The Delacours

thirty-three.

                Early in the morning, there was a knock on the front door. Aria had armfuls of bags and one hanging from her mouth. I grabbed it.

"What's all this?"

"Party stuff!"

"Holy shit, Aria... I thought you were gonna get like... balloons and stuff."

"I want Val to have a good baby shower..." I shook my head, grabbed a few more bags and helped her into the backyard. Odette's yard was so much larger than the other house's. Aria filled the yard with decorations that all had woodland animals and deer and leaves – it was all nature based. I thought it was a great touch. Aria was running back and forth at vamp speed putting everything up. I grabbed her arm as she ran past me.

"Aria. It's barely eight AM, Val sleeps til at least noon. You have time." She chuckled a little, and slowed down, putting everything up.

The bed I ordered arrived, and I set it up in what was now going to be mine and Val's room. She woke up around one in the afternoon, and headed for a shower. When she came out in her robe, I brought her to the room and handed her the bag.

"Liz, I'm not really in the mood –"

"That's not what this is. Trust me." Aria bought her a short lace maternity dress in a pastel green to wear. She pulled it out with a slightly confused look on her face.

"What's this for?"

"Aria's throwing you a shower, and she picked this out for you." I could see her eyes water. She pulled her robe off and turned her back to me as she looked in the drawer for an appropriate bra and a pair of panties since she was going to be in a dress. I smiled. She really was beautiful and I couldn't believe that in a few more days, she was going to have a baby. I came up behind her and put my arms around her, kissing her shoulder. She laughed.

"What are you doing?" She turned around.

"I just wanted to tell you that I love you. And I can't wait for what's to come..." I felt the baby kick hard under my hand. "And you were not joking about them kicking hard, you okay?" She smiled through a kiss.

"Help me get into this." She stepped into the dress and I zipped it up. It formed on her beautifully, hugging every curve and I realized that I'd never seen her in green and with her red hair, it fit perfectly. While she did her hair and makeup, and the rest of us changed our clothes. Dylan and John showed up together with bags of gifts and gave us all hugs, Val was still upstairs. We brought them to the backyard and I asked John to stand back for a second.

"I think you might want these back." I handed him an envelope with the pictures of him and Odette and walked away. I heard him clear his throat and shove the envelope into his back pocket. I could almost hear his heart skip with embarrassment.

"Where did you find these?" he asked, quietly, reaching the backyard.

"In Odette's desk... Please, let's never talk about those again." He grabbed a beer and held it up; I tapped his beer with mine. The Magister showed up with small bag and looked a bit awkward. We walked to the backyard and I reintroduced her to John and Dylan. I heard Val coming down the stairs and had everyone look towards the back door. She curled her hair lightly, and let it come down to either shoulder. Her makeup was subtle. I nudged Chris hard in the side, his mouth was open. Dylan let out a small howl.

"You look like Poison Ivy!" he said, laughing. We all shot him a look. "What? She's hot!" We stared at him harder. Val laughed loudly.