Darkmoon(87)

Connor still looked troubled, but he didn’t offer any further arguments.

“So what now?” I asked. “Should I try again?”

“No, once is enough for now. It isn’t good for you to over-tire yourself. You can come back on Thursday and try again, after giving yourself some time to rest.”

I knew that wasn’t going to work. Things had been hectic and crazy the past few days, but not so crazy that I’d forgotten my next appointment at the ob-gyn was on Thursday afternoon. I explained, and Lawrence said, “Then come on Friday. I would not ask you to miss such an important appointment.”

Relieved that he wasn’t going to push on that point, I said, “Is there anything else I should do between now and then?”

“You can meditate, as you have done here, but make sure to do it with Connor near you. That way, he can wake you from the meditation if for some reason you don’t find it as easy to return as you did today.”

“No worries,” Connor said. “I’ll be standing by, ready to stick a pin into her if necessary.”

I shot him a pained glance, but to my surprise, Lawrence chuckled slightly, not offended at all. “A pin would work,” he said, eyes twinkling, though his tone was serious. “But let’s hope it will not come to that.”

We got up from the couch then. I stumbled, feeling oddly lightheaded, and at once Connor reached out and took my hand to steady me. “You okay?” he murmured.

“I’m fine,” I told him. “Just sitting in one place for too long.”

“The dizziness will pass,” my father said. “But let Connor help you out to the car to be safe.”

That remark made Connor frown a little, although he didn’t say anything. I thanked Lawrence for helping me with the meditation, and gave my father a quick, awkward hug before Connor and I went out to the car and headed for home. All in all, I thought it had gone very well, strange dizziness or no, but I could tell Connor wasn’t feeling quite so optimistic.

“I’m not sure if I like it,” he told me, almost as soon as I shut the car door.

“I’m fine,” I said. “I was sitting motionless in one place for almost an hour. I don’t think it’s so strange that I felt a little lightheaded. It’s gone now.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m positive.” And it was no more than truth. I did feel fine…now. Of course, I also knew that even if I didn’t feel fine, I’d still keep practicing the meditation. I needed to be prepared.

After all, I really didn’t have a choice.



* * *



The doctor’s appointment went just fine, though, with Dr. Ruiz saying that everything was moving along right on schedule. The babies’ hearts were beating nice and strong, and I’d put on seven pounds, which relieved her somewhat. “Make sure you keep that up,” she told me. “Not that I want you to sit down and eat a pint of ice cream at a time, but don’t worry about having too many carbs or whatever.”

I could tell she thought I must have been someone who watched her weight pretty carefully, considering how slender I’d been when I got pregnant. Maybe my comment about having a fast metabolism hadn’t really sunk in. Anyway, I was relieved that at least I had begun to gain some weight, and everything else seemed fine, so that relieved some of my worry. Some.

They made my next appointment for June 30th, and Connor and I exchanged a significant glance. Either everything would be settled by then…or it wouldn’t. Hard to believe that the solstice was now only ten days away.

We didn’t go back to the house immediately, but rather headed over to the apartment. Connor’s cousin Mason was interested in taking it over, as the lease on her own loft downtown was about to end. She’d just been accepted into a master’s program at Northern Pines and preferred to stay in the downtown area if she could swing it, and Connor and I both thought she’d be a great tenant.

“At least you wouldn’t have to worry about her having blow-out frat parties here the way you might with some of your guy cousins,” I’d remarked upon hearing she was interested in the place, and Connor agreed.

“Yeah, some of my cousins would have a great time trashing this place…or at least they would if they weren’t worried about pissing off the primus,” he said. “But I’m going to be a big old sexist and say that I’d much rather have a woman renting the apartment, so if Mason thinks it’ll work for her, then it’s hers.”

Judging by the expression on her face as she looked the apartment over, I got the feeling she thought it would definitely “work for her.”