Page 55 of No Potions Needed

“There’s nothing we can talk about then?” Dad asked.

“There’s plenty to talk about that doesn’t take away my personal freedoms or decide the future of a kid who isn’t even out of the womb yet,” I sighed.

“Hey!” Teddy said from the doorway. “Mori and I were thinking about going for a walk. Do you want to come?”

“Go on,” Dad said before I could answer him either way. “I love you. Take care of yourself.”

“You too and keep going to therapy, old man!” I teased him.

Teddy plopped down on the sofa next to me when the call ended and I cuddled up against him. We both knew Mori wasn’t home and no walk was in our future. My carrier was trying hard to break old habits passed down through generations of jaguars. Sometimes he even did well at it. Other times were like today.

“It’s killing him that you’re not coming home, isn’t it?” Teddy frowned.

“Don’t feel bad for him. We’ve all told him that he can come visit here. If he chooses not to figure out how to do that, it’s on him. I’m the pregnant person. I’m growing a kitten. If he wants to see this kitten brought into the world he has to come to where that’s going to happen. I’m not leaving Mori all alone and I’m not going to argue with everyone about you being a dragon while I’m pregnant. If they pull something right now, mate, I will eat them and I won’t even feel bad about it. I don’t have the energy to deal with bigots and it’s almost the stormy season. One storm down there and this baby will shoot out of me across the room and thud into a mudslide before being blown away. Not doing it. No way. No How.”

Teddy wrapped his arms around me and kissed my cheek.

“If my carrier were alive, she’d be here,” he said a long moment later. “She’d drive us crazy with fussing over you.”

“Depending on how she’s fussing I’d put up with it. By chance do you think she’d tell you that I need more belly rubs and toe bean massages?” I said, flashing him a sheepish grin.

“Probably,” he nodded. “Which one do you want me to start with?”

I shifted and stuck my hind foot in his face.

“Good choice,” he said and kissed my toes. If I were in human form, I’d have blushed, but my jaguar was beyond shame. The heavier our bellies grew the more of it he shed.

“Keep that up and I might let you kiss somewhere else later,”I teased him over our mating link, and he licked between my toes, sending goosebumps up my back. A little body hair never scared off my mate.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Mori

Waiting for the postcard men to kidnap me left me paranoid most of the time. It felt as if the invaders were already inside my body, hiding out in my cells and planting a million little ticking timebombs. I’d asked around to some of my magical friends that I figured had the least chance of telling my carrier and no one had heard of them. Of course, the fact that Dern admitted he didn’t know what they called themselves made them harder to track down. So, I waited to be whisked away to some unknown place by unknown forces.

While I was overcome with crying spells of joy whenever I imagined how happy Dern must’ve been having finally escaped his lonely life on Earthside, I longed for more time with him. If I had heard a few more of his stories perhaps I’d have been able to track these mysterious people down and demand they give me answers.

“Dern was a hitman,”my wolf chimed into my thoughts.“But he said they didn’t want us to be a hitman.”

“I don’t think hitman is the right word,”I sighed back to him.“It wasn’t like he was doing it for anyone’s personal gain. Dern wouldn’t have done that. Just because he enjoyed offing the man who ordered him to be carved up and killed his parents doesn’t make him a sadist. If someone sneezed on our parents, I’d probably punch them in the nose.”

“Do you think they’ll be able to take us?”my wolf asked.“Maybe they’re not beating around the bush or dragging their feet. Perhaps they can’t take us. Our carrier probably has protective charms on us that we don’t even know about.”

I hoped that wasn’t the case. As unfound of the idea of getting kidnapped as I was, I was less fond of spending the rest of my life watching over my astral shoulder for kidnappers. I was bored of waiting. It had lost its edge as soon as my best friend was pregnant enough to waddle. If not for Othoni’s pregnancy, I might’ve done something irrational to get their attention and tell them to hurry up. I’d never admit it aloud but part of me was excited about what opportunities these postcard men might open up for me.

So, I waited and watched my best friend’s belly grow fuller and fuller with child. I loved my friends and enjoyed spending time with them, but the more pregnant Ni grew, the more often I tried to make myself scarce. It was no secret that whatever else pregnancy hormones did to him, they made him extra horny. They tried to be quiet about it, but most cats aren’t quiet during mating.

I never went far from home, fearing that I’d be found face down on the concrete in the middle of the street by a giant truck when it ran over me, thinking I was just another newly installed speed bump. I might’ve given the lovebirds alone time right up until Othoni popped and his water broke but in the middle of a hot ‘alone time’ shower a vision slapped me upside the head and I found myself on my ass.

He’d have the baby exactly on his due date and his water would break early that morning while he tried to make a grilled cheese sandwich without waking up Teddy. I didn’t see much else, but it was enough to keep me extra close to him that week because visions weren’t always exact. Though, the bruise on my butt from unexpectantly hitting the tub made it feel more real than some others I’d had over the years.

The sheer size of Othoni’s belly encouraged him to take Jacob’s suggestion of bedrest seriously. He lounged around mostly in his jaguar form, rambling to both me and Teddy over group links. Teddy was now on the Nightshade Bear group link in addition to all the other groups he was part of.

I made a habit of taking photos of them together while Ni lay around getting his big pregnant belly rubbed by Teddy. I sent them to my carrier who I knew would show them to my sire. He was wrong about Teddy being a bad mate. He was doting and adorable at times. Still not my type. Definitely not my type. I’d rather have bamboo shoved under my claws than walk down any street naked and if a man offered to spank me, I think I’d get a wooden spoon and go tell him I’d give him one first. Still, I shipped them and couldn’t wait to meet my goddaughter.

My knowing the time changed the course of things as these things had a way of doing. We were all up eating grilled cheese that Teddy cooked on the blacktop on the deck when Othoni’s water broke. His fear and excitement shot through the air and I had to shove my wolf back down before he nipped someone in trying to defend our friend. Seconds before his water broke, the baby fine hairs on the back of Teddy’s neck stood up as if he knew too. He turned to look at his mate and everything exploded at once. The deck was covered in the evidence that Baby Zinnia was ready to enter the world.

I opened my mouth and then shut it again. What the heck was I thinking? I almost asked if they wanted some privacy! I was the one delivering the baby!

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