Fate Forgotten (47 page)

She pulled his fingers away and tried not to laugh. And then he kissed her, and things didn’t seem nearly as funny anymore, because she didn’t want to wait a week before he was willing to make love to her again.

Eve?

She was so startled by Adam’s voice that she spilled milk all over the counter. The cook muttered behind her and sighed. She mopped up the mess before he could complain further.

Sorry,
he said, when he realized what had happened.

It’s just milk.
She caught an edge of excitement from his tone and took her coffee from the kitchen so that the cook wouldn’t keep glowering at her.
What do you want?

Ben’s first word, Eve. He said his first word today.

Is he really that old already?
She touched her rounded stomach, and counted the months. Time had gotten away from her. It was rather nice, though, after the stress of everything, to lose track of time because she was happy. Because things were going well.
What did he say?

He was definitely elated, she thought, listening to the emotion that came before his response.
Daddy.

She smiled and sipped from her cup. Technically she shouldn’t have the caffeine, but neither alcohol nor caffeine in moderation had ever harmed one of her children before.
Congratulations, Adam.

You’re pregnant?
He was surprised. Not exactly pleased. But there was relief. As if he had worried he’d hurt her too badly. Men really didn’t understand childbirth.
Mia never mentioned it.

It isn’t as though she ever does.
She shook her head at her sister’s foibles. Even married with a baby, Mia hadn’t changed much. The only difference was that she included her child in her self-indulgence. Eve was grateful for even that much, though. What little she’d seen and heard of her nephew left her with the impression that he was spoiled, but well cared for.
It’s a girl this time.

Adam laughed in the back of her mind. It was the first time she had heard him do so when it hadn’t been meanly meant, and the sound was refreshing. Joyful.
Thank God for that.

She smiled again.
That was my thought as well. Don’t tell Garrit though. He wants another son.

I never realized it could be like this, Eve.
And even through his happiness, she could feel the underlying ache. The wish that they were doing it together and he could be with her, or at least nearer to her.
You were right, though. I never get tired of listening to his mind. My son. My boy. Feeling his pleasure when he sees me walk into the room. And then he smiles, and laughs. I’ve never felt any of this before.

I’m happy for you, Adam.
She sat down in the library. Garrit had arranged pillows on the couch there for her, so she could sit comfortably. She had been reading Ryam’s journal, finally, front to back, and she was beginning to understand why Garrit had felt as insecure as he had. In the beginning. In the face of Lars. Ryam had made her into a goddess. His perfect wife. A woman to be worshipped as an ideal in all things.

You should be,
he said softly.
You are, in every way, ideal. A perfect example of what love should be. What a woman should be. He was right to consider you a goddess.

She frowned.
Don’t start, please.

I’m only agreeing with your late husband, that’s all.
And he sighed.
I couldn’t leave Ben, now, if I wanted to.

As it should be.
She saw the images in his mind, in his thoughts. Mia holding Ben. Adam staring down at his son in his own arms. Ben with half his fist in his mouth, his eyes wide and bright with delight. Somehow he even managed to smile around his fingers.
He’s a beautiful boy.

If it hadn’t been for you, I don’t think I ever would have known this.

She didn’t know if he meant Mia, or just the happiness of family in general.
You would have found it eventually, Adam. Even without your memory.

I’m not sure I would have.
But his mood shifted.
When are you due?

Another month. I don’t think we’ll make it for Christmas.

Because of me?

She sipped from the coffee again and settled more comfortably against the pillows, watching the flicker of the flame in the fireplace.
Garrit won’t want to travel with a newborn and a toddler, regardless of where we were going.

I suppose he’ll never trust me.

She hoped it was true. Even happy as Adam was, she could still feel his want for her.
Not with me. Though I hope he’ll come around enough to let me send our children to my mother’s in the summers when they’re older. I think they’d like it. And I’d like them to know their cousin.

I wouldn’t harm your children, Eve. Even if I could get away with it.

I know.

He doesn’t?

She shrugged though he couldn’t see. He would feel it.
He will. As long as you don’t jump in front of anymore buses.

Not in this lifetime, I think,
he agreed with a flash of guilt.
I hated being so helpless. I don’t think I had ever been hurt that severely in any of my lives before now. Not since Michael took my memory. Somehow I always escaped any serious harm, until this life.

I guess we’re just lucky that way.

Adam snorted.
Luckier still if we had been made invulnerable.

“Abby?” Garrit knocked on the door, and she smiled at him. He joined her then, and she nestled against his side, closing her eyes. She could use a nap, now that he was here, and warm, and comfortable.

