Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 139178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
“I know. We swapped cuttings.”
“All I got is a chunky baby. You want to hold him for a bit?”
Elena wasn’t used to babies, but with Hudson grinning his gummy baby grin at her, she’d decided to risk it. And fallen in love with that happy kid, who’d immediately yanked at her hair.
“Oh yeah, should’ve warned you,” Ransom had said as he shrugged off his leather jacket, having already put the baby carrier on the planting table beside the helmet. “He’s a grabber.”
“He’s cute enough to get away with it.” After detaching her hair from his hands, Elena had walked Hudson around to his cheerful gurgles…and come back to find Ransom fast asleep in the comfortable chair she kept in one corner for visitors who wanted to hang with her while she puttered about in the greenhouse.
“He was completely out,” she said into her virtual memory box. “Long leather-clad black legs, dark green tee, tattoo around his biceps, hair tied back in a queue, enough weapons on him to outfit an army…and a child’s stuffed toy in his hand.
“It looked loved enough that I knew it had to be Hudson’s favorite. That was the day I truly saw my friend as a father.” It was also a precious memory she wanted to keep forever fresh in her mind.
Her eyes burned. “I let him sleep, and Hudson was happy to oblige. He didn’t cry the entire time, and when I thought he might be getting hungry, I went out to the bike Ransom had parked in the shade and found a baby bag strapped to it, complete with a thermal holder inside that kept the milk at the perfect temperature for Hudson.”
It had been the first time she’d ever given a baby his bottle all by herself. The two of them had snuggled together on a swing on the back patio of the Enclave home, while Ransom caught up on his sleep a short distance away in the greenhouse.
The afternoon sun had been warm, the sky populated with puffy white clouds, and she’d managed to rock Hudson to sleep after his bottle. Not a day she would’ve ever imagined before she lived it—but, oh, how she’d enjoyed it.
“By the time Ransom woke,” she said, “Hudson was coming awake, too, both of them sleepy eyed and with the same smiles. Then Nyree rang Ransom to ask if she should pick up dinner on her way home, and it felt natural to extend the day, invite them to join us at our table.
“We had the best night, especially after Montgomery produced a crib for Hudson out of thin air. Raphael was pouring the whiskey with a liberal hand, Sivya kept feeding us delicious things, and we had so many stories to tell each other. None of us wanted the night to end.”
They’d had breakfast together in the library the next morning, as the sun slanted in through the open doors.
It had been one of those nights that just came together in the moment, and that left behind memories indelible. She had so many of Ransom and his family, and of watching Hudson grow into a man with his father’s high cheekbones and wicked smile—and hunting instincts. He’d joined the Guild, too, had even ended up on the odd hunt with Elena.
But on that night, he’d been a baby, and they’d all been young together—even Raphael, who was so much older in terms of years lived. “Ransom was the best kind of bad influence,” she said with a smile. “Raphael told me later that Ransom reminded him of Dmitri when he was younger. Of all my hunter friends, in the end, it was Ransom with whom Raphael could most easily kick back.”
The crystal was warm in her hand, the words she’d spoken swirling inside in a spiral of soft gold. It was a good memory of a good friend. She’d tell Phoenix about Ransom one day: the dangerous and loyal hunter who’d had beers with an archangel on the Enclave lawn more than once.
She’d also tell Nixie about the warmhearted woman Ransom had loved—a woman who, he’d cheerfully confessed, was the smarter one of their pair. Nyree, in turn, had told Elena that Ransom understood the world in ways she never had.
They’d adored each other and their son.
“I lucked out, Ellie.” Ransom’s voice in her head, his green eyes looking into her own as he turned to her one rainy day while they sat on the steps of Guild HQ after a hunt, both of them dripping wet.
“A wife who loves me, a kid who’s a fucking gem, friends who’ll go to bat for me without hesitation—and work that makes me come alive.” He’d wiped his hands over his face and into his hair, his smile a thing of beauty. “It’s a damn good life, Ellie, and not one this street kid thought he’d ever have.”