..." She trailed off, shaking her head. "Lindy, come on. What's wrong?" "We started making out, and went farther than we usually do. I came for him, Bryn, for the first time. But he... he didn't." "Oh." She swallowed heavily. "You two have never...?" Lindy shook her head. "Well, um, that's normal...I think." "That's not all. He just sort of shut down after it happened. He wouldn't move...he wouldn't look at me. I didn't know what to say to him." "Maybe he was..." Scratching her head, she said, "I don't know. I can't say I've ever had that happen to me. In my experience--which is extremely minimal-- guys are usually the ones who get over-stimulated quicker. Not the other way around." "I know. He even said that he wanted to go further...that he couldn't look at me, because he might...fuck me, basically." Bryn let out a little laugh. "So what's the problem?" "He didn't say two words to me during the hour ride back home. And as weird as it sounds, we're sharing a bed for the last week or so, just sleeping. He spent the night on the couch." She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "And I didn't get much sleep last night either. I spent all night tossing and turning, trying to figure out what the hell I did wrong." Pulling off the freeway, Bryn braked the car at the first intersection and turned to look at Lindy. "I don't understand...why haven't you two slept together if you're sharing a bed?" "He doesn't want to." "That's not what you said a minute ago." "But he stopped himself. He said he wanted to, but he didn't do it. So maybe he doesn't really want to, after all?" "But you said he was into it before you came, right?" "Yeah." "What did he say afterwards? Other than he couldn't look at you." "He said...he didn't want our first time to be like that." Seeing traffic start to move around them, Bryn pressed on the gas. Watching the road again, she said, "So maybe he's got something more romantic in mind?" "Then why wouldn't he talk to me?" "I don't know...maybe he was just frustrated. I mean, you just had an orgasm, and then he has to share a bed with you, all the while knowing that you could be in some fancy hotel or something. Maybe he just had something better in mind." "Maybe," Lindy said doubtfully, as they pulled up to another stop light. "Take a left here, and park in the lot to the right." Bryn looked at her friend at the next stoplight. Lindy did look as if she hadn't slept all night, and she hadn't put on any makeup. In a word, she looked miserable. "It'll work out, Lindy, I'm sure it will." She wanted so badly to tell her about the ring Nathaniel purchased, but didn't dare. She started moving when the light turned green. "So where are we going to lunch?" "Union Square. We can go to the Macy's afterwards and see about getting you registered for the wedding." "Oh my God, I hadn't even thought about that. Jeez. I've been so busy worrying about caterers and invitations and flowers. At least I finally got some of that done today." Pulling into the parking lot, she found a good spot and waited for the car to pull out. "A little advice? Don't get married too quickly. The longer you're engaged, the more time you have to plan. I don't even know if the photographer I hired is any good." "Well, I honestly doubt I'll have to worry about that any time soon." Biting her lip, Bryn pulled into the space and parked the car. Shutting off the engine, she turned in her seat. "Speaking of weddings...I was wondering...well, I'd like to ask you to be my maid of honor, Lindy. I know it's kind of awkward for me to ask, after all of the stuff we've been through, but you're my best friend along side Anton. And I'd really be honored if you said yes." Lindy swallowed, surprised. "I'd love to, Bryn. I can't tell you how much that means to me." She smiled for the first time that day. "Have you and Anton set a date yet?" "July fourth." "Not that far away, huh?" She laughed a little. "Talk about having fireworks on your wedding night." Bryn giggled. "Yeah, as opposed to every other night." She glanced at Lindy, who wasn't quite as amused. "Sorry." "It's okay. I'm the one who's spoiling the mood." "No, I understand. But I think Nathaniel really loves you, Lindy. I don't think he would've stopped himself otherwise. As romantic as it seems, I've heard sex on the beach isn't all that great. There are some places you just do not want to get all sandy. Ouch!" They both laughed at that. Reaching out, Bryn pulled Lindy into a hug. "Thank you. This really means a lot to me. And I hope I can cheer you up today." "Thanks, Bryn." Lindy returned the hug. "So what do you say we go get something to eat? I'm tempted to just drown my sorrows in a gigantic hot fudge sundae." "Sounds good