list.”
For sure, he wasn’t on mine. What few names he and I were allotted had gone toward ensuring Lethe, Hood, Neely, and Cruz could attend. That meant his mother had extended an invitation on our behalf.
Oh joy.
“He’s very serious.” Neely noted while he finished getting me ready. “Does he ever smile?”
“Only when he checks my weight and warns me to slow down on the carbs.”
Dr. Rogers had no idea, none, how hard I worked to gain enough weight for a healthy pregnancy. I never stopped eating. Thanks to my peculiar biology, I struggled to keep my ribs from showing through my skin pre-baby. The thirty-five pounds I had gained over the last nine months were a miracle.
The fact I had taken to nibbling on Linus to get a direct shot of Vitamin L to my system was beside the point.
Hand to his heart, Neely sucked in a gasp. “That bastard.”
“I want to fire him, but Linus says no.”
“He’s the top obstetrician in the world.” Linus repeated his argument for the hundredth time. “The fact he’s a vampire, with centuries of experience, only bolsters his resume.”
And I was pregnant with a…we didn’t really know what you got when you crossed a goddess-touched necromancer with an Eidolon. That was the only reason Linus had yet to terminate him with extreme prejudice, and we both knew it. But to admit that was to confess to his fear, and he didn’t want to add to mine.
“Last checkup, he made Grier cry.” Lethe growled. “It took two dozen donuts to calm her down again.”
“I would have cried and eaten those donuts anyway,” I confessed, “but I would have savored them rather than eaten them out of spite. The flavor was definitely ruined. I can’t stomach chocolate-glazed donuts after that. Unless they have filling, preferably raspberry, but I accept strawberry as a substitution. Cream isn’t as good, but I could force those down if I had no other choice.”
“See that?” Lethe clucked her tongue. “The man ruined chocolate-glazed donuts for her. He’s clearly a monster.”
I beamed up at my bestie, truly the jelly to my donut, and teared up thinking how lucky I was to have her in my life. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” She rolled her eyes, used to my emotional outbursts. “Now, gird your loins. It’s time to go welcome the eager masses.”
“Girding her loins was what got her into this mess.” With a mist of hairspray, Neely finished tweaking my updo. “Or was it ungirding, since she got knocked up?”
Laughter burst out of Lethe in a snorting explosion of mirth, and poor Linus reddened until his cheeks resembled ripe beefsteak tomatoes.
Mmm.
A BLT would be great right about now, especially with fresh tomatoes from the greenhouse.
Focus, Grier. Focus.
“Want to run away together?” I cuddled into Linus after he helped me onto my feet. “This party is really for your mom.” I stared up at him. “As long as she’s here, no one will miss us.” I kissed his chest through his shirt. “We can rent a hotel room for the day and…cuddle.”
A pleased rumble worked through his chest, and his arms tightened around me as my argument—or the southernly drift of my hands—swayed him to seeing things my way.
Dressed in a crisp white button-down shirt and charcoal slacks, he was begging me to take a bite.
“Forget girding.” Lethe caught my wrist. “Cuddling is actually what got you into this mess.” She hooked her arm through mine and hauled me off him. “However, there were definitely loins involved.”
“Meanie,” I grumped. “I almost had him.”
“You can manage two hours for posterity.” She turned me toward the door. “Then I’ll make excuses, and we’ll tuck you in for a short nap.”
“Nap,” I said dreamily. “I’m ready for you.”
Linus, who wasn’t scandalized in the least by my torrid affair with sleep, chuckled at my love struck whimper of longing.
“We have a surprise for you,” Neely said, stealing me from Lethe. “You’re going to love it, but you can’t have it until your unofficial shower.”
The number of humans and shifters on that guest list, the real one, had scandalized the Grande Dame. Her shock had forced us to split invitations into two groups. While I didn’t mind doubling my cake intake, I hated how it made me appear too ashamed of my non-para and Low Society friends to let them hobnob with the High Society.
Thankfully, they all knew the truth. I just wished both halves of my lives played better together.
“Aww.” I patted his arm. “You guys