*Ciana*
Ever since I ca back from the Realm of Light, Theo, along with everyone else, was obsessively protective of . Even Dottie had given doctor’s orders, requiring to take it easy. But how could I sit around doing nothing? So I decided on a project that could keep busy for a while.
A scrapbook of our relationship for the baby.
“You know, the more I think over our mories, the more I realize that there are so many crazy incidents in our past. I’m not sure if I want to share all that with our child. Any thoughts?”
I glanced at Theo, who had just co out from the shower, getting ready for bed.
“Why not, I think they’re fine, as long as you leave out the way we t,” he comnted as he walked out from the shower, only wearing his boxers.
“But we need to have our first eting. The baby has to know about that,” I insisted.
“Ciana, I killed seven people in front of you when you first ca here,” he reminded .
“Well, seven assassins. I guess we should skip that part. But you know, that wasn’t really the first ti we t. How about when you stole a kiss with the dreamberry, and the ti you locked in with a bunch of wild animals? And our first intimate ti together was in a hallucination when we didn’t even know who we were!”
“Ciana,” Theo stood by the bed, stroking his chin. “Before I answer those questions, could you tell whether I did anything wrong?”
I was confused, “Uh?”
“If not, why am I being expelled from my own bed?” He glared at all my scrapbooking supplies spread out on the mattress as if they were his biggest foes.
There were so many drawings and clippings with mories of my relationship with Theo that I couldn’t find another big enough flat surface to display them all.
“Oh, sorry about that.” I quickly gathered my scattered project essentials and made room for the king. This was his bed after all.
“I didn’t feel enough sincerity from your apology.” Theo arched an eyebrow, obviously not satisfied. Then he closed the space between us, hovered over and smiled at seductively.
His body was emitting imnse amounts of heat, mixed with his scent of fresh rain...oh well, there was nothing I could do to stop the fluttering in my stomach.
“Theo...hey... um...”
Without warning, his hot lips covered mine, and his tongue took the liberty to sweep every inch inside of my mouth.
Like a switch, my core heated up and I could feel my panties getting warm and moist.
My tongue danced with his and my arm looped around his neck. He split my legs and lifted my hip up, pressing his enlarged desire against .
I moaned in his mouth. “Um... Theo...Um...”
“Apology accepted,” he smirked mischievously, finally releasing my lips from his dominating kiss.
I took the chance to gulp in so air.
Theo grinned and closed the scrapbook with all my pictures and clippings in it. He set the book aside and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, putting his other hand on my growing stomach.
“Baby, to answer your earlier question, no matter what, our kid is going to know that we love each other and we love them. The rest doesn’t matter.”
I smiled at Theo. “You know, sotis you say exactly the right thing.”
He smirked and pulled to him, kissing passionately on the mouth again.
“See, I didn’t even need a dreamberry for this one,” he muttered against my lips and his hand moved from my stomach to my breast, making them feel tight and heavy. Chills and desires coursed through my body and I let out a moan again as I watched him smirk dangerously above .
Then he leaned down and nibbled my earlobe as he whispered, “And why don’t we review that intimate ti from the hallucination again?”
***
Brook stopped by for a weekend brunch. While I went to et her, I had my scrapbook tucked under my arm. I’d been carrying it around with in case I got sudden inspiration or ideas. It kept coming to at strange tis and I wanted to be prepared.
“Ciana, your baby bump is so adorable!” Brook ran over and hugged tightly.
I giggled and hugged her back, awkwardly since my belly was big enough to get in the way.
Laughing and flushed, Brook put her hands on my belly.
“How are you doing? Any symptoms? Is the pregnancy going well?” she asked all her questions at once.
“In general, going well. Let’s find a place to sit first, if you don’t mind?”
“Oh, goodness, yes, of course,” Brook said, slapping her palm against her forehead.
We sat down and I gladly filled my plate with as much food as I could reach. Eating for two was definitely noticeable now.
“To answer your questions, my appetite is up and down. Fortunately, that is about it right now. I’m fine, though, and the baby is fine. Everything is going really well,” I explained. “How about you?”
Brook imdiately put a forkful of pancake into her mouth and chewed it slowly.
“Okay, Brook, what’s wrong?” I asked, knowing right away that sothing was on her mind. She had the biggest tell in the world!
Brook shrugged and then finally unloaded. “I can’t believe that Sophia is back in the palace. I an what is she even doing here?” She put her fork down loudly.
I cleared my throat and snickered. “Oh, well, she wants to be back.”
Brook gaped at . “She wants to be back, and you just let her? Do you not rember all those nasty things she said to you when we first got here? She even tried to have us starved. She is vicious!”
“Well, she asked to co back to the palace as a return favor for helping us. You know, without her, we might not even be here today. Also, she persuaded her pack to financially aid in the restoration and recovery of the country. It was a small request to grant,” I explained.
Brook narrowed her eyes at and shook her head. She seed quite judgental about this. I couldn’t bla her. Sophia had made Brook really sick with her gas.
“Even if that was the case, how about Prince Warren? Everyone knows what she thinks about Warren. Is he even okay with her being back?”
I rolled so fresh fruit around on my plate. My appetite would vanish as quickly as it ca on sotis. I set my fork down and started rubbing my stomach. That was my little baby.
