Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Harper

Oh my dear Lord in Heaven, was hot water not the most amazing thing in the world? I tipped my head back under the spray and sighed, feeling my shoulders relaxing as the shower leeched some of the manifestations of stress—and lack of sleep—from me.

Hot showers… yes . I was in love.

Of course, to be fair, over the last two weeks, I'd fallen in love with, alternately, cheesy garlic bread, the cutest little hairbands with frilly bows attached, and coffee. Dear God, coffee .

Sighing again, I reached for the shampoo and began to massage my scalp, unable to stop the little moan of pleasure.

After so many months of getting dick from my gorgeous Mate, who would've guessed I'd find so much pleasure in simple stuff like showers and coffee?

Anyone who had a baby two weeks ago .

Well, yeah, I guess so.

I was nowhere near healed in the down-there department, but at least the bleeding had stopped, and I didn't feel so dirty all the time. Orc babies—even half-orcs—were bigger than average, but again, her father's cock had helped prepare me for that too.

No, I couldn't complain. Little Raina's birth had been pretty un-traumatic, although well-monitored. Giza had not only been there the entire time, but he'd also climbed into the tub with me and held me on his lap as I'd pushed, speaking non-stop. He'd told me how proud he was of my strength and resilience, and how I was going to be a wonderful mother, and how he knew I could do this.

And I did.

And when the midwife—the nervous doctor hovering nearby—had me reach down to pull my baby from the water, and she helped me place the squalling, strong kitling on my chest, I felt Giza's tears on my neck.

Yep, it had been a truly magical moment, despite the pain. But the subsequent two weeks? Sleep deprivation was no joke.

There's only so often I can rinse my hair, so eventually I had to admit my shower was done. When I turned off the water, I didn't hear any squalling, so that was a good sign. I took my time cleaning up and getting dressed, and you know what I did then?

I blow-dried my damn hair, because I wanted to feel like a real person again instead of a drained, bloated, milk-giving blob.

It almost worked.

By the time I stepped from the bedroom in yoga pants and a nursing hoodie, I was feeling more awake than normal. And judging from the adorably fussy little noises coming from the kitchen, I was just in time .

"Hush, princess," came Giza's croon. "Give your mama some time alone. You don't need to be attached to her at all moments."

Our daughter squawked angrily, and I could imagine her angrily munching on her tiny fist while she glared up at her father.

"You know, one day you're going to be a baba's girl, I just know it," he soothed. "But in the meantime, you're going to just have to put up with me while we make your mother some delicious spaghetti bolognaise. You're going to enjoy it too, in a few hours."

Mmm , is that what that scrummy smell was? I propped my hip against the counter, folded my arms, and watched my Mate soothe our daughter.

Giza's back was to me as he stood at the stove, Raina looking tiny in the crook of one arm while he stirred the sauce with the other. She'd been named after his grandmother, although we'd spelled it like the Latin "queen," because we wanted her to grow up knowing how special she was. Classical music played in the background, as usual, and my Mate wore his favorite Henley shirt. The scene was so damn cozy I could feel tears pricking at my eyelids.

Hormones , I tell ya.

"Is this too much garlic?" my Mate wondered. "The books say too much garlic will give a baby gas, but you're an orc kitling, aren't you?" He lifted the baby to nuzzle at her hair. "You're stronger than that."

Resting the wooden spoon on top of the pot, he used his free hand to support Raina's butt and move her to his shoulder. I could see the top of her dark head, and she wasn't happy.

"Calm, young one," he murmured soothingly. "I'll give you back to your mama as soon as she's had her fill of looking at us."

It surprised a little laugh out of me. Of course Giza knew I was back here; he always knew where I was. And I was a little shocked to discover, in the last months, that it seemed to work both ways. Just as I'd observed with Meli and Cairo last fall, it was as if I could…I dunno, sense Giza?

Just part of the Mating bond, I suppose.

"Did you enjoy your shower, dkaar ?" he asked, turning.

"Immensely. Looks like I took just long enough." I straightened, reaching for my daughter.

Giza rubbed his cheek along the top of her full head of hair. "She wasn't happy about the separation, but I had a nice, logical conversation with her about how she needed to set reasonable expectations."

