Conlan held the light out to Caleb. "Would you like hope, as well?"
Grinning, Caleb shook his head. "Nope. I think I"ll just let nature play its course, but thanks. I had a sneak peek once before and to be honest, look where it got me."
I snorted.
"The offer always stands," Conlan said before closing his hand.
James tipped his head. "Do I not warrant a glimpse myself?"
Conlan gave him a look I couldn"t read fully but it certainly was mischievous. "No. It is best you not see."
"Says the bloke who can summon hope from the ether," James mumbled with a huff.
Caleb and Conlan went another few rounds with Conlan attempting to get him to look at what he held. In the meantime, James inched his way closer to Conlan. I knew James well enough to know what he was up to. He was going to touch hope if he had to tackle someone to do it.
Giovanni pressed his lips to my ear. "He is a moron. You are aware of this, right?"
"Totally, but he"s an adorable moron. Don"t you think?"
"No. Adorable never once came to mind."
Conlan glanced back at James and James thrust his hands into his pockets and whistled a merry tune, looking up at the ceiling.
Groaning, I covered my eyes, not wanting to look at how obvious James was being, but I found myself peeking all the same.
The second Conlan turned his back to James, James reacted, jumping up and tapping the silver light in Conlan"s hand. "Ah-ha!" he yelled only to hiss and jerk away fast. James" gaze locked firmly on my stomach and his eyes widened. "b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l! You"re taking the p.i.s.s! No way is ... Giovanni will rip my b.a.l.l.s off and shove them up my a.r.s.e before he ever lets me near his daughter."
Gasping, I covered my mouth. "I knew it! I told you once before that I was positive we were meant to be family that"s why we bonded the way we did. I knew it!"
True to James" prediction, Giovanni went at him but I caught him around the waist. "Stop!"
"He is not setting foot near our daughter. Do you honestly want someone like James to be whom our daughter ...."
I cupped his face. "Yes. And so do you. Think about it. He loves life and he"s fun, Giovanni. He"s also got a heart of gold. James is powerful. More powerful than any of you give him credit for and he"s never made a play to take you out of the running and become a master himself. He"s a great man. One you should be proud to know will be there for our daughter someday when she needs him most."
He didn"t appear convinced. His gaze went to Pallo. "Do not let him near us. I will not have him fawning over a baby."
Conlan laughed. "Have no fear, Giovanni. I learned the hard way that supernatural males need nothing in the way of a spell to prevent them from acting indecently with their mate. They have an inborn switch that simply shuts off the moment they encounter their mate before she is of age. Depending upon the era and the culture, the switch will not flip back on until it is socially acceptable for them to be a mated pair. Though, he will be very protective of her always, even when she is growing within Gwyneth."
I took Giovanni"s hand in mine. "He"s exactly who I"d want her to be with. Please be happy for him. And, look at it this way, because James is who he is, you already know him so you don"t have to worry about her bringing home someone like you."
His mouth dropped open. "I am not that bad! I would be ...." He paled.
I grinned. "Horrified if she brought home an ex-henchman for the King of the Dark Realm and a Master vampire whose very name strikes fear in most."
He looked at James. "No encouraging her to dye her hair bizarre colors. No drunken orgies. No s.e.x period. Ever. No touching her ever."
I gave James a sympathetic look. "I"ll work on him. We have a little bit yet."
"Yes." Conlan laughed. "Eighteen years for the idea to grow on him before she does everything she can to defy him in order to be with the man she will be born to love. Correct me if I am wrong but was that not what the two of you did? Did you not permit Gwyneth to defy her father and run off with you?"
Giovanni cursed repeatedly in Italian making Pallo laugh.
Conlan pointed at him. "Watch what you find funny, Pallo. I have foreseen children in your future. Multiple children. You will be in need of Giovanni"s guidance in the area of raising a daughter in the midst of supernatural males. You do not see it now, but one day, all of you will be very close, as will your families."
