She hugged me while Ashley gave Teren another hug and then she let me go, to hug him as well. This hug was not a brief one, as Teren firmly and warmly, wrapped his arms around my mom. When she pulled back, she muttered, "Wow, you are cold," as she wiped her eyes. Then her focus was on me again and she didn't mention it again. Teren raised an eyebrow at me and I sighed that he was right, once again; no one was suspicious about his temperature.
Debby found some cider and gave us each a glass. Taking one for herself, we all toasted Teren's and my new life together. I watched Teren secretly, as he faked taking a sip and then discretely poured some of his drink into a pot behind him. I smiled into my glass at his deception.
"So you two crazy lovebirds, when's the wedding?" Debby asked as she finished her glass.
I took the last sip of mine and shrugged. "December 19th."
Every female head in our congratulatory circle twisted to stare at me. "What?" They all said together.
I looked at each one, not sure why they all looked more shocked now than when I'd admitted I was pregnant. "What?" I asked cautiously.
They all looked at each other briefly and then Debby responded for the group. "You cannot plan a decent wedding in a month. Trust me on that." Debby had been married a couple times, so I suppose she would know things like that.
I smiled and shook my head, thinking that the majority of the details were probably already being handled by Teren's super-efficient family, a family that also had impeccable taste and would lavish me in a fairytale wedding that would outdo whatever I'd come up with. "It's fine." I looked across at Teren and stretched out my hand for him, which he took with a smile. "Besides, we have a lot of help anyway." I shrugged. "I'll practically only need to show up."
Before Debby could respond to that, my sister gave me a sly grin and added, "Yeah, and she wouldn't want to be all huge at her wedding anyway, so quicker probably is better."
Teren laughed at that and my hand snaked out to smack my sister's arm. "Thanks, Ash." She grinned and laughed and then hugged me again.
After sitting back down and talking about the wedding details and then the baby details and then more wedding details, I was finally yawning and exhausted, ready for bed. Teren put his arm around me as we all made our way out of the cafe. I smiled and nestled into his side as we followed Mom to her car to get his beloved pooch.
We found Spike with his head out the window, panting merrily. The collie's entire body started vibrating with happiness when he saw Teren. Mom reluctantly opened the door and Teren clapped his hands once and squatted to Spike's level, calling his name. Spike dashed over to him...and then stopped. My heart started surging as I considered that Teren's temperature may not give him away, but his dog might. Collies were smart, and Spike could clearly tell that something was off about his owner. I wasn't entirely sure what he would do, but I pictured him biting Teren, leaving him with a vicious wound that my mom would want to inspect. I then imagined that wound healing right before her eyes. That...would not be good.
Teren frowned as Spike stood a couple paces from him, sniffing the air and holding his shaggy body absolutely still. Mom started to walk towards the dog, but Ash held her hand out, stopping her. I wasn't sure, but Spike didn't look too friendly at the moment and he may lash out at her by mistake if she spooked him. And right now, all of his attention was on trying to piece together the new oddness of his master.
Teren dropped to his knees and patted them, calling to Spike in a soothing voice. He looked a little worried, like maybe he'd lost his favorite pet. With obvious caution in his body, Spike leaned in with his nose, his foot slowly following. He did it a couple more times while Teren's encouragement picked up pace. Eventually he got close enough for Teren to lightly touch him. He flinched away from the contact for a second, and then his nose practically inhaled Teren's hand. After a moment or two, he gave him a soft lick, and then seemed to relax and leaned his slightly shaking body into Teren's. Teren wrapped him in a big hug, scuffing up his shaggy fur, his face elated that his pup hadn't rejected him. Spike in turn, had decided to give Teren a mini bath and was licking him profusely. I laughed at the sight of a boy and his dog.
When everything with Spike seemed back to normal, Mom came up and stroked the slight curve of his tail. "Wow, I thought he was going to bite you for a second there."
Teren's face twitched, just fractionally, and then he pulled it into an effortless smile. "Yeah, I know." Standing and scratching a joyous Spike's back he added, "It's like he's forgotten me already. He must really like you. Thank you for watching him for me."
Mom nodded, tears in her eyes as she gave Spike a last quick hug, and I shook my head, knowing that visits with Mom from now on would be as much about seeing Spike as it was seeing us. We waved to Mom and Ash as they took off together and then we piled Spike into Teren's car and planned to part ways.
He frowned at me as I opened the door to my bug. "You are coming over, right?"
I grinned and gave him a soft kiss. Glancing over at where Spike was barking at Teren in his closed up car, I playfully said, "Well, I'm not sure. I wouldn't want to interrupt anything between you two."
Teren rolled his eyes and slung his arms around my waist. "You preempt the dog...although he will probably want to sleep between us tonight."
He laughed and I bit my lip, watching his handsome, stubbly face in the orangish glow of the parking lot lights. The glow of his eyes was muted to near nothingness in the refracted light around us, but I could see it, or at least, I imagined I could see it. I pictured seeing it in its full glory in his dark bedroom and bit my lip harder.