It was the lack of sleep; that's why I couldn't seem to hold in my laughter. Either that, or the joy was just too much to contain. Chuckling, I took Raina from him and moved to the couch.

He followed because this was part of the ritual.

Honestly, my boobs were ready for her. The midwife told me—and Olivia said she'd been told the same thing—that I was producing more milk than usual. Giza pointed out orcs had higher metabolisms, so that made sense. I alternated between nursing Raina and pumping so Giza could feed her overnight.

He was a rockstar; definitely taking care of both of us. He was the one who got up in the middle of the night to fetch her when she was hungry, and more often than not the only one who could really burp her.

And more than once I'd walked in after a nap to find him stretched out on the couch, sound asleep, Raina curled up on his broad chest, enjoying his heartbeat.

Whoops , there went the tears.

"What is it, dkaar ?" he murmured, settling beside me on the couch so I could lean against him as I unsnapped my bra and guided Raina's tiny lips to my swollen nipple.

I smiled softly. "Absolutely nothing. Just thinking about how lucky I am."

"Lucky," he repeated, then he hummed and gently settled his arm around us. "Yes, I doubt there is a luckier male in all the world than I am right now. But you? You had to settle for a broken-down old male who can barely climb the steps to his apartment."

I chuckled again, which caused my boob to shift and Raina to pop off. I maneuvered her back into place, wincing slightly at her enthusiastic grip. "I told you, you'll be back to managing your morning run soon enough. Just because you couldn't carry all the groceries in one trip yesterday doesn't mean you're any less of a man."

In a dry tone, he griped, "It's the beginning of the end. You'll have to care for me in my dotage. Think of the difficulty managing me and our kit."

I tipped my head to peer up at him. I knew he was joking, but I wasn't when I said, "Then I'll manage it. I would do anything for you, Giza, and I look forward to proving it in the many, many years we're going to have together."

He didn't say anything for a long moment, but I watched the green flash in his eyes that told me he'd been affected by my words. Then, slowly, carefully, so as not to disrupt the baby, he bent down and kissed me.

It was a gentle kiss, just enough to remind me of what I was missing, and then he pulled away.

"I love you, Mate," he murmured.

"Good, because this"—I jerked my chin down to our daughter—"would be awkward otherwise."

A flash of his teeth beneath his beard told me he appreciated the humor. "Thank you for being here with me. "

This was something he said often, and I tried not to feel too guilty over the fact that it took me so long—most of last November—to realize how much I needed to be here with him. It was something we'd talked about often, and I knew he understood. "I couldn't imagine it any other way."

It was the truth.

Right now, I couldn't imagine doing this without him.

Oh, I knew I was strong and capable and intelligent, and I knew there were plenty of women who gave birth and raised children on their own. That's what I'd been planning to do, after all. I'd been so focused on my own future; I hadn't given any thought to our future.

I would be forever grateful to the universe for giving me the smack upside my head that pushed me into Giza's arms. And his future.

Tipping my head against his shoulder, I sighed happily when he pulled me closer.

His free hand moved to stroke the back of our daughter's hand, his claws retracted of course. Raina instinctively grabbed one finger and squeezed, and he chuckled at her grip.

Having a Mate who was the repository of his species' history and culture could be handy. Giza told me—and the doctors using us as guinea pigs—that tradition said a male child born in a human-orc pairing would look more orcish, while female children took after their mothers.

I had to admit, this seemed accurate in our limited experience. Tanis and Olivia's sons, Bolin and Sokka, had skin as green as their father's, with the cutest little tusks that poked over their bottom lips and made nursing difficult, Olivia had confided.

But our Raina? Her skin was paler—still green, but not as obvious. Her ears were pointed, but she had my eyes and her father's strength. She'd grabbed a hold of us both, and we were completely smitten.

Giza was already planning the tattoo he'd place over his heart—below the Mating mark—for our daughter.

"What are you thinking, Mate?" he murmured.

I smiled. "How perfect she is. Just the way she is."

"Yes." His hold on my shoulders—and my heart—tightened as he stroked Raina's baby-soft skin. "Perfect."