26. Xyla

26

Xyla

X yla sat on the couch, holding a pillow to her stomach, and sighed heavily. She stared into space, nibbling on her bottom lip. Her heart was heavy.

She knew that she should be happy to be back home, but she wasn't. Xyla struggled to fall asleep at night because images of Sean floated in her mind. She could almost feel his arms wrapped tightly around her. Her body ached for his touch. As crazy as it sounded, she wanted to be back on that mountain, in the freezing cold cabins, laying on the blanket in front of the fireplace.

Abby sat next to her. "You miss him, don't you?"

"Yes. It hurts so much. I never would have guessed that love could literally knock a person off their feet."

"It's a very powerful emotion. Almost as powerful as hate."

Xyla made a sound that was a combination of a cough and a laugh. "I don't know about that. I let my father's hatred make me walk away from Sean."

"How is your dad, now?"

Groaning, Xyla shook her head. "He's back to normal. He thinks that he's won because I'm not with Sean. Dad is sure that it was a little vacation infatuation and I'll get over it." She ran her fingers through her hair. "Hell, he has won. I told Sean that I wouldn't be his mate because of Dad."

"You sound like you've given up. That's not the Xyla I know. The Xyla I know would fight for what she wants."

Xyla sighed and laid her head back on the couch, staring at the ceiling.

"What are you going to do about this little problem of yours?"

Xyla threw her hands up in the air in defeat. "What can I do. He asked me to go through the mating ceremony with him. I told him ‘no' because I chose my father over him. I kissed him, said ‘goodbye,' and walked away from him. You should have seen the look on his face."

"Of course, he was hurt. Who wouldn't be? But you are in love with him and you are miserable without him. What are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know. I'm terrified, Abby. What if I tell him how I feel and he just… turns me away?"

Abby shook her head and held Xyla's face in her hands. "Listen to me. If you really love him, then you can't let your fear hold you back. I don't know Sean, but from what you've told me, he's not the kind of man to turn you away if he loves you. He asked you to go through the mating ceremony with him. I'm pretty sure he loves you as much as you love him."

Xyla bit her lip, uncertainty clouding her eyes. "What if you're wrong?" she whispered.

"I don't think I am. But if you don't go to him and tell him that you love him, then you will spend the rest of your life asking yourself ‘What if.' Can you live not knowing? Can you live with the idea that you might have thrown away a lifetime of love and happiness because you were afraid of rejection?"

"No, I guess not."

Abby grinned widely. "Good. It's settled then."

"I'm going to talk to Dad first, and then I guess I'm going to Angel's Creek."

The next morning, Xyla felt sick. As she sat on the bathroom floor, resting her head on the cool bathtub, she realized that she had been sick every morning for the past two weeks. Grabbing her phone, she looked up the symptoms of pregnancy – tiredness, tender breasts, and she missed her period.

Her head swam and her heart thundered in her chest. She had no idea whether to be scared to death or excited. If Sean rejected her, she would be raising a baby by herself. The baby could be a shifter. On the other hand, she would always have a piece of him with her.

She called the doctor's office and they were able to get her in that afternoon since they had a cancellation.

"Abby, I think I'm pregnant. I have an appointment this afternoon. Will you go with me?"

"Really? You might be having Sean's baby? That's incredible. Of course, I will go with you."

Time went by so slowly. Xyla thought that she was going to lose her mind if two o'clock didn't roll around soon.

Finally, it was time. The doctor welcomed her into the office and listened to her symptoms. She asked Xyla to pee in a cup and had a nurse take some blood.

Xyla paced the tiny room for the next half hour, wringing her hands together, a million thoughts racing through her brain.

"Girl, you are making me tired. You need to sit down."

Xyla sat next to Abby for about thirty seconds and then bounced back up again.

Finally, the doctor came back in. "Congratulations. You are going to have a baby. I've prescribed some prenatal vitamins for you. They should be ready at your regular pharmacy. Schedule an appointment to see me in a month. If you have any cramps, bleeding, or lower back pain, call my office immediately or go to the emergency room."

"Thank you, Doctor."

Xyla felt numb as she and Abby left the office. They didn't stop by the front desk to make the appointment. She simply told the receptionist that she would call.

"You have to talk to Sean, now. You have to give him a chance to be a part of his child's life."

"I know, but I don't want him to feel like he has to go through the mating ceremony just because I'm pregnant."

"Easy solution. You tell him how much you love him and that you were an idiot for saying no in the first place. Then, if he says yes, you tell him you're pregnant."

"What if he says no?"

"Then, you tell him you're pregnant and you know that the two of you can work out a parenting arrangement that will suit you both and make sure the baby is taken care of. Either way, you have to tell him."

Xyla nodded.

"I don't know a whole lot about it, but it is my understanding that shifter pregnancies are a lot different. For one thing, you don't carry the baby for forty weeks. I think that shifter gestation periods are only six months. Plus, the baby will likely be bigger and have different needs. You need to have Sean's help getting you in touch with a shifter doctor."

"Actually, I would just go to Sawyer, regardless of Sean's stance on us or the baby. Sawyer is a great guy."

"He sounds like it. Maybe you can introduce us when I go to Angel's Creek."

Xyla laughed.

The next morning, she visited her father at work. She figured it would be safer to talk to him there than at home because he wasn't likely to cause as big a scene in front of his partners and employees.

He rose from his expensive, leather massaging, desk chair, and held out his arms in a welcome. She allowed herself to be hugged by him, even though she still hadn't quite forgiven him for how he acted on the mountain.

"This is a great surprise. You don't often visit me here."

"I wanted to talk to you about something extremely important."

"Of course. I'm always here for you."

She took a huge breath and sat on her hands to keep them from shaking.

"While we were at the resort, I fell in love with Sean. He loves me, too. Sean asked me to go through the mating ceremony with him, but I told him ‘no' because of you."

"Telling him ‘no' was the right thing to do because he's not human and you are."

"He's human and I honestly don't see how you can still hate him so much after he risked his life to save Edward and then to save me. There were five men against two. They didn't hesitate."

"Be that as it may, he's still not human. He is a dog. No daughter of mine is going to lay with a dog."

"It's a little too late for that, Dad. I'm pregnant with Sean's child. I'm in love with him and I want to spend the rest of my life with him. I'm leaving for Angel's Creek after we're done talking and I'm going to beg him to forgive me for walking away."

Elliot's face turned bright red and he gritted his teeth. "You can abort the baby. If you marry that dirty shifter, you will no longer be my daughter. You have to choose between him and me."

"I'm sorry you feel that way because I love him and I'm going to him."

"I'll make sure you never see Edward again."

"Actually, I'm going to file for custody of him. With your hate, I'm not sure you're the best guardian for him. If you fight me, I will tell them about your hatred for shifters. They will either declare you mentally unfit for believing in fairy tales or they will sympathize with me. Or, you can act like a civilized human being and understand that my brother is a huge part of my life."

He snarled at her. "Get out. Get out of my office. You are no longer my daughter."

"So be it," she said sadly.

She sat in her car and leaned her forehead against the steering wheel. Her father was a colossal ass, but she still loved him. He was her father, but she needed Sean more.

Xyla started her car and pulled out onto the street. Please don't let him reject me.