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)
Today, awash in love, Raphael welcomed her.
* * *
* * *
It wasn’t until much later, after Elena was asleep, that Keir told him the results of the post-birth tests. “Your babe is immortal…but he does still have some mortal cells in his body, the majority in the region of his heart.” A bemused look. “I truly have no idea what they mean.”
Raphael did. “Elena’s heart has always been mortal.” She’d remained fierce in her determination to retain the part of her that made her Elena. Never had she wanted to become a jaded immortal.
“I know that,” Keir said, “but it makes no logical sense.” He came as close to tearing out his hair as Raphael had ever seen. “Her heart regenerated from yours, Raphael. Quite apart from that, after so long, she should no longer have any mortal cells in her body to pass on to the child.”
“I think you do not understand Elena’s stubbornness, Keir. After she is awake, if she wishes, you can do further tests to satisfy your curiosity—though I warn you, she is apt to remain as much an enigma as Naasir.”
Keir looked over at mother and child, their babe tucked next to Elena in a little bassinet that Majda had woven for her.
“My mother’s sister of the heart came from a faraway land on a ship that had crossed all the seas. She wove just such a sleeping basket for our Marguerite,” she’d said as she brushed Elena’s hair back from her face, her hands tender. “It will allow you to keep your babe safely by your side in bed.”
Now, after Keir had left, Raphael pressed a gentle kiss to his consort’s cheek, which made her smile in her exhausted rest. Their babe made a small sound at that very moment, and when Raphael looked over, he saw those tiny hands fisted and raised.
“Come now.” He scooped their child into his arms. “No tears. Your mother needs her sleep.”
The babe scrunched up his face, but as Raphael walked around the room, he kept on talking to him in a low murmur that seemed to soothe his spirit. Giving a tiny yawn, their boy settled back down, but Raphael continued to hold the fragile, warm weight of him, astonished that he’d helped create this child so perfect and of them.
His midnight hair was now covered by a little knitted hat made by Yana, and his beautiful dark gold skin flushed a soft pink from his recent sleep. His eyes in the scant glimpses they’d had as yet appeared to be a striking blue akin to Raphael’s.
His wings were an unknown and would be for years. He had the translucent wings of all newborn angels; they wouldn’t begin to grow feathers and change into their distinctive adult pattern until their child was at the crawling stage.
The pattern would be set by toddlerhood.
Legion, he said, looking out at the backs of the Legion warriors that surrounded the Medica. Our child has been born. Both mother and child are in good health. We will introduce him to you once Elena is awake. For this was a moment to be shared by both of them.
Seven hundred and seventy-seven excited whispers in his head even though only half that number were in the Refuge, a clear message: We wait. We stand guard. We are…happy for you.
His heart swelled at the Legion’s hesitant but continued exploration of emotion. As we are happy you are with us. Turning from the window, he walked to Elena’s side and took a seat in the rocking chair the healers had brought into the suite after the birthing.
It was designed for beings with wings, wouldn’t accidentally trap his wingtips underneath, and was of a size that fit him comfortably but would be too large for Elena—which was why she had her own chair near the window, where she’d asked for it to be placed. “I’ll nurse him in the sunlight,” she’d said drowsily before she drifted off into sleep.
Then, “Wow, I’m a mom. Crazy.”
Raphael smiled at the memory of her startled expression before she fell asleep, and then he sat with their child in his arms, his consort resting beside him, and all was well in his world.
49
Mother and child are both safe and well.
—Missive to an Anxious Refuge from the Medica (Authorized by Raphael and Elena)
Elena woke to the sight of Raphael speaking to their child.
Caught in the last hazy whispers of sleep, she couldn’t quite make out what he was saying, but she sensed the deep timbre of his voice, the affection and love in it.
Smiling, she just watched father and son, and when he looked over at her with those eyes of mountain blue, she fell in love with him all over again. For this was a new avatar of her beloved archangel, a father protective and caring.