31
-8 Months later
The camera shutter clicks twice before he looks down at the review display.
"Perfect. He'll love the night vision…" he tells himself under his breath. He tosses the camera into the passenger seat and starts his car. As he drives off into the night, a very pregnant Aella waddles out her front door, Poppy trotted out before her- across the porch and into the yard to do her business. Aella comes to the lawn and looks up to see the back of an old car dip into the night.
POV Nick
I round the corner from the hall to see the front door open, Poppy barking nonstop from the yard.
"Aella?" I call out when I get to the porch. I don't see either, but I hear poppy's barking from the other side of the truck. What if she needs help? I jog around and find her leaned into the back seat of the truck reaching for something, a nearly full grown Poppy facing the dark road, barking into the night.
"Babe let me help y—…" I start to say but she screams and jumps when my hand comes to her lower back.
"JESUS Nick, I didn't know you were there!" she says, standing upright glaring at me now.
"Sorry babe I didn't mean to startle you…I saw the front door open and …."
One hand on her round tummy, she plucks something from the truck and swings a bag over her shoulder but I grab the strap before the weight pulls her down. "I got this" I tell her as I swing the bag to my shoulder and shut the door behind her.
Making our way back inside the house, I set the bag on the couch next to her little "nest" of blankets she's got set up in the corner of the couch. Remembering how she nearly took my face off when I picked it all up and folded the blankets a few weeks ago, I made sure not to move them again. She spent a lot of nights out here curled in her nest. But on nights she slept with me in the bed, I put the blankets in the wash. Kandomere was convinced either Aella or the baby may be a bright, so he made sure she stayed paid full time even though she's been on leave for the past few weeks. She doesn't understand why he's protecting her because we haven't told her the whole story about the wand and being on the run. She only knew enough to accept Tikka being in our lives. Kandomere, Ward, and I all had an understanding between us all that there aren't any wands in LA, and I don't plan on breaking that promise.
She was due within the next two weeks but refused the bed rest and continued about her day as much as her body allowed. As I make my way around checking locked doors and windows, she walks down the hall and I heard her crawl into the bed, letting me know she's there for the night – I notice my own sigh of relief. When she slept on the couch, in her nest, there wasn't enough space on the couch for me to be with her. Walking into the bedroom, only Poppy's ears go up as she watches me move about the room taking my clothes off.
"There's new episodes on tonight" she turns on the tv, yawning. As I get into the bed and adjust myself next to her, she nestles against me. I ignore the growl in my belly that reacts to her body pressing against mine. With her belly and hormones, it's been weeks since she's been in the mood for sex…. I keep my focus on the tv until we're both snoring.
I wake to the smell of coffee and the empty space beside me cold. The sun is making the bed sheets brighter than normal; my ears flicked toward the kitchen and hear her bare feet padding around the kitchen floor while she hums. I adjust my position and start drifting back to sleep when I hear knocking on the front door. I'm on my feet and down the hall before she's left the kitchen to answer it. Poppy's beat me to the door and her wagging demeanor and barking let me know it probably wasn't a dangerous visitor.
"Who the hell's coming over this early on a Saturday?" she says standing in the kitchen doorway, her face above a steaming mug.
The peephole showed the distorted face of an elf I recognized from somewhere but couldn't place. Long blonde hair, sunglasses, and she was carrying a large shiny giftbag. I open the door and her eyes widen as she looks up at me and she takes a few steps back.
"I- I'm sorry, I thought you were at work…" She says in a trembling voice, her arm holding out the bag.
I look down at the bag confused and not fully coherent. "What's this? Who are you?" I ask and she's still slowly scooting back. I feel Aella's hand touch my back as she comes to my side, the realization hitting me that I'm shirtless, and half naked in the doorway. I see the elf's eyes look over my body as she creeps backwards…luckily, I still had on boxers.
"Alais! Thank youuu" Aella hugs her, and I gently take the bag. "Don't mind him, come in and get some coffee." They move past me and into the kitchen talking about her belly and today's upcoming appointment.
As I make my way back to the bedroom, Evie zooms past me making a high-pitched squeal the whole way to the kitchen and then I connect the face of the host at the fairy resort to the woman who just came over, and it all makes sense.
