Isabelle had learned about sex like any other teen aged girl who believed she was in love with her first high school boyfriend. Hurried, hushed, and very awkwardly in the back of his car. Things improved in college with new boyfriends and new loves. Not quite so hurried but still a bit hushed, at times still a bit awkward. A person doesn't have a whole lot of privacy in a dorm.
In her third year she'd met John and her sexual education got an upgrade. Gone were the playful gropings in stolen moments of quiet on the busy dorm floor.
John came from money so he hadn't been confined to a small room on campus. Instead his parents had paid for a two bedroom apartment a few blocks away. Far enough away that he could escape campus life but close enough that he could remain connected if he chose to.
The two of them had spent months in that well appointed corner suite, wrapped up in each other, slowly broadening their knowledge of each other's bodies. John couldn't believe his luck and had told her so often. She would laugh and tell him he was exaggerating though she knew why he would say things like that.
She had been one of those girls a person would expect to find on the arm of any one of the popular guys in school. She definitely had the looks the jocks seemed to like, tall, athletic, and leggy. She was beautiful in a conventional sense with big blue eyes that studied everything around her thoughtfully.
With his less conventional, if Isabelle was completely honest rather nerdy, looks they had been an unusual pair. But she had adored the way his curly chocolaty brown hair framed his face when he leaned over her. How his warm brown eyes lit up behind his glasses whenever he looked at her, and how his lips curved in a sweet smile just for her when they woke up together.
It hadn't mattered to her that he was only an inch taller than her or that he couldn't pick her up and throw her over his shoulder like a caveman. It mattered that he talked to her like an intelligent human being, that he listened to her with all of his focus when she spoke. And that he'd loved her with all the devotion he'd had in his big romantic heart.
In so many ways they had been perfect for each other. When they came together intimately John had always been kind and attentive, sweet and gentle and Isabelle never doubted his passion for her. But their love making hadn't prepared her for what she experienced once Alasdair was freed.
Wild faerie sex had been amazing but faerie lovemaking was something else entirely. The first night had a surreal edge to it, like neither of them could believe that he was really free. The second night gave her a glimpse into the world romance authors had been writing about for years.
She was sure there wasn't any part of her body Alasdair hadn't kissed and caressed. She imagined, when she looked in the mirror, that she could see the imprint of his love on her skin. When he'd hovered over her belly and the tiny secret she was holding back she held her breath hoping he didn't have the same ability as his mother.
She might have changed her mind about waiting if she'd known that he'd been imagining how beautiful she would look with his child growing in her. That, as his lips trailed across her skin, he'd whispered a prayer to the stars for that day to come soon.
But she didn't change her mind. Instead she waited for the proverbial other shoe to drop. His summons would come, soon if her instincts were correct, and there was nothing they could do to avoid it.
She could feel it bearing down on them just as clearly as she could feel the feathers tickling her cheek on the third morning after Alasdair had been freed. Her hand swiped at them and she settled into the pillow a little deeper. The feathers did it again, her eyes opened slightly. Alasdair was watching her in the dim predawn light, with a smile on his perfect lips.
"Good morning lass." His wing slid down, wrapping around her side.
"Good morning dream faerie," she mumbled. With a little sigh she turned to snuggle against his chest, smiling as his arm slid around her hip pulling her even closer. "Why are we up so early?"
"The sun is coming up." He pressed his lips against her forehead.
"And you want to watch the sunrise."
"And then come back to bed with you."
"We can't spend the entire morning in bed today. I have to go in to work." He sighed heavily. "Don't be like that. I feel bad enough for lying to Bernie yesterday. Besides, if I call in sick again he'll know something is up."
"I know," he said softly. His hand slid down to cup her butt and pull her against his hardness.
"You know, there will be another sunrise tomorrow." She looked up at him with a smile. His leg pushed between hers as he rolled her onto her back with a sexy little growl.
The sun rose over the sleepy little county without being observed by the lovers that morning.
*********************************
"Hi Bernie." Isabelle set the to go cup down on the counter next to him and leaned over his shoulder to peek at what he was reading.
"Good afternoon dear." He didn't look up from the book in front of him.
"Is that German?"
"Hmmm?"
"The book, is it in German?"
"Ah yes, it is." He straightened and looked at her over his glasses. "You look like you're feeling better."
