Chapter One
Sounds of murmuring slipped into Sydney's ears causing her to stir beneath the blankets her limbs were tangled through. As she neared the end of her pregnancy sleep was very hard to come by and the last thing she wanted was to be awake right now. Try as she might the soft noises continued to disturb her.
"What are you doing?" Sydney asked, still not opening her eyes yet.
"Talking to the baby," Adrian replied.
"Oh, well…can you talk to her later?" Sydney asked.
"Her? Why do you think it's a girl?" Adrian responded. The pair decided they wanted to be surprised and had opted not to find out the sex of their child.
"Okay, talk to him later," she amended. "Just stop talking."
"Your mother is quite the fuss when she doesn't get her beauty sleep," he informed the baby. "Not that she isn't beautiful already. We'll talk more later," he added and kissed Sydney's bump before readjusting so he could lay down next to his wife.
Knowing full well that she wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon; she tilted her head, eyes now open, to look at Adrian. "What do you tell the baby anyway?" she asked, avoiding the he/she confusion.
"That's between me and the baby," Adrian explained. "Why do you think I do it while you're asleep?"
"You're going to get this baby firmly on Team Daddy, huh?" Sydney teased him.
"Without a doubt," Adrian joked.
"So now that you've woken me up I'd like breakfast," Sydney told him.
"With an attitude like that you'll be lucky if you get a bowl of cereal," Adrian scoffed.
"Don't make me play the pregnancy card," Sydney playfully warned him.
"Please…as if you'd ever get a no out of me," Adrian said. He smiled and leaned over to peck her lips before sliding out of bed and heading towards the kitchen.
Sydney attempted to stretch and get more comfortable, but she knew it was a futile effort. Every part of her was huge and most movement was slightly awkward at the least. She had a feeling the last weeks of her pregnancy were going to feel the longest.
Sydney and Adrian had been back at Court for almost six months now and as much as Sydney wanted to dislike life in Pennsylvania she couldn't. Here within the guarded walls she didn't have to worry about her own safety, as well as Adrian and Hadley's. And having family and friends close by was a nice perk, especially when a baby-sitter was needed. She continued her work for Mr. Casey, though assignments involving travel had been cut down in the past few months.
Sydney's fears of being mistreated now that she was just an ordinary human remained unfounded. She suspected that had to do with her husband's close relationship with the queen and her sister, but nonetheless she was grateful. The only downside to living at Court was the lack of opportunities for Kenzie and her own family to visit. Zoe and her father were usually busy with assignments and her mother, Carly, and Kenzie weren't exactly comfortable there. Not that she could blame them. It was a lot to process.
The other biggest hurdles to cross after the move were telling Hadley about her heritage and telling the Court doctors about the little girl's abilities. Sydney and Adrian prepped for weeks about what and how they would explain the vampire world to Hadley. They role played different scenarios and tried to think of every possible question their daughter might ask. Luckily, Hadley had a very imaginative and open mind and didn't seem very fazed by the truth about who she was. She was mostly just grateful she didn't have to drink blood.
Sydney was still reluctant about sharing Hadley's magic with anyone, but eventually she and Adrian both met with Dr. Brooks. He was a kind and knowledgeable man and eased their fears about Hadley's condition. Twice a week Hadley underwent special tests and activities that allowed Dr. Brooks to study her development. Either Sydney or Adrian was always present for these sessions. The doctor felt he was making a lot of headway and he even had called a specialist from overseas to assist him in his research. Dr. Smirnov was to arrive any day now.
"Mommy?" Hadley asked, peeking into the bedroom.
"Hey you…come on in," Sydney encouraged her daughter.
Hadley stepped into the room and crawled up onto the bed. "Is the baby awake or sleeping?" she asked her mother.
Sydney slid her hand up and down Hadley's back soothingly. "The baby is pretty squirmy so I'd say awake," she told her.
"Oh, okay. Can you go backs to sleep then?" Hadley asked her.
"Why do you want me to go back to sleep?" Sydney asked.
"Because I needs to talk to Max," Hadley explained, using her pet name for the baby. She placed her little palm on Sydney's belly.
"And I can't know what you're saying?" Sydney asked.
Hadley shook her head no. "Secret stuff," she replied.
Sydney chuckled. "Okay, Had. You go ahead," she told her and closed her eyes.
Hadley leaned over so she was nose to nose with her mother, her breath tickling her skin. Once she was convinced Sydney was asleep she pressed her face against Sydney's belly and started speaking, "Max, I forgots to tell you something. When I was with the doctor I hads to build a tower with blocks. He said I couldn't uses my hands so I had to think real hard. And whens the tower was done it fell over and the doctor got a boo-boo. I didn't gets in trouble because it's not like real school. But if that happens in real school you gets in trouble. So be careful," she told her sibling.
Sydney pressed her lips together to keep from laughing at Hadley's words of wisdom. She heard a creak in the floorboard and then Adrian's voice. "What are you doing, monkey?" Adrian asked her.
"Talking to Max," Hadley explained.
"Well, tell Max you love him…her…and then go to the kitchen. It's time to eat," Adrian said.
"Loves you lots," Hadley said, patting Sydney's belly before doing as her father said.
Adrian sat down on the bed. "Are you really asleep?" he asked her.
Sydney opened her eyes. "No," she said with a chuckle.
Adrian idly rubbed his fingertips up and down her arm. "Do you want to eat in here or with us in the kitchen?" he asked.
"I'm okay to get up," Sydney said. She slid her hand into Adrian's so he could help pull her into a sitting position. Once she was upright she scooted off the bed and onto her feet. "Smells good," she commented as she waddled towards the door.
Adrian kept his arm around her as they headed to the kitchen. "Waffles a la Adrian," he explained.
"Is that like a la mode?" she snickered.
"Oh, way better," Adrian replied. He pulled out her chair so she could sit next to Hadley.
Sydney glanced down at the newspaper as Adrian served the two of them. "Wow, the vote is next week?" she said, observing the front page headline. After years of battling the final ruling on the law stating "a royal family must consist of at least two people" was about to be overturned.
"Can you believe it?" Adrian said. He started to cut up Hadley's waffles for her. "I didn't think the day would ever come."
"Me either," she said honestly. "But I guess we should have known better than to doubt Lissa. Jill must be relieved."
"I think they all are," Adrian said, pushing Hadley's plate towards her and then starting on Sydney's waffles.
Sydney continued reading the article before speaking up, "Extra security on site?" she commented.
"Didn't I mention that?" he asked, sliding her plate towards her.
"No…wait, did you just cut my food for me?" Sydney asked with a chuckle.
Adrian laughed. "Sorry…force of habit," he told her. "But I thought I told you. The most recent graduating class from St. Vladimir's is going to be at Court until a few weeks after the vote. Just a precaution."
"Are we going to have a guardian?" she asked curiously. Though Adrian was royal he didn't have a guardian of his own.
"Um, two, I think," Adrian said between mouthfuls of his breakfast.
"Huh…that's going to be weird," Sydney commented.
"It's only for a little while," Adrian said with a shrug.
"Yeah, I guess," Sydney replied. With a final glance she set the paper down and began to eat herself. She couldn't shake a feeling she had inside of her. This law had been the catalyst for her assignment in Palm Springs. It was what brought her, Adrian, Jill, and Eddie together. Now with it being overturned…it seemed as though everyone was going to get a happy ending.
