Chapter 430

Breaking the News Ella I shriek when I hear the tap on the door, jumping up from the bed and dashing towards it, so excited to see my sister that I can’t even think about moving slowly.

Behind me, I hear Sinclair stand up and give a little growl. Without even looking, I know he’s standing with his arms across his chest, his feet wide apart, glaring at the door. But! That’s Roger’s problem. Not mine.

I fling the door open and immediately throw myself into my sister’s arms. ” Cora!” I shout, laughing. “I missed you!” “It was two days, Ella!” she laughs, shaking her head and hugging me back.

“Three!” I insist, frowning at her.

“Well, whatever,” she says, rolling my eyes. “We’ve spent longer apart than that.” “Yes well,” I say, pulling back and grinning at her. “I missed you. Don’t go away again. It was boring without you.” “I can’t believe that,” Cora says, frowning at me as we move into the room.

“Didn’t you go to the camps and work? That’s never – ” But I gasp, my hands flying to my mouth as soon as I see it.

Cora, surprised, turns to me with wide eyes and then starts to look around for whatever is wrong as Roger comes into the room as well, shutting the door behind him. Figuring it out first, Roger starts to laugh.

“What!?” Cora asks, looks between her mate and me.

“Cora!” I gasp, stepping forward and grabbing at the neck of her shirt, yanking it back so I can see – Her mating mark – right there! High on her shoulder, almost on her neck!

“Oh,” she says, laughing and blushing a little, reaching up to run her fingers over it and then sending a little glare Roger’s way.

“Yes, he decided to put it in a very noticeable place, didn’t he?” “Damn right I did,” Roger murmurs, ducking down to give me a kiss on the cheek before moving over to Sinclair.

I ignore them – and whatever boy fight is going to immediately ensue as I throw my arms around my sister, shrieking again with happiness. ” Cora!” I shout, rocking her back and forth in my arms, “I’m so happy for you!

Congratulations! What – what happened! Tell me everything!” “Wait,” she says, unable to keep from beaming with happiness herself, but she pulls away from me and shakes her head. “You’re – you’re not mad? That we we eloped, instead of doing the wedding you planned!” “Cora,” I say, my shoulders falling in my disappointment, “I never cared about that – and even if I was disappointed, I’d never let it overshadow my happiness for you! This,” I say, gesturing again towards her mark, “is such a wonderful thing and you two waited so long and were so patient – ” Unable to help myself, I cry out again and wrap my sister in another hug.

“Well thanks, Ella,” she says, hugging me tightly back. “We’re really happy. It was...a really special couple of days.” “I want to hear everything,” I say, pulling back. I open my mouth to ask for more details, but we both turn- distracted when we hear Roger and Sinclair raising their voices at each other.

“You should have been here, Roger,” Sinclair says, his whole body tense, glaring daggers at his brother.

“You didn’t need me, Dom,” Roger says, throwing out a dismissive hand. ” Cora and I needed to do this -” “Um,” I say, stepping closer to Cora. ” What do you say we steal the baby and go...somewhere else?” “You don’t want to watch the fireworks?” Cora says, turning her head to the side and grinning at me.

“I want to concentrate on you,” I say, nudging her with my elbow and grinning.

“Besides, they need...a minute to work this out. Come on.” Then, quickly, I cross the room again as quietly as I can, reaching for the baby, who is laying in his pack-and-play, messing with some toys. He gives a little happy squeak when I pick him up, which makes me smile.

I turn to Cora then, nodding to a door on this side of the room. Frowning, because she’s never been through it before, she follows me with curiosity. I watch her face as I open the door and we pass through. I’m gratified when I see her expression move from curiosity to wonder as we enter a perfect little living room.

“Oh,” she says, looking around with raised eyebrows. “Oh wow, I had no idea this was here...” “We just had it fixed up,” I say, closing the door behind me. “Damon’s taste was...” I grimace and shake my head. “But through here!” I continue, walking to the center of the room and pointing towards another door, “there are more bedrooms, for the kids! So, we have like, our own little family suite here, which I think is really nice.” “I love it!” Cora says, laughing and sinking down onto the sofa, curling up her legs beneath her in a way that makes me smile, because she looks so cozy, and that’s precisely what I want. I know that we live in a palace and that there’s a sense of refinement to the entire place, but I really wanted to create a space within it where my family and I could feel comfortable, at home.

And Cora’s immediate reaction, curling up against the pillows? It confirms that I did well in my design.

