There was a roaring fire in the fireplace and the warmth seemed to calm her.
“All right, Val, we need to roll you over to remove the stretcher.”
“Can you give me a minute?” she whispered between the trembling. She wasn’t ready to move again. But she realized that it wouldn’t be easier in one minute or thirty. “Okay,” she said, as she tightened her jaw and drew in a deep breath.
“It’ll be easier if you breathe through it,” Lars said. She kept her eyes closed and nodded. “One, two,
three...” And in a single motion—and with a single cry from Valeria—Lars and Tavish removed the stretcher and she was on the bed. The whole experience had been painful and exhausting. She was certain that if she were more aware she would want to understand all that had happened. But now all she wanted to do was sleep.
What she did understand was that the baby was all right and that, now, Paolo—and Kristiana—believed that there was no baby. They also thought they knew where Valeria was when, in fact, they did not.
Lars brushed her arm. “As soon as Paolo is completely out—which shouldn’t be too long— Alex will be here and we’ll start mixing the mud.” Lars reached over and grabbed something; in the low light of the fire, Valeria couldn’t tell what it was. “This is not going to be the quietest location at Morgana, but it may very well be the safest for you now. I think it’s safe to say that you will need these with all of the immortals we might bring back.” Lars produced a set of earphones.
“At least we’re hoping they come back,” Tavish added.
“Yes…we hope,” Lars said.
“How many do you expect?” Valeria whispered.
“We don’t know. After Myrdd was assassinated, the oracles avoided the council for hundreds of years. There could be as many as ten.”
“Tav is going to stay with you for a while,” Lars said, and Tavish’s mouth opened in a smile that would scare young children had she not known his heart.
“Good,” she whispered.
“I’m glad you’re all right sweetheart. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Lars said, and then he kissed her forehead and left.
Tavish was sitting in a rocking chair by the fire.
“I’ve been thinking…” He looked down at his hands. “I see you and the
laddie and it has me thinking…perhaps it’s time for old Tav to settle down.”
Tavish stared into the distance and she could see his sadness.
“Have you ever been in love Tav?” she asked in a revered whisper.
He shook his head slightly.
“I highly recommend it.”
He sat there without saying a word, his eyes transfixed out the window at the stars. Finally, he cleared his throat.
“Achhh! Who am I trying to kid? I’m just too much man for one woman!”
Valeria’s rib hurt as she tried not to laugh. Her whole body hurt from the ordeal tonight. She glanced around the room. This was the home that Alex had been raised in; she couldn’t overlook the significance of the evening.
Within minutes, she felt herself drifting off. In her dreamy state, she suddenly heard the sweet, high-pitched giggle of a little girl and could see her older, more serious brother chasing her. Valeria heard the woman’s gentle voice, “Antonia, those are your brother’s arrows—not toys for you to tease him with. Now give them back to Alex!”
The dark-haired child turned and handed the
arrows to the boy with the dark blond hair.
The mother’s long auburn hair flowed over her shoulders. Her complexion was creamy. But it was the kindness in her eyes that made Valeria dream of a loving mother. She wished that this was not a dream and that the child she once was and this little boy and girl could all curl
upon the mother’s lap by the fire. Valeria felt tears of yearning form in her heart.
“That’s a good girl, Antonia. Now give your brother a hug and ask his forgiveness.”
“I love you, Alex. I’m sorry for being bad.” The little girl kissed the boy’s cheek. He softened, and then wiped his face in mock irritation.
“That’s it. Now off to bed for both of you!” the mother said.
Valeria yearned to see them more clearly. The woman’s warm voice was so inviting that she mourned the loss of a woman whom she had never met.
The door swung wide open and a man stepped through.
“Ahhh! My children!”
“Papa!”
They both cried out in excitement. Young Alex hugged his father around the waist while Antonia clung to his leg.
“I had a sticker in my finger today, Papa,” Antonia said.
The man muffed Alex’s hair and then lifted the little girl into his arms. “You did?” he asked, terribly concerned, although Valeria was certain that his entire way of life was entrenched in real decisions of life or death.
Valeria liked the man, too. She felt a safety in his presence—similar to her feeling of being with Alex.
“Yes, Papa, but Alex pulled it out for me.”
“Alex is a good boy!” The man hugged the young girl while he pulled the boy into him.
“Such a good boy!”
Then it all went dark, although she still felt the warmth of the small room. Suddenly, she was somewhere else and there was a cold damp wall next to her.
She was lost and wandering. On either side of her were walls curving in an elaborate labyrinth that didn’t seem to end. There was something she needed desperately to find. She increased her step and heard echoed footsteps behind her. She picked up her pace and so did the person following her.
