Chapter 244

Russo’s POV

When we arrived at the hospital, the nurses thought it would be amusing to put us in the exact same room that Helen had been in while she was waiting for her C-section. Being a witch, Lisa shooed the nurses away as much as she could because she brought her own herbs to help with the delivery.

In fact, after she’d taken some at the start of the contractions, she didn’t seem to be in much pain at all. Her body was going about its business without really disrupting her. It confirmed my suspicion when one of the nurses walked out, grumbling about how it must be nice to be a witch.

“How come you didn’t offer the same herbs to Helen?” I asked, sitting at the bedside by Lisa’s head.

She glanced over at me. “Because the mixture that I took includes wolfsbane, which is hard enough on adult werewolves, poisonous in large portions, and deadly to a newborn or an almost newborn. I would have essentially poisoned her and the baby.”

“Not babies?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know what would have happened if I had given it to a baby with human and demon ancestors. I assume it wouldn’t have been good. It probably would have made Luke sick, but seeing as how Luke’s only half-werewolf, it might not have been fatal. Anyway, it doesn’t really matter. It would have been fatal for Aurora, and I wouldn’t do that, not to any of them.”

I nodded. “That makes sense, then. I didn’t think you would deliberately leave Helen to her labor without any help without a good cause. I was just curious.”

“Believe it or not,” she said, “the medicines that work best on werewolves for labor and delivery are the same ones that work for humans. Basically, if they’re mild enough for a human constitution, they’re not going to hurt a werewolf.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

She gave a little wince.

“Another contraction?” I asked.

“Yes. It’s not that I can’t feel them at all. It’s just a lot better than it would be if I hadn’t taken my herbs.”

“And you’re sure they weren’t going to hurt a fae?”

“Positive. I did plenty of research. Don’t worry.” She reached over and squeezed my hand. “I would never want to hurt our baby. I love you, and I love this little one.”

She cradled her stomach.

I put on my most hopeful pout. “We still have time while they’re hooking up machines and doing ultrasounds to check on the baby before you deliver to find out whether we’re having a boy or a girl.”

She rolled her eyes at me. “We’re at zero hour, and you wanna cheat during the final stretch?” She shook her head. “No. We’ve waited this long for it to be a surprise. When the baby comes, that’s when we’ll know.”

She glanced at me sideways, tucking away a smile. “You said before that you wanted a son. Has that changed now that you know the lycan baby is a girl?”

I shook my head. “Justin and Helen had one of each. And I’m going to trust everybody’s advice on his temperament. We’re going to give this baby a chance by letting our son be his playmate. Luke is going to be raised by good parents, and I’m going to expect good things from him until he proves me otherwise.”

She nodded. “I get that.”

I gave a shrug. “I don’t know what it is. There’s just something about a son, don’t you think?”

Now her smile popped all the way out. “I want a daughter. I want a little witch that I can do mother-daughter things with.”

“Like?” I prompted.

She giggled. “I wanna go get mani-pedies with her and go shopping for pretty things, and . . .”

“Does everything you want to do with her involve spending money?” I teased.

“Babies are expensive.” She gave a little shrug. “Besides, wouldn’t a little fae girl be beyond adorable?”

“I think any baby who looks like you will be beyond adorable. Outside of that, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

I was really glad that Justin and Helen had their babies first. Stopping in the hospital and visiting them, and talking with Randy and Justin about it left me sure of everything that I needed to do when Lisa went into labor. I was even prepared not to panic, thanks to Justin’s careful coaching. And honestly, I didn’t.

I got Lisa calmly to the hospital, and I helped her with her breathing while she was in labor. For me the panic didn’t hit me until the nurse placed the tiny little fae child in my arms. Lisa gave birth to a beautiful baby girl we named Willow.

Willow had beautiful gossamer wings folded against her back and swaddled inside the blanket with her. I’d known from the moment she was born that Helen’s research was correct. My pairing with another being capable of magic had resulted in another fae. My kind would live on through my daughter.

