Two weeks later

"Placenta and amniotic sack look good. Baby is measuring up perfectly for twenty-two weeks." Amber adjusted the ultrasound wand on my belly. "I know we did the big scan last week but everything is still where it should be, in fact I want to say she is in the top percentile for growth, which we are lucky to see." Amber moved the wand and I listened to the steady whooshing that represented my daughter's heartbeat, a small smile on my face as I watched the image on the screen. "It makes me feel more secure in our timeline of thirty-six weeks. With her measuring up so well, and if it continues, we know she will be more than prepared for the early delivery, especially with giving you the steroid shots."

The words washed over me, along with a touch of anxiety. We had talked about it extensively but the thought of needing to take her out before she was due was still scary for me. I wanted her to be where she was safe and where she would keep growing but I also knew it was what was safest. I traced the little face outline I could see with my eyes and I had the sudden urge to cry.

I sniffled, trying to force everything back down. There was no need to cry but Amber gave a small aww. "It will be okay, Menza." Her voice was comforting and that just made the tears that much worse and my bottom lip trembled as I struggled to hold them back. She pulled the ultrasound wand away, putting it back on the machine. "She's going to be born healthy and with no issues. I know you want to keep her inside until her due date but she will be okay at thirty-six weeks." I nodded before bursting into tears. I covered my face with my hands, feeling so embarrassed. I was seeming to cry at the drop of a hat and I didn't like the feeling but I couldn't control it.

Amber grasped my shoulder and I sniffled, trying to stifle the sobs. "We are already prepping the infirmary for the worst case scenario, the Hunters are going to provide a neonatal cot along with all the hardware. It will arrive when you're at twenty-six weeks just to be on the safe side." I wiped at my eyes before blinking rapidly and nodding. I knew it was the right thing to do and that everything would be okay. I knew that. "Andrew is even putting his studies on hold for the moment to get a crash course in neonatal care and midwife-ry so he can be an extra support person. We also have several nurses that will be coming the day before we induce you. We have a whole team to make sure it will go perfectly."

I nodded again but my bottom lip kept trembling. "I know." I croaked the words and she handed me a tissue that I used to wipe at my face. "I'm just crying all the time." It took all I had not to burst into tears all over again. I was so emotional and I hated it. I couldn't control my emotions and I spent a lot of time crying over the silliest of things.

She chuckled. "I know the feeling. When I was pregnant with my little Lula, I was a mess at the same stage." She leaned over me, catching my gaze with her blue eyes. "You are growing an entire human being right now and that takes a lot out of you physically and your hormones are surging and all over the place. We can forgive ourselves some tears."

I knew what she was saying but it didn't stop the new surge of tears. "I just really want her to stay where she's safe." I wanted her to stay inside me until she was ready to come out, not before that. I didn't want to have to prepare for her being too little and her being sick because of it. I didn't want to have to think about neonatal care and having them prepare for the very worst. I wanted her to be okay, for the pregnancy to be normal.

"I know and I would prefer her be in you until she's due as well but it's safer for her not to be." Amber's voice was low and soothing and I hated that I was the reason there was no safety for my daughter, that she had to come out early.

"I feel like a bad person!" I bawled, bursting into tears all over again. I was the reason she couldn't stay inside me. I made the deal with Mene and it was such a selfish thing to do. It was different when I couldn't feel her move, hear her heartbeat, or see pictures of her. I thought it only affected me but now it didn't and my poor innocent little female had to bear the consequences of it.

"Oh honey, why on earth would you be a bad person?" Amber's voice became even softer and she gave me a slight hug.

I stifled the sobs and swallowed them down. "I made the deal with Mene, I'm the reason it's not safe. It was selfish of me." It was and now she was bearing the consequences of that. I had wanted something of my own but now the consequences were becoming so very apparent. It was my fault.

"Hey, hey. It's okay." Amber brushed away some of my tears and grasped my hand.

I shook my head, tears once again filling my eyes. "It's not."

"It is because if you hadn't made that deal, your little female wouldn't be growing inside of you right now." The soft and comforting words had me blinking and then using my free hand to wipe away the tears. "I'm aware of the curse Mene brought down on the old ways. There never would have been a pregnancy if that deal hadn't been made. This little baby here," She touched my belly, "Has a chance at life because of that deal, Menza. The only reason we are talking about taking her early and making preparations is because you made a deal that ensured she had a chance at survival."

