Valentines and Valkyries Read online

  The ultrasound office was a little clinic with pink walls, deeper maroon industrial carpet, and chairs that were not nearly comfortable enough. Seeing as how Scarlett and Harper were only a couple months along, Scarlett didn’t think these chairs would do at all. It was a good thing that she was only here to make sure everything was ok with the baby. The druidic knowing told her that the baby was fine, but Scarlett wanted to see her baby.

  She wanted to see the face of her precious one. She would use a druid midwife when the time for birth came. Unlike with Ella and Luna, this time Scarlett would give birth in the family grove, she would wrap her baby up in nature magic, family magic, and love, but she was going to use modern science to look at her baby’s face today. She had told Harper that seeing the baby was necessary. Scarlett knew that she’d love her once she saw the baby’s face. The face would make it all real. Or realer. She needed the face, the sound of the heartbeat, and she needed to feel that love and protectiveness. Scarlett was a lot of things, but when it came to her daughters, she was a lioness. She needed to trigger the protectiveness and take the associated power of it.

  Protectiveness had Scarlett leaving her ex, Grant, when it was no longer good for her daughters to live with him. Protectiveness had Scarlett moving from Washington State back to the East Coast even though her relationship with her mom and Gram had been damaged when Scarlett had moved away. Protectiveness had her hunting down murderers to guard her babies. And protectiveness would give her the strength to get through these next months. What wouldn’t a mother do to take care of her babies? Scarlett was pretty sure there was nothing she wouldn’t do.

  Harper had heard the need in Scarlett’s voice when she said she wanted to see her baby, and her sister had found the ultrasound office, made the appointments for them both, and was holding Scarlett’s hand as they waited.

  “What are we doing after this?” Quinton asked. He was very tall, very thin, and very nerdy. If you added a little bit of hipster to a library nerd, you’d have Quinton. He was even a librarian before he moved to Mystic Cove where he owned…you guessed it…a book shop. He sold all kinds of books even though history and archaic texts were his specialty, but he was addicted to the bodice rippers he sold. Somehow, she’d never caught him with one of the sweet little small town mysteries or the horror novels.

  She grinned at him, and he grinned back. There was a tightness to his mouth and the way he gripped Harper’s hand that told her he was as nervous to see his baby and she was to see hers.

  “Tacos,” Scarlett answered immediately. “And I need to hit a store for more undies and clothes. I didn’t have anything clean to pack.”

  Harper laughed at Scarlett and then said, “You know Lex loves you when he hires a druid chick to come over and clean your apartment.”

  “That was a surprise,” Lex told Harper. He glanced at Scarlett and said, “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

  Her eyes were burning with tears she couldn’t hold back as she asked, voice shaking, “They’re doing the laundry?”

  Lex nodded.

  “All of it?”

  Lex nodded.

  “Oh my stars,” Scarlett breathed. She wiped a tear away and croaked, “No one has ever…by the leaf…”

  The tears were rolling freely. Her apartment—clean. No laundry to do. A druid would do it just right. It would be wonderful. Knowing the Circle, they’d probably even stock her freezer. Was it bad that she was counting on cookie dough and lasagna?

  Another tear rolled down her face as Harper said, “Quit crying, crazy lady. It’s just laundry. Also, this place creeps me out. It’s too functional for babies.”

  Her gaze was fixed on a couple in their 30s, holding hands and whispering into each other’s ears. There was nothing wrong with that couple, but Harper was looking at them like they were murdering a cat in the corner. Scarlett ignored her sister and grabbed a tissue as a nurse opened the door to the backroom. The nurse met Scarlett’s crying gaze, sniffed, patted her too-tight bun, and then called, “Harper Oaken.”

  The sound of the nurse’s voice was a snap as the nurse said Harper’s name again. The other three rose and met Scarlett by the door.

  “Which one of you is Harper?”

  Scarlett’s sister cleared her throat to answer, but Quinton said, “This is Harper.”

  The nurse eyed the group, and then firmly shook her head as she said, “You may only have one companion for the appointment.”