“So,” I say, turning Rafe around so he can see his auntie as I sit down on the couch myself. “Tell me everything!” She does, then.

Well, I can tell that she skips over some details that are more personal – just between her and Roger but my eyes predictably well up as soon as she starts telling me about how they went onto the beach, and the promises they made to each other, and the meteor shower.

“Oh geeze, Ells,” Cora says, laughing and shaking her head at me. “I’m going to stop telling you about my life if all it does is make you cry.” “You’d better not,” I cry out, sniffing hard and wiping my face with the heel of my hand.

“Here,” Cora says, sighing and leaning forward to take the baby from me so that I can blow my nose and pull myself together. I smile as I watch her settle the baby on her lap, grinning down at him and giving him a little baby talk that makes him laugh and reach for her.

I bite my lip, loving the sight of Cora with the baby, and then I lean against the pillows, not asking for him back. Not just yet.

“So, is that all?” I ask, curious, my eyes all dried up. “The whole story?” “Umm,” she says, looking away.

“What!” I laugh, kicking out a foot to shove her on the knee. “Tell me!” “You’re just going to go to pieces, Ells,” she says, rolling her eyes and hugging Rafe close against her.

“Well, that just makes me want to know more,” I say, laughing and leaning forward eagerly.

“Okay, well,” she says, grinning – and I know she can’t wait to tell me either. ” We...kind of named the baby.” I gasp, a long and deep inhale of breath as I sit up straight, clasping my hands to my chest. “You did!?” Laughing, Cora nods. “I remembered what you said about...how you named Rafe? How you tried out different names, and he really responded when you said Rafe?” My eyes instantly fill with tears at the memory and dart to my son, my little baby.

And I laugh, and nod, “he kicked,” I say, biting my lip. “And he did it again and again when we repeated it.” “Well,” she says, giving a little shrug. “We were playing with the bond, and the baby kept telling us he was happy, and so we tried...asking him names. And he didn’t like Matthew or Oliver – ” I wrinkle my nose now, because I don’t really like either of them myself – they’re not bad names, just not for this baby “But he did like...” And then she grins a little wickedly at me as I hold my breath, waiting, desperate to know – “...the name we picked out.” “Cora!” I shout, leaning forward to smack her hard on the leg, making her shriek and then laugh as she holds Rafe tight in her arms. “You’d better tell me right now!” I raise my hand to smack her again and as I do the door to the room opens, Roger and Sinclair coming in, their eyebrows raised. They both flinch as my hand lands on Cora’s thigh with a satisfying smack, making her laugh harder and kick her leg at me again. Even Rafe gets in on it, laughing a little in Cora’s arms.

“Um, if you could please stop abusing my mate,” Roger says, putting a hand out and stepping forward.

“Dominic!” I protest, looking desperately towards my mate, who smiles around the room. “They named the baby and she won’t tell me what it is!” Sinclair laughs and raises his eyebrows at Cora. “That’s cold, Cora,” he says, “you know that baby names are her catnip. This is gonna kill her.” “Yeah well,” Cora says, grinning as Roger moves to sit on the rolled arm of the couch behind her, putting a steady hand on her shoulder. “I figure if I hold out, she’ll give me something shiny as a bribe.” “You can have my crown!” I cry, meaning it. “Just tell me!” “Ella,” Sinclair scolds, coming to the couch, where she scoots forward so he can sit behind her and she can lean back against him. “Not even yours to give.” “Which is why we can get it back,” I hiss, glancing at him over my shoulder.

Cora and Roger laugh at us then, but they keep their lips sealed.

“We just want to have it between the three of us, just for a little bit,” Roger says, smiling down at his mate, and a rushing warm feeling runs through me when I see him looking at her like that with all the love in his heart plain on his face.

“Actually,” Cora says, glancing at me with teasing eyes. “I think I’ll tell Rafe. He should be the first to know his bestie’s name, after all.” My mouth falls open in protest as Cora leans forward and whispers something in Rafe’s little tiny ear. To my surprise, he seems to listen to the word, and then he bursts into a smile looking up at Cora.

“That’s right!” Cora says, laughing and grinning down at her nephew, ” that’s your cousin’s name!” “Come back to mommy, baby,”

I murmur, reaching for my baby and taking him back before leaning against Sinclair again, who wraps his arms around me in moral support. “Tell me auntie’s secret, right now!” Rafe looks up at me with his big innocent green eyes, a bubble on his lip. And I can’t do anything but laugh.