Chapter 76: Inseparable

Daphne

Despite the fact that we had showered at the swanky fitness center where Bella took Liam for his Mommy and Me infant swim classes, I could still smell the chlorine in my hair.

It had been fun though, playing in the water with Liam, watching him swim like he was half-merman instead of a werewolf. The swimming instructor told us that the swimming motions were instinctual and reflexive, that babies are born knowing not to inhale the water, and that their heart and respiration rates automatically adjust to enable them to swim, almost effortlessly. With practice, the involuntary amphibian reflexes would become voluntary leg kicking and paddling. Liam had already learned to roll onto his back and float, in what the instructor called “self rescue.”

It sure beat the summer swim lessons I had taken as a kid. Swimming comes easily to most werewolves, but I still remember the burning pain of getting water up my nose as the instructor tried to teach me different strokes and rhymic breathing techniques. I had learned to hold my own in the water, but needless to say, I was never invited to join the competitive swim team.

Liam though, was clearly a natural. I couldn’t help but notice how much better he was doing than the other six babies enrolled in the class. Of course, being a full-blooded werewolf might have given him an unfair advantage over those human babies, but still, I liked to think that my nephew was simply extraordinary.

And he was now sleeping deeply and peacefully in my arms while Bella and I sat at a cafe not far from the fitness center. I hadn’t given much thought yet to the possibility of having a baby of my own. I thought that was something far off down the road, some distant day in the future when I would find my fated mate and settle into motherhood. But, with Liam’s head pillowed on my breast, I was suddenly filled with a deep longing like I’d never felt before.

I wanted a baby.

I wanted a baby with Nate.

The thought was so heavy, so powerful, so shocking that I dropped my fork. It clattered off the table and onto the floor. “Oh, damn.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it.” Bella scooped up the piece of silverware, and then motioned to the waitress to bring me a new one. “Are you okay? You look…” I could see her trying to work out a word that wouldn’t insult me.

“I was just thinking about…” I stroked Liam’s head, smoothing down the soft baby hair. It was dark brown, with tell-tale streaks of red. “Babies.”

Bella gaped at me. “Are you getting the baby-blues Daph?”

I shrugged one shoulder, and smiled at the young waitress who brought me a clean fork. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s my biological clock ticking.”

“No way,” Bella shook her head. “You are much too young for that.” She pushed her plate aside and leaned over the table so she could peer deeply into my eyes. “It’s that man you met, isn’t it?”

There was no point in denying it. Because I didn’t just want any baby, I wanted his baby. “I don’t know, maybe? I mean, I’ve held Liam hundreds of times since he was born and this is the first time I’ve felt… I don’t know, is there even a word for this?” I stabbed another forkful of the cake on my plate, but suddenly it tasted like sawdust in my mouth.

Bella looked at me for a long moment before she sat back. “I think it's a natural progression. You’ve finally met a man that makes you feel something, it's got your primal instincts all hot and bothered. I mean the next natural progression would be to procreate, right?” She picked up her glass of iced tea and took a sip from the straw. “Thank God you aren’t marked, so you won’t have to worry about going into heat.”

“Yeah, I guess,” I grunted in reply, but I didn’t feel grateful at all. I felt sad, like I was missing something important. I realized with a jolt that I wanted Nate to mark me, and I wanted to mark him. I didn’t want to play around and leave things to chance. I wanted to be bound to him, forever. Even if his mark would be nothing more than a love-bite with human teeth.

“Oh girl, you’ve got it bad,” Bella said, reaching across the table to squeeze my hand. “But don’t worry. We’ll get this situation with Cody under control, then you can go back to school and find your man.”

“Sure,” I said, but I couldn’t shake the gloomy feeling that hung over me. I rocked Liam gently, even though he was sound asleep and didn’t need comfort. I was the one who needed soothing.

“Oh, I had an email from my father, in all this craziness I almost forgot to tell you,” Bella said, in an obvious attempt to change the subject. “He said the palace phycologist wants to retire soon, and wondered if you would be interested in coming on as Dr. Conway’s assistant. That would give you the opportunity to get the remaining supervised hours of practice you need to get your license.”

I stopped rocking. “Oh, um,” my brain seemed to have shut off. I was the one who had asked Bella to inquire from her father, the Canadian werewolf king, about a position at the palace. But that was before I had met Nate. Now the prospect of taking a job three hours away, and over an international border, didn’t sound quite so appealing. “Tell him, I said thank you, and I will consider it,” I said carefully. "I need to finish up my master's thesis and graduate first," I added, to justify my noncommittal answer.

Bella only smiled and stirred her iced tea. “Maybe your man might be willing to relocate to Canada…”

“He’s not my man,” I muttered. “At least not yet.”

That last bit only made her smile grow wider.

“Let’s get back,” I said, my appetite long gone now. “I want to talk to my brothers, see exactly what they are going to do about this bear situation. Maybe there is a way I can help, maybe we can expedite this process.” I stood up, carefully shifting the sleeping baby to my shoulder.

Bella stood too, and walked with me back to the SUV. She opened the rear door, and then took the baby from me to buckle him into a complicated looking car seat. I was sure that astronauts in a rocket to the moon weren’t strapped in as securely as my nephew was. When she had the five point harness in place around his chubby little body, she backed out and put her hands on my shoulders.

“I know you are anxious to get back to him, Daphne. I feel the same way every time the brothers leave, even for a few days on pack business. Separation is hard, but you’ll get through this.”

I sniffed and grabbed her, crushing her petite body against mine. “Thanks, Bella. I’m so glad I have you for a sister now.” I stepped back and chuckled. “Can you imagine trying to have this conversation with my brothers?”

Bella grinned and reached for the handle of the passenger side door. She’d made a lot of progress since she came to our pack two years ago. She had learned to read and write, to use a computer, she was even learning to be a Luna. But she had not yet passed her driver’s test. “I imagine them trying to fit you for a chastity belt before they let you go back to school.”

I laughed and slipped behind the wheel. “Too late for that, I’m afraid.”