After I shower I head into the kitchen fully dressed, the girls are at the table talking over empty plates of food and steaming mugs. I didn't care to listen in on their conversations, I stayed focused on the smell coming from them, especially Aella. Evie often laid across her belly, listening and feeling. A small part of me was nervous about what we might find out today at the appointment. I couldn't keep focus. Drank 2 mugs of coffee before I remembered she had made decaf.
"Well I better run, I've gotta get back to the sanctuary and finalize some paperwork before the merger. You guys should come to the cord cutting!" Alais says standing up excited, and I chuckle to myself at her wording.
Aella's eyes moved to me before telling her "We'd love to, but we'll see. The due date is the day before and I'm not sure how-…"
Alais put her hand up stopping her and says, "No worries, then. Let me know when y'all are ready to visit, and I'll do a soft open just for you guys so you can visit in peace." Aella and Evie walk her to the door, and they hug goodbye before Alais and her scent walk out the door. I hear her footsteps come up behind me before her arms slide around my belly. Turning around I look down at her and the round bump resting between us. Evie had flown back towards the bedroom.
"What's got you wound up babe?" She asks me, her eyes and voice soft but she isn't reaching.
"I'm just thinking about what they may tell us today. I worry about how quickly you get exhausted, and I don't like the days the pain keeps you from leaving the shower." Her hands move to my hands and squeeze them, her smile stays.
"I know its rough, but I know I'll be okay. The doctor is gonna tell us if we can wait until the due date or if he wants to induce before." She says.
"Aella that's two weeks away and you won't do bed rest, and the baby's bed isn't ready, and…" I tell her, failing at not wanting to come off too nervous. My hands found their way to the sides of her belly and wishing the baby would come out already to let her body get rest.
"I know you're worried about more than the bed not being ready. You're going to do just fine Nick" she smiles up at me, speaking directly to the worry I tried to keep a secret. "When he gets here, you won't be able to leave him alone" she laughs. A swell in my chest grew every time she said "him".
Later in the day we're sitting in a waiting room, she's focused on a magazine that's resting open on her belly. I couldn't help but notice some stares and glares from people around us, Aella not giving a damn about them. The other couples in the waiting room matched species. They treated Aella as a human since she still looked the same, and society wasn't exactly a fan of orcs and humans mix-breeding. The beginning of her pregnancy was full of her doing research into the outcome of the pregnancy and birth and if it had been done before. She learned more about orcs than she anticipated, and I had to learn more about both human and fey. It had only been done a few other times in other parts of the world, with a small percentage surviving without complications. Aella wasn't human, but I still worried about how she would pull through. Her focus was the baby.
"Stone?" was called from an elf nurse standing in a doorway, her pointy ears holding up the mask covering her mouth and nose. Her eyes landed on us when I stood and helped Aella get to her feet. We were escorted beyond two doors and a narrow hallway lined with closed doors, and I followed Aella into a dark room that had the door propped open. When the door shut automatically behind me a growl rose from my belly, my hands on Aella's shoulders ready to move her…I smelled someone else in the room. A round light above us came on and a tall male elf in scrubs and a mask with short silver hair was standing next to a reclined chair and a monitor.
"Nick, it's okay…" Aella's hand was on mine. "It's the doctor…" she said, smiling at the elf.
"Sorry about that…" he said in a cool tone, and I couldn't decide if he was being sarcastic. "Please, have a seat in this chair and we'll take a look at the baby." He said, his hand out pointing to the exam chair that was in the spotlight. Aella stepped up and held her hand out requesting help. I gently picked her up bride style and softly set her on the half-reclined chair, her arms connected around my neck. He nods gently. I take several steps back as she lifts her shirt and lowers the top of her pants so her whole belly is exposed. He brings his head to her belly, and I return to her immediate side. Aella's hand pats my chest.
"Babe he's doing his job, it's alright." She tells me. I nod but I stay by her side and hold her hand. His eyes watching where I move.
"It's his first time coming with me to the appointment. He isn't used to someone else being this close to me." She tells the elf, her eyes apologetic.
