Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 121146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
“Celia Alvarez. Pregnant with one female fetus, 100% human DNA,” it read.
“Madre de Dios,” Celia whispered, looking down at the paper through eyes that were suddenly blurry with tears. “This means the baby is Peter’s, doesn’t it? I mean, there’s no way at all it could be Hold’s and Fierce’s.”
“I’m afraid that’s exactly what it means,” Liv said gently. “Is that a problem?”
“A problem?” Celia nearly laughed, but it turned into a sob. She couldn’t forget all the remarks Fierce had made about her “having another male’s stupid human baby.” There was no way the Dark Twin would want to raise Peter’s baby as his own. Hold might be willing to, but she knew Fierce would hate it.
She supposed she could terminate the pregnancy, but that just didn’t sit right with her. She’d felt unwanted and unloved her whole childhood and she’d promised herself if she ever got pregnant she would love and cherish the baby, no matter what.
But how could she break the news to Fierce and Hold?
I can’t do it—I can’t face them, she thought as she began crying in earnest. She was aware that Kat and Liv were trying to comfort her, but she was crying too hard to speak. Over—her life with the two big warriors was over. She would have to go her own way and raise this baby on her own. But the thought that her daughter wouldn’t have a father hurt terribly—especially when she remembered how she’d felt abandoned by her own father.
Just then there was a buzzing sound from the speaker in the corner and a voice said,
“Excuse me, Doctor Olivia? Are you in there?”
Liv, who had been rubbing Celia’s back, looked up.
“Yes? What is it? I’m in the middle of a patient consultation.”
“Sorry to bother you, Doctor,” the voice said apologetically. “But this is Commander Gerrin from Communications. We have the fiancé of your patient on a call from Earth and he wants to talk to her. You are seeing Celia Alvarez, right?”
“Yes, but—” Liv began.
“Is…is it Peter?” Celia interrupted her. “Is he the one calling?”
“Er, yes—Peter Thielgood calling for Celia Alvarez and I was told she was in the Med Station with Dr. Olivia,” the voice confirmed.
“Can I talk to him?” Celia sniffed and blotted her eyes on the voluminous sleeve of the exam gown.
“Well, yes—we have a viewscreen here in the exam room,” Liv said. She nodded at something that looked like a flat screen TV monitor in the corner of the room. “It’s right up there.”
“Can you put him on then?” Celia asked hopefully. “Please?”
“Of course.” Liv nodded and said, “Commander Gerrin, please patch the vid-call through to the main Med Center, exam room two.”
“Will do, Doctor.” The voice cut out and after a moment, the viewscreen came to life showing an extremely worried looking Peter.
“Darling!” He exclaimed the moment he saw Celia. “Oh, it’s true—you’re back! And you’re all right! Er—are you all right?” He added, looking her over anxiously. “What’s that strange garment you’re wearing?”
“It’s a hospital gown, but I’m all right,” Celia told him quickly. “They were just checking us out because we went through a wormhole that was starting to destabilize and—”
“Darling, none of that is important now.” Peter interrupted her. “I’m just so thankful you’re alive and back in one piece. And just in time for our wedding!”
Celia bit her lip. Here was the part where she told Peter she had to call the wedding off because Hold and Fierce had Claimed her…or she would have, if it wasn’t for the baby. There was no way she could go back to the twins and admit she was having another man’s child…things were going to have to be over between them. But she also didn’t want her baby to be raised without a father. And since Peter was the baby’s biological father, it made sense to go back to him.
“Yes,” she said at last. “Just…just in time for our wedding.”
“How soon can you get here?” Peter demanded. “I know it’s late but you’ll have time for a few hours sleep before you have to get ready. Mummy has everything all set up—she always believed you’d come back in time!”
“That’s…so kind of her.” Celia tried to smile. “I’ll come down to you right away.” She looked at Liv. “Can you arrange for someone to fly me down to Earth? Right now—tonight?” she asked.
Liv frowned but nodded.
“Well, yes. There are always warriors waiting in the Docking Bay to bring people back and forth to Earth—in case of emergencies, you know.”
“Good. Thank you.” Celia nodded and looked back up at the viewscreen with Peter on it. “I’ll be there soon.”
“I can’t wait to see you and hold you in my arms again, my darling!” Peter blew her a kiss. “And tomorrow we’ll have the perfect fairytale Christmas Eve wedding! You should see how beautiful the chapel at St. Paul’s is! Mummy has it all decorated for Christmas!”