The Delacours: Part Deux

fifty.

The new year had come, but we weren't up for our usual party as we now had a newborn and were still struggling in dealing with the aftermath of the fight against the Brotherhood. Val and Zane brought Skylar to the fae realm to present her to their court, so I drove with Chris to the office to try and get some work done. Anna didn't want me traveling and said anything that required a personal visit, she would handle for a few months to give me time to adjust to having Skylar. I sat down in front of my computer and answered a few questions and then decided I would send out an e-mail to all my Sheriffs asking if they knew anyone who could tattoo a vampire, making it sound like it was just something I wanted and not needed. Val was still doing research into if it was even possible to imbue tattoo ink with the magical property of protection, but so far it was looking good. Steph must have been able to read through the lines though, as I received a text from her not twenty minutes after I sent the e-mail.

'Liz, are you thinking what I'm thinking? Protective tattoos?' she said.

'I'm trying to think of something more permanent than a necklace or ring b/c honestly those can be lost or ripped off... do you know someone?'

'personally, no. I'm sure I can ask around though. Reid has a lot of weird connections.'

'let me know if you find someone. We're still trying to see if it's a possibility anyway...'

'you got it boss. hows the baby?'

'she's great, thanks. How are things w you & nat?'

'eh? Ik it's not completely over, but we can finally put it on the back burner & focus on us. She's still pretty fucked up at what she had to do in the fight... she nearly went ripper.'

'is she okay?'

'we're working on it. She's smoking more for now, but I can deal w/ it.'

'if you two need anything, let me know. & let me know if you find someone that can help us.' Chris came into my office and sat down at my desk across from me.

"How are you doing Momma Bear?" he asked.

"Not seeing Skylar is... killing me. I didn't think it would be this hard to be away from her."

"It's different this time... you helped make her. She came out of you... as weird as that sounds." I laughed.

"It's true though. She did. I was used to having her with me all the time and now... She's not. It's rough. I know what Val went through after having the kids firsthand now. It's like... I want to protect her from everything, even though she's got that handled on her own already... and she protected more than she'll probably ever realize. But not having her right here with me is hard..." I looked to the picture on my desk. It was all of us at the baby shower before shit hit the fan. I was in the center of the photo with my baby bump being caressed or kissed by the kids and Val, Chris, and Zane around us. I placed one hand on my belly and longed for the feeling of being kicked in the ribs one more time. "It was nice that Zane let you help him cut the umbilical cord..." I said, remembering it.

"I wasn't expecting him to. We talked about it that night, and he said he wanted me to feel included. It was different this time... there being another baby, because it usually was just him and Val, but this time it was you. And he didn't want me to feel like I was pushed aside since I was the only one 'not involved' with this baby."

"You were plenty involved."

"Not in the same way you three were with Skylar or any of our other kids. But it's okay. I love them all the same. I love you all the same." He leaned forward to grab my hand. "Do you wanna go home? Val and Zane are back from the fae realm..." Chris asked sympathetically.