"It's such a shame when the father can't find the time to come along…" he says, not looking at me. I still couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. Aella hasn't hinted at anything but after the stares from the waiting room, I was expecting skepticism at us being here together, in public.
"But it is about time the PD got their head out of their ass and gave you time off." he says, in the same cool half sarcastic tone. I look at Aella and she smiles at me biting her bottom lip, silently confessing that she's talked about me…about us. I feel my chest and cheeks warm with slight embarrassment.
He stands and brings a tube over. He squirts a liquid gel all over her tummy and returns the tube to the counter behind him. The monitor next to her bed had an attachment that he brought to her tummy and started rubbing the gel around. Aella seemed to be content…not making a sound, her mouth a half smile as she watched him. Suddenly a screen as big as the wall lit up on the other side of the room.
Black and green blobs formed and shifted around the screen as he moved the probe around her tummy. He looked at the screen intently, moving, searching. A green shape formed a head and shoulders of a scrunched up asleep version of me. Aella made soft squealing noises. Tiny, balled fists on top of thick arms covered his face. Small ears came to a point like mine, but I couldn't make out nose or mouth. The green was like a night vision, so it didn't show the color of his skin either.
"So...so orc for sure?" I sighed…not realizing I was holding my breath. Aella squeezed my hand and smiled big at me.
"We haven't been able to see his full face yet. He's quite large so he's very cramped and he often keeps his face covered. From the rate of growth and what we can see of the ears…" he says as he focuses on the tiny ear on the side of the head shaped blob. "…I'm comfortable concluding that your baby is of orcish race…" he says, his tone not at all sarcastic. His eyes are on me, no aggression in them at all.
Aella's eyes are on me, her smile waiting for me to say something. I slowly digest that the baby isn't human, but a baby orc. A tiny me. The swell in my chest was one I haven't felt in a while. Not since Aella was sick in the hospital.
"He is far enough along that if you want more genetic details, I can extract some blood and have it sent off for complete testing. We are however going to want to induce within the next week to avoid any injury on Aella. He's stable and developed enough to survive outside the womb, but his growth within the next few weeks is typically rapid and heavy because he is an orc, so we will keep him here to observe his growth…" he said gently. I felt my chest drop into my stomach. I was expecting another couple weeks…. not another few days.
Aella squeezed my hand, and I felt my pulse racing. "It's okay love. It'll be okay." She said calmly.
"Will…will Aella survive th-...the birth?" I asked, not wanting to know the answer but I needed to know what was about to happen.
"Our technology will do the absolute best to keep them both stable and I have confidence that both Aella and baby will be fine through the birth." He nods, talking smoothly like he said that sentence every day.
"Have you guys decided on a name?" he eyes us as he cleaned the gel, one eyebrow cocked. Aella shook her head and looked at me. I assumed the baby was going to be human, and that she would have the name picked. Her eyes locked on me, she says "Since it's your first son, Nick you can pick his name." She says, my jaw dropping looking up at the small sleeping scrunched orc face on the screen.
"I... uh…do I have to pick right now?" I looked at her.
"No, you don't have to pick right now, we've got a few days to think it over." She smiles. Her and the doctor start talking about something, but I didn't hear them. He handed me a strip of printed photos from the screen and I couldn't stop looking at them.
The silence and darkness from the house seemed like all were asleep. Seeing Aella sleeping on the chest of a snoring Nick confirmed it. The dog slept spread out under the dinner table. The fairy was too small for the elf to find from the window. He moved along the side of the house…around the bushes…across the wooden porch...he finally got to the front door breathing hard. He smashed the pictures into the mailbox, it was smaller than expected. A light came on suddenly, so he froze. He turns to run when he hears the door open but he trips over a heavy pot he didn't see and crashes off the porch onto the lawn. Before he could stand up to run, a boot crashes into his side, sending him flying into the tree and he crumpled to the ground too stunned to move. His eyes widen as a growling Nick stomps up to him baring his teeth, his tusks longer than before. "No! No, please!" is all the elf gets out before Nick's boot kicks him unconscious.
