CURSE OF THE MOON REBORN

Scarlet woke up the next morning in her room, but something about the bed didn’t feel right. It felt strange and hard like it had never been used before. She pushed the thought out of her mind and went into the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. She looked at her body and could immediately notice the difference from the previous day.

“What are you doing?” Stephan asked when he found her checking her body out.

“I’m different today.”

“Oh really.” Stephan panicked. He expected her to say that her belly had grown smaller.

“I’m a bit bigger today. It is safe to say that I am officially still pregnant.” She skipped out of the bathroom, then rose to her toes to kiss him.

Stephan could feel the muscles in his body loosen. “Oh.”

“You sound surprised. What exactly did you expect?” A look of black suspicion covered her face.

“Nothing. I just didn’t think that you could see the growth.” He quickly swept his doubt under the rag.

“I always could. I guess it’s because it’s my body.” She wrapped her arms around her lower abdomen and caressed gently. If she could she would squeeze herself as tight as she could.

Realizing that all she wanted and needed were his arms around her, he stood against her back and wrapped his arms around her. Stephan planted small feathery kisses on the back of her neck and rested his chin on her shoulder.

“I’m happy that you’re happy.” He meant it, the smile on her face always set his heart ablaze. Now, what happened the previous night was far from his concerns.

“I’m happy that you’re happy.” She twisted in his arms and turned to face him. Her body was too heavy for her toes to support so instead he pulled his head down to her lips.

Stephan could feel his desire for her slowly taking over. He lowered her to the bed and carefully mounted her. He planted a trail of kisses from her lips to the nape of her neck down to her cleavage. He moved to her side then lowered his body resting his head on her belly.

He closed his eyes as he rested his head on the mound at the center of her body. He kissed it then laid his ear against it wishing that he could hear any sign of life within her.

“You are quiet.” Scarlet raked her fingers through the thickness of his black hair.

“I’m just trying to listen.” His voice was muffled as he kissed her belly as he spoke.

“To what exactly.” Scarlet chuckled.

“To my baby, what else would I be doing down here.” He looked up and smiled at her, her happiness radiating off her and infecting him.

“Several things.” Scarlet’s belly growled and they both laughed, “What you could do right now is get your baby and me something to eat and drink. Never mind I can do it myself.”

Stephan laid her back on the bed when she attempted to get up. He didn’t want her to make any unnecessary movements. He was going to treat her like an egg and that would begin with her being confined to the bed. He didn’t want her to bleed out especially since she was still wide awake.

“You stay and I will get you what you need.” He pulled the covers up to her waist.

Scarlet stared down at the unfamiliar fabric, “I have never seen this before. Come to think of it I have never slept in this bed before.”

Stephan put on his best poker face, “What do you mean?”

“The cover is new and the bed feels new too not to mention the fabric has that new smell.” She pulled the cover to her nose which was completely unnecessary because she could smell it a mile away.

“The covers haven’t been used before but they aren’t new.” Stephan turned to leave the room. “I’ll just get you the food.”

When Stephan got to the kitchen he found everyone there, but they were all minding their business, all except Solara and Kayla. They stared at him with worried looks on their faces.

She is fine. She doesn’t suspect anything.

Kayla’s shoulders slumped as her body was relieved of all the tension.

“Momma, why are you relieved?” Jade curiously looked up at Kayla.

“Why would you say that? Forget it.” Kayla added the last part when she remembered her adopted daughter’s talent.

“What happened last night?” Jade pushed on.

“Continue playing with your milk and blood sweetheart.” Kayla kissed Jade’s temple then left for Scarlet’s bedroom.

“Is SJ up yet?” Stephan poured a bag o blood into a pitcher and balanced a box of pizza in his hand.

“He was for about a second or so. He came down for some food then went back to sleep. That was around six hours ago.” Vincent filled him in.

“That’s good. That’s one Jeraldi I won’t have to worry about today.” Stephan put the pitcher and the pizza down on the kitchen counter then sat down on one of the high stools. He buried his face in his palms and took in a deep breath.

“What are you worried about?” Jade was still making another of her blood concoctions.

“Scarlet. I can’t wait for the next eight weeks to be over.” He exhaled.

“Let me take this up for you.” She picked up a tray and put the pitcher a glass, then emptied the pizza on a plate and balanced it all on one hand.

“Impressive. That looks more appetizing than how I intended to present it.” Stephan was glad for his family, it meant that he wouldn’t have to deal with anything on his own.

“I always thought I was a waitress in another life.” She smiled at him.

“Scarlet and Kayla were waitresses in this life and they weren’t very good at it. Don’t tell her I said that.” Solara teased.

“That depends.” Jade breezed away before Solara could get another word in.

“I need to believe that she is going to be alright,” Stephan mumbled.

“She will be. She handled her pregnancy with SJ on her own while she was still human. It’s different now and you have to believe she is ten times stronger than before.”

“Is that why you guys decided to torch a mattress in the middle of the night and send us out for a new one this morning?” Eric was listening, he couldn’t help it.

It should have been obvious to Stephan that living with immortals with superhuman hearing he wouldn’t be able to keep anything he said a secret unless he did it through his mind. “You can’t tell her anything about that.”

“Our lips are sealed,” Victor reassured him.

“Zipped.” Vincent used his fingers and smoothed them over his lips like a zipper being closed.

“Stephan!”

Kayla’s heart-wrenching scream bounced off the stone walls of the mansion. She watched helplessly as Scarlet’s body went limp after arching of the bed.

“What’s going on?” Stephan knelt by the head of the bed, his fingers tightly wrapped around Scarlet’s hand.

“I don’t know. Its... it’s like she was convulsing or something.” Kayla’s hands trembled as she pulled the covers over Scarlet’s immobile body.

“Was she conscious when it happened?”

“She was for a second. Then she was out like a light.”

“When she wakes up and doesn’t seem to remember what happened do not tell her. Do you understand me?”

Kayla furiously nodded her head. She was going to agree with whatever decision he made.