Foreshadowed (11 page)

            Anna looked at me in exasperation. "Brooke, that was before you two were bonded. You had just met. I think any guy would have freaked. Things are totally different now. You're married and bonded eternally for heaven's sake. It was bound to happen sometime." She turned thoughtful for a moment. "Now, the fact that you're seeing your future children will be full blown vampires by the time they're toddlers... that's concerning. That's not how it usually works. Children born as vampires don't actually turn until sometime in their late teenage years."

            I swallowed, hard. "I figured. See! I had reason to be nervous about telling Alex."

            Anna fixed me with an intent look. "You’d better not put off telling him much longer. You don't have nine months like a human pregnancy. More like two months."

            I jumped off the bed. "What?!" If Anna was joking, it was
not
funny.

            She shrugged. "That's just the way it is for vampire pregnancies. The Regency has to be informed and they'll send someone to deliver you."

            "Can vampires have panic attacks?" I asked. "Because I really think I feel one coming on."

            Anna laughed. "Come on, Brooke. It's not
that
bad. Alex and Ethan won't let anything go wrong. Though they may flip out a little if the whole toddler vampire thing comes true."

            "Easy for you to say. You're not the one having to surprise Ethan with twins due in two months."

            "Thank God. Could you imagine? I promise you Alex will handle it much better than Ethan would."

CHAPTER 21

            Anna and Ethan left several hours later and I did a pretty good job of acting like there wasn‘t anything going on. At least I thought I was. Alex didn’t appear to sense anything strange was amiss. He was his usual slightly overbearing but insanely endearing self and I kept expecting him to look at me and demand to know what it was that was bothering me. I had always been such a terrible liar and I went to great lengths to avoid any situation that I‘d be forced to do it. So the fact that Alex didn’t automatically call me out on keeping something from him, was both shocking and disappointing. I wasn’t ready to tell him yet, but I was already tired of holding it in. It was absolutely exhausting trying to uphold the block on my mind without making it obvious that I was doing it. I kept trying to fill my head with random things so that he wouldn’t be able to see what I was
really
thinking about.

            I was sitting on an armchair in Alex’s office, reading while he did some work at his desk, when he abruptly stood up and walked determinedly over to me. Already on edge, I glanced up in surprise as he kneeled right down in front of me so that we were at eye level with each other. His hypnotic eyes found mine and… bam…I couldn’t look away. He looked at me for what felt like a full minute before finally saying, “Brooke, I know you’re not really thinking about gardening. What are you hiding from me?”

            If only I could pull my eyes from his, this would be so much easier. “Nothing,” I answered. “I mean, I’m thinking about gardening. Maybe I’ll plant one this year.” I mentally cringed. I was
such
a terrible liar.

            Alex cocked an eyebrow up, but didn’t release my gaze. “You hate digging in dirt, bugs and countless other things that have to do with gardening. So, let’s try this again. What is it you feel you can’t tell me? Because it better be good. I don’t take you keeping things from me lightly.”

            Even if I had been an expert at secrecy, I couldn’t have withstood Alex. The look on his face and the tone of his voice was enough to scare anyone into telling what they knew.

            I swallowed and it seemed to stick in my throat. For a second I truly was unable to answer him. Finally I closed my eyes, trying to prepare myself for what I had to divulge, and then opened them to meet his intent blue ones. “Okay, you’re right. I do have something to tell you. Something I’ve been avoiding telling you all day because I’m scared of how you’re going to react.”

            Alex’s face was guarded, but he said, “Brooke, there are
very
few things you could tell me that you would have any reason to be scared of my reaction.”

            “Okay, well let’s just hope this isn’t one of them.” I paused a beat. “I think I know why I’ve been feeling the way I have.”

            Alex’s face was questioning. “Why?”

            It was kind of like jumping off a high dive. Even though your stomach is full of butterflies, you just have to take the plunge. So that’s what I did. “I’m pregnant. With twin girls. And I’m due in two months.”

            And silence.

            I waited patiently for what I knew must be a mind boggling revelation. And I waited. And then finally Alex stood slowly, his face unreadable, and walked from the room. I heard the front door click securely in place as he left the house.