Nick is panting, growling, and looking at the elf who laid at his feet. He walks a few feet away to collect himself, calm his breathing. Aella, half asleep comes to the door and sees crumpled photos blowing across her porch. She picks them up and sees intimate photos of her and Nick. Her and Evie home alone. Nick and Aella asleep. Nick and Aella making love. She dropped the pictures horrified, the picture on top was a smiling selfie of an orc. She looked around for Nick, who was standing by someone laying at the base of the tree. He suddenly stops, catching the familiar spice of her panic. He turns around and sees Aella on the porch, backing away horrified at whatever pictures were blowing off the porch by the breeze. He jogs over to her and she's backed against the doorframe…Poppy suddenly at her side, her attention on alert directed at Aella.
"What is it? Are you okay?..." His hands feel her belly but her arm comes up and she points to the pictures spread about the porch. Nick picks up a few that were stuck together and sees a picture of a smiling Rozoth Red attached to pictures of Nick and Aella. He drops them and pulls Aella into his chest and carries her into the house. He settles her in her nest of blankets and tells her "Stay here" before kissing her forehead and goes back out the front door.
He jogs back to the elf folded up under the tree. Nick grits his teeth as he reaches down and grabs his shirt and lifts him up over his shoulders. He carries him to the garage door, lifts it open with one arm and closes it behind him. He chains the elf to a chair he had bolted to the floor a few months back when Rozoth Red was on the lam.
He sits and thinks for a few minutes, looking at the unconscious elf in the chair. He pulls out his cell and dials Ward. "Daryl?...Hey I know it's late and this is sudden but I need your help. I can't say anything else but I need you here…..yeah, I'm at home….okay." He ends the call and sighs. He pinches the bridge of his nose realizing he must call Kandomere and update him too. He goes to check on Aella first and finds her snuggled into blankets and talking on the phone to someone, worry clouding her eyes.
Nick POV
She mouths "Kandomere" and I sigh in relief. I didn't want to talk to the feds until Daryl got here. I move to the kitchen and sit in a chair and collect my thoughts. She waddles to me, breathing fast, no longer on the phone.
"What the fuck just happened?!" she says. I pull her to me and hug her to calm her breaths.
"It's alright, Daryl is on his way. We're gonna figure this out. He was walking around outside looking into the house, I can smell his stench around the bushes on the side of the garage. He was probably the one taking those pictures…" I tell her.
"WHO was walking around the house? The one in that picture?! They told us he was DEAD Nick!" She says, her panic trying to creep back in.
"Hey…hey" I tell her, pulling her against me, rubbing her back. My hand comes to her belly and I rub gentle circles. "No, it's an elf. He's chained in the garage, I kicked his face in. Let's not get you stressed, let's get you nested up in the bedroom, the windows are barred. I'll call Dorghu and have him send some men over. I'm not going anywhere and no one else is getting close to you without going through us." We walk back to the couch, and I get her settled back in and Poppy jumps up and lays next to her. I close and lock up the front door and pull my cell to call Dorghu. I motion for her to stay put and she nods as I make my way back to the garage. The elf is still crumpled in the chair, his head bowed forward.
"Dorghu…hey we just had an elf looking into the house and probably taking pictures. I think he's working with Big Red… I need you and some hands here, man. I can't let Aella out of sight." I end the call and wait. I look the elf over and notice he's dirty. His hair a mess. White pants and button up shirt but it's wrinkled, dirty, and not well kept. Unusual for an elf. I put my finger under his chin and lift his face to look at him and he suddenly lunges forward hissing at me and I jump back. He's awake and alert, but not able to move from being chained to the chair. He hisses and pulls at the chains and his white eyes follow my movements. He shudders from the pain in his ribs, and hisses at me again.
I go in the house to check on Aella and tell her to move to the bedroom since the elf is awake. She starts gathering her things and asks me to check on Evie. I make my way to the bedroom and check on Evie's nest in the corner of the room. Aella had something like a cat tower delivered so Evie would have her own area to play and rest. It was covered in moss, vines, and flowers. One of the hollow boxes has a hole on one side like a bird house. I look inside and see Evie inside snuggled asleep into her little nest of cotton and scrap linen. I go back to Aella's side.