"I just needed some rest." She turned and tossed her purse onto a shelf under the till.
"I imagine that will start happening more frequently now." He glanced at her midsection pointedly.
"I guess I've been lucky so far, just a bit of fatigue. Although my appetite has been through the damn roof lately."
Bernie chuckled. "I've been told that can happen. The morning sickness waits till just before the quickening."
"The quickening?"
"When the baby starts moving around." She put her hand on her belly. "That's also when the baby bonds with its parents."
"Now I'm confused. I thought that happened after the baby is born."
"In humans perhaps but that's not a human in there." He patted her arm. "Faerie are a little different."
"You mean magical."
"Indeed. My father told me it was quite a surprise. He knew he was going to have a son with wings but he didn't think about the magic." She smiled for a moment.
"When does the quickening usually happen?"
"I believe the third month if memory serves."
Isabelle did a quick calculation in her head.
"How far along are you?"
She looked up at him with a little frown. "About six weeks if what the doctor figures is right. I have an ultrasound booked next week so we'll get a better idea." She picked up her own to go cup and sipped the fragrant tea. "That reminds me. Do you know when the wings develop?"
"Not for a few years so you have nothing to worry about."
"Years?" She sputtered. "How long am I going to be pregnant?"
He laughed at the stricken look on her face. "About the same as with a fully human baby. I meant the baby's wings will develop a few years after she's born. Mine grew out when I was five." His shoulders twitched under his sport coat. "I was a late bloomer."
The bell over the door rang ending Isabelle's questions. In walked a be-speckled gray haired woman.
"Hello Mrs. Fulton." Isabelle called to her.
"Hello Isabelle." She smiled at Bernie. "Mr. Davis."
"I told you Margret."
Isabelle stifled a giggle as the older woman's cheeks turned pink under the large frames of her glasses.
"Yes you did, Bernie."
He leaned against the counter. "How are the grand kids? Excited for their visit next week?"
"Oh yes. Well Jason is anyway. Melissa is getting to that age where visiting your grandma isn't fun anymore."
"She'll come around eventually. Don't you think Isabelle?"
Isabelle rolled her eyes before turning back. It was easy to see he was trying to use her as a buffer. "Of course she will. Hopefully she doesn't drive you crazy before she does." Isabelle tilted her head and gave the older woman a sympathetic look. Bernie slipped behind Isabelle reaching for a book on the lowest shelf of the bookcase across from the till.
"This came in for you last week." He looked at the cover. "I haven't heard much about this one. Is it supposed to be good?" Isabelle caught a look at it and swallowed a laugh. It was just a glance but she was sure she'd seen a gray tie displayed predominantly.
"I haven't read it myself but I have a feeling it's not really up your alley Bernie." Isabelle patted his shoulder and gave Mrs. Fulton a quick wink. The older woman nodded back while her cheeks turned a deeper pink.
"Oh. Well I'll just take your word for it," he said with a confused look. Under the register Isabelle's phone rang out, the chimes muffled by the leather of her purse.
She grabbed for it, saw her home number on the display and mouthed, "I should take this." She turned from the pair at the counter and walked to the back of the store, hitting the answer button quickly. She'd shown Alasdair how to use the land line before she left, in case he needed anything. "Hello?"
"Lass," He sounded a bit flustered. "I've forgotten how to work that machine."
"Which one?"
"The one that heats up food." She walked him through which buttons to press on the microwave to heat up a plateful of chicken. "Thank you. Perhaps I should write this down."
"It'll just take a little time." She smiled and peeked around the shelf she was standing behind. She couldn't see Bernie at the counter. "Is it working for you?"
"Yes, everything is spinning around the way it should." She could hear the smile in his voice.
"Okay good. Well, call me if you need anything."
"Thank you lass." The line disconnected.
"Note to self, teach the faerie how to say goodbye before hanging up the phone." She hit the end call button, then turned and almost ran into Bernie.
"Who was that?" he asked casually.
Well that secret lasted all of two damn days.
"No one," she said as she slid the phone into the back pocket of her jeans.
"Such an odd comment to make." His eyes narrowed. "What does that mean? 'Teach the faerie to say good bye before hanging up'."
She looked down at the floor for a moment. "I'm sorry." Her head lifted as he stepped closer.
