Blood Doll (The Vampire Agape Series Book #3) (The Vampire Agape Series #3) (15 page)

She pulls me closer and becomes the one pressing her face into my hair. “It makes me feel guilty to pray for such a thing if there are two healthy little girls in there.”

“I have faith that both of these babies are healthy no matter their gender. Don’t freak out if the first one is a girl because it doesn’t mean the next is a guaranteed fylgia. It could be a boy or another healthy girl.”

Dr. Knight pats Avery on the leg. “I want you to push really hard with your next contraction.”

Avery nods her understanding and less than a minute passes before she has another contraction. “I think it’s starting because I feel the pressure building.”

The nurse counts and instructs Avery on pushing as Dr. Knight reaches for instruments on the table by her side. I hear a snip and I don’t even want to know what she just cut. “Okay. Here comes the first one.”

I peer over the blue drape just in time to see a bright pink little person come out of my wife and I hold my breath as Dr. Knight places the crying baby on top of Avery’s abdomen. “You have a daughter with a headful of dark hair just like her daddy.”

Avery strokes her head while Dr. Knight clamps and cuts the umbilical cord. “Look at her, Sol. She’s beautiful. And perfect. And healthy.”

And her arrival makes it impossible for me to not dwell upon the safety of the other child as I look at her.

She’s screaming her head off when the staff takes her from Avery to the warmer so we can work on getting the next baby delivered. The nurse adjusts the fetal monitor for the second baby and I see the strange look on her face. “Looks like we’re running in the sixties.” I can only assume that isn’t good based on the nurse’s worried expression. “Now the fifties.”

Dr. Knight is watching the fetal monitor and looks at the nurse. “Give her some O2 by face mask.” She continues watching the heart beat. “Avery, the heart rate is down. I’m going to give it a minute to recover. If it does then I’ll let nature take its course and allow the uterus to do the work of pushing him or her into your pelvis on its own. If there isn’t an increase soon I’ll try to help this one come down so we can deliver vaginally.”

The next sixty seconds is one of the most important moments of our lives. “There’s no improvement so I’m going to see if I can help this little one out of there.” I watch Dr. Knight’s hand–and then arm–disappear inside my wife. I turn away because it’s more than I’m able to stand seeing. “This one isn’t coming on its own anytime soon and it’s too high for me to safely assist. We’re going to the OR if the heart rate doesn’t recover within the next minute.”

We already know that the fylgia is born second and dies after the safe delivery of the first infant–the agape. That could very likely be what is happening now but my heart isn’t ready to give up on this child. “Do whatever it takes to save this baby.”

Another minute passes and it feels like an eternity as we wait for the verdict. When it comes, it isn’t good. “There’s no improvement in the heart rate despite the oxygen. We can’t wait any longer. We have to go to the OR to get this baby out now.”

The room erupts into chaos as the staff scrambles to get Avery out of the delivery stirrups and back onto the bed so they can transport her to the OR. The staff is shouting back and forth and I’m lost as to what my role just became. “What do I do?”

Dr. Knight removes her gown and gloves and pulls me aside as the staff preps Avery. “We can’t use her epidural for the cesarean because it isn’t dosed with enough medicine for surgery. She’ll have to go to sleep so you can’t go back with her but if anything strange happens during the delivery, I’ll need you to wipe it from their minds so they can’t remember or document it.”

A full whirlwind later, Avery is whisked from the room. I catch up and run beside her bed. I stretch upward and she rolls toward me as I kiss her forehead. “I love you and everything is going to be okay.”

I just lied to my agápe. I have no idea if everything is going to be okay. And we both know it.

“I love you too,” she calls out as I watch her disappear down a sterile hallway leading to the OR where I once again have no control over her safety.

“You can wait in your wife’s room, Mr. Alexander.” I feel numb as I return to the place where it looks like a tornado just blew through leaving empty medical supply packaging in its path.

My daughter was taken to the nursery during the chaos so I’m alone behind the closed door and I drop to my knees to pray to anyone willing to hear my plea. “Please keep Avery and our child safe by placing your arms of safety around them both.” I don’t ask but it’s what I’m thinking. Please be a boy so we don’t have to worry about losing this child.

