Reign of Night (Thorne Hill #7) - Emily Goodwin Page 0,113

Eliza not being able to prepare the night before like she planned.”

I laugh. “Now that is something I can live with. And I never did cancel the caterers. I figured if the world ended, that would be least of my worries, right? Though if they happened to deliver all that food before Doomsday, I could stick it in the freezer and live off leftovers for the next few months.

“I’m glad it didn’t come to that.”

“Me too.”

He kisses me and slides a hand over my stomach and down between my legs.

“Hang on,” I tell him. “I gotta pee, and Elena is kicking my bladder. Ugh, okay that hurts.” Lucas helps me sit up and I put my hand on my stomach, gently pressing two fingers into my side to get the baby to move. Whatever she’s doing is painful. I feel a little better after I pee, and I think the added pressure was too much.

I’m hurting again when I get back into bed, and Lucas notices the slight grimace on my face. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I say, immediately dismissing that anything could be wrong. “It’s that round ligament pain again.”

“Lie down,” he orders and gets up, fussing with the pillows. “Are you comfortable?”

“That damn sciatic nerve is a little sore. I was on my feet too much yesterday, that’s all, but for good reason. And now that the gates of Hell are staying shut, I’ll happily take the next three months off.”

“I look forward to that.” Lucas drapes his arm around me. “We haven’t had a change to simply relax in a while without it being forced.”

“True.” I run my fingers up and down his arm. “What should we do for the next three months?”

“We should definitely have a lot of sex,” he says seriously.

“Right. We’ll have to wait at least six weeks after the baby is born.”

“You do heal faster than most,” he says, and I sit up so I can glare at him.

“I’m already a little nervous to have sex after pushing out a baby,” I admit. “You have a big dick.”

“Should I apologize for that?”

“No, you most definitely should not.”

Lucas smiles and sits up, resting his hand on my stomach. “She’s active today.”

“She is.” I put my hand over his. “I’m going to be huge by the time she’s born. How big do you think she’s going to be?”

“Under seven pounds and around twenty inches, not too big, but not too small either.”

“I hope you’re right,” I laugh. “I made the mistake of reading birth horror stories while on bedrest.”

“And I think you’re going to handle birth well.”

“We need to talk about a birth plan. Abby texted me about it again.”

“What do you want?” He slowly rubs my stomach.

“I want to give birth in a hospital with drugs and an epidural, but I don’t know if that’s possible. Can we get around them taking bloodwork? Bottom line, I want Elena to be healthy and have the medical professionals around her if she needs it. And what if I go into labor during the day? I can’t exactly bring my smudge stick and cast a spell on the entire labor and delivery floor to enchant the windows, can I?”

“Breathe,” he says calmly, able to sense my heart picking up speed. “If you want to give birth in a hospital, then we’ll figure out a way to make that happen.”

I nod and feel selfish again. “I don’t want you to miss the birth of your only child, though.”

“I don’t want to miss it either, but more than anything, I want you and Elena to be safe.”

“I love you,” I tell him.

“I love you too.” He lies back down and kisses me.

“We should tell Eliza the party is still on so she can get here.”

“I’ll call her. Are you still tired? It was a long night.”

Freya is stretched out on the bed next to me and looks very snuggly. I want to lie back down and cuddle with her. “A little. I’m definitely not getting out of bed yet.”

“I’ll bring you breakfast in bed,” he says, kissing me again and then going downstairs to call Eliza and to make me breakfast. I pull Freya onto my chest and run my hand over her fur. She starts purring right away, and I’m in a blissful state of half-sleep, half-wake when I get a slew of text messages from Eliza. She’s freaking about having to rush around now to get the house ready for the shower. The party is at one and it’s