            I had expected surprise, maybe some frustration, anything but the silence I‘d been confronted with. What kind of reaction was that? I tried to figure out what he was thinking by gently attempting to push past the walls of his mind. Unfortunately, if one of the oldest, most powerful vampires in existence doesn’t want you rambling through their mind, then it’s almost impossible to do.

            I busied myself with tidying the living room as I waited for Alex to return. It was so easy to talk yourself into taking the defense, even when you know your in the wrong; and I allowed myself to do just that. I was angry. Really angry. Oh, I figured he wanted some time to ponder everything that my announcement meant for us, but I was ticked he hadn’t stayed to respond to it at all. It was almost as if
he
was angry. Not excited about the prospect was one thing, but angry?

            And then the one person strolled into my living room that always seemed to show up at times like this. Times when Alex’s actions confused or upset me; when I felt like I was missing some vital information that would help me sort it all out. Ethan.

            I looked over at him and he must have seen the devastation in my face, because he froze midst ride.

            “Brooke. What’s wrong?” Ethan’s voice was sharp and urgent. I’m sure he thought there was some kind of danger nearby.

            I shook my head. “Nothing that I didn’t bring on myself.”

            He’d gone back to his usual laid back self when he sat down on the sofa and made himself comfortable. “Does this have to do with you being pregnant?”

            I looked at him, exasperated. “You know? Jeez. Anna wasted no time.”

            Ethan shrugged a shoulder. “It was bound to get out. So what’s the problem?”

            I sighed. “Alex is mad I was keeping it from him. I had blocked my mind and he figured out I was hiding something.”

            Ethan looked at me like I was crazy. And maybe I had been. “You were hiding it? Why?”

            “I wasn’t hiding it, really. I was just waiting for the right time to tell him.”

            Ethan rolled his eyes. “That was stupid. Sorry, but it was. Especially with Alex. I‘m sure it reminded him of something that happened in the past.”

            “What do you mean?”

            Ethan sighed and gestured for me to sit on the couch next to him. “Looks like it’s story time again. Why is it I always get stuck explaining things to you?”

            I brushed off his teasing and grinned. “Because you love me. And I’m the sister you never had.”

            He gave me skeptical look. “And never wanted,” he finished.

             I smiled sweetly at him. He could deny it all he wanted, but he and I both knew the truth.

            “Do you want to know the story or what?” he asked.

             I nodded. There was no way I was going to pass up the opportunity to find out more about Alex’s past.

            Ethan led the way outside where we sat on a bench on the back porch. As usual, it was silent outside except for a gently blowing breeze. Animals for miles around had made themselves scarce the minute we’d stepped outside. It didn’t even bother me anymore.

            Ethan leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and looking out into the darkness. The moon was completely full and was casting an eerie glow on the expansive lawn. “We’ve been around for a long time. Hundreds of years and neither one of us has been serious about anyone, with one exception. Not long after we were turned, Alex met someone. A human girl, named Amelia, who lived in the village we’d settled into when we were forced to leave our homes. That was in a time period when people attributed any and everything to supernatural causes. They believed in vampires, witches, werewolves, and so forth. Nowadays, no one believes it until it’s too late.” He shrugged and continued on. “Anyway, it wasn’t long before her and Alex were serious and Alex was thinking about marrying her.” He glanced at me to see how I was taking it and I had to admit, I didn’t like hearing about Alex and another girl. But, obviously, they weren’t together anymore, so I ignored the little stirrings of jealousy and instead asked, “So what happened? They didn’t marry, did they?”

            I hoped not. Because if so, then I wasn’t the only one keeping important things to myself.  

            Ethan smirked at me. “No, Brooke. They didn’t. But they would have if it wasn’t for the fact that Amelia was keeping something from Alex.” His face turned serious. “Evidently, she was pregnant when she and Alex met and didn’t realize it. When she did, she kept it from him. I assume she was scared he would leave her, but we’ll never know.”

            I scrunched my face in confusion. “What do you mean by that?”