to me." After dropping Lindy off at Nate's, Bryn drove to the paint store to give Lindy time to leave for work. When sufficient time had passed, she drove back to the townhouse and quickly grabbed her sketches. Knocking on the door, she walked inside without waiting for Nathaniel to answer. The sun was still up, so she hurried to shut the door behind her. Once the door was closed, he appeared at the top of the stairs. "She's gone, right?" Bryn asked, heading up the stairs. "Yeah. I was in the shower, but I'm pretty sure she left." "What's going on with you two? You aren't even speaking?" He sighed, leading her towards the bedroom. He'd already brought the scaffolding up, in separate pieces, and had it reassembled so she could begin drawing. She could also see he'd moved the bed and covered all of the furniture with old sheets. "No, we aren't. Is that a problem?" She frowned at his hostility. "Yeah, she's my friend. And I thought you were, too, until you started acting like a jerk. Don't make me start thinking Anton's right about you, Nate." Scowling, he leaned against the scaffolding frame. "We're just going through a rough patch, OK?" "She told me about it, you know." Seeing the look on his face, she hid her smirk as she set down her supplies. "She thinks you don't want her anymore." "She what?" He shook his head. "Jesus. I just can't win, can I? If I leave her alone, she thinks I don't want her...and yet if I don't leave her alone, I look like a rapist." "Did she say that?" He let out an unamused little laugh. "No, Bryn. I stopped myself before she could even think that. If she'd known what was inside my head, she would have started running and never looked back." This time she couldn't hide her smirk. "Oh, I think you'd be surprised." "Trust me, she'd run," he said glumly. Bryn shook her head. She began opening the paints, checking the color consistency. "So why aren't you sleeping with her, Nate? You do realize that when you get married, it will kinda be expected." "Duh, Bryn." Nate shook his head. "All my life I've messed up my relationships. I want everything to be perfect for her for our first time." "I think she needs to hear that, Nate. She thinks she did something wrong." "She did everything right, believe me." "Then maybe she needs to hear that, too." Picking up her sketch pad, she opened it and handed it to him. She watched as he flipped through the three main designs she'd done. "I thought you were going to propose to her? Are you still waiting?" "Yeah, I'm waiting on you." He gestured to the sketch pad and the ceiling. "I want this done first." "Then you'd better decide on what you want done." "This one," he said, showing her the last drawing. "Maybe a few more stars." "That I can do." She looked over at the scaffolding. "You're going to have to help me for a little while." "All right." Since he wasn't sure the frame could hold their combined weight, he went up first, marking off the positions she pointed out with a pencil. Once he'd finished with the measuring and she was satisfied, he helped her climb up on to the scaffolding so she could start drawing. She did a lot of light tracing, mainly for size and area, sometimes using a gum eraser when she didn't like the way things looked. It wasn't as easy as she had originally thought, considering the scaffolding wasn't as high as she'd hoped. Most of the work had to be done while sitting and leaning back, instead of lying comfortably on her back. When she was done with the drawing, she climbed down to survey her work and started mixing the paints. He told her what colors he liked and what didn't work, and then she made a test painting on a large sheet of dry wall. When the paint was ready to dry, she stood back and looked at the finished product, wiping the sweat off of her forehead. It was certainly hot enough in the room. Unfortunately, it was still about twenty or so minutes too early to open a window. Calling for Nate to come upstairs, from where he was getting her some water in the kitchen, she stood in the doorway and fanned her face. She never expected the floor to be the next thing she got a close-up look at. Nate heard Bryn calling, and then a loud thud. He ran up the stairs and found her laying in the hallway. "Oh God! Bryn, what happened? No, stay on the floor," he said as she tried to stand up. "I'm not sure." She waited to speak until Nate was through checking her pulse. "I was calling for you and then I was on the floor." She sat up, despite his admonishments to hold still, and the hallway spun. "Whoa..." Nate frowned. "Have you got your doctor's number?" "It's in my purse." He stood up. "You stay put! I'm going to go phone her right now." Leaning against the doorframe, Bryn watched