The Lunar Destiny Series

Chapter 31

Lio and I called a truce temporarily so that we could sleep peacefully that night. Once he spooned me, it wasn’t long before I fell asleep. I started dreaming very vividly.

I was sitting on a white-wicker chair in a room I’d never seen before. I was by a large bay window, the sun shining on me brightly. My hair was ridiculously long. It touched the floor where the bottom of my very elegant, silk, white dress pooled around my bare feet. I seemed to be looking at myself in a third person view this time. I was looking down at my stomach and rubbing it gently. I looked pregnant, at least seven months along.

Suddenly Lio entered the room, smiling with adoration. He was wearing a white, long sleeved shirt with gray dress pants and was barefoot as well. He walked over to me and knelt down in front of me to rub my bulging stomach. The dream was steadily going in a good direction. Then, three small children that looked between the ages of three and five came running into the room but they looked nothing like me. As I looked closer at them I could see that they were the spitting image of Lisette. They even had her big green eyes. For some reason Lio and I were both smiling at them. Of course Lisette came in just as pregnant as I was but she was smiling instead of scowling at me. At that moment I woke up, and I felt more upset than I should have.

My eyes opened and Lio’s face was above mine with eyes full of curiosity.

“Are you alright? You were mumbling in your sleep and it sounded like you were having a bad dream.” He said.

“Um, yeah you might say that…” I said trying to forget about the good dream turned sour.

Lio lowered his head to my jaw line and started nuzzling me with his nose slowly.

“Can I ask you what you dreamt about?”

He asked before he began kissing my neck.

My eyes started to get heavy again. “I…Was pregnant…We were happy…”

I started to explain. Then just like in my dream, Lisette came downstairs and ruined it.

“Lio, my King, I need a moment to speak with you.”

She said, coming down the stairs completely. What was with the formal speech all of a sudden? She didn’t speak to him formally most of the time unless she was in trouble. Lio and I both sighed before he looked up at her.

“What do you need to speak with me about Lisette?” He asked, not bothering to hide his agitation.

“Not in front of your human, this isn’t her business.”

She snapped suddenly. Lio rose up from my side and gave her the full weight of his glare. I think I saw her flinch.

“Lisette, you will call her by her name only. Do you understand?” She sighed and straightened her posture.

“This matter is personal, Lio. I’m not discussing it in front of…Astraia.”

My name came out of her mouth like she’d spit venom. Her hatred for my existence was so raw, we could never peacefully coexist.

“Lisette, anything you have to say can be said in front of Astraia. It isn’t like she’s going to tell anyone.” He said.

“The nurse is in the den, she wants to speak to you about our baby. It’s good news this time…” She said, raising her eyebrows. She looked from Lio to me and I almost looked away. When she realized she couldn’t stare me down, she frowned and looked back at Lio. Lio sighed heavily before he leaned over and nudged my left cheek with his nose.

“I won’t be long, alright?”

He left the basement with Lisette and I decided to get in the shower. I went into the bathroom and turned on the shower with only hot water. I undressed and stepped over the ledge of the tub, pulling the shower curtains closed as I got into the shower.

I stepped directly under the shower head, the water was steaming hot. My skin stung a little as the water hit me, but it was nothing compared to how I was feeling now. How would any woman feel knowing another woman was pregnant by her fiancé? Pretty shitty I’d expect.

Once I washed up and washed my hair, I got out and turned the water off. I got a big towel from a little cubby in the wall next to the shower and wrapped it around myself. I sat down on the toilet and looked at my arms and legs. There was still steam coming off of me, and my dark caramel skin looked slightly red.

I sat there thinking of the dream I had this morning while finger combing my loose curls. I wasn’t sure how long I sat there like that, but it felt like hours.

Lio came into the bathroom after some time. I saw him standing in the doorway out of the corner of my eye. His arms were crossed over his chest. I could feel his eyes on me.

“So, what’s the good news?” I asked, not meeting his eyes.