Then, she felt fingertips lovingly stroking her face. She knew that touch and a smile lit her face. Opening her eyes, she could just make out the shadow of Alex’s face inches from hers.
“Hey, beautiful,” he whispered. “Did I ever tell you how much I adore you?”
“Hey,” she said sleepily.
“I’m sorry for all the drama earlier.” He looked toward the door. “Lars told me how painful the trip down here was for you. But I just couldn’t think of a better way to get you out of there and Doc insisted that you couldn’t travel any further for several weeks. I guess it is all working out. Kristiana would never expect that you were still at Morgana.”
“Can you stay for a while?” she asked.
“I can; Paolo seems to be down for the count.” He snickered.
“Did you drug him?” she whispered.
“Not me specifically,” he said, in a voice full of mischief. “Besides, I prefer to call it karma.”
Valeria giggled and, this time, it didn’t seem to hurt.
“Karma?”
“Yes. You do know that he and Kristiana drugged me to near death many years ago.”
“They did?”
Alex laughed softly and brushed her hair back.
“Of course. I would have never chosen another woman, except when I awoke in her bed naked—”
“Naked?”
Alex lifted a brow and nodded. “As in buck...” He smiled and then continued, “In any case, it seemed like the right thing to do.” He bit his lip. “Kristiana wants what she thinks she wants. I imagine that if I had ever loved her in return, she would have broken my heart as she did with so many others.”
“Instead, she has spent her life in vengeance.”
He pressed his lips together in thought. “I’ve had enough of Kristiana. Now I want to focus on my wife. Can I crawl in here with you?”
“Please!” she said, as Alex stripped down to his boxers and crawled under the covers with her. “Is Paolo going to be all right?”
“Oh, he will probably have one hell of a hangover.” Alex pursed his lips again. “I’d say he earned it.”
“What will happen in the morning when he wakes up and we aren’t there?” she asked, and realized that her voice had no strength behind it.
“We’ve cleared out the room. In the morning, Lars will tell Paolo that you went to the hospital and were released. He’ll assume that we went back into hiding. We thought about having an ambulance transport Ava, but without placing Paolo in the ambulance, we would be risking the lives of the ambulance workers.” Alex stroked her hair.
“Daphne will have Paolo off Morgana by seven a.m.—earlier, if she can awaken him. We don’t want him stumbling across Myrdd or the others.”
Valeria tried to move toward him and realized that every muscle in her body ached. It had been more than twenty-four hours since the crash. She had justified that the pregnancy was some special alteration of her body chemistry, but now she was forced to acknowledge, as Alex obviously already had, that she was not immortal.
“Hopefully, the moaning from our friends will be gone, or quiet enough, that Paolo won’t be able to hear it from the house. Daphne will be in the mood for ’70s rock and roll—just in case. I must admit that the thought of Paolo’s headache and the radio blasting does give me a sense of wicked pleasure.”
“You’ve earned it,” Valeria said sleepily, curling into Alex’s arms. “Thank you for keeping us safe.” She looked down and rubbed her belly.
Alex kissed her forehead, and then they heard the first of the moaning. It sounded like something from a zombie film.
His eyes lit up. “They’re here!” Then he reached over and gently pulled the headphones over her ears.
When Valeria woke, Alex was gone. Caleb was there with his bigger than life smile. “About time you woke up! We were afraid you were going to sleep right through your own birthday!”
“My birthday?”
Valeria said feeling confused. “No, that’s tomorrow.”
“You slept all day and all night!” Caleb said. “Alex had to go get his clothes and stuff and he asked me to stay with you.”
Her face lit with the smile of someone in love, while she felt the wonderful cool of the mountains in the fall.
The boy leaned his head back against the rail of the door. “Tavish let me go down to the moaning mud pile.” Caleb laughed. “It’s really cool,” he added.
“Did they find Myrdd yet?” Valeria asked.
“I don’t know. But I think there are a lot more oracles there than they thought. Alex is back,” he said, glancing at the door. “I have to get more stuff.”
He pulled open a door and lifted a stack of blankets and sheets. Then the front door flew open and Alex joined them.
“Good morning, beautiful!” Alex sat down next to Valeria. “We should celebrate today,” he said, but she could tell there was tension behind his words.
It was her birthday. It had been just a year ago when she had first come here, still engaged to David. That was when she had found out the truth about herself and her history. It had been warmer last year, and they had enjoyed a Greek celebration on the back lawn to celebrate her special day. That was when she had fallen in love with their cottage, her new family, and Alex.
“Um, I’m not really up to celebrating today. Besides, everyone’s busy, so from now
on, I would like to celebrate a day later.”
Alex nodded. “I’m going to make you an omelet and coffee.”
“Don’t you need to help the others?”
