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Teren put off dealing with Hot Ben for ht he would In fact, I ell into my fourth month, with an adorably cute baby bu about it His optimism that his friend would come around tore me a little, especially since Ben asked hi to see hier it went on, the greater the possibility that she couldn&039;t help him anymore

With a harsh s at the fact that Ben considered memory loss a "help", Teren assured him that that wasn&039;t hoorked That if she wanted, she could convince him that he didn&039;t even know his own mother That line didn&039;t make Ben appear any more comfortable He actually looked worse and worse every ti out Deep circles started to appear under his eyes and his skin had the sallow look of soht He seeenuinely honest with Teren when he&039;d told him that he couldn&039;t sleep anymore

Tracey didn&039;t understand the physical or ees in her boyfriend, and had started to do what most women in her case would do She started to think it was her We hadher that he was still head over heels in love with her, that he wasn&039;t liar and he definitely wasn&039;t a cheater I was pretty sure she didn&039;t believe me on that last part, and it didn&039;t help theTeren about Halina right in front of her Tracey was convinced that her boyfriend was sleeping with the sensual wo up with that explanation Hot Ben was different -over his shoulder whenever ent out I was a little surprised that Tracey hadn&039;t co to act like some paranoid , especially when Tracey replayed soht before, and noas beco a little scared for theh this stress, but, stubborn as always, Teren still wouldn&039;t call Halina

"Teren, he looks awful I know you want his support, but you can&039;t force this" I sat on the bed rubbing ed his clothes He looked at me in the vanity mirror over his dresser, but didn&039;t answer I watched his jaw tighten with tension though, and knew hiot up off the bed and walked up behind hi my arms around his waist from behind He&039;d just taken off his work shirt, andto his, the bu hi one hand over the both ofthe other around behind hi my head on his shoulder, Ithis It&039;s cruel to him"

My irritation with Hot Ben&039;s choice had faded away as the physical symptoms of his stress had started to show He really couldn&039;t handle knowing that the norance froers over"I know," he whispered He looked up atwith me "I just can&039;t yet, Emma"

He didn&039;t say please, but I could feel the word in the air He wanted time He wanted Ben to know, and to eventually find peace with it I bit e to tell hie, and he should just let it go Teren eventually had to let everyone gobut, right now, he needed this Plus, as ti to Teren about his life They would sit on our couch, Teren&039;s face animated as he went over aspects of what he could do He wasn&039;t bragging to Hot Ben or anything, he was just relieved to be able to finally tell him the stories he kept bottled up Like, that one of the rainbows they&039;d caught last ca up the stream and had plucked it out with his bare hand while Ben had had his back turned Or how he knows that the waitress at a bar we frequently go to (since Teren could fake drinking better than he could fake eating) had awhenever Ben was near her Ben listened to all of this with his head in his hands over his knees, looking both intrigued and freaked out

One ofto Teren&039;s shoulder, I rubbed his skin war, you need to do it" I raised my eyebrow at him pointedly "For hiain and then released hihed as we pulled apart and then nodded Merrily I said, "I&039;rinned and he shook his head atto "snack" on a more andfor three, but really, I just loved having an excuse to eat nearly a half gallon of ice creaain as I walked downstairs, Ithe hu two lives inside my own That was a little- no, hout the day" sickness was over with (I hadn&039;t tossed ers crossed), I was feeling pretty good about this pregnancy thing

My clothes had tightened up onwas over, almost like the two realized that they didn&039;t need to hide anyrow like weeds Teren had takenfor a whole new ly fun as that sounds! So with a stoh Teren would say bowling ball, I reveled inclothes (I still hadn&039;t told Clarice yet)

As I e bowl of peppermint ice crea really, really good about this pregnancy thing I grabbedon the TV to some reality show that didn&039;t require any brain cells to follow I thought enough during the day, I didn&039;t want to have to do it while relaxing The creahed contently I sh I liked knowing that he knehen I was happy And I was frequently happy Sure,eled and kicked ainst the couch cushions like a five year old Above the noise of the TV, I started hearing a scratching sound Curious, I set downpast the table in the kitchen, I headed to a small hall that held the laundry roo from the laundry room, so I stepped in there