  “We’re all coming in,” Harper stated.

  The nurse’s gaze narrowed and then she sharply sniffed before she snapped, “No.”

  Lex cocked his head and Quinton tucked Harper behind him. Scarlett and Harper laughed at that since, of them all, Harper was the most dangerous. This place would be lucky if it didn’t get burned down in the next few days. Quinton wrapped his arm around Harper and soothingly tried, “It’s important to us…”

  The nurse cut in, eyes narrowed as she said, “It’s against our poli…”

  Harper held up her hand and said, “We’re staying together. I’m going first. Then Scarlett. Get over it.”

  The nurse looked at Scarlett, Lex, and Quinton and then back at Harper. With a shake of her head, she tried again. “I’m afraid…”

  “We’re leaving if you don’t give us what we want,” Harper said clearly. Her voice was clear and commanding.

  “We will have to bill you if you leave without completing your appointment.”

  “You take us to that backroom together,” Harper said, leaning into the woman’s face and breathing magic on her, “Or I will speak to your boss, and you will regret it. I confirmed that this was fine, and you will comply with what we arranged.”

  The nurse’s gaze widened. There was no reason, Scarlett thought, for the nurse to be so obstinate. Especially because Scarlett had heard Harper confirm that their plan was ok. “I…”

  “Do what we want, or get your boss.” The power in Harper’s voice threaded through the room, so everyone but Harper, Scarlett, and their boyfriends was uncomfortable.

  “I…”

  “Now,” Harper said. The nurse scowled, but led them back. The jerk of her head was rude, and Scarlett was shocked the nurse had withstood Harper’s magic as long as she had.

  The nurse spun and walked back into the hallway. She said, “The technician will have to have people leave. You’ll see.”

  The door slammed shut behind the nurse and Lex said, “She has to have some sort of other in her to have stood against you like that Harper. Interesting.”

  “What a…mean little woman,” Quinton said.

  Harper glanced at him and then got up on the table. It was clear where each of them would lay back for the appointment. There was only one chair for the tech and one for the companion. Quinton gestured to that chair for Scarlett, but she shook her head and joined Lex against the wall.

  They waited for at least twenty minutes. Scarlett snuggled into Lex’s side while Harper tapped her fingers against the table she was sitting on. She finally said,“I bet the nurse didn’t tell them we were here. Or moved people ahead of us.”

  Scarlett was pretty sure that her sister was right but what she said was, “I could definitely go for some tacos. We’re getting tacos next. For sure. Thank goodness the nausea is gone. I’m starving.”

  “I hate you,” Harper instantly replied. “Carnitas tacos. And a grilled pineapple salsa.”

  “Guacamole and chips,” Scarlett suggested. “With extra hot sauce. This baby is going to come out breathing fire.”

  The door to the room opened and the technician laughed, “So how much trouble did Janet give you for having four of you in here?”

  “No one wins against Harper,” Lex said and grinned with that too-smooth charm that had both repelled and sucked Scarlett in when she’d first met him.

  The tech held up a finger and then came back with an extra chair for Scarlett, looking at Lex and adding, “I really can’t fit another chair in here.”

  Lex shrugged
and rubbed his hand over his head. Scarlett wondered suddenly if he’d been to these appointments for Amelie. She was his daughter, but Scarlett was pretty sure all of the baby stuff would be new for him with their baby. Somehow it seemed unlikely that he’d ever seen Amelie this way given how she had been a surprise baby from a relationship that had never been serious.

  “I’d have paid a good amount to see you win against Janet,” the technician said. Her chipper attitude was matched by a bouncy blond ponytail, bright brown eyes, and the perfect makeup of a true artist. “She told me to kick two of you out or she’d report me. She can go ahead. Like I would ever do that. I’m Carrie.”

  The tech held out her hand to Harper and then everyone else. Scarlett grinned and said, “Thank you for letting us stay together. My sister and I are both expecting and…”

  “You don’t have to explain,” Carrie said, “Most people have more than one person excited about their baby. We have extra chairs in the hallway for when we need them. Officially it’s against our policy to have too many people in here, but unofficially, we do it all the time. Janet reports us all the time. The head doctor just nods and then rolls his eyes when she’s not looking.”