I leaned up to kiss him again. "Yes, I just need to run home and grab some stuff." I pulled away and gave him a serious expression. "We really should get me moved in soon."
He smiled cockily at me and winked. "I could get you moved in, in a couple of hours." He leaned in to whisper into my ear, his cool breath sending a shiver down my spine. "I'm really fast."
I giggled and released myself from his grasp. "True." I let my eyes roam down his body, a little seductively, and I could see that he'd stopped faking his breathing by the time I reached his eyes again. "But you do know how to take your time too." My voice was intentionally husky when I said that and his mouth dropped open a little. Inwardly, I smiled that I could still do that to him. Outwardly, I bit my lip again and kept up the foreplay.
He took a step towards me, looking like he wanted to take me right here in the parking lot, and although it wouldn't be our first time hav**g s*x in a sort of public place, I was more in the mood for a nice, big private bed. I put a hand on his chest and stopped him, then quickly dropped down into my seat. He frowned and leaned on my door frame. "So, you'll be quick?" he asked, a little impatiently. I nodded and pulled on my door to close it. He stopped me at the last moment, cracking open the door. "And you'll...keep on what you're wearing now?"
His lips curled into a devilish smile and I shook my head at how darn attractive he was. I also gave him a devilish smile right back as I pictured his delight in seeing me in the underwear he'd picked out this morning. "Oh, yes." I tilted my head and leaned forward, he leaned in as well. "Although, I may come back with a little less on than before."
I wiggled a piece of my shirt and his eyes darted down to my body. "And you say I don't play fair," he muttered. I laughed and successfully managed to close my door.
Once I got home, I packed the largest bag that I could pack quickly and trudged it back to my car in record time. When I showed up at his door a half hour later, I surprised him by doing what I said I'd do. While he blurred my bag away to his room, I slipped my coat off and hung it up in his entryway closet. When he blurred back down, he nearly fell over (which made me happier than I should probably admit), and openly stared at my body, only clothed in black high heels and the racy little red number that he'd picked out that morning. His eyes drifted from my br**sts to my heels and then locked onto the garter belts. They stayed there for a total of five seconds, and then he snatched me up and blurred me away to that monstrously comfortable bed.
Chapter 4 Plans and Proposals
Now that the cat was out of the bag and my family knew, both about the upcoming wedding and the upcoming baby, the planning process began in earnest. Mom wanted to help out, so I put her in touch with Alanna, and the two of them started making plans for flowers and music and food. I smiled at them bonding over such a happy event, and tried not to worry about my mom meeting Teren's family. It would be fine. Both sides were filled with good people, and they would surely get along, despite their differences.
The only thing that had started to bother me was the guest list. It kept getting bigger and bigger. I nearly fought with mom over wanting to keep it just immediate friends and family, but she swore that she'd promised such and such a cousin that they could come to my wedding, since we'd gone to theirs and after a dozen or so incidents like that, the guest list had grown to nearly a hundred. That thought started giving me panic attacks. The more people that came to the ranch, the greater the risk of exposure. Alanna and Teren kept assuring me that it was fine, that the bulk would only be coming out Saturday evening, for the actual ceremony, and then leaving. But it still made me unnaturally nervous.
So much so, that I'd started considering changing the location. But, have you ever tried to reserve a spot with only a couple weeks notice? Yeah, it's surprisingly difficult, even in December. After a dozen or so phone calls, and Teren complaining that I'd hurt his mom's feelings, I gave up. It would just have to be at the ranch and I'd have to find a way to relax. Teren reminding me that Halina could do mind wipes, if needed, helped a bit with that.
When the wedding planning looked on track, my mother shifted to baby planning. She bugged me about getting in to see a doctor, insisting that prenatal care was vital, and I should have gone in as soon as I'd suspected. I sighed and told her everything was fine and I didn't need to go, but she gave me the 'this is my grandchild and you will go' face and I'd finally told her I would make an appointment as soon as I could.
Honestly, I wanted to make sure they were okay too, I just didn't feel right about nurses and doctors poking and prodding my body. Teren assured me that it was fine, that as long as they didn't directly test the embryos, everything would look normal to humans, as my blood had no trace of vampirism in it. I bit my lip, but conceded to the expert and made an appointment. I really was looking forward to hearing the heartbeats like Teren could. Plus, I could finally tell everyone that we were expecting twins. I couldn't exactly spill that fact without seeing a doctor first. I couldn't exactly tell everyone - 'How do I know? Oh, well, Teren can hear the different heartbeats.'
Teren came with me on that first visit and held my hand. We did get to hear the heartbeats, and of course, I cried. Teren smiled at hearing what he could sometimes hear anyway, clearly happy that my senses could experience it now too. Then, the doctor surprised us both by doing an ultrasound. Even though I was only a couple of months along and the babies were only about the size of kumquats (or so the doctor told me), they had a machine that could take a look-see from the inside. It was cold (but then, I was used to that) and slightly uncomfortable, but when that image popped up on the screen...it was beyond any feeling I'd ever had before.