The dark-haired women stood staring into the crib. Neither moved. Ethan stared up at them. Dark eyes meeting dark eyes.
"So? Bo finally spoke.
"I have no idea." Aife replied.
"Nothing? Bo turned her head to the woman.
"Nothing. I just wanted to see your child, and now that I have, I'm stumped too." Aife half laughed.
"Well, okay then." Bo turned back to her son. She jumped when she heard hard boot heels behind her.
"It's just me." Lauren spoke softly as she ran into the room. She did not want to miss another second of him. Her son. Her son with Bo. She smiled at him as she emerged within his view.
"Well, doctor? Bo asked.
"I didn't find anything out of the ordinary in his blood work. Like I deduced before, he's fine." Lauren rubbed Bo's back. The woman will always worry. Worry about their son. Worry about impending doom. But from all scientific viewpoints, their first born is a healthy boy. "Do you want to hold him, Aife?
The Succubus froze at the question. Sure, she had held Bo as a baby, but she was much bigger than Ethan is now. "Maybe in a little bit."
Lauren smiled. "Okay. Then I will change him."
Brunette eyes followed Lauren as she lifted Ethan up and out of his crib. She walked over to the table and gently set him down on it. Bo and Aife walked over and watched her change him and pick him up again.
"Now I will feed him." Lauren walked towards the door and was stopped by Aife's voice calling out to her.
"I'll do that." The old Succubus spoke softly.
"And burp him too? Lauren smiled.
Aife held her hands up. "Yeah, you can manage that." She laughed in embarrassment.
Bo looked at his crib and walked back over to it. She was looking for something. Anything that would prove what he is, exactly.
"Trust the Doctor, Isabeau." Aife spoke softly.
"I know. I know. That was simply weird. I thought as his mother that he only needed to be wrapped in a blanket. Then he started to warm himself up. It freaked me out. It still does." Bo shook her head and walked away from the bed.
"You will learn as he grows. There is no need to fear anything now. If Lauren is not worried with that big ass brain of hers, you should not be. It will only worry them." Aife brushed Bo's hair behind her shoulder.
"We're not telling anyone about him, yet. Did anyone follow you here? Bo asked.
"Of course not. Well, I did have a small entourage. But they know I will cut their balls off ball by ball if they cross me." Aife turned serious. This is not about jokes. It is about protecting Bo, her family, and their privacy. The Fae would love to know the Blood King is a grandfather again. Even though he is not here to see his grandson. She gritted her teeth thinking of Trick but knowing he will never touch Ethan warmed her mood. "It's getting late, I will take my crew and leave you mothers to being mothers."
"Thanks mom. I am sorry I called you over so late. I just thought you would have an idea on what kind of Fae my son is." Bo pulled at her hair.
"Easy. The answers will come." Aife stepped towards Bo and touched her shoulder. Bo nodded and the woman turned to her leave. She shouted bye to Lauren and walked out the door.
Bo stood watching the door close behind her. Lauren is already better at being a parent than she is. She is a doctor. She knows Fae and human anatomy. Bo knows nothing outside of reading auras and pulsing people. She has read Ethan's aura and it is innocent. As it should be. She will never pulse him. She shook her head and went to find her loves. She smiled when she found Lauren holding his bottle while he sucked on it.
"Hey." Lauren said without ever raising her head. "Do you want to try it?
"Me? Bo asked. Umm..sure." She smiled as she walked over. Lauren stood and gently handed Ethan to Bo. He instantly felt warm in the succubus arms. Bo immediately tensed.
"It's just his body warmth." Lauren gently squeezed Bo's arm.
"All of that time we were talking about kids, it never really struck me that we were talking about Fae kids. I'm worried, I admit to that." Bo held the bottle. Ethan's little fingers grabbed the bottle and held on.
"It goes with being a mother. But in your case, it goes with being Bo. Try not to worry so much, I am his mother too. If there was something wrong, I would be all over it." Lauren pulled a chair over to them.
"I know. Mom said the same thing. He is just here. With us." Bo's voice cracked.
"It is not going to be easy, but it will always be worth it." Lauren tapped Bo's knee.
"Have you looked ahead? Bo asked.
"No. I don't want to do that. I want to learn about him with you." Lauren sat back in her chair and just watched Bo with Ethan. All of those years before she discovered the Fae and met Bo, she had imagined kids with a human lover. Knowing how mortal humans are. Now she has a son with Fae blood that he will be able to heal himself and not worry about dying. Like Bo, she wonders what he will be but knows he will be wonderful, whatever he is.
The Dal
"Bo and Lauren are to be protected at all costs. If anyone slips on detail, kill them." Aife stared at Mason and Lou Ann. The two heard the urgency in the woman's voice.
"We'll get more people on it." Mason nodded.
"If they so much as take a piss break, slice their nuts." Aife stood and walked off.
Lou Ann turned back to Mason. "You think..?