She felt Adam wince.
Good luck with the baby.
And then he was gone.

She sighed with contentment, and Garrit tucked her head beneath his chin the way he always did when they sat together this way. “I think I’m going to fall asleep on you.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Feel free.
Maman
is keeping Alex for the rest of the night. We have nothing to do but feed ourselves and go to bed. I thought you could use the time to yourself.”

“I could use the time with you. Have to enjoy it while it lasts. Before the baby comes and we’re too busy for proper naps together.”

“I’ll never be too busy for this, Abby. Not as long as I live.”

She smiled. “Does that mean we get a happily ever after?”

He kissed her again, and she felt him settle in more comfortably on the couch. “That was always my intention.”

She fell asleep before she could think of anything suitably flippant in response.

Chapter Forty-five: Future

He brought Eve home to France in the last month of her pregnancy, renting the small cottage from the DeLeon’s where she had lived once before. Not because they were pleased about providing their Lady a home, married to a man they had considered their enemy for generations, but as Adam argued, because they would know then, at least, that no immortal could reach her if they meant her any harm. Himself, included.

Adam stayed at her side, all the same, and within the lands belonging to the House of Lions, he knew without any doubt she had Thor’s protection as well, could even catch glimpses of him in the back of her mind on the days she struggled against the awkwardness of her body, and cursed its limitations. And with his presence, she would smile, her day made that much easier and brighter. Adam couldn’t even bring himself to resent it. Not when it made her happy, gave her peace.

He watched for the angels, for any sign that it was time, but they still hadn’t come, and Eve, he knew had found some strange serenity in their absence, which he couldn’t share.

“There’s only one explanation that makes sense,” she’d told him some time ago. “This was what we were supposed to do, what God meant for us. There’s no reason for the angels to come if we’re following God’s plan.”

He hadn’t wanted to upset her so close to term, when she was already in enough physical discomfort to make up for any peace of mind she’d managed to keep. At least that was what he told himself, and there was always another excuse like it. Another reason why he couldn’t bring himself to ruin what little happiness they had found together. And it was happiness—sometimes even more than that. So close to Nirvana he understood why people worked so hard to experience it, to live in that same state forever. Because when Eve loved, the whole world bloomed around her. She was the reason those old folk tales were filled with beautiful young women who sang with songbirds and spoke with sparrows. And she was his.

She was his, and he couldn’t stand the thought of losing her a moment sooner than he must.

“Don’t worry, Adam,” she told him, more than once. “Everything will be fine, you’ll see.”

He only wished he could be so certain.

It was Gabriel who came on the day, and Adam greeted him on the porch. Eve had gone into labor, but she had refused the help of any doctor or midwife, so he had made the bed with blankets and sheets that would resist the stain of her blood, and watched over her as he was able. He didn’t think she could die in childbirth, even when birthing a god, but if she did, he took comfort from the fact that he would go with her.“I had expected Michael long before now,” he said.

Gabriel shook his head, and folded his wings to his back before stepping into the cottage. “Michael has his uses, but diplomacy has never been one of them. Eve requires our understanding, not our arrogance.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Nothing today.” Gabriel’s eyes narrowed, looking through him. “You’ve kept it from her? The vow you made?”

“Do you really think she could have had any joy if I hadn’t?” he snapped. “She thinks we can raise the baby ourselves, that there isn’t anything to fear from a child, no matter how powerful. We’ll teach it to love—to want to preserve Creation.”

“And you?”

“It doesn’t matter what I believe, does it? Your brother has already extracted my oath. I have no right to her anymore. No right to object to anything God commands, and if I do—” He stopped himself. The last time he hadn’t kept his word, he’d had his memory ripped away and lived life after life in that purgatory, making the same mistakes over and over again, without even the wit to learn from them. But this time, he’d be lucky to have a life to live. “If I had known then what I do now…”

“You would have seen reason,” Gabriel said. “You would have known the risk is too great to leave to hope and chance. Eve is many things, but even her perfection is not perfection enough for this. Elah must be given into God’s hands.”

“So you’ve named her.” He couldn’t keep the bitterness from his words. “It isn’t enough that you’ll take her, God intends to take everything else from us, too.”

“You should rejoice, Adam. You’ve fulfilled your purpose and the child will live. You have your freedom now. You both do.”

“Is that what you call it when you rip out our hearts? Freedom?”

But Eve cried out inside the house, and Gabriel disappeared. Adam swore, running after him. That every other god in every other heaven had the ability to transport himself instantly was infuriating enough. That it extended to the angels too was enough to make him want to behead someone.