*Isla*
“Everything looks wonderful,” Mystica says as she finishes examining me. “The baby is a bit small for when we think the child was conceived, but other than that, the heartbeat is strong, everything is proportionate, the rest of the organs are developing on track as well, and movement is right on track. I think we shall have a healthy child in a few months, despite my apprehension earlier. Congratulations to the pair of you!” She stands at the foot of the examination table with her hands clasped together and a big grin on her face.
“Thank you,” I tell her. “Do you have any indication yet of the sex of the baby?”
Mystica looks from me to the king, and Maddox nods. He wants to know, too.
“Well, I do,” she says. “Let me show you on the machine. I think that will be better.”
She’s already done an ultrasound to measure everything, but while she was doing all of that, she looked like she was concentrating so hard, I didn’t even want to interrupt her to ask this question. Also, she is a bit old school when it comes to this sort of thing. She has told me that she remembers before they had machines to tell the sex, and she loves the surprise of delivering a baby not knowing which it will be.
But I need to know if the dream I had is the truth. If this is a boy, I will feel a lot more comfortable that he will be born safe and sound and grow up to be in a position to find his mate one day. I remember the beautiful girl from my vision. My future daughter-in-law if all goes well.
Mystica adds a little more gel to my exposed belly, and I reach up for Maddox’s hand, which he willingly gives me. Things are so much better now than they were before all of this business with the other women being in the castle. He truly has surprised me by paying none of them any mind and continuing to focus on me.
Except for Trinity. He does see her quite a bit, but I know why. It’s always out in the open, and I know they are conspiring about what to do to make sure the Alphas aren’t angry at the end of this, especially since her father and uncle are expecting her to try to kill Maddox.
Trinity and I spend a lot of time together, too, and I am genuinely starting to think of her as a friend.
“Here we go!” Mystica’s excited voice has me focusing in on the black and white screen beside me. “Can you see what I see?”
Is this a guessing game? I’m having enough time telling what is head and what is limb.
“Is that a… penis?” Maddox must be much better at this than me as he gestures at what looks like it could be a leg to me.
“Yes, it is!” Mystica is overjoyed. “We will have a new king!”
My heart swells, and for once, I can see that Maddox is also relieved and happy at the news. For a moment, his façade breaks, and I see the man I usually only see behind closed doors exposing himself in front of the healer.
He quickly recovers and puts himself back behind his stone wall. “That’s wonderful.” That’s all he’ll say in front of her, but I know that he will say more to me in private later.
I, on the other hand, am not ashamed to let the tears flow freely down my face. It isn’t that I would’ve minded having a daughter. I do hope to have one someday, but I needed to make sure that my vision was real.
Now, I have no reason to worry that my child is in danger or even think about going to Maatua to make sure that he is okay. Either he will continue to be healthy the way that Mystica has just declared him to be, or I will have the power to heal him. I can’t help but close my eyes and lean my head back with relief.
Maddox dabs my tears with a tissue as Mystica wipes the goo from my belly.
“Is there anything else we need to know, Mystica?” Maddox asks her. I open my eyes to look at her.
“No, just keep eating the healthy foods we’ve talked about, get some exercise every day, preferably outside, and take your supplements. I was extremely worried about this little one, as you know, at one point, but the more I see his growth, the happier I become. I do believe, Your Majesty, if you decide to go ahead and tell the kingdom the good news, it is safe to do so.”
Her words have my eyes widening. What she is saying means that Maddox can tell everyone that I am his woman, that I am carrying his child, and that he has no reason to continue to hunt for a Luna Queen.
I hold my breath, waiting for his response. Will he say that he would do so?
Of course not. It isn’t like Maddox to just agree to anything without spending a great deal of time thinking it through. “Very well. I shall take that into consideration,” he tells her.
I swallow hard. That isn’t what I was hoping to hear, but I can’t say that I am surprised at his words either.
With a little help, I get up and get dressed. I’m not bulging or showing much yet, but it seems like every day my baby bump becomes more pronounced. Mystica mentioned earlier in the examination that the baby is sitting a bit behind where they usually are, which allows me to hide it at this stage to a degree. I don’t quite understand, but it has been working in Maddox’s favor.
