Chapter 384: Enough juice.
Leilani.
"Yo-ou are?!" I shrieked in surprise.
She nodded once... and then twice.
"Yes," her voice was soft at first, so soft I barely heard her. "Yes," she said again, firmer this time with a hint of mischief gleaming in her beautiful round eyes.
I was dumbfounded.
Goddess, even ’dumbfounded’ was too light a word to use in describing just how shocked I was. But with the shock came a kind of warmth that immediately enveloped my entire body, pulling me in in ways that are difficult to explain.
My entire body tingled as the news swept over me like a tidal wave, and then slowly... very slowly, I walked over to her, grabbed both of her shoulders and whisper-yelled; "Are you being serious?"
My breath hitched in my chest when she smiled at me again— but this one was wayyyy brighter than the last. She said; "I am seven weeks pregnant, Lani."
The words struck me like the fucking stars and the moon. In fact, it felt like the entire galaxy had just come tumbling down on poor little old me.
But it was in a good way.
I do not know when or how the tears started pouring down my face nor when my knees hit the floor, but what I knew next was that I was crying and laughing and crying all at the same time, with my snort and tears all mixing together and my emotions all over the place like a freaking storm cloud.
I lost it when she told me about the pregnancy.
But do you know when I fully lost my every sense of being? When I finally decided that I was soon to go mad?
When she said;
"-And when I thought you were dead, I figured I’d name the baby Leilani if it were a girl, or Liam if it were a boy."
A loud sob wracked its way out from the very depths of my soul, tearing out of me in a manner that was so raw and so beautiful, I felt like I was levitating.
When Maya pulled me up and hugged me, I couldn’t let go.
I could never bring myself to.
And I couldn’t stop the tears streaming down my face.
"What the hell is happening here?" Kael’s voice suddenly slipped into the beautiful overwhelming bubble that I had found myself in, making me pull away from Maya to cast a glare at him.
I took one glance at him, and at the worried lines creasing his forehead and sighed. "I am perfectly fine."
"But you do not seem perfectly fine," Caelum chirped in, mimicking me as he said the words.
I wanted to roll my eyes at him. I wanted to snap his forehead until he would miraculously stop being so annoying. However, before I could speak, Maya beat me to it. She drawled;
"I just told her that I am pregnant."
And heavens, as soon as she said those words, I literally saw all of them freeze in place, and this includes Gavin, her fiancé.
Meaning: that he’s just finding out as well.
He’s just as shocked as all of us, and for some reason, that knowledge made me feel bad— only slightly until he began to chuckle like a mad man.
His eyes widened so much I feared it would budge, and with slow precise steps, he walked over to her and whispered so low, everyone else could barely make out the words— but because I so much love gossip, I heard him very clearly— he asked;
"Are you being for real?"
The way his voice trembled as he spoke, vaguely reminding me of the sweet little boy he used to be before Chalice turned him against me, made me want to pull him into a tight hug. It twisted at something in my chest and made my heart bloom with warmth— so much warmth I thought was impossible to feel.
And when she began to sob, nodding her head violently, I began to cry again.
"Yes," she sobbed, "yes! I have known for a while now but I could never bring myself to tell you, especially since... you know... the loss."
"What loss?" Zevran was the one to ask in confusion and I swear to the goddess, I think this is one of the few times where he’s shown tendencies of being an idiot.
I mean, if Caelum had asked that question then I wouldn’t have been so surprised. But Zevran? Our high and mighty Zevran?
—I guess he cannot be totally different from his brothers!
I rolled my eyes at him. "Of course, the loss!" I snapped, "She thought I was dead at some point!"
"Oh."
"You’re indeed carrying my child!" Gavin exclaimed, his loud voice sweeping across the entire space until it drowned out the voices of the rest of us.
"Yes!" Maya cried, "I am seven weeks gone!"
The news made him so ecstatic, he began to squeal and jump for joy, before rushing to pluck her into his embrace and swirl her around until her high pitched laughter ringing all across was all I heard...
...and until their lovey-doveyness soon began to turn into an eyesore.
"Oh, you both should get a room!" I shrieked at them when they began to devour each other’s faces, but the others who didn’t share in my sentiments thought otherwise.
"That looks lovely... They are both lovely and I am happy for them." I heard Kael mutter to Zevran, but before I could voice out, I mean, turn around and give him a piece of my thought, Zevran replied;
"I want to see her reaction when she finds out he’s going to be our Beta."
"And I want to see your reaction when you find out that you’re pregnant with our babies," Caelum suddenly leaned over and hissed into my ear— his sorry excuse at being flirty...
Pheww.
And bloody hades, as soon as I heard that, my mood instantly went from a hundred to flat zero. I turned around so fast, swung my fist even faster and struck him very hard in the face until I heard the sound of a vine break, watching as he fell backwards and into the dust.
"Ouui!"
"Next time, do not say such outrageous things to me!" I snapped,
"But I could see that it made you blush!" He snickered back at me, pointing out to the faint pinkish spots now crawling up my face like stupid reptiles. But I ignored him and I ignored his continuous chatter as I marched all the way into the house, not missing the snide talks between Kael and Zevran.
Kael hissed; "Are they back to being enemies?"
"I guess so!" Zevran answered in a voice dripping with juice.
"Well, I am glad."