Chapter 278 278
Aurélie POV
“Fabrice, this isn’t my first pregnancy.”
“Aurélie,” he replies patiently, though his eyes remain serious, “you nearly drowned. There was still a significant amount of water in your lungs. I’m only making sure the baby is healthy.”
“And I appreciate that truly,” I say, softening. “But you’ve already told me the scans and tests came back fine, and that the heartbeat was strong. I promise, if I feel even the slightest change, you’ll be the first to know.”
I’d been awake in the hospital for two days now, and the endless resting just lying there, doing nothing was slowly driving me mad. I had things to take care of. Plans to make. Revenge to organise.
More than anything, though, I was desperate to see my older babies and share the news with them. Because it was happy news. Even in the middle of grief, even while we mourned fallen fighters and families carried unbearable pain, joy still mattered. The happy moments deserved to be acknowledged just as much as the losses deserved to be mourned.
Florence was apparently helping Damien at home, for which I was endlessly grateful.
He had actually believed Delphine when she told him I usually let her have a bowl of ice cream for breakfast. The sooner I was home, the sooner we could slip back into something that resembled a normal routine.
When I was finally discharged, Damien insisted on driving me back. The house was barely five minutes away on foot if that but his protectiveness had multiplied tenfold since discovering I was pregnant.
I didn’t have the heart to remind him.
I’d been pregnant before. I’d done it without him that time. Better to let him hover if it made him feel involved, included in these early stages because in truth, there wasn’t much any partner could do right now.
As I step inside the house, the scent of sugar and butter greets me first. In the kitchen, Delphine and Roland are hard at work making cupcakes, their chaotic baking operation supervised by Émilie.
The moment Delphine spots me, she squeals and runs over. I scoop her up instinctively, pulling her into my arms as she wraps her legs around my waist. A low growl rumbles from Damien’s chest.
Thankfully, Delphine doesn’t notice it. I do.
“Damien,” I murmur firmly, “you need to calm down. I’m not the first woman to be pregnant while already having older children. The baby will be fine. If you keep this up, you’re going to drive me insane.”
My point made and Delphine reassured we go looking for Dominique.
We find him alone in the garden, sitting on the bench with a football resting by his feet. His shoulders are slumped, his expression distant. Sad.
The moment my worry spikes through the bond, Damien steps in behind me, wrapping his hands gently over my stomach. His chin settles on my shoulder, his voice slipping quietly into my mind.
“He helped Sabine pull you out. He gave you CPR.”
My chest tightens. Tears threaten.
Oh, my brave little alpha.
Dominique had already endured far too much.
“Can I have a moment alone with him?” I ask softly through the link. “I’ll have a herbal tea, please. Doctor’s orders.” I add the last part with a teasing edge.
Damien kisses my mate mark, sending tingles down my spine, then heads back into the house.
So much had happened to Dominique the car shooting and kidnapping, the pack attack where he’d been forced to hide in the basement, having to shoot me in the leg to keep me alive, and now the Lake House. It was too much for someone so young. Yet somehow, he kept going. Taking it all in stride.
“Hello, darling,” I say gently as I sit beside him.
He startles, so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t noticed me approaching, and his foot accidentally kicks the ball away.
“You’re out?” he asks quickly. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m feeling good” I begin, but his knowing stare stops me mid-sentence.
“Alright,” I correct myself with a small smile. “A little sore. But I’ll be fine after a nice bath. How are you?”
“I’m okay. I wasn’t injured.”
“No,” I say softly, “but not all injuries are physical. You’d tell me if something was upsetting you, wouldn’t you?” I remind him gently. I hope he would. He needed to know I was always here.
“I’m angry at myself for not stopping Auntie Sab,” he admits. “But there was nothing I could do.”
Just saying it seems to ease something inside him. He leans back against the bench, tilting his head toward the sky.
“And that isn’t your fault,” I tell him firmly. “She left of her own free will. She did what she felt she needed to do. The Moon Goddess has a plan for all of us.”
I pause, choosing my words carefully.
“Sometimes it doesn’t feel like it. Sometimes it feels like she’s forgotten us. But whatever path Sabine is walking, it’s one she needs to follow. All we can do is hope our paths cross again and that next time, they stay entwined for longer.”
When we rejoin the others, Dominique looks lighter. Calmer.
Before long, he’s happily back in the kitchen with Delphine and Roland, eagerly sampling the cupcakes they’d made.