Night Finds (19 page)

“Over my dead body,” I bellow out as that final push begins. If any of the soldiers that fell victim to Hilda’s sleeping spell were still sleeping, they aren’t now. Pain isn’t that big of a deal for me usually, but this isn’t pain. This is certain death. The remark earlier about my body feeling like it was turning inside out is spot on. I think even my organs are somehow reshaping themselves.

“Perfect. Her head is all of the way out and there, so are her shoulders. Just a little tug from me and that should do it.” As Hilda works, I visualize a vacuum kind of suction in the void that previously housed my little devil. “Daddy, come over here and do the honors.”

Sebastian leaves my side and I really just want to take a nap now. It may have only been ten minutes, if Hilda knows how to tell time, but it felt like at least fifteen.

“She is kind of red and mucky, but I think she has your nose,” Alex says wiping sweaty hair from my forehead. Hilda is still messing around my womanly area and with the pain now lessened, I really don’t care.

I open my eyes and look over to where the small group is cooing over the baby. “Isn’t she supposed to be crying or something? Did you do the thing where you smack her on the bottom? I think she should probably get used to that now. I foresee a lot of little swats in her future.”

“Just wait until I build up some muscle, Mother. You won’t be able to keep up with me in order to dish out your discipline,”
a tiny voice says to me. Great. Out of all the traits she could have picked up from me, why did it have to be sarcasm?

“Be nice, Sophia. Mommy doesn’t have the energy right now to come up with a good comeback,” Sebastian says. I can see he is using a moist towel to try to get her cleaned up. “Hand me that yellow blanket please. Any more cleaning will have to be done when we get home.”

“She has a full head of hair. I was afraid she would be one of those bald babies. She has two parents with great hair, so that would have been a big disappointment,” Phee points out.

Okay, let’s just get the little bugger over to me, like ten seconds ago. I want to see these things for myself and take in the baby that refused to speak to me.

“Little Sophia Rose, are you finally ready to meet your mother?” Sebastian asks as he brings the fluffy, yellow bundle over.

“Uh huh,”
she replies being nice and civil to her father. If she thinks she can use her cheeky personality just on me, she has another thing coming.

I sit up a little and lean myself against the wall behind the cot. Alex sits down on the edge closest to me and Sebastian lowers our daughter down to me. I am a little afraid of dropping her, so I really hope she bounces. I get her neck into the crook of my elbow, even though her little neck looks to be strong enough to support itself.

The blanket is obscuring her face a little. I move it out of the way and find two wide open, brown eyes staring back at me. She looks exactly like the picture I saw when my mother was trying to prove I was pregnant, just a little bigger. She is still really small, maybe five pounds soaking wet.

“Hello, Mommy. It is nice to finally meet you. Daddies were right about you being the prettiest person in the whole world. Do I look like you?”
I don’t know why, but I start crying. She is just so perfect. I unwrap her a little to verify the fingers and toes are all in place.

“You are going to look just like your mom when you grow up, little one,” Phee says trying to get a closer look. Back off sister, you got to see her before me.

Sophia smiles at hearing we may be twins one day. Her mouth opens enough to show little fangs hanging down, but no other teeth. First, that just looks weird and is totally wrong. Second, those better be retractable because there is no way she is getting near her breakfast dispensers with fangs.

“One of you guys better have a talk with your daughter. Those teeth aren’t going to fly in Nyx’s world of child rearing,” I announce.

“I think they are kind of cute,” Sebastian says beeping Sophia’s nose.

“If the looks weren’t enough, the fangs give away which one of us is the father. Sophia, be nice and put them away. They are scaring your mother,” Alex scolds.

“Yes, Wolf Daddy,”
she replies and opens her mouth again to show they are gone.

“Wolf Daddy, that’s cute,” Hilda says and it appears she has decided I am in good enough shape to have my pants put back on. I don’t know what all she did down there, but I am ready to be carried home. I think I am too tired to walk by myself.

“You can hear when Sophia talks to us?” Sebastian asks. Good question. I was hoping to have a little time before everyone realized what a smart aleck my offspring is.

“Isn’t she talking like everyone else does?” Phee asks. “I mean it is weird for a little baby to be able to do that, but at the same time really cool.”

“Her vocal chords can’t be strong enough for that. She is doing it all telepathically.”

“Then she has a built-in megaphone because everyone can hear her,” my dad calls from outside the door. “Is it safe to come in yet, or does it still look like a battlefield in there?”

“I don’t know how we would be able to fit another person in here, but I think things are safe. No potential sightings of your daughter’s privates,” I reply.

“I will hop out and see what Sam is up to,” Phee says skipping from the room. “Congratulations to all of you, by the way.”

“If you are coming to issue reprimands, you will find I left my give a darn at home. However, if you are coming to carry me home, that would be greatly appreciated. I am sure Sophia would much rather see her room. You haven't exactly been living as a king these days, Dad.”

He makes his way into the one room, dilapidated hut. “Just remember, it was for both of our protection that I moved in here. The Fae outside are a little friendlier than the ones I met when I arrived. None of the guys would talk to me at all, and that 'Queen' of theirs is a whole other story. I am guessing you had to meet with her to get this far. There is another thing to add to my list of reasons you shouldn't have come. Don't worry; I am saving them all up for when you have your strength back. We will have a good, long chat.”

“I, oddly enough, am looking forward to it. Now, come over here and say hello to your grandchild. Unless you have some other children I don't know about, she may just end up being your only one.”

I am sure I cannot fool anyone with that line, but I will be drawing the limit at five. If we are going to live very long lives, I think five is a nice number. Maybe one a century, or something like that. For now, we need to get home and come up with some kind of master plan to bury the Collective once and for all. I know Frank wasn't joking about them going to make more attempts at retrieving me. They have always been power hungry ogres and if they find out just how powerful I will become, they won't stop at killing everyone I know and love to control me.

Before we get into all of the nitty gritty details on how to accomplish our tasks, I want a day. Just one day to enjoy the life me and Sebastian created without the outside world butting in. I think I have enough friends and family to achieve that. Tomorrow, we can solve the problems of the world. Today, I am just a mom.

THE END