Caleb took a step back. "Don"t go aiming that wishing daughters upon me. Uhuh. Just sons. I"m not spending the rest of my life constantly worrying about men touching them. Not happening. I"ll take six sons before I take one daughter. I"m not a fool. I know Gwyneth and if the King of the Dark Realm has issues controlling his daughter, what the h.e.l.l makes me think I can do any better with one of my own?"
We laughed.
Conlan stared at him. "Careful what you wish for, Caleb."
"That or be d.a.m.n happy you"re not on Giovanni"s. .h.i.t list for the next eighteen years," James added, keeping his distance from Giovanni.
Conlan glanced at Giovanni. "Stop worrying. Not only will she be born healthy and happy, she will not be what you hate most about yourself, Giovanni. She will be your little angel, always. It could be worse, you know."
"In what way?" Giovanni glared at James, who looked downright terrified.
"Your daughter could be destined for ..." He looked at Pallo. "Explaining why it was her father sired the man and her mother... well... it could be much worse."
"Ol" violet eyes has a point," James offered. "Though, I"d like to be the first to put in a request to have the torch pa.s.sed to Pallo. At least he and Giovanni would hold true to form and keep trying to kill each other then."
"Do not fear, James." Conlan winked. "Your mate has many adoptive uncles. They"ll want to kill you, as well. Should make for a fun time for you. I know how much you like pushing the b.u.t.tons of those around you."
James cringed.
My stomach fluttered and the silver light in Conlan"s hand grew bigger, taking him by surprise, too. "Gwyneth?"
"I-I"m not doing it."
Giovanni slid his arms around my stomach. "Wonderful, already my daughter takes after her mother, acting out at will." He chuckled.
The silver light grew even larger. We all stood in awe as it filled with an image of Pallo with a little girl who looked to be around the age of four on his lap. She had on a yellow dress, her jet-black, straight hair was long and in a ponytail. Her obsidian eyes were wide as she stared at Pallo"s hand as he did a magik trick for her, making her giggle. "Do it again, Uncle Pallo! Again!"
He repeated it, the smile on his face huge, bigger than I could ever remember seeing it. He laughed as she jolted then giggled. She clapped her hands and gave him a serious look. "Bravo."
Pallo laughed long and hard before kissing the top of her head. She twisted and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Tell me again, the story "bout how I got my name. Tell me "bout how you saw me in a v-v..."
"Vision," he supplied.
She nodded emphatically. "Yes. Vision. Tell me about how you saw me with you and how you just said my name out loud and Mommy and Daddy knew it was what my name should be."
Pallo watched the image playing out. "Sophie," he said softly.
Giovanni hugged me tightly and I knew then that Pallo had just helped us name her.
The image kept going. The little girl touched his dimpled chin. "Are you my other daddy? Like my brother? He has two. You and Daddy. Are you my other one?"
"Non, Sophie," the Pallo in the vision said. "I am not your step-father, as your father is to Nicholas."
She stuck her bottom lip out and fat tears dripped down her cheek. "I want two daddies, too. Why does Nick get to have two?" She crossed her arms over her chest. "He gets to stay up late, too. Daddy never makes him take a bath and then get in bed. He never makes him stop getting his clothes dirty right after Mommy puts him in a dress. Wait!" She tugged her lower lip. "He doesn"t wear dresses but if he did, I don"t think Daddy would make him be good and sit still until the company left before he could run around again. See. You should be my other daddy."
Pallo fought laughter. "And why is that, Sophie?"
"Because all I gotta do is this." She batted her long thick black lashes at him before giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "And you let me have my way. Mommy said you"re not nearly as mean and ferocious as you think you are. She said you and Uncle Caleb and Uncle Caradoc and Uncle Mikhail are tied around my pinky fingers." She blew out a long breath. "I told her you"re too big to fit around my little fingers."
He laughed harder. "Your mother may be on to something. Tell me, Sophie, where does James fit into all of this?"
She gave him a look, saying she didn"t understand.
