Chapter 212

Russo POV

I got a set of frantic texts from Lisa telling me that we had to meet right away and that something desperately important had come up. After everything that had gone on in the last two years, her desperation made it hard to breathe.

In my mind, I knew that Martin and the Huntsman were both dead, but getting that fear to relax was proving difficult. Every time I heard something out of place at night and every time somebody said they had news, my mind immediately assumed they meant something bad.

I watched my own kind slaughtered and then watched the Huntsman trying to route the witches and wizards. I’d seen the aftermath of what he’d done to the lycans and what he was trying to do with the werewolves.

Needless to say, after all that unpleasantness, it was hard to imagine that things would just continue to be as good as they were. I was blissfully happy with Lisa. The two of us were planning a wedding over the summer. We were thinking August but early so that all of the flowers that she loved the most would be in full bloom.

Lisa wanted an outdoor wedding in a garden with as many flowers as possible. She said she didn’t care about music or the menu or anything like that so long as her ceremony and reception looked like she was getting married in a floral shop. I wouldn’t let her forgo the rest of the fun that women seem to take out of a wedding, but she would get her wish for flowers if that was what she wanted.

Now, with her desperation in those texts, was that dream wedding in jeopardy? I had been out running some errands for Randy and Justin. The two of them were working hard, putting the True Mates pack back in good working order. They were working on expanding business, connecting with other packs well outside their home range, and even dabbling a little bit on the human internet with some online commerce.

At the end of all their hard work, the pack would flourish, and the banks would be full. I understood that desire to put something away in case disaster struck again. I felt like that all the time.

Sometimes I also considered running in hiding on a deserted island where harvesting rainwater and coconuts would support Lisa and I. We could ignore the rest of the world, pretending none of this ever existed.

In reality, I couldn’t do that, no matter how nice the dream was. I also couldn’t finish my errands, not with Lisa sounding so frantic.

I had an employee at the store I was at hold the merchandise I was planning on purchasing and hurried back to my house. Lisa had pretty much moved in with me since her apartment was in the old capital. It was a better solution than making her find an apartment in the new capital or drive all the time to see me. Or vice versa, me driving all the time to see her.

We just moved her in with me, holding the other apartment for emergencies. That solution made the most sense. I liked having Lisa in my house. It made my place feel like a home like I actually belonged in the True Mates pack. I’d always felt like a friend here, but I always felt like the sort of friend who’d been invited there as charity.

With Lisa, it truly felt like home. But was that in jeopardy? With shaking hands, I undid the lock and headed inside.

The house was dark and quiet. I’d beat Lisa home. It didn’t help my nerves that she told me that she was coming from Helen and Justin’s place. Trouble centered around those two, and while I knew they didn’t go looking for conflict and all the nightmares surrounding them weren’t their fault, it wasn’t like Lisa texted me that she had urgent news after she’d been at the grocery store or something benign like that.

I’d barely hung my packet up in the entry closet when the door opened beside me, and Lisa came in. Her eyes were red like she’s been crying, and immediately the instinct that something horrible had happened gripped my throat and squeezed my ribs.

I turned and grabbed her, hugging her to me. “What is it?” I demanded. “You can tell me. We’ll handle this together. Do we need to leave? I can pack our stuff.”

She patted my back. “Let me go. I can’t breathe.”

“Sorry.” I released her, still holding her shoulders so I could meet her eyes. “Just tell me whatever has gone wrong. We’ll make it better.”

“I honestly don’t think you can make it better,” she said.

This statement made fear clutch my stomach. “What do you mean?” I pressed. “You’re driving me nuts with worry. Just tell me what’s wrong!”

“Nothing is wrong,” she said. “Actually, I think they’re very, very right.”

“Then why were you crying?” I demanded, cutting her off.

“Sometimes people cry from sheer happiness,” she said. “These were good tears.”

“Okay, now I’m twice as confused.”

She took my hand off her shoulder and led me into the living room, sitting me down on the couch. Then she sat very close to me and rested her head on my shoulder.

“I took a pregnancy test this morning,” she said. “We’re going to have a baby.”

Everything inside me shifted. All of the fear and apprehension disappeared, and instead, new excitement buzzed at my nerves.

“We’re going to have a baby?”

She nodded, keeping her head on my shoulder.

“That’s fantastic!”

“That’s not even the best part,” she said. “A baby is good news, but I don’t think I would have called you home for that. I’d have just waited until dinner and then told you. But it gets even better.”

She paused like she wanted to torture me. “I went over to tell Helen because I was worried about how you might react if you thought we’re going to have a baby, but you couldn’t have another fae.”

This idea prickled uncomfortably. “Well,” I said slowly, “I admit that is a little bit of a disappointment. But it’s not like I wouldn’t have children with you just because they were going to be witches or wizards instead.”

“That’s the thing,” she said back. “Our child won’t be a witch or wizard. They’re going to be a fae.”

I stared at her in silent confusion, trying to wrap my brain around her words.

“I guess Helen knew this would happen. When she initially set everything up between us, she knew that if you were to have children with a witch, that the fae gene would be dominant, and you would have a fae child.”

“Why didn’t she tell us that up front?” I asked.

“She didn’t want to put any pressure on us. Helen didn’t want you to think you had to be with me because I’m a witch. And she didn’t want me to feel like I had to be with you or have children with you just to save your kind. So she kept it a secret until after we were sure we were really in love with each other for the right reasons.”

Lisa smiled up at me. “But now that we’re having a baby, the secret doesn’t matter. We can just be happy with the fact that you’re not the last of your kind anymore.” She rested her hands on her stomach. “Our little one in here is the start of something new for the fae. All the children that we have and all the children that they have will continue to be fae.”

I hugged her, squeezing her tight against me. “That is such fantastic news,” I said. “I can’t believe . . . I never expected . . . I’m in shock.”

She nodded. “I imagine it would take some time to wrap your head around knowing that things don’t end with you. Instead, they start with us.”

“And I can’t think of a better person for them to start with,” I said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.