Eternal Bloom - Book 5 (The Ruby Ring Saga) (4 page)

I knew how upset he was. He’d tried to stay cool, calm, and collected, but deep down, he was terrified, no matter how he tried to hide it. I knew he feared for my life, but I really wasn’t sure what he could do to protect me. My guess was that he’d gone to talk to Dr. Meyers herself, to see if there was anything he could do.

I opened the fridge and took a long sip of bottled water. When I heard the door open, I raced through the living room and into Victor’s waiting arms. “Where did you go?”

“I went to speak with Dr. Meyers.”

“This early? You know where she lives?”

“I can track anyone with the powers I possess.”

“Victor, there’s nothing the doctor can do. Stalking her in the middle of the night isn’t going to help our cause.”

“We have no cure, Sarah. If you go into premature labor, you’ll die. Every single second counts. How can I sleep with that hanging in my mind?”

I touched his cheek. “Babe, I understand how difficult this is, but we have to be rational.”

“The doctor gets up at dawn, and she is more than willing to help.”

“I know. She’s the kindest woman, but we shouldn’t disturb her too much, particularly at home. It seems so...rude and selfish. She has to rest because she has other patients to tend to.”

Ignoring me, he said, “We’re working on a plan.”

“What? What kind of plan?”

He pulled me close. “I’ll tell you everything, but give me a day or so to pull it all together.”

“Victor, please! I don’t wanna be kept in suspense, not when it comes to this. If there’s any hope that we can—”

He cupped my cheek. “I know how much you hate being left in the dark, but I need more information.”

I decided it was best not to pry any further. Victor and Dr. Meyers were working in unison to save my life, and I knew they both cared about me and had mine and Alexander’s best interests in mind
. I just wish I knew what’s going on. Why does he have to be so secretive all the time?
I was naturally curious, which had served me well in my career as a researcher, but that made it all the more difficult to wait for the details.

He touched my stomach. “I’ll stop at nothing to protect the family I love.”

“It’s not just you and me anymore, Victor. We’re a family now.”

“I know. It is something I’ve dreamt of, but I never thought it would come to pass. When Della left, I...” He trailed off, realizing how inappropriate that line of conversation would be. He kissed my lips. “I love you so much, Sarah.”

“I love you too.”

D
ays passed.

I went out and ran some errands. We really needed some groceries for dinner tonight and I couldn’t leave everything up to Victor, especially when he worked hard all day. After going to the bank, post office, and grocery store, I pulled into the driveway, parked the car, and grabbed my groceries. I was so happy to be home because my feet had really swelled up. As I walked up to the house, I spotted my mom’s car pulling into the driveway. I usually loved visiting with my mother, but it wasn’t a good time. I was on an emotional rollercoaster, and I didn’t want to upset her or worry her more than she already was.

She slammed the car door shut. “Sarah!”

I waved her over. “Hi, Mom.”

“I’ve been trying to call you for days. Is everything okay, honey?”

“Everything is fine, Mom. I’ve just had a hundred things going through my mind, that’s all.”

“Ah, hormones,” she said with a knowing smile on her face. “I remember those days well, though I think I was more moody with Liz than with you.”

“Well, Mom, she is ever the drama queen, so I guess that makes sense,” I joked.

She smiled again. “Can you come over for dinner tomorrow night? I’m making your favorite, chicken pizza.”

I turned the key and unlocked the door. “That sounds delicious. Come on in. I want you to see what we’ve done in the nursery.”

My mother helped me with the groceries. “Ooh! I’d love too.”

I called Victor’s name and walked around the house, but he wasn’t there, so I assumed he’d gone out on an errand. We brought everything in and put it away, then I led my mother upstairs and into the room that would soon belong to our precious Alexander.

“This room is adorable. I love the ocean theme. You and Victor have worked hard. This is absolutely beautiful, Sarah.”

“I want him to have the perfect room.”

She glanced around. “I see you’ve already got your bag packed for the hospital. That’s always wise.”

“I know. I read it in one of those books and thought it would be a good idea. Mom, I’m so excited to hold him and see his sweet face.”

“Me too. Honey, the first week of being home with a new baby can be quite...stressful. I’d love to stay here for a few days and help out.”

Tears welled up in my eyes. “Mom, that’s awesome. Victor would love that.”

