Eighth Grave After Dark

“This doesn’t work?” he asked.

“It works for me, but—”

“Me, too,” Amber said, her crush on Reyes adorable. He flashed that brilliant smile of his. It was very unfair of him.

“Me, three,” Cookie added.

Reyes walked over to Cookie as Hildie teased her hair. Or tried to tease her hair. She slipped several times, her hands suddenly useless in the presence of the son of what was once the most beautiful angel in heaven.

“I promise I’ll look more presentable than this when the time comes, but until then.” He took out a small box and handed it to her. “I wanted you to have this before everyone else demands your attention.”

“Reyes,” she said, her eyes wide. She opened it, absorbed the meaning of what it was he was giving her, then threw her arms around his neck.

A gold chain dangled from her fingers, and she flashed me the pendant, a diamond-studded infinity symbol.

“It’s perfect,” she said softly, her eyes wet with emotion.

He dipped his head in a bashful smile as she kissed his cheek. Then he turned back to me before I could hide the loving astonishment on my face.

He enchanted.

He simply enchanted.

Stopping in his tracks when he saw my expression, he studied me a long moment before walking over to me and placing a kiss on my cheek. The act was an excuse to whisper in my ear. “You have to stop looking at me like that if we’re going to make it through the day without losing our clothes.”

I turned to kiss him back. “I have no intention of making it through the day with you fully clothed.”

He grinned again. “Do you need anything else?”

“Pitocin?”

One corner of his mouth rose. “What’s that?”

“It induces labor. It’s about time for Beep to move out. Cut her hair. Get a job. I need a flat belly.”

“Have you tried crunches?”

“I just don’t get it. I’m supernatural. You’re supernatural. Why can’t we have one of those quick pregnancies like Bella and Edward? Gwen from Torchwood. Scully. Deanna Troi. Or even Cordelia when that demon impregnated her. Twenty-four hours later, bam! Demon child.”

“Aren’t they all?” Cookie said, garnering herself a glare from her daughter. Ah, to be thirteen again.

“Seriously, what’s with this nine-months crap? This is torture.” I grabbed my belly and scrunched up my face. “Agony. It’s worse than scurvy.” I didn’t actually know what scurvy was, but it sounded bad.

Reyes chuckled softly, kissed the top of my head, and walked out. Walked out!

“I’m not kidding!” I called after him. “I’m not putting up with this crap much longer.”

“He’s gone,” Cookie said.

“Oh, okay.” I cut the act short. “I have to admit, I feel wonderful. Nobody told me it would be like this. I have all this energy. I’m revved up, like, all the time.”

“You’re nesting.”

My brows slid together in doubt.

“You know, getting ready for the baby to arrive.”

“So, no actual nests?”

Hildie chuckled as Cookie said, “No actual nests.”

“Is this what it was like for you?”

“I enjoyed my pregnancy quite a bit.”

“Really?” Amber asked, grinning proudly from ear to ear as though it were because of her instead of in spite of her.

“That’s good to know,” I said. “What about your labor? How was that?”

“That was fun, too,” she said without missing a beat, her smile suddenly as fake as the lashes Hildie had glued onto her eyelids.

“Cookie, I know when someone is lying to me.”

“Okay, okay. Fun might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it was, you know, interesting. It was a learning experience. You just have to remember it’s not forever. The good part is when you have to push. That’s when it feels better. But you can’t push too early.”

I scanned the area for a pen and paper. “Do I need to take notes? Wait, what happens if I push too early? Katherine the Midwife didn’t say anything about pushing too early.”

Katherine was the midwife Reyes had hired. I was surprised she hadn’t checked in yet. She’d been coming every day, since I was so close to my due date. That woman loved to poke and prod. I only liked being poked and prodded by one person, and his name was not Katherine.

“What’ll happen?” Cookie asked, incredulous. “Are you crazy? If you push too early, you’ll— You’ll—” She stopped and stared into space.

“Did you just have a seizure?”

She blinked back to me. “No, it’s just I have no idea what’ll happen if you push too early.”

She glanced at Hildie. The woman shrugged and kept teasing and tugging Cookie’s hair this way and that.

Amber shrugged as well when I glanced at her askance.

“You guys are no help. Now I’m going to be scared to death to push.”

“Oh, you’ll push,” Cookie said.

Hildie snorted and nodded in agreement.

So did Amber, as though she were very aware of what happened during childbirth.

“Someone’s here,” Amber said, jumping up and running to the window. Artemis, who had been snoring into the pillows on my bed, followed suit, barking at the car pulling into the drive.

“Are guests showing up already?” Cookie asked, panicking. “The food hasn’t arrived yet. The decorators aren’t finished. The flowers are still in the basement.”