Eight months later,
“I know you’re there; you can come out of hiding now.” Zera said before turning to the mirror she stood in front of.
Diya came out of the spot where she had hidden herself beside the door since her arrival a minute ago.
“Zera. Hey.”
“This baby might have robbed my other senses, but I still have a strong sense of smell. I sniffed you out the minute you stepped into the hallway.” She said this and turned to Diya in her white dress, which stopped over her knees.
Diya looked ready for the day, and here she was, not even recognising herself in her dress. She had chased Aaron out of the room because he kept complimenting her overgrown bump and calling her beautiful. She didn’t feel beautiful, and she felt he only said it to make her feel better. That infuriated her and made her send him to Zion’s room.
Davine told her eight months ago at the Hart Lab opening that she was a few weeks pregnant. Of course, she didn’t believe him because she was a sage and also because her body showed no signs.
After going over Davine’s words, she came out with the truth to Aaron, who was torn with emotions. She had been pregnant for a few weeks, and he was worried about her. Ivan told her no sage before she had sired an offspring, and so this didn’t make her happy.
Aaron asked her if Davine told her anything else, and she told him he didn’t. He didn’t say she was in any danger.
It wasn’t enough, and so the next day, they paid him a visit. Quincy was there with him when they came. Davine wasn’t surprised to see them; he told them that Quincy had told them about their arrival.
After the formalities were out of the way, Aaron went straight to the point. Having already been told about the risk that came with a sage being pregnant, he wanted to know if this would be like the last or if there would be something different. Davine told them that so far, he didn’t see anything wrong with her or the baby. He was a healer, after all.
After his answer to them, they told him about the truth Ivan had told them about sages and siring offspring. They never thought about siring offspring because the path of a sage was never to have children.
Davine didn’t have the answer they wanted, but Quincy did.
“You can sire offspring, but you will have to give up who you are. For male sages, they could never sire, and for women, they could, but they would lose who they once were.”
They didn’t understand what he meant, and he had to explain. Aaron had tried turning her into a werewolf while she was trapped between the realms of the living and the dead. That had saved her but made her into a sage. She never completed her transition to being a werewolf. Having a child, however, would bring about that completion. While bringing forth life, she will lose the one she once had.
Ivan was right about his finding, but Quincy’s words gave them much clarity. Aaron turned to Zera there and then and asked if she wanted to have this child at the cost of losing who she was.
She would no longer be a sage; she would, however, become a werewolf, his mate, his Luna. Though the whole idea scared her, it didn’t seem so bad to think about it.
She was ready to risk it, and so they did in the last eight months. They had checked in with Davine, so he would check on her and make sure she was okay, and every visit, he told her she was okay.
She lost her super-sight after the fourth month of being pregnant, and then her hearing after six months. Her strength, which she lost at eight months, was almost like the human she once was. She didn’t feel much of the change because Aaron had spoiled her from the moment he knew they were having another baby.
Zion was the happiest, and whenever he could, he would touch Zera’s stomach, smiling fondly as if communicating with the little one in there. He would no longer be alone, and that made her happy.
“You look good for a heavily pregnant woman.” She said, and Zera glared at her.
She was just like Aaron.
It was Lionel’s wedding to Sesi, whom he had begun dating again seven months ago, and somehow the two had made it work this time. They never got over each other and were the best fit.
Zera had gone out with Sesi to buy the dresses for the wedding last week, and now she felt as though she had grown fatter than a week ago. It came with her situation, but it didn’t make her feel better.
“You do not have to tell me what you think I want to hear. I look hideous.” She whined.
“Take it from me; you look amazing.”
She had no choice but to accept. “I am ready, though.”
“Good, then let’s go; the ceremony starts at nine.” Diya said.
They found Aaron standing by the car when they came out, and at her sight, his eyes warmed up and a smile covered his face. “You look beautiful.”
She believed him.
They arrived at the court, and there were a few people present, just like Lionel wanted.
Zera stepped in through the gate, and they saw Betty standing at the entrance. Zera’s defences shot up, alerted by her mother’s presence. It had been over three years since she last saw her, and though it was a long time, a woman like Betty wouldn’t change.
She would happily cause a scene here, and unlike the other times, Zera knew she wouldn’t be so calm. Aaron, sensing the change in her, wrapped his arms around her as he led the way in. Diya followed behind, holding onto Zion.
“Zera,” she called. She halted but didn’t turn to her. “Good morning,” she added.
“Good morning, Betty.” She replied.
Aaron led her into the courtroom, and they were still a few minutes before the judge would begin. Lionel and Sesi were already in the court, seated in the front seat. Behind him were Daniel and Ivory, Sesi’s friend from the UK. The two would be the witnesses to the wedding signatories.
Lionel smiled when he saw her, and she returned his smile before taking her seat at the back.