It seems an eternity when there’s finally a knock at the door. I recognize some of the staff from earlier but there’s a new face in the crowd this time. And it’s wrapped in a blue and pink beanie hat and soft flannel blanket. “Here’s your little trouble maker. I think you owe her a spanking for what she just pulled.”

My heart stumbles. She? “Another girl?”

“You seem surprised. Were you expecting a boy?” she says as she passes the baby girl to me.

I hesitate in answering because I’m too stunned as I look at my second daughter. “No. We didn’t know the gender.”

“I don’t know how you went the whole pregnancy without finding out what these babies were.” I’m so glad we didn’t. We’d have expected the worst if we had known they were both girls. “Looks like you’ll be seeing a lot of pink around your place.”

I immediately rack my brain to remember every detail I can recall about fylgias but all three have one thing in common. They died the moment they were born. And this child isn’t dead. She’s very much alive and looking at me.

I pull back her beanie to look at her hair and it’s different from our other daughter’s. This baby is blond like Avery. They are total opposites so it isn’t possible for them to be an agape and fylgia.

I’m able to relax for the first time in months knowing I have two healthy daughters. One is like me, the other like Avery. And all is right in my world.

Chapter Twenty-One

I’m waiting in Avery’s postpartum room when she’s brought in from recovery. It’s been more than two hours since she was rushed toward the operating room for an emergency cesarean and I’m anxious to see that she’s unharmed. Our connection was severed when the general anesthesia hit her vein but it’s slowly wearing off because I’m beginning to pick up bits and pieces of emotion from her.

I’m excited to tell her about our two healthy daughters but disappointed I’ll have to wait since she’s still sleeping. “I thought she’d be awake after she left the recovery room.”

“She was hurting when she woke after surgery so we had to give her some extra pain medicine. She’ll be groggy for a little while.” The nurse is leaving when she turns back. “She did wake up long enough to ask about the babies.”

I immediately panic. “What did you tell her?”

“I’m sorry. She dozed off before we could tell her she had another daughter.”

Good. Avery would have lost it if she had learned the second baby was a girl. I need to be the one to tell her so I can immediately reassure her both babies are fine.

Avery is assessed by the nurse and then left to rest until time for vital signs again. She looks so young lying in bed with her blond curls fanned out on the pillow beneath her head. The beautiful sight reminds me of what a sleeping angel might look like.

It’s still night but the others have gone home. They felt it was important we have this time to bond with our new babies so I’m alone with a sedated Avery when the nursery staff member brings them to the room for their first visit. Avery sleeps through the nurse’s teaching about the care of our babies and I’m left peering over at them in their cribs once the nurse is gone. And I’m scared shitless.

They’re so tiny. And fragile. I’m afraid I’ll break them so I’m content to gaze at my newborn children from where I stand hovering over them. All is well for a while until one of them becomes fretful and her crying escalates into a screaming fit.

It’s the dark haired one making all the fuss. I can’t even call my daughter by her name because she doesn’t have one. Neither of them do. We discussed a couple of options but never agreed on anything. Avery was determined one was a boy so we certainly didn’t choose names for two girls.

I don’t have a clue what’s wrong with her but I pick my elder daughter up and hold her for the first time. She continues screaming and I rock her gently without any improvement in her mood. “I don’t know what you want, little one.”

“Sol,” Avery says in the softest voice. She’s finally awake so I walk to her bedside with our screaming daughter and lean over so she may see her face. “That’s a welcomed sound.”

She presses the button on the bed to lift the head and I feel her joy when she notices there are two cribs. “I want to hold my babies.”

I pass our daughter to her once she’s sitting up and comfortable. “This is the firstborn.”

“Yes. My sweet, dark haired girl.” She strokes her cheek. “Everything’s a little fuzzy but I remember you, my lovely.”

I collect our sleeping daughter from her crib and return to Avery’s bedside. I pass the second baby to her and give her a moment to register the wellbeing of our second daughter before I tell her we have two girls. “Both are safe and healthy.”

She’s beaming. “Yes they are. I can clearly see that.” She leans forward and presses a kiss to each of their heads.

“And both are girls.”