I held Willow in my arms, tight against my chest, proudly gazing down at her. All the while, I knew that between the two of us, the fae would come back again. All she had to do was marry a wizard when she grew up, and her children would be fae, as well.

But my panic didn’t come from the fact that she was fae. The panic came from the fact that I was a father.

This tiny little thing was dependent on me and her mother to care for her. We had no training. I’d never babysat anyone or taken any classes. We’d read a couple of books, and that was it. What gave me the right to be in charge of this life? What if I screwed her up? What if I was a horrible father?

Justin had been worried about being a good father, and before holding this tiny little bundle who nuzzled at my chest as if I could nurse her, reassuring Justin that being a good father was easy seemed like no big deal at all. I had and still did firmly believe everything I had told him. But now that I had to do it for real, with an actual child in my arms, it seemed way too hard.

She was so small. What if I fumbled and dropped her?

In her hospital bed, Lisa giggled. “Why do you look like somebody handed you a loaded gun?”

I looked up at her. “Is my worry that obvious?”

She giggled again. “Yes. But I think you’ll do fine. She’s just a baby. You don’t have to be scared of her.”

I sighed and sat on the chair next to the bed. “Willow’s so tiny. If we’d had a boy, would he have been bigger?”

“Would a bigger infant have made a difference?” Lisa asked. “Willow was plenty big for me to push out.”

“She just feels so small in my arms, like I could break her.”

“You probably could, but I don’t think you’re going to be that rough with her. It’s not like you’d take a glass vase and go outside to play catch. She’s the glass vase. Just treat her the same.”

“I don’t know. I just expected her to be sturdier, I guess.”

Lisa reached over, smoothing a hand across the silky brown hair on our baby’s head. “She’ll be strong if we teach her to be strong. No baby is born tough and ready to go, not unless you’re . . . well, no, even sharks and alligators have babies that are on the menu for predators. There’s pretty much nothing that comes out ready to go without any worry. But I do wonder some things about her.”

I glanced up at Lisa. “Like what?”

“For one, I wonder if she’s only going to be a fae or if she’ll be capable of using magic like a witch. Do fae use magic?” she asked me.

I shrugged. “I was just a kid when most of the fae were wiped out. I don’t really remember. I know some did. If I can, nobody ever taught me how. And it’s not something that just happens on its own.”

Lisa nodded knowingly. “Most of the potions and spells that witches and wizards use require training, as well. I haven’t considered that either. I wonder if we could teach you.”

“Since this is all speculation, I would prefer if you experiment on me before you try things out on our child,” I said. “Once you’re recovered and are up to it, you can start giving me lessons in magic. If it’s something I can do, we’ll know whether or not it hurts me at all and whether I’m capable. If it all looks good, then when she’s old enough, like the normal age where you would start training a witch, then I guess you could start training her.”

I gazed down at Willow’s plump little lips as her tongue licked in and out, looking for food. “I think she’s hungry.”

“Hand her over,” Lisa requested, holding her arms out.

I passed the baby off and watched as Lisa popped a nipple in her mouth. “Does that feel weird?” I asked.

“The first couple of times, it did. Now it feels natural. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m glad she’s a baby that took to breastfeeding easily, though. I hear some mothers struggle with breastfeeding.”

“It just shows how smart she is,” I said. “It’s kind of cool that Helen and Justin had at least one daughter. Willow will have a friend just her age to play with. If they’d had two boys, it would have been a little harder for her.”

“Boys and girls can be friends,” Lisa protested.

“It’s not the same, and you know it,” I countered. “Just like the reasons you wanted a daughter. It’s not that Willow couldn’t be friends with the boys. It’s just . . .”

Lisa reached over, patting my knee. “I know what you meant. And yes, it will be nice for her to have a little girlfriend to play with. They’ll grow up together, and it’ll be sweet.”

I gazed lovingly at my wife and daughter, seeing a whole bright future spreading out before us/ “It will be sweet,” I agreed.