Chapter 62 Kaden's POV
"I can't promise that but I will try."
An hour later, we were in my car driving toward the nearest town. Elara sat in the passenger seat, looking out the window with an expression I couldn't read.
"What are you thinking about?" I asked.
"Everything nothing how strange this all is."
"Strange how?"
"A few weeks ago I couldn't stand to be in the same room as you. Now we are going on what feels like a date."
"It's not a date. It's just... time together."
"Right time together." She glanced at me. "What made you want to do this?"
"I want to know you really know you not just as my mate or the mother of my child. I want to understand who Elara is."
"I'm not that interesting."
"I disagree."
We drove in comfortable silence for a while. Then Elara spoke up.
"Can we stop at that bakery? The one with the blue awning?"
I pulled over immediately. "What do you want from there?"
"Chocolate croissants and maybe some of those cream puffs. And actually, do they have fruit tarts? I really want a fruit tart."
I smiled. "Anything else?"
"Not yet but I reserve the right to add more things to the list."
I got her everything she asked for watched as she ate two chocolate croissants in the car before we even started driving again.
"This is amazing," she said through a mouthful of pastry. "How have I never had these before?"
"Because you were too busy working in the kitchens to actually enjoy the food you were making."
Her expression fell slightly. "Right. I was just a servant."
"You were never just anything, Elara."
We continued driving, stopping at various shops whenever Elara saw something she wanted.Pickles, Ice cream a specific brand of chips she suddenly needed immediately.
"I'm sorry," She said after the fourth stop. "The cravings are insane i can't control them."
"Don't apologize this is fun."
"Fun? Watching me eat everything in sight?"
"Watching you happy relaxed not scared or stressed or worried about Selena."
She looked at me with an expression I couldn't quite read. "You are different today."
"Different how?"
"Lighter, less intense, more... human."
I laughed. "I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not."
"It's definitely a compliment."
By the fifth stop, when Elara emerged from a grocery store with three different kinds of hot sauce and a jar of peanut butter, I couldn't help myself.
I started laughing.
Real laughing the kind I hadn't done in months. Maybe years.
"What's so funny?" Elara asked, getting back in the car.
"You this the fact that you just bought peanut butter and hot sauce together."
"They are not together they are separate cravings."
"Are they though? Because I have a feeling you are going to eat them together."
"I might don't judge me."
I laughed harder.
"Stop it!" But she was smiling now too. "It's not funny!"
"It's hilarious."
"You know what? Fine. Laugh at the pregnant woman see if I care."
But she was laughing too now both of us sitting in the car laughing like idiots while she clutched her bag of random food items.
"I can't believe you are mocking me," She said, trying to sound offended but failing.
"I'm carrying your child and you are making fun of my cravings."
"I'm not making fun. I'm appreciating there is a difference."
"Appreciating my strange food choices?"
"Appreciating you being comfortable enough around me to indulge them."
That stopped her laughter she looked at me seriously. "I am comfortable with you more than I expected to be more than I probably should be."
"Why shouldn't you be?"
"Because you hurt me, Kaden you hurt me badly. And I'm supposed to be protecting myself from being hurt again."
"I know and I'm grateful every day that you're giving me the chance to prove I won't hurt you again."
We drove back to the pack house as the sun was setting. Elara had gone quiet, her hand resting on her stomach.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Just tired the baby takes a lot of energy."
"We are almost home."
Within minutes, she was asleep her head tilted against the window, her breathing deep and even.
I drove as carefully as I could, not wanting to wake her. When we pulled up to the pack house, I sat there for a moment just watching her sleep.
She looked peaceful young vulnerable in a way she never allowed herself to be when awake.
I got out carefully and went to her side, opening the door and unbuckling her seatbelt. She stirred slightly but didn't wake as I lifted her into my arms.
She was heavier than the last time I had carried her. The baby's weight, the pregnancy changes but she still felt right in my arms like she belonged there.
I carried her through the pack house, ignoring the stares from pack members we passed. Let them talk let them wonder.
I didn't care about anything except getting her safely to her room.
When I laid her on the bed, she stirred again. Her eyes opened slightly.
"Kaden?" She murmured, still half-asleep.
"Shh you are home go back to sleep."
"Stay?" The word was barely a whisper.
My heart clenched. "I will stay until you're fully asleep."
"Okay." Her eyes closed again.
I sat in the chair beside her bed, watching her settle back into deep sleep.
That's when I saw it.
A faint blue light, emanating from her stomach from where the baby rested.
It was subtle barely visible. But definitely there. Pulsing gently in rhythm with her heartbeat. The lunar pulse I had heard about it, been told about it. But I'd never actually seen it.
It was beautiful ethereal proof that our child really was blessed by the heavens I leaned forward, transfixed by the soft blue glow.
And as I watched, it grew brighter just for a moment then faded back to that subtle pulse.
Like the baby was acknowledging my presence. Saying hello to its father for the first time.