She looks up at me and her fear is almost overwhelming. “No.”

“Both of them are fine, Avery. One is dark like me, the other is blond like you. They’re complete opposites so it isn’t possible for them to be an agápe and fylgia.”

She’s panicking and it’s my job to soothe her through our connection and reassuring words. “They’re more than two hours old. The second baby wouldn’t have survived if she was a fylgia. But she did and she’s fine. Look at her, Avery. She’s alive and healthy. Watch her chest rise and fall as she breathes. Place your hand over her heart and feel it beat.”

A single tear rolls down her face. “We have two daughters.”

“Yes. Two very nameless little girls. We’re going to need to rectify that soon. I’m sure they don’t want to spend their lives being identified by the color of their hair or being known as the first or second born.” We debated girl names for a couple of weeks but never decided on anything. Choosing names for girls felt like we were admitting we were going to lose one so neither of us would commit to anything.

“You really liked Sophie,” Avery says.

“And you really liked Sadie.”

“So we use both and we each get our preference.” She looks down at our dark haired beauty. “I pictured a little girl with dark brown hair and green eyes like yours while I was pregnant. I think Sadie fits this one perfectly but she needs a middle name.”

My dark hair and green eyes came from my mother and I’m reminded of her when I look at this child. “I’d really like to use Caroline after my mother.”

Avery caresses the top of her head. “Sadie Caroline Alexander.” She looks up at me. “I adore the way it sounds but I love it more because she’s named after your mother.” She moves her hand to the top of our other daughter’s head. “Now what about a middle name for Sophie?”

“We’re using my mother’s name. Would you like to use your mom’s as well?”

Avery’s eyes glaze. “Sophie Elise Alexander.”

“It sounds good.”

“Just like it was meant to go together.” My wife admires our daughters. “Sadie Caroline and Sophie Elise. Both are lovely and immortal flowers without a single physical defect. They are perfect and worthy of being brought forth in Eden.”

She’s quoting
The Scarlet Letter
and she couldn’t be more right. These babies are perfect. I suppose every parent feels that way about their children but they can’t all be correct. At least we aren’t plagued with the unfortunate circumstance of being wrong about our children’s perfection.

It’s been three days since we welcomed our twin daughters into the world and today we are bringing them home to the Savannah compound. It’s almost noon so the family is asleep–except for the Brennan crew–and we find them waiting for us in the living room.

Chansey swiftly rises from the sofa to greet us. “I’m so happy you’re home. I’m beyond ready to meet these little ladies.” Both babies are in their carriers and I place them on the couch side by side. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to make it to the hospital to see you but I couldn’t leave my sick babies.”

I guess being half vampire wasn’t going to keep our children from catching the common cold. “It’s okay. We totally understand.”

“Are they feeling better?”

“They’re on the mend but they scared me to death the night after these two were born. Both of them were making this weird sound when they were breathing. I called Dr. Knight and she rushed over. Turns out it was just croup. We took them outside in the cool air and it cleared right up.” Chansey shakes her head. “I’ve never seen Curry so scared.”

I don’t have to imagine his alarm because the worry I experienced over Sadie and Sophie’s delivery was still fresh on my mind.

Chansey stands over our new editions. “They seem so tiny. I can’t believe mine were this small only a few months ago.” She touches Sadie’s cheek and then Sophie’s. “My goodness. Curry told me they didn’t look a thing alike.” She looks up at us. “I thought he was exaggerating but I see now he wasn’t.”

Thank the gods they aren’t anything alike.

Curry takes another look at the babies. “They’ll never mix these two up. That’s for sure.”

“So, who is who?” Chansey asks.

Sadie stirs in her carrier and cries as if on cue to be the first one introduced. So far, she has insisted on doing everything first. “This little darling is Sadie.” Avery unbuckles our crying daughter and lifts her. “She’s the one with the robust appetite but I’ve learned I have about thirty minutes before Sophie will start in wanting to eat too.”

“Mine do me the same way but it’s better to keep them on a close schedule. James Grady got mixed up once and I felt like I was constantly feeding one of them. It took two days to get him back to his normal routine. It was exhausting.”