            “Well, before he married her, Alex felt like he needed to come clean about the fact he was a vampire. So he did, and she took it surprisingly well. In fact, she begged him to turn her. He was adamant that she stay human and refused, but she was pretty persistent and he finally agreed.”

            My eyes widened at this and I was now wondering at the possibility that there was another female vampire out there that he’d turned in the past. I didn’t even want to think about what that could mean.

            Ethan smiled. “Don’t worry, Brooke. It was nothing like what the two of you have together. That’s extremely rare, as you know.” His grim expression returned. “Anyway, Alex had no idea Amelia was pregnant when he tried to turn her, and it didn’t go well. She didn’t survive the transformation and the fact that she was pregnant probably had a lot to do with it. He never would have tried to turn her had he known.”

            Uh, wow. No wonder he freaked that I didn’t tell him I was pregnant. The circumstances were completely different, but it still had to have brought back horrible memories for him. Had she trusted him enough to tell him, things probably would have ended differently.

            I looked at Ethan, chewing on my lip. “Thank you for telling me Ethan.” I nudged him with my shoulder. “I guess you’re not so bad after all.”

CHAPTER 22

            I had just finished fluffing a couch pillow and turned around to straighten the magazines on the coffee table, when I slammed into Alex. His expression was unreadable. I waited for him to say something. I had said my piece already. It was definitely his turn.

            “Why did you keep something like this from me?” he asked.

            I swallowed. “Because I knew you would react the way you did. And I only figured it out for myself earlier today.”

            “And yet you told Anna?”

            “I needed advice. I saw the way you reacted the last time I had a vision about children and I was worried about how you’d take it.” My reason sounded lame to my own ears and, after what Ethan had told me, I felt horrible for holding out on him. He should have been the first to know. I was such an idiot.

            He ran a hand through his hair. That was sure sign he was stressed. I chewed on my bottom lip and waited for his response.

            “I’m not angry you’re pregnant, Brooke. But, I’m so freaking mad that you kept it from me and told Anna instead. What bothers me is that you didn’t trust me.”

            And there was that word. Trust. Something I truly sucked at; perhaps a repercussion of my childhood, but still a problem. I took a deep breath.

            “Alex, I’m sorry.”

            “How long were you going to keep this from me? I mean, throwing up a mind block to hide it makes me wonder.”

            “Well, I couldn’t have hidden it for very long. In two months it would have been pretty obvious.”

            I must have been imagining it, but I could have sworn he paled. His voice was strained when he said, “Two months?”

            “Yeah. See why I was in shock?” I grabbed his hand and pulled his tense body towards me. “I promise I wouldn’t have waited much longer. I was just freaking out and Anna was able to fill me in on some things I didn’t know. I was waiting for the right time to tell you.” I paused. “And Ethan told me what happened with Amelia.” His expression went guarded at the mention of Amelia’s name. “I’m so sorry that happened and I promise I will never keep anything from you again. I absolutely trust you, and from now on I’ll prove it.”

            Alex just stared at me and for the first time since we’d been together, I was truly worried. He closed his eyes; almost as if it hurt to look at me and my heart dropped into my stomach. Why couldn’t I have trusted him?

            “Brooke, I’m going to be honest with you. I’m going to get past this, but honesty is something I consider vital in a relationship. I have to be able to trust that you won’t keep things from me. I
need
to know that you’ll come to me immediately the next time something like this comes up.”

            I nodded slowly, looking into his eyes, hoping to convey just how much I planned on keeping that promise. His face broke into a smile and he pulled me against him, looking down at me with that look that always gave me butterflies.

            “So, babies, huh?”

            I breathed a sigh of relief and returned his smile. “Yeah. In
two months
. Twin girls. I hope you’re ready?”

            “Actually, now that the shocks wearing off, I’m kind of excited. I am a little worried, though, that I’ll end up killing a lot of male vampires over their lifetime. But other than that, no worries.”

            My smile slipped a little as I realized there was something I hadn’t told him yet. I cleared my throat. “Uh, yeah. There is another part of the vision I haven’t had a chance to share with you yet.” I’m sure the worry was written all over my face, because I could immediately see the concern in his.

