Chapter 293 First Night

Ella As they close the door 1 look up at Sinclair and smile. I don’t have any words, but the expression on his face lets me know that he feels exactly the same. Warm, and happy, and a little panicked that we now have to take care of this little person, but thrilled.

Absolutely thrilled to be here, with him.

“You were magnificent, Ella,” Sinclair murmurs, tilting my chin up with his finger as he climbs into the bed with me, ignoring the fact that it’s kind of…well. That these sheets will have to be destroyed, to say the least. But Sinclair, I know, doesn’t care. He just wants to be near me, near us.

“He’s magnificent,” I say, turning my attention to my baby and leaning forward to press a kiss to his head. I laugh when I see him squirm. “God, I didn’t know he’d be so mad. What an angry little guy!” I say, running a finger down his perfectly–soft little cheek as he mews and gives little cries.

“Go easy on him,” Sinclair remarks, a little bit of a joke in his voice. It does me good to hear it. “He’s had a hard day.”

“You had a hard day,” I say to the baby, rolling my eyes at him. “Kid, don’t forget who you’re talking to here.”

Sinclair laughs lightly and kisses my head, beaming down at our child.

A sudden impulse overtakes me then, and I follow it without really thinking very hard. “Here,” I say, quickly handing Sinclair the baby and sitting up straight. He frowns at me, confused, as I pull my ruined white nightgown over my head and toss it to the floor.

Then, naked, I reach for the baby again.

Sinclair nods in understanding, handing me the baby. I quickly unwrap him from his makeshift swaddling and press his warm little body against my chest, sighing in relief as I tuck his little head beneath my chin. Then, I close my eyes, feeling relief flood me at the feeling of my little boy’s body again close to mine.

I feel Sinclair pull blankets up around us so that we’re both warm, and then he folds his arms around us as well, making a neat little cocoon so that we can say hello to our baby.

“Hi, Rafe,” I say, smiling as I say his name to him, loving the feel of it on my tongue. “It’s nice to finally get to see you. Hold you in my arms. I have been waiting…a long time for this.”

Tears start to seep down my cheeks again now, but my emotions pull together a bit. Warmth, happiness, completion. All the good things I’ve wanted for a long, long time.

We stay like that – still like that, and mostly silent – for I don’t know how long. But a great peace fills me, and I can feel through our bond – that Rafe and Sinclair feel the same.

Well, Sinclair mostly. Rafe is still figuring it out and crying, like babies do. But at the root of him, I can feel that he knows he’s safe.

A little while later, I hear the door creek open and I look to it to see Cora peeking in.

“Can I come in?” she asks quietly. “Can I meet the baby?”

I laugh, sitting up a little, beckoning her forward. “What do you mean – you met him first!” I call, smiling happily at her. Sinclair stands up, heading to the hospital bag that we packed and brought with us. As Cora comes to the bed to take the baby, he hands her a little baby blanket with an R embroidered on it, and then he hands me a simple t–shirt so, you know, I’m not topless when I’m hanging out with my sister.

I shoot my mate a little grin, thankful. He nods like it’s the least he can do.

As I pull the shirt over my head I watch my sister with her nephew, cooing to him and admiring him, bouncing him a little as she walks with him around the room.

“He’s beautiful, Ella,” she says to me, giving me a warm smile. I open my mouth to confirm her observations when the door opens again, Hank and Roger coming into the room. Hank strides over to us, confident, though Roger hesitates a little, looking a little shocked after the night’s events. I laugh when I see him, beckoning him to come closer into the room.

“Ella,” Hank says, beaming down at me. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you, Hank!” I reply, smiling up at him.

“Do you want to get cleaned up?” he asks, all business, gesturing towards the bathroom across the way. “If so, Cora and I can strip these sheets, see what we can do about the mattress before you get -back –”

Realizing that this is probably good advice, I start to sit up, but then I look at the baby again.” Shouldn’t I wait? Isn’t he hungry?”

“He can wait a few more minutes, Ella,” Cora smiles at me. “Take a moment for yourself.”

I work to stand up, grateful to my mother’s gift which probably makes this more possible than it should be, even though I still feel a great deal of pain in the lower half of my body. Still, I wrap some blankets around my waist as I stand and grab the overnight hospital bag, feeling oddly demure about my naked body. I laugh at the ridiculousness of it, considering what these people have seen in the past few hours, but I just shrug and make my way to the bathroom anyway, the blankets following me like a train.

I’m not going to question any of it. I can’t care.

As I go, I see Cora move to hand the baby to Roger so that she can help Hank. Roger puts up his hands in fearful protest, saying something about not knowing how to hold a baby, but she just laughs up into his face and presses the baby into his arms. I smile as I disappear into the bathroom, seeing a little of their old relationship glowing between them at the moment.

As I close the door, I wonder if maybe…

But no. That’s a question for another time. Today is about Rafe.

I rush through my ablutions, eager to get back to my baby, and am surprised at the transformation made in the bedroom when I return to it. The bed looks almost fresh, with clean sheets and new pillows.

“Wow,” I say, making my way to the other side of the bed dressed in a tshirt and pajama pants. Sinclair is there already, turning down the blankets for me. “Looks almost luxurious in here. No one would guess what a horror show it was an hour ago.”

My mate smiles at me and gestures to the bed as Roger comes over, eagerly handing me my child.

“He’s beautiful, Ella,” Roger says, giving me a warm kiss on the cheek before I sit down on the bed. “Thank you for thinking to invite me. I know it was you that remembered, not Dominic.”

I laugh, but don’t deny it, Sinclair looking rueful beside me.

Then, Hank comes over, looking down at the baby and then giving me a smile. “Cora and I discussed some plans while you were cleaning up. We think that, given the disruption tonight, it might be best for you and Sinclair to stay here in the palace. And then, tomorrow, when you’ve rested a bit, we’ll take you in an ambulance over to the hospital to make sure that everything is fine.”

He smiles down at my fussy baby, then, before continuing. “Of course, I don’t anticipate any trouble, especially after the use of the Goddess‘ gift. But it’s always good to be safe.”

“Yes,” Cora says, coming to stand next to me. “Hanks going to stay in the room next door, if you’re all right with it, in case anything happens. I’ll stay for a few minutes to make sure you’re getting started with the feeding, and then I’ll go sleep in my own bed.”

I nod, agreeing to the plan.