"Evie's asleep, she's fine. I think you guys are safest in the bedroom." I tell her gently.
"Can you bring the blankets to the bed? I don't want to leave them…" Poppy follows her down the hall to the bedroom. I started gathering the blankets when rushed knocks came from the door. I pulled my gun and walked to the door.
"Nick, its Daryl" comes from outside the door. I open the door and Daryl makes his way into the house, in full uniform. Aella waddles around the corner and he comes to hug her.
"I can't stay long, this not my beat but I came to check on you guys." He says, eyeing me with a hint in his eye as he moves into the kitchen and pours himself a cup of coffee.
Aella at my side as we walk in the kitchen behind Daryl, so I tell her "We're gonna be in the garage trying to figure out who this guy is and—" is as far as she let me get before interrupting me with
"I want to know who he is too!" her face going back to cop mode. "That motherfucker has pictures of us!" she said, her anger and voice rising.
Ward talked to her over his mug, "Once we find out who he is and who he's working with, then we can move on from—SHIT, Nick she went that way!" he says, looking past me. I turn to see Aella turn the corner into the garage. A growl was brewing in my belly when I saw her disappear and I immediately ran after her. I got to her right before she reached him. I wrapped my arms around her chest to keep her from getting closer and she tried to pull me off.
"I want to ask questions too, I WANT TO KNOW WHO—" she was yelling at me, trying and failing to remove my arms from around her. I turn her around to face me.
"I know you do! But he's dangerous and you're about to have the baby!" I glance down at her belly and look at her.
A low creepy laugh grows from behind her and we turn to see his head still down, greasy hair hanging over his face…his mouth smiling, laughing. "An orc baby…a perfect abomination…" he whispers before looking up at us smiling his row of sharp teeth, laughing through them.
Aella's body tensed, and she lunged for him so I held her against me. She fought against me, her teeth grit together, her eyes never leaving him. I knew exactly what she wanted but I couldn't let her do it. Daryl walks in and without missing a beat, he cocks his gun and sets it on his temple. The elf doesn't flinch or lose his smile.
"You got about 5 seconds before your head is blown all over this floor…who hired you?" Daryl asks him.
He whispers through his smile, "You can't shoot me, I'm protected. With your bullet, your dna, they'll find you and kill you and everyone you love…" His white eyes sideways toward Daryl, then they land on me. My arms are still around Aella, her body still tense and pushing back against my arms.
"I'm a fed bitch, you won't exist after today…" Aella says in a low voice between her bared teeth.
"4…..3…..2…." Ward counts down and I shut my eyes expecting elf pieces to be blown about.
"Dodge" he whispers gravely, letting his head fall looking back at the ground.
Daryl's gun moves back, his head dips towards the elf. "What did you say?..."
My arms loosen just a bit when I look at Daryl, half in shock. "Did he….did he name Dodge?..." I ask him, my mind starting to reel. I take a step back, my arms falling from Aella. She was looking between me and Daryl confused.
"Who's he talking about? Who's Dodge?" She asks us, irritated… but we stay silent and look at each other. She didn't know.
Her time on leave kept her mostly out of the loop as we worked cases and patrolled the beat. Aella's house wasn't in our jurisdiction, but she didn't live far from it either. Shortly after she was reassigned to Kandomere's unit, I moved all my stuff into her house, at her request. The break-in at my old place had her unsettled enough to convince us both that I should be here with her. I look at her and her belly grateful that I'm here now.
Ward grabs a handful of the elf's hair and pulls his head back up to face us, he puts his gun back up to his temple. "What Dodge are you talking about, huh? I see counting works. 5…4…3…2…" Daryl's hand tightens on his gun when the elf starts laughing, pausing Daryl. His laughter is the only one heard throughout the garage…I can hear it echo through the house.
"The only Dodge you thought you could trust…" he whispers through his smile. "Now kill me…he's already on his way…you'll be the next dead cops, and feds." He looks at Aella and spits letting his head fall back, his tangled blond mop swaying around his head. Daryl's eyes were wide staring at me, confirming who we thought. I brought my arms back around Aella and turned both our bodies away just as Daryl's gun fires, spraying fragments of elf everywhere. I moved Aella out of the garage and set her down in the kitchen, she sat down breathing hard. I grabbed my phone and texted Dorghu to come alone, emergency reasons.