I flipped on the switch, but the rooure out what the sound was at first, but then it happened again and I immediately understood This room had a door that led to the backyard and Teren had put up a doggy door so his pup could coht in front of the flap, the heavy obstacle overfloith clothes and i hih me that I&039;d inadvertently blocked Spike&039;s entrance to our war to do better on keeping up with that sort of thing No one everpapers, also commits you to the responsibility of doubled laundry loads Of course,dinners for me, more often than not, so I didn&039;t complain about it, tooback into a corner Startled at his odd behavior, I went over to hiy coat to htly shaking "You okay, boy? So protective of my step-pet, I walked over to the door and unlocked it, stepping outside onto a small concrete slab The late January air was chilly and a shiver went throughover Teren&039;s sloping lawn It was a big yard and there were hidden areas with deep shadows and dark,in the back corner near a garden shed shifted, hbor cat hopped up on Teren&039;s fence and I nearly had a heart attack Thinking I was beyond stupid at being alone in the backyard, investigating strange things just like Teren had a habit of doing, I hurried back into the house

I closed the door, securely locking it, and encouraged Spike to followto eat Teren instantly breezed into the roouess if he could hearcontently, then he&039;d also just heardhad spooked hio check on what that ht be That really wasn&039;t too smart of me, and I wouldn&039;t have been happy if he&039;d done it We did need to be e husband and wife

Teren seee look suddenly passed over his face and he tilted his head at me Then he looked over to the hall where the laundry room was and his features shifted to surprise "Oh," was all he said

His face shifting to nor his fur "Sorry to lock you out, boy" He grinned and then kissed Spike&039;s head while Spike thumped his tail noisily

Confused by his weird reaction, I puta reprimand; I&039;d already even prepared my defense, namely that the hormones in my body had temporarily flooded my common sense "Oh?" I said sarcastically "That&039;s it?"

He looked up at htened and kissed rabbed his t-shirt "Wait, you can&039;t just say &039;oh&039;, all surprised like, and then not explain" Shaking my head at him, I added, "That&039;s not proper etiquette"

He chuckled and raised an eyebrow at me "I didn&039;t realize you andhim to me, well, not physically, but symbolically "Yes, we do Everyone does to a certain extent" Srinned and leaned in to place a cool kiss along the vein in ht in that spot thathihtened and chuckled while I sputtered out, "What was &039;oh&039;?" My cheeks heated froiven me and his thumb traced the flush of color

"I felt you," he whispered

I cocked my head, confused "Youfelthis ared his shoulders "When you went outside, I knew it At first I thought I&039;d only heard it, but when you caed "It was faint, but I&039;d also felt it"

I sighed, not understanding hisme back and forth a little in our embrace "Like I can feel my fa it right now I see you, I feel you, I smell you, I hear youand I can sense you"

My eyes widened as hishit me His entire family, well, the vampiric part of it, could sense each other&039;s locations, like they&039;d all been low-jacked, or bugged or so And now apparently, he could sense ed between us "Them" His eyes went back to mine, joy clear in the pale depths "I can sense them Their blood is hter, a huge s over his face "Now that I knohat that faint feeling is, it&039;s very apparent to row" He chuckled a little "As long as they are inside you, I&039;ll knohere all three of you are"

Shocked silenced otten about that vaot about it, but I certainly never considered that he&039;d have a bond with the children like that before they were even born A tiny part of me was jealous at his connection to them, and a tiny part of me was irritated that even more of my privacy was lost He&039;d always knohere I was now Myability uess we&039;ll never have to worry about losing the kids at the ht asstoed Well, nothing had changed in the Teren vs Ben standoff Plenty of things were changing in my world For starters, I felt the twins as or gling on the couch watching a movie, I felt a definite and profound kick Teren looked at my stomach at the salanced up at hirinned and nodded, his eyes returning tomovement for awhile now, but that was really distinct"

A second kick greeted our awaiting hands and we both started laughing, and then I started crying, Teren scoopingaway my emotional tears Once I knehat it felt like, I started feeling those little kicks and squirms all the time I started to feel less jealous of Teren&039;s ability to bond with our children pre-birth, and started relishing my connection to them He may be able to sense them and hear the the more conscious of that too In aoff , I&039;d tried to get him to bite me I&039;d never had to really try before, not since that very first bite, and it was a little irritating tofor it He worried his lip as he stared at his favorite vein inhi the fact that he wanted to be piercing

"Why not?" I said breathlessly "I can wear that nice turtleneck you bought h, he sat back on his heels, still kneeling over et in the way He shook his head, his eyes instantly going to that belly that was getting larger and larger as I now rolled into the halfway point, the 20th week The doctor said they were groonderfully, and every blood draw or pee test I&039;d taken had showed no inherent dangers to the dangerous to the to end up with, but it was a co for a doctor to say anyway We had an intensive ultrasound scheduled in teeks - the big one - the one where they could tell the sexes We hadn&039;t decided if anted to know or not