“Nurse Clement specializes in the prenatal science of shifters, though she works closely with our pack mostly. She listened to the baby’s heartbeat and it was very strong. When she did the ultrasound everything looked normal. We were shocked to say the least.”

Lio came into the bathroom and leaned against the counter.

“Nurse Clement told us that the baby showed no ill effects from Lisette’s shifting, unlike the common cases. There’s a good chance the baby will survive to term this time…”

I looked up at him to see a smile on his face. The way he smiled now, was the same smile he gave me. He didn’t care that Lisette was the mother, as it was now possible for him to be a father. Was it selfish of me to be angry? Jealous? If Lisette carries this baby to term, where does that leave me? Why would he want to marry me still? It would be wrong to marry someone else when another woman is going to have your first born child.

I stood up and walked past him out of the bathroom.

“Astraia, please don’t get upset. I know this has to be difficult for you, but it’s even more difficult for me.” He said.

That comment pushed me to my boiling point. I went to my duffle bag on the right side of the bed and started to get dressed as fast as I could.

“Difficult for you? You must be joking Lio.”

I said putting on my underwear.

“What?” He said, coming to sit on the bed.

“This baby is what you’ve been waiting a long time for. I don’t even want to know how many times she’s been pregnant by you. If she has your child, where does that leave us? Do you honestly believe that Lisette would give us her blessing to get married when she’s having your first child? She doesn’t even want us together now. The question I hope you’ll ask yourself is: do you think that I would go through with it?”

I had on my yellow t-shirt and blue jean shorts by the end of my rant. Lio sat there staring at me, no longer smiling.

“Astraia, I can’t help but be happy about the baby. You’re right about everything you’ve just said. One thing you can be sure of is that I love you. We were meant to be mates for life, suka (pronounced “soo-kah”, which means ‘love’ in Malay). This baby won’t change any of that.” He said in a sullen voice.

I nodded as I slipped into my yellow sandals and picked up my duffle bag. That’s when Lio got up and came to stand in front of me. He looked down at me deeply saddened.

“Where are you going? I thought you were staying.” He said.

“I’ve changed my mind. I need to go home and think about some things on my own.” I said.

“What can I do to keep you here? I feel like you’re leaving me for good Astraia. I don’t want to lose you, I couldn’t bear it.”

He put his arms around me and held me tight to him. It was killing me inside to do this to him, but I had to be alone for a little while. This whole baby thing was hard to accept.

“Lio, you need to let me go. It would be even more selfish of you to ask me to stay.”

“I know. Just promise me that I haven’t lost you, promise me.” He was really pushing it.

“I promise. Now let me go home Lio, please.”

He released me from his embrace.

“I’ll drive you, if that’s alright.” He said.

I didn’t respond, I didn’t think I could say anything else to him. We exited the basement and I noticed Kyra and Naremi standing in the hallway not far from me. Their faces held caution and confusion.

“Astraia are you going back home? I thought you were staying for a little while.” Kyra said.

“I was, but something important came up…” I said to them before continuing down the hall.

I saw them look at Lio before I walked away and whatever expression that was on his face changed their expressions to very concerned ones. Once we were in the car and en route to my house, the awkward silence set in. During the whole ride we said nothing to each other.

After about fifteen minutes, we pulled up in front of my house. Lio turned the car off and looked over at me. Those amazing silver eyes seemed to shine less now.

“Right now, I know that you feel angry and upset with me. I want you to know that I understand why. I hope you will not forget that I love YOU, not her. I never meant for things to happen this way.” He said.

“Neither did I…” I said before I got out of the car with my duffle bag in hand.

He rolled down the passenger side window and I looked back.

“If you need anything, please call me.” He said before starting the car up again.

I just nodded as I turned back around and went up the stairs to the house. I didn’t look back as I went back inside. I locked the door and put my back against the door sighing. Lio’s car pulled away from the curb with a loud vroom. In that moment I wasn’t sure that I’d made the right choice leaving like that. However, I did know one thing; I couldn’t stand to stay in a house where a woman besides myself is carrying my fiancé’s baby. There wasn’t a woman alive who would do that. Would I still marry him? The real question was, should I?