The time came, and the judge officiating the wedding called their attention to herself. They stood and approached her on the stand, and after reading their vows to each other, the couple got legally married.
“Will Uncle Lionel come back?” Zion asked as they watched them drive away with their car having ‘Just Wed’ on it.
Zera nodded. “He will, but for now, he will be away for a few weeks. It’s called a honeymoon.”
While they still spoke, Betty came out of the court gate to where they were. The atmosphere changed immediately, and Zera grew tensed subconsciously. Despite having spoken to her in a calm tone earlier, there was nothing Betty couldn’t do. Her hand tightened around Zion, and she pulled him to herself.
Betty’s eyes dropped to Zion, whose hand Zera held onto, and a small smile came onto her old, wrinkled face.
“Zera’s,” Betty called with the same soft voice she had used earlier.
Zera’s heart beat faster, knowing the next words she would utter would be her doom if she didn’t thread carefully.
“Lionel told me what you did for him many months ago, helping him get through the phase that almost broke him and also saving his life. I wanted to say thank you.”
Zera nodded and turned to see the car Aaron had brought coming closer. She took a step to leave, and Betty started speaking, making her halt again. “I know I haven’t been the best mother to you. I am not asking you to forgive me; I just want to say I am sorry. I only saw from my pain, anger, resentment, and bitterness, and I never saw what that did to you.”
Zera didn’t have anything to say; she never thought she would see the day Betty would apologise for the things she did to her or even take accountability for her actions. She wasn’t hoping for a mother-daughter relationship with her, but it was nice to receive this apology.
She left for the car, and after setting Zion inside and fastening the belt, she moved to take her seat in the front. Aaron smiled at her, and they drove off. It was less than five minutes into the drive when she felt water wetting her up as if she had peed herself.
She froze in her seat for a moment, and panic registered in her eyes, knowing what it meant.
“What?” Aaron asked, seeing the look on her face.
“The baby is coming.” She replied.
Aaron turned the car around so fast and drove them to the hospital immediately.
Two hours later, Damor arrived at the hospital with a worried look on his face. “Is it supposed to be this long?”
Aaron couldn’t answer because he didn’t know the answer himself.
After arriving at the hospital, he had to call Diya, whom they had left behind at the wedding, to take charge of Zion. He wouldn’t be able to focus, and being with her would be better than being here. She told him she had followed behind them, and when she came, she took Zion home with her.
“She’s back to a human now; their birthing still goes up to twelve hours.” Ivan, who had come two hours ago, answered.
“That doesn’t sound right.”
“Mr. Hart,” the female doctor called to him, and he sprang to his feet. “We need you inside with your wife.” She told him.
They had sent him out earlier because she was weaker, and his presence, they sensed, wouldn’t do her much good.
He followed them, and coming into the labour room, he found Zera there in a mess. She looked exhausted and sweaty and was panting weakly.
“Zera, honey.” He hurried over to her and took hold of her.
“I can’t do this,” she told him, shaking her head.
“Yes, baby, you can. You might not be as strong as you once were, but we are one, and you can always draw from my strength. I am not leaving you. I’m right here.”
“Alright, Mrs. Hart, we are going to give it one more time.” The doctor told her.
Her eyes locked in on Aaron, and he nodded at her in assurance. She pressed her lips together, tightened her hand around his, and shut her eyes tightly.
“We need you to push in three, two, one!”
Zera gave it all she had, screaming at the top of her voice. Her eyes glowed the shining sliver colour, and it faded the next second and shut.
It took a few seconds, but when her eyes fluttered open, they flowed red.
“Luna!” Aaron called, and the cry of the baby was heard the next second.
She released his hand, and he turned from her over to where the cry came from, and soon he saw a baby in the hands of the doctor.
His eyes grew glassy, and he pressed his lips together. The doctor turned to the nurse, who walked over to her with a towel in her hand. She wrapped it around the baby and moved towards them.
“Mr. and Mrs. Hart, will you want to hold your baby girl?” she asked them.
A tear ran down Aaron’s face, and he nodded and stretched his arms out to her. “Yes, please.”
The doctor woke over to them and handed the baby into his awaiting arms. The little baby cooed in his arms as if she belonged there. “She’s so beautiful,” he said, lowering himself so Zera could have a look at the little baby.
She smiled and sighed in relief. “She is. What shall we call her?”
“Tiana, just like your sister, Tatiana,” he answered before glancing at her. “What do you think?”
“It’s a beautiful name.” She agreed with him and then turned to the baby. “Tiana.”
He smiled at the baby and then at Zera, his mate and the best part of him.
Here now, he knew whatever came along, they would be able to face it together.
Love, peace, and the mate of the moon goddess
A lifetime with his Luna.
The end.