“Nope.” I shook my head. It will only be possible if that spawn of Satan doesn’t kill my soulmate.
“Come on! Tell me, Nikolai,” she shook my arm pleadingly and I laughed.
“Have you ever heard of skinny dipping, Love?” I asked.
“That’s swimming naked right? Well unless you plan on abandoning the helicopter in the ocean, there’s no way we will be able to do that.” She rolled her eyes.
“We can if we park the helicopter there,” I pointed towards the cruise ship a few kilometres in front of us.
Ava watched in awe. “It’s so pretty, Nik,” she commented as we neared it. “Viktoria?”
She must’ve read the name of the ship.
“Mom loved sailing but we didn’t have enough money to buy a good boat then. We used to rent a boat during the vacations and spend weekends sailing aimlessly,” I said, my mind drifting off to those memories.
“And you got a ship in her memory?”
I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat that always formed whenever I thought about her. “I bought it on her birthday as a present. But she wasn’t here to see it.” She was dead by then.
Ava placed her hand in top of mine, “you miss her a lot, don’t you?”
“Everyday.” I replied. I just didn’t think too much about it because I knew that the anger I still felt over it would consume me and that wasn’t good for anyone. It would only go away after the death of Adrik.
“I miss Papa too.” She whispered. “But knowing that he is finally with Mama brings me peace. I know he was hurting when he was here. He spent every second missing her. I think Viktoria met her mate too and she is very happy wherever she is. Especially considering how good you’re doing in life too.”
“You really think so?” I asked her as I began lowering the helicopter on top of the cruise ship.
“I know so.” She smiled, undoing her belt. I undid mine too and both of us jumped out.
The crew, which consisted of an older werewolf couple, greeted us by bowing down.
“Rise.” I allowed and the rose with a smile on their faces.
“Good afternoon, Alpha Nikolai and Luna Avalyn.”
“Good afternoon,” we echoed.
“The food is cooked and ready in the dining room and so are a few fresh set of clothes and swimming costumes for the both of you. We will be taking our leave now and come back to collect the ship tomorrow.” Alfred smiled.
“Thank you so much,” I shook hands with the man before the couple departed.
“How will they leave?” Ava asked.
“See,” I led her towards the deck and we watched them drive off in a speed boat that exited out of the ship.
“A ship that parks helicopters and a boat?” Ava murmured. “You’re so rich.”
“We’re rich.” I corrected with a bashful smile. “If I have the money to allow us to live comfortably, why wouldn’t I use it?”
“This isn’t comfort, Mi Amor, this is luxury.” She giggled, taking a good look at the ship.
“Want a tour?” I offered.
“Yes.” She nodded.
I caught her hand in mine and led her inside. “The ship has five bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, and this one is ours.” I led her into our bedroom. She went in further, taking in the rich interior as I leaned against the doorframe, watching her.
“And then this is our little man-cave,” I said as Ava left the room and opened one of the other rooms. It had a television, a few video games, a foosball table and a pool table. I also helped her explore the other four rooms that consisted of two lounge rooms, a kitchen and a dining room.
“The ship is really amazing, Nik,” Ava wrapped her arms around my neck and I leaned down to capture her lips. “We can come out here whenever you want.”
“I would love that,” she grinned against my lips.
“I know one other thing that you’ll love a lot,” I said as I began undressing her. The second her top was off, my eyes fell on her protruding stomach. It wasn’t too big, just a little. Enough to know that she was pregnant and hadn’t just gained weight.
The two little heartbeats that I had been ignoring sounded extremely loud suddenly.
I could feel the warmth of Ava’s gaze on my face but I couldn’t lift my eyes to meet hers.
My hands automatically raised to touch her stomach but paused midway. The part of me that had always wanted to be a father wanted to desperately touch it and caress it and love the two little runts in her tummy. But the other part of me, the one that loved Avalyn to death wanted to kill them so that they didn’t kill her.
I lowered my hand back to my side. I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.
“I visited the doctor two weeks ago. She said that everything is perfect, Nikolai. I’m healthy and they’re healthy too.” Ava whispered.
I breath of relief escaped my lips. But it was just the beginning of her pregnancy, anything could happen at any time. I needed to talk to the doctor myself and interrogate them to make sure everything was a hundred percent perfect before I let myself feel for them. “Can we please go to the doctor tomorrow?” I whispered.
“Of course.” She nodded before she stepped closer to me and helped me get undress.
I shook my head, clearing the depressing thoughts and focusing on making today the best day of Ava’s life.
Once both of us were naked, I led Ava to the deck. “I think you’ll be able to breath underwater now, being the Queen of Water. And I’ll handle my oxygen,” I said. “Let’s go skinny scuba diving.”
Ava simply grinned in reply before intertwining our fingers. And then we jumped inside the water. And true to my predictions, both of us were able to breathe underwater.
Without letting go of each other, we swam deeper into the water till we reached ocean bed. It was outer-worldly beautiful.
We saw plants we didn’t the names of. Fishes kept coming near Ava, as if they were attracted to her. Ava lifted her hand and pet a fish. She giggled in mirth, bubbles escaping her mouth. I smiled. She looked happy.