"I think. In the meantime, I am going to scout some new security. We cannot screw up on this one. The old girl wouldn't kill us, but she'd seriously think about it." Mason pulled his phone out.
Lou Ann pulled some paper out. She tapped her pen on the table while trying to think who they could get that was not already among them.
The two wrote and called everyone that they could think of. They steered far clear of turncoat Fae. If they did not trust them, their auras would certainly piss Aife off. They know she trusts them otherwise she would not have indirectly suggested that she is a grandmother now. That was telling in that they needed to keep that quiet too.
"Got a few in mind. Care to go with me? Lou Ann asked.
"Absolutely." Mason nodded as he stood. They waved bye to Aife who was on her own phone.
"Send everything a baby boy needs to the address that I have just provided you with. Leave nothing off of my list. It will be unbelievably bad for you, if you do. Be discrete too." Aife spoke softly but fiercely.
When she hung up. She looked around the old bar and realized she was alone. Finally, she allowed herself to smile. She smiled for Bo. She smiled for Lauren. She smiled for Ethan. She smiled for herself. She is a grandmother. A real grandmother.
She smiled wider thinking of how handsome Ethan is going to be. He is going to have to fight off humans and Fae until he finds his mate. But she will not have to worry about that for years to come. Bo and Lauren will be so hands on, grandma Aife can just sit back and be his backup. His right-hand woman. He is going to be tall too, given his size already. She might have to look up to him, but she will not hesitate to scold him if he ever gets out of line by trying to look down on her. She will not have to worry about that too much either. Lauren has so many manners, they should all have their own zip code.
She looked the Dal over. He can have the old bar if his other siblings or Mason never wants it. Mason is too hands on to be stuck behind a bar. Lou Ann is always an option but even she looks like she is starting to get bored.
"We can all wait." She smiled as she toasted their futures.
Bo and Lauren
Bo sat in a rocking chair with Ethan. His baby noises are music to her hears. She looked into deep brown eyes and kissed the top of his forehead. She looked at him again and the noises started up again. Worried she would do something wrong again, she stopped rocking.
"Let me worry too." Lauren spoke softly from halfway across the room.
"I'm a mother, Lauren. I cannot fail at this. Not like Trick failed Aife. Not like I failed you over and over. Not like any parent has failed any child. He is ours. A lot comes with that. Threats. The unknown." Bo sighed gently.
"Bo, we failed each other. There are a couple of things here that was missing in those situations. Two loving parents. We love each other and we love him. We will love them all. We will protect them all." Lauren stood and walked over with a chair.
Bo smiled at we and them. In her paranoia, she had forgotten who Lauren is. Loving and smart. Above all else, Lauren is his mother too. A doctor mother. If anyone knows about Fae genes and powers, it would be the blonde sitting just inches away from her. She reached Ethan out to woman, and she gently waved the gesture off.
"Hold him as much as you need to. You will learn you are not a bad mother. He will learn that you mean him no harm. My time with our son will come. I will be right here with the both of you in the meantime." Lauren smiled softly.
Bo took a deep breath. She has never been patient with anything or anyone. Not even Lauren. When the doctor broke up with her, she could not even sit there long enough to find out her true reasons for wanting to be single. She cannot do that with Ethan. She cannot break up with him. She has to be committed full time. There cannot be Fae bullshit getting in the way. She cannot run off to help a police officer solve a case. She cannot go running to a barkeep to help him. Both are long dead and gone. Ethan is alive and here.
Lauren looked out the nearest window. It was still daylight. She stood, grabbed some thick blankets, and suggested that they go out on the patio. Bo tensed at the thought but trusted Lauren.
"Here, wrap him." Lauren suggested just before the first step out the glass doors.
Bo gently handed Ethan to Lauren and took the blankets. She waited for Lauren to place him in her arms, and she wrapped him better than she did the last time. Once he looked snug as a bug, she took Lauren's hand, and they took their first steps outside.
Lauren threw some extra blankets on the chairs and Bo eased down into one.
"Better? Lauren asked softly.
"Better." Bo smiled as she took in the view of their son and all nature surrounding them. "Are you sure you are okay with this? Just sitting around, I mean."
"Of course, I am. I am okay, Bo. Really." Lauren smiled at Ethan.
"Lauren, I know you. You have to be busy with something or you'd look bored." Bo smiled. A rambling Lauren is hot and adorable. She could ramble off the dictionary and it would turn Bo on.
"If our son is not well. This is where his mother doctor belongs." Lauren cooed. "He's my priority over anything that I can concoct in my lab."
"Our." Bo smiled. She had not tired of that word yet. It just rolls off of their tongues with such love and care.
"Yep. Our." Lauren laughed as the wind blew her hair all over. Ethan's eyes widened at the sight, and she pulled her hair down. "I'll put it up." She pulled it up into a ponytail and nodded at him when she was done.