him go down the stairs and disappear into the living room. She felt a little nauseated, and there was no doubt she was going to have a hell of a headache in a few minutes. She could already feel a large knot forming on the right side of her head. Feeling the room sway again, she leaned further against the wall and tried to breathe deeply. It was just so hot up there. The drowsiness she'd been feeling all day was getting worse. She had an urge to lay down somewhere and take a nap, but there was still so much work to be done. Listening for Nate's voice as he talked on the phone, she used the wall to carefully climb to her feet. Wobbling a bit, she took a few shaky steps and, deeming herself competent enough, went back into the bedroom to start closing up the paint cans. But it wasn't long before she started feeling dizzy all over again. Popping the last lid into place, she slumped down to the floor and stayed put where she was. She hoped she wasn't getting sick. This would be a really bad time to come down with the flu. Nate came running back up the stairs. "I thought I told you not to move," he chided. "The doc said she'd be here in half an hour. She also said to get you downstairs and for you to lay down on the couch. Think you can manage that?" "Yeah," she said weakly. She allowed Nate to put her arm over his shoulder and half carry her downstairs to the couch. Nate paused in the act of putting some pillows under her legs. "You want me to call Anton?" "No," she said, firmly. "This is nothing. I just got too hot. I don't want him worrying." "This isn't nothing. Your pulse was going a mile a minute, Bryn. Your movements are sluggish and you can barely keep your eyes open. I think he needs to know." "Nathaniel--will you just settle down? It was my fault. I should have stopped working when I started feeling dizzy." "You were feeling dizzy and you didn't tell me?" "I asked you for a glass of water, didn't I?" He let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm calling him." "If you do, that room is never going to get finished...he'll probably assign me to bed rest for the next nine months." "And is that necessarily a bad thing?" "You said you weren't going to ask Lindy to marry you until the room was done." "I'll find another way to surprise her. It's not worth risking your health or that of your baby's." "Anton's going to blame you," she said softly. "You don't think I know that? I think he'd take it worse, though, if he found out after the fact." He picked up the mobile phone. "So do you want to call him or shall I?" She sighed, her head thudding on the arm of the couch. "I'm tempted to make you do it, but I'm not that cruel." She held her hand out for the phone. "I'll do it." He handed the cordless over, leaning on the wall as she dialed. She called the home phone first. When he didn't answer, she hung up and dialed his cell phone number instead. "This is Anton," he said. "Hi, it's me." "What's wrong?" She scowled. "Why do you immediately assume something's wrong?" "Because if you were done working, you'd come home. And you had nothing else planned today. Chances were, something is wrong or you were calling to say you're going to be late...so which is it?" "Crap...don't freak out, okay, Anton?" She paused, but he didn't say a word. "I fainted." "What? Are you okay? Where are you?" "I'm fine, Anton. I just got a little overheated." Anton wasn't accepting that answer. "Where are you at?" "I'm at Nathaniel's. Dr. Anne is going to stop by." "I'm on my way over." "Anton, that's not necessary..." "I'm on my way over," he repeated firmly. "Uggh." She rolled her eyes at Nathaniel. "This is exactly why I didn't want to call you." "You weren't going to call me?" She could hear him pulling down the elevator grate in the warehouse. "What were you thinking?" "I was thinking that this isn't a big deal. I just got hot from being upstairs. There isn't a whole lot of ventilation--Anton, the sun isn't even down yet! You can't come over here." "I'm heading over there the moment the sun sets." He sighed heavily. "I want to talk to Nathaniel." She lowered the phone, hand over the receiver. "He wants to talk to you." Nate nodded and took the phone. "Yes, Anton?" Anton's voice was quiet and restrained, but still filled with menace. "I'm holding you personally responsible if anything happens to her. You understand me, boy?" The crisp "Yes, sir" that followed could have come with a salute. "I'm not kidding around, Nathaniel." "And you think I am? I was the one who told her to call you." "I'm taking my cell phone with me. Call me immediately if anything changes." "Fine." Neither one of them said goodbye. Anton hung up his end of the line first, leaving Nate scowling at