#Chapter 481 – New Baby Cousin
Ella
I see a yawn stretch over Cora’s face and immediately start to get to my feet. “You’re exhausted,” I say, “we’ll let you get some rest – ”
“No,” Roger says, suddenly a little frantic again. “You guy can’t leave what if – what if the baby cries and Cora sleeps through it – I have no idea what to do ”
I laugh at my brother-in-law and shake my head at him. “We’re not going far, Roger,” I say, pressing myself to Sinclair’s side as he, too, stands up. “We’re going to sleep across the hall after we make sure Henry gets home safe. You’ll be able to shout if you need anything.”
“Oh, thank god,” Roger murmurs, slumping back against the pillows and putting a weary hand over his face.
“So dramatic,” Cora says, rolling her eyes but laughing anyway. I grin at my sister and then move to her side, pressing a kiss to her cheek and blowing one to the sleeping Jesse, my new perfect nephew.
“You guys sleep tight, all right?” I say. “And really – we’re here if you need us. Or even if you want us to take the baby in the rolling bassinet – he can sleep in our room – ”
“We’ll be fine, Ella,” Cora says, rolling her eyes at me now.
“They do this all the time in hospitals, take the baby to the nursery so the mom can get some sleep! I could
“Stop trying to steal my baby,” she laughs, flapping a hand at me, “just because you miss having a newborn.”
“I do,” I sigh, again clutching my hands beneath my chin. “They’re so cute and tiny then…”
“Come and take your meatball, Ella,” Sinclair says on a laugh, holding out my perfect little Rafe to me. And I laugh too, taking Rafe in my arms and holding him tight against my chest.
“You’re perfect too, Rafe,” I say, kissing his head, “no matter how big you get.”
And then Sinclair and I call our soft goodnights over our shoulder and close the door behind us as we pass out of the room, letting my sister and her mate have a peaceful night alone with their new baby.
As soon as we’re alone in the hall, I fall back against the wall with an excited little sigh.
“What is it this time,” Sinclair says, stopping and grinning at me as I hold Rafe close to my chest.
“I’m just so excited,” I say, smiling up at him. “I get to do that again in what, six months!? I love the newborn stage! I love the first night, when you can’t sleep because you can’t bear to close your eyes and stop looking at them! I’m so excited. I’m not going to be able to sleep.”
“You really were born to be a mom, trouble,” my sweetheart mate says, stepping forward and running his hand over my hair. I grin up at him, nodding fervently. “Luckily,” he says, raising an eyebrow at me. “I do not at all mind the process of knocking you up. Not one bit.”
“Dominic!” I gasp, swatting at him a little and covering one of Rafe’s ear with my spare hand. “Not in front of the baby!”
“Ella,” Sinclair says, laughing at me as I start down the hall. “We have sex in front of the baby all the time – ”
“Yes, but that’s natural,” I say, laughing and throwing a haughty look at my mate over my shoulder, pretending to be more bothered than I am as I open the door to the guest room. “Baby Rafe doesn’t need to hear all of your lewd innuendos about what it is you enjoy.”
“It wasn’t even an inuendo,” Sinclair murmurs, stepping close to me in the dark of the room and pulling me to him, a little more roughly than he needs to, just the way I like it.
“Well, mind your manners,” I murmur, my voice low and throaty. ” Because we have competition now for best Sinclair parents. And I am not losing to those two idiots in there.”
“Not a chance,” my mate says, laughing his dark little laugh. “We’ve got them beat hands down.”
“I know, right?” I say, wrinkling my nose at him. And my mate kisses me swiftly before giving me a swat on the rump.
“You get the baby ready for bed, I’ll make sure dad gets home?” He asks, heading for the door.
“You got it,” I say, giving him a quick thumbs up and a wink. Sinclair nods to me, smiling, and heads out the door, leaving me in the dark with the baby.
“Well, Rafey,” I say, laughing as I swing the baby up over my head, making him give a tiny shriek of joy. ” You got a new cousin today, and a new bond! What do you think?”
Rafe burbles happily as if in reply and I smile at him as I carry him over to the little changing table I set up a few hours ago, starting to get him ready for bed.
“I’m very happy for you, Rafe,” I say sternly as I change his diaper and start to put his pajamas on. “But if you like your new cousin more than your new little sister, just because you have some weird kind of bond?” I look at him for a long moment, shaking my head. “If that happens, we’re going to have big problems. Okay?”
Rafe just grins at me, babbling as I pull up his tiny zipper.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” I say, smiling as I pull him up into my arms. “And I’m holding you to it, even though you don’t even really speak English yet.”
When Sinclair comes back into the room about half an hour later, Rafe and I are cozily settled on the bed, each of us warmly wrapped up as he plays with some of his soft blocks and I lay quietly by his side, talking to him and giving him a cuddle whenever he looks for it. But I grin when my mate shuts the door behind him, smiling at us.
“Don’t let me interrupt,” he says, starting to pull off his blazer as he comes to the bed.
“Please do,” I say, sitting up a little. ” We missed you.”
My mate comes immediately to bed, pulling off his shoes and slipping into the bed fully dressed so he can be with his little family sooner. I smile when I see his eagerness, knowing he feels precisely the way that I feel: that this is our happy place, when we’re all cozy together with no great pressures or problems weighing on us.
“Are you sleepy?” he asks. “Hungry?”
“Both,” I say, giving a little shrug. ” But, we should wait until Rafe falls asleep to attend to either.”
Sinclair nods, glancing at his son before opening his arm to me, inviting me in. I accept immediately, scooting over so that I’m curled up by my mate’s side, a thrill running through me at the warmth and closeness of him.
“I’d love you anyway,” I say quietly, ” but I have to say, I really love that you’re basically a furnace of body heat that always keeps me warm.”
Sinclair laughs with both pleasure and surprise when I say this. “Glad I can be of service,” he murmurs, dropping a kiss to my cheek and pressing closer. ” What made you think of that?”
“Don’t you feel it?” I ask, turning to look at him. “It got so cold suddenly. I don’t know what happened.”
“I guess I didn’t,” he murmurs, “but, apparently I’m a furnace, so maybe it makes sense that I -”
But suddenly he stops, his jaw falling open a bit as his gaze falls on the window.
“What?” I ask, but I don’t tense because the feeling he passes down the bond is joy and wonder. Eager, I turn, trying to see what he sees
And suddenly, my eyes light on the window to. “Oh my god,” I say, my voice a little breathless. “It’s – it’s snowing
Huge, gorgeous flakes of pure white snow drift slowly down from the sky, dancing gracefully across the window pane.
I watch them for a long, fascinated moment before I frown a little. “Isn’t it …isn’t it way too early for snow?” I ask, confused.
“Well,” Sinclair says, laughing a little. “When your mom is a demigoddess who controls the weather, probably not.”
“Ohhh,” I say, finally getting it. “Oh, that is so special,” I murmur, pressing a hand to my heart, “what a wonderful way to welcome your baby to the world
“Welcome, baby Jesse,” Sinclair sighs, pulling me close against him and smiling at me as we watch the snow. Rafe crawls over to us and puts up his arms so that I will pull him into my lap, a request which I happily oblige.
“And welcome Princess Babygirl,” I murmur, smiling and laughing a little at the ridiculous placeholder of a name. Sinclair laughs along with me. “Cora doesn’t know it yet, but this is for you too. We love you so much already.”
I sigh, feeling the warmth of my mate behind me, and my sweet baby in my lap, and the new bond with my little girl growing within me -And I close my eyes, feeling totally, completely blessed.
