Sinjin, A Vampire Romance

Chapter Twenty-Two

Bryn

"I can't believe the wedding is in only a couple of days," Jolie said as she shook her head and eyed me wistfully. We were sitting on her bed in the bedroom she shared with Rand in the main house of Kinloch Kirk. And we were in the process of tying white ribbons around bottles of bubbles, which were shaped like wedding cakes. "Where did all the time go?"

"It flew by," I agreed, pausing to pet Jolie's cat, Plum, who sat on my lap. Then, remembering the conversation, I pointed at my sister's belly which was now so huge, she had difficulty being ambulatory. "'Course, your stomach is proof enough that Father Time didn't pull a fast one over on us," I added with a laugh, reaching for the last bottle of bubbles and tying the last white ribbon around it. I held the little bottle out in front of us like it was a highly esteemed award. "Looks like our final task for the wedding is now complete," I said with a proud smile. I reached for a cardboard box that was sitting beside Jolie and we started placing the bottles back into the box.

"Thanks for all your help, Bryn," she said with a genuine smile. "I really appreciate it and there's no way I could have gotten everything done without you."

I brushed off her gratitude with a wave of my hand and a scrunched up facial expression, to which my sister giggled. "I was happy to help," I replied, shaking my head as a little laugh escaped my mouth. "I mean, seriously, if I had to hear one more story about Odran and his sexual escapades, which, I might add, were described in frighteningly vivid detail, I probably would have done myself in."

Jolie winced. "Yeah, I can imagine those conversations would have been ... anything but enjoyable."

"Painful is more fitting a term," I finished for her with a knowing smirk.

Jolie laughed again as she placed the last bottle of bubbles into the cardboard box. I picked the box up, standing as Plum grumbled angrily at having her sleep disrupted, and plopped off the bed, disappearing into the hallway. I laughed at the ornery cat as I carried the box to the far side of the room where another twenty or so boxes rested against the wall.

"I just felt the baby kicking," Jolie announced in an excited voice as she rubbed her belly lovingly. "I can't wait until this little person decides to come out and meet the world."

"Well, it's not much longer now, is it?" I asked. I propped my hands on my hips and studied my sister. She and the baby were thriving, and as the days went by, I could see the joy in her growing, no doubt, as she thought about Rand's and her future once the baby was born.

"Twenty-six days," she responded with a laugh. "The countdown is on." Then she patted her belly encouragingly. "You are about to get kicked out, little one," she warned her stomach. "Your tenancy is coming to an abrupt eviction!"

Before I could respond, there was a hesitant knock on the door.

"Come in," Jolie called out. Her surprised expression told me she wasn't expecting any visitors, but she also wasn't particularly concerned, all the same. The door opened and Odran stuck his head in, his blond mane shimmering around his shoulders.

"Greetin's, mah queen," he said, bowing his head slightly before turning to face me. "An' the queen's sista," he added, lingering in the doorway and looking decidedly uncomfortable.

"Hi, Odran," Jolie replied at the same time I said my greeting. An expression of curiosity appeared on Jolie's face, which suggested it was strange for Odran to be visiting her, and in her bedroom, no less. "Come in," she continued as we both watched the enormous man comically ducking to enter through the doorway. He was dressed in his customary attire of a purple kilt (purple being the color of royalty) and sandals, with nothing above the waist. I was convinced Odran's choice of apparel wasn't so much because he was Scottish, but rather because he was very proud of his manly physique and enjoyed showing it off.