A few hours later, Kandomere and Aella are on the porch talking and the sun was about to rise. Dorghu and ward were talking somewhere near the garage. Several squad cars lit up the neighborhood with their lights in front of our house along with the coroner truck and an ambulance. Our garage door was open and taped off, but they had already taken the elf's body and as many fragments they could find. Uniform cops everywhere, none of which are from our precinct. I come onto the porch holding 2 steaming mugs. Aella sighs in relief and eagerly takes one of them. Kandomere holds his tongue and politely declines. I shrug and drink from it while walking over to Dorghu and Daryl.
"So are you sure he named Dodge? My Dodge…" Dorghu's asking as I walk up. Turning to me when he hears me coming.
I nod at him. "Said the only Dodge you thought you trusted or something…" drinking from my cup.
Daryl glares at me, "Oh is it a good time for a coffee nick? Really?"
"What? It's chilly out, and I made the other one for Aella but Kandomere didn't wa—" I explain but he cuts me off.
"Whatever, whatever…look I gotta get back to shift, I'm already way over. I'll call you in the morning." he waves off, walking back to his car.
Dorghu eyes me and my mug and asks "I'll have his ass hanging at the club when I get back. We're gonna get answers from this motherfucker. I'll let you know when to come by." He claps my back.
I nod and thank him. "Take care of your girl in there. I got this." He puts his forehead to mine for a few seconds, and then he walks back to his truck. Kandomere is leaving so I make my way back inside as the investigators finished and cleaned up. In the bedroom, Aella was reading a book in her nest of blankets that she's somehow made to where they're all around her side. She knows I'm not a big fan of too much bedding, I overheat quickly. Poppy wasn't too excited about sleeping on the floor.
"Are they still walking around our house?" she asks me with irritated eyes. Her mug is empty, so I hand her mine. She takes it and drinks while still looking at me wanting an answer.
"Not inside, but they're in the garage. They're almost done. Packing up now. She stands and goes into the bathroom and starts the shower. Poppy lays at the bedroom door, ears perked down the hall, listening. Aella comes out in only her panties but you can barely see them under her belly. She walks past me to Evie's nest. She holds her hand out and Evie comes out slowly and sits in her hand, looking out at us terrified. I completely forgot about her during all of this, realizing she was probably in shock at how everything sounded.
Aella and Evie disappear into the steam coming from the bathroom. I sit on the edge of the bed and process everything for a few minutes. Evie suddenly flutters over to the bed next to me and shakes off some water. She looks rejuvenated and like nothing happened. She shook again and orange pollen dusted off her wings…making my nose tingle. I sneezed and she looks up at me laughing.
"Aella is expecting you nick…she has her flowers." I look up remembering the orange flowers that she hasn't used in a few months. She didn't want to build an intolerance, so I hid them. I guess she found them and didn't tell me. I walk into the steam coming from the bathroom door, and I close the door behind me.
I remove my pants and shirt and slide the door open. She's standing in the water, her back to me, but she knows I'm there. She smiles and spreads soap bubbles across her shoulders and arms. I step in and come up behind her, my hands on her hips.
Aella POV
He leans down, his face against my neck making my tilt my head for him. He rubs his tusks down my neck and across my shoulder and he smells my blood through the skin. Since he was blooded last year he's let his tusks grow, but wont let them get too long. I like them, they make him look meaner. He has noticed a difference in the way he's treated and respected. His hands slide up and down my sides and my hips as I rub soap into them. I wondered if he's picked a name for the baby.
"Have you been thinking about any names?" I ask him, as I bent over and washed my feet. His focus clearly not on baby names. He was looking down at my round ass, his hands hold onto my hips and pulls me back against him. His cock is resting on my lower back and ass. His eyes darken and he rubs his growing cock against me.
I haven't been much in the mood with the baby stretching out my tummy, I'm uncomfortable in most positions. We haven't had sex in a couple weeks and Nick's been a little on edge lately, so I took it upon myself to bring out the flowers he thought he hid and make a nice steam shower with some of the petals.