We definitely didn’t need that because it already seemed like Avery spent half of her time nursing. “We’ll be sure to remember that and please feel free to pass along any other tips you may have.”

I look at my watch and note that it’ll be two more hours until their feeding time. “Want me to take them for a little while so you can catch a quick nap before time to nurse?” Avery’s body has been through a lot recently. I offer to care for the babies often because I want her to have as much rest as possible. Although I’ve become incredibly human over the last few months, I’m still able to tolerate lack of sleep much better than her. Plus, I love the bonding time I get with my daughters.

Her eyes dance. “Oh, that would be lovely. Thank you, baby.”

Avery manages to get two hours of rest before feeding time. She’s already awake and smiles as she rises to a sitting position when I enter our newly finished quarters with the babies. “My body is on their schedule as well. It knows it’s time to nurse because I feel like I could burst.” She scoots until her back is against the headboard and gets into position before I pass Sadie to her. “Chansey’s going to help me learn how to nurse them at the same time.”

“That would save so much time.” I watch my wife nurse our daughter and I’m still amazed by this new experience. I can’t believe this is my life. It’s too good to be true.

Evening comes and the occupants of the house rise from their slumber. Everyone is present in the living room to see our babies and I realize for the first time how much our family has grown over the last year. Eight new members have been added to our previous count of six but there’s a new face standing in the crowd and it’s one I don’t recognize.

He’s a tall man with broad shoulders and flaxen hair. His eyes are golden–and captivating. I’ve never seen irises that color. I make the connection and realize why. He isn’t human.

“I have someone I’d like to introduce,” Sebastian says. “This is Anteros.”

The room is hushed but he breaks the silence. “Good evening.” His voice is soft, yet authoritative. The way it commands attention leaves no room for doubt. It’s reminiscent of a different time–and place–but I can’t identify either. “I’m sure my presence at your compound is a surprise but I’ve come because I wish to meet my daughters and their mates and children.”

Agápes are called daughters of Anteros because he is their creator but I wonder if his words imply something more.

He walks toward Chansey and hugs her. “Chansey. You are my daughter because I’m your creator.” He releases her from his embrace but continues holding her attention. “I chose your family because of your grandmother’s history as a blood swan. I knew you’d be raised in a loving environment that would nourish and prepare you to love and accept Curry as your mate. And I couldn’t be happier with the way you have embraced your life as an agápe. You are a wonderful wife and mother and you make me a proud maker.”

She’s mesmerized by him. “Thank you.”

Curry appears lost but extends his hand. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

He spends a little time speaking with Chansey and Curry while looking at the babies and then moves on to us. “Avery. I’ve watched you from afar for so long, my child. It’s so delightful to finally meet you.” He takes her into a tight embrace. “And hold you in my arms.”

His response to Avery is different than the one he had for Chansey. Again, I’m struck by the notion that this means more.

“Avery. You are my daughter because of the relationship I shared with your mother. You are the living, physical proof of our love.”

Avery is bewildered by his words. “Are you saying my dad wasn’t my biological father?”

“He wasn’t. I am.” Anteros takes Avery’s hands. “The blood of a god courses through your veins and there are those that would harm you for that reason. That’s why I chose Solomon as your protector. He’s strong. Valiant. He’ll protect you and he’ll keep your children safe but there’s something you should know about them.”

I feel Avery’s growing fear and it causes mine to multiply. It’s terrifying to hear there’s something we don’t know about our newborn daughters.

“This involves all four infants.” Anteros moves to stand between us and the Brennans. “There’s a prophesy. A great battle will ensue among the vampire race. There will be a false leader to rise and she will attempt to lay claim as sovereign but there will be a group of six to lead a revolt against this diabolical fiend. Your four children are destined to save the entire vampire race from believing her deceit.”

Our hearts sink because no parent wants to hear that his children–especially daughters–are destined to go to battle. This isn’t what I would choose for them.

“They have the best of three worlds. Human blood gives them compassion. Some immortals consider this a weakness but it’s the complete opposite. Empathy is powerful. Their bodies are half vampire so this makes them fast and resilient which they’ll need for battle. But it’s the blood of a god that will make them more powerful than any enemy rising against them.”