“Then it’s all settled.”

I looked at my mom, but no words would come out.

“It’s okay. I don’t mind at all.”

“It’s not that. It’s just...”

“Honey, what’s wrong?”

Emotion overwhelmed me, and I lost all control. Tears began to stream down my face. “I’m so hormonal. You know I not usually a crybaby like this. It all started when I got pregnant.”

“It’s okay to cry, honey.”

“But I want to be strong, Mom. I always have been, and I know that’s the quality Victor cherishes the most in me. He’s told me more than once that he loves my independence, my stubbornness.”

Her eyes widened. “Something is terribly wrong, Sarah. A mother can sense these things. What’s this all about?”

I met her gaze. “Mom, I-I’ve been keeping a horrible secret. I know you have every right to know, but...well, I just couldn’t bear to tell you. That’s why I haven’t been answering your calls, and now I feel lousy about it.”

She cupped my face. “Baby, you can tell me anything. You know that.”

I wanted to tell her, and I knew she needed to know. If Alexander was not going to have his mother, he would need his grandmother a whole lot more, so keeping it from her wouldn’t do any of us any favors. I sighed deeply, then opened my mouth to deliver Dr. Meyers’s grim prognosis, but no words came out. I shook my head vehemently. “It’s not okay, Mom. Nothing is okay at all.” I looked away; I just didn’t have the heart to look into her eyes. “Mom, I-I’m dying.”

“What!? I don’t get it, baby. You’re Immortal now. By the very nature of the word, that means you can’t die—unless it’s by poison from a Guardian or a beheading, according to what you told me. Oh my gosh! Have you been...poisoned? Did someone do something to you up on that evil mountain?”

“There’s another way for us to die, though it’s very rare. I have been dealing with an energy imbalance for some time, Mom. Dr. Meyers gave me pills to help me, but the pills are not as effective anymore. Since Alexander is so far along, he’s taking the brunt of the energy, which is keeping me alive, but...” My voice wavered as emotion swelled. “Mom, when he’s born, all that energy will seep into me. When I give birth, I’ll be dead within five minutes.”

My mother tried to stay strong, but she crumbled, and tears began to drip down her face in gray-black mascara rivers. She was silent for a moment, trying to take in what I was telling her, and then she simply said, “No, Sarah. This can’t be happening.”

“Mom, I’m so sorry. Victor and Dr. Meyers are doing everything they can to try to find a cure or a solution, and—”

“No! I will not allow you to die,” my mother said, wiping my tears with her thumbs.

“I will fight to the end, Mom. I’m trying to stay positive, but my heart is just aching. The thought of not rocking my son to sleep every night torments me. I can only take comfort in the fact that when I’m gone, Alexander has you and dad and Liz and Victor and Charles and...well, a fantastic support system of people who will eternally love him.”

“Speaking of Liz, where is she?” my mother asked. “She obviously doesn’t know what’s going on, or she’d be by your side. Haven’t you told your sister, Sarah?”

“She knows about the energy imbalance, but not the rest of it.”

I went on to tell my mother every single detail that I’d been holding back, and every thought I was having. She embraced me tightly, and we collapsed to our knees. I struggled to get my emotions under control, but it was no use. Time seemed to stand still as we wept in each other’s arms for what felt like hours. It was so comforting, so reassuring to be held in my mother’s arms as she spoke words of hope and love, giving me the encouragement I needed. She stroked my back and pushed the hair from my tear-stained cheeks. My mother was my best friend, and it nauseated me to know she would have to grieve my loss for the second time. I was already heart sick about being separated from Alexander moments after he was born, but the thought that I was putting everyone through such grief made it all the harder to bear.

“Mom?”

She still held me tight. “Yeah, baby.”

“You’ve always been there for me, and I’ll always love you. You’ve stood by me through thick and thin and have never given up on me. It’s an honor for me to have you as a mother, and I know Alexander will feel the same about his grandma.”

With a squeeze, she whispered in my ear. “I couldn’t ask for a better daughter. I love you so much, Sarah...and I refuse to lose you again. We’ll get you through this. I swear, somehow we will.”

Sitting in the middle of the nursery, we talked for at least an hour more. My mother truly believed I could survive, and her spark of hope ignited a fire in me to do just that.

“So those headaches you had were from the unstable energy?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yes.”

