VA 2 - Blood Jewel (34 page)

I lightly laid my ear against her
bump and listened in on the wrestling match going on inside of
Chansey while she unknowingly slept. I placed my hand on her belly,
only to have it tag teamed by the two I couldn’t wait to meet...the
two I prayed to meet.

I had spent a lot of time over the
last month on my knees praying for our babies to anyone willing to
hear me. I pleaded for their health and safe delivery, but I also
asked that they wouldn’t be like me. I pleaded for them to be
completely like Chansey and all of her goodness.

“Hey, you,” I heard and it stole
my attention from the babies to their mother. Chansey stretched and
said, “What are you doing?”

“I’ve been watching these
wrestlers try to fight their way out of you for the last hour. I
don’t know how you sleep through all of that commotion.”

“It’s not difficult when you’re
stay as tired as I do and I hope they’re not looking for the exit
because it’s too early. The eclipse is eight weeks away and that
will still be three months before their original due date. I’m
ready for Dr. Knight to look today and see how much they’ve
grown.”

I rubbed my palm over her tummy
above her low riding black panties. “I don’t need to look with the
ultrasound to tell you that they are a lot bigger than they were
the last time we looked.”

I leaned over and gave her kiss.
“I’m getting my shower. You lay here a little longer and if you
fall asleep, I’ll get you up in time for your
appointment.”

Chansey was up when I came out of
the bathroom and while she got ready, I went into the nursery to
look at the decor she had chosen with my sisters’ help. Everything
was done in black and white patterns and gender specific hot pink
and/or turquoise would be added after the babies
arrived.

I sat on the twin bed that now
replaced the big fluffy couch and looked around the room. There was
two of everything. I didn’t agree with Chansey on doing that, but
it was the way she wanted it and I wasn’t known for my ability to
deny her anything that she wanted.

“What are you doing in here?” she
asked as she stood in the doorway.

“I’m admiring your work. It’s a
really beautiful nursery,” I complimented.

“I know you don’t think it was a
good idea to do two of everything, but we should be prepared. We
don’t know that we won’t bring home two babies.”

I simply nodded because I didn’t
want to talk about it. “Are you ready to go?”

“I am, now let’s go look at these
babies so we can admire your work,” she laughed.

≈ ≈ ≈

Chansey was sitting on the exam
table when Dr. Knight walked into the room. She appeared a little
surprised to see us back after her referral to the specialists.
“Mr. and Mrs. Brennan? I wasn’t expecting to see you
again.”

“Yes, we understand you intended
for us to see the specialist, but we chose to not keep that
appointment,” Chansey informed her.

“Why would you do that? Don’t you
want what is in the best interest of your children?” she
asked.

“Of course, we do and we think you
are in the best interest of our babies,” Chansey
explained.

“Why would you think that? I don’t
have an explanation for what is going on with your pregnancy and
that’s why I referred you to the maternal-fetal specialists,” Dr.
Knight argued.

Chansey leaned forward and
whispered, “Because you are a Black Swan.”

Dr. Knight sat up a little
straighter and her eyes grew large. “Excuse me?”

“We know that you are a Black Swan
and we need your help,” I pleaded. “These babies aren’t completely
human and we can’t risk that being discovered. With you, we know
you already know about the existence of vampires and you are a
supporter. We need you. Our babies need you.”

She stared at us for a few seconds
and then said, “Well, It’s clear that you know what I am so tell me
everything from the beginning so I can have a clear understanding
of what these babies are.”

Dr. Knight laid Chansey’s chart on
the table in the exam room and leaned forward on the stool where
she sat, eagerly waiting to hear what we had to say. When we
finished our complicated Agápe tale and what we suspected about our
babies, she said, “Amazing. Absolutely amazing.”

“Will you help us, Dr. Knight?
Will you help our babies?” Chansey softly asked.

“Yes, of course, I will help you,
but we need to discuss a plan for the delivery because twins can
present all kinds of problems. Your odds of having a cesarean
section are very high. We should make an appointment outside of the
clinic to decide what we should do,” she explained.

“That would be great. What works
for your schedule?” I asked.

“What about tonight, after clinic
hours?” she suggested.

“Would you feel comfortable coming
to our home? I would like for our family members to know the
details of the plan,” Chansey said.

Dr. Knight lifted one of her
eyebrows. “Your family members?”

“I don’t come from your typical
coven,” I assured her. “I am a member of The Coven of Landra and we
have recently built a compound in Savannah. Are you familiar with
us?”

“I certainly am,” she answered in
amazement. The Coven of Landra in New Orleans saved my sister after
she was turned 25 years ago. She is the reason I became acquainted
with the vampire community and why I am a Black Swan.”

“I’ve been with Landra for 22
years, so I wouldn’t know your sister. Does she still live in New
Orleans?”

“No, she lives here in Savannah.
She never found a coven she felt comfortable with, so she’s a
loner. Would you mind if I brought Celia to our
meeting?”

“Absolutely. I’m certain Sebastian
and Solomon would love to see her again.”

“Perfect. Now, how about we take a
look at these babies and see what they have been up to since we saw
them last?”

She lowered the head of the exam
table and measured Chansey’s abdomen from top to bottom. “A normal
singleton pregnancy will grow one centimeter each week. Looks like
you’ve grown eight centimeters in four weeks. That’s significant,
even for twins, so it looks like they’re growth isn’t becoming more
rapid, but it hasn’t slowed either.” She reached for the wand on
the ultrasound machine. “Let’s peek inside and see if these little
guys will let us get some measurements so we can estimate how big
they are.”

