Chapter 272 A Visit From Her Family
_Rowena’s POV_
I slept for a few hours, and it was the first real sleep I’d had in days. When I opened my eyes, the room was calmer now. Alaric was gone, but I could feel him not far away. The bond was stronger now that Kyra was back.
"You’re awake," Kyra said. "Pierre is outside. He’s been standing there for ten minutes, afraid to knock."
I smiled thinly and looked towards the door. “Come in, Pierre.”
The door opened slowly and Pierre stepped inside. He looked terrible, his eyes were red, his clothes were wrinkled, and he had the look of someone who hadn’t sat down properly in days.
"I didn’t want to wake you," he said.
"You didn’t. Come sit."
He sat in the chair beside my bed and didn’t say anything for a while. I waited because I knew he needed time.
"Pierre," I said finally. "I’m sorry."
He looked up. "For what?"
"For Ezekiel. Kyle was close to all of us because of me. I trusted him. I let him in, and Ezekiel paid for it."
"Rowena, no—"
"I mean it. I should have listened to my gut. I felt something was wrong with him, and I ignored it. If I had acted sooner, maybe Ezekiel wouldn’t be in that bed."
Pierre shook his head hard, then his face crumpled, and before I could say anything else, he covered it with his hands and started to cry.
It wasn’t a silent cry, it came out of him in big, broken breaths, like something he had been holding in for days. I had never seen Pierre cry, not once in all the times I’d known him.
"I didn’t know," he said, his voice muffled. "I didn’t know I loved him this much. We argued all the time. I used to tell myself he was just someone I was used to and the love wasn’t that deep. And then I saw him lying there, and I..." He couldn’t finish and broke down again.
I moved over and put my hand on his shoulder. "You don’t have to explain."
"I keep thinking about all the things I never said to him. What if he doesn’t wake up? What if I never get to tell him?"
"He’s going to wake up," I said, though I wasn’t sure. But he needed someone to say it. "He’s stubborn. You know he is, he’s not going to leave you with the last word."
Pierre let out a laugh. "He would love that."
"So hold on. And when he opens his eyes, tell him everything."
He nodded and wiped his face on his sleeve. I didn’t say anything else because sometimes people only need someone sitting next to them.
A knock came at the door, and it opened before either of us answered.
Celeste walked in, she stopped just inside the door and looked at me from head to toe, slow and carefully.
Her face showed nothing as always. "Rowena," she called out.
"Hello, Celeste."
"You look really bad."
"Thank you, but I feel great."
Something twitched at the corner of her mouth, and gone as fast as it came. But I saw it.
She walked to the side of the bed, stood there, and her eyes met mine. She gave one small nod, so slight that anyone else would have missed it.
“I’ll find him. I’ll catch Kyle for you.” Suddenly, her voice echoed in my head, through our mindlink. I wasn’t even surprised how she knew my wolf was back.
I nodded back, and something in my chest made me smile at her.
"Thank you," I whispered.
"For what?" Celeste asked, in her usual flat voice. But she squeezed my hand once before letting go.
The door opened again, wider this time, and a small figure came in walking quickly with a cane she clearly wasn’t leaning on.
"Where is she? Where’s my girl?"
"Nana," I said, and my eyes filled before I could stop them.
Nana Seraphine crossed the room faster than I thought was possible for a woman her age. She took my face in both her hands and looked at me the way she did when I was a child with a scraped knee.
"Look at you," she said, her voice trembling. "Look at what he did to you. I haven’t slept since they told me. I told the ghost of my dead wolf that I’d die if anything happened to you."
"I’m fine, Nana. I’m here."
"You’re thin, have they been feeding you?"
I laughed. "I’ve only been here a few hours."
"That’s plenty of time to starve." She pulled me into her arms and held me tight.
When she finally let go, I took her hands in mine. I hadn’t planned to say it yet. But I looked at her worried face, Celeste standing behind her, and Pierre wiping his eyes. I knew this was the right time.
"Nana," I said. "I have something to tell you."
"What is it? Is something wrong? Did the doctor say—"
"I’m pregnant."
The room went still.
Nana Seraphine stared at me for a very long time, and before I could read her eyes and mind, her whole face changed, like the sun coming out from behind a cloud. She put both hands over her mouth, and her eyes filled with tears.
"A baby," she whispered. "Oh, my girl. A baby."
"Alaric’s," I said. "We just found out tonight. Well, he did."
"Oh, thank the goddess." She hugged me again, laughing and crying, rocking me from side to side. "After everything. After all this darkness. This is the light we’ve been waiting for."
Behind her, Celeste’s face had softened just slightly. She looked at my stomach, then at me, and I knew she was already planning ten ways to protect the child.
Nana pulled back and wiped her cheeks. Then she turned, and her eyes landed on Pierre, still sitting in the chair with his face blotchy from crying.
Her smile faded into something gentler, she walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder.
"Child," she said quietly. "I heard about your Ezekiel. I’m so sorry."
Pierre looked up at her, surprised, and his eyes filled again.
"He’s strong," Nana said. "And you’re strong too. We will all pray for him to the goddess, every night. And you will not go through this alone. Do you understand?"
Pierre nodded, unable to speak.
"Good." She patted his shoulder twice firmly. "Now. Somebody bring this girl some real food. And a blanket. And tell me everything that man Kyle has done, because I have a few words for him."
Celeste turned toward the door. "I’ll get the food."
"And I’ll get the rest of it," Pierre added.