            His voice held warning. “Brooke?”

            I sighed. Why couldn’t anything ever be easy in life?

            “I saw something that concerned me about the twins.” He raised an eyebrow in question and I continued. “One of them was able to do something… unusual. In the vision she caused an object to burst into flames. She just looked at it and it turned into a ball of fire. And she was little; maybe four, if that.”

            Alex blinked his face completely devoid of expression. He was silent for a moment before he visibly relaxed.

            “Well, that’s a concern, but we’ll deal with it. Just like everything else that’s come our way, we’ll figure it out.” He leaned down to plant a tender kiss on my forehead before pulling back to look into my eyes.

            “Brooke, you mean everything to me. I won’t let anyone hurt you, I can promise you that. So, don’t worry about the Regency, or Lucien, or anyone else. The babies will be safe-- no matter what incredible powers they have; and you will too.”

            “How did I get so lucky to find you?” I asked him.

            “I kind of thought I found you,” he teased.

            “Hmm, I’m trying to remember, but it seems like neither one of us could help ourselves. So, I guess you could say we found each other.”

            I chewed on my bottom lip as I thought about how horrible it had felt to have him angry with me. We’d hit our first conflict over something important in our lives and we’d come through with flying colors.

            I sighed. “This makes our first real argument. I hate fighting with you. It worries me.”

            Alex pulled me to him so that our bodies were pressed flush against each other. “If we didn’t have the passion for each other to fight. Then I’d be worried.” His face was just inches from mine and I couldn’t help thinking about how absolutely perfect he was; even so close. “And I’m
very
passionate about you, Brooke.” His lips met mine pulling me into a kiss that proved just how passionate he was. And judging on just that kiss alone, I’d say the level was off the Richter scale.

            No, we definitely didn’t lack passion.

            I watched as the look in his eyes changed-- I knew exactly where his thoughts were heading.

            And without warning, Alex lifted me into his arms and moved with such swiftness that before I knew what was happening, we were outside in front of the moonlit water. There was a light breeze and the sky was filled with twinkling stars. My hair was gently blowing back into Alex’s face, so I turned in his lap so that I was facing him.

            “Why are we here?” I asked.

            Alex grinned at me and shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. I needed a change of scenery.”

            I narrowed my eyes at him. I saw the hungry look in his glowing blue eyes and luckily, now that I wasn’t human, I didn’t have to worry about what kind of hunger. “Sounds suspicious to me,” I said.

            Alex’s face was all innocence. “I don’t know what you mean. But, since we‘re out here with absolutely nothing to do…”

            I hadn’t had a chance to use any of my vampire abilities for fun yet. I decided then and there to put my enhanced speed to the test. I gave him a playful look.
Only if you can catch me.

            I was out of his arms and deep in the forest with my back against the rough trunk of a tree, before he even realized what was happening. I smiled to myself.
Good luck.

            I heard his low growl from where I was standing almost a mile away. He sent me a message.
You better get ready, because when I find you…

           
I’m
so
scared.
I inserted as much sarcasm as possible into that thought and then listened carefully. I’d have to be on my toes. Alex was incredibly good at tracking humans and vampires alike. I froze when I caught a blur of movement from the corner of my eye.
Darn. He was good.

           
Deciding that he was getting too close, I materialized behind an abandoned cabin several miles further into the woods. I pressed my back to the stone wall at the back of the building. After several minutes of no Alex, I figured I was safe to find a more secure hiding place. I quietly walked to the corner of the cabin and peeked around the side. Just as I was deciding it was all clear, I felt Alex’s warm breath on my neck. “Gotcha.”

            I let out a startled scream and whirled around. “Alex! You scared me.”

            “You asked for it.” He grinned mischievously. “And now I’m here to claim my prize.”

            I looked at him thoughtfully for a minute. “Okay.” I stood on my toes and planted a chaste kiss on his lips. I turned to walk away. “Well, guess we should head back…”

            I took one step before I was whirled back around, swept off my feet and cradled in Alex’s arms. He leaned down to murmur in my ear. “No way, Brooke. I caught you. Now it’s time to pay up.”