66: Triggered Rage

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• Protected   Epilogue

  JillieI reached over beside me, but Jarren wasn’t there. Opening my eyes, I found his side of the bed empty. Figuring that he must already be with one of the kids, I swing my legs out of the bed and make my way to Avarie’s room. She’s sleeping peacefully, so it must have been Alec crying. I make my way into his room and he’s sleeping as well. Puzzled, I drift back out into the hallway. I could have sworn crying woke me up. I noticed that there was a light on downstairs. Making my way down, I follow the soft light into the living room. Figuring out what Jarren is doing up at this time is a little beyond my tired brain’s capability. Vampire or not, he was about to get in the bed with me so I could go back to sleep. Stepping into the living room, however, I didn’t see Jarren. Instead, Kaileeh was curled up in the corner of the sofa. She was rocking back and forth slightly as she gazed at her hands, frightened. I took a cautious step towards her. I’d never seen he

• Protected   92: Changed by Love

  JillieThe words that came out of Hollie’s mouth felt foreign to me, even though I’d heard them less than about forty-five minutes ago. I couldn’t be crowning again. That would insinuate that I was having twins, which I was not. Hollie had shown me the sonograms, and there was only one baby in them. Yet here I was, pushing as if my life depended on it. I looked at Jarren again, who looked a little paler than usual.“Hollie,” I started through breaths. “Can vampires faint?”“Not that I know of, but you never know. Why?” She questioned, glancing up.“Because I think my husband is about to pass out.” She didn’t respond and instead told me to push. Just like the first time, we worked as a team, and this birth was much quicker, with only the use of one syringe. That was a small victory that was quickly forgotten when I

• Protected   91: Doubly Shocked

  JarrenPacing. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last thirty minutes. I was pacing and trying to soothe Jillie. I was worried, and the more I worried, the faster I paced. I’d freaked poor Ean out. He was the kind that liked to live in denial and pretend that certain things didn’t exist. I wondered how much of this he would actually be able to ignore. I glanced over at the bed to find Hollie staring intently at the monitors and Teya dabbing Jillie’s forehead with a cool cloth. I felt so helpless because I couldn’t do anything other than be here for her. I couldn’t take her pain away, and I desperately wanted to. I sighed and resumed my pacing. I knew I should have gone with them. The suspense of not knowing what was going on or where they were was killing me, but I realized this is how Jillie would have f

• Protected   90: They Need to Hurry

  JillieMy baby girl was kicking my butt like she was mad at the world. It had almost been nonstop for the past few hours. To top that off, those stupid cramps just wouldn’t let up. As luck would have it, Jarren was out doing who knows what at the moment. So I was on my own, dealing with my high-maintenance daughter, who was a complete daddy’s girl. I’d tried everything. I’d placed headphones on my stomach and played calm, soothing music. I’d rub my stomach until both of my hands and arms felt like they were limp noodles and about to fall off at any minute. I’d tried talking to her, then begging. I’d even resorted to bribery. None of that worked. &n

• Protected   89: Hold Them Delicately

  JarrenWhen Jillie got up, I waited a few minutes before following her. I stopped just on the other side of the patio door and listened to the silence. I knew she’d gone out there. I could hear her heart beating, but she wasn’t saying anything. When she finally spoke, I realized that she’d noticed that something was wrong with Nunny as well. As I sat and listened to them talk, my heart broke. Nunny was right; I wouldn’t be able to handle it if something happened to Jillie and our child. My world would literally come crashing down, and I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. They were my life, and just thinking about this scared me, and I was never scared. Life was cruel sometimes. It seemed like we couldn’t win for losing. When we caught a break, something else came along and ruined it. Not this time. I was dete

• Protected   88: Chaos for the Fly

  Jillie When I opened the gifts, I was overwhelmed by the amount of clothes, shoes, toys, diapers, and wipes. It looked like we’d have enough to last for the next few years, though I knew that was unlikely. I knew that babies went through a ton of diapers in a year. I had four gifts left to open. Three were wrapped in pink paper with little baby rattles on them, and the other was in a gift bag with clouds and the words “It’s a girl” written on it. My Dad brought the rather large boxes over to me one by one, and I ripped the paper from them. There was a highchair, a walker, and a baby swing. Upon seeing what they were, I turned to my mother, w