"You are so caught up in your mindset that it's your fault you're forgetting that she only has a chance now because you bargained with the mother goddess for it." Amber squeezed my hand and I wiped at my eyes again as I looked at her. "Yes it gave added complications but there are females who have high risk pregnancies that could hurt both them and the child all the time too. This is no different than that. Are the complications a little different? Of course but it's okay." She gave me a soft smile, brushing back the curly baby hairs from my forehead. "You saved your baby's life, Menza. Is it selfish to save someone's life?" The question was asked softly and I let out a shuddering breath.

"No." I hadn't thought about it like that, that I had saved my little female's life. I could remember more clearly Mene telling me she was taking her, that she wasn't to be born. But she was inside me and growing now. I had made a deal to keep her and to give her a chance, one that we were now living.

"There we are. It wasn't too selfish if it saved a life." Amber gave my hand another squeeze before letting it go and grabbing some paper towel. She cleaned up my belly and pulled the maternity shirt down. "I know that this situation is hard, Menza, and it's scary, but it will be okay." Amber gave me a comforting smile and I nodded. She was right, there was a lot of preparation and a lot of help for what was going to happen. They were planning for every little thing and I had to let that comfort me but I also knew I had a lot of problems with anxiety, Amber had told me as much.

"Are you naked?" Duffy hollered through the infirmary door before she opened it without warning.

"It's a good thing she wasn't with you just barging in." Amber winked at me, chuckling and I smiled at Duffy as she came in.

"As if I care. Nude or not, we are all females and it's just skin." Duffy waved her off as she made her way over to the bed. "Crying again?" She hmphed and I flushed slightly, wiped at my sticky cheeks. "I don't blame you, trouble. You're growing a whole new set of bones and teeth in your belly. I cried during my two pregnancies as well. It's an exhausting thing, making eyeballs and organs." She pressed her hands to her hips and pinched her lips together. "Little miss is playing with Lula and Fern and you have to check out your house and go over some details."

At the words I nodded and swung my legs over the edge of the cot and got to my feet. I grimaced and rubbed at my back. I wasn't used to the extra weight in my stomach so my back was tinging more often but I knew it was okay, just muscles getting used to the extra weight. The heartburn was a bit of a new irritation but I was thankful most of my nausea had gone away.

"You need your boots and your coat, trouble." Duffy sniffed before gesturing at me to hurry up as she moved to the door again.

"Thank you, Amber." I smiled at the doctor and she nodded.

"Remember you have therapy tomorrow. I'll be busy with Bailey at three but any time before or after that will be okay." At the reminder I nodded absentmindedly as I moved across the room, following Duffy. There was a lot to think about in regard to therapy. I had... opened up a lot more with Amber. Her telling me to be gentle with myself because I had to remember that I was healing that little girl inside me, had helped me understand where she was coming from a lot better. Amber told me I had to basically 're-parent' myself. To give myself what I had been lacking growing up, which included being kind and gentle to myself, to be patient and understanding, and to value myself as a person of worth so that who I had been, that little girl who lost her mum, could heal.

It was a little strange but it made sense in a way. I hadn't really gotten nurturing and kindness from adult figures growing up, so I had to heal that by taking over the role myself. It probably helped that Amber told me it would help me be the best parent I possibly could to my daughter and Maeve. I had to agree, I wanted to be the best possible mum I could to my girls. I knew Maeve wasn't mine, that she was Brochan's and Chrissie's, but I loved her like she was my own and I wanted to make sure I was in a good place for her and my daughter.

I left the infirmary and Duffy was standing by the door, my jacket in her hand and my boots already set out. "Come on, trouble, daylight's wasting away!" She grumped it out and I smiled at her again, rubbing my stomach.

"How's baby?" Jace's voice was a shout from his office and I looked over my shoulder.

"Growing properly." I called it out in return. It was difficult to get into the habit but Jace expected everyone to yell at him like that when he was calling from the other side of the house.