“I knew something was going on,” she said softly. “You’ve never been one to get headaches, except for that time you bumped your noggin on the swing set,” she said with a grin, recalling my little-girl days. “You were so cute, rubbing your little head, standing there in your pink and white sundress with your bottom lip sticking out, complaining that the mean, old swing messed up your hair.” 

“Mom, I didn’t find out about the unstable energy until you’d already left Tastia. I hope you know I wasn’t just hiding it from you.”

“I know, but I can’t believe you didn’t tell me the second you got back. You said yourself that I’m always here for you, through the good and the bad. How could you keep something like that on your shoulders? It’s too much to bear, especially while you’re pregnant.”

“I-I didn’t know how to say goodbye,” I said, my voice wavering.

My mom pushed back a strand of hair from my cheek.

I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m trying to come to terms with it, Mom, but I don’t wanna say goodbye to anyone. It’s too painful for me and for the beautiful people in my life that I have to leave.”

“You aren’t going anywhere, Sarah. You’re going to bring that little boy into the world, watch him grow up in this beautiful nursery, and live a long and healthy and happy life with your Victor. We’ll find a way to stop this, one way or another,” my mother swore. “I’ll never stop trying.”

I gripped my mom’s hands. “I-I don’t want a funeral. I’d rather the service be—”

More tears erupted from my mom’s eyes, and she held her hands over her ears like a stubborn little kid. “No, Sarah! Let’s talk about hope, not the end.”

“I want you to celebrate my life,” I said, wiping a tear from my eye. “I’ve had a wonderful life, with the best parents, the most wonderful sister, and an adoring husband. I know my baby will be the most beautiful son anyone could ever wish for. Celebrate my life, Mom.”

She reached for another tissue from the dresser and wiped her eyes.

“I don’t want my funeral to be like the first one you had for me.”

My mom squeezed her eyes shut and let out a small sob. “I remember every grim detail.”

“I’m so, so sorry you had to go through that, but that’s exactly why I don’t want you to have to deal with a sad, traditional funeral like that again. Let’s have a celebration of life.”

“What?”

“Funerals are the new weddings,” I said, trying to inject a little humor into a situation that wasn’t funny at all. “Friends and family come from everywhere. It’s like a big party, and I get to pick the music and select the menu. It’ll be the last chance I have to express myself, and if I have to go, I’m gonna say goodbye on my own terms. I’ll plan one heck of a party, with a slideshow and all my favorite foods, including your chicken pizza! I want people to come in fancy dresses and black ties. I’ll even make a video to play throughout the event so it’ll be like I’m right there with you. What a fantastic send-off, eh? You can all tell wonderful stories about the amazing life I led. I mean, I know it hasn’t been all that spectacular, but I did get the chance to be a lead researcher—”

My mom didn’t seem too happy with my current funeral plan and quickly cut me off. “You got the chance to be lead researcher because you were looking for Liz. That’s something you would have never pursued on your own.”

“Well...I found her, didn’t I?”

She smiled. “Yes, and I’ll never be able to thank you for that. You stood for what you believed in and dived straight into the unknown. That’s how you’ve always been, Sarah.”

I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Mom, I need to ask you something.”

She gazed over at me. “What?”

“Why didn’t you and Dad believe me? I told you I saw a creature inside the cave, but everyone thought I was lying—even the police, the park rangers, and the reporters. Nobody believed me, but I expected you and Dad to.”

“I’m sorry, Sarah. Creatures that go bump in the night and things like Bigfoot are so...well, they seem like the stuff of children’s fairytales, things people make up just to get attention. In your case, I was sure you were just traumatized from the experience of losing Liz, that your mind had made up some kind of explanation for it.”

“That was exactly why I became a Bigfoot researcher. I wanted to prove to the world that I wasn’t crazy. I knew what I’d seen, but nobody believed me.”

“I believe you now, Sarah. I should’ve never taken you on that trip. We should have never gone camping all those years ago. You and Liz would’ve never ventured off, and you would’ve never found the portal at Sabrino Cave.” Her voice trembled. “We would’ve never lost Liz for all those years, and neither of my little girls would be Immortal, which is turning out to be more of a curse than a blessing. You...Sarah, you wouldn’t be dying, and everything would be perfect. If only we hadn’t dragged you out there. I blame myself every day for that.”