“Actually, after hearing her request, Warren was the one who decided to invite her back,” I told Brook.
“Why!?”
I sighed. “Everyone makes mistakes. Warren said that he himself had made mistakes before and was given chances to make up for them. Out of everyone else in the palace, he probably empathized with Sophia the most and felt she should have a chance, too. We can’t overlook that her pack volunteered to contribute financial support for rebuilding the country...”
“Am I the only one who feels Warren has sacrificed his romantic life for political reasons?” Brook mumbled, looking at her empty plate.
I didn’t want to make a comnt. Warren would find his way. I didn’t know if that would include him finding his mate or ever settling down with soone. I hoped he’d find happiness, in whatever form was best for him.
Brook blinked at several tis from across the table. I could see the wheels turning in her head. Her eyes flicked to the scrapbook on the table.
“What are you carrying around?” she asked, changing the subject.
“This is for the baby. I want my child to grow up with so mories of how Theo and I fell in love. The only problem is... well, there’s a lot of violence and craziness in there.”
“Well, the scrapbook doesn’t have to be a play by play. Does it? It should be easy to docunt how you fell in love. That part is like a fairytale,” Brook pointed out.
I creased my brow and pondered on her words.
Brook was right! It wasn’t about the specific mories and events that happened. It was about the feelings and how we had found each other, the struggles we went through to keep each other, and how after the worst odds, we were able to fall in love and build a life together.
“You know, I guess it is a little like a fairytale,” I admitted, chuckling.
“You know what I think would be cute. You should put a lock of hair from each of you in it. Oh, and the lapel pin,” Brook suggested.
I nodded and smiled. At least, she had so good suggestions!
After brunch, I decided to spend my afternoon in the library to work on my project. Now that Brook had helped out, I had all the inspiration I needed to put the scrapbook together. It was going to be a great account of how Theo and I fell in love.
I traced my fingers over the locks of hair I’d taped into the book. So my child could always have a piece of and Theo.
“Hey, Ciana,” Warren’s voice pulled from my thoughts.
“Oh, hey Warren. What are you doing here?” I asked, smiling up at him.
“Well, I was on my way to et Theo and I saw you sitting in here, alone,” he said. “I hope you’re doing sothing fun, otherwise I’ll have to tell Dottie and Theo.”
I giggled and closed the scrapbook, showing him the cover. “I’m making a scrapbook for my baby. I want them to learn about their parents and how they fell in love. I’m open to suggestions.”
“That sounds great!” Warren stroked his chin. “Speaking of mories...”
“Warren?”
He raised his wrist. There I saw the bracelet that I had given away many years ago.
“Here.” He took it off, handing it over. “This belongs to you, and it should go back to its original owner.”
I shook my head. There were tis I wanted it back as well, but every ti, I decided against it.
“Warren, Maggie gave you that. You should keep it. It reminds you of your twin.”
Ciana, it was never hers to give.“ Warren insisted, “I should’ve given it back to you a long ti ago. I’ve just been holding onto it for safety. Besides, I have everything I need to rember Maggie.”
He grabbed my hand and put the bracelet in my palm. I studied the bracelet as it sat on my palm and smiled gratefully at Warren.
Warren’s gaze fell on gently. “Maggie told this bracelet was blessed by the Moon Goddess. And you know what, she was right. I do think it brings good luck.”
Warren curled his hand around mine, closing my fingers around the bracelet and making sure that I knew it belonged to .
I tightened my hand around the bracelet.
“Ciana, do you ever think you’ll ever find the boy that you gifted this bracelet to?” Warren asked.
I forgot that Warren didn’t know Theo was the person I t in the woods so many years ago.
“It was so long ago... I never... I never thought I’d see that boy again,” I said absently. “Thank you, Warren.”
“You’re very welco,” he said, his hand still around mine.
“What are you two doing?” Theo’s stiff voice echoed through the quiet library.
Quickly, I pulled my hand from Warren’s.
“Just scrapbooking.” I quickly provided the explanation.
“Um...” Theo crossed his arms and arched an eyebrow. I didn’t know what he was thinking about.
“Really,” I assured.
“Warren, I thought you were on your way to et . We have that eting with the Alpha Council,” Theo said through gritted teeth.
“Right, I’m with you.” Warren nodded to Theo and then turned to , “Ciana, I have so ti this evening. If you’re still working on this and need help, I can et you here.”
Theo sniffed and glared between Warren and . Then he asked, “Warren, don’t you need to take Sophia out for dinner this evening?”
My eyes widened. Warren and Sophia were dating?! That was big news!
Warren was confused, “How did I not know about that?”
Theo smirked, “Because I just asked Jake to book it for you. He told that Sophia was ecstatic when she heard that you invited her for dinner.”
Warren protested loudly, “Theo! You can’t do that to just because I was talking to Ciana!”
Theo strode across the room and stood behind , putting a firm hand on my shoulder without saying anything else. He didn’t need to, because his action had made it very clear. ‘She is mine!’
“The council is waiting on us,” Theo said.
As Theo ushered his brother out of the library, Warren rolled his eyes at Theo. Before he exited the room, he waved at . “Do a favor, Ciana. Punch him for when you get a chance!”
“You got it,” I assured him with a chuckle and slid the bracelet into an envelope.
Glancing up at Theo, I caught his eye. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
#
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