the receiver. Pushing the button to end the call, he looked at Bryn. "I'm guessing he'll be on his way. Do you need anything?" She shook her head, her eyelids heavy. "I think I'll just close my eyes and rest for a little bit." "All right...but don't be surprised if I check your pulse every once in a while to make sure you're still alive." She gave him a weak smile before closing her eyes and slowly drifting off to sleep. Anton was already out of his car almost before it stopped moving. He took the stairs leading up to the door two at a time. He raised his fist to pound on the door when it opened, revealing Nathaniel. "The doc's with her and wants to talk to you," was all that he said. The older vampire brushed by Nathaniel without a word, stalking into the living room. What he saw there made his blood run cold. Bryn was lying on the couch, legs propped up, looking very pale. Dr. Leahs was in the midst of taking her blood pressure, and frowning. The doctor took one look at Anton and stepped away, gesturing him forward. He walked over to Sabryn and knelt down, taking one of her hands in his. "You look like hell, my dear," he said softly, and kissed her forehead. She appeared to be almost too tired to smile. "I'm okay. I just get dizzy when I stand up. I got most of my work done, but I still need to paint." She glanced at the doctor. "I guess that idea is out for the day. Anyway, I didn't want to worry you, Anton. You didn't have to drive all the way over here." He kissed her forehead again. "Don't talk like that, Bryn. I want to know if you so much as sneeze." He looked over at Dr. Anne, who was scribbling notes and consulting a book. "What happened?" "What I *think* has happened is that the fetus not only is absorbing nutrients from the placental blood supply, but blood as well. Probably for the last month or so, and in such a small amount that Ms. Jaegar was able to compensate with no difficulty. However, the heat and the fumes and the lowered blood volume all contributed her fainting spell, and she's having a difficult time recovering from it." The doctor took off her glasses, tapping them against her palm. "I'd like to start transfusing her tonight, but I'd rather do it at your home." "Crap," Bryn said, softly. "I hate needles." "Well, looks like you're going to have to start getting used to them." Turning her attention to Anton, Dr. Leahs said, "And since regular visits to my office won't always be an option, you're going to have to learn how to administer the transfusions yourself." He didn't look too pleased. "How often?" "I'm not entirely certain yet. We'll have to see how she responds to the treatment." They looked up when the door opened. Nate was standing in the entryway as Lindy walked in the house. He smiled softly at her, but she wasn't paying him much attention. "I saw Anton's car outside--" She paused, seeing the three other people in the living room. "What's going on?" "Ms. Jaegar had a fainting spell, Lindy," the doctor said. "I was just telling Mr. Rudenko that..." She trailed off when she realized that her niece wasn't listening, but staring at Bryn. Actually, Lindy appeared more to be staring through Bryn, as if she were transparent. "Lindy, what's wrong?" Lindy just stared, head slightly tilted. It wasn't until Nate put a hand on her shoulder that she broke out of the trance like state. "Anne, could Bryn be carrying twins?" Anton's eyes went wide at the thought, and Bryn looked surprised as well. "What makes you say that?" Anton asked. Lindy pushed her hair away from her eyes. "I just got this distinct impression of a boy *and* a girl. Almost as strong as when I told Jess that Amanda would be a girl." Bryn looked back at Anton and crossed her arms. "Vampires are sterile, my ass!" "There's no way we can tell for sure now. The next time you're in my office, I'll check for more than one heartbeat. In the meantime, we should get you taken care of Ms. Jaegar." Nodding, Bryn started to slide her legs off of the couch. Anton immediately took her arm and helped to support her as she stood up. She wobbled, leaning heavily against him. "What about my car?" "Worry about that later," Anton said, looking even more concerned than before. She wasn't even holding up her own weight. "And you certainly aren't painting anytime soon." She nodded, then immediately groaned as the room spun. Sighing heavily, Anton bent down and supported her under her knees, lifting her up into his arms. Nodding towards the door, he followed Dr. Leahs out. Nate closed the door behind them, glad that Anton was ignoring him for the moment. He turned to Lindy. "Twins? Impressions? What was that about?" Lindy looked away a bit uncomfortably. "What was Bryn doing over here?" "I asked