Alex’s smile was not quite natural. “No. It’s your birthday and I’m spending it with you.”
She knew he was nervous about the anniversary of her curse. She was certain Doc was on call as well.
“Did they find Myrdd?” she asked, hiding the near constant ache in her ribs.
“Yes, but he isn’t alert yet.”
“It worked!” she shrieked, and then instantly regretted it as a sharp pain spread across her ribs.
“Yes…” Then she saw the spark return to his eyes. “I do have a gift…well, it is kind of a gift. Knowing how you hate surprises, I thought I would include you in this one. I’ll show it to you later.”
“If it has caffeine in it, and a bit of cream—by all means!”
She laughed and, again, it hurt her ribs.
“Coffee!
Well, let me see if we can handle that right away.”
He exited into the main room of the house and then
peeked his head around the corner and shrugged. “You know, I don’t think you should be drinking coffee.”
“Coffee.
Now,” she deadpanned.
“How about water-processed decaf?”
“It’s my birthday and I want
real
coffee!” she whispered as loudly as she could, realizing that she sounded like a five-year-old having a temper tantrum. My God, what was happening to her? Married only months and turning into a demanding shrew. Fortunately, Alex just laughed.
She heard the blender and knew he was also bringing her a strawberry-kale shake. Moments later, he presented the tray.
“Thank you, Alex! I don’t know what made me sound so…bossy.”
He laughed again and it lit the room in a golden glow. “I know—you’ve been caffeine deprived for nearly a week!” he said in pretended shock.
She took a sip of coffee and moaned with pleasure. Alex went back to the kitchen, and a few minutes later, he returned with an omelet. Valeria realized that she had not eaten much since the accident, and before that, she’d been ill. She scarfed down the omelet even though she felt like she might explode. After she finished, and was happily sipping her coffee, he stood up.
“You’re leaving?” she asked, disappointed.
“I had to leave you for a few minutes this morning, but I’m not leaving you the rest of today.”
“Good!”
“So, uh…I have something. It’s, well, kind of a birthday present.” He walked into the living room and came back with a large cardboard tube. He pulled out something that looked like blueprints and spread it out on the bed in front of her.
“What is it?” she asked.
“It’s for our new and improved cottage,” he said. “I thought it might be good to include you in the plans since I know how much you love surprises,” he teased, and then got serious. “But really, you should be involved in the plans. It’s our home!”
She brushed the side of his face, “We don’t need new plans—I loved it exactly as it was!” Just knowing they would rebuild their cottage gave her more energy; it just didn’t reveal itself in her voice.
Alex lowered a single brow and looked at her for a moment. “Well, I was thinking that we needed another bedroom.”
“For guests?
They can stay up at the main house, can’t they?” And then her eyes widened in understanding. “Oh!” she said. Her eyes lit up in sudden joy from her husband’s seeming acceptance, and of the possibility of a life here at Morgana in their new and improved cottage, with their miracle child.
“Is that all right?” he asked, suddenly concerned as her eyes filled with tears. “I know it isn’t like jewelry—”
“Are you kidding?” she interrupted and tears began flowing down her face. “This is the most precious…the most beautiful gift anyone—even you—have ever given me!” By the time she spoke the words, she was sobbing uncontrollably.
“I had intended to get you something else. Something more romantic,” he said apologetically. At that, she began to sob even harder and Alex looked concerned.
“Val?” he said as he sat down on the edge of the bed.
She tried to control the sobs as each one tore into her broken rib. “That is just the…the most…romantic thing I’ve ever...A home!
Our home. With a room for our…for our baby!” she cried.
Alex wasn’t quite sure whether to smile or comfort her. He bit his lip and watched his wife until he was fairly certain that she liked the gift. He rolled up the blueprints and placed them back in the tube and then he crawled onto the bed to hold her.
Once the sobbing stopped, he said, “I’m a bit nervous to ask, but is there anything else that you would like for your birthday? Anything you would like to do?”
Valeria smiled as she pulled out another tissue from the box on the bedside table and blew her nose. Her sweet Alex was terrified of making her cry again, and suddenly, she broke into laughter—and he did too.
“I love the plans!”
“You’re sure? It didn’t seem like you had a chance to really look. Do you want me to get them out again?” He started to rise and then, remembering her response, changed his mind. “No. Let’s do that another time.”
He was so nervous with her that it touched her heart.
“But,
Val, is there anything you want that I can get you today…that won’t make you cry?”
She had to laugh at that. She touched his face and kissed his lips. “Yes…I want a bath.”
“A bath?” Alex repeated.
“Yes.”
“Hmm, Mani only has a shower here, but let me see what I can do.”
“Are you going to leave?”
