#Chapter 474 – Sharing the News Ella
“Cora?” I gasp the minute I get the phone to my ear, still scrambling out of bed and tangled in the sheets.
“Hey, Ells,” she says, her voice somehow both tight and bored at once. “Sorry to wake you up – ”
“You didn’t wake me – ” I say quickly, reaching for Rafe in his crib and scooping him up in my arms. Behind me, I hear Sinclair climbing out of bed too, coming to my side.
“I didn’t?” Cora asks. “Why actually.” Her voice goes stony. “Don’t tell me. Knowing you and Dominic, I probably don’t want to know.”
A little laugh bursts from me as I shake my head, trying to get back on track with this conversation. “Cora,” I say, looking down at Rafe’s bright, wide -awake face, “what’s up? Why are you calling? Is the baby -”
“Yeah,” she says on a sigh. “Roger insisted I call. Baby’s on its way!”
“Oh my god!” I shriek, spinning to Sinclair and beaming at him for the second time this morning. “It’s time for the baby! We’ll come right away -”
“No, take your time,” she says on a sigh and I frown at her even though she can’t see me.
“Cora, what is going on? Why are you calling in the middle of the night for us to come but then also telling us not to hurry?”
“Because my stupid mate made me call you,” Cora says, her voice annoyed. She lowers her voice to a whisper. ” He’s completely freaking out, Ells, even though everything is progressing totally normally -”
“Awww,” I say, passing Rafe to Sinclair’s waiting hands and smiling up at him. “Go easy on him, Cora! He’s a first-time dad!”
“And a last time dad,” she mutters, making me laugh again, “if he’s this annoying every time I go into labor.”
“Okay, well, should we come?” I ask, looking up into Sinclair’s face, a silent question in my eyes. Can we go? Is there any pressing national business that means we need to stay back? Sinclair nods eagerly to me, letting me know we can.
“Yeah,” she says on another sigh. “Do you mind? Honestly, Ella, I don’t think my body is anywhere close to ready to push but Roger just wants everything in place.”
“Okay,” I say cheerfully, nodding up to Sinclair who gives me a wink and starts to walk away to the closet to get himself and Rafe dressed. “Honestly, Cora, if he’s freaking out this much how did you ever talk him into a home birth?”
“Well now he’s trying to talk me out of it – anyway,” she sighs, “will you just come?”
I grin as I hear Roger yelling something in the background, his voice thick with anxiety though I can’t hear what he’s saying. My heart swells a little for my secretly-sweet brother-in- law, who I know has his whole heart wrapped up in what’s happening today.
“Yup,” I say, “we’ll be there as soon as we can. And we’ll let Henry know too.”
“Okayyy,” Cora says on a sigh. “See you in a bit!”
“Excited!” I call through the phone before hanging up and tossing it onto the bed. Then I practically skip into the closet in my excitement, going immediately to Sinclair’s side and wrapping my arms around his waist, grinning up at him.
“Is Cora all right?” he asks, cupping my face in his palm.
“I think so,” I say, nodding up at him. “Apparently she’s still got time – Roger’s just freaking out.”
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Alpha Dom and His Human Surrogate (PDF)
The last couple of chapters have gotten sloppy, confusing her and him for she/her Sinclair is not a her. Isabel has changed her name to Elizabeth too. Making it hard to read. I’m loving this book, but I hope it goes back to its previous high standard!...