"It was how I wrapped him the last time. The temperature is about the same, and he's not warming himself up." Bo cooed.
"You didn't have to try and hide that Bo. He is yours to take wherever you want to take him to. If you want to come outside with him, come outside with him. It will be okay." Lauren reached over and rubbed the top of Bo's shoulder.
"I was not trying to hide it from you, Lauren. It was just a spur of the moment thing and I screwed up." Bo replied.
"He can already protect himself. He knew he was getting cold. He was helping you, too." Lauren sat back in her seat.
"I know he can, and he was. I just freaked. It will not happen again. I promise. That's a promise I will keep this time." Bo looked Lauren dead in her eyes. She promised no Dyson and pounced on him at will. She cannot break a promise about Ethan. Or any of their children.
"It's getting late. Let's get him inside and feed him." Lauren gently stood and gathered the blankets. She still was not about to take him from Bo. The brunette needs this time.
Vex, Kenzi and Tamsin
"You muppets do nothing but whine. I said dinner is coming and it is." The Mesmer shook his head. Sure, it had been hours since they ordered in, but there is no reason for Kenzi and Tamsin to cry like he was lying about ordering them something to eat. He could take them out to eat, but that would be even more embarrassing then having them as his claimed humans. Tamsin was still a puzzle to him. He is not exactly sure she is all human, but Aife does not fuck around with her antics.
"We're hungry, now Vex." Tamsin snapped. She could have run and kept running before Aife got involved. That bitch is legendary crazy.
There was a sudden knock at the door, and he pumped his fist in triumph. Their food is here.
"Looking for this? Aife laughed as she slammed two large pizzas upside down on the pavement.
"Noooo! Kenzi screamed.
"It's okay to eat Kenzi." Tamsin gathered up as much as she could. If they did not eat this, they would not be eating for a long time.
"Dude that's gross. No matter how hungry I am." Kenzi nearly vomited at the grime hanging off a pizza slice.
"You had a good life with my daughter. Until you fucked that up. I am here to tell you to accept your new lives. Your old lives are in the past. Come near Isabeau or Lauren and that pizza won't be the nastiest shit shoved down your throats." Aife spoke and turned to leave. The trio stood watching her. Something about her shook them. She was even more menacing than before, but a little softer too.
"What the hell was that? Tamsin asked.
"There is a rumor going around that Bo is a mother." Vex answered.
"What?! Kenzi and Tamsin said in unison.
"Does Lauren know Bo's been cheating again? Tamsin asked.
"Yep, mupppets! Lauren is the child's mother too." Vex rolled his eyes. He was not around Einstein anymore.
"Dude, if this is true, I've got to see this baby! Kenzi rubbed her hands together with glee.
"Are you nuts? Did you just not hear mama Succubus warn you to stay away from them? I know you don't actually have nuts, but I do, and I prefer to keep mine." Vex walked across the room.
"That baby is going to be so powerful. Wow. I would say I am impressed but Bo can't commit to anything or anyone. She will stray again, and her child will be ripe for the picking." Tamsin shook her head. She never wants to be a mother. The Fae life is worse than any hell any outsider has been through.
"No Fae would be dumb enough to even think of doing that." Vex took a seat.
"He's right. We can't take their child, but we can hope to see him or her one day." Kenzi sighed. Bo must be elated, and she is missing all of it. Aife was right. She fucked it up all on her own. She should have just rolled with Bo's decisions and choices, but she was also team wolf. Dyson is gone and Lauren is still here.
The Dal
Aife poured herself another drink and walked around the seating area. Finally, she took a seat where she could see everything with her back against the wall.
The doors opened and she lifted her head.
"What's the matter ole girl? You look like you've seen a ghost." Mason smiled wide. They had hit the jackpot on finding security for Bo's family.
"I thought that bastard was long dead." Aife laughed.
"No, my Queen. He is alive and well. We evaluated his powers. He's good to go." Mason smiled.
The Succubus walked around and around their guest. She had to check him out for herself. If he truly is who she thinks he is, her life just got a lot more interesting. "This is going to be great." She turned to Mason and Lou Ann.
"It sure is! Can I spill the beans? Lou Ann begged. It would only be right for her to get a little revenge of her own.
"No. We will immediately put him to work, and then word will spread. Then you can have your fun." Aife laughed.
"Then shall we get started? Lou Ann pushed the man back towards the exit.
"We'll take him and put him in position. Mason, be a dear and round up Vex. He surely won't use his pea brain to try and outwit me now." Aife laughed.
"This is going to be fun, Aife. Really fun. Vex's bragging rights as the last Mesmer are over. We have his father working for us. We will use him to fuck with Vex too. The old man is far stronger than he ever was before." Lou Ann clapped all the way to Aife's car. "I assume we are going to introduce him to Bo and Lauren first?
"You assumed right." Aife revved her car up and sped away.
TBC