A Little Green Magic (The Little Coven #1) - Isabel Wroth Page 0,109

the best uncle ever. He grinned like crazy, not missing a trick when Uriel launched himself into Ilex's arms. “I heard. Are you excited?”

Uriel shrugged, dusting some leaves off Ilex's shoulder. “Yeah, but only cause of the cake.”

Uriah shook with laughter, heading up the stairs toward the master.

“There's cake?” Ilex asked, looking around the kitchen with wide eyes.

“Well, not now. Auntie Ro said I can have cake and ice cream after muh sister shows up, and I gotta be good. Is it gonna take long? I really am hungry. Mama, I'm hungry!”

Uriah snorted now, calling out over his shoulder as he hit the second-floor landing. “You are not; we had two cheeseburgers on the way home. With fries, and a shake!”

“Papa!” Uriel whisper-shouted. “You said dat was a seekrit!”

Ivy pretended to glare at her husband for allowing their son to eat food from a drive-thru, and he did pretend to be sheepish for a half a second. “Yeah, well, your mom could smell the French-fries on you before you even got out of the truck, so it wasn't much of a secret.”

Ilex laughed, and before Uriah turned down the hallway, she caught sight of her brother ruffling her son's thick hair. “How about you and I go pick some berries to go with your ice cream? Maybe by the time we get back, your sister will be here, along with the cake.”

“Okay! We gonna pick berries, Mama. Hurry up with my sister!” Uriel hollered.

“Uriah, I've sent Enna to fetch the sisters. They'll be here shortly,” Ilex added, doing something to Uriel that made him squeal with glee.

“Thank you!” Uriah shouted back.

A tight contraction gripped her, but it was weak compared to what was coming. It still hurt like hell, and Uriah didn't even wince when she dug her nails into his shoulders.

He kissed her sweaty hair and encouraged her to breathe, not setting her on her feet until the pain subsided. He helped her out of her wet clothes, leaving her sitting on the edge of the bed only long enough to get a cool, wet washcloth from the bathroom and quickly wiped her down.

“Ice, ice. I should have brought up some ice. Don't move, I'll grab it so fast and come back up here to braid your hair, and I'll get the big ball, and that alien music Astrid sent over for you, and your robe.

“No? You're shaking your head. No ice? No braid? No, what? Tell me what you need, whatever it is, I'll get it for you right now.” He started to panic again, but it only made her feel loved and adored that he remembered all the little things from Uriel's birth that had made her feel better.

“Just hold me for a while.” Ivy lifted her arms up, and he was there in an instant, grounding her like the roots of a tree dug deep into the earth.

It steadied him as much as it did her, his sigh feathering across her throat, his hands roaming to lovingly knead at the muscles knotting in preparation for labor. “Have I told you today how much I love you?”

Ivy smiled, thinking about the way she'd woken up to him whispering he loved her, right before he did his level best to induce her labor with glorious morning romp. She was nearly two weeks overdue, despairing that she'd be pregnant forever, and here they were, mid-afternoon and ready to go.

“You did. I love you, too. You ready for this?”

He didn't even hesitate, and she could feel his smile against her shoulder before he pulled back, grinning from ear to ear, practically quivering with excitement. “Hell yeah.”

Tears filled her eyes, and not because she was unhappy. Just the opposite. She was so happy her hormones couldn't process it any other way than to cry a little. “Good, cause the gang just arrived, and shit's about to get real. Could you get my robe, so I'm not naked when they come up here?”

“Absolutely.” He'd barely said the word before the sound of the front door flying open to bang on the wall below cracked like a gunshot through the house.

“We're havin' a baby, witches!” Juliet declared with as much exuberance as Uriel, loudly announcing her arrival, as usual.

“That's five. How many more times do you think she'll say that today?” Callie sighed.

Astrid's laugh tinkled up the stairs. “After she arrives, it'll be, 'we had a baby, witches.'“

“We should make a drinking game out of it,” Kerrigan suggested. “I brought enough booze to