Page 34 of Sassy Embrace

“Come, let’s go then. Take me to Aria,” Maree ordered.

He mouthed that he would be right back, and Leigh’s smile gleamed. He couldn’t wait to come back and see her again.

Just as they were walking toward the hospital room, Trevan popped out and announced that their child had been born. Maree tried to move faster, but Claude hung onto her like she was a dog ready to bolt off the leash.

Claude, Maree, and a good handful of other vampire family members went to the recovery room. Aria was holding her new baby, a healthy little girl.

Seeing the look of absolute rapture on Aria’s face made Claude’s heart glow. As Trevan stood by the bed, Aria announced the name of the child.

“She is going to be Maree Aria Valeri-Stone,” Aria said between tears. “Mai for short, I think.”

Great-great-great grandmother Maree expressed how honored she was to be the baby’s namesake, then held her arms out to hold the newest edition.

Trevan lifted the pink bundle from Aria’s arms, and then carefully handed her over to the family matriarch. Claude watched from the corner of the room, feeling a tad bit like he was glancing in on something intimate that he shouldn’t be privy to.

Maree held the baby close and began to sway. Everything in the room went quiet as the old vampire whispered an anguishing truth.

“You are so beautiful, sweet one. I promise to give you the life my daughter could never have. You are going to have it all, sweet child."

She gazed at Trevan and Aria, tears rolling down her cheek like jewels. When she spoke, her voice was soft as feathers, all of the raggedness having faded away.

“She is indeed half wolf, half vampire, yes?”

Aria thinned her lips and nodded, beginning to cry. Trevan comforted her, and a silence hung in the room like a phantom.

Claude tried to slip out of the room, feeling as if their grief was something private and personal. But Aria clocked it and called him over-enthusiastically.

“Claude, don’t you think you’re getting out of this. Get over here. You’re next."

“But I..”

“No, here, Claude. Uncle Claude, now. Hold your niece,” Maree implored.

Claude walked over to Maree, his heart hammering in his chest. Trevan guided the newborn from the ancient vampire’s arms and into his. When the little bundle settled, Claude felt a wave of something remarkable and ethereal. An incandescence that he couldn’t quite put his finger on washed through his entire body.

Love. It was love.

“Wow,” he muttered, his own eyes beginning to glass over. “Aria, Trevan, she’s stunning. What a precious little creature."

Baby Mai was dozing, her skin peachy and thin, as Claude began to rock her back and forth. The way he felt was so overwhelming. He was holding the future in his arms.

The fondness he felt in his body made him think about Leigh. He had thought he’d been selfish, letting himself get to know her and potentially fall for her as a vampire. That he was being atraitor to his people, and that by letting her go, he was doing the right thing.

But the truth was the opposite. Unifying both wolves and vampires would create a harmony as innocent as the child he was holding. He and Leigh getting together meant so much more than just the two of them. It would change the world of the supernaturals forever.

He laid his lips upon the baby’s forehead and kissed her. He breathed in her lovely newborn scent, and she began to coo.

“She already loves her uncle,” Aria chimed in.

It was all about making the future brighter for children like Mai. Those who were born between two worlds and were going to rely on people like him and Leigh to get through. He handed Mai back to Aria and congratulated the two of them on their firstborn.

“She is going to change everything, I just know it,” Claude said.

Aria looked at him, and tears swam in her eyes. He and Aria had always been close. She knew what was going on with him and Leigh better than he realized. She held her baby close, and the two new parents crooned over her with impenetrable love and support.

SEVENTEEN

LEIGH

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