He shook his head. “I had to shower and check on our project out there, but other than that, I am with you all day—”
“And all night?” she interrupted.
He smiled. “And all night. I am sorry to say that we will have to move you back to the main house soon.”
“When?”
“When Melitta is revived. I gave them this home for a wedding gift. I expected that they would build another but they seemed to like it.”
“I love this place,” she said glancing around. “It’s like your family—”
“
You
are my family,” Alex interrupted, making Valeria smile sweetly.
“It’s like they all moved on, but their hearts remained.”
They curled together on the bed and read for an hour when an old-fashioned claw foot tub was delivered into the bedroom.
“That is the most beautiful tub I have ever seen!” she said in awe. It had a high area in the back to rest her neck and was the perfect size and depth.
“Don’t get too excited about the tub. It’s a birthday present for you today and a coming home gift for Lita.”
There was a knock at the door and Tavish entered.
“So the lass wishes for a tub! I’m here to do yer plumbing.” He winked at Valeria. “As you might have guessed, plumbing is my specialty,” he said with a wicked glow in his eyes.
It took a little over an hour—as Valeria learned several new Scottish curse words—and finally, the banging of pipes and drilling was over.
“Your bath!” Tavish presented, and then nodded and left.
Alex went over and turned the brass handles, and in a moment, she saw the steam rising from the tub.
“I’ve checked with Mani and he has confirmed that you can have a bath as long as it isn’t too hot.”
He wrapped a trash bag around her broken leg and the soft cast. Then he helped her out of her hospital gown and wrapped a large towel around her. There were still traces of the mock blood from two nights before. It was the first time he had seen her naked since the accident and he noticed how many bruises and abrasions she had all over her body. He shook it off and unbuttoned his blue cotton shirt. Then he
lifted her off the bed and into his arms. This time, it only hurt her for a few seconds, and then his closeness stirred something inside her.
She brushed her fingers over his chest. “I like being here in your arms,” she said.
“I like you here in my arms,” he replied, his mood getting serious as he gazed into her eyes.
As Alex stepped toward the tub and lowered her into the lightly scented water, Valeria moaned.
“Did I hurt you?”
“No…it is heavenly!” she said.
Alex saw the goose bumps on her arm. He took a washcloth and poured her favorite soap onto it. “Here, can you lean forward just a bit?” She nodded and he moved the cloth over her neck and shoulders and back. She moaned again.
“Are you comfortable?” he asked and she nodded.
She drank in the feel of the delightful water with the golden fire in the fireplace beside them—her Alex beside her. It was more than glorious, it was also incredibly sensual.
“It would be perfect if you got in with me,” she said with her eyes still closed. He laughed softly and brushed his lips over her neck.
“Doc says none of that until later,” he whispered without looking her in the eye.
She took his hand and kissed it. “Well maybe you could just…sit in here with me.”
He picked up a pitcher.
“Lean your head back,” he said, his voice getting husky. He poured the warm water over her hair. “I don’t think I can climb in there—or out—without hurting you.” He picked up the bottle of shampoo and squeezed out a bit, rubbing it between his palms before massaging it into her hair. His hands moved up and down her scalp and neck in a way that sent her head spinning into thoughts best left until later.
“I think it would be all right if you got in.” She gulped.
He poured a pitcher over her hair several times and then brought his mouth down on to hers with a passion she hadn’t felt from him in some time. Her arms reached up for him forgetting their discomfort. He
pulled himself back from her, breathing heavily, and then kissed her lightly one more time.
“I think…” he said, with his face barely hiding his amusement, “I had better get you out of this tub before you turn into a prune. Are you ready?”
She nodded, so he pulled the plug on the drain as they stared into each other’s eyes. Alex gritted his jaw and turned to grab a towel. He wrapped it around her lovingly and then lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bed as if she were weightless. Then he took the other towel and rubbed it briskly through her long brown hair.
“Do you want to blow dry your hair? I can help,” he said.
“No. I want you to lay down with me,” she said, as she stared at him dreamily. Her beautiful husband...the man who just had a claw foot tub delivered so that she could bathe...the man who just shampooed her hair...the man standing next to her with the perfectly delicious, bare chest.
He crawled into bed and lay next to her.
“You know I am feeling better today,” she said as she pressed her mouth to that chest. She felt that recently absent feeling of heat and moved her fingers over his chest and he leaned his head back and sighed in pleasure.
“Easy there,” he murmured as his eyes rolled back as he moved away from her, but not so far that she couldn’t continue. “You know, in some respects, I
am
only human.”
Then the curves of his mouth turned up and he took her face in his hands. “You are driving me crazy, you know.”
She kissed him passionately and then moved her lips to his neck as she ran her fingers over his stomach. This time he moaned lightly and took a quick breath.