  Carrie had Harper pull up her shirt. She had to slide down her leggings a bit and then her tiny baby bump was covered in jelly. “We won’t be able to see the sex today, but we can see how far along you are and make sure everything looks ok.”

  “It’s a girl,” Harper told the technician. “And I got pregnant around Christmas.”

  She raised her brows and then said, “I never question the mom.”

  Druids almost always had girls. Lex was a warlock, but their baby would probably be druid. Harper was one of the few mixed babies who carried abilities of both parents, but even she edged more towards druid than warlock.

  “What about you?” Carrie gestured at Scarlett as she placed the instrument against Harper’s baby bump. “Do you have any idea what you are having?”

  “It’s a girl,” Scarlett said simply.

  Carrie eyed them both without quite letting her disbelief show. You could see how the surety is what kept her from quite buying it. Most people probably said, I think it’s a girl. Or I’ve been feeling like it could be a girl. Not that it was a girl.

  “Can you grab the light?” Carrie asked Lex who flipped the light off and they all turned to the screen that showed the inside of Harper’s womb.

  “Hmm,” Carrie said, cocking her head as she examined the screen and making her blond ponytail trail over the side of her neck. Scarlett focused too long on the ponytail before she turned to the screen. She’d heard the note of something in the tech’s voice.

  This was not Scarlett’s first time seeing a baby inside the womb. She’d seen both of her daughters this far along, so it took only a moment for things to clarify into why the tech had hummed.

  “Oh my effing stars,” Scarlett breathed, pressing her fingers to her mouth as she stared. “That damn fertility…”

  Lex cleared his throat before Scarlett finished and Scarlett snapped her mouth shut. He was trying to protect what they were. Scarlett didn’t care so much about that in the moment. Instead, she felt sweat forming on her brow as she stared. The knowing struck her hard, and her heart was racing with the fear of it.

  “Are you on fertility meds?” Carrie asked carefully. “I didn’t see anything in your chart when I reviewed it.”

  Scarlett wondered how many people were given the news Carrie was about to deliver and freaked out. It wouldn’t be that surprising that the first reaction was dramatic. It wouldn’t be that surprising to have someone who knew how hard babies were break into tears.

  “Sort of,” Harper hedged. “Why? What’s wrong?”

  “Oh nothing is wrong,” Carrie said, taking Harper’s free hand and squeezing it. “You’re doubly blessed. There are two babies. It’s twins. Congratulations.”

  “Twins?” Quinton croaked. Scarlett breathed in through her nose, hooting it out through her mouth. Once, twice, again. It wasn’t enough. By the stars, they’d both been victims of the fertility charm.

  The room was stark in its silence as Harper and Scarlett digested the news. Carrie held the instrument steady, so they could see the two little heads. The two little sets of hands. The two little spines.

  “We’re stupid,” Harper told Scarlett quietly, voice shaking, still staring at the screen. “Gram was hinting and hinting. Even Henna hinted. The knowing…”

  Lex cleared his throat again, but Harper ignored him. Her gaze turned not to Quinton but to Scarlett. They stared blankly at each other, thinking the same thought. Realizing the same thing. Harper was pragmatic enough to say it out loud, “You are too.”

  “Shut your face,” Scarlett said, feeling nausea rise hot and fast. Hearing her sister say it made it all the more difficult to ignore the knowing.

  “You know it already.”

  Scarlett grabbed the garbage can and heaved into it. The knowing hit Scarlett again. Strong and sure. Probably had been whispering this to her for some time. She hadn’t wanted to know. But now that it was in front of her, she was sure. She could even remember Gram’s foretelling of her just after she’d come back to Mystic Cove. Let alone those callous hints that Gram had been throwing out and Scarlett had been refusing to pick up.

  “Shut your stupid face,” Scarlett told Harper, shaking.