Just then, James entered the image. His hair was bright green. Pallo looked up at him. "What did you do to your head?"
"Stood on his head in the gra.s.s," Sophie said with all seriousness. "That"s what he told Daddy. Then James fell over but nothing was there to push him. It was strange. Like Uncle James."
James cringed. "Not uncle, pet."
She arched a brow. "Brother James?"
"No, duck. Not brother either."
She smiled wide. "Daddy James!"
James paled considerably. "b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l, no!"
"b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l, no, duck," Sophie said mimicking his accent exactly.
Pallo laughed and tipped his head back. "Giovanni, James is teaching Sophie to curse."
Sophie covered her eyes.
"What are you doing?" Pallo asked.
"Not looking. Daddy"s gonna kill James. I can"t watch."
Pallo laughed harder.
"Uncle Pallo," she said sweetly, batting her eyes.
"Yes?"
"Can you make sure Daddy doesn"t kill James? I think his head looks like gra.s.s but other than that, I don"t want Daddy to really hurt him. Pretty please?"
Pallo lifted her gently and set her on the table before standing and catching Giovanni a second before he would have grabbed James.
"Let me go."
"I was asked nicely to keep you from injuring him." Pallo glanced at Sophie.
Giovanni in turn looked down at her. "What has James taught you to say, Sophie?"
She got an innocent look on her face. "He told me to say that you"re the bestest daddy ever and that it"s good I love you lots and lots."
Pallo roared with laughter. "Oh, you are your mother"s daughter!"
"Of course I am. Who else"s daughter would I be, Uncle Pallo? You"re silly." She stopped and then squealed. "Uncle Caleb is here! I want to see the twins! I want to see the twins!"
The image faded away and we all stood, staring at one another. Caleb swayed and caught himself on the wall. "Twins? Tell me I was babysitting for someone."
Conlan merely laughed.
Pallo turned, his gaze meeting Giovanni"s. "Your daughter will be precious." He said something else, in Italian and they shocked the living h.e.l.l out of me by moving to one another, embracing quickly, then backing away from one another.
I took Giovanni"s hand in mine and exhaled slowly. For the moment, nothing else mattered. Our enemies faded from my mind, our differences washed away and our torrid pasts meant nothing. All that mattered was that, for this very minute, we were all friends and all on the same page.
Peace was at the end of a rocky road, one I knew we"d all only just begun to travel.
Epilogue.
My father stood before us, his look somber but better than it had been when I unleashed about three hours worth of tongue-lashings upon him. Clearing his throat, he took my hand in his before looking out and over the gathered crowd. "Six moon cycles ago, I promised you a wedding. A wedding is what I am delivering to you." He glanced to my right, his gaze meeting Giovanni"s. "Though the groom has changed. He is who should rightfully be here."
Hushed murmurs echoed through the oversized hall. The minute my father put his hand up, everyone fell silent.
He looked at me but spoke to everyone. "Giovanni and I were close friends at one point in time. I hope, for the sake of my daughter, that we find that place again."
I teared up.
Giovanni took my hand in his and brought it to his lips, kissing it gently. "We will, Kerrigan."
Nodding, my father drew upon his power, coating us in it as he began to speak in ancient Fae. I didn"t understand what he was saying, but Giovanni did. He squeezed my hand tighter, giving me an encouraging look. For a split second, it felt like something within me shattered.
I gasped and reached for Giovanni with my free hand. He caught it and dragged me against him, whispering softly, "Kerrigan has broken the bonds he forced upon you, Caleb and Pallo. He freed your soul so that it may be mine fully, Bella mia."
I looked at my father and nodded, tears streaking my cheeks. "T-thank you."
He winked. "I am not done yet, Gwyneth. You do still wish to marry him, right?"
"Oh." I squared my shoulders. "Yes."
The crowd laughed.
Chuckling, my father leaned in close to us. "Did neither of you feel the need to tell me I am to be a grandfather?"
"Actually," I said, thinking of Nicholas. "You"ve been one for about two hundred years or so."