Mystica tells us goodbye on our way out, and we walk back toward my room, our fingers interlaced while we are in the seclusion of the infirmary area of the castle. When we get close to the hallways where more people are bustling around, Maddox slides his hand up so that our elbows are interlaced. I’m not sure if this means anything, but I have noticed he doesn’t usually hold my hand when we are in an area of the castle where people might see, though he does still touch me. I can’t be too upset about that.
He is still trying to figure out how to proceed without upsetting everyone.
We get to my room, and he pulls me into his arms, holding me tight. I think he has tears in his eyes when he says, “Goddess, I love you so much, baby.”
I know he means me when he says baby this time.
“I love you, too, Maddox,” I say into his chest. I want him to kiss me, but I also don’t think I could let go of him right now unless someone wedged us apart.
“Well?” Poppy’s voice does just that, and Maddox releases me. I want to growl at her, but I understand she is invested in my pregnancy as well and wants to know what happened. She’d been very unhappy when Maddox had told her there was no need for her to come along with us to the clinic.
“Well, Mystica says the baby is healthy,” I tell her. “Still a little small, but otherwise, everything looks great.”
Poppy’s smile is genuine. She is every bit as happy to hear that news as anyone else, so I can’t fault her for being here, asking us questions. “Did she say if it’s a boy or a girl?”
I look at Maddox, not sure if he wants me to divulge that information yet. He only shrugs. He probably knows that if I don’t tell her now, I’ll end up telling her later, whether I mean to or not.
“It’s a boy.”
When I say the words, Poppy squeals and runs over to hug me, bouncing up and down and dragging me with her until Maddox intervenes. “Don’t hurt her or the baby,” he cautions.
“Sorry, sorry! I’m just so happy. Oh, imagine if this means that your dream will come true, then. He will be a handsome young man, ready to lead one day.”
I can only smile. I think she is right and we can count on that.
Most of my dreams fade over time, even the ones where I was in someone else’s life, like with Private Wylie and Zabrina. But this one has not. I remember it as vividly today as I did when I dreamed it all of those weeks ago.
“I have some urgent matters to attend to,” Maddox says to me. “Seth is waiting for me in my office.” He looks from me to Poppy. “We are still not telling anyone about the pregnancy, not yet. I need to speak to Isla in private about that. So please don’t say anything, Poppy.”
“Don’t worry, Your Majesty. I would never divulge such an important secret to anyone.” She pretends to zip her lips and throw away the key but then continues. “I absorb other people’s rumors and pass those along, but I am never the source.”
Maddox scrutinizes her for a moment, clearly not believing that is entirely true. But then he turns and kisses me quickly on the lips before he heads for the door. He’s been dealing with the situation with the other Alphas a lot still. I hate that he hasn’t just replaced and imprisoned all of them. I stand by what I said when I was mad that he was still actively looking for Antony, something that seems to have slipped away for the time being.
Once he is gone, Poppy is clapping again. “I’m just so excited for you, Isla! We can finally start picking out baby clothes! Do you have a name yet?”
I stare at her, slightly wide-eyed. A name. I think back to the dream…. “Maddox and I haven’t discussed that yet.”
“Right. Well, everything is getting so exciting! I am so happy to get to be such a big part of the royal heir’s life.”
I smile at her. Even though she is a pain in my butt sometimes, she really is my best friend, outside of Maddox.
Feeling tired from the exam, I am about to tell her I’m going to lie down for a little while when she reaches into the pocket of her white maid’s apron. “Oh, this came for you today. I have no idea who it’s from but one of the butlers gave it to me to give to you.” She pulls out an envelope and hands it over.
All of the hairs on the back of my neck stand up before I even look at it closely. The white is a faded yellow which means it’s either old or dirty or both.
The address is my old one in Willow pack, and it’s been forwarded. That’s strange, too. There’s no return address.
I turn the envelope over in my hands and carry it to my nightstand, slipping it into the top drawer. I don’t know what it is or who it’s from, but I’m too tired to read it right now.
Something tells me it’s not good news.