you first." "Well, I asked you second." "And you'll find out second, too." "Nate...just drop it. Please?" He sighed. "All right." Reaching out, he grabbed her hand. "Follow me." "Why?" "You want to know why she was here, don't you?" Still slightly skeptical, she followed him up the stairs. He walked down the hall and turned on the light in the bedroom. The first thing she saw was the pile of paint supplies in the middle of the room. Next to those was a drying canvas of a sunny sky. Glancing at Nate, she raised her eyebrow. "Look up." Walking a little further into the room, she could finally see the soft pencil marks on the white ceiling. Although faint, it appeared to be the same image as that on the canvas. "She was painting?" "Yes...or she was going to." He nodded towards the canvas. "That was only part of it. Once that dried, she was going to add a moon and stars that would glow when the lights were off." "Why?" "Because we're both creatures of the night. I wanted a way we could both enjoy the sun together." He took a step closer to her. "I wanted to surprise you." He took a deep breath and plunged ahead. "Look about last night--" "Nate--" "No, Lindy, let me finish. What happened last night was my fault. I let things go too far, against my better judgement. When we do make love for the first time, I want it to be perfect for you. You deserve the best, Lindy. The flowers, the candlelight, the king sized bed, the romance, the whole works. Not a rape on the beach--" "Wait," she interrupted. "Did you just say 'rape,' Nathaniel? You can get that idea out of your head right now, because when both partners consent, that's not rape." "Yeah? Well, that's what some people say about statutory rape, too, but you can still go to jail for it." When she started to protest, he held a hand up to silence her. "You might not have called it a rape, Lindy, but that's how it would've felt to me...at least when I came to my senses, anyway." "When you came to your senses? Are you saying you were out of your mind?" "In a way, yes. I was barely able to stop myself." He sighed, hanging his head. "There are some things you don't know about me, Lindy. Nothing that would scare you, but it isn't pretty. I'm not used to *feeling* anything when I have sex. You asked me before if I'd ever been married, and I told you that I hadn't found anyone special enough. But I didn't make it clear just what I meant. I'm..." When he didn't finish, she prompted him. "You're what?" "I'm the kind of person who chases after what I can't have. Always falling for married women, or girls who were too rich, or ones who loved someone else. Like you. But this time I got what I wanted. For the first time in nine hundred years, Lindy. I'm trying to tell you that I've never been in love before. And I'm scared to death that I'm going to fuck this up." Lindy looked at Nathaniel and stepped forward to wrap her arms around him. "Nate, never in nine hundred years?" He shook his head. "I'm your first love?" She placed one hand on each of his cheeks and kissed him. "I had no idea..." She swallowed, blinking back tears. "I was afraid I did something wrong, that you didn't want me anymore." "I'm sorry." He pressed his forehead against hers. "I should have explained, but I didn't really trust myself not to say something stupid. I--God. Wait here, okay?" She looked at him curiously but stayed put as he walked out of the room. She heard him jog down the stairs. Looking back up at the ceiling, she couldn't help but smile. It was a very nice idea to have the sun painted above them. And the idea of lying under the stars, while comfy in bed, was more than appealing. As she heard Nate come back up the stairs, she turned to look at him. "I was going to do this in a different way, completely planned and thought out...but things just seem to keep going wrong and I can't wait anymore." She watched him drop down onto one knee and for a moment or two she didn't realize what he was doing. When she did, it felt like someone was filling a helium balloon in her chest. She gaped at him, her hand covering her mouth. "Lindy...I've known from almost the moment I met you that I wanted to marry you. You were so beautiful, and so sad, and all I wanted to do was make you smile. I realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing that. I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I'd be making the biggest mistake of all if I let you slip away from me. I know I'm not perfect, not even close...but you make me feel like a better man. You make me feel like I could do anything with you by my side. I'm asking you for a very big commitment. When I talk about forever, I don't just mean some cliché...I literally mean eternity, and I