Dr. Knight did her usual routine of
plopping a glop of gel of Chansey’s belly and then swirling the
wand until she recognized something. “Okay, this one is number one
because he’s coming first.”

“He?” I asked, hopeful because
that would rule out our Agápe and Fylgia theory.

“I haven’t looked to see what your
babies are, but I always refer to them as a ‘he.’ It’s a good rule
of thumb to have so I don’t slip up and tell the parents what
they’re having when they don’t want to know.

“Looks like number one is breech
right now, but his position will change a dozen times or better
before they are born. He’s being reasonably still so I’m going to
get his measurements before he wakes up and starts moving all over
the place.”

When she finished the measurements
on the first baby, she moved on to the second one. “Number two is
transverse, which means he’s lying sideways.”

She scanned for several minutes and
then asked, “Do you want to know the sex of your
babies?”

I looked at Chansey for her
thoughts. We hadn’t talked about finding out what they were because
we had been so consumed with the worry of survival for both of
them. It would be such a relief to hear that they were both boys or
a boy/girl combination, but I wasn’t ready to hear that they were
both girls because that would multiply my fear for my
daughters.

I reached for her hand. “I don’t
want to know, Chansey. I’m sorry,” I apologized.

“Don’t apologize. I don’t want to
know either,” she reassured me.

Dr. Knight finished entering the
measurements into the ultrasound machine while we finished our
discussion and then said, “Since neither of you wants to know the
sex, let’s talk about their size. It looks like baby number one’s
estimated weight is four pounds and 10 ounces. Baby number two’s is
four pounds and 2 ounces. At 18 weeks, they shouldn’t even be a
pound yet. I guess you realize that you won’t make it until
April?”

“That’s what we were thinking.
Curry thinks that they will come during the eclipse in early
January.”

“Based on their growth, I’m not
sure you’ll go that long. I wouldn’t be shocked if they came next
month,” Dr. Knight informed us.

“Next month?” Chansey almost
yelled. “I will have only been pregnant for five months. What am I
going to tell my family when I give birth to seven or eight pound
babies? They aren’t stupid. They’re going to know that math doesn’t
add up.”

“You don’t have to tell them
anything. Let them believe what they want to believe, which will be
that you were pregnant when we got married,” I laughed.

Chansey reached up from from where
she laid on the exam table and punched me in the gut.“That’s is not
funny, James Curry Brennan.”

“I have other patients waiting on
me so I’m going to let the two of you hash this out. What time
would you like me to be at the compound?”

“Is nine o’clock good for you?” I
asked as she handed a notepad and pen to me.

“That works for me. Jot your
address down for me and Celia and we will see you tonight at
nine.”

≈ ≈ ≈

Once the introductions and
reminiscing was done, Dr. Knight sat down with us and our family in
the living room to discuss the plan for Chansey’s labor and
delivery. “Please, let me start by saying that it is an honor to
assist these babies into the world and I will do everything in my
power to make that happen safely for them and Chansey. With that
being said, we must make a plan in order for that to happen.
Everything about this birth is unpredictable and we must be
prepared for the unexpected because there is a lot that can happen
with a twin delivery.

I need her to come to the hospital
if her waters breaks, if she has contractions every five minutes or
less, if the babies aren’t moving well or if she has vaginal
bleeding. If she thinks something just doesn’t feel right, I want
her to be brought in immediately for evaluation. I will adjust her
records to reflect a normal twin pregnancy and if you’ll call me
before you go to the hospital, I will tell you what to say to the
nurses so you won’t cause them to suspect anything is going
on.

Since you’ve never had a baby,
we’ll plan a vaginal delivery if the first baby is head down. If he
isn’t coming head first, it will be too dangerous to attempt, so
we’ll opt for an elective cesarean section. If anything looks or
feels wrong, we’re cutting you. I’m not taking any
risks.”

“Curry will get to be with her the
whole time, even if she has a c-section?” Lairah asked.

“Absolutely. I need him to stay
because his persuasion skills could be needed, depending on what we
find when these babies arrive. It could be obvious at birth that
these are not normal human babies and we can’t let that information
leave the delivery room.”

Chansey sighed as she rubbed her
belly. “I haven’t really been nervous about this until now. It
hasn’t really felt real, but this is very surreal and it’s going to
happen soon.”

I saw by the look on her face how
frightened she was and inside I felt the same, but I was obligated
to carry enough strength for both of us. No, make that the four of
us. I smiled as I pulled her close and kissed her forehead, but I
knew she felt my fear because the bond between us never
faltered.

30 The
Long Night

With another six weeks behind us,
the eclipse drew closer and it became more certain that Chansey
would inevitably deliver during the eclipse in three weeks.
Everyone living at our Savannah compound was on edge as the birth
approached and Sebastian suggested we have a party to celebrate The
Winter Solstice, in hopes of briefly calming everyone’s
nerves.

The Winter Solstice was an event
celebrated among vampires everywhere and most held grand balls to
commemorate it, but we opted to keep our guest list small. In
addition to our household of eight vampires and two humans, we
invited Dr. Knight, Celia and a handful of vampires in the area
that The Coven of Landra had helped.

It was customary to dress formally
for a Winter Solstice celebration and Chansey was quite unhappy
about her limited choices of apparel for the celebration. “You
know, pregnant women don’t hide out like hermits. They should make
cute formal dresses for us, too. She sighed as she looked in the
mirror, “I look like a huge sparkling snowball. No, a snowball is
small...make that a huge sparkling glacier.”

She had no idea how wrong she was.
She was breathtaking in her white dress covered in clear crystal
sparkles. I came up behind her and wrapped my arms around her
expanded waist. “You look like a beautiful Winter
princess.”