“Mom!” I scold her quietly as we return to our group, Ant is chatting very friendly with my father and my brother. Maybe I shouldn’t be encouraging this. Not if I’m unsure about the relationship.
Am I unsure? I think I’m unsure about being unsure.
Ant smiles at me. I get a little more sure.
Penny, has an uncomplicated delivery. Except for the slightly early labor, everything goes as smoothly as it could. A bouncing baby girl is born. Presley has ten fingers and ten toes, and is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life.
I get to hold her for a moment that is entirely too brief. She’s tiny and perfect. She smells so good—exactly the way that new babies do. It’s a moment that is only overshadowed by the memories of holding my other nieces the days they were born. Getting to meet her when she’s brand new is incomparable. A chance to hold her and whisper that I will love her forever, even if she grows up and becomes something terrible like a used car salesman, or a meter maid.
I want one. Just like her. Even if it becomes a televangelist.
I wonder what would happen if I had a baby with Ant. Would an egg come out? Or something else? Human? Or adorable little mothlings like his niblings?
When visiting hours are over, and we are finally forced to leave my tiny, perfect niece, we step into an unexpectedly drizzly evening. Without a word, Ant removes his suit jacket and drapes it around me. When the fabric hits my shoulders, I realize it wouldn’t matter what our offspring might look like. I am sure that I would enjoy having them.
29
PIPER
Ant flies me home in the dark. Floating above the streetlights, the darkness surrounds us. I trust him completely to navigate, not just because I know his night vision is excellent. I know he would do anything to keep me safe. By the time we get to my front stoop, my damp hair has gone from ‘frizzy’ to sticking to my skin.
Ant sets me down gently. I’m still wrapped in his jacket. My stomach sinks as his hands release me. I don’t want him to leave.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
I nod. “I’m happy. So glad I got to meet Presley. I’m just relieved everything went so well. Thank you, for everything. For all of it.”
“What are friends for?” he asks.
I laugh. His expression doesn’t change. It wasn’t a joke.
Right, we are just friends. Crap. Even after he fingered me in Loch’s office? Even after he met my parents? Even though I’m falling in love with him? Does he not realize?
“Piper.” He moves his wings to guard me better from the rain. “Would you like me to stay?”
His voice is so low that I can barely hear him. I avoid the urge to lean in closer. Instead, I wrap my arms a little tighter around myself.
“Stay?” I ask hopefully. He’ll barely fit into my tiny bed. Is that where he’s planning to spend the night?
“Across the street.” He gestures to the rooftop opposite my bedroom window. I laugh again and his antennae tilt toward me.
“Oh,” I laugh lightly. “I thought I saw you there once before. Looking through my window. But I think it was just an air conditioner.” I end the sentence with another laugh.
“I do bear a striking resemblance to a large metal box.” He smiles. “Would you feel better with someone watching over you tonight?”
I’d feel better with him in my bed. “I don’t want you to stand outside in the cold rain.”
“I don’t want your ex bothering you again.” His voice hits a dark tone.
“He won’t.” I don’t even convince myself with that sentence. “Maybe stay, just for a little while, until I fall asleep?”
His wings shake in the rain, throwing water droplets everywhere. His shirt is soaked through, plastered to his body. “As you wish.”
And in a blink, he swoops away. There’s nothing in front of me but a memory of him. Was that aPrincess Bridereference? Was he trying to say…
I retreat into my apartment, determined not to think about him standing in the cold rain. Watching me.
I shower until I feel warm again, holding my head under the spray and letting the heat of the water sink into my bones. I move to my bedroom and toss the towel onto a hook on the back of my door. Then I freeze. My curtains are wide open.