Teren put a cold hand ona response from the twins I don&039;t know if they sensed his teh the layers of skin and fluid separating them, or if they just sensed that Dad was near, but they almost always kicked or moved when he touched me like that A slow smile broke out on his face, a face full of wonder and love, as his hand circled the noatermelon-like stomach

"I can&039;t I shouldn&039;t," he whispered I tried to sit up, but failed in getting around et closer to him, and shifted his position to lie beside me I rolled onto my side and put a hand on his bare, silent chest, still subtly exposing my neck to him His eyes drifted over to what I offered, but he shook his head again "It&039;s not mine anymore, Emma" His eyes ca three lives with that precious blood" He tookthe crisscross of veins just under the surface, his eyes closing as my pulse vibrated across his lips "I won&039;t let you support a fourth" He opened his eyes and set fresh blood"

I frowned at that, but knew full well he meant an animal Teren would never bite another human, and not just because he couldn&039;t erase the event from them like Halina could No, he would never bite another hu on ly intimate one, and I&039;d be devastated if he ever touched another girl that way He knew that and would never hurt me like that So no, my froasn&039;t over fear that he&039;d "stray", my froas becausewell, I liked it

He sht process "After they are born, I will drain you until you pass out, but not right now, okay?" He grinned playfully and squeezed hed, then smiled and kissed hihed and then rolled me on top of him I had to bend over ed "You&039;re so kinky," he whispered through increasingly heated kisses I laughed huskily,at the seductive, half nakedyet," I whispered right back at hi my words Then I proceeded to show him just how "kinky" es, the next biggest shift in my life ork Eventually my expanded body was too much for me to hide, especially since ure; y clothes had tipped off soirls that worked there Not Clarice though, she didn&039;t clue in until she caughtmy stomach one day Then her jowly jaw had dropped, and I swear her face went a ghostly shade of white

"God, are you pregnant?" She asked that like I had some sort of infectious disease She almost looked like she wanted to put her hand over herht s to tell you this when I was a bit further along, (say, nine uess you should know as soon as possible" Just to see her reaction, I lifted my shirt and showed her my stretched beyond natural tu Twins, actually," I tossed in for good old Herher head, she backed away fro that scene from the movie Alien You know, the scene where the creature bursts out of the person&039;s body, leaving a bloody, gory mess behind As she stared at my skin in horror, I swear that&039;s what she expected to happen "Why would you do that, Emma?"

Her shocked eyes lifted to ain "We want children," I said, a little defensively

Shaking her head, her eyes looked atlottery ticket "Oh, you had such potential here I was really thinking you&039;d take over for me, one day" She shook her head sadly, her thick neck barely allowing theI can have children and a career"

The corner of her lip lifted in a shed "When is D-Day?"

My lips turning down, h dulled, I sullenly said, "June 26th"

She sighed,off how much time she had left with me, then she turned and waddled back to her office, probably to call the te for ht Tracey was on to so, and Teren&039;s family should just buy the cohty if this pregnant chick was suddenly her boss

The last biggest change inafter Clarice discovered ed a lot for me, especially how I looked atina leisurely cup of coffee at a local shop in town Well, she was having coffee; I was still sticking to hot chocolate It wasto pick up We sat on luxuriously padded chairs in deep criold fabric They could have just as easily been in a hed and relaxed back onto the exquisite chair and glanced around the space while Tracey went over her Hot Ben woes Conte was suspended over other groups of plush chairs,with a friend or two

Most of the people who already had their beverages, were sitting in those fancy seats, looking as comfortable as I felt An older man with a head of thick, dark hair, that any twenty year old guy would die to still have at his age, was having a pleasant conversation with a wo twenty year olds would probably love to have at his age

Just behind where the olderhis hand on the woman&039;s knee, I could justthe man contelared at the woht that perhaps they had each lost a beloved to a younger woe, Teren didn&039;t coret his decision to h What we had went far beyond physical looks

Tracey&039;s sigh pulled me back to our conversation, well, her conversation As she sipped her frothy coffee treat, I sippedue while she continued on with her theory that Hot Ben was diddling Halina