want to spend it with you. Please, Lindy...will you marry me?" He thought he had blown it when he saw the tears leaking from her eyes, until she broke out into the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. "Yes, Nathaniel, yes!" She was shaking with emotion - shock and surprise that he had proposed, a small worry for the future, but mostly the love that she felt for him. "God, and here I was trying to figure out how to explain to you that werewolves mate for life..." He broke into a laugh, relief making his muscles weak. "Thank God." He stood up and pulled her into his arms, holding her as tight as he possibly could. Pressing kisses all over her face. When he found the breath to speak, he said, "I'm going to make you so proud to be my wife. I promise you." She kissed him deeply, unable to stop from quivering with giddiness. "I'm sorry that proposal wasn't quite as romantic as I'd hoped. I meant to take you out to dinner, and maybe go to--" "It was perfect, Nathaniel," she interrupted. "Damn! I almost forgot--" He pulled back slightly, reaching for her hand. For the first time she noticed the ring he'd obviously retrieved from downstairs. As he went to slip it on, she watched curiously. "If you don't like the design or the diamond, we have plenty of time to look for others." She lifted her hand, studying the ring closely. "It's beautiful, Nate." The blue stone was almost the shade of her eyes. "This is a diamond?" "Yeah." He caught her hand, brushing against the knuckles with his lips. "Blue diamonds are a rare and precious find, Lindy. It's a one of a kind to be cherished." He leaned forward and kissed her, lingering against her mouth for a moment. "Just like you." She grinned a bit shyly. She still wasn't used to Nate complimenting her all the time. "Is that why you were going nuts on the beach last night?" "Yeah. I dropped it by the car when I went to get the coat and didn't realize it until I got back to you. All I could think was 'there's $10,000 down the drain.'" Lindy gasped at the figure. "Nate, that's way too expensive--" "Hush." He placed a finger over her lips. "You deserve it, Lindy. You deserve a ten million dollar ring, gorgeous, but you'll have to make due with this one for now. We can get it insured for our peace of mind." "Make due?" She laughed, shaking her head. "I love you so much, Nathaniel." He grinned, holding her close once more. "I don't think I could possibly hear that often enough." Pulling back to look at her face, he said, "But we do need to talk about something." He led her towards the bed, sitting down on the surface and pulling her down onto his lap. She sat uncomfortably for a moment, before shifting closer and settling against him. "What is it?" "We need to talk about our sleeping arrangements. If you want me to, I'll move to another room. Because I like touching you, and I'm not sure I could keep from doing that with you lying so close to me." He paused, meeting her gaze. "But there is another option. We could come to some sort of agreement. I don't want it to sound like I proposed just to get you into bed, because I didn't. I've had that planned for a long time. But we are going to be married one day...and it's going to be one hell of an awkward wedding night if that's the very first time we've ever touched each other sexually." Lindy nodded, slipping an arm around his shoulders. "What did you have in mind?" "I still want to wait until our wedding night to make love to you. But that doesn't mean we can't fool around, within certain limits." "What kind of limits?" "One of us is dressed at all times. And there will be an understanding that if one of us says 'no,' we won't hold it against each other. Can you agree to that?" "Yes, Nate. I don't want to spend another night alone. I was miserable last night, knowing you were in the house and not with me." She blushed thinking about her next question, but it had to be asked. "How far are we going to go? All the way to orgasm?" To her amazement, she wasn't the only one who turned red. He cleared his throat. "I, uh--I think this would be a little pointless if we both went to bed frustrated anyway." He couldn't help but grin at that. "But, like I said before, I'll only do whatever you're comfortable with, Lindy. Anything short of going all the way, that is." She snickered at that. "You don't think I'll be able to resist you?" "Honestly? I think this is going to be just shy of hell for both of us. But I'm sure we'll suffer through it." She smiled, rubbing her nose against his temple. "I'm sure we'll make it through." She gave a little laugh. "Oh God, we've got to give my parents a call, and start planning, and... well, I guess we should set a date." He nodded, grinning. "How