I slowly stand and his cock rubs against my back, his face rubs against mine. His body is hotter than the water and he turns me, pinning me against the wall with his hand on my shoulder.
"Nick not here." I tell him, panting…
He stops and looks down at my belly and then the slippery floor. He looks at me and nods, "yeah, you're right…" He steps from the shower and holds out his hand to help me out. As soon as my towel is around me he picks me up and walks me out of the bathroom. Poppy stands and wags her tail as she watches Nick set me on the bed.
Evie flies from the room, calling Poppy with her. I laugh but then have a realization…
"Nick, the investigators and cops…are they still outside?" I gasp at him.
"Fuck them, they can leave, or they can listen to what I'm about to do to you" he growled into my neck and I laughed as he grabbed my foot and pulled me towards him.
About 30 minutes later, I'm laying on my side completely out of breath and relieved, my legs jelly and my sex still sensitive. His breathing is still fast when he slides on boxers and walks down the hall throwing me a wink. He didn't bother to shut the door beforehand, either. I loved when Nick didn't give a fuck about other people's opinions. I sit up and check my phone.
Its just after 8 am so I pull on some pajama pants and a comfy sleeveless top. Nick hasn't made his way back yet, so I head out the room and look for him. He's standing in the kitchen with something sizzling in a pan and Evie is on his bare shoulder, talking to him and flying between him and an orange on the island counter. She sees me and shrills in excitement. He turns and his ears flicker when he sees me walking to him. He sets down the spatula and motions for me to "come here" as he sits in a chair. He stands me in between his legs, my full round belly right in front of him.
He starts talking to my belly and Evie laughs as she eats an orange slice.
"You never answered my question, Nick" I tell him. He looks up at me expectantly.
"Hm? Which question?" he says, his eyes clueless.
"Have you thought about any names? I know it's only been since yesterday but…"
"I have, actually" His yellow eyes bright and excited.
"Yeah?" Now I'm excited, and nervous. He smiles and looks at my belly before dropping a kiss on top.
"Well at first I wanted to name him after Jirak, but then I thought maybe that wouldn't be a good idea... so I thought about 'Krash' for his name and I can't stop thinking about it."
"Krash…" I said smiling. I knew the name Jirak was important to him. I was aware that something had happened with him and ward a while before I was assigned to them, but they would not tell me the story or confirm details. I've only heard rumors which seem to change every time I hear them, so I gave up in asking. I accepted that he'd tell me if he wanted to.
"Krash…Krash…" I said it over and over getting used to it. He smiled when I said it too.
"Yeah? You think it's a good fit?" he asks me, excited but cautious.
"I do!...but I can tell you like the name Jirak. I don't mind it and I know he means something to you so Krash's middle name can be Jirak. If you wanted…" his eyes looked up at mine and widened when I told him.
"Really?!" he said, his hands on each side of my belly. "Ohhh this is gonna be amazing Aella, thank you" he leans in and gives me a long gentle kiss.
He steps back to the stove and checks in the oven before flipping some bacon over in the pan. I pour myself a cup of coffee as his phone rings. We both expected it to be ward or the precinct, considering the current events.
"This is officer Jakoby speaking…" he says, telling me he didn't recognize the number.
"Yeah this is him…why what's-….what?" he says, stepping back from the stove, his voice dropping. I turn to look at him, reaching inside for clues. Surprise...worry…fear
I really couldn't handle any more bad news. We can't take anymore. My hand sliding over my belly, I feel him stretch and stir inside getting comfortable upside down. Some days he's ready to come out, some days he won't move an inch when I need him to.
Nick hangs up the phone and stands there staring at the stove, in a daze. The bacon started burning but he didn't notice, so I went to the stove and moved the pan and turned the burner off. Turning around, I look at nick and he hasn't moved at all.
"Nick, what's going on? Did you find something out about the elf?" I ask gently, moving towards him.
When I get right in front of him my belly bumps him, he blinks and looks at my belly and gently puts his hands on the sides. He looks at me, focused on my face.
"The hospital called and said they have my dad." He says, searching my face.