Protect My Love ~ Book 4 ~ The Royal Blood Collection

Epilogue

It looked I'd swallowed a beachball and the damned thing had inflated in my stomach. In the weeks that have passed, I've grown considerably. My hunger was fierce but considering that Merrick was a big boy, it was understandable that Rehnive would grow madly.

We were home now; a flight home that was quick rather than the drawn out and unnecessary road trip. I was suffering morning sickness that always managed to drag through to the afternoon so I guess no one wanted to be in the car with me for extended periods of time.

My parents were discussing plans for the future and the possibility of extending the house out so that I'd have my own area and a little independence. It was all up in the air at the moment, they'd have to wait for plans to be drawn up and then builders to be engaged.

Until then, Rehnive and his mother would be living in her bedroom. It would be enough for a long time but my parents seemed to think that I'd want room to move. Rehnive would need his own bedroom in a few years so I guess the idea wasn't such a bad one.

At the moment, I was flicking through the pages of a baby goods catalog, marking things that I wanted to look at when we went out tomorrow. A cup of warm blood was put on the dining table in front of me, I looked up at my mother and saw the supportive smile.

"Say the word, Otanawa. I can make Alaric find him."

"Why bother? He made it quite clear that his job was his life and he was not interested in me."

"I seriously doubt that." She muttered, sitting down in front of me. "I saw how he looked at you. Even your father commented on it, called him a starving vampire and said it was deplorable that he'd have his tongue hanging out like that."

I scoffed, trying not to laugh at my father's silliness.

The phone rang, as she stood, my mother gave me a stern look.

"Get that into you. A vampire baby needs blood."

She answered the phone, her eyes slowly turned to me.

"Of course. Proceed with the security check,"

My eyes narrowed as I began to drink the blood, she turned her back to me and her words were low. When the call ended, she turned back with a smile.

"What's going on?"

"A parcel has arrived, one that I wasn't expecting. Stay put, I'll bring it in for you."

"It's for me?"

She nodded, scurrying away before I could extract anything else out of her. I looked at Everly as she slapped her hands onto the tray.

"Is that what you think?"

The bright eyes lifted to me and a gummy grin given. Two little white tips appeared and I raised an eyebrow.

"You're a little young for your fangs."

Still, I held the cup to her mouth and she drank the blood greedily.

"Otanawa," My mother grumbled. "Everly has her breakfast."

"She's got fangs and her breakfast is all over the table."

With a huff, mom cleaned Everly up and put her on the floor. She screeched with delight now that she was free of her cage, I turned to watch her run away and saw Merrick standing at the doorway.

"I'll leave you guys to it, I've got a one year old to chase."

Merrick stepped aside to let mom pass.

"I uh, came to see you, thought you'd still be at the base so I went there first. His Highness said that you'd gone home after Farren attacked you."

I nodded quietly.

"Did not see that one coming."

"It was all a big act, don't worry about it. Did Alaric say anything else?"

Merrick shook his head, I gestured to the chair. He sat down and as I watched him, I saw something that I have not seen in the short time that I've known him. I saw a vampire that didn't know what to do.

"You're okay though, right?"

"I was in a coma for a few days but aside from that, I'm fine. No lasting damage."

"Good." He nodded as he looked at the table in front of him.

"Merrick, why are you really here?"

"To say that I'm sorry for what happened. I kept thinking about Nava and Imren marrying and how you should be creating an alliance like that as well. I didn't think that I was worthy of being with you because you have a title and I am nothing in this world."

I said nothing, just quietly sipping on the blood because someone was making me hungry. Rehnive had created a whole new level of thirst, I now regularly drank blood instead of every few days like I usually do.

"Then someone pointed out that as a special op, the king's go-to team for missions of importance, I was not a nobody. I asked your uncle while I was there, he said that he was not allowed to interfere in your love life and didn't want to end up like the guys that went against you in the combat trials."

I couldn't help but smirk. I liked that I had Alaric scared, it meant that he'd leave me alone and wouldn't ask crazy things of me like marrying a stranger.

"He then suggested that I came here and asked your father but said that you'd take offense to that and believed that I'd be better off asking you but I already knew your answer. So, I thought that I'd start with the apology and then ask if it was possible to start again. Do things right this time."

I snorted with a laugh, Merrick looked at me like I was crazy.

"I wasn't laughing at what you're suggesting, well, I was but not in the way that you think."

Pulling out the chair beside me, I flicked my head and beckoned him to me. Merrick was wary at first but got up regardless. He sat down on the chair and glanced at the brochure that was in front of me.

Shifting so that I faced him, I looked at him and kept his gaze high. No looking down at the dress that had puffed out and almost hid the swell, no finding out too early. I took his hands and felt the roughness that I'd missed. They were strong, gripping my hands firmly.

"You really want to come back?"

He nodded.

"And you're not going to run away, not spooked by anything, here for good?"

Again, he nodded.

"Your uncle believed that things would turn out okay and gave me a discharge from duties."

"Really? That was kind of him."

"Yeah, he said I'd be busy though. Not sure why but he was kind of laughing when he said it."

The mystified look on his face was too much for me. Pulling his hand up, I pressed it to my stomach. As if he knew that his daddy was home, Rehnive kicked.

"Seriously?"

I nodded. Merrick's hand moved over my stomach, feeling every part.

"His name is Rehnive."

Merrick smiled as he looked up at me then pulled me in for a long overdue kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck, vowing to never let go. My mother was right. I didn't need Merrick but I wanted him and it was an important difference. I could survive without him, I could raise Rehnive without him. What I wanted from Merrick were his company, his love, and his support. I had that and I was a happy woman for it.