Accidental Surrogate

Happily Ever Ella “Nope,” Sinclair says, heaving himself out of bed and grabbing his phone off the bedside table as he does. ” I
can’t live like this, Ella – I’m calling Roger, I’ve got to know – ” “Dominic!” I say, laughing and grabbing for him, trying to catch the
edge of his pajamas and failing because I’ve got a sleeping baby in my arms and another pressed warmly to my side. ” Don’t,
come back!” “I just!” he says, pressing the phone to his ear and running a frantic hand through his hair. “You tell me that there’s
drama in her life, but that it’s no big deal, and that it’s girl stuff? What the hell am I supposed to do with that for the next twenty
years!?” “You’re supposed to sit down,” I say, laughing harder now and patting the mattress on his side of the bed, still warm
from his delicious body heat. ” Honestly, if this is the way you react after all of our daughters’ baptisms, we’re not having them
anymore – ” Sinclair sighs and pulls the phone from his face, slumping back down on the bed. “Fine,” he sighs. “Just boys, after
this.” “Mmkay, sweetie,” I murmur, even though my mind flashes back to the vision my mother’s priests gave me so long ago.
We’ve got two more coming I think a boy and a girl. But who knows what their own futures hold.
“I’m glad you came to your senses and hung up the phone,” I murmur, scooting myself and my two children closer to him, my
voice a little smug.
“I didn’t,” Sinclair mutters, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “Roger just didn’t pick up.” I grin at him, shaking my head.
“Why can’t you just take good news for what it is? Human families don’t get any insight when their children are born, and Roger
and Cora told us that Ariel has an incredible life. The drama – it’s going to happen whether or not you know what it is.” “Well, you
know what it is,” he says, sending me a rueful little glare.
“I do not,” I say, laughing and resting my head on his shoulder. “Cora knows, and she has sworn Roger to secrecy. Ariel’s life –
it’s her business. I think we should be just grateful that we know our two children are going to grow to be healthy and happy.” “I
know,” Sinclair sighs, pulling me closer, relaxing and letting himself feel his exhaustion, finally, as the morning light streams
around the curtains that we’ve pulled shut so we can get some sleep. He turns his head and kisses my hair after a moment,
which makes me smile as I look down at my baby girl, my thumb tracing long strokes along my beautiful son’s cheek.
We stay that way for a long moment, peace and contentment radiating through the four of us and along our bonds.
“Dominic,” I say quietly, my mind turning softly. “What do you think? If you had the chance...would you want to know? What your
godmother saw, what was all laid out for you by the Goddess?” “What do you mean?” he murmurs, and I turn my head to look at
him, smiling when I see that his eyes are moving between our two perfect kids.
“I mean,” I say after a long moment, and his green eyes shift to me. “If you... had a chance. To know that...your first mating was
going to eventually fail. But that there was me, on the other end of it. And all the confusion at the start when we met and I was

already pregnant with your kid, and everything we went through, and the two beautiful children at the end – ” “Alongside a
wonderful partnership,” he murmurs, tugging me close and kissing my cheek, “which, honestly, is my favorite part – ” “Even more
than the kids!?” I gasp, my mouth falling open a bit.
“I mean, the kids,” he says, shrugging as if they’re not much, which makes me laugh. But then he goes a little rigid as he realizes
something, raising his eyes to glare at me a bit. “Wait, are you saying you like the kids more than me!?” My laugher bursts from
me now as I shake my head at him. “No, Dominic. I think – I mean, I think we both mean the same thing. It’s our little family that
results from all of it, and each part of it is individually wonderful, and of course you are at the center of all of it for me. You’re –
you’re my mate, my love.” I shake my head, smiling at him. “The center of my universe. But the whole universe we’ve built,
Dominic it’s all wonderful.” “That’s precisely what I mean, and how I feel,” he says with a steady sigh, tilting my face up to press a
soft kiss to my mouth. “You just say it way better than me.” “Well,” I say, shaking my hair back over my shoulders haughtily. “I
have a way with words.” “Mmhmm,” he hums, dropping his head a little to press a kiss to the underside of my jaw and then to my
neck, sending a shiver through me. ” Amongst other things.” I smile and wait for him to lift his head again, bringing his gaze back
to mine. ” So?” I say, pushing, truly wanting his answer. “What do you think? If your godmother saw all of this – would you have
wanted to know?” He takes a deep breath, thinking it through. “Well,” he says, contemplative, “on one hand, it would have saved
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