After hearing this theory for so long noasn&039;t sure what to say to it anymore I&039;d already told her that there was no way it was true (and there really was no way it was trueHot Ben was terrified of Halina), but she never believed me, so now I just listened As one of the twins kicked ster andrepeatedly alland squirhter in there as they, and in turnon one spot more often That wasn&039;t aswhether or not she should hire a private eye, her hand absent out a piece of her blonde curls, I fixated on the slightly swaying la over a table behind her It was a deep red shade, the bulb inside just visible under the porcelain, low from within The shade reminded me of Teren, and the fact that he still wouldn&039;t bite me

When Tracey mentioned a name and an address of a detective, I fully concentrated on what she was saying She wasn&039;t just rando around that she should have so beau, she had actually researched it

"What?" I said, a little startled that she&039;d seriously do that

She set down her coffee, the s my mouth water a little; I did miss my caffeinated coffee fix "Well, what else a, he&039;s been so weird" She worried her lip and shook her head, her hair swishing over her shoulders "I know he&039;s hiding souilt filled me I knew so much that I couldn&039;t tell her I knew exactly rong with Ben I knew exactly why he was being weird around her and what secret he was keeping from her I knewand I couldn&039;t tell her There was nothing about the situation that I could share, no co I kneould make her feel better anyway She&039;d just be as freaked out as he was, even worse She&039;d be beyond terrified, and would scream to the world that vaht jacket

Doing the only thing I could, I extendedit on her arm sympathetically "I&039;m sure it&039;s not you, Trace He loves you, adores you even"

She looked at me doubtfully, her beautiful face held in a frown I set downhten and look hopeful, I exclaio-"

A woainstup pace and several people had walked back and forth as Tracey and I sat on a main path to the counter, but those people, even the ones that had inadvertently touched us on their journey fortheir journey This wo us, made me cut off in ly, with straight, shoulder length hair She wasn&039;t a drop-dead beauty like Tracey, but she had a certain girl-next-door quality thattheher out from the corner of my eye She was slim and tall, with srayish blue color and were narrowed in confusion as she looked at me

"I&039;m sorry," she said quietly, as Tracey finally took notice of her and twisted her head to look "Did you sayTeren?" I nodded, confused as to what this woman wanted Her eyes widened and she sputtered on her next sentence "TerenAdams?"

My eyes narrowed as someone I didn&039;t know, a female someone I didn&039;t know, mentioned my husband&039;s full na me

Her mouth dropped open as her entire posture relaxed "Oh,There&039;s a name I haven&039;t heard in awhile" Her hand came up to her mouth for a second as she looked between the two of us "I&039;m so sorry, I didn&039;t mean to eavesdrop I just heard you ht, what are the odds, right?" She shrugged as a bright s that my husband made anyone else s ed to say, "I&039;m sorry, who are you?"

The woetic "Oh, I&039;m so sorry, how rude of htly took it "Carrie, Carrie Davids" She sain, like I should know exactly who she was now Glancing at the ring on er she added, "Are you Teren&039;s wife?"

I smiled that I indeed was "Yes, Emma Adams" I stressed e woman kneho I was "Andhow do you know Teren?" I added as casually as I could Tracey beside lance at her, I could tell her pessi beforeon the girl again Teren wasn&039;t cheatingI was certain of that Pretty certain, anyway

She flushed a bit, her hand running through her hair nervously "Oh gosh, I&039; all sorts of rude today, aren&039;t I? Sorry, you just caught me by surprise with that name I mean, I never expected to hear that name here, of all places" She shook her head "The odds, really?" I threw on a barely contained smile, since she still hadn&039;t answered h school We went to school together in Virginia"

I immediately relaxed as the relationship to my husband became apparent Tracey beside nored her Brightening, I threw on a genuine sreith him It&039;s nice to meet someone froirl even remembered who he was Didn&039;t they say that uely remember him? She&039;d picked up on him by only his first na back into that past "Yeah, we had souy" She said that last part wistfully and that tension came back to me Just how had she known my husband? Before I could ask, she added, "Do you live around here?" She looked around like Terenhis fa her eyes back to ether while I&039;hwith a fake reluctance, I said, "I&039;htened at that "Oh, did he become a writer? He was so brilliant in school"

My smile left azine here" Not knowing how I felt aboutthis wooing to my stomach, as yet another child knocked me from the inside "Well, I&039;ll be sure to tell him you say hello" You can be sure of that I had many questions for that boy

She didn&039;t react to my clear dismissal Instead her eyes went to my stomach and I swear her face paled "Are youis that?" She looked up atTeren&039;s child?"

My brows furrowed at the look on her face I couldn&039;t even speak Luckily, or unluckily, Tracey answered for ht around the tiotto warn away this could-be home wrecker