Chapter 429

o the baby and I grip his hand, and we both wait... But nothing.

“The baby doesn’t like the name Matthew,” I whisper, laughing a little. “Well, it was just a starter,” Roger murmurs, grinning at me again. “You try one.” “All right,” I say, leaning my head back and taking a deep breath. And then I pass a name down, trying...

Oliver.

“Oliver!?” Roger bursts out in disgust and I gasp, glaring at him.

“You are biasing our son!” I accuse, sitting up to smack him. “I said nothing when you said stupid Matthew!” “Matty is a cute name “he protests, laughing and blocking my blow. “Oliver is the name of a sickly Victorian child who wants more gruel -” I growl and lay back, taking a deep breath and gathering myself. “Well, let’s see what the baby thinks,” I murmur, sending Roger another glare. And then I try again, whispering Oliver? down the bond. But nothing comes back.

“Good baby,” Roger murmurs, kissing my stomach again and making me laugh.

“Don’t let her call you that. It’s terrible.” “Okay okay,” I say, taking a deep breath. “Let’s try one more.” “I’ll pick it?” Roger asks.

“Sure,” I reply, relaxing. “But this time, pick one you really, really like. One that you’d actually want him to be called – your favorite.” “Okay,” he murmurs.

And then Roger passes another name down the bond, and I smile, because... Because I love it.

And we wait... And then both Roger and I gasp at the same time as we feel the baby respond.

Happy!

“Oh my god,” I say, laughing and sitting up as Roger snatches me to him, pulling me fast into his lap.

“Did we did we just -” he stares at me, thrilled. Laughing, elated, I take his face in my hands and kiss him, and kiss him, and kiss him.

Because...I think we just named the baby.

Roger and I stayed on that beach almost until the sun came up, and then we gathered up all of our sandy clothes and the blanket and trooped back to the house, where we closed the doors and slept for hours and ignored the whole world.

We woke up in the early afternoon to the owner of the bungalow tapping on the door, bringing us a basket of food so we could eat something, and Roger went to get it while I curled further up in bed, deciding that I was never, ever getting up.

Of course, I had to, eventually, because Roger wouldn’t let me eat all my meals in bed, instead insisting that I come and sit with him on the couch for the elaborate dinner he made. Well, elaborate for Roger, who never learned to cook. But the spread of sandwiches and warmed soup and crackers he made was delicious, and certainly hit the spot.

We spent two more days like that, surviving on whatever the landlord brought us every day in baskets and otherwise laying in bed talking, making each other laugh, sending messages to the baby when he was awake to see what he’d do.

And honestly, the baby never did much, but it made us laugh to do it.

And sex, obviously a great deal of that as well. But honestly, it blurred in with everything else we did, a usual part of the day as we napped, and went swim and laid out in the sun. The entire time it was just...so natural, and so easy. Just Roger and I simply together, away from the world.

And it was wonderful. But after the second day, we knew we had to get back – because as much as we like each other, we like our lives too.

“We’ll do this again, yes?” Roger murmurs, pulling me close outside the little bungalow after we’ve packed and locked up. “Next week?” I laugh and let him kiss me, let it sweep through me. “Maybe not next week. But soon.” He nods, giving me another little peck, before looking around. “I really like this place. Maybe the owner will let us buy it,” Roger murmurs, looking fondly at the bungalow.

“That’s sweet, baby,” I sigh, but then I put a hand on my stomach. “But, considering that this little guy is coming along? We’re going to want more space.” “True” Roger says, his eyebrows raising. “And considering what the goddess said that night on the boat?...” I break into a grin. “You’re thinking more?” “I’m thinking a bunch more,” he nods, eager. “And I’m going to enjoy the process very much, Cora – ” “Oh, sure,” I say, laughing and rolling my eyes, shoving him away a little bit. ” You just make the babies, I’ll grow them, and carry them, and then raise them He laughs, wrapping an arm around my shoulder as we head for the car. ” Nah, I’m going to be a very involved dad. You’ll see. You’ll barely have to lift a finger.” “Good,” I say, standing on my toes to kiss his cheek as he opens my car door for me. “Or, we can just pass them all off on Ella,” I say, giving a shrug.

“She’d be into that?” Roger asks, loading our tiny luggage into the trunk before crossing to the driver’s side.

“It would be her dream,” I say, rolling my eyes and sitting down in the car, closing my door behind me as Roger climbs into his seat. “Ella, loaded up with four of her own kids and as many nieces and nephews as we can pass over to her to raise? She’d be in heaven.” “Sounds like a deal,” he says, half serious and grinning at me as he buckles his belt and starts the car.

“I know,” I say, smiling down at him and stroking my belly fondly. “We’re lucky.

We’ve got a good family.” “Good family,” he agrees, “and only getting bigger and better.” And then Roger kisses me on the cheek before we pull away from our cozy little dream bungalow and head home. As we pull closer to the city, though, I grimace a little, glancing between Roger and my phone.

“What is it?” he asks, noticing even my subtle movements.

“Um!” I reply, grimacing a little. ” Have you...checked your phone at all? In the past two days?” “No,” he says, frowning at me. “I knew that Dominic was just going to swamp me with a bunch of stuff I don’t want to think about, and that Ella would text you if anything bad happened. Why?” I laugh a little, raising my eyebrows at him. “Well, apparently he’s pissed,” I say, grinning.

“Oh god,” Roger sighs, digging his phone out of the center console of the car where he apparently left it for the entire time we were gone. He hands it to me so I can assess while he drives, but when I tap the screen and press the buttons, nothing happens.

“You let it die!?” I ask, appalled.

“Well, it’s not like we can’t resuscitate it,” he murmurs, gesturing towards the chord coiled neatly in the little well beneath the dashboard. Laughing, I grab the chord and plug it in, waiting until the phone comes on. When it does, my eyes go wide.

“Ohhhh boy,” I say, flicking through the messages.

“That bad?” he asks, grimacing.

“Well, I think you should reroute the GPS,” I murmur, flicking through the dozens of messages. “Nothing like truly horrible happened or anything but ...yeah. He wants to see you. Now.” “Well,” Roger sighs, glancing at me and switching lanes so that we can head to the palace instead of the house. “It was nice being mated to you, Cora.” “Three days of bliss,” I say, pressing my lips together and pretending to be sad as I pat his knee.

“Remember me to the child,” he murmurs, taking the exit. “Tell him I was a good man.” “Don’t make me lie to the baby, Roger,” I sigh, tucking his phone away and picking up mine so that I can text Ella and tell her we’re on our way. “I’ll tell him you were adequate, at best.” Roger just laughs, as I knew he would, and takes my hand, giving it a little squeeze.