“Ha-ha.” Kat made a face at her friend. “Very funny.” Then she looked more closely at Lauren. “Hey, are you all right? You look like you got less sleep than Elise did and that’s saying something.”
Lauren frowned. “I’m fine, but Xairn was having bad dreams again last night. He woke me up shouting two or three times and I had a hard time getting back to sleep.”
“Oh no,” Liv said sympathetically. “Was he dreaming about your clone again?”
Lauren sighed and looked troubled. “I don’t know—he won’t say.” She blushed. “At least things are back on track in the bedroom, though.”
“Well, as long as that’s good, everything else will fall into place eventually,” Kat said consolingly.
“I think you’re right,” Lauren agreed. “I just hope he gets over whatever this is before the baby is born. I don’t need two people waking me up over and over in the middle of the night.”
“Amen to that,” Liv said fervently. “In fact—”
But her words were interrupted by Sylvan’s sudden entrance. “Excuse me, ladies,” he said formally, standing in the middle of the room with one hand behind his back. “I hope you don’t mind me interrupting your time together, but I need to speak to my mate.”
“Honey,” Sophia left the waffle iron and came out from behind the counter to go to him. “Is everything okay?” she asked. “Why didn’t you just bespeak me?”
“Because I wanted to do this in person—to see the look on your face when you found out.”
Sophie was suddenly white and trembling. “What? When I found out what?”
“I can’t tell you, so I’ll just show you…this.” Drawing his hand out from behind his back, Sylvan presented her with a small, perfectly formed blue flower.
“Oh! Oh, Sylvan!” Sophie’s face went from white to flushed in an instant. “A boy! We’re going to have a boy!”
“And a girl,” Sylvan said softly, and produced a second flower, this one just as perfectly and delicately formed, but a pale, lovely pink.
“Oh my God—twins!” Olivia was struggling to get off the couch. “Sophie’s going to have twins! Quick, somebody help me up so I can go hug her!”
Laughing, Elise did as she asked, hauling the very pregnant Liv to her feet so she could grab her sister for a big hug. She had to wait for a moment, though, because Sophia was enfolded in her husband’s arms, trembling with joy. Elise thought that both their eyes looked suspiciously wet and she couldn’t help feeling happy for them—clearly they were going to make wonderful parents to the two little sparks of life Sophie was carrying inside her.
“Oh, Sylvan,” Sophia whispered at last, when they finally broke apart. “Two of them—we’re so blessed!”
“Blessed beyond measure,” he agreed, grinning.
And then Olivia said, “Come here, you! My turn.” She hugged her sister and murmured, “I told you so! I knew you were pregnant.”
“I think I did too.” Sophie sniffed and wiped tears of joy from her eyes. “I was just so afraid to find out for sure. I’m glad I finally got the nerve to do the test though.”
“I am too.” Liv laughed. “I was nearly ready to come jab you with a needle myself if you waited much longer.”
Lauren joined the conversation and the three pregnant friends went on talking babies until Elise began to feel a little left out. Suddenly, someone hooked an arm through hers and she turned in surprise to see Kat standing there.
“Well,” she said with a sigh. “There’s going to be no living with them now. I’ve already been putting up with Liv’s weird cravings for seaweed and God knows what else and Lauren always wanting raw meat. Who knows what Sophie’s going to want?” She shook her head. “Well, whatever it is, I’m sure we’ll manage it somehow.”
“We?” Elise looked at her uncertainly.
“Oh yeah, doll.” Kat smiled at her affectionately. “You’ve been officially drafted into the non-pregnancy club. As of right now, you and I are the only members.” She gave Elise a mock glare. “You are in, aren’t you? You’re not going to bail on me and get knocked up too, are you?”
“Not right now,” Elise promised, smiling at her. “For right now, I just want to enjoy spending time with Merrick and working on our bond.”
Kat breathed a sigh of relief. “Whew, I’m so glad! I don’t know what I would have done if I was the only non-pregnant one around here. Somebody has to keep their sanity with all the baby hormones running around.”