I hear a low voice whisper something somewhere next to me, and then feel fingers rub gently on my naked stomach. When I come to register that the words belong to Hercules, I pretend to be asleep so that I wouldn’t stop him from speaking to his children inside of me. I can’t hear what he says, his soft lips are so close to the skin of my tummy as he mumbles and caresses my stretched skin. I still struggle to stay awake, wanting to hear what the devil is saying, but the deep slumber from my exhaustion keeps pulling at me and again, I lose myself to the darkness of sleep, forgetting all about the devil and the affection he just showed our babies.
Alesso visited me in my dreams. But he stayed behind the shadows, not wanting to show himself while my hand was clutched tight in Hercules’s with o
