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The room exploded once more with laughter, cries of shock, and annoyed exclamation of distaste at hearing about a sibling’s sex life. Tish laughed and fended off Steph’s playful slaps. She looked at the twins and blew them kisses, which made them grin happily and blow kisses back.
The conversation was forcibly redirected back to Sigrid’s impending birth.
“I’ll be having the birthing ceremony here at the mansion. Mother will be my midwife. Eleanor King has volunteered to be her second should there be medical complications. Dayshia said she will be Eleanor’s support,” Sigrid explained.
Henry stepped into the doorway with a sleepy look in his eye. He smiled at the assembled adults. Meixiu was at his elbow, and her excited grin drew everyone’s attention.
“What?” Sigrid asked her.
Meixiu shook her head with a mischievous grin. “You must wait until tomorrow for Henry’s surprise!”
Now everyone was looking at Henry, and he chuckled at their eager expressions. “I just stopped by the other sitting room to get the kid’s impressions of what Christmas feels like for them. One of the things they mentioned was the feeling of anticipation. I never celebrated Christmas as a kid, so I didn’t get to experience that. Tomorrow after dinner, I have a special gift for all of you. Now you get to enjoy what the kids say is one of the best parts of Christmas, and I get to anticipate the fun of giving it to you!”
Henry held up his hands to shield him from their pleas and just shook his head. “Meixiu has been sworn to secrecy as well. You’ll just have to wait.”
He walked over to see Sigrid and took her hands in his. “Sorry. I missed your announcement with all that running around with General Crane. Are you feeling okay?”
She squeezed his hands. “Yes. I feel as big as a bus!” She gave her head a shake as he began to protest. “We can talk in the morning. You look like you used too much energy tonight. You should get some sleep.” He nodded wearily.
“Did he get that issue resolved?” Roy asked.
“Yeah, I think so. Crane was hurt in the process. Most likely just some nasty bruising, but he could have some busted ribs.” He frowned and looked over at Siobhan. “Could I ask you to take a quick look at the General tomorrow? He was exposed to a great deal of Wild Magic, but it doesn’t look like he’s being affected by it.”
“Wild Magic affects everybody!” Camila said in surprise.
Henry nodded to her and shrugged as he didn’t have an answer to that.
“No problem, Henry,” Siobhan replied.
“Thanks!” He looked at the rest of the people in the room. “Merry Christmas! See you tomorrow.” Everyone smiled and wished him a Merry Christmas as well.
As Henry left the room, the twins following close behind, Steph felt another surge of tingles as her eyes drank in his powerful arms and back. She glanced at Tish and saw she was watching her. The younger sister leaned in to rest her forehead against Steph’s.
“If you want to be with him, just ask him. Not tonight though, he looks exhausted.”
Steph gasped softly and bit her lip. She looked into her baby sister’s eyes and saw love and acceptance there. With tears of happiness welling up in hers, she threw her arms around her sister and hugged her.
She loved her family!
Chapter 13
Henry woke feeling refreshed and content. He felt the soft bodies of the twins cuddled in next to him. He kissed them gently, and their eyes opened as they smiled.
“Good morning, Mahali, Aadiya,” he whispered. “You don’t need to get up.”
Their eyes closed again, and they reached for each other as he slipped out of bed. They were asleep once more in seconds.
Henry grabbed a fresh Kilt and made his way to the washroom, where he quickly showered in his Human glamor. He dried, dropped his glamor, and dressed in the kilt before heading downstairs.
He stopped on the second floor and listened at the master bedroom door, but it seemed Sigrid was still asleep. He didn’t want to wake her, but he also wanted to talk to her about their child. He rocked slightly on his hooves as the concept of being a father again so soon shook his foundations.
He continued downstairs and raided the fridge for a quick breakfast. He went out into the back yard and took his favorite seat in the gazebo. He engaged his Wild Magic-to-heat spell and felt toasty warm almost immediately, not that he’d been affected by the cold too badly, to begin with. He enjoyed the peace and quiet of dawn for a while before pulling out his cell and checking for messages.