  Carrie’s gaze darted between Harper and Scarlett as they snapped at each other. She was confused but not stupid, so she followed their train of thought. “You think you’re having twins too?”

  Scarlett glanced at Carrie, realizing how implausible it must seem to have two sisters pregnant at the same time, both certain they were having girls, and then also both having twins. Within days of each other? The chances were astronomical. Unless you knew about magic and fertility charms—then it was just obvious if you cared to see. Scarlett took a careful breath and said, “Oh it’s twins.”

  Lex choked and Scarlett glanced at him. She raised a brow and he said, “I’m just shocked. Every…”

  He lost his train of thought and placed his hands on his knees, leaning over, and taking deep breaths. Scarlett socked him on the arm, hard.

  “You better not chicken out on me,” she hissed.

  He stood, grabbed her face, and laid a fervent kiss on her before he swore, “Never.”

  “Mom is having twin girls too,” Scarlett told Harper.

  “That’s so many babies.”

  “So many bows.”

  “So much pink and purple.”

  “So much squealing and shrieks.”

  “By the leaf,” Scarlett said and then she got a flash of the knowing. Brilliant this time. Brilliant and vivid and with a vision. Two little girls, holding hands and skipping through a meadow together. Luna, older and beautiful leading the way, while Ella and Amelie brought up the rear. They were laughing. They were happy. Just seeing it in her heart made Scarlett happy. “It’s going to be so much fun.”

  Scarlett’s turn with the jelly arrived and it took her only moment to see each of her baby’s faces. They had large heads and little hands. They were nestled, together as if they were always hugging.

  “Is your mom really having twins?” Carried asked, and Scarlett heard the thread of wanting in her voice. Scarlett pulled on the knowing and her abilities and hoped that Carrie would explain. She admitted, “I have been trying to get pregnant for five years.” Carrie swallowed on what was clearly a dry throat and said, “Your family is very blessed.”

  Scarlett raised her brow at Lex and nodded at Carrie. He shook his head. She did it again. A fertility charm was so much easier, on the spot, for a warlock than for a druid. She tugged a thread from her shirt, handed it to him, and raised a brow.

  He shook his head again, and Scarlett said, “Please?”

  With gritted teeth, Lex tied the thread around Carrie’s wrist, breathed the magicked words under his breath, and said, “Have sex often. Don’t take this off until you find
out you’re pregnant.”

  Carrie blinked at Scarlett as she closed her eyes and infused her will and magic into the thread. It would work, she knew.

  “Babies are a blessing,” Scarlett told Carrie. “Thank you for reminding me. These ones were quite the surprise and I’m a little…shocked. And terrified.”

  The confusion on Carrie’s face was evident. Nothing about this made sense. Her gaze was fixed on her wrist and then she looked back to the image of Scarlett’s twin daughters.

  “Your double twin pregnancies are very unusual,” Carrie said, staring at the thread on her wrist and wanting to believe in what they’d implied.

  “Yes,” Scarlett replied, eyeing Carrie. Curious if she’d follow through on Lex’s instructions.

  “What can it hurt?”

  “Exactly,” Scarlett said.

  “I want to be a mom so bad.”

  “Then do what Lex said,” Scarlett gestured to the two sets of pictures that had been printed for Harper and Scarlett. They were measuring only days apart. Neither of them were on fertility meds. They were both expecting twins. It was situations like this that made people believe in magic. If Carrie wanted to be a mom…she needed to have a little faith in the impossible.

  What should make someone believe in magic, Scarlett thought, was the way that her daughters were curled together inside of her womb. The way it was evident—even now—that these girls were close. United little souls who needed each other. Let alone the way the magic of their lives and Harper’s daughters lives filled the room. Life itself was a testament to magic if only you would see.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The nap was perfect. Going shopping and spending the day without little girls was even better. There was something magical about being an adult without kids after becoming a parent. Scarlett loved her daughters, Ella and Luna, more than anything else in the world. But sometimes she was suffocated by them and a day with tacos and no one asking for treats was a new level of bliss.