Surrogate For Alpha Dom

“Well,” Henry answers, hesitating. “Cora and Roger will see the prophecy.”

My face falls a little when I realize the implications of this. “Really? Unfair,” I declare, pouting.

Henry laughs a little along with me. “It will bring them closer to him, give them a bond.”

“Well,” I sigh, “I want them to have that. What sort of things do you learn, though? Do you share them with the parents?”

“If you choose,” Henry shrugs. “I always did. And Sinclair and Roger’s godparents shared with me, for which I was grateful.”

“What did they tell you?” I ask, curious.

“That Sinclair would be a great leader of men,” Henry says, looking down at the baby again, clearly remembering his baby who looked so like this one. “That was no surprise. But Roger, that was…”

I pause, curious, suddenly fascinated. “What did they say?”

He hesitates and then meets my eye. “I never even told Roger about it. But they told me that his destiny laid less with who he was, and more with the children he would sire. The many children, who would be…” he looks away a bit, trying to sort his thoughts, “it was hard to understand. But something about a set of extraordinary children who would bring much joy to the world.”

though I work hard to keep it off

guess Cora was right.

give him children… Henry meets, my

think too hard on her

–

disappointment. I sit up straighter in my chair, smiling down at my baby, who’s staring up at me with his wide eyes, which

again. “And his future

of them – especially Isabel, James, and Sadie, who I think I

much as I wanted to, as I have to greet all of our guests and introduce Rafe around to his new friends and family. But still, Isabel and I make plans to have a good long talk later this week before Cora comes to stand with her, giving me a wink to let me know that she has our visitors in good

stress as the time approaches. Anxious, I straighten the top of my glittering silver gown, which I picked expressly for the occasion. It’s perhaps too much for a trip to the woods, but we’ll be having champagne later – and then everyone coming back to the house to celebrate

it right? God, I don’t know.

tuxedo. He rests two reassuring hands on my shoulders. “Everything

than one. “I just want everything to go smoothly, and

“You don’t need to be everything to everyone, trouble. They’re here to help you. You could have come down in pajamas ten minutes before the ceremony, with baby

cared,” I say, turning on him with wide eyes.

in for a quick kiss. “What I mean, Ella, is that you should just calm down and enjoy the night.

right,” I murmur, smiling against his lips and then looking down at my happy baby in my arms. “I need to…live in the moment.”

my shoulders and moving towards the door. “It’s good that

likewise streaming towards the entrance, towards the two vans waiting to take us all out in the woods.