There was a text from the Sergeant asking him to call as soon as possible.
Feeling a little guilty for enjoying his relaxed morning routine, he dialed the soldier’s number.
“Henry! What the hell went wrong last night?” she immediately hissed quietly into her cell.NôvelDrama.Org: owner of this content.
“Is General Crane okay?” Henry asked. He heard the sound of wind rushing by the cell’s microphone, so the Sergeant was moving somewhere she could speak freely.
“Yes, no thanks to your force field!” she barked in a normal voice.
Henry frowned. “The spell wasn’t there when I arrived in the conference room.”
There was a moment of silence. “What? What’s that mean?”
“Everyone in that conference room absorbed a high amount of Wild Magic, but the only one who wasn’t affected was General Crane. Something is off.”
“I almost blew the mission last night when the General was shot. How did he survive that point-blank gunshot if the force field wasn’t active?
“He had the bulletproof vest under his clothes-” Henry began
“The vest should have failed against that hand cannon that close!” Mick asserted heatedly.
“When I looked, the vest seemed to be filled with some kind of stone, but that turned into a mist shortly after I saw it. I’ve never seen anything like it. Any ideas?”
She was quiet for a moment. “We don’t have bulletproof vests filled with stone,” she responded. “Can you heal his injuries?”
Henry sighed. “Not if he’s immune to Wild Magic. I’d like to have a friend of mine take a look at him. She’ll try to determine why. Where is he now?”
“He’s at the hospital being guarded by members of the squad,” the Sergeant explained.
“Can one of the soldiers who’s been in the hospital room come to my condo in New Jersey so I can get them to open the door to the hospital room for my friend to take a look at him? I don’t dare visit the hospital myself as I’m still gushing Wild Magic everywhere.”
“Sure, I’ll send Yablonski,” Mick said.
“Thanks! Did you get the evidence you needed?” Henry asked.
“Yes, the room’s recorders caught everything, and we got a copy too. They took Brixton, Hollis, and Densbridge into custody last night. Colonel Miller is delighted to offer evidence against them as well.”
“So, I shouldn’t have to worry about more missile attacks any time soon?” he asked, and she laughed.
“Keep that dome up, and you won’t ever have to worry,” she suggested with a chuckle.
He smiled. “Noted. I’ll adjust the permission to allow you and your team entry, but you’ll need to slow to a walk to pass through it as there might be people inside.”
“Noted. Thanks! Yablonski will be at your apartment in roughly an hour,” Mick advised.
“Thanks! I’ll top him up when he gets here,” Henry said.
“Lucky man!” Mick moaned.
Henry thought about that. “I’ll try to send him back with a packed lunch for the rest of you.”
There was silence. “Really? You can do that?”
“I won’t know until I try,” Henry replied.
“You’re getting pretty handy with this magic stuff!” the Sergeant said, impressed.
He sighed. “Yeah, it seems to be coming to me easier and easier. It’s starting to feel like second nature, but that may be because of the stuff Baba crammed into my brain. I’d still rather just work on tech.”
“Talk to you soon,” Mick said.
“Bye.”
Henry sent Siobhan a text asking her to call him when she had a moment, then leaned back against the bench to enjoy the sight of the falling snow. They’d had quite a bit of it last night, and it didn’t seem to be slowing. The kids were going to love this!
“You needed to speak to me, Henry?”
He turned in his seat and saw someone standing in the back doorway. The falling snow was obscuring the view, but he recognized Siobhan’s voice. She’d know where he was based on the glow he was casting off.
“Hang on, I’ll be right there,” he called out.
As he walked back to the house, he looked up at the snowfall. It felt heavier than the day before. Crazy!
He shook off the snow and went in the back door. As he towel-dried, he saw many people preparing breakfast but none of Tish’s family nor Dayshia’s. Henry guessed they were celebrating their Christmas morning traditions at home.
Tish had Celeste in her arms, and Marisa held Natalia as they sat at a small table to the side with Sigrid and Hilda.
“Merry Christmas, everyone!” he called out from the doorway, and they returned the greeting.