"That's good! I can't wait until the little bugger is born." His words carried through the house and I smiled slightly. Everyone was so friendly and nice to me, they really were.

"Me too!" I replied loudly as I made it to Duffy and stuffed my feet into the boots and took the coat from her. I pulled it on, doing it up carefully.

Duffy's expression was pinched but she reached out and patted my belly through the coat. "I can't wait to meet baby either." She hmphed before she pulled open the front door and headed out onto the porch. I followed her, tucking my chin and mouth down into the collar of my jacket. The air was cold and I was thankful it was winter. I had started to get hot flashes and it was nice to be able to open a window and have the icy winter air come inside. I couldn't imagine how I would have handled the hot flashes in the summer. It was almost enough to make me want to cry when I thought about it, so I tried very hard not to think about it.

Duffy waited for me at the bottom of the stairs and once I reached the bottom she fell into step beside me. We walked through the snow in relative silence. I could hear the sounds of hammering and saws going but those has become so common place it was easy enough to block out. There were a lot of new buildings going up. Besides the house for me and the one for Duffy, there were three more houses going up and a big building that everyone had voted on to include after I mentioned the craft hall Sublatus had.

Everyone thought it was a great idea. They called it the recreation hall and it would house rooms for therapy, play areas, a small library area, a place to play games, a gym, and even a movie theatre. Which was a lot to take in especially after Jace told me he would make sure there was a space for me to have my quilting frames so I could keep quilting if I wanted. I had told him it was okay if there wasn't but he told me the Hunters were paying for a majority of the building so I would get a quilting area 'whether I wanted one or not'. He had laughed after that but I had been touched they had thought of that for me.

"Cupcake!" Collin's voice carried over the snow and when I glanced up he was waving at me through the open doorway of the framed house I was to call home, a wide smile on his face. "How did everything go?" He jumped down the stairs, his strides eating up the space between us, his smile was warm and inviting as he stopped at my side and crooked his arm at me.

I gave a faint smile but tucked my arm into it. "It went well. Baby is growing as she is supposed to. She's in the top percentile for growth." I nodded as he fell into step beside me, patting the arm I had tucked into his.

"That's great, cupcake. I like hearing about healthy babies and healthy mamas." He looked down at me and when I glanced up, he winked at me. I looked away, my cheeks only slightly flushing. I was getting used to Collin. He flirted with everyone, even Duffy. Which, to my surprise, drove her nuts. She hadn't minded when Simon had done it but had smacked Collin a few times with her slippers when he laid it on thick, spitting out that he was a horny male with no morals. Collin just laughed at her when she did it. I had a feeling he did it specifically to rile her up and get that reaction.

"Let's get you up the stairs, cupcake. Careful, they're a bit slippery." Collin stood off to one side of the wooden steps into the framed out house and took my hand. I nodded and carefully went up them.

"Mene!" Jay came from inside, immediately reaching out and grasping my free hand. "Could have called me, Collin!" Jay snapped it out as he helped me fully into the house, Collins' hand letting mine go. "The stairs are slippery."

Collin let my hand go. "I had her hand and was watching, Jailbird. No need to twist your panties that tight." He scoffed and Jay rolled his eyes as he led me further inside as Duffy came up the stairs behind me.

"It's super slippery on the stairs. Bently went ass over tea kettle earlier together while carrying a load of studs. We had to send him home because he strained his back." Jay looked over me and I smiled, pulling my hand from his.

"I'm okay. Nothing happened." I looked around, everything was still bare looking but I knew they were waiting on windows and the doors before they put in the insulation and interior walls. At least that was what they were telling me.

He grabbed my shoulder and bent down to look me in the eye. "We aren't risking you or baby on some slippery stairs." The sincere concern he had made me smile but I nodded anyway. Jay was a little finicky like that but Angie and Mari told me he was like that with both of them. Even Amber said he had acted like that with her when she had gotten pregnant.

"You act like she's made of fine china." Duffy grumbled it out and Jay shook his head, giving my shoulders a squeeze before he let his hands drop.

"She is delicate." Bennett stated it as he walked by, what looked to be eight two-by-fours on his shoulder as he walked towards the back of the house. "All hemi-lykos are." He called the words out and Duffy grumbled under her breath but said nothing in return.