does next week sound to you?" "Sounds like a trip to Vegas...and a 'no.'" He smirked. "All right...how about we finish up the guest bedrooms, so your family has somewhere to stay, and then we'll open presents on Christmas Eve, and get married the next morning?" "Sounds like a wonderful Christmas present ." Anton watched carefully as Dr. Leahs connect the transfusion equipment, explaining how each piece was set up. He had carried Sabryn upstairs to their apartment, ignoring looks from his employees as the doctor trailed in his wake. During the drive over, she hadn't recovered any, but he took small comfort in the fact that she had not gotten worse. "Now it's important that you make sure that it's a vein that you puncture. The blood pressure is too high in the arteries for this to work." The doctor tied a rubber strap around Bryn's upper arm. "Now if the veins don't pop at first, like they have done here, have her make a fist." She picked up the needle. "I'll do it this first time, and let you watch. It's pretty straight forward." As she carefully guided the needle into place, she said, "Even trained professionals sometimes have a hard time with this, so don't worry too much. Follow the path of the vein, and don't go downward...a little bruising around the area is actually fairly common." She continued with the demonstration, taping the hollow needle into place, and hanging the bag of blood on the tripod. As she showed him how to put light pressure on the ampoule, she noticed that Bryn was drifting off to sleep. "She should be fine, but you'll need to watch her carefully so she doesn't slip into unconsciousness. There can be complications with transfusions, that start off with symptoms like a burning in the arm and hives...and can lead all the way to cardiac arrest." Seeing the panic on his face, she added, "But I don't anticipate that being a problem. Still, I'm going to leave some saline with you. If she shows any reaction, stop the transfusion immediately and replace it with the saline. And call me." Nodding towards the ampoule, she said, "Once this is done, carefully remove the needle, dispose of it, and put a bandage over the wound. I'm hoping this will only be a once a month procedure, but it may progress along with the pregnancy." Anton nodded. "Now what?" "We just wait until the unit is just about gone." Dr. Leahs sat down on a chair besides the bed and gestured for Anton to do the same. "Any questions, Mr. Rudenko?" "Yes, but not medical ones, or at least not directly." She raised her eyebrow, but nodded for Anton to continue. "Lindy said something about an 'impression' of a boy and a girl. What did she mean?" "I'm not certain she'll appreciate me telling you this, but since you asked..." The doctor leaned back in the chair. "Lindy's psychic, and it doesn't appear to be related to her lycanthropy. She's had what we call 'impressions' a few times, mostly about pregnancies or other significant life changes, and always at random. She's tried to 'see' things before, but can't do it at will. And she's frighteningly accurate. But the thing I don't get is that Bryn isn't showing any signs of carrying twins, even though it is really too early to be certain." He leaned his forearms on his thighs, rubbing his eyes with his fingers. "There's going to be a problem if she has twins, isn't there?" "There could be. But multiple births always pose an added risk. In her case, however, that might mean more regular transfusions, and possible hospital care." "Is there any way we can avoid that?" "Well, there is an option of an in-home nurse, but this is all just speculation. Let's wait and see how she does tonight before we worry too much about the future. We have an appointment next week, I believe, but you can always come in sooner if you'd like to know right away. It might actually be nice to hear the heartbeat for the first time." "Would tomorrow be too soon?" "I don't see why not. It would probably be good to check on her tomorrow." The doctor cast a critical eye at the now almost empty unit of blood. "It looks like she's about done." She stood up, picking up a cotton ball. "When we get around to this level, remove the needle like this." She pulled the needle out, holding the cotton ball over the puncture wound. "Hold it like this for a few seconds to keep the bruising to a minimum." She reached over to check Bryn's pulse. "Pulse is strong and regular. Color looks good." She leaned over Bryn. "Miss Jaegar, can you hear me?" Bryn shifted slightly before lazily opening her eyes. "You're all done. How are you feeling?" "Tired," she said, her throat scratchy. She looked over at her arm, and then at the tripod. "That's it?" The doctor nodded. "You slept through most of the procedure. Mr. Rudenko will be bringing you into my office tomorrow, so I can check on you...and also," she added, glancing at Anton, "to see if you might be carrying twins or not." Bryn paled a little at that. "God, I hope not. It's going to be bad enough passing one head through there." Anne couldn't hide her smile. "Well, there's always caesarians." "That's even worse...I don't do well on anesthesia." She glanced at Anton. "I'm a wreck. I'm surprised you put up with me." Anton brushed Sabryn's hair back from her forehead. "You'll feel better in the morning, my dear." The doctor finished disposing of the used blood bag and needle. "That's supposed to be my line." She focused her attention on Bryn. "I want you to stay in bed for the rest of the night, and come down to my office tomorrow so I can check up on you." "OK." She snuggled further into her pillow and yawned. "Do you think Lindy was right?" "About the boy and the girl? It's possible. We'll see tomorrow." Heading towards the door, she said, "I guess that's about it." "I'll walk you to the door," Anton said. Watching them go, Bryn turned on to her side, wincing at the ache in her arm where the needle had been. She didn't feel any different, although she knew her lost blood had been replaced. She still felt slightly dizzy and weak. Definitely tired. She fell asleep again before Anton returned to the bedroom. He pulled a chair up besides the bed. He grasped one of her hand in his left, and stroked her hair back from her forehead. She stirred slightly under his touch. "Shh... go back to sleep, Bryn." "If I sleep now, I'll be awake all day." She scooted over, and patted the space next to her. "Sit with me. We'll watch a movie or something." "Like what?" "I don't know...Legends of the Fall?" He walked over to her collection of DVD movies. "You've got a thing for Brad Pitt, don't you?" She blushed a little. "Well, I could think of someone I'd rather watch...if you'd be willing to perform for me." He popped the DVD into the player. "Bryn, I don't think either of us is up to a 'performance' right now." He settled on the bed in the space she had cleared for him, wrapping his arms around her. "Comfortable, my dear?" "Mmm...much better, now." She leaned her head against his shoulder. "I'll have to make it up to you tomorrow." He smiled against her hair. "Just worry about resting right now." "I hope this doesn't happen too often," she said, fidgeting with the band-aid on her arm. He put his hand over hers to stop her from pulling at it. "My arm hurts." "How bad?" "Don't sound so worried...I'm just talking about where I had a needle shoved into me." She rested her hand on his thigh. "I wonder about what Lindy said." She looked up at him. "Would you want twins?" "Of course, Bryn." Anton placed one hand on her stomach, rubbing lightly. "Whatever you have, I will love him, her, or them." He nuzzled the top of her head. "Besides, Lindy may be wrong." "I know...I just worry about the delivery. I don't handle pain well." His fingers brushed over her arm, and he teasingly said, "I never would've guessed." "Well, I get to deal with all of the pain...maybe I'll make you change all of the dirty diapers." "Sounds like a fair enough trade, I suppose." "Tell me that again in eight or nine months." Her eyelids were starting to droop again. "Are you sure you're still going to love me fifty years from now, Anton?" "Yes, I will, Bryn, my dear. We've already been through this. I will love you until the day I cease to exist." He kissed her forehead softly. "The question is, will you still love me and be with me?" "How can you think I would leave you after telling you how much I love you?" "It's happened before," he said softly, thinking of Alexandra. She slipped her hand under his shirt, rubbing his stomach, making sure she wasn't tickling him. "Well, you're not getting rid of me that easily, Anton. Look at what we've been through so far. As long as you love me, and you believe in me, I'll never stop loving you. And I'll never leave you. I may fight with you, and I might even get so mad I'll want to mutilate you," she said, grinning, "but you'll always know where to find me. No matter how mad, or hurt, I get...I'll always come back to you. And I'll do whatever I can to keep from hurting you." "And I promise you the same, my dear." He kissed the top of her head, pulling back only when the movement of her hand on his stomach stopped. "Bryn?" he softly said, looking down. She was curled against him, head tucked against his chest, sound asleep. Unwilling to disturb her, he settled a little more into the mattress, praying that she would feel better in the morning. End Chapter